Sunday, 25 November 2018

French General Feathers

And that Sea of Colour ...



This one was always going to be fun to quilt. Another 'French General' red and beige creation by Janet S. Although I am not a fan of red for myself, the particular palette, slightly faded look and classic designs of French General fabrics are just sumptuous. The simple (but perfect) piecing - all half square triangle units - makes this quilt all the more attractive. Look at those gorgeous points!
This is the third in a series of similar quilts that Janet has made and she actually uses them as curtains - how lovely!
She has just dropped off a 'big one' which will push my frame to its limits. But once I have it loaded the feathers will be flowing again. It is so freeing!



Earlier in the week I put the finishing touches to this first ever quilt made by the lovely Pat, one of the ladies in my class at Borehamwood. I am so proud of her!



More red and beige but with a slightly different style of feathers this time.





Meanwhile, my remake of the Tree of Life is coming along nicely, although this minor mishap today was my cue to call it a day this evening!


And as promised, here a few shots of those wonderful Sew a Row quilts which we showed at Connecting Threads last week before sending them off to Project Linus.

















Happy Quilting Everyone!
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Friday, 16 November 2018

Sew A Row Project

My Own Version Revealed ...




And One For Project Linus!

In all the excitement of our Christmas / 20th Birthday celebration evening at Connecting Threads last night, I didn't get an opportunity to take a picture of the 20 or so quilts we had created in our group 'Sew a Row' project, before they were whisked off by a very happy and grateful Hertfordshire Co-ordinator for Project Linus. (I will post one taken by someone else when I can.) They were magnificent -  a sea of colour and all so different, detailed and imaginative!

We started this project in January, and it took 7 months to make our rows, swap them around the group and then assemble them into quilts before the 'Big Reveal'. 












Each month's row had a given theme; Houses, Trees, Animals, Vehicles, Boats, Beach and Stars. We could choose what ever style and method we liked, within certain size constraints and had to try to incorporate fabrics from previous rows and add some of our own. 
Then each month the bags were passed around (under wraps) for someone to add the next row, until finally we got back the one we started, to finish it all off.
I was so inspired by the concept that I decided to make this version of my own alongside it, but in my choice of fabrics. I must have been inspired to cut into some of my Edyta Sitar blues that were still in their cellophane! So each month I made the row for the exchange and duplicated it for my own quilt.



These were my trees for month 2 to be added to these brightly coloured houses. 


Here is my blue version. (See how I couldn't resist adding just a blush of pink here and there!)



My interpretation of the 'Animal' row were these 'Edyta' inspired birds on a vine. Inspiration struck me again (when I should really have been sleeping!) to use them as a border all round on my version. 


The row I found hardest to design was the 'Beach' row. Everyone else made incredibly imaginative beach scenes with all sorts of things going on. By contrast, my sea shells were very simple.


A row of 5 of these went into the quilt completed by Jean Smith.





I had to wait for my long arm machine to be serviced before I could quilt this one (as well as installing the Micro Handles). As you can see, I really gave her a run for her money!


I wasn't the only person to make 2 quilts, but I did feel a bit guilty for keeping one for myself!!
But if my colourful strippy scrap quilt doesn't sell in aid of NSPCC at their Christmas Craft Sale at Allum Hall in Borehamwood on Sunday 18th November (10.30 am to 3.30pm), I will donate that one  to Project Linus.


Project Linus UK is a volunteer organisation. They aim to provide a sense of security and comfort to sick and traumatised babies, children and teenagers through the provision of new home made patchwork quilts and knitted blankets, and give volunteers across the UK the opportunity to contribute to their local community. Visit their website for more details: http://projectlinusuk.org.uk/



 Happy Quilting Everyone!
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Friday, 2 November 2018

Scrap Strip Spectacular!

Colourful enough? And that's just the back!


I've been so busy lately with projects of my own and quilting for all you talented ladies out there, that my first 'flimsy' of the year kept getting overlooked and pushed to the bottom of the pile. 




This was the 'quilt in a day' project that I designed for Studio Quilters in January. Using my stash of 5 inch strip squares (sewn over phonebook paper) and a number of plain black and white squares, everyone was given a row to assemble. Then we put them all together and produced this rather interesting top. 



Now I have finally got around to quilting it and pondered over what to use for the backing. Well I had so many of the strip squares left, I ended up piecing together another 144 to make probably my most colourful quilt ever! It was another chance to play with circles, but I think I was trying too hard. Whenever I got to a plain white or black square, where it really showed, I wobbled!! But it is such a busy quilt, (I estimate 1500 pieces front and back), hopefully no one will notice. 





I hope to have it bound in time for the NSPCC sale at Allum Hall which is only a couple of weeks away - where has this year gone?!


Happy Quilting Everyone!
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www.englishquilter.co.uk