I need your input!

I am appealing to all my blogging friends out there to give me a hand, in my last post I was working on a colour-wash project which I planned to finish work on today, however the next step is to arrange and sew lots masses of 1" swatches into strips in a colour wash design. Trouble is I am by my own admission not very good with colour-wash, I have shown it to DH but its Saturday which means its Cricket and he's going out, so not much help there and he's usually so helpful! Therefore I would so love your help, I just need to know if I have the 'colour- washy' thing about right I know it won't be perfect as I have a limited amount of fabric samples left which seem to be more of the same! Will you help? Here is a picture of what I have done so far - I would much appreciate your thoughts before I sit and sew them all together

Lorraine

Celebration! New Shop

Hi,

Back again as I just have to share the news, we have a new quilt shop in Bristol, called Poppy Patchwork and it can be found online at www.poppypatchwork.co.uk  if you are near enough to visit then it's at 71, Westbury Hill Westbury on Trym, Bristol. BS9 2LR.

I haven't been yet but it's great news. Up till now my nearest shop has been about an hour's drive away in one direction and 45 minutes in the other, now some of you may think that's not far but when you add the cost of fuel and what can turn into a 1/2 day trip it soon mounts up. After all if you run out of a special  fabric you need in the middle of a sewing session you can't just nip to the quilt shop can you? So why haven't I been I hear you ask, well with the New England trip only just over 2 months away ...Whooo Hoo!!! :-))))) I  am saving all my hard earned cash to SPEND! SPEND! SPEND! while I'm stateside.

We are beginning to sort out a few details, like spending the night before the flight in London so we don't miss the plane, then today I sorted the Travel Insurance (don't they ever ask a lots of questions?) still better safe than sorry I think.

I've been busy on the sewing front and  have finished two UFO's in the last couple of weeks I'm on a roll and have made a start on the next one.... my finished projects are the Silk Trapunto cushion and a Christmas 

Stained Glass wall-hanging.

 Now it's the turn of a colour-wash workshop started at Westbury park Quilter's about 2 years ago. The workshop was run by Lynne Quinn a well known local quilter & tutor(See some of her work on my 2nd Malvern post) we used fabric samples to make a grid of squares graded light to dark across a 5 1/2" square grid and then Bond-a-webbed them in place once they were secure we cut out a drawn a shape which was rotated 190 degrees and replaced in the centre as below

over the next few days I continued making more squares until I had 6 different colours with 6 different geometric shapes in them, I'm not sure I got the colour-wash technique quite right but they are OK I think?

At the workshop we were given the instructions to make a small wall-hanging but the squares then got put aside while I started another more pressing project (as you do) so yesterday while looking for something else (also as you do!) I found the squares and decided this was next. So far I've decided to put them all the same way up i.e. light corners at bottom right, added Black sashing and a black border, I am so fired up with enthusiasm right now I hope to finish it this week end, here it is so far.

Well that's all for today DH has gone to the Cricket Club to attend the unveiling of a memorial to a President of the club who lost his life to cancer in December 2010,  I don't know what time he'll be back but I think it's time for my 'Jammies' to go on while I eat a TV dinner.

See you all soon

Lorraine

Setting the record straight

 I got my facts wrong in yesterdays post The pictures of Trudy and the other SVQ member were NOT showing pieces from Helen Keenans workshop they were from a workshop with Jenny Lester on Stack & Whack with an insert! so sincere Apologies all round to both ladies and to Jenny & Helen for mixing them up.
Lorraine

Severn Valley Quilters May Meeting

Hello there,

Just thought of a new way to blog!!!  I still feel like a newbie blogger and often think I'm getting it wrong somewhere, so I wondered what I could do to make things easier, so far I when I write posts I have sooo much to put on I forget half of it. Then last night (well around 3a.m. actually :-O) I had a EUREKA moment and thought 'why don't I do bits and pieces as they occur, if it's only a small piece I can save it to drafts and then publish when I have enough' Can't think why I didn't think of this before.

Last night was Severn Valley Quilters meeting which I was looking forward to, our Speaker was Sandi Lush Quilter extraordinaire (www.sandielush.co.uk) who makes the most beautiful whole-cloth quilts, her talk entitled 'Old Cloth to New Cloth' was the story of how she became a whole-cloth quilter, she showed us lots of lovely slides but towards the end of the talk she produced some quilts which she passed around, :-))) and one or two others which we could look at but not touch! Here is a picture of her with her Finale 'Tarian Aur' or 'Golden Shield'. (If you are wondering what is holding up the other corner it's her Hubby! ) I have had the pleasure of knowing Sandi for many years, and she was one of the first people I met at SVQ.

