Sewing in the Rain

Today it is raining.  It is DH's birthday but we will celebrate it when we are in Norfolk.  So, he has spent a lot of the day trying to sort out our account with Anglian Water (who seem to have increased our charges by 33%), and I have been sewing.

Firstly, chain piecing the final quarter of the blue and white quilt.  I have realised that I have made a very elementary mistake with this piecing, hangs head in shame...

I didn't cut each strip to the correct length but rather joined them by eye and trimmed off the ends!  

I know, I know...

I will have to quilt it to within an inch of its life to settle it down.

On the subject of mistakes and accidents - I was changing the foot on my machine recently when suddenly there was a pain and then blood pouring everywhere.  Is your thread cutter anything like this?

Well I now know that within the plastic hook is a tiny razor-like blade that is not fixed in any way, it just sits in place.  At some point, presumably when I was moving my machine, this little blade had jumped out of its slot and settled protruding from the machine and I cut my thumb on it!!

On a more positive note, I also started my journal quiltlet for June today.  It's on a sort of life's a beach/getting back to normal theme using my favourite Japanese and batik fabrics (and keeping to my rules).

Blue and White Quilt Progress

This is the bottom quarter of "my" side of the blue and white striped quilt.  

There is less gold and red, more cream, a quieter side, night to day, female to male, yin to yang, to completely mix up my cultures!

If you compare my quilt with the pattern in Selvedge magazine (link a couple of posts back) you will see that I am embracing random while the design that inspired me is anything but!

It looks rather wobbly at the bottom, I blame that on it being pinned to the airing cupboard door for the photograph!  I've had a lot of stitching time over the wet weekend and only have one more quarter like this to piece and then the layering and quilting starts. I visited Camelot Crafts, my LQS, for wadding yesterday and Laurie kindly cut the yardage into four quarters, perfect for 'quilt as you go' for this project and I didn't have to find the floor space to do it.

I'll be at Country Roads Quilters for the first time since January on Tuesday and am really looking forward to catching up with everyone, welcoming a new member and seeing what all the clever ladies are creating. I'll try to remember to take some photographs.

Blue and White Quilt

Two posts in two days!  With all those goodies from the Springfields Quilt Show calling me I have been machine piecing today, quite a rare occupation for me these days.  

I have used basically blue Japanese cottons from my stash and those I bought from Katie on Friday to make a start on my strippy quilt (I wrote about this idea recently and showed a picture of the inspiration).

This is one quarter of the quilt top pieced, it measures approximately 42" square.  The quilt will be for our bed but I'm doing it in four "quilt as you go" sections for ease as it will have both machine (on the white) and hand (blue) quilting.

Also today, I've done a little research on my new toy sewing machine. It's a Muller 15, made in Germany by F. W. Muller at the beginning of the twentieth century.  She needs an appropriate name..,

Absolute Unbroken Continuity - May 2015

This is my journal quilt for May.  The words, "absolute unbroken continuity", come from a poem my sister read at Daddy's funeral earlier this month.  It was Death is Nothing At All by Henry Scott Holland.  The quiltlet is similar to my usual style, and adheres to my rules.  The text this time was printed rather than written and I overlaid the fabrics with some sheers.  The stitching is all done by hand.

Today I remembered why I don't often make large quilts these days.  I spent a few hours layering this sampler quilt from a thousand years ago.  All that crawling on the floor, smoothing, adjusting, phewy.  The quilt itself is not terrible square (it was one of the very first quilts I pieced, using Lynne Edwards' Sampler Quilt book), and I like it but it has many, many faults.  I felt bad for it, sitting there in my sewing room, thrown over for more "arty" pieces and decided to layer it, quilt it and then use it!!

Talking of "arty" pieces, today was windy and sunny and a perfect day to rehang my prayer flags in the garden.  DH put the re-proofed gazebo up yesterday, complete with fairy lights, so we are all ready for balmy summer days and evenings.  The prayer flags from friends have been joined by a classic set I bought when we were in New Zealand last year and are all fluttering away beautifully with the prayer:

"May all beings everywhere receive benefit and find happiness".

