Linus evening

As the Leicester coordinator for Project Linus, I'm always delighted to organise a sewing evening.  I try to find a simple yet effective technique which people may not have tried before, and I think I succeeded this time! 

We made strippy snowball blocks (an idea taken from Styart Hillard's recent book '100 scrap quilts').  Strips are joined together and then cut into a 10.5" square.  Corners are added using a stitch and flip technique, and that's all there is to it!  

This table had blue strips, and we're aiming for something like the 'Blue Peter hanging from the notice board. 

This group also had blue strips, and worked very hard. 

This is the pink table.  You can see that the corners were alternately bright pink and white, forming a pinwheel where the blocks meet. Stuart had sashed his blocks, but I liked the pinwheels to stand alone. 

Last table had red, grey and black.  This colour combination is great for an older child. 

At the same time, there was a table top sale. Lots of bargains to be had here! 

Of course, the whole evening was a great chance for socialising and catching up with the latest gossip! 

It was lovely to see June up and about, albeit quite slowly! 

The raffle was pin striped fabric and pins!  Great fun! 

Here are the evenings results.  I reckon sixteen blocks are enough for a Linus quilt, and this group are only two short!  The black and white pinwheels will really add pizzazz! 

The pink group managed enough blocks for a quilt. Looking good! 

The two blue groups made enough blocks for one and a half quilts.  There were plenty of strips left over, so we'll finish both soon. 

Show and tell started with my rainbow quilt. This is another good use of scraps. 

Another one of my Linus quilts, this time using small scraps! 

This is a Mile A Minute quilt with added hearts.  I think the hearts add a whimsical touch. 

Here are some of the quilts made at the recent Pat Archibald workshop.  Don't they look fabulous!

And here is another quilt made at Textend's Pat Archibald workshop.  What beautiful colours! 

Paula has been using the Accuquilt cutter to make some cute Linus quilts. Here are lions. 

Here are cars, big and small. 

And here are giraffes with other animals.  These will certainly be appreciated by their future owners. 

Chris had also been making Linus quilts.  Sorry this is a bit fuzzy. 

This one is Chris's too, made from leftovers from a quilt she made for her grandson.  Such a clever arrangement of different elements which all work so well together! 

I would like to say a big thank you to all those who helped made the evening such a success.  I hope everyone enjoyed the evening, and look forward to putting the blocks together! 

Pat Archibald

The meeting was not on our usual third Thursday, as we had heard that another local group was planning a workshop with the talented Pat, who lives in Edinburgh, and we grabbed the opportunity to book her while she was in the area.  This meant we could share Pat's travel costs and make it much more accessible for us. 

Here she is with one of her quilts.  Her talk was about how to use travel as an inspiration for your work, and while her main presentation was by PowerPoint, she had brought the quilts with her, so we could see and enjoy them in actuality.m

Her use of colour was inspiring, as was her sharing the process of designing her quilts, from initial idea, through drawings, paint and fabric choices.  Fascinating. 

June was able to come and stay for the speaker, and her raffle theme was The Village Green.  A very appropriate subject for this time of year.  The prizes were green fabric, floral fabric and toning thread.  

Shoes and tell started with Linus quilts.  Jan is a master of using up scraps, and this one is bright and cheerful. 

This is another of Jan's, linked by the brown crosses. 

Di had been very busy making some gorgeous prem baby quilts.  Here is a blue one and a green and yellow one, both with the cute teddy motif in the middle. 

Here are two pink ones.  I can't decide which one I like the most! 

Edith is making a blue quilt, and found she had quite a bit left over.  How kind of her to make the excess fabric into this classic blue and cream Linus quilt!  You can't go wrong with blue and cream.

Chris has made this dog quilt for a dog!  She cut the dogs using an Accuquilt cutter and was delighted at how quickly it came together.  Let's hope the recipient appreciates it! 

This is Di's king sized quilt for a relative.  The blocks are log cabin, arranged in the barn raising design. Stunning! 

This is a first quilt!  (I wish my first quilt looked like this!) It's for a very lucky grandchild.  Great colours. 

This tour de force was made by Hazel.  It's called Heirloom, and it certainly deserves to be one.  The border is a flock of butterflies, which sets the design off beautifully. 

This quilt is an example of what we will be making at the next meeting in June. It's a Stuart Hillard design, and great for using up scraps.  We'll be using donated fabric to make blocks like this for Project Linus.  If you want to take part, bring a sewing machine, rotary cutter, mat and ruler (if you have a square ruler more than 10.5" it would be useful) between two people and get ready to sew! 

Something for everyone!

