ACQ EXHIBITION - 2012

Our group's exhibition this year being Jubilee year was given the theme of Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend. It was our 5th exhibition and our most successful to date breaking all our personal goals and raising a grand total of £2,720 which is being donated to Marie Curie Cancer Care.

We are lucky that the hall we use to sew in has a stage and this becomes the focus of our exhibition and we dress it according to the theme. Kate was in charge of this and decided that it would be a street party with diamond quilts as backdrops. It looked amazing when it was up. Star quilt is by Kate. Please note the beautiful diamond hexie quilt below. Ahem! they were just pinnned to the backcloth.

All the items on the party table were fabric (apart from the jubilee tea cakes from M&S), yes, even the mugs and that glass of juice. The gala pie slices looked good enough to eat.

Royal Crown Ranson ( all made by Kate) brought out specially for the occasion, limited edition. The cakes on the cake stand were fab as were the quilt sandwiches. Jammy dodger looks good enough to eat too.

View of the stage from the other direction. The large black white and red quilt is by Sarah Covey and the lovely quilt on the left is by Janet Kittow and it won a much deserved Viewers Choice ribbon. The stage was festooned with bunting borrowed from Corfe Quilters and the ends were anchored down to sewing machines, one from the 50's and the other end from the latest model.

A section of a quilt by Annette Peters. Loved the colours.

Juliet selling raffle tickets. The quilt was donated to Marie Curie Cancer Care and offered to us to raffle. It was a large quilt and the first quilt that this lady had made. Sorry, do not have the lady's name. It was won by a lady from Corfe Quilters.

This was my personal favourite. Just loved the gentleness of it and would love to own this one. Pretty, pretty please Ann Eckley!!!

A UFO by yours truly and I will finish it. Displayed in a quilt frame. My husband came to collect me at the end of the first day and on walking past this quilt he ran his hand over the top of it and said "this is nice". Bless, it was a long time since he had seen it and had forgotten it was mine.

Janet doing an amazing job at the raffle.  Every prize a bag and there were some fabulous ones. Some came away with more than their fair share - Sarah Covey!!! The bunting was made by Pat Sumner.

Sue Ford visiting from Corfe Quilters. Corfe were very generous in their help with setting up their amazing new quilt frames and items for display. Thank you ladies (and gents ).

Loved the prettiness of this quilt by Emma Kirkpatrick. Emma is the daughter of Ann Eckley. Talented mum and daughter.

Tea ladies?! Delicious cakes. Diane, Judith and Judy and Janet Kittow on the right.

These two children's quilts were made by Janet Daniels.

Pretty flowers adorning the tables in the tea room.

Loved this little one by Marilyn Mann.  .

Marilyn was the exhibition co ordinator this year and she did a fabulous job. Well done to everyone for all the hard work, stitching, making and simply giving. A big thank you must be said to  the menfolk who helped and Fiona's son Will has become the official roady. He did a sterling job getting up and down ladders.

Apologies for  not showing all the quilts but they were all worthy.

Happy Stitching.

Love Shirley.

A New Start

Want to know which project I went with and started? It had to be the beautiful Petra Prins boxed set as it had all the fabric ready and waiting. On taking the instructions out of the box I thought ha! problem! Instructions in Dutch. Then I found the French instructions but, then came the English version. Phew! Could have needed a bit of help. All the pieces were cut out using freezer paper and placed in position just so I knew where they would go.

The instructions just gave a diagram as to where to place the pattern pieces but I like to use an overlay for positioning. This meant a few hours drawing all the pieces into position on tracing paper and marking the centres. Now I am all set to start and excited at starting something new.

A new start also includes these beautiful hexagons. I am feeling a little bereft at not having any left to prepare and after a little browsing on the internet I found the perfect idea. In my mind I could see this in very soft greys and taupes and I then had a lightbulb moment and a use for a pack of Japanese Taupes layer cake called Evening Mist by Sentimental Studios that I had been hoarding for quite some time. I love to have a coloured drawing of how I think the quilt will look and use watercolour pencils. I now have a worksheet telling me how many hexagons I need and what size it will be.

