Caverswall Quilt Cave

Caverswall Village Hall is closed
... I hope you had noticed the snow???
Stay home warm & safe today.
Have an all day snow day - sew day all for your very own self...
sorry ladies
... I hope we can meet on Friday... watch this blog!

Another notice... The SPQ meeting... YES the Christmas Party! has had to be cancelled too. That was for Thursday evening.

Attn... Arty Beryl & Lacey Ann... I hope you read this as I have no phone numbers for you???
angiequilts@gmail.com

Quilty Quarters

Rooting about in my Quilty Quarters, I found a pack of pre-cut 6" squares of Moda fabric. Goodness knows how I come to have them or how old they are because I don't remember buying them, I don't buy these pre-cuts as a rule you see... Well, they were just begging to be made into something simple.... so I did just that... as you see, I made them into half square triangles... now I am joining them together... thinking it will be a lap quilt...

Quilty Quarters

Quilt As You Go or Apartment Quilting.. whatever you want to call it... it's done. Not only is every block quilted with a different free motion design (just for practice) I've learned a great deal about joining quilted things together, about stitching in the ditch (or rather, "Ditch Hopping") I used double sided binding, crisp white on one side and denim blue on the back... This binding is very useful to know about. The quilt weighs a ton and used up lots of thread... I like it... not sure I would make another this way but, hey ho.... I started a new project yesterday.... more later.

Staffordshire Patchwork & Quilters

We have a "first Thursday in a month" coming up this week so that means there will be an SPQ meeting. I hope the snow & ice will allow it to go ahead... I shall tell you about it anyway... stay positive eh... It will be a Christmas party this time and this is what it says in the snippet on their web pages.

Christmas Gift Exchange & No Sew Craft Sessions
Bring along a gift (handmade preferably 4" max) and exchange it for another!
There will also be 2 no-sew Christmas craft sessions to keep you busy.
If you can, please bring a plate of food to share!

4" gift... what could that be? a pin cushion, a pot holder folded up, a fridge magnet, a hair scrunchie? The very fact it has to be hand made throws a spanner in my works... could have been a packet of needles or a spool of thread otherwise, he he he.. I shall think a bit more to see what I can come up with... have you got your ideas sorted out?

Caverswall Quilt Cave

My Mum (Gwynneth) worked on her twelve Turkey Track blocks. She had cut out most of the bits at home so it was just stitchy fun all day... They'll be turned into a lap sized quilt which will be gifted.
Maid Marian has finished her free motion quilting now. The rest of the quilting will be done with the walking foot. Stabilizing lines were done first, now Marian is stitching two rectangles in each black bit, which is a little more fiddly as the quilt needs to be turned.

Barbie's wall hanging is taking good shape now. This is how it looked at the end of the day. The blue threads will be used to embroider bluebells as the bits are tiny, all the different textures will be lovely.
My Mum (Gwynneth) has her next project lined up, Card Trick blocks. She has admired these blocks for a long time so, having purchased the fabrics, she's quite excited to start making them. All colours were auditioned as the background fabrics, this one showed off the design really well... do you agree?
Messy Maureen came to play. She's making two new cushion covers. She was very happy to get both of the tops completed, the triangles you see here were added to each block side so they'll sit on point for the cushions.
Brenda/Barbara continued to work on her seat covers. She made all the tie straps as they will be stitched into each one before the quilting, she also decided to add an extra layer of wadding to each piece, to make them more spongy/comfy for bottoms.

Maid Marian brought in these lovely Christmas trees to show to us. She says the method is a bit like Jennie Rayment fabric folding and they are very easy to make! ... not sure I believe that though.
We meet again on Wednesday, 1st of December 10am - 3pm. Table Top Shop, Wadding on the side, will be open to all as will Kettle Corner ... which is kept very busy in this rather cold/freezing snap we are having at the moment... Even with the heating on full blast all day it's still a little chilly, so wrap up ladies, lots of thin layers... that's the ticket!