The Quilters' Guild published a link to this pattern on Facebook and I loved it, possibly because it's blue and white/Japanese/indigo fabrics.  For whatever reason, it has inspired me to make a similar quilt with some of my indigo fabrics.  It will be for our bed, so a king size.  I have obviously forgotten the lessons of earlier already, but have been having fun pulling out all kinds of blue fabric.

http://www.selvedge.org/uploads/how-to-items/downloadables/How-To-Make-a-Strippy-Quilt-Instructions.pdf

http://www.selvedge.org/blog/?p=10754

http://www.selvedge.org/uploads/how-to-items/downloadables/How-To-Make-a-Strippy-Quilt.pdf

BritQuilt Swap Arrived Today

I had a wonderful parcel in the post today, a quilt from my secret partner in the BritQuilt Swap.  Wow, thank you Ethne, I am absolutely over the moon with the gorgeous quilt you made for me and all the lovely goodies you included in the parcel.  During the swap we have been posting "work in progress" pictures on Flickr and I have to admit to coveting this quilt but I never dared to expect that it would be for me.  When Ethne posted a picture of the quilt all finished I commented,
"This is absolutely gorgeous and I have just the right place for it in my little house, I wish! Beautiful stitching and such a great palette and design, all yummy."

Here is "Tranquillity" already hanging in my house, it's in my guest bedroom which has a Japanese theme so it fits in beautifully.
I've taken some close up pictures so that you can appreciate the wonderful quilting that Ethne has done, in fact DH was with me when I opened the parcel and he immediately exclaimed, "Now that's what you call quilting".  Ethne has painted with the thread to create wonderful texture and movement in the picture, clever girl.

 Here's the lovely label that Ethne printed for the quilt:

Here are the extras that Ethne so kindly included with the quilt, chocolate, mmmm gorgeous (but DH saw it in the parcel so I will have to share) and these wonderful fabrics that she dyed including the shibori piece.  I am planning to do something very special with that.

I am delighted with my side of this swap and I've just read on Judith's blog that she has received the quilt I made for her and is also pleased, phew!  Many thanks to all the organisers.  If you're a Brit quilter why not join the Flickr group now and be ready for the next swap?  Thanks to Teresa for getting me into this.  Have a great weekend everybody.

Retreat Photos

As promised here are some photos of what I've been working on.  Please excuse the quality, I have a new computer with a different photo editing programme and haven't got to grips with it yet.

This is the quilt using Nara Gardens fabric.  I've pieced the quilt top and now it needs a good press and a large clear space so that I can layer it and pin it and then get on with the quilting.

I am pleased with how this design went together but think I should have chosen fabrics with a better contrast for the framed square.  The eau de nil fabric is fine but the other one has too much black for the design to be obvious.  I like it though so I won't be changing it!

The pattern and kits to make these cute shopping list/notepad holders were. given to Dayspring Quilters in Norfolk for IQD 2011.  The pattern is copyright of Village Fabrics Ltd in Oxfordshire.  Please reward their generosity by taking a look at their website:  www.villagefabrics.co.uk  I made the pink and green one for my DD and the blue and cream one below for myself.

I'm not very happy with these butterflies but they are done and dusted and I've learned from them.  I made them for a fabric postcard swap and thought cutting them out would be interesting.  That's one word for it.  The theme was "my favourite film" and I chose "The Butterfly Effect" - a great film, much, much better than my postcards!

This next project is coming along nicely.  As you can see it is a New Zealand themed wall hanging and I've got it quilted and ready for squaring up and binding.  A wet afternoon should see it finished and hanging on the wall in our bach in Norfolk.

Still on the New Zealand theme, this piece is completely finished.  It's a small wall hanging after Gail Lawther's "Seascape" in her wonderful "Glimpses of New Zealand" book.   I was unable to get a place in her workshop at FoQ last year but bought a little selection of fabrics from her to make this quilt.  The one she made is smoother, she put it together in a foundation piecing style whereas I have gone for keeping all the fabric edges exposed - I suppose my sea is a rougher one than Gail's, maybe a West Coast sea, but then the sand should be black

So it's onward and upwards.  Tomorrow I'm going to the Doughty's fabric roadshow to get fabric for Exeter next week, for whatever DD has planned in purple and also, big drum roll here and a shouted 

 Michelle!!!!

I'm also planning to get fabric to go with "our" panel Michelle,  can you believe it?  While I was having my little retreat I worked out the design for the Essence of Clair table runner so I hope that will work out well and I think (!!) I know what I'm doing with our lovely Spring panel so watch this space closely!  I'm really enjoying working on all these NZ projects, they remind me of a great holiday and all the lovely people I met.

