Follow up to 'Sharing Happiness 2016'

Early in January, after seeing something on FaceBook, I shared this idea. The first five people who emailed be back to say 'I'm in' would receive a surprise 'something' during the year.  All they had to do was to continue the same idea to spread some kindness around.  I only got one reply from a young lady whom I used to teach many years ago. Amy Lousia has started to make and sell her Birdie Bags so I had the idea to make her a pair of 'birdie' earrings.  I made the earrings with sterling silver ear wires, added the birds, wrote a short note and delivered the surprise.

Here's the photo; hopefully you can make out the tiny bird on a perch dangling from her ear. 

Here is a photo of one of her bags. I wonder who taught her how to sew? 

Workshop by Janet McCallum 'Loosen Up Quilt' Saturday 19th March 2016

Amazing photos from Saturday's workshop. Following on from Friday's meeting, Janet McCallum taught a workshop on her 'Loosen Up' quilt. Sue Morris has been kind enough to send me lovely photos of the work. Thank you ladies for giving your permission to publish these. You clearly had a great day! 

Well done Jenny Ayres, Margaret Rumble, Sue Morris, Rosemary Auker, Virginia Lavender and Maggie Squire! Hope to see them finished soon.

Cambridge Quilters Meeting 18th March 2016

We were most fortunate to have a special visitor on Friday at our meeting. Janet McCallum came to give us an inspirational talk 'How I got to here' with a follow up workshop on Saturday. Here is a link to her website. Janet is a graphic designer and textile artist living in North Dorset.  Both her occupations complement each other very well indeed.  Janet is also the designer for the  Quilter Magazine for the  Quilters' Guild of the British isles. Find them here

What was really lovely about Janet's illustrated talk, is that she included many photographs of work 'in progress', ie.e various stages as the work evolves and changes. I very much work like this too, working from an initial drawing but discovering things on the way. 

Janet has been a quilter from the late 70s. Studying graphics at college she then went onto book designing. She told us that she was inspired to begin quilting by a TV programme and an exhibition at Somerset House.  Janet liked geometric patterns and used the book 'Perfect Patchwork Primer'.   

Early work with the Sarum Quilters where the group made quilts to hang on the wall in a local hospital  in the  Pathology and Genetics area.  Further work was inspired by roof tops in New York, pictorial landscapes, seascapes and much more.  I've included some of Janet's work below but 

Please respect  these images are copyrighted. 

This piece  called  'Loosen Up' was the starting point of our Saturday workshop....more later

For me, this piece was the 'must have' of the morning. It is called 'Hot Town' and depicts the view from the top of the Empire State Building. The pink fabric, wow!  A mixture of piecing and raw edge appliqué. This close up, taken by me, shows some of the quilting where straight lines have been combined with a long, wide zigzag stitch. Just shows that quilting doesn't have to be over complex.

This next close up, again taken by me,shows where Janet has stitched over large square sequins. I like to do this too but you have to watch out not to sizzle them with your iron.

 The next piece is called 'Pebble Beach' and was juried into the Fine Art Quilt Masters at Festival of Quilts 2013.

'Moroccan Inspirations', free machine quilted, raw edge appliqué, painted fabric and rust-dyed commercial fabric. 

 'Lotus'  designed for Beatrice Von Tresckow, inspired by some furnishing fabric

Many of us were left with the sinking feeling that we hadn't signed up to the workshop on the Saturday, but photos will follow, promise. 

Cambridge Quilters Meeting 9th March 2016

The Cambridge Quilters Group meets twice each month, one meeting in the evening and the other on a morning. We started last Wednesday's meeting with a bit of a 'show and tell' as they say. Jeannie showed us one of her latest creations as you can see in the photograph.  This was made with placing smaller squares on each corner, stitching and then flipping back, trimming and pressing.  Jenny Doan, from the Missouri Star Quilting Company, calls this technique, 'snowballing'.  If you do it on each corner you get an overall 'ball' effect.  Jeannie quilted this is simple diagonal lines which works really well. 

The main part of the meeting was led by a member called Rhoda who shared her 'quilting experiences'. Rhoda took up this craft after she retired and she explained how she didn't seem to 'get on' with the class she joined. However another teacher really inspired her and she got 'hooked' onto flowers. 

Here's Rhoda's flower quilt. Lovely pastel colours on a light background. I'm not sure how each flower was made but it looked exquisite and so neat! 

