I spent yesterday being very useful at the Uttoxeter Quilt & Embroidery Show. It wasn't my day for playing 'Angel' so I was a spare part, he he he... I covered for folks needing a 'moment', played shop for an hour or so while the owner presented her workshop, I chatted, greeted, giggled, pointed in the right direction and advised.... I told you I had been useful! Today I will don my white gloves, polish my halo and be a real and proper "Angel".. I never understood why my Mum (Gwynneth) decided to put the 'a' at the end of my name you know.... "Angel a"... see what I mean? This picture is just a corner of a great quilt... it might be getting my Vote for the visitors choice... I am torn between three quilts. Only two of them are traditional, I do want to vote for a traditional pieced quilt... but there's a lovely one in the Artie Fartie bit.... I shall go back to visit them and decide later.
We had a great day, as usual... very busy, lots of chattering, the atmosphere was really wonderful and happy. Some ladies have contacted me since to say they noticed a little extra buzz too, must be Spring Fever... hey ho, can't have too much fun now can we! Maid Marion brought in the most delicious fruity cake to celebrate her birthday, yummy. Now then.... Barbie's centre is finished so she was working on her Saw Tooth border blocks. She has been given a new machine and she's chuffed to bits with it! 
Annie Pie fussy cut her corner stones to get one of the lovely rose designs in the middle of each one... well worth the effort don't you think, with the red fabric in the sashing... another stunning quilt by Annie! 
Brenda Barbara brought in her finished beach bag, the one she made for her daughter... she made these to verrrry cute little ones for the grandchildren too... ahhhhhhhhhh how cute.. remember to look out for them on the beaches! Brenda started a new project.. a farm scene wall hanging... it's looking great.. picture of that next time. 
Dotty Maureen is working on her next set of border blocks... these are a variation on the Split 4 Patch that a few of the ladies made... they get split diagonally too, a very interesting effect... 
Gilly works in a very methodical way... each Snowball block has it's little corner squares attached with the very useful, binding clips... they were all stitched on by the end of the day and Gilly went home with homework of trimming off the extra bits. 
Lizi joined us too... it's great when your days off fall on a quilty fun day!!! She continued to work on her patchwork cushion and was able to complete the top. next time she can make the back bits and get them all quilted, this cushion will be nothing short of luxurious. 
Kate didn't want me to show you that she continues to work on her hand stitched blocks... she seems to think you will be tired of seeing how long it is taking her to complete them.... I disagree... I think it's good to know that we all have different lives and some things just take a lot longer than others.... lets call it.. "real life" .. ha ha ha... there are no rules about how long projects are allowed to take to complete! 
Margaret is happy to be almost done with her butterfly quilt top... there was something missing though... she pondered over many things and ideas... all she needed though, was to make the ends finish with an angle rather than a blunt line.... decission made and all was back on track... she's ready for a sandwich for next time. 
Mum made a sandwich with her 10 minute block quilt, Dotty came over to help her so it was done very quickly... I'm going to quilt this with a large meander... jig-saw style.. I love doing that! Music on full volume.... aha... now to find a minute or two..... 
Chris The Foot finished quilting her blue and white Railfence baby quilt and wanted to start quilting this one... we pulled out spare tables and set about sandwiching, Dotty helped there too. She will be a pinning champion at this rate! So, Chris has quilting homework.. this baby will be with us very soon... 
Shirley added the borders to the panels of her project... here's one panel complete, absolutely fabulous... she's very pleased with how it's coming together... how could she not be... tis gorgeous! We meet again next Wednesday 20th & Friday 22nd April, 10am - 3pm for more quilty fun, fun, fun. I'm sure you will agree that the ladies are all producing the most wonderful quilts. Most of the ladies in this group haven't even been quilting for a year yet... I am very proud of them... and they are all really lovely to work with!
Arty Beryl is making the most wonderful blocks... the kind you look at for ages and keep finding lots of different things to please the eye... both eyes actually, he he he. She embellishes each with the most beautiful stitchy free style patterns... Beryl could call this her "ooooh aaaah quilt" ... we would understand it perfectly! 
Dotty Maureen has added two of her coping strips and Half Square Triangle borders... she's going to add enough borders to get this project big enough to cover a double bed... so, a few borders to go yet.... 
Foxy Margaret is as thrilled with her bag this week as she was last week... only this time it is finished.. woooohooo. She thanked Dotty very much for all of her tuition... and started to cut some more fabric... to make another bag, the same... but different! 
Chris The Foot was shadow quilting inside each of the Railfence Zig-Zags. She's changing threads from yellow to blue... it's a little extra work but it will be worth it when she sees the end result, I promise! 