Now for a few from Show 'n' tell

This is Jane being helped by Sheila showing us her 1st Quilt,  made for her Daughter who is getting married later this year.

Here is Hilary one of our newer Members with her Sampler Quilt.

Trudy with 2 cushions made following the day workshop run by Jennie Lester last month on 'Stack & Whack with an Insert'

And Win, one of our long standing members, with a Baltimore panel cushion made at one of Sandi's workshops.

That's all for today more soon.

Byeee!

Malvern Part 2

Hello,

Thought you might like to see some more pictures from my 2nd visit to Malvern, the weather was lovely and Harriet and I arrived nice and early so we were able to get some good views of the quilts.

Firstly my commiserations to Leigh (The Sewing Diva, one of my followers) who left a comment on one of my  earlier posts to say she would be at Malvern on Saturday too! What an opportunity to meet! I thought and got in touch inviting her to meet me at the show, then on Friday I got an email to say she had injured her back and would not be able to come along, I was disappointed but hope she has made a good recovery and that her injury is not keeping her from her sewing.  

Secondly my hearty congratulations to Pippa Moss  who received rosettes for both her entries, I have been following her blog and recently made a 'bell block' for a quilt she is making to go on show at the N.E.C. and subsequently to be sent to Christchurch in New Zealand. see her blog for further details

(www.welshquilts.blogspot.com).

Now for those 'Piccies', I will put in a brief description taken from the show catalogue with each one.

Firstly one of Harriet just after we arrived,  taking a photo of Bare Necessities' (shown at the bottom of the post.) all I heard from her all day was 'WOW!!!' and Look at that, must take a picture' guess you could say she is truly hooked :-)))
She has requested to make a quilt with Cup Cakes on soI bought her some fabrics to start that with. It was quite refreshing to 'see' the quilts from a 13 year old's point of view as she liked quilts that I assumed she would not be interested in!






Next Pippa's quilts,

This one is 'New Allendale Quilt',  which is based on a pattern from an old quilt found in a house clearance, as stunning wholecloth which has to be one of my favourites. Bed Quilt - Received Judges Merit for Hand Quilting.

This is 'Kavi o Na Molo Kama', based on the pattern of an old quilt from Honolulu. Hand Appliqued & Hand Quilted. Bed Quilt Received Judges Merit for Hand Quilting.

This is  a small wall hanging by Stephanie Short entitled 'The Wildlife Patch' inspired by her garden. Dyed & painted fabric, Hand Applique with free machine embroidery & quilting and free machined Ferns. Sorry! I can't remember what the rosette was for!

This is a close up of the bottom left corner I wanted to pick the flowers and stroke the cat, loved the Heron too, a nice touch!

'Brave Men's Blood' by Patricia McLaughlin. the detail on here was truly stunning and anyone who has seen  the film 'Zulu,' knew in an instance where and on what it was based. Made as a Thank you for her Husband's help & support during 15 years of travelling, teaching and talking as a quilt artist. Drawings made from Hubby's Photographs, hand painted & dyed fabrics with machine embroidery & quilting.












Next some Journal Quilts that took my eye, all  Journal Quilts were in pairs and judged accordingly. I posted a general view of them last time but these are some of the ones I liked most.

These are L-R Sculptured Stone & 'Mossy Stone' by Vicki Mitchell, inspired by the Stone of Scone. Runner Up Rosette

 'Mermaid' & 'Moon Dancer'  by Patricianne Jones.
A process of  doodles and sketches in fabric, fibres, threads and beads

Who can resist 'The Pea Green Boat' (Prow) by Birgitta Debenham? Silk & Cotton which has been machine pieced and quilted with Hand embroidery. Runner Up Rosette.
Don't you just love the expressions on their faces?

'The Pea Green Boat' (Stern)

'The Elements' by The Lofty Quilters. Derived from a Challenge to make a hanging from an old blanket, which was divided into strips, dyed and embellished on the theme of the four elements. I had to take these in two parts as I could not fit them all in one shot.The first four are the l/h side, the other three were on the right.

 and the last 2 - this is 'Bare Necessities' by Mary Woods
(this is the quilt 'H' was photographing in the 1st picture.)
made as a present for the maker's Grand-daughter. A bright fun quilt which was causing a lot of smiles!

