Christine Porter

This month we had the pleasure of a talk by Christine Porter.  She is well known in the patchwork world, having been editor of a patchwork magazine and author of several books.  She's particularly known for her interest in church tiles, and we were looking forward to seeing her work.  

Here is a sampler quilt from one of her books, 'Viva Venezia' which has patterns for all these designs inspired by tiles in Venice.  It was wonderful to be able to admire it close up.

One thing which was fascinating, was the way Christine used the tiles as inspiration for brightly coloured designs.  She had made several quilt series, where one was in the muted colours of the original tiles, then another, or others, were in bright colours, sometimes with value changes which made it very difficult to recognise the patterns were the same!  Wonderful. 

She brought lots of quilts, including her Sunbonnet Sue quilts!  We had a real visual feast!

Then came show and tell.  Chris had made this delightful quilt for the room her grandchildren use when they stay with her.  Lucky children.

Sorry this is on its side.  It's chickens! 

This beautiful foundation pieced quilt was made by Anne.  The colours are very subtle and warm.

Here is Emily's junk, made at a recent workshop. 

Here are three more.  I love Ann's slightly different take on the design. 

Gaynor had pieced this as a present, and Liz had quilted it in her usual superb fashion.  It still has to be bound and finished, but looks fabulous. 

Paula had great fun making this 'Don't Look Now' design.  She said it made her happy every time she worked on it.  I can see why, as it's delightful.

Liz had finished the little quilt she made from scraps.  It's so cute. 

Here's another 'Don't Look Now' design, made by the Linus ladies at Knit and Stitch.  We all made a few vehicles, and Ann put them together.  Great fun. 

This is another Mile a Minute quilt, made from scraps.  This time I restricted my palette to cream or white and pale. It's very delicate, but I think will make a nice baby quilt. 

Chris at the Leukaemia shop had had some damaged and rejected M&S pyjamas donated to her.  She kindly let us have some to make into Linus quilts.  This design is Disappearing 9 patch, and looks great.  The Linus ladies made the blocks, and Paula put them together. 

Here is another one, this time without pink!

And last but not least, a Linus quilt from Chris, using a novelty print very successfully. 

April workshops

At the April meeting we had an array of different workshops lead by members. 

Bunty showed how to do quilt as you go.  Look at her fabulous Blue Peters!  She has done a great job here.

Sian showed how to make fabric flowers.  These are lovely embellishments and can make brooches too. 

Some people used the evening to catch up with friends - that's what I did!

Vicki showed how to do foundation piecing, and brought some cute little Santas for people to practise on.  

Liz was helping people perfect their machine quilting.  She is always full of ideas. 

Here is a little quilt she was making.  The leaves are made from scraps and bonded on.  She sewed them on and quilted at the same time with a continuous stitch across the quilt, from leaf to leaf.  Clever. 

Di and Gill manned the sales table.  This is always popular, and I bagged a couple of bargains myself!

June wasn't having any April showers in her raffle - just sunshine! 

Here were some of the bags made at the recent workshop with Amanda Hall.  Her patterns are very good. 

Here is a Linus quilt made at a sewing evening at 'Sew Sociable' in Leicester.  Stunning. 

Gorgeous panels. 

Mile a minute blocks on a blue ground.  Fabulous. 

A quilt made for the poppy appeal.  Beautiful colours. 

Gaynor made these two jelly roll quilts.  She said they're easy, but the colours make them look totally different and equally lovely. 

One of the quilts donated for Linus was fraying badly, as the seam allowances were too small.  It was such a shame, as it was made from top quality fabrics.  Liz took pity on it, and put another top onto it. What a star!

March Meeting

While Lynda's away the ladies will play and we certainly did! The meeting didn't end until almost 10 o'clock.  I had visions of us all turning into pumpkins!  

The speaker was Amanda Hall from monkey buttons. She told us all about how her business started and grew.  She went from designing one or two patterns a year to sometimes producing six a month! She now has a catalogue of about 130 designs.  That's a lot of bags! 

She had lots of different bags to show us and talked about why she used particular techniques, and how she found that television cable makes amazing bag handles!

She also showed us some of her gorgeous quilts. This jelly roll quilt was particularly stunning. And was very out of her comfort zone with the vivid colours.

 This one she preferred as the colours were more muted. 

We then had show and tell.  Here is Di's lovely fussy cut cushion.

Maggies bag, made using a YouTube tutorial 

Maria's gorgeous Xmas quilt-either very early or a tad late!

And Muriel's fab Tula pink quilt, which was absolutely stunning. The back was quilted in pink which really looked great against the navy blue. 

And to end the night we had the raffle.  June had done an amazing job again, this time with lovely green fabric with a malteser chocolate Easter bunny for a treat! 

The next day was a workshop with Amanda, so next months show and tell should be full of gorgeous handbags, and a couple of chickens from Maria and Margaret for some variety.  I'm thinking we should install a catwalk to show all the bags off! 