Friday Night Sew-In: Saturday Morning Report, March 2011 and a Giveaway

Happy International Quilt Day

Last night it was FNSI time again and also Comic Relief night here in the UK.  If some of my stitching is wobbly I can blame it on laughing at the acts, sketches, songs etc that were on BBC all evening; but if some of my work is soggy I can blame it on weeping at the desperate situation of people going blind in Africa for the sake of a simple operation that takes twenty minutes and costs £17.  It was amazing to see the reactions of people as their bandages were removed and they realised they could see, a real miracle.

I didn't do all these blocks last night, I started a couple of days ago, but this is all I can do for the moment as I've run out of the main fabric, Nara Gardens from Hoffman.  Very, very fortunately when I phoned my LQS yesterday there was 3.5m left on the bolt and Barbara is saving it for me.  It's more than I need but I'm not risking running out again and it won't be difficult to find a use for this wonderful fabric.  The quilt is the same design as the Round and Round le Jardin (scroll down on the right) but is to be a quilt for my guest bed.
Thank you to Heidi and Bobbi for hosting FNSI again, it was sew lovely to be stitching away with people all over the world, especially with today being InterNational Quilt Day (click on that link for more information

and a great free Log Cabin quilt pattern).
DH is spending his day helping SiL install a new kitchen, sounds as if I've got the whole of today to sew, hooray :)
Susan is having a great NQD giveaway on her blog, the Quixotic Crafter, so pop over there and please tell her Lis at Online Quilting sent you, thank you.
And while you're blog-hopping, please go over to two posts on my sashiko blog, one about help for Japan and one an amazing letter from a lady in Sendai that will change your day.

Festival of Quilts 2010 - Part 1

Here's my first photo report from the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, England.  The next one will show you where my credit card got battered.
I travelled to NEC with quilting/textiles friend, Trish, who did a brilliant job with the driving (especially in the torrential rain all the way home after an exhausting day) and Pam and June, excited to be attending FoQ for the first time.  We had a great day but today I am shattered and ache in places I didn't know I had (not just my purse).

There are some whinges about the show - particularly why was the trading area so cramped and also confusingly arranged in blocks rather than rows?  Overall though it was a good show with a rich variety of quilts and textile creations on display (fewer than usual I thought, maybe somebody will correct me on that one).  Here are my photos of the day:

Susan Denton's atmospheric landscape quilts attracted my attention.  Here are "Field Walk" and "Winter Allotments"

It was a delight to meet up with fellow blogger, Suzan, at lunch time (and very welcome to sit down and chat for a while).  I have to say I was impressed with the way the catering was organised, no table-bagging but rather a table made available as we got to the till with our lunches and drink.

The next piece to thrill me was this gorgeous piece by Lia Flemings, delicious.

Time for another sit-down and Trish and I went off to stand E42 to make a Morsbag.  How brilliant this project is, take a look at the website for all the information, patterns and ethos.

"Mission:  Impossible 2" (below), exhibit 764, was the amazing work of Kumiko Frydl of Texas, USA, the winner of the Miniature Quilts class.
The judges' comments read:  "Stunning!  Precision personified.  Wonderful detail" and many people spent a long time peering at this exquisite work nearly unable to believe the 128 point Mariner's Compass was really pieced (paper foundation), reverse appliqued and then freemotion quilted.

Added 23 August from "comments":
Dottymo said... Thought you would like to know. The miniture quilt 'Mission Impossible 2' won BEST IN SHOW. 

Exhibit 822 caught my eye, probably because of the Japanese influences initially.  The garments, "Gifts 'Round the World'" by Elizabeth Shapland of London included curved piecing, applique, beading, hand-quilting with speciality threads and Japanese-style knotted insert strips.

One of the quilts I would have loved to take away with me, one I could both admire and live with, was "Moonstruck", below, by Jean Chesnek.  I found the colours, curves and quilting to be very pleasing and was interested by the idea of rust-dyeing.

Finally today then, Christina Henri's "Roses from the Heart" project.  Since 2003, Christina, a conceptual artist from Tasmania, has focussed on the lives of convict women transported to Australia.  Her mission is to gather and exhibit 25,566 bonnets, one for each woman and including those women and babies who died on the way.  I'm sure you will have read about this project but to see all those bonnets spread out on the floor initiated an emotional reponse and I was moved to contribute.