One from the Miniature Category, 'Sweet Dreams' by Margaret Morris. Hand applique using mostly cotton fabrics, with 90 hand cut hexagons on the bed quilt. Machine & Hand quilted plus embroidery. Inspired by Children's books. This was a real treat if you like miniatures, the detail was amazing, right down to a teeny tiny Bra & stockings on the bed end. I loved it!! :-))))

I have many more pictures in my data base but there is a limit don't you think?
'H' and I left the show, two tired but very happy quilters after a good day out!
See you next time
L

Malvern Quilt Show

Hi There,
Its about 2.30am here and I am having another sleepless night, so I though what better way to pass the time than talking to you folks out there and sharing some pictures of quilts, especially as my last post was a quilt free zone.Today Well yesterday actually, I went to the Show at Malvern and had a super day, there were sooo many quilts to see and of course it was very inspiring, I just wanted to come home and go straight into the workroom but common sense prevailed and I cooked tea instead (which was not inspired so I ended up with Pasta!!)
We promised ourselves we would not buy any fabrics :-( preffering to wait till we go 'Stateside' in September.... but Well! you know how it is? we succumbed, but only a little :-)))) I bought a pack of FQ's and a bag pattern, I just have to have a new bag to take to New England.... Don't I??,  one of those 'rotating' rotary cutting boards for me and one for Clock Tower Quilters and a 24" x 4" ruler, both to add to the Group Equipment, plus we bought sashing, backing and wadding for a quilt we are both working on but more of that later on. So you see we were very quite restrained really.
I am going to the show again on Saturday when I will be taking Harriet to visit her 1ST QUILT SHOW, I am really looking forward to seeing the quilts through the eyes of a 13 year old, and I hope she will be inspired by what she sees. ALSO I have made plans to meet up with one of my followers which will be really good, I will let you know how it all goes and add some more pictures next time
See you all soon, Bye for nowLorraine

 Here are the pictures - Some of them are a bit lopsided as there was such a crush of visitors it was difficult to stand in front of some of the quilts but I hope you enjoy them anyway. .

Group Quilt - 'Picnic in the Park' by Clifton Quilters.

Large Wall Hanging - 'A Future & A Hope' by Lynne Quinn. Bristol

Cot Quilt - 'Lily's Zoo' by Lynne Quinn. Bristol

Bed Quilt - 'All Dolled Up' by Valerie Coupland. of Salisbury, Wilts.

Journal Quilts by various makers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Miniature Quilt 'The Lights of Home' by Pamela Bradley. Eccleshall, Staffs.

I'm going for a walk, will you join me?

Hello everyone,

Today I thought you may like to take a walk with me, when Ted went home, I decided to still walk each day as I so enjoyed the time on my own, and now I use it to get  my thoughts together for the day (and get fit at the same time!). Today I took the camera, so you can join me on my journey. The fields are a minute down the road from my house, some days I have to climb a gate (kept locked at night). This is the first view of the field,  I have come through a 2nd gate onto the track which I  will follow, the time is 7.15am with clear blue skies and no wind.

 At the first corner the track bends left and a stand of trees comes into view, the birdsong is louder here as there are now no houses around, over the hedge to my right I can hear lambs which were born in  early April they are now eating grass and moving further away from the ewes as their confidence increases, the land dips away down the hill and I continue on...

...at this point I can clearly see the track left by Foxy as he goes about his nightly business and heads across to the opposite hedge, probably on his way to the lake on the Golf course where there are geese, or possibly he cuts back to the cemetery to look for find rabbits or mice, I do hope they see him coming! Sometimes at night we see a fox in the garden around the house, may be it's the same fox?

 I have walked out around the rough ground beneath the stand of trees now just behind me, the only blot on the landscape at this point is the constant hum whine of a mobile telephone mast, erected despite strong protest, but as I look to my left the landscape opens out to a lovely view down the hill towards Thornbury (our nearest town, complete with castle and a long history!)....

...I think this is my favorite part of the journey and I take in the sights of the countryside that I have enjoyed for most of my life,  this field was once a  meadow and a  place I came to come almost every day throughout the year with school-friends. In spring there were Bluebells, Primroses, and many other wildflowers, and a pond where we always found Tadpoles... in Summer we picked wildflowers for our Mum's, the Autumn brought blackberries and Hazel nuts in the hedgerows, and in  winter we brought sledges and threw snowballs!