Di's Santa workshops

Di has been attending the two recent sewing days to teach her Santa workshop to those who would like to make one of these gorgeous figures.  I know it's only February, but I've heard that Christmas will be round again before you know it!  That's certainly true on my past experience!

Liz, along with myself, Bunty, Carol and Stephanie, was just there for a bit of sewing peace and friendly support.  She's supporting Paula by keeping her seat warm, while Paula sews stars on her Santa's boot cuffs.  

Here's Paula on her pre-warmed seat, making up Santa's coat.  I love his gold boots! 

 

Sian's week ahead of the game, and just putting the final touches to her Santa, who is very traditionally dressed.

Emily is assembling the coat on her Santa, and she's obviously enjoying the hand sewing.  Her Santa's gold outfit is to die for!

Here is Sue, concentrating hard.  I love the way everyone has chosen different Christmas-coloured outfits for their own idea of Santa.  This burgundy outfit is rich and smooth.  

Here is Emily's completed Santa, with friend.  She says she really enjoyed making him, which is just as well, as I can see her family and friends will be putting in their orders for their own Santa's as soon as they see him!  

Many thanks to Di for teaching this workshop and giving pleasure to so many people, and to Sian for organising all the sewing days! 

Fiddle cushions

This month was another hands on session, to make fiddle cushions.  These cushions are a boon for people suffering from dementia, who often have restless hands.  These cushions or quilts, covered with tactile textures and objects occupy the hands and calm the mind. 

Sian worked hard to make 'kits' and instructions for people to make a cushion easily.  Each pack had the fabrics, plus cotton reels, ribbons, zips, buttons and all manner of things to fiddle with! 

She got so carried away with the cutting, that she had lots of fabrics left over!  I'm sure they will all be made up eventually. 

Lots of people had brought their machines and soon got going.  It's a good opportunity to chat to new (or old) friends. 

Gwyneth was ahead of the game, and brought one she had made earlier.  All that fringing is so tempting!

Sometimes circumstances conspire against you, and you don't manage to gather up your machine.  Sue, Betty and Margaret have taken packs to make up at home.

All noses are to the grindstone here!

Sian is just making sure everyone's happy with the instructions.  I think they were pretty clear. 

Fiona, in the centre of the photo, had come from a home in Husbands Bosworth.  (She had a sewing machine for Christmas, so we're keen to encourage her!). She wanted to make cushions, and will also be able to take some for her residents.  Result!

As usual, June had gone to town on the raffle prizes.  Valentine's fabric, ribbon and a chocolate heart lolly!  And I was one of the lucky winners!

Here are some of the completed fiddle cushions.  

And here, 

And here, 

And here is Julie's.  All great.  Then on to the show and tell.

This one is double sided - the same on both sides.  It's one of those blocks where you make back and front together, and then the blocks are ready quilted and can be easily joined together.  Gorgeous pastel choices. 

This is a Linus top finished by a kind soul.  The dark Xs are actually spotted navy and white, so aren't quite as imposing in reality.

Another Linus finish.  This is simply rail fence.  Three 6.5" x2.5" strips joined together, with two strips being shades of the same colour and the third strip a neutral.  The blocks are turned by 90 degrees to make the design.  Looks complicated, but is really very easy. 

This is my Grand Illusion top.  It was designed by Bonnie Hunter and is waiting for a yellow narrow border and another border.  Looking good so far!  I was hoping that Sian was bringing her completed top, so they could be seen together, but hers is on the long arm.  Maybe we'll get them together later.

A little handmade Linus top.  You can see the beautiful quilting on it. 

Some people made quilts for a Linus challenge and this is Liz's.  This dog has its own quilt.  I love how the quilting shows his pillow.  His ears are loose and floppy and ad to the charm of this fun quilt!

People have been very speedy finishing these Linus tops.  This is a Scrappy Trip design.  Always good.

This quilt would be delightful enough, but Liz has quilted teddies and butterflies on the plain squares to great effect. 

Another of Liz's quilts.  A Ricky Tims Convergence design - now to be a Linus perm quilt!

Good use of colour on this Linus top.  It's hard to believe but I didn't actually choose the lime green to sash and border these hexagon rosettes: somebody else did!

Here is a scrappy rail fence.  It was made in exactly the same way as the rainbow one, and has a completely different look.

Recently I taught a class on how to make a stash quilt, using 8 fat quarters.  This is Paula's version.  She added a cream border round it to really set it off.  

Great use of colours with simple sashed squares. 

Di had two bags to show.  This tote and a changing mat bag in her other hand. 

Here is a better view of the changing mat bag, with cute farmyard animals on it.

Carol made this cityscape quilt from blocks designed by Tula Pink.  She said she's 'quite pleased' with it.  I should think she's more than quite pleased, with justification!  

Carol and Maria had made the same bag.  Not that you would guess as they look very different.  As usual, a very good selection of quilts.