30th November
From June
'I was surprised to read an article on patchwork and quilting in the 'i' newspaper this morning on a quilter called Chris English who upcycles fabric from clothes into quilts - here's a link to his website - https://www.chrisenglishquilts.com/about |
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Finally, here's more for the Christmas page: |
...and the second item, a poem I found on Facebook:
‘Twas the night before Christmas (for Quilters)
'Twas the night before Christmas,
And the quilts were not made.
The threads were all tangled, the cookies delayed.
The stocking weren't hung, the pantry was bare.
The poor weary Quilter, was tearing her hair.
Stacks of fat quarters, tipped over in streams.
Visions of Log Cabins, had turned into dreams.
When what to her wondering eyes should appear,
But a bus full of quilters with all of their gear.
They went straight to work with just a few mutters,
Sorting and stitching and brandishing cutters.
The patterns emerged from all of the clutter,
Like magic the fabrics arranged in a flutter.
Log Cabins, Lone Stars, Flying Geese & Bear Tracks
Each quilt was a beauty-even the backs.
Her house how it twinkled, her quilts how they glowed.
The cookies were baking, the stockings were sewed.
Their work was all done, so they folded their frames,
And packed up their needles, without giving their names.
They boarded the bus, and checked the next address.
More quilts to be made, another quilter in distress.
She heard one voice echo, as they drove out of sight,
Happy quilting to all and to all a good night!
~Author Unknown
That's all for now, maybe make some more Christmas gifts and then back to hand quilting the quilt from earlier in the year,
24th November
From Maggie
Maggie has made an amazing Helen Godden Quilt.
There is no piecing in this quilt, it starts with plain black quilting cotton which is then painted using special lustrous fabric paints. It is a 'Qilt as you Go' quilt with very intricate quilting. Take a look at Helen's Youtube channel where you can learn all about her stunning techniques.
There is no piecing in this quilt, it starts with plain black quilting cotton which is then painted using special lustrous fabric paints. It is a 'Qilt as you Go' quilt with very intricate quilting. Take a look at Helen's Youtube channel where you can learn all about her stunning techniques.
And then.....Maggie has used the deigns to make her concertina book!
Also a stunning shadow quilt
From Anne
I have finished my hand embroidery!
It is a pattern from Kathy Schmitz whose designs are so beautoful that even I was tempted. Called 'Eastmoreland' it uses a mini charm pack (2.5" squares) from Moda. It is sewn onto a black brushed cotton, which has no sheen and reflect no light, so it's perfect for embroidery. It was designed to fit a particular size of block canvas, so as you can see in the photo on the right the stitching wraps around the sides. I'm very pleased with it but as I suspected, hand sewing is not for me. : ( |
Here is another webinar from Bernina, this time about thread.
It's a bit technical, but if you ever have thread related problems it's worth a watch. |
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For those of you who enjoy hand sewing take a look at this blog.
Larrissa Holland's felt ornaments are exquisite. click on the image on the left for a link She has some great tutorials too |
Or, the AQS blog has a free pattern and instructions to make this very complex star for Christmas.
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For those who prefer their machines, this is a lovely cushion cover, or it could be a small wallhanging.
From the Thermoweb blog |
And now for something completely different ...
Series 4 of Netfix's The Crown has had a lot of criticism about the storyline; no-one ever critiices the costumes though. Have a cuppa and sit and watch this for 10 minutes. |
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Can anyone ever remember a longer November; I suppose if ever you were pregnant and had a due date of the 1st and were still waiting on the thirtieth, otherwise this one must take the gold medal.
Anne
Anne
November 18th
From Mike
I was wondering if you might like to put a picture of my quilt on the website. I know I’m not a member but Nessa thought you might be interested. |
I think it's amazing!
Mike is Vanessa's husband and sort of an honorary member...
If anyone else has a quilter in the family who would like to send in photos of their work please encourage them to do so.
Anne
Mike is Vanessa's husband and sort of an honorary member...
If anyone else has a quilter in the family who would like to send in photos of their work please encourage them to do so.