 

If you're off to the Festival of Quilts this weekend I hope you have a great time and I look forward to reading all your thoughts and responses - it's a very personal thing isn't it?!

Long Day - Long Post

Well, today's the longest day (in the Northern Hemisphere, I think my friends in the south are in for a long night) and I have a feeling this might be my longest post.  Hang in there though, it's all good.

I'm back home now and recovering from my weekend away and my trip to London.  I'm shattered!  It's so much noisier than I recall, so much bombarding the senses and I'm afraid I'm no longer young enough to find it all exhilarating, just tiring.  I did have a great time though.

We had a family trip to the V&A, Mummy and my sister, Jane, and I travelled on the train with my beloved, Alan, and then we met up with my son, David in the restaurant at the V&A.  Wow, those rooms are something else, I had to take a photograph:

The cafe/restaurant is in the Morris, Gamble and Poynter Rooms. The rooms were the first museum restaurant in the world and were created to showcase modern design, craftsmanship and manufacturing.  Around the wall of the main Gamble room is a quotation from Ecclesiastes 3,
"And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour"
- we know that because David "googled" it on his iphone and impressed us all!

Sustained with tea and cakes we split into two groups - girls to the Quilts 1700 - 2010 exhibition, boys to silver, miniatures and jewellery (and they failed to return with any free samples).  We used the iphones on loan with the commentary on the exhibition which cost £3.50 each.  The "app" can be downloaded, the details are at the end of this post.  I was a little disappointed with this commentary as it was only for 22 of the quilts on display.  It included lots of information and close-up images of the quilts but we had to swap backwards and forwards between iphone/headset and reading information boards.  Mummy soon gave up on hers but I have a photo of her using  it which impressed the grandchildren!  However, I think if you were unable to visit the exhibition the "app" would be a good buy at £2.39.
I have another little moan and then it's all good.  I was irritated with how crowded the exhibition was.  We had purchased timed tickets in advance (as advised on the V&A website) but people were still able to, and were, paying "on the door" and going in immediately.  As the exhibition was busy I feel these people should have been asked to wait or given a timed ticket for a quieter period in the day.  Anyway, that's my whinge.

On to the Quilts!

A pre-exhibition visit to the toilets led us past the Design Studio and, after a second look to confirm what I thought I'd seen I called Jane over.
"OOOH, that's Kaffe!"
We remained calm and continued on our way to the Ladies' Room!  Kaffe Fassett was running a workshop with Liza Prior Lucy on "Colour in Design":
Learn the secrets behind Kaffe's design process by developing your own personal colour palette to use with his Snowball pattern.  In this master class, Kaffe Fassett and Liza Prior Lucy take you step by step through selecting fabric, cutting and arranging pieces, and final edits.  There are no right or wrong answers, just a multitude of possibilities.  Participants must bring all materials specified on supply list.  A copy of Kaffe Fassett's book V&A Quilts is recommended.  £82, £66 concessions

On to the Quilts!

I was impressed with the way in which the quilts were displayed.  Some were wall mounted, others displayed as if they were in a bed.  Some were protected by a glass screen, others not, and, although it was not permitted to touch of course, it was possible to get relatively close to most of the quilts and examine the details of the fabric and stitching.  I was particularly impressed with the way one quilt was shown with windows in the wall behind it enabling us to see into the back of the quilt.

I felt there was a good variety of quilts on display, and several by men, both recent and historic.  There was also a good range of techniques and I have to admit to a rush of glee at observing less than perfect seam matches and stitching on some, not necessarily the most utilitarian either.

A lot of research has been carried out into the histories behind the older quilts on display and some were shown with related artefacts including a diary, paintings and sewing tools.  I coveted the most delicate and exquisite needlecase and a beautiful etui.

The quilt that spoke to me most was the one sewn by the Girl Guides in Changi prison for their beloved leader, Elizabeth Ennis.  It was pieced from hexagons of fabric scavenged from wherever they could and many pieces were of insufficient size to include a seam allowance.  The quilt was stained, grubby with the sweat of young girls sewing in hot and appalling conditions, and in a very poor condition but I feel its survival at all is remarkable.  An article about the Changi quilt was published in the Daily Telegraph newspaper on 1st June and can be read here:  The secrets of the Changi Girl Guide quilt.
This photo of Olga Henderson, who was one of the Girl Guides who sewed the quilt, is taken from the Daily Telegraph article:

Olga Henderson with the Changi quilt at the V&A exhibition in London 

Photo: JAMES

Coming up to the present, another quilt I found promoting an emotional response was that created by the prisoners in Wandsworth Prison in south London, organised by the charity Fine Cell Work.  The appliqued and embroidered quilt was filled with comments on life, from the flippant, "I didn't do it, Guv" to a deeply moving, "I can't take any more".