There is such a beautiful range of shades in this pack. One 10"square yields 16 squares  and therefore I can make 4 lozenge shapes. I decided to make them scrappy in appearance. As of yet I haven't decided on a filler colour but I am thinking a soft mauve will do them justice.

Playing with ideas and what would happen if I set the hexagons on point around a centre hexagon. It produces a lovely feathered star effect. Not sure I could go with this idea as I really wouldn't want to piece all those tiny diamonds and triangles. Feel free to borrow the idea though if it grabs you.

I am slowly stitching all the sections together now for the daisy quilt. You will notice that there are no papers in the back. I have learnt that the papers tend to flip out as you are sewing and they really are not necessary. Because the stitching is  on the inside corners of the fabric it is all held in place and they join together so much easier. It becomes quite unwieldy trying to manouvre the twists and turns with the paper in place but this is so much better and quicker and I am all for anything that saves time.

Apple County Quilters

This coming weekend of  23/24 June is the 5th Exhibiton of Apple County Quilters.  It is well worth a visit if you are in the vicinity as they are a talented bunch of ladies and they make great cakes. They can be found at Bradford On Tone Village Hall near Wellington, Somerset, 10am - 4pm.

Sadly, for two years worth of work since the last exhibition I do not have a lot to show other than a box of hexagons and the unfinished Dollies.  Lurking in my sewing room was a cushion started ages ago and with a bit of effort I have finished it and it is ready for action and will go to one of my nieces when it is over.

The only quilt I have is the little New York Beauty wallhanging. I had to get it back from the wall of Dotty Dolly's shop where it has been hanging for ages. Trying not to feel too much in anguish at not having much to show I am going with the positive tactic that in 2014 I should almost have enough for a one woman show. Had better get a move on then and get some finishes done.

 The baby blackbirds flew the nest and this one flew out right past me and landed on the floor by the fence. His little legs look way too spindly to hold his body. This little bird and his family inspired Lisa from Cubby House Crafts to design a stitchery. Do go and have a look if you haven't already seen it, you may have to scroll down a few posts. Lisa is so talented and one day is going to produce a book of her stitcheries. I am waiting and hope to be the first in line for a copy when it happens. No pressure here Lisa.

I have to let you into a little secret. Rachel gave me instructions on how to post the YouTube video to my last post and it went amiss and posted to Glorious Applique blog. I can tell you that it came off there right rapid. It would have given them a shock when they were expecting some wonderful applique and got some dude proposing to his girlfriend. Hope you went and had a peep at the video as it was unashamedly romantic and makes you laugh and cry. Who says romance is dead?

Happy Stitching.

Love Shirley.

A Proposal

Rachel showed me this this afternoon and thought I would share it with you. Nothing quilt related at all but sheer joy just the same.


MAKE SURE THE VOLUME IS ON AND CLICK TO PLAY AND STAY TILL THE END. 

ENJOY.

HOW COULD YOU REFUSE?

             

                                               

Love Shirley.

Empty Nest

Now that the Dollies have flown the nest it means I have an empty box ready and waiting. Just look at those hexagons.  Surely a finished top means I can start something else, right?


Now, what shall I fill it with.......

Will it be this lovely band sampler called St. Neots by Susan Smith  from Patchwork on Stonleigh. Australia. Lots of fussy cutting on those hexagons and English Paper piecing. Such a pretty quilt and a length of hankerchief linen  is ready and waiting for attention.

Will it be this - Pickled Onions by Chris Serong from Threadbear, Australia. This has my pulse racing and itching to start. A bolt of cream fabric awaits me at Dotty Dollies.

 Will it be this one, also from Threadbear, Australia and is by Megan Carroll and called Hertfordshire. This one takes a bit of thinking about as I need a lot of repro  fabrics and a suitable centre to start me off. Again lots of hexagons and some fussy cutting.