Anne
17th November
From Vanessa
These boro embroideries were started with Judi Mendelssohn in an hotel room in Tokyo. They were continued in the airport at Seoul and finished back home in Woodmancote. Well travelled bits of fun. When we sent the photos to Judi she made a comment about silk purses and sows ears. I think that was a compliment. |
From Anne
Hello everyone,
This week I spent almost two days repairing two double handed oven gloves. This is what 2020 has turned me into! A friend asked me to patch one glove using fabric from the other, but for some reason I decided to treat the request like they would in the 'Repair Shop' and so I unpicked and resewed using all the original materials until they look new! I have never had so much time on my hands, and hope I never do again!
I think there are new episodes of The Repair Shop, they now have a 'sewing expert' who was mending kite fabric last week, it seemed such a waste of her talents!
I've made my MQ Christmas card, a very enjoyable little project, made easy by Jane and Elaine, I hope you are all cracking on with yours.
Otherwise I have been trying to finish some hand sewing that I started a year ago; twice this week I have declared "Great, it's done!" only to find that it's not, yesterday I discovered I've missed all the french knots! On and on it goes... It's looking nice though.
Also I've been knitting...
This week I spent almost two days repairing two double handed oven gloves. This is what 2020 has turned me into! A friend asked me to patch one glove using fabric from the other, but for some reason I decided to treat the request like they would in the 'Repair Shop' and so I unpicked and resewed using all the original materials until they look new! I have never had so much time on my hands, and hope I never do again!
I think there are new episodes of The Repair Shop, they now have a 'sewing expert' who was mending kite fabric last week, it seemed such a waste of her talents!
I've made my MQ Christmas card, a very enjoyable little project, made easy by Jane and Elaine, I hope you are all cracking on with yours.
Otherwise I have been trying to finish some hand sewing that I started a year ago; twice this week I have declared "Great, it's done!" only to find that it's not, yesterday I discovered I've missed all the french knots! On and on it goes... It's looking nice though.
Also I've been knitting...
Marion has been making lovely scarves, often called 'Bowtie or Ascot Scarves' you can find quite a few free patterns on the web, there is a link to this one beneath its picture.
I can knit, not welll though, I'm an 'in, round, through, off' kind of knitter so it's slow progress; my mum knitted reallly fast with long needles, one of which was tucked under her right arm, I've tried and tried, but it's no good. Anyhow it's only a little scarf so I thought I'd give it a go... Marion's scarves are knitted in garter stitch so very easy and quick to make, I decided I like moss stitch, and also I do like to turn simple into difficult, so mine is taking a while longer than it should, but I'm very pleased with its progress. If it's good when I've finished I'll post a photo. |
Did you know that Craftsy is back?
It was taken over by Blueprint and now it's been sold again and it's called Craftsy once more. I was never keen on what Blueprint did so I'm now hoping it will revert to its original format. They have 59 free classes many of which are sewing related. The cookery ones are good too. Take a look, you just have to register with them. |
I have a dental appoinment this afternoon and on Saturday I went for a mommogram, that will be twice I have been allowed 'out' this week.Such events used to be the lowlights of my life, now they are the highlights! What has life come to when I get excited about such trips!!! It's a funny old world.
November 16th
From June
I also tried a new Christmas craft - Scandinavian star decoration - here's the link... |
.... and a picture of mine. No sewing involved! (just used UHU glue) |
I have also finished my MQ Christmas card just need to post it back - hope you all have received yours to make - It will give all a lovely surprise via the mail running up to Christmas. I can't wait to receive mine.
June
November 11th
From Evelyn
Take a look at Lori Holt's tall pine trees quilt block. Think I'll try a few... |
In this video Lori Holt shows you how to make her Tall Pines Quilt Block...and explains how she cuts the background for each block as well as squares from her scrappy baskets. So cute for Christmas! |
From June
Here's a quick peek at the American Quilts at The American Museum Bath - a reminder of our past group trip |
...and then I saw these little Christmas Tree ornaments from scraps |
So many Ideas - need to start planning my next projects - keep well - June
November 9th
From Anne
Hello everyone,
Today I am told we had 61 'unique visitors' to the website last week. I have no idea who is looking at the website only how many; it's heartening get that feedback, I hope you all find something interesting and useful here.