This month's meeting featured the lovely Hilary Jackson!  She was the perfect speaker for our group, as Paula said, "there was something for everyone!"  There were traditional quilts, appliquéd quilts, prize winning quilts, modern quilts, wall hangings, grunge and contemporary pieces.  A whole feast of inspiration! 

Here she is in front of one of her fabulous pieces - lots of lime green, what's not to like! 

Her contemporary pieces attracted a lot of attention, and were well worth a close inspection. 

She was generous enough to let people examine all her other work too - and we took full advantage of the opportunity! 

Despite the fact that June has recently had a back operation and is still recuperating, she managed to come and run the raffle (with a little help from her son!) and this month's theme was the lily pond, complete with chocolate frog!  Thank you, June. 

Show and tell started with this lovely quilt, probably for someone called ..... Alex? 

Jan wanted to try out this scallop stitch on her machine, to see if it was good for quilting.  I would say a very successful outcome! 

Last month Linda Forey ran a workshop on New York Beauty which was very much enjoyed.  Here is one of the results. 

Here is a New York Beauty bag. 

And Maria used her blocks for the front of a block book, 

And the back of a block book.  

This Liz's quilt which she entered into Uttoxeter.  (I voted it my favourite quilt in the show, but I don't think it won.  Shame. ) 

This scrap quilt was made from strips and strings. Lovely. 

Paula used much the same technique to make this Linus quilt.  I love the quilting in the borders. 

And here is a blue version of the same design.  

Jacquie made these flower blocks quilt as you go. 

This is the back to prove it. 

I made these cute dollies.  They are multicultural and all shapes and sizes.  No discrimination in this quilt!  They were fun to make. 

This design was chosen 'because it was quick'!  Apparently the pieces were bought ready cut, as the maker thought this would speed things up.  Unfortunately the accuracy of the pieces left much to be desired, and lead to a fair amount of unpicking and fudging, making the whole thing not as speedy as had been hoped.  Still, the final result is gorgeous, so all's well that ends well! 

And lastly, here's Chris's beautiful daisy quilt.  Looks perfect on the blue background. Well done, all. 

March meeting

I was away in February, and forgot to ask someone to take photos.  I hear that the name badge workshop went very well, and was sorry to miss it.  I was glad to be at the March meeting, as I had met Linda Forey a while ago ( at a party at my brother's!) and was looking forward to seeing her again. 

Here she is, with her water on hand - she was recovering from a cold.  She was a lovely speaker, full of fun, and had an impressive set of quilts.  She was a self confessed competition enterer, and had won lots of them!  It's no wonder, with the standard of her work.  It was innovative and very skillful.  

Lots of people wanted to see her work in close up after her talk, and she was kind enough to allow people to handle her quilts. 

Here is her New York Beauty quilt, a taster for the workshop she ran the next day.  This was a huge success, and this fabulous technique was thoroughly demystified. 

June couldn't be with us, as she has had an operation on her back.  (I hear she is recovering nicely, but gradually.  We send her our best wishes. )  Thank you to her husband, Ed and her son who filled in for her, and here are the raffle prizes.  The 'game' is the chocolate rabbits!  Such fun! 

Show and tell started with a bang, with Janet's 'Down the Rabbit hole' designed by Sarah Fielke.  This is a fabulous quilt in beautiful colours.  I know other Piecemakers members are making this quilt, so look forward to more versions of it. 

Here are two sweet baby quilts.  Effective ways of using a print and keeping it out with plain fabrics. 

This is a beautiful bright quilt using up lots of different fabrics.  

Paula started this quilt in 2015 when we had our 15 Challenge.  She made the fifteen butterflies, but that's as far as it went.  The next year she made one more, but again, that's as far as it went.  This year she put them all together into this gorgeous quilt! Well done! 

Here is a scrappy Mile A Minute quilt, with the blocks cut in half and arranged in a zig zag.  I think it looks fun. 

This is a Linus quilt which has been made from a set of donated blocks. The hearts had been made by quilters from the UK, USA and Australia, probably in some kind of a swap.  They work well together. 

This is a rather blurred photo of my En Provence, designed by Bonnie Hunter.  The colours represent the lavender and sunflowers of the South of France.  I love the way it floats on the cream border.  Bonnie does a free mystery quilt each year in November, and if you're interested, look at her blog, quiltville.com. 

This is Gloria's '365 Challenge Quilt'.  The challenge was that there was a new block pattern every day for a year!  (I started this challenge, but only lasted till January 25th and then gave up!)  this quilt is fabulous, and I hope Gloria is suitably proud of herself! 

Here is a very clever baby quilt.  Lots to look at here. 

And here is a taster for Linda Forey's New York Beauty workshop.  Some New York Beauty blocks made into a beautiful bag!