Caverswall Quilt Cave, part 3

Foxy Margaret has been working on her Mat & Ruler bag at home, as you see here, she's quilted it and added pockets. She stitched the handles on and almost go to finish it, but she wants to use her over locker (serger) on the edges, so it was set on one side and a new project was started... a Quick Table Topper... wow have they been popular!
Shirley Lerly continued to make hour glass blocks from her absolutely delicious new fabrics. It's a pattern from one of Kaffe Fassett's books, actually I think she has them all done now... we'll see next time eh...
Wendy is making this project using apartment quilting. She's quilting one row at a time then she'll get them stitched together with sashing.... 1 1/8" on the top and 1 3/4 on the back... I think
Inspired by Chris' poinsettia quilting last week, Wendy took the plunge... she looked at a drawing of candles whilst doing free motion... useful multi-tasking eh!!
It reminds me a bit of those things we used to have.. I might lose you here, try to keep up.... I had one and I can't remember the name, it was a frame, mine was red, both ends had a pencil and as I traced off a small character, like say, Mickey Mouse, it would draw a large Mickey Mouse on a paper at the side ... do any of you know what I am talking about? Mum?
Lizi started her first ever quilt project also using scrumptious fabrics, well she is slightly influenced by her Mum, Shirley Lerly
It's also from the Kaffe book but all in Lizzy's own colour choices. She spent the day ironing and cutting so, next time... she gets to sew!
This is an interesting project. Arty Beryl was given some fabrics, this one was white silk, which she dyed with these beautiful colours. She cut out an interesting shape and decided to free motion quilt all over it... I wonder what it will be made into?
Speaking of sewing... there has been a new arrival in the group, Chris very proudly, took delivery of her very own, brand new Bernina Aurora baby. She put it through it's paces all day, changing feet and tensions and threads and even made a bobbin... Mother and baby have bonded ever so well! ha ha ha
Irene made the tops for two Cat Mats, lucky cats eh! These Jelly Roll strips were sewn together is no time at all. The backing fabric is covered in fish... I suspect the kitties might prefer to lie on the back looking at those delicious fish eh! he he he
oh I must show you these finished projects too. Arty Beryl made this Crazy Quilt with just about every type of fabric on the planet..... You can't actually see this 3D effect on the real quilt yet it is so obvious in the picture... interesting.. she also made these aprons out of the Bargello she was working on last week...One for Grandma and one for grand daughter, how cute are they!!!
We meet again Tomorrow, Friday 26th November, 10 am - 3pm and even more fabrics arrived today so they will be there for your perusal as you visit our Kettle Corner, that's only if you want to of course.

That's it for this time, 3 posts from one meeting and I havent even shown you what Gilly, Mum (Gwynneth) and Dotty were doing..... sorry ladies!

Caverswall Quilt Cave, Joan The Shop & Helen

This quilt is 104" square! My picture doesn't do it justice you know, the colours are just gorgeous... it's one of those you have to see in person.... It was made by our Joan "The Shop" and she is absolutely thrilled with the way it turned out.
This is the back, what a job it was to get it to Joan's liking, Helen and my Mum (Gwynneth) are holding it up as high as they can reach then it falls to the stage... I'm not sure you'll get to imaging the size of it... enorrrrrrrrmous!
This is a little closer shot, I hope you can see the quilting... it was done at the Quilter's Trading Post on a long arm machine... only because Joan had to hit a deadline for finishing it.. this quilt is on it's way to Texas any day now!
Meanwhile Joan The Shop continues to make the million Daizies she needs to finish her present project... and there are many lined up to be made after that.

Helen was doing the final bits of quilting on her border, she only works on this quilt when we meet at Caverswall because she's doing that commissioned cat quilt at home, which should be ready by next weeks meeting.


More coming up! It was a very busy day.....

Caverswall Quilt Cave, Annie

Annie hasn't been able to join us for quite a few weeks but that hasn't stopped her from stitching at home....The lemon and Lime quilt top is finished... Annie is working on a pieced backing now and it is just as lovely as the top...
Log Cabin blocks, with Annie's colour choice and the placement of the blocks everyone thought the quilt looked like a map... so the sea bits have little boats quilted on them, click on the picture for a closer look....
One very short demo on the Split 4-Patch block and Annie made this quilt just before making the lemon and lime one. It's a great pattern and looks more complex/fiddly than it actually is....
This is another finished quilt, quilted bound and with label! With label but it isn't stitched on yet, ha ha ha ... It's a music quilt...

this is the back... Annie wasn't too happy with some of the stitching on the back so... a brilliant plan was to applique these pieces onto the worst bits and it looks great... you wouldn't have know that if I hadn't told you... but it's a great fudging trick so I am sharing it! (sorry Annie!)

Annie got her own post because she had so many projects for me to show you... I'll get the rest of the pictures uploaded now.....

Uttoxeter Quilt Class

AJ (Angela that's not me) finished quilting the two halves of her Pineapple Blossom quilt. She has joined them together using the Quilt As You Go (apartment quilting) method and it looks absolutely wonderful! It, for sure, has the WOW factor that she was hoping for
Speaking of the WOW factor... look at the borders she made using up all the left over half square triangles!!! By the end of the day some of the borders were attached... I don't have pictures.... I only got these few photos all day actually... I was engrossed in the ladies' work.
Lizzie made a sandwich and started quilting. She chose a lovely red Masterpiece thread and began stitching in the ditch of the sashing strips. Each heart will have shadow quilting too... it's looking lovely.
Giggly Gillian's done loads of stitching for homework and brought in a finished quilt middle, also done with apartment quilting. During the day she cut the border fabrics, sandwiched them and started to quilt them, we should be attaching them next week....
We will be meeting next week, that will be the 30th November, 10am - 3pm. Oooo heck the year is racing by!

