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.

Caverswall Quilt Cave, part 2

Isn't this wall hanging fabulous... Wendy went to the quilt show in Malvern and bought herself this pattern. She has been house bound with workmen for almost three weeks so she has just HAD to sew, sew, sew! Do we feel sorry for poor Wendy?... don't all shout, I hear ya!

My Mum (Gwynneth) is very happy with how this quilt turned out, which is a great thing as she is usually very critical of her own work... I keep telling all of the ladies... We do not allow the quilt police in our quilt cave!

This is another of Wendy's finishes... A Bento Box, one of my favourite fast quilt designs.... she almost cut off the piano key border to make it a little smaller!!!! Thank goodness she didn't go ahead...

and this is the back, the design just happened as we we were trying to use up the left over fabrics... you know, Wendy now prefers the back!... I must admit, I love it too.
Lacey Anne's floor... quilted, bound and wonderful. There's a slight problem though... this was made as a gift... Lacey Ann wants to keep it now... he he he, funny thing happened... we all agreed that she should keep it! what kind of help is that for a new addict?
Irene finished her Quilted Mat & Ruler Bag, big chunky handles, just the way she wanted them!

Two pockets for different sized rulers, the padding keeps them safe from knocks... those corners are easy to shatter if you're not careful.... so they are worth the effort of the making... and they look great too!

Fat Quarters

I am not a big fan of the very popular 'Fat Quarter', but a lot of people love them so... I've been cutting loads for my little shop... they take bloomin' ages!
I never actually bought many Fat Quarters over the years... now don't laugh when I tell you why, you already know that I'm a self confessed Fabriholic.... It's like this...
If I only have a single Fat Quarter (or any shape of quarter actually) of fabric, I wouldn't use it because then... I wouldn't have it, would I! If I buy a metre, I can happily use a piece, or a Fat Quarter, and I'll still have the fabric to fold, look at and love... don't tell me you never did that!!!!

Angie Quilts, A Shop

It happened like this.... In Stoke-On-Trent, it's really not easy to find stuff for Patchwork & Quilting, especially equipment and wadding/batting. During the year I did visit several shops to ask whether they would stock the things we need... alas, they didn't want to play.
We can travel further out, there are shops if you are prepared to drive for almost an hour in any direction.... which is not always convenient is it. For this reason I started my Table Top Shop, with wadding on the side, at meetings.
I have so much stock now that I use a whole room to store it all in. It occurred to me that, if I am using a whole room to store quilty supplies and sewing machines... I should tidy it up and call it... a shop... so I have! Woooohoooo! It's a tiny shop, this is one corner, but it is a start.
I do have everything you need to make quilts, I might not have everything you want, but for sure your needs will be met... there is a difference you see. I also have things that you didn't know you wanted! ha ha ha.
Email if you would like to visit my shop and I will pass on my phone number. Once I get the new shop phone line sorted out, with a dedicated number, I will post it here.

Caverswall Quilt Cave

Joan The Shop has her huge quilt back from the long arm quilting lady and she is chuffed to bits with it. I trimmed it and Joan made over 400 inches of binding. She stitched it to the back as there's no time for hand stitching it over... Joan's going to do it all on her machine.. of course, now all the ladies want to do that! ha ha ha I'll do a demo on it next week.
This is one of my Mum's (Gwynneth) quilt tops, it's very cute isn't it.... 'twill have a bright orange inner border followed by more blue, quilted with a fish design maybe?
This is also one of Mum's projects. Churndash blocks are so very easy to make and they look really good together. This quilt will also have a thin inner border, of the turquoise patterned fabric, before it's main one, just to help the colours 'pop' out.
Helen finished quilting all of her stars so now she will quilt the sashing and the borders. She's been commissioned to quilt another quilt now, so long as simple designs can be used she's happy to help anyone quilt their projects.
These hands belong to Dotty Maureen, obviously so does the project. I can't tell you anything about it as she was keeping very quiet about the details, suffice to say, she thinks we will all want to make one when we see what it is.
Diane finished her bag from last week and decided to make another. She really enjoys all the accuracy and is always keen to learn more tricks to enable her to achieve it.
Speaking of accuracy, Jilly is also a big fan. That last little cream border is a coping strip and proved to be very difficult to calculate... but she did it!
Maid Marian... what a star!!! She has never done free motion quilting before but after a short practice lesson last week she came determined to have a go on her Clarice quilt! We chose the thread carefully so that it wouldn't be too notice-abubble and she set to.... she did so well that all the other ladies are feeling they might just try it themselves... on a real project!!!! Marian left on cloud nine.. so pleased with herself for conquering the free-motion dragon!
Irene wanted a quick project to make and as she doesn't have one, she decided on a Mat & Ruler Bag. She considered trying free motion quilting with the darning foot but was enjoying this wavy line design with her walking foot, she does a good rhythmic wiggle to make the waves! After seeing Marian's free motion.. Irene decided that she might just have a go herself... next time!
Last but not least... Chris. She wanted to try out the Bernina walking foot this time as she already knows that she loves the BSR. She is giving the Aurora a good testing out before she decides to buy one... which is the whole point of Bambers providing them for our meetings.... you want to try??? No problem, come on over.....
I hope you have all remembered that we are not meeting at Caverswall Village Hall on Friday this week, 12th?? We will meet again on Wednesday 17th November. Kettle Corner will be so please to see you after missing us for so long... he he he
There'll be a few new fabrics in the "Table Top Shop, Wadding On The Side"... lots of wadding... big rolls of it actually! You need wadding... pop in, you don't have to be in class to visit the Table Top Shop!

Uttoxeter Quilt Class

Lizzy is working on a secret project, all clues have been in previous posts... She completed the quilt top centre but you will have to wait to see how fabulous it is.... and believe me, it is fabulous!
Jenni made lots and lots of tiny Flying Geese units, 1 1/2" x 2 1/2", and turned them into these centre blocks.. quite fiddly, the second was more accurate than the first... all very normal!
Messy Maureen quilted her Christmas Tree wall hanging, added applique embellishment and stitched on the binding... she's going to look for a few beads and sparkly bits to add next.

We're not meeting next week, 16th, because I want to go to a lecture about linen. It's at Caverswall Village Hall at 2pm.
So our next meeting in Uttoxeter will be 23rd November, 10am - 3pm