Or.....

This one came from Jo at Cowslip and is a Petra Prins quilt and even comes in it's own box with a beautiful selection of fabrics and in colours that I would not have normally bought. I love it though and it was a bargain. Greatly reduced and as I had admired it the last time I was at Cowslip and regretted not buying it it simply had my name on it and came home with me. The name of this quilt - Providence.

Fabulous selection of fabrics. So which one shall I choose to stitch next?

Decisions, decisions.


Whilst I have been pondering such choices I have been busy stitching hexagons and watching the Diamond Jubilee events on the tv. The concert outside of Buckingham Palace was amazing and the best bit for me was Madness performing Our House on the roof of the Palace. The frontage was transformed with this changing cover showing various houses and the people inside them. I haven't tried it but I wonder if you googled it whether it would be on You Tube. Brilliant. The Queen did her best to look like she was enjoying it all despite the fact that she must have been very tired and worried about the poor old Duke of Edinburgh who that day had been admitted to hospital. Three cheers for the Queen I say.

Happy Stitching.

Love Shirley.

EDIT - Have just googled YouTube and if you type in Madness at Buckingham Palace you should find several versions to choose from. Do watch it - amazing.

The Olympic Torch

The Olympic Torch is winding it's way around the Country at the moment and last week it was going to be passing the end of my road and it seemed a shame to miss it as it probably will never happen again. I was surprised and pleased to see that it was well supported. I have never seen so many police cars and motor bikes that I wondered if Taunton was actually safe as it seemed that all of the Counties Forces were at the end of my road.

The runner in question was Marcus Trescothick, cricketer who plays for Somerset and England. He also did the run in a surgical boot due to an injury. I was that busy photographing the entourage that I almost missed him. Further in the town much excitement was caused by the appearance of Will.I.Am who did a bit of the run. Don't know what his allegiance is with my corner of the world but the crowd were pleased to see him. Will is a pop singer currently on a tv programme called The Voice along with Tom Jones.



 The year 2000  was an Olympic year and my eldest daughter was going to be 18 and was allowed to go on her first holiday abroad with her friends to Greece. They were also lucky enough to see the Olympic Torch in Kos. Rachel  fell in love with the turtles that were swimming in the water and came home with a large, furry, turtle toy, I decided to make her a quilt for her 18th birthday. I was still relatively new to this at this point.  Storm at Sea was the appropriate block and the turtles and the blocks were paper pieced. Much deliberation went on as to how the turtles should be set but in the end it was worked out and as they seemed to be swimming in formation I called the quilt - Synchronised Swimming. ( I apologise for the photo being the wrong way round but I couldn't change the format and it is the only photo I have of this quilt and it is a photo of a photo so not ideal). Maybe if you click on it you will get a better view.

There has been a lot of activity in the garden and the blackbirds are nesting in the archway at the side of the garden and inches away from the window where I usually sit. There are three hungry beaks on show.

Daddy blackbird keeping a watchful eye but hops around us gathering food if we are out in the garden. I hope I am sitting in the chair and can see them when they are ready to fly the nest.

Meanwhile at Stitcherydo HQ the hexagon pile is growing and nearly done. Not sure what I shall do without my box of ever faithful companions.

Happy Stitching.

Shirley.

A Week in St.Ives

Are you sitting comfortably?  Have you got a drink? Are you ready? Here goes.....

Last week we went to St.Ives for a much needed holiday and if you follow me regularly you will know it is my most favourite place on this earth. There is just something so special about the light that makes you feel invigorated. No wonder artists the world over come here to paint.

When we set out it was raining  yet again and we wondered what sort of week we would be in for given that the weather forecast was set for rain, rain and more rain. In all fairness we didn't do too badly and one day was so glorious that we were forced to remove a few layers of clothing and sit outside and enjoy a pot of tea in the sunshine.

This beach boasts the Tate Gallery and is as famous as the London Tate.

 Just love all the colours in the water.

The panorama speaks for itsself.

