Getting to know Auntie
Welcome back to the
second part of my story.
By the time I had
taken my retirement, I had begun to buy fabric wholesale to sell online and set
up my own website shop at www.englishquilter.co.uk
Needless to say, I
had quite a bit of stock to play with in addition to my personal stash – it is
amazing how it grows isn’t it?! So I was quite prolific in producing quilt
tops. Like so many of you, I found the process of layering a large quilt such a
chore and I couldn’t see myself crawling round the floor with hundreds of safety pins in the years to come.
(Okay, maybe I was justifying the
idea of frame system to myself.)
I can’t seem to stop
myself making big quilts and the last one I did on my Bernina was this
‘Compass’ quilt with the Storm at Sea wavy border. It was as much as I could
do to quilt straight lines out from the centre.
(Interestingly, I made
the whole border first as a complete piece and then had to appliqué it onto the
centre).
That was probably
the last straw and I resolved to visit The Cotton Patch in Birmingham to test
drive the Handiquilter Avanté 18. I was sold on it before I walked through the
door, in truth, but the staff there were great and there was no pressure to buy.
I signed on the dotted line and arranged to have it installed by their engineer
Alan, as it had to go up in the loft. After sleepless nights wondering how it
would fit through the hatch, I had a friend on standby with a rope and tackle.
But when it came to it, Alan just slung it on his shoulder and waltzed up the
ladder with it! He got it up and running beautifully, gave me a demo and left
me to it. Here she is – I call her Auntie!
Then my real panic
set in – it was such a large investment - what if I was no good at it? I had a
few small quilt tops to practise on, but I knew I needed to do lots and lots to gain my
confidence. So I gingerly suggested to my friends that I could do some of their
UFOs, provided they weren’t too precious and I had a fair few takers! I also did
a batch of charity quilts that the ladies at Studio Quilters in Borehamwood had
made to send to an orphanage in Africa. I really got stuck in and before long I
was attempting feathers and all sorts! I quickly realised that I needed to start with
simple shapes and then build on them. They weren’t perfect, of course, but I
was having so much fun! Here is one of my early experiments with curved rulers.
As my confidence
grew, so did that of my friends, who were now entrusting me with some of their
lovely pieces to quilt. Here are just a
couple:
Pieced by Valerie Jefferies
Pieced by Jean Smith
I found that the all-purpose quilting favourite ‘stippling’ design (or vermicelli) just didn’t work
well for me. Somehow my brain doesn’t seem to work that way and it doesn’t feel
natural. So rather than struggle with something I didn’t like, I tried other
styles and focused on improving the things I enjoyed.
YouTube was a real
boon – there are so many excellent artists out there who have so generously shared
their skills in videos. I learned so much from them and very soon I was achieving
results I never believed I was capable of.
I love piecing and
finishing quilts of my own and I get just as much pleasure in helping my
friends finish theirs. They are such a talented bunch, though they won’t admit
it. I am lucky to have the benefit of a machine which gives me the scope to
quilt better, but I am just as much in awe of their skills when it comes to
embroidery, design and artistry. Between us we’ve produced some pretty special
quilts.
'Outside the Box'
'Scrappy Baskets'
'Sampler' (For Lesley)
Last year saw a
major milestone as I entered my first quilt in the Festival of Quilts at the
NEC. My Scrappy Stars quilt was the result of over a year’s work (between other
projects). I designed a different layout for a set of star blocks which were
featured in a Block of the Month pattern called Jackleberries Quilt by White
Country Cottage Crafts. I added a border inspired by Edyta Sitar’s Flea Market
Treasure Quilt. It was so wonderful to
see it hanging alongside so many fabulous quilts in a major exhibition.
And best of all last year, I was commissioned to make a
wedding guestbook quilt for my oldest friend’s daughter Claire and her lovely
husband Tom. I gathered signatures on the day, on patches of calico, which I
pieced together (in the shape of a heart) to make the backing. Then I set about designing, piecing and
quilting the top. Claire had chosen my prettiest fabric and it was a real
labour of love to make it and give it to them.
This year has
been just as busy, so far. I’ve taken on some challenging UFO’s to complete for
a couple of ladies who had started hand-piecing these projects several decades ago. I
admire anyone who can do that much hand sewing (something I’ve studiously
avoided). How nice to see them finally finished!
As always, I’ve got
a hundred and one ideas and projects on the go. Next time I will share a sneak
preview of my ‘Four in One’ quilt......
Until then – Happy Quilting!
Janet
We had hoped to have more quilts to display from other members of Connecting Threads Patchwork and
Quilting Group, but there were only a couple, so I had to ‘pad out’ the exhibition
with some of my own and several more I had picked up from Studio Quilters the
day before. We were keen to sell some of these in support of the NSPCC – but no
takers unfortunately. Still, it made for an interesting diversion for the
visitors, even though some of them were rather bemused as to what we are all
about. One gentleman came in, looked at the quilts on the wall and asked “Are
they screen-printed?” 
We may do better at
the NSPCC Christmas Fair at Allum Hall in November. Perhaps if it had rained again,
more people would have come indoors to see us – but as it turned out, the Great
British weather was a good deal kinder for the event this year, than last. A
good time was had by all and the entrance fees, cake sales and other
contributions made it a very successful event. Hats off to Ann and Norman
Shuker for hosting this event at their beautiful house. 