Quilty Quarters

After tidying up my little shop and adding the 200+ metres of new fabrics, (arrived on Thursday...wooohooo) I looked out of the window and saw a weather horrible day... misty, cold and drizzle, yuk... but on the other hand "Hooray!" there's nothing quite like a horrible weather day to justify spending it stitching in your quilty quarters! So I did. I finished joining all the parts of this quilt so it only needs binding now and I'm happy to report that Mum's (Gwynneth's) fishy quilt is quilted! I shall tidy everything up today... there's a chance I could start something new....

Caverswall Quilt Cave

Brenda Barbara's getting very brave these days, she has been working on a rather spectacular Big Quilted Panel Bag... Flying Geese no less! very impressive.... Brenda did extra quilting for the bottom of the bag... let's just say.... lots of quilting makes for a good firm bottom! ha ha ha
Dotty Maureen is working on another mysterious project... actually, I do know what this one is going to be, but I am not letting the cat out of the bag (don't worry... no animals in the hall... it's just an expression!)
My Mum (Gwynneth) made a sandwich and set to with quilting her project... at the same time she was choosing the blocks for the next quilt... I think she's come over to the dark side... but she wouldn't admit it!.. addicts do tend to spend a little time in denial don't they!
This is Shirley Lerly's new project. She's had the fabrics for quite a long while but, like many of us, didn't want to cut into them... all hurdles have been jumped now and the patchwork commenced... she needs about a thousand hour glass blocks... oh, I know I exaggerate, but that's how it feels when you start a big project isn't it.
If you remember, Dotty Maureen was working on a secret project last week... this is it! It's ever so clever, no matter how you twist the blocks round they stay stitched together...
... see kind of Rubik cube style... very relaxing to play with... I believe the pattern is available from the Quilt Guild

Brenda Barbara is making quilted seat covers for her dining chairs... she wanted to use this fabric but still have it left after making them.... who would ever think that way..... he he he

Barbie Bunny couldn't find a fabric that she liked for her inner picture frame, she chose one floral one but it wasn't quilt the right background shade... so she painted it, and now it's perfect... the pale green one in the picture was buttery cream... isn't that a brilliant idea? not that I would dare to try it.
Lacey Ann decided to do a Quilt As You Go project, but she complicated the design somewhat. It's going to use a lot of brain cells but I'm sure it will be worth it. The back is red, white and blue stripes...

We meet again next Wednesday & Friday 24th & 26th November, 10am - 3pm... lots and lots of new fabrics arrived for the Table Top Shop, Wadding on the side.... as usual Kettle Corner is happy to serve refreshments... after purchasing quilty supplies a fresh 'cuppa' always goes down well.... we even allow biscuit "dunking", he he he

Caverswall Quilt Cave, part 1

I have lost count of how many of these Quick Table Toppers Wendy's made so far... and she is still producing them... my goodness, she hasn't confessed to buying a market stall so they must be gifts! She has advanced a little with them and is now using Quilt As You Go, go, go, go, ha ha ha

Arty Beryl finished her Three Kings cushion, I'm most impressed with how she has incorporated her fancy stitches into this design. The zip in the back was perfectly done and given a 'well done' sticker from Diane, a virtual sticker, we are adults after all.
Diane might be have to be re-named... "Our Bag Lady" she's made lots and started two more, one of which will be purple.... she's eager to learn how to do free motion and had a go on a practice piece that looked like her beginner project! An abandoned Railfence!
This is the bag she was working on last week, double sided with Log Cabin blocks... they are all quilted too.
Helen is almost done with the quilting on her project. She won't be working with black for a while now, it's hard on the eyes, especially for tying off ends.... it will all be worth it in the end... will she give it away... that's what we want to know!
Arty Beryl, as usual, worked on several projects. This one is Scrappy Bargello (which is a big favourite of mine) and it's perfect for throwing all colours and designs of fabric into... they always turn out fabulous....
Foxy Margaret made a massive cat sandwich, (he he he, nothing like a hot dog!) with the help of Dotty Maureen. She needed more than 500 pins to get it all stable. Helen has been commissioned to quilt this one, In-The Ditch for the sashing and shadow quilting around the cats.. purrrrfect!

Chris, what a star! She wanted to have a quilted design in the centre of her Quick Table Toppers. Last week, she was using the walking foot, very nice they were too. This week though, she wanted to do free motion things. ooooooer.
I think it's much harder to follow a drawn line so, after much persuasion, Chris made her first ever free motion, no guide lines, quilted Poinsettia!!!!! I'm very proud of her for having a go... it's the only way to improve you know!... there'll be no stopping her now... have you tried yet?

What a lot of pictures.... and I haven't got all the work in here... this is a very productive group, and it's not me cracking the whip... it's ENTHUSIASM ALONE!

We meet agian on Friday, 19th November.... 10am - 3pm.