I was as interested in the modern quilts as the old and enjoyed observing that actually there isn't much new in our favoured craft.  Quilts that looked modern turned out to be over 200 years old, another that was modern was created using very traditional methods.  The range of fabric used in the quilts was most delicious and included silks, wools and some wonderful embroidery and it was interesting to learn how they were acquired.  Yes, they really cut up the curtains!  They also had to wait for the peddlar to bring ribbons and fabrics instead of popping out to the LQS!  I am looking forward to receiving my copy of  curator, Sue Prichard's,
"Quilts 1700 - 2010 Hidden Histories, Untold Stories", the catalogue of the exhibition (which I'm afraid I have ordered from Amazon to save £12.25 and not have to carry it home on the train with me).  The book contains many photographs of the quilts in the exhibition and the personal and social histories attached to them and I enjoyed a peek at a copy in the V&A bookshop.

Although I decided the book was too heavy to carry home I did manage to stagger back with a little fabric!  The V&A has commissioned a range of limited edition prints to tie-in with the exhibition (how they understand us quilters and our weaknesses) and I was tempted by a few designs.  Interestingly, Jane chose a very similar range of fabrics for herself and so we have decided not to discuss how we are going to use them but to wait and see what we each create.

The Quilts 1700 -2010 exhibition ends on 4 July but I would urge you to visit if you possibly can, it was well worth the effort of getting to London and the three hours we spent looking around.  Failing that I think the book will be a wonderful resource.

I was also immensely impressed with the V&A itself (I haven't been there for many years and had forgotten) and am already planning a return visit, I particularly want to visit the Toshiba Gallery of Japan.  The Victoria and Albert Museum building is wonderful and the displays stunning.

David even managed to find another quilt for us, this linen quilt shows episodes in the life of Tristran, nephew of King Mark of Cornwall and dates from 1360.

And that wasn't the end of the quilty fun.

On Sunday Jane and her family invited us over for a barbeque (which we elected to eat indoors, oh the vagaries of the English weather...) and showed me how she is progressing with her Very Hungry Caterpillar wallhanging for her classroom.  I am very impressed.  She is stitching the whole quilt by hand, it is her first piece of patchwork and quilting and those tumbling blocks are beautifully pieced and very evenly stitched.

All in all a very successful weekend, thank you for reading to the end, I enjoyed sharing it with you.  Here's the info about the app:

Quilts 1700–2010 App

This unique App, made for the V&A, takes you on a journey through three centuries of quilt making in Britain. It presents 22 works from the much-anticipated Quilts 1700-2010 exhibition on display at the V&A in Spring 2010.
Weaving audio commentaries, video clips and original interviews with stunning photography of quilts old and new, the App reveals the stories, fabrics and techniques involved in making the quilts on display. Listen to V&A curators, quilting experts and textile artists, including Grayson Perry, who share their insights, while zooming into high-resolution images for a detailed, stitch-by-stitch look at selected works.
The V&A has thrown open its archives to reveal historic textiles rarely or never before seen. Featured works include the ‘Rajah Quilt’, made by women convicts while being transported to present day Tasmania aboard HMS Rajah, ‘Patchwork with Garden of Eden’ by nineteenth-century quilter Ann West, as well as contemporary pieces such as the ‘Right to Life’ by Grayson Perry and ‘To Meet My Past’ by Tracey Emin.
This App also celebrates the work of those whose names have been forgotten, but whose colourful and creative stories now survive through their quilts. It presents the stories – along with patterns and pieces of cotton and silk, and you can discover how experts have pieced together histories from clues hidden in the layers of fabric.
Quilts 1700–2010 - three centuries of beautiful objects of delight, intrigue and inspiration.
The Quilts 1700–2010 App is a Pentimento application created by Antenna Audio for the V&A.
The exhibition is supported by the Friends of the V&A, with further support from Coats Crafts and the Coats Foundation Trust.
Priced at £2.39 the App is available to purchase from the iTunes Store.