Foxy Margaret started the day with a quilt sandwich. She was going to quilt this one herself but, after pinning it, she decided it's too big for 'a beginner'... of course she's not at all a beginner and it's no way too big... but, she is one of our PMS quilters and she is practicing our motto... 'Pleasing My Self' ... Helen's going to quilt it for her once her Uni. exams are done with. 
Arty Beryl loves the oriental fabrics and gushes with enthusiasm as she plays with them... here, she is playing with block placements, she doesn't want the flowers looking too lined up... more PMS... he he he.. Beryl likes to work an several projects at the same time, as do many quilter. 
Lacey Ann sits at her workplace like a little owl.... I'm sure she can spin her head all the way round... if she hears someone discussing their project she has to watch... no matter how many times she twists and turns round... she sees everything and every one inspires her to make something else... She's working with a Jelly Roll pattern at the moment... without a Jelly Roll... woooohooo it is only 2 1/2" strips and squares after all. 
Joan The Shop has set the Formula One quilt on one side for a week or so, she is doing a quilt marathon... She's making a surprise gift for a special family member and it needs to be completed before the end of April.... so far she's making good time... she's promised that there will be no last minute applique on this one.. he he he. Come on Joan... we're all rooting for a finish on time! 
Helen asked me to thank everyone who sent her a block towards her fund raising efforts. She has decided that she'll probably make two quilts with them so as to keep the size under control.. a very clever plan! She would like to say a huge, HUGE thank you for the blocks... We meet again tomorrow, Friday 1st April, 10am - 3pm... Kettle Corner loves visitors and there are more new fabrics to play with in the Table Top Shop, wadding on the side.
Triangles... I have a plastic box full of 3" squares, actually I have boxes of all sizes but hey ho... I started with the 3" ones yesterday... I made a big pile of half square triangles and trimmed them down to 2 1/2", you might think I'm crackers but I really like making HST's, especially scrappy ones... anyway..... a few weeks ago I saw a quilt in one of Gillian's magazines.. one of those "I want to make you" quilts... so I am making one... I started using florals from my stash... the "why did I buy that" florals but I don't have enough big scraps for the larger triangles, they need a 8 7/8" square, so I'm cutting into some good stuff ... ooooer... not my gorgeous good stuff, just normal good stuff, ha ha ha. There's a booboo in these blocks that I have decided to leave in, can you spot it? More on this later..... the blocks I mean... not the booboo....
A finish! Barbie sat and tied off a few last threads and this Log Cabin quilt was finished... She is very pleased with the result and can't wait to give it to it's new owner....
There's even a label on the back. See how we made a fabulous pieced backing using up all the bits that Barbie had left over, she had her doubts at first but is chuffed to bits with the way it looks now... a happy lady.
Last time Carole joined us I had done a short demo of how to make the 'Jeans Circle' quilt, she must have taken great notes because she made one at home all by her very own self and brought it in to show us, such a great quilt made from old jeans and small scraps.
Barbie chose a new lot of fabrics, this time light blue and dark blue to make another quilt like the black and white one, this one will not have sashing though... it is quite a stunning design that delivers the "Wow Factor' every time... no matter what colour it is made in.
Dotty Maureen pieced a great backing for her Man Quilt.... all the left over half square triangles making a chevron type design either side of a spare strip set... she didn't get quite to the sandwich stage as she had a little accident with a rotary cutter... hope it's OK.
Helen completed another of her fabulous Heirloom blocks, thanks to all of the lovely comments and emails about her work, she has decided to go ahead and make the whole quilt, so. Thanks for taking the time to encourage Helen... I always pass on your messages to the Ladies.
Joan The Shop made a silver formula one car and this is the last one. We did a little calculating so that Joan could purchase the rest of the fabric for the back, there might be need for sandwich next time...
My Mum (Gwynneth) has made quite a few of her 'Kayak' blocks, see when you place them side by side.. they make a secondary circular design... which is what drew Mum to make them in the first place... this one will be stunning me thinks.
We meet again on Wednesday 30th March and Friday 1st Apil at Caverswall Village Hall, 10am - 3pm. You're all very welcome to pop in for a flying visit or to stay all day stitching and chatting... the more the merrier! "Table Top Shop, wadding on the side" will be happy to serve you with anything you need to get on.... see ya there?
