Stash-busting demos

This month's meeting with stash-busting demos was really interesting - so interesting that I forgot to take any photos until the demos had been packed away! I showed my scrappy hearts demo, where I had a heart quilt made from a bag of Andrea's left-overs. As she quite rightly says, other people's scraps are much more exciting than your own! I also showed a lovely scrap quilt made by Jane, which was simply 3.5" squares joined randomly to 2" by 3.5" bricks (you can do it using leaders and enders) and made a stunning quilt.

Ruth showed how to use scraps to make book covers, and gorgeous apple pin cushions. Fran and friends showed lots of fabric postcards, several of which had actually been posted! Tilly showed fabric flowers (so cute) which were very realistic.

When it came to show and tell, my camera was at the ready.

Doreen was first up, with the beautiful cushion she had made from the Jennie Rayment workshop at Rocheberie Quilters. It's given me some encouragement to do something with my blocks! She also made a couple of the lovely bags which Jenny Almond showed us. They are quite versatile, and can be used on lots of occasions.Has Gaynor been making attractive bags? No, they're two quillows, to which she has cleverly added carrying handles! A quillow is a quilt which folds up into a cushion (the Americans call cushions 'pillows', hence the name).Both quilts are made from jelly rolls in the same way, and it's hard to imagine that they fold up so neatly! Gaynor had also made this quilt in her favourite pastel colours in a kind of French braid design. This is another stash busting idea for using up fabric!

Stephanie had been to Jennie Rayment's workshop on Textured Landscapes, and had had a great day making this landscape of her own.

She had also made this quilt fpr a present. Apparently it was 'easy', as it was quilt as you go. Well, quilt as you go certainly makes the quilt sandwiches more manageable, but the extensive quilting can't have been all that simple!I showed this baby quilt for a colleague's imminently expected first grandchild. It was a Quiltmaker pattern, and went together very quickly. Fran had been making bags, using left over blocks. They look so different and interesting.We had some visitors from Daintre Quilters, who had thoughtfully brought some show and tell, 'just in case'. Ann said she wasn't a traditional quilter, and when having been given some fabric for a challenge, made this piece which she has decided is a garden! Can you see the path on the left of the quilt?

This quilt was one of a series of quilts inspired by World War 1. You can clearly see the devastated fields and the poppies. Lovely.

Her friend Mo was a more traditional quilter, and had made this stunning whole cloth quilt. I was lucky to get a photo which shows off the quilting designs so well. Thank you ladies for visiting, and we hope to see you again soon!

April meeting - Angela Madden

This month's meeting was a talk by the well-known quilter Angela Madden. Angela is well known for her fondness for and skill at Celtic patchwork, but I had no idea how talented she was in so many different areas! She was very generous in showing all her beautiful quilts (I wish I'd got some photos of them!) and also in passing them round so we could see her wonderful quilting and excellent workmanship. She is particularly keen to banish stippling as a quilting technique - or at least, open people's eyes to all the other possible quilting designs. She certainly inspired me to try something new on my next quilt!

Here she is in front of some of the quilts she shared with us.

Here you can get a flavour of the variety of her work.

Her quilts made from photos were fabulous, and very worthy of the prizes she has won with them. Sue, Doreen and Ann are examining the quilts in the hope of picking up some tips. They looked just as fabulous close up as they did from a distance. Lots of people were keen to buy her books, which looked clear and easy to follow.

The show and tell was as varied as ever. Eileen had made this little wall hanging as a present for a new baby.

Ruth had been intrigued by the little bags Jenny Almond showed us last month, and had made several different ones. They're addictive!

She had also finished her little wall hangings from last month too, in a positive and negative design. Lovely.

Bunty had made this Chinese Coins quilt from a jelly roll. A perfect choice of sashing and border colour! Ann had used the same jelly roll to make a completely different quilt! Amazing! Chris (she of the 'wall of shame' with photos of UFOs on it) has finished this lovely top for Project Linus. It really looks good!She also completed this charity quilt made from four quarters of the mystery quilt which we did at Rocheberie Quilters last year. It's hard to realise that each quarter was made independently by a different person!

This is another of Chris's UFOs (she really has a lot of them still!). She bulked out the appliqued centre with scrappy fabrics which play nicely together because they are all blue. The border looks wonderful!This cute child's quilt was made by Di from a panel, but so cleverly!

Tilly had been experimenting with Seminole, and had made this lovely lap quilt.

This quilt is rich and autumnal.

This project bag has been made from leftover blocks. What a clever idea!

This quilt is a log cabin variation. The log cabin block is so versatile, and the different values in this quilt exploit the design to perfection!

Unfortunately, some of the activities we have scheduled have not been as popular as we had hoped and have had to be cancelled. The Patchwork Schoolhouse and Ferret's workshop have both been cancelled due to lack of numbers. However, there are places on a Christmas-themed Schoolhouse on July 17th, and anyone who would like to go is urged to contact Sally directly.