The hotel grounds have a beautiful woodland walk which were covered in bluebells. Wish I could bottle the perfume for you, the scent was divine. Given that there had been a lot of rain it was surprisingly dry underfoot.

We amused ourselves in childlike pleasure at the unusual high tide that was sending waves crashing over the wall and drenching poor unsuspecting victims who thought they were safe!

No trip to St.Ives is complete without a visit to the bead shop. I have mentioned before that it is like Aladdin's Cave in there and this is just a selection of what I came out with.

The bead shop is located in a little arcade on the harbour front and in the previous photo it is the other side of the water on the far right.

I also had a trip to a patchwork shop called Coast and Country and it is a wonder I got out of there intact or my bank balance to be more precise.

A delightful shop which is well stocked and located at  the entrance to a garden centre it also has a bistro style cafe for patient husbands to wait.

This gorgeous Tilda tin had to come home with me. ( Wendy are you drooling?)

Inside is now stocked with a yummy selection of fat quarters  for which I have no project in mind for but needed.

 Just in case you were wondering if I did any sewing the answer is yes, I did. This is the centre to a block from Material Obsession Two. It is a large block consisting of one shape, when assembled makes into 60 degree triangles, which in turn make into hexagons and the whole block looks like a star. Each block consists of 72 pieces. Just using some leftovers from Camelot to see how it works out. So far have only assembled 18/72. It may be a lone star or it may be more. We shall see.

I also made a bit of progress on the hexagons. A lot more cutting and prepping. Slowly, slowly. One day it will be done. Well over half way now.

 I feel now that I should wake you up with some soothing music or maybe crashing waves to see if you have made it to the end. Hope you enjoyed the trip.

Happy Stitching.

Love Shirley.

 Edit. Why try and fix something that aint broke blogger. I am as frustrated as everyone else with the changes. What comes up on the screen isn't how I have formatted it all, so apologies for any errors. I guess it will eventually click into place how to do it all and save the changes.

Quilting

Who is that woman in black? Yesterday at Kate's I managed to get the Dancing Dollies all layered up ready for quilting . I needed the shades as the sun in the morning was very bright. It didn't last long though and the rain lashed down and the skies were dark and threatening.  Kate has devised a way of using her machine quilting frame to layer up a quilt and with her much appreciated help it all got done. First the backing and wadding are basted together and then the quilt top goes on and is basted to the other layers. It is a long process but it did save my knees from a lot of pain and trouble scrabbling about on the floor as is my usual method.

 

 

Starting the quilting process for me is always a dilemma. How should it be quilted? What thread to use? Which wadding/batting? I had to go back to Liz at Broderie to see how Trish had quilted the original and to help me decide on my version without copying it exactly. I wanted a motif and turned to my collection of Barbara Chainey quilt books as I knew there would be some inspiration in there. The motif on the left was what I wanted but it didn't fit the space so I did a bit of adapting and simplifying. I used a glass tumbler to draw the circle and the proportions of the petal are the same as Barbara's motif, shortened and rounded off to give the petal shape. As the Dollies have flowers and there are eight of them then the daisy motif seemed apt.

 

The design was then marked onto the quilt by placing the tracing paper with the pencil side face down and using a pencil I marked dots all around the motif. This transfers the pencil onto the fabric. I am sure everyone will have done this kind of image transfer at one time or another. It worked well and you may just be able to see the pencil dots on the unquilted section. I am using Gutermann Sulky 30 wt in shade 4013 and a size 11 John James Big Eye quilting needle. It is tiny. The wadding is a beautiful 100% cotton that is ultra thin. It quilts like a dream. I will have to do a bit of research to find out the name of it as I do not know it other than it was a summer weight cotton.

 

 

 The centre motif is now done and the two outer circles are quilted. Work is under progress. Woohoo! I am a happy girl.

 

Nothing beats the feel of a handquilted quilt. It feels so different, soft and smooth, wish you could feel this wadding.

Happy Stitching.

Shirley.