I Love, Love, Love this quilt.... ooooops sorry... "quilt top"... it's yet to be quilted. There are years and years of little pieces in it. If you've ever given me a scrap... take a closer look to see whether you can spot it. It's taken just as many years to make the blocks and I think it has been worth every single stitch... I need to make a pieced backing but first a good long think about how that will look..... probably... more scraps!
Irene very proudly announced that she had finished the top of her Log Cabin quilt. It's beautiful!!... not sure you see it at it's best in this picture... she's going to use all the left over bits to make a very interesting, pieced backing... it's so big that even reaching as high as they could, Wendy and Irene just couldn't reach high enough to get it all off the floor.
Karen has her new walking foot so she was able to start her quilting, firstly she did shadow quilting following the zig-zag lines, tying off and threading in all the ends as she goes.... she'll do a little 'Ditch Hopping' on the inner border and we're still deciding how's best to do the borders...
Ruth was able to lay her blocks out on three tables, to get a better idea how the whole thing comes together... there's a few 3 1/2" sashing bits to be added too, she's quite happy with how it's finally coming together.
Dotty Maureen's cracking on with this 'Man Quilt', or Quilt For A Man as she calls it. I think I heard her say that it's a lap quilt so it doesn't need to be much bigger... I feel a sandwich coming on for Friday...
Joan the Shop has one last applique car to make then the back can be pieced together. The trophy cup is huge, it will be framed as the centre then the other bits will be added around it, looking fabulous... Joan bought the fabric ready to make another quilt today... she has 5 weeks to finish it.... watch this space!
Margaret had said that she never got time to sew at home... but these cute 3D butterflies got the better of her... she wanted them finished... and finish them she did! As you see here she even got them pieced and ready for borders... this quilt will be a foot runner... that's a table runner for the bed... I'm sure there's a proper name but hey ho... it's a foot runner for now.
Kate is determined to get these blocks finished as she wants to have a new bed quilt for when her room has it's re-vamped, hand work is gorgeous but it is very slow.... today Kate confessed a small part of her "quilts to make" list... and it's growing!
Shirley was adding the side and corner triangles to her blocks, This is a pattern from the Kaffe Fassett book 'Quilts In The Sun'... I was living in Portugal when he was doing the photos for this book... a little useless info for you, he he he
So, all in all... a very busy day, these are a few of the snatched pictures, I don't have good pictures of everything... hey ho... the only way to see everything is to be there for your very own self! ha ha ha come on over?
Seriously.... there was so much going on today in the Quilt Cave... it looked a bit like a sweat shop at times, he he he. There are lots of projects at the 'getting big' stage.. good job we have plenty of tables to hand... We meet again on Friday 25th but we're not expecting it to be quite as busy... 10am - 3pm, as usual.
My Mum (Gwynneth) finished her quilt. When I was helping her choose the fabrics she wasn't too sure they would work, she liked all of them individually, but could not see them playing nicely together in a quilt... well, she quite likes it now and is going to call it " Who Would Have Thought", it's a pattern from a magazine... I'm sorry, I can't remember which one now If I find it I'll update the post.... click on the picture and you'll see she quilted with big circles... she says they're crop circles....
The back... fabulous! The pinwheels are made from the triangles that Mum cut off whilst mitre-ing the borders strips and left overs from the setting triangles. The background of the pinwheels is a left over piece, more fan fabric was purchased to make it up to a good size. Another double sided winner? I think so...
Next on the agenda is this, red and cream. This, in my block book, is called the Kayak block, Mum has had her eye on it for a while as she loves the secondary design that happens once the blocks are pieced together. The bigger triangles are cut using a template so that adds a little fiddly element, nothing too taxing though... lets see how she gets on with it.
Ruth finished her blocks, woooohoooo! She trimmed then all up, (I mean she trimmed them all down don't I?) to be 8" each, which took quite a while as there are 48 of them... then she started the process of adding the black, 1" sashing strips and joining the centre sections which need 4 blocks for each bit...