Next, Rhoda showed us a magnificent quilt with her lovely flowers in the centre. An heirloom if I ever saw one.  Wow!

Finally, a close up of Rhoda's 3D flowers inspired by a couple of books but mostly the one on Japanese folder flowers. I've included a picture of the book and the technique is known as 'Kanzashi' flowers. I do admire Rhoda's meticulous work. I've tried doing these flowers and found them to be very fiddly and time consuming but then, I hate hand stitching! 

Duxford Quilt Show Spring March 2016

After the Amish lecture, Jane and I headed off for a bit of retail therapy and quilt gazing at the Quilt Show in Duxford. As always several groups were exhibiting.  'Nine-Patch Challenge' by the Aldwick Quilters, 'Connection' by Cwilt Cymru, 'Nautical Inspirations' (Journal Quilt Challenge', 'Saints of Cornish Churches' by Cornish Quilters and Stitchers, 'Drunk and Disorderly' by the Dolly Mixtures and many, many more. Lots to see.

I can't recall which group made the quilt on the left but it was amazing. The detail of the back end of a Jacquard loom was very good and reminded me of my textile 'roots' in Rochdale. 

I didn't take too many photos but was 'taken' by the three below. This red/white /black piece was very heavily free machined quilting. Simple but lovely. 

 These last pair were from the Cabot Quilters' Challenge (2016) 'Purple Mist'.  The colour purple had to dominate the quilt. This one on the left had fine organza overlaid on different areas and of course, the one below is a variation of the good old 'log cabin', wonky style. 

As for my purchases I was most restrained. I bought no fabric in 2015 (yes really!) and I don't need anymore this year. However, I did see a nice animal print panel which I will make into a lap quilt for my grandson. The print was lovely and it had a strong orange border which my grandson rather loves. 

I did succumb to buying a gadget though. From watching 'The Quilt show' from the USA I have noticed that long arm quilters have been doing a lot of 'ruler work'.  This trend has percolated through to what is called 'sit down quilters'. When free machine quilting, a ruler is used up against the darning foot. A good idea but one would need a special foot on your machine otherwise the needle would slip under the ruler and either break the needle or damage the ruler.   The slight snag is that Bernina do not seem to make this special foot although brands like Janome do. 

 So, I came across the stand for  'Parrs Reel Ruler'    Chatting to the lady she told me they did a special attachment for a Bernina so I couldn't resist. The kit includes a teflon mat for your sewing machine table, the special presser foot and a ruler with a slot in it. I will be trying this out fairly soon I'll report back when I've had a dabble.                                               

Amish Life & Quilts

Last Friday I enjoyed a most interesting lecture by Jan Jefferson who originates from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

On the right is a photo of Jan holding an example of a quilt made by an Amish woman to sell to tourists in modern times. It is an example of the 'Sunshine and Shadow' design.

The original settlers in Pennsylvania were very hardworking people seeking religious freedom in the New World.  The Amish dress very plainly with a limited range of colours. Jan told us that the women never cut their hair but always tied it back very tightly and covered it with a cap. The men are clean shaven until they marry. Then they grow a beard.  The quilts were always made for practical reasons out of scraps remaining from garment making. Fabric was such a precious commodity that everything will have been saved. Anyone who has handwoven fabric would understand this. 

This quilt on the left, is an example of the 'bars' style of design with four patch inserts. It was made in the late 19th century and has the typical print fabric in red and green colours used by Pennsylvania women. These pretty prints were very popular between 1880 and 1900. 

This one on the right caused quite a stir in the room!  The 3D blocks were amazing.

The pink quilt below with the flying geese is another example of 'bars' The colours were stunning and, on the whole, the same colour is used across the quilt on each row.  

The simplicity of this quilt particularly appealed to me. I hadn't been patchwork and quilting very long before I decided to concentrate on working with plain or solid fabrics. I think I must have been influenced by the Amish more than I thought.  The very early Amish quilts are stunningly simple in their design. diamonds in squares for example with an exceptionally limited colour pallette. 

Another quilt that made us all say 'wow'. It's an example of a design called 'Broken Star' made in the 1930's in Lancaster County, PA. The effect of the plain colours with silky cotton fabric is stunning.  It doesn't show up on the photograph but the 'plain' background has the most amazing hand quilting. 

Finally, my favourite of them all....this one below is a true scrap quilt. Made in the 1960s the maker used scraps with no plan or pattern. you really get the feeling that she was determined to use every last scrap in her possession come what may.