Still here!

I'm sorry there have been no blog posts recently.  There's no sinister reason - all is well.  Obviously there was no meeting in August, and I had to miss the September meeting as I was needed for rehearsals for 'Oh What a Lovely War' which was performed locally.  My husband directed it, so would have noticed if I absented myself!  I was sad to miss the Quilter's Guild Traditional Group's Suitcase Collection, but I hear it was lovely.  It generated lots of discussion, which is excellent.  If anyone has any photos or comments about the evening, I'll be happy to post them.  See you at the AGM! 

A summer's evening

The weather was very warm when we met in July, and despite the fact that our speaker, Frankie White had had to cancel, there were still plenty of people who came to hear Lynda Hill speak.  Her talk 'The Ten Commandments of Quilting - and how I have broken every one!' had everyone nodding and laughing.  We have all broken the 'all thy triangles shall have only 3 points' one, along with 'thou shalt use 100% cotton fabrics' and 'thou shalt buy enough fabric to finish thy quilt'!   A perfectly lighthearted talk for a summer's evening.
June had already set the laidback tone for the evening with these fabulous raffle prizes!

 

Sea, foam, sand and relaxation in a deck chair!  Here's a close up of the most relaxed reel of cotton I the world!  (I love those crossed ankles!)

 

There was plenty of show and tell.  First up was Sian's Magic Tile.  She had personalised it for one of her children.  That is so clever!

This quilt was made from strips from a fabric range with lovely silver accents.  It looks beautiful.

 

Here is an Irish Chain variation.  The dark squares really draw the eye into the pattern.

 

Gaynor is well known for her use of blue and pink.  She decided to challenge herself to move out of her comfort zone and make a yellow quilt!  The squares are all farm prints, and I think the quilt looks fresh and sunny.  Why not try purple or orange next time, Gaynor?!

 

Carole had two half jelly rolls which she wasn't too keen on.  She decided to make them up using the method where you join all the pieces together into one long strip, fold it in half and join, then keep folding it in half until it reaches a reasonable size.  It looks super, and I love the cream binding.

 

Here is a top which Maggie made and then donated to Project Linus.  Beautiful.

 

Another Linus top, this time made by Betty.  It's very scrappy and gorgeous, but it looks even better with the addition of a few pink flowers. 

 

Paula makes lots of Linus quilts, and this one seems to have moved when I tried to photograph it!  Simple colours and simple shapes make for a delightful result!

 

Another Linus quilt made by Maggie.  These Choppy Stars will make a lovely cot quilt.

 

A very graphic design with bright colours.  Great borders. 

 

Denise had bought lots of Japanese fabrics with large designs.  She loved them but wasn't sure what to do with them.  Then she saw this design and hey presto a perfect design!

 

Jan is another prolific charity quilter.  This one is for Linus.  Pretty and pink.

 

Ruth made this colourful children's quilt.  (She confessed to also having broken one of the commandments, but I won't reveal which one!)  It's gorgeous and must have been great fun to make.

 

Another of Jan's charity quilts.  I love the way that two of the bear's paws have triangles going the 'wrong' way.  Such fun!

 

A quilt for an old person by Jan.  Blue and yellow always look sunny and crisp together.

 

And last, but not least, another quilt for an old person from Jan.  She makes so many beautiful quilts.

 

Have a great summer, and I'll look forward to seeing everyone in the autumn.

Sorry

We have just heard from Frankie White that her husband is very poorly, and she isn't able to come and speak on Wednesday or run the workshop on Thursday.  That's very sad news for her, and for us, but we all know the curve balls which life sometimes throws, and wish her husband a speedy recovery. 
So that has left us with a bit of a gap.  Those people who have booked on the workshop will obviously be able to have a full refund, but we have put our thinking caps on to see what we can do on Wednesday evening.  Luckily, Lynda Hill has offered to give a talk entitled 'The Ten Commandments of Quilting - and how I have broken every one!'  It's a light-hearted look at quilts and quilters, and while it won't be to the same standard as Frankie, should make for an enjoyable evening.
Hope you can all come.

Inspiration

The June meeting was full of inspiration.  Jan Baker - a local textile artist - came along and described her artistic progress, from initial concept (which was old manuscripts) through a heritage seed collection to her final pieces which were screen printed and assembled into cushions and pictures.
here is jan with some of her work.

 

The images were taken from old botanical illustrations, and lettering. 

 

Jan also generously brought her sketch books to show her thought processes. 

 

As if this was not enough, she then showed inspirational images for our challenge of lines, squares, triangles and circles.  Lots of food for thought there!

 

June was in full summer mode with her raffle prizes.  Delicious ices - complete with flakes!  the raffle is always very popular, so it was kind of Paula to lend a hand.

 

We were also lucky enough to have a trader.  Eunice, from 'The Quarter Inch' in Market Harborough had lots to tempt us.  I was certainly tempted!  Thank you, Eunice. 

 

The show and tell started with a beauty.  Can you believe that this gorgeous (and huge) Dresden Plate has been made by Paula for a friend?  Neutrals were requested, and Paula has cleverly bound it in soft pink, to tie in with the flower centres.

 

Everyone very much enjoyed the recent workshop, and Ruth brought in her piece (in her hand) made on the day, and several other pieces which she made using these techniques and ideas.  She's holding up the photo which was inspiration for the quilt Debbie is showing.  Fabulous.

 

This is a work in progress.  I made these cowboys from a free pattern by Pam Rocco on 'Quilter's Newsletter' web extras.  If you fancy it, you can see it here.  There's even a cow included!

 

Paula spied this Paddington fabric and knew it would be an easy and popular make for Linus. 