Arty Janet, cut it... stitch it... slash it, add a bit, stitch a bit, cut a few angles... ponder a bit... add a bit.... stand back and look for a bit.... these artistic ladies are fun to watch... making it up as they go along... you can almost hear the ticking and whirring of the brain... fun, fun, fun... 
Joan The Shop made her leaf quilt sandwich, with help from her chums that is... see this Caterpillar? she added this one tiny applique just to please us, isn't he cute! Joan is off to France tonight, she's taking her sewing machine in the hopes of some spare stitchy time... hoping to bring the quilt home finished... Good Luck Joan! 
Karen finished her quilting, trimmed the edges and made binding. She's very impressed with the whole process, corners included... there's a Tutorial for turning corners in my right side bar... take a peek if you like, joining the ends of the binding is quite clever too... also a tutorial... 
Shirley Lerly, back from the sunshine, got back down to work... all the fiddly bits are done now so it's time to join them all together, a sandwich is just around the corner....
Ruth needed to take a break from her stained glass quilt... it's driving her nuts.. so she says. Time to start another project. This one will be in country colours and will be the same design as My Mum's.. the blue and white one that turned out beautifully recently. 
We had a new lady join us... Vera. She made these blocks a long time ago and would like to make them into a quilt. These are all hand pieced and there are some tiny pieces... just lovely. It's a little tricky figuring how to put them together.. but we can do it, in time. Thanks to Gilly, we have photos... I didn't even see my camera today let alone take pictures to share with you.... it was a very hectic day... the PAT testing man came, which upset the apple cart... as we say, (but why do we say that? surely it should be a fabric cart?)... but, we survived it, we are all good and legal for a whole year... what a palava! We meet again on Friday, 15th April. 10am - 3pm and we will be very happy to have you come join us.. should you wish to... We have 25 new bolts of fabric and we always have 3 different Waddings to choose from... they are 'on the side' of the Table Top Shop.
In between aaaaaall the things a girl has to do, I've been trimming... trimming... trimming... these Half Square Triangles are keeping me busy but I know it will all be worth it once they are all fabulously accurate in my quilt border... which is just about now in the phase of "plan D"... I keep changing my mind and complicating things a bit... you know... I can if I want to. 
Also, have spent much time cutting Fat Quarters for the Table Top Shop, wadding on the side. This task could be done much faster if I didn't play 'matchy-matchy' ... it's so much fun though... putting different combinations together, I might have to start doing little bundles already co-ordinated... hmmmm I can already feel the hours slipping away playing that game, woooops , I mean doing that Job! ha ha ha
Chris The Foot added 3 borders. With a tiny 1/4" border (yellow in this picture) it's often easier, and more accurate, to cut a 1" strip, stitch it to your project, press it well, then trim it down to be only 1/2" wide.... this helps get a very even mini strip when you sew on the next border. It does waste a 1/4" strip of fabric but the end result is very much worth it.... Chris went home with a new sandwich ready to be quilted.... 
Brenda Barbara finished quilting both of her kiddy place mats... she tidied up all of the loose ends.. by tying them off and threading them through into the batting layer , sorry... wadding I mean... she made the binding too, so these little cuties will be finished very soon...Brenda will be using applique for her next quilt... look out Joan The Shop... competition? 
Maid Marion, very proudly, showed her finished quilt. It's wonderful to have ladies who feel 'over the moon' (what a funny thing we say.. where is that anyway?!) with her finished project. 
She's just thrilled with her own quilting too... which makes me have a huge smile. If you click on the picture, you should be able to zoom in to see what I mean... the quilting is fabulous... no more UFO's.. Marion is on a quilting roll!! ha ha ha 
Dotty Maureen found this project in the depths of her home.. she says she started it about 3 or 4 years ago and didn't finish it because she didn't know how to... The mitred corners hadn't worked as well as she had wanted them to etc... so... she undid each one.. we leveled them up, sprayed a little starch and proceeded to get them all sorted out... they were peeeerrrrfect! More borders can now be successfully added until the quilt is the size she wants it to be. 
Here's my Mum's (Gwynneth's) "10 Minute Block" quilt... she added this lovely rich red inner border... twas going to be in the gold fabric originally but the red turned out to be a perfect addition instead....She made all the piano keys yesterday so this one will be a sandwich very soon.... We meet again on Wednesday 13th April... 10am - 3pm... PLEASE remember to spread the word that we have a guy coming to Caverswall Village Hall at mid-day to PAT test any electrical equipment... sewing machines, extension cables, irons etc... Please fell free to come along with your machines and things EVEN if you are not wanting to stay or ever return to the hall... this is a legal requirement these days so lets stay safe. Each item will cost £2.00 .. and it's soooo convenient! Have a cuppa tea or coffee and a natter while you have your electrics tested... email me if you like... angiequilts@gmail.com
Joan The Shop has been working in top gear for days now. Just because I mentioned to her that I didn't think she would get this quilt finished by the end of April... 'twas a cunning plan of mine you see... she's going to put me in my place by doing just that, probably with time to spare! We had the borders cut today, the backing is in planning stage, but it will be simple (? This is Joan you know) ... we could be making a sandwich on Friday... 
Chris The Foot, also working in top gear, has her Railfence baby quilt top almost done.. just a few perfect borders to add... that should be another sandwich for our Friday meeting, Fridays are the best days for making sandwiches actually... there are more tables to spare you see. 
Ruth was able to join up almost all of her stained glass blocks... only to find out that she is going to need 6 more of them, still, she is starting to "get" how it works by now, he he he, it's going to be a large double size and will be sent away for professional quilting... unless I can persuade her otherwise... 
Arty Beryl had a great day as she was doing her most favourite thing... piecing crazily with beautiful scraps of all sorts of fabrics, see how her blouse co-ordinates with her work? well, it didn't with the yellow block... I have good timing, ha ha ha (Happy Birthday Beryl, thanks for the Maltesers!!) 
Gilly cut another load of holes in her curtains... just to get all the good flowery bits!!... looked like she has a rather large Moth infestation... it was well worth all of the the fussy cutting... this Garden Trellis looks lovely... 
Foxy Margaret is making a bag... with beautiful colours (as she kept telling us!), one of the lazy Girl patterns... I am totally rubbish at bag making, and I don't mind saying so! so Dotty Maureen stepped in to help.. she is our bag making genius! She kept Margaret on track and all is nearly finished. Margaret had a go at crumb pieceing too... she loves the scrappy fun of them! 
Maggie, had made a piano key border for this project but changed her mind after auditioning it... now there will be 2 1/2" squares round the edge, all carefully calculated so that the dark browns landed next to a pale beige... her quilt so she can if she wants! a little tricky, but she did it. 
My Mum, Gwynneth, is adding borders to her quilt now. It's going to be a wall quilt, long ways over the bed... she's been asking me to make one for her for years... looks like she got fed up of waiting, he he. We meet again on Friday 8th April, 10am - 3pm
Gillian's quilting looks fabulous, I'm sure you agree. Simple lines shadowing the seams... wonderful, quite stunning in fact... not to mention super easy. She used a lovely Madeira variegated thread, pinks to blue and purple, which looks great, especially on the backing. 
Jenni was adding the sashing strips to her quilt top. In between each there will be luscious red squares, There might have been luscious red squares today except that Jen forgot to bring the fabric, he he he, still... that meant there was time to choose the next project while thumbing through some quilt books, fun. 
Messy Maureen finished the last few lines of quilting. I helped her trim up the borders and to cut the binding. As you can see, the binding is on and will be hand stitched to the back in front of the TV tonight... Maureen started cutting out millions of squares ready for her next project... a bed quilt, she's getting to the bigger stuff now.. he he he We don't meet again now until the 26th April, 10am - 3pm... it seems ages away but we have Uttoxeter Quilt Show to look forward to before then.... oooooo it's getting close now!
I had a fantastic day in my Quilty Quarters yesterday, yeeeeha. I completed all of the floral blocks and stitched them all together, they are only 8" so it's not a huge project. I luxuriated on my floor for a while with my books to find inspiration for my pieced borders... I wanted to piece them from more floral scraps you see.... 
... Decision made, I need 88 Half Square Triangles to start with... all are cut and stitched, they just need to be trimmed to size... I almost always cut my squares rounded up by 1/8" inch so I get to trim them exactly and precisely to size... in my own PMS mind it's well worth the extra effort... How do you make yours?
I spent yesterday being very useful at the Uttoxeter Quilt & Embroidery Show. It wasn't my day for playing 'Angel' so I was a spare part, he he he... I covered for folks needing a 'moment', played shop for an hour or so while the owner presented her workshop, I chatted, greeted, giggled, pointed in the right direction and advised.... I told you I had been useful! Today I will don my white gloves, polish my halo and be a real and proper "Angel".. I never understood why my Mum (Gwynneth) decided to put the 'a' at the end of my name you know.... "Angel a"... see what I mean? 
