Show & Tell
Log Cabin on Point by Valerie
I just loved the cover quilt on Quilts from Lavender Hill Farm by Darlene Zimmerman that I just had to try it.
Bargello from Jo Webb
I have attached a picture of the quilt I made for my final quilt when I did City & Guilds with Jenny Last at Windsor.
I did enter it in the National Patchwork Championships in 2000 (the year I completed the course). It was also the year it was held at Olympia and I got an award of merit for it.
Chenille from Lyn Butler (October 2011)
Hi Jenny & Valerie, after watching this week's video on Chenilling,it prompted me to send you this photo.
It was our W.I. (Brill) entry in the Bucks County Show this year...notice the green grass is chenille that I learnt from one of your earlier videos
Unfortunately we didn't win but it was fun to do anyway.
Holiday Sewing
Max was so taken with the pattern he found of Owl on the Daisy Chain stand at the National Patchwork Championships in June that he couldn't wait to get the sewing done.
He chose the fabrics too (good choice!) and while Twit is finished and obviously much loved, Wit and Woo are still works in progress. (Mum's supervision time is being taken up with sewing on name tags!)
Old Rag Rugs:
Some tips from Jean Stewart who just loves this sort of work:
The doormat she is holding has been in use for over 20 years and was made when she first arrived in the Highlands with tartan offcuts from Lochcarron Weavers.
Below is a fleece rug that is still a work-in-progress;
Jean finds that if she makes a diagonal cut the fabric pulls through more easily and if she raises a crease then she is able to do a row quicker; but remember to pull it flat before raising the next one!
and here is one that I crocheted by just tying and lengths together with a simple knot and then using a VERY large crochet hook:
A quilted Chuppa by Mae Bishop:
Last Christmas I was asked if I would like to make a chuppa for the wedding of my nephew to his Jewish Rabbi bride. Being Christian I had no idea what a chuppa was let alone know where to start. Some research was obviously needed so onto the internet for some ideas.
The bride wanted a religious theme and chose the seven fruits (or species) of Israel which are wheat, barley, olives, dates, pomegranates, figs,and grapes
The picture taken on the floor shows six of the theme blocks. The thistle and the maple leaves are the symbols of the couple’s homelands and the central block has script in Hebrew and English. The larger text translates to “I am my beloveds’ and my beloved is mine”. Their names and wedding date is in both Hebrew and English.
Most of the work is applique with a mix of hand and machine stitching. Some of the fabrics were painted using silk paints and transfer dyes were also used.
Some digital prints were put on fabric using pre-treated cotton and as the chosen text for the wheat collaged block included honey, I appliqued honey bees onto hearts for the fun and romantic element after snipping a hole in one of the side panels. The honey bees were made by a friend on her embroidery machine.
The side panels were machine quilted using a trellis design and Victorian style lace was used to complement the pieces.
The main quilt was quilted by a colleague on her long arm quilting machine.I made sleeves for the frame legs and covered “the feet” to match. These were further adorned by flowers and vine leaves.
Sometimes I cannot believe I did it!
Quilt for Mrs Brodie
Children at Kingswood Primary School in Gloucestershire won the Village Fabrics Award for Under-16 Group Entry at the Quilts UK show in Malvern during May with a quilt made for their former headteacher.
Mrs Carol Brodie retired from her role as headteacher in December after 26 years at the school, but the gift of the quilt made by the children came as a complete surprise to her.
“I was completely overwhelmed by the whole thing. The children and staff put so much work into it – it will be a wonderful memory of my time at the school, and everyone was thrilled when we found out it had won first prize,” said Mrs Brodie.
Teacher Anna Kendall instigated the project, and each of the 130 pupils helped design and stitch the quilt. The four panels represent the four classes in the school, and depict themes of the environment, the school's international work, sport and all aspects of school life. A friend encouraged Miss Kendall to enter the quilt into the competition at Malvern.
My first quilt/wall hanging by Lyn Waudby
My son David was getting married, and I decided to make something special to commemorate the wedding. The wedding was to take place in Disney World Florida followed by a celebration meal and last but not least watching the Magic Kingdom firework display lighting up The Castle. As this is Kerry's favourite Disney location I thought this might be a good place to start. I normally do a x-stitch project to commemorate such events, but this time a wanted to try something different. My first thought was to do an appliquéd castle.
I've done a few different crafts, knitting, dress making, soft furnishing, x-stitch, etc, but I'd say that tie-dying is my passion. As a young girl all my friends were dying their hair while I was dying my t-shirts. I now dye my hair to cover the grey! And I'm still dying the t-shirts and anything else I can get my hands on. So it seemed only natural to dye my own fabrics for the project.
The castle and border fabric was space dyed in a cat litter tray using acrylic paints. The roof top fabric was scrunched into a cup and dyed with procion dyes. I used fabric paint and a toothbrush to get a pink mist around the castle. I appliquéd the castle, but thought it looked somewhat flat. Shortly after joining JHO Philippa Naylor talked us through her quits, and I thought WOW I've gotta have a go at that. So I bought her book quilting in the limelight and used the trapunto technique to pad out the castle. The fireworks are done with free machine embroidery, which I'm also new at. I did find the metallic threads challenging, but fireworks need sparkle and The Stitch Witch showed me how to add extra sparkle with gluing on crystals. I didn't have a clue what to do with the grounds until I watched yet another workshop from JHO, monoprinting with Lesley Brankin. The path is a scrap of fabric that I dyed years ago, I then stitched slab shapes onto this and darkened between the cracks with a fabric pen. I wasn’t brave enough to do the wording with free machine embroidery so settled on hand painted and stitched to emphasize. While in Florida celebrating the wedding, my daughter is so pleased with herself for finding the perfect Disney pin a lucky horseshoe with Mickey's ears to add that finishing touch.
While I feel there is room for improvement, as a first using several different techniques, I'm really rather pleased with it. More importantly so it my son's new wife whom the surprise gift was for.
I would like to mention that I'm rubbish at drawing so the basic castle shape came from www.drawingstep.com which I adapted slightly for applique
I would like to thank JHO and those involved for the input into my first wall hanging. Looking forward to many more workshops and trying out new things.
Amanda Ryan made this lovely faded flag cushion just in time for the wedding festivities:
Ena made this lovely felt 'penny cushion' which she was persuaded to share with us:
