Looking Back...

Yesterday evening I did my quilt presentation. It went very well, none of the ladies were quilters so there were only a few questions, they asked what I put inside the quilts, he he he..... but there were plenty of 'oooohs and ahhhhhs' which I was quite chuffed about.

I'd like to show you this quilt, it makes me smile to look at it, proudly, of course. It s a very early project, 1999 though not 1990. An American lady named Robin, took me under her wing to show me how to make a kaleidoscope quilt, not the Stack 'n' Whack way, the holey fabric way!

I did do a good job of getting the seams lined up, says I proudly, blowing my own trumpet!! See how much effort I put into the mitred borders? That bit was done all by my very own self, I quilted it with fishing twine, he he he, a cheap version of invisible thread that you can buy in Brazil, not at all fine like you can buy here. Anyway, I had been advised to machine quilt with this thread to make the stitches invisible. Being rather 'green' (which could be mistaken for 'thick!) I hand quilted with the fishing twine too, he he he... I Know!!! you think I am nuts eh! I didn't know I was goofing, did I. If you look closely you will see exactly how much hand quilting I did too... loads, mainly in the borders. When I was all done quilting, I cut out the elephants and hand appliqued them on and quilted round them, with fishing twine! raw edge applique with no 'sticky stuff'... because I didn't know, I didn't care either, ha ha ha

OK, now look at these corners... because I mitred them without knowing the rules, I hadn't enough fabric, but I patched up and continued. You can see I chose my patches quite carefully to disguise them, genius!!! Oh and I didn't know how to mitre my binding either, ha ha ha , aren't they just sweet... again, I don't care, done is better than perfect! I was destined to be a quilting addict from day one eh....Even though I didn't know how to do stuff "properly", it didn't stop me trying! I hope these pictures make you smile too, we were all beginners though weren't we, we should remember that.

We Road Tripped!

4 of us set of bright and early this morning to go to the Fabric Guild in Leicester. It's a blooming long drive from here. Dotty Maureen was our chauffeur for the day, she's a very good chauffeur you know. I bought a few necessary notions to add to my ever increasing 'Traveling Shop' and then a few choice fabrics, he he he. This pack was on special offer, 6 fat quarters for £6, lovely. I don't do fat quarters as a general rule.... but I made an exception for these.

I bought one metre of each of these lovelies, £3 per metre, they will be perfect for binding, I like patterned binding alot-a-lot.
This is one of the reasons I wanted to go all the way to the Fabric Guild in the first place, Clarice Cliff inspired fabrics... oooooooh. I'm from 'The Potteries' in Stoke-On-Trent so I had to buy this.

I didn't pick these fabrics to go together but when I was putting them on my table to check on what I had bought, with Dotty and her bag of goodies, I noticed that they look great together, the perfect mustardy yellow and very pleasing mucky green dots... maybe I will , maybe I won't... they're my fabrics... I can do whatever pleases me, can't I!

And this!!!! Ooooohhhh this, this is my most wanted fabric of the day/year. I have seen sneak previews of it on t'internet.... This is the reason I talked everyone into going to Leicester today... I LOVE IT..... love the colours, love the design, love the fact that the inspiration came from a local lady... love it totally!.... I bought the very last-est piece, the very last yard of it.... lucky eh? They can't get more. I wanted a few other Clarice Cliff inspired designs in this colourway.... alas, none left by the time we got there... shame, anyhow, I don't do 'matchy-matchy' so it doesn't matter to me. I might never ever, ever cut into this fabric and I am happy about that too! I might frame it and put it on my wall... I might snuggle it in bed.... did I tell you that I love it! ha ha ha

I Washed The Lot!

I'm going to do a quilt presentation for a group of local ladies on Monday evening. It's been booked for quite a few months now, since I did the one at Uttoxeter last September actually. So, today I washed all of my older quilts, dating back to my beginning in 1999... my very own antiques, he he he.
I bundled the quilts in to the washing machine with regular washing powder and crossed my fingers, 5 times! They're dry now and are all lovely and phooofy again. In between washes and quilt turning, I made two more blocks for the Portuguese Tiles. A very productive day all round, fabulous!

Caverswall Quilt Cave

Woooohoooo, 10 ladies! We are so happy in our new Quilt Cave. The room buzzing with chatter, revving machines, rotary slicing and clicking (I love the clicketty bumps, you know, when the blade is closed and the cutter is laid down on the table!... is it weird to like sounds like that?) tea spoons clinking on cups etc. love it, love it, love it! Next week I'll put out extra tables, extra electric extensions, extra chairs, extra cups..... it's a big quilty party!
Joan The Shop is working on this king size quilt for a family member. It's going to be 100" x 108". Joan has used Quiltville's Chunky Churndash blocks with a setting from Katherine Guerrier book, Scrap Quilt Sensations. We measured up only to find that more blocks are needed to get up to the right size, which was a little disappointing as Joan thought she had finished the centre..... I bet they are done by next week!
Barbie completed her Rail Fence quilt centre and added borders. A lovely rich red to highlight some of the main fabric colours which was followed by a 4" border of the playful cat fabric. I showed Barbie that we measure for borders through the centre of the quilt and not along the edges, here she is "testing my point" ha ha ha, the edges were a little longer than the centre you see.
Brenda Barbara is back from her holidays. She got on very well making all of these Chunky Chrurndash blocks during the day... this is the most production we ever saw from our Brenda!.. so that holiday has done her good..... She even managed to use only ONE table for the whole day... plus most of the stage! ha ha ha
Helen, who is Joan The Shop's daughter, used one of the Bernina Aurora babies to applique this Fat Cat. Never having used a machine before, Helen did a great job. The machine was set for blanket stitch on super slow, which helps her to get it all accurate, there's no point in rushing these things, it's all about the pleasure of the making! She is going to use the left over fabric to piece an interesting backing ready for next time... a sandwich and the quilting!
4 new ladies arrived unexpectedly... after a little rushing round on my part, organising more tables, sockets and machines, borrowing equipment setting them up, they soon settled in. Lauren and Gloria, another mother and daughter team, decided to work on a joint Rail Fence project, they did very well, everything pieced together lovely. They completed the top center together... borders next time.
Rachel on the left and her daughter, right obviously,... completed their Rail Fence quilt tops. This is also a mother and daughter team, it's so cool to have mothers and daughters playing together and being creative. That's Rachel's second quilt, she made a blue one last week, I do declare that she could possibly be addicted! he he he
Dotty Maureen worked on this bag.... I will try to cut a long story short now.... Messy Maureen had rather a lot of this blue fabric given to her. All of her projects have this fabric in them and she is tired of seeing it, so... Dotty Maureen bought a big piece from her, to help use it up. This thrilled Messy Maureen, who had been heard saying... "I'll use another piece of this 'bloody' blue" ha ha ha. Dotty has decided to make this bag in 'that bloody blue' as a gift for Messy Maureen! ha ha ha, I can't wait to see her face when she sees it!
Joan The Shop brought in this Log Cabin top that she was working on last week. She has added sashing and corner stones, doesn't it look fabulous! I want to remind you that Joan has only been a patchwork and quilting addict since January this year!! There is no stopping this lady, a real "one woman" production line, ha ha ha

There was another lovely new lady, Ann, she did lovely cutting and piecing too but I didn't get a photo of her work, next time I will.
The pictures are not brilliant, I know, but they were snapped in such a hurry as I was busy, busy... helping all the lovely ladies..... there is such a lot to learn in the first week or two.
I might have to promote someone to Camera monitor if we continue to have this much fun eh!