 

She also made these two quilts, the left one from a panel she bought at Malvern (the wonderful quilting makes it look appliqued!) and the other one from Kisko.  Looking good.

 

Here is Muriel's quilt made from either a charm pack or jelly roll (sorry, I can't remember which!).  The orange setting triangles really focusses the design.

 

Ann has completed her challenge pieces!  She has used some Japanese fabrics to tie them together.  Stunning!

 

Lovely use of orphans and panels for this beauty.

 

Chris made this quilt for Linus and has had a really clever idea.  She was doing a puzzle with her grandson where you have to follow the line to see who gets the treasure, and suddenly thought what a great idea for a quilting design!  She has used different colours of thread from three corners, and the prize is some food in the shed at bottom right!  (She couldn't find any food images in her stash, so went with the shed idea instead!)  This quilt will become someone's prized possession!

 

And last, but not least, Debbie's puff quilt.  The photo doesn't do it justice, as it is super.  I saw it in progress, and had to say that the puffs looked rather like downy bosoms (!) but now they're joined together, they look perfect.  Here's to more!

Round Robin

Unfortunately Di has been unable to send the Round Robin this month.  I have emailed as many people as possible, but in case you were missed out, here is the information.

1. We have arranged for PAT testing of electrical items to take place at the June meeting.  You can have your sewing machine(s), iron and extension leads tested for £1 per item.  Bring themalong to the meeting labelled with your name and they will be tested and ready to take home by the end of the session.

2.  Eunice from 'The Quarter Inch' in Harborough will be our trader, so make sure you bring your purse!

3. If you have any 'heart' items for the Quilters Guild tombola, don't forget to bring them along.

4. Debbie has 100 tickets for The Festival of Quilts at the NEC at the reduced price of £10 per ticket.  You can buy as many as you like - so long as you give her the money!

Lynda

May meeting

Unfortunately I missed the May meeting, where Pauline Barnes gave an interesting talk about threads and needles.  There were hardly any of her quilts (we quilters always like to see quilts!) as they were being exhibited elsewhere.  Shame.  Although Sian sent me lots of photos of the show and tell, life has got in the way, and I haven't managed to post them.  I've tried tonight, and either Blogger is messing me about or I need a technology update (either could be true!) so I'm sorry about that.
there were some lovely photos of wall hangings made at the April workshop with Pat Archibold.  Everyone had a great time and produced stunning work!

The workshop with Pauline was very stimulating.  It was about stitch techniques and possibilities, and the aim was to produce samples, rather then finished products.  Here is an example of using a decorative stitch and a variegated thread to make a solid block.

 

Here are different pintuck variations.

 

Some more pintucks and free motion stitches,

 

and here is a whole set of wonderful techniques!  Gorgeous!

Pat Archibald

This month's speaker, Pat Archibald also showed slides of her journeys, but she made it into a tutorial on how to use experiences and images as inspiration for quilts.  Here she is showing a piece which was inspired by North Africa.  The images are of people she met there, and look fabulous. 

 

 

Her quilts were stunning, and the descriptions she gave of her thought processes and the ways she worked were fascinating.  There had been a few cancellations for her subsequent workshop (due to illness and broken bones!) but these were quickly filled, once people could see her work.

 

Our show and tell was good too.  This quilt had been made for an elderly person, and beautifully quilted by Liz.  Good use of scrappy blocks here.

 

Coincidentally I brought a scrap quilt, Mile a Minute with Stars.  I look like I'm chewing on a wasp in the photo, but honestly, I was very pleased with it!

 

This is Di's quilt.  She was inspired by the scrappy trip blocks we made in January, and made all these blocks using the same colours in each.  She then used some fabric she'd bought in IKEA as alternate squares - perfect.  She'd also quilted it on her new Bernina - lovely!

 

Here is another one quilted by Liz, for Project Linus this time.  It is the quilt made at the Rocheberie Quilters Sewing day last year as a sample.  It is a very versatile block. 

 

Debbie was quite surprised when this quilt came up.  It was one she'd made a while ago, and she'd put it on the table to indicate where to put the show and tell!  The colours are beautiful.

 

 This is the second quilt that gaynor has made using this design.  The first one was to showcase the wonderful fabrics she brought back from a trip Down Under.  This one uses all kinds of feature fabrics.  She has made it as a present, but was feeling rather sad to let it go, as there were so many memories in the fabric collection.

 

This is another Linus quilt made by Jan.  There are some gorgeous penguins in some of the squares - sorry you can't see them!

 

Here are Judy and Rebecca's designs for this year's challenge.  Rebecca's is on the left, lines if vibrant colour.  Judy's two are on the right, and will make a matching quartet - can you see the yellow in the bottom corners in the middle?  This will unite all four blocks.  How clever is that!

The rose is easily recognisable as Rennie Mackintosh, and Elaine glibly said, 'Everyone's got one of these.'  Well, Elaine, I haven't, and I think your colour choices are very sophisticated.  The Welcome wallhanging is also Elaine's and was made from a kit.

 

This top had been made by Ruth from some old shirts which were being thrown out.  It shows how even humble fabrics and simple patterns can made a lovely quilt.

 

Here are Ruth's challenge quilts.  For 'squares' she has used the squares to show Australian road signs,

 

and for circles, Thai calligraphy, spelling the words Thailand and Phuket.  Clever interpretation of the themes.

 

This is Ruth's too.  The piece she made in the Janice Gunnar workshop last month.  The colours are perfect to suggest Australia.

 

And here are some photos from the workshop Pat conducted the following day.

 

 

Everyone is listening intently to the many words of wisdom.

 

Here is Pat showing her sample for this workshop.

 

I think this another of Pat's pieces.  Very atmospheric.

 

And I'm guessing these are the results of the day.  Wow!