Here, Maid Marion is giving herself a few guide marks, she's doing the quilting free hand but it does help to have a few marks to aim for to help get the curves even... we were doing points and bellies... you'll see what they are next time Marion comes to play.
These are the back and front pieces for Arty Janet 's cushion... a clever idea really.. if your cushion has two wonderful designs on both sides, you'll never have to worry that your cushions are the wrong way round... I had never thought of it that way.... these will be made into sandwiches and quilted. There will be a zip needed..... oooooer...
Foxy Margaret added the final borders to her quilt top, with corner stones which looked great. She then had to piece her backing fabrics with 3 seams and she's ready to make a sandwich next week. She's going to make a scrappy quilt for her next project... a multi fabric quilt if you like, he he he
My Mum (Gwynneth) treated herself to a pack of these binding clips from the Table Top Shop,... used something VERY similar in my hair at school a loooooong time ago... These clips are extreeeemely useful.... when the binding is pinned in place ready for hand stitching, the whole thing has similarities to that of the very prickly Porcupine... and I have had some nasty scratches in some rather feminine places, (bet you know what I mean... he he he) from the pins in binding... They're great for holding sets of blocks together too, and strips and piles of triangles.. all kinds of little fabric piles... like I said..... they're very, very useful!
Irene has finished the main part of her quilt. She trimmed all the edges, just to tidy it up by taking off the dog ears and little pieces of excess thread really, then she added the blue floral fabric for the inner border and prepared for the large red floral 6" border that will follow... looking good eh!
Karen added her final borders and corner stones, prepared a backing fabric and was able to make her first ever sandwich... now she knows why a quilter will need painter's masking tape... twas a mystery you see... Karen and Arty Janet will be purchasing walking feet this weekend, ready for a little "Ditch Hoping".
Wendy spent the best part of the day doing wonderful free motion quilting on her Kaleidoscope quilt. She's made a lovely job of it and even tied off all the ends as she made them.. well... there aren't so many with an all over design really... she then trimmed it up and proudly announced that she would be finishing the quilt this very same day... she has such a list of 'Gotta make it' quilts.... do you?
Dotty Maureen, I know you're not going to believe me... has started, yet another, project. She got a little confused trying to work out the order of the strips, Gilly was summoned to help out and the two of them eventually had it sorted.
This is the pattern in one of Dotty's many books.... it looks very similar to the Convergence quilts in a book I have at home.... Dotty wasn't too inspired whilst making the strata... "just a lot of long, straight lines" she said... oh but it will all be worth it.... I think the book is called Quilts For Men?We meet again Friday 18th March, (that's tomorrow if you're reading this today! ha ha ha) 10 am t0 3pm, Kettle Corner will be happy to have you pop in for a cuppa... should you find time to come shopping in the Table Top Shop, wadding on the side.
Foxy Margaret started the day with a quilt sandwich. She was going to quilt this one herself but, after pinning it, she decided it's too big for 'a beginner'... of course she's not at all a beginner and it's no way too big... but, she is one of our PMS quilters and she is practicing our motto... 'Pleasing My Self' ... Helen's going to quilt it for her once her Uni. exams are done with. 
Arty Beryl loves the oriental fabrics and gushes with enthusiasm as she plays with them... here, she is playing with block placements, she doesn't want the flowers looking too lined up... more PMS... he he he.. Beryl likes to work an several projects at the same time, as do many quilter. 
Lacey Ann sits at her workplace like a little owl.... I'm sure she can spin her head all the way round... if she hears someone discussing their project she has to watch... no matter how many times she twists and turns round... she sees everything and every one inspires her to make something else... She's working with a Jelly Roll pattern at the moment... without a Jelly Roll... woooohooo it is only 2 1/2" strips and squares after all. 
Joan The Shop has set the Formula One quilt on one side for a week or so, she is doing a quilt marathon... She's making a surprise gift for a special family member and it needs to be completed before the end of April.... so far she's making good time... she's promised that there will be no last minute applique on this one.. he he he. Come on Joan... we're all rooting for a finish on time! 
Helen asked me to thank everyone who sent her a block towards her fund raising efforts. She has decided that she'll probably make two quilts with them so as to keep the size under control.. a very clever plan! She would like to say a huge, HUGE thank you for the blocks... 