Quilt Quarters

I did fiddle with the corners for a while, 'twas a little tricky trying to get the fence to go all the way round... well, I only tried it on one corner actually... didn't like it, so decided to fill the corners with bloom!! he he he , much easier to do too. So, after cleaning the living room floor...which led to the whole room getting a cat lick! he he he... the sandwich was made, as you see... this quilt is growing on me now... (in a non-triffid way, ha ha ha) even though it isn't really my 'cup of tea' ....must be having a coffee day eh! ha ha ha
Time to tidy up my Quilty Quarters... I do make a fabulous, and very colourful mess when I'm being creative!
Tidying up my cutting table uncovered the Portuguese Tiles I was working on. Two blocks made and two cut out ready to stitch... I'd pushed them to a corner of the table the day I purchased the flowery fabric... so, I shall piece a few more blocks for that quilt whilst I decide how to quilt the Summer Garden, though the fence border already has a plan and the thread... just need to decide about the centre, garden bit.... probably something very swirly.....

It's Caverswall Quilt Cave today... 10am - 3pm. I love this new room, We're so lucky to be able to use it.... and we do use every inch of it!

Summer Garden

There we go, that's the fence sides done, I must confess, I do think I made a bit of a job out of the fence... there must be an easier way than the way I did it! hey ho.... now to make the corners, which I don't think will be too difficult, hmmmmmm. I might even make a sandwich with this later, don't you just love these smaller projects!

Jennie Rayment Workshop

More details, I've just spoken to Jennie Rayment about our workshop Twitch, Twiddle & Tweak on Friday 3rd September.... She has very kindly agreed to include one of her fabulous, side-splitting lectures at the end of our fun workshop hours, FANTASTIC eh! We get to see her stunning quilts!
This is a picture of the workshop project. It can be made from muslin or with coloured fabrics, it's your choice. The finished project size is approximately 28" square so it could be a cushion or a wall hanging... mine will be a wall hanging! I want to look at it and smile every day, he he he.
Jennie has complete muslin kits should you like to have everything prepared for you, they will need to be ordered in advance and cost £7 each.
Just e-mail me and I can order those for you, no problem.
I have 35 tables to play with, 14 are already booked. The cost will be £15 each.
To book just e-mail me. I will send you the requirements list and my phone number so you can call me if you want to, '(tis a scary world out there so I am afraid to post my number on t'internet! he he he) Have I missed anything.......?

Uttoxeter Quilt Class

Shirley Lerly trimmed her quilt ready to add the binding. Her quilt is soooopa soft and snugly. Lizzie continued to work on her Big Quilted Bag, the one I told you is for a friend in Canada, he he he, we're going global! Messy Maureen, remember I told you that she had said she was retiring from the meetings to enjoy the summer...the summer seems to have stopped so she joined us again, still making quilted craft items to sell for Charity.
Aha... now this is Giggley Gillian sewing hour glass blocks on her very own, brand-brand new Bernina 350. All we heard was "oh yes, oh yes , oh this is niiiice, oh it's lovely"... you know... Gillian was wearing black trousers and red shoes with this white blouse... she is the perfect trimming for a new Bernina as they have gone black white and red too!!! The screen is black with white writing... very chic me thinks!

Jenni completed ALL her quilting, she is very happy about it too... see those expensive gadgets she is using to get traction on her quilt?? ooooooh, too expensive really, but they work brilliantly.... he he he... actually, this was a "top tip" from Philippa Naylor, she doesn't use gloves either, this is draw liner/non-slip matting... 99 pence from Pound Stretcher for a whole roll! like I said... super expensive! NOT.

Lizzie got all her bag parts quilted, here they are laid out ready for piecing together, Lizzie made a slightly smaller bag.... the tutorial works for any size so that's fine. She finished the bag, added the handles and went off feeling very proud of herself... she had fun playing all day on a Bernina Baby too. woohooooo!


Ta da..... Shiley Lerly joined several metres of 2 1/2" fabric strips, pressed it all in half and stitched it to the her quilt. We sorted out the join using this great method, which I use every time now... I still don't know why it has taken so long for someone to discover this brilliant method... it is so easy and very accurate!
As you can see we never did get round to the paper piecing thing I had planned, nor the Quilt -As-You-Go.... everyone was happy to do their own thing... which is great!
We meet again next Tuesday, 15th June 10am to 3pm at the Bank House Hotel in Uttoxeter.