This is the bottom of the hill where I could go out onto the road and walk home that way, but I prefer to stay in the field, so I will turn left and stay at the edge of the field just inside the hedge, no track or path there and the ground is rough, I need to pick my way carefully, there is the sound of traffic below me on the road, all those people off to work in their cars (Poor things!) while I am out here looking at sunbeams which pour through some tall trees just to my right, there are wild flowers around the edge of the field, Buttercups Pig Parsley and Vetch (or Ragged Robins) in abundance among the long grass and spider webs glisten with  dew.

Across the other side, I use the Public footpath which takes me back up the hill, you can see the stand of trees that I passed earlier at the top left of the picture. I hear early golfers on the Golf course the other side of this Hawthorn hedge to my right. The path looks steep but there is plenty to look at and it's easy walking, Sometimes if I have been to Thornbury by bus and the weather is dry I walk back along this path.

Nearly home now this is  the path alongside the Cemetery further up and I can see through the hedge into the Golf Course....

 ...nearly at the end of the path and I look up through the huge old Oak Tree which local children still use as a place for a rope swing, just the way I did with my friends, and there is still a 'secret den' at the base!....

....and finally I have reached my starting point, this is the view from the Gate (where I climbed over), I pause for one last look back at the Oak tree, it's 7.30ish and time to head up the road to home for a nice cuppa and some breakfast before I get on with the 'business' of the day, I've decided while walking to start my pennant today (to be sent off to 'Quilts For London') the Chairman's Challenge set by Sheila at SVQ, so I'll show you how that's going next time.

Hmmm! I wonder if  DH is up yet?  If not, I may take him some tea or perhaps I'll let him sleep and enjoy some more quiet time, you know the old saying about waking up grumpy but then deciding to let him sleep!! :-))) I hope you have enjoyed your virtual walk in my neck of the woods.

Till next time be good and have fun. 

Lorraine

Hello Again Hello!

Who is it that sings that? I have this song going round & round in my head for days now and can't think for the life of me who recorded it.

It's been a couple of weeks since I posted but now I am returned, I have been quite busy of late working (Yes! you heard right - working!!) I was offered 8 full days work (8.45am - 5pm.) by the local government sending out and opening returned postal votes and as a count assistant at the close of the election, the days were spread out over both bank holidays and I thoroughly enjoyed it. On election day the count continued until 3am so last Friday I felt completely 'Hung over'  from lack of sleep. I left DH with explicit instructions not to wake me but DD had other ideas and forgetting I had been out all night sent a text at 8am, of course being me, my phone was right there next to the bed. So having woken I got up BIG MISTAKE - HUGE, by lunchtime I was hanging, to the point of not being able to be bothered to cook, so DH & I took ourselves to the local hostelry for a meal.
On the whole it was nice to be up and out in the morning wearing my 'office' clothes (which now fit due to my success at Slimming World!) and spending the day with around 30/40 other people and all their chatter.

On Wednesday 27th it was Severn Valley Quilters meeting, this month was our annual 'Skills Night' when usually 4 or 5 members demonstrate a particular skill or technique, this time we did it a little differently in that we only had 3 demonstrations and everyone could make a little sample if they wished. This year we took part in making an easy Bow Tie Block with Joan, made a felt Chrysanthemum with Joyce and Carys showed us how to cover Clothes Line/Cord with fabric strips to make bowls/ baskets. Tea/coffee was available throughout instead of at 9pm and it seems to have been a great success with everyone.

It will be Westbury Park Quilters on Monday when Helen Keenan (Quilt Artist & Teacher helenkeenan.co.uk/home.) will give her talk entitled 'Colour Works' then on Wednesday there is an S.V.Q. sewing afternoon to attend, I will be continuing to work on some of my UFO's as I have promised myself to actually finish some of them this year!

I will be going along to Malvern Show twice this year, on Thursday 19th with my good friend Sheila then again on  21st when I plan to take Harriet, she was off school when I went in the Autumn and was so disappointed not to be allowed to come, so I promised she could come to the Spring show, I am going to try NOT to buy any fabric as I would like to wait till I go to New England in September but we all know that will be difficult  Nay! impossible. Harriet will have some birthday money to spend so perhaps I can concentrate on that.
Well for the past 15 minutes I have been trying to upload some pictures to show you but my system is having none of it today so guess you will have to wait till next time.
Bye for now
Lorraine