Lockdown 2 is now restricting our movements again; although I know some members have remained 'sheltered' since March; I can only imagine how hard this must be. Hopefully we just have to get through this winter, I feel optimistic about a vaccine in the coming months, soon we will be able to get together again.
In the meantime I'll continue to try and entertain you here............
Today I am told we had 61 'unique visitors' to the website last week. I have no idea who is looking at the website only how many; it's heartening get that feedback, I hope you all find something interesting and useful here.
Lockdown 2 is now restricting our movements again; although I know some members have remained 'sheltered' since March; I can only imagine how hard this must be. Hopefully we just have to get through this winter, I feel optimistic about a vaccine in the coming months, soon we will be able to get together again.
In the meantime I'll continue to try and entertain you here............
A couple of weeks ago I spent an enjoyable hour or so looking at old photos of Cheltenham in search of one that showed Gordon Thoday's shop on Pitville Street. All of us who were living here in the 70's, 80's and 90's will remember shopping there and I think if they re-opened next year we would all be queuing up on launch day for the doors to open!
Anyhow, in the search I found great videos and photos and although it's not a sewing topic I thought some of you might enjoy a trip back in time. For those of you who have Facebook accounts there is a brilliant group called 'Days gone by in Cheltenham'; (there are also 'Days gone by' groups for lots of other places too). Members share photos and memories to these groups. I have never managed to get to the end of DGB in Cheltenham, It goes on forever! It's well worth joining the group. For those who don't have a Facebook account I recently found a website called 'Memory Lane' that has quite a few old Cheltenham pics, this site just requires you to register with your email address. Click on the images on the right for a link to the sites. |
Also there are some great videos on Youtube, pour yourself a cuppa and enjoy these two.....
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The 1910 one makes the town look so lovely, no traffic to worry about, very carefree.
However I suspect I would have been scrubbing the range in a basement somewhere off camera!
However I suspect I would have been scrubbing the range in a basement somewhere off camera!
This old map site is fascinating, it show an old Victorian map and has a 'slider' which when you move it from right to left it superimposes a present day map. |
If you go to the bottom of our Gallery page you will find some of our very own 'old' photos.
It's that time of the year when we quilters are tempted with a new Block of the Month. I quite like to do a BOM, they turn a daunting project into bitesize pieces.
Here are two I am considering...
Here are two I am considering...
The first is from The Quilt Show, I am a member and have done their BOM twice before, the instructions are always excellent. I love this design and am thinking of making it half size, I'll see when the first instructions are posted whether that is possible.
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The other is from The Art of the Home website and just runs from February to August; it's 63" x 63" though so once again I might have to work out how to make it smaller.
The Art of the Home is a lovely site with lots of ideas and projects - worth taking a look. |
Does anyone else have any BOM suggestions?
The Aurifil Showcase Sunday has some very pleasing photos this week, just images, no patterns, I particularly like the colourful patchwork tote bag. Their Stitch and Slice page is the place to go for patterns, see the snowflake cushion below, perfect for Christmas.
Keep in touch, and keep well.
Anne
Anne
November 6th
From Evelyn
Here are a few photos of my layer cake quilt now that it has been quilted. |
Obviously with a second lock-down this also leaves me with the time to concentrate on another project (or three).
Evelyn.x
November 5th
From Evelyn
How lovely - ideal to wear on our daily walks. |
Having said that it is still possible to support the Royal British Legion and buy poppies from the Poppy Shop online |
From Elaine
Surfing the net recently, I discovered that Colouricious went into administration back in May. I think before my time at MQ Jamie Malden of Colouricious did come & do a printing workshop with the group. Colouricious has produced lots of useful videos over the years, & pioneered the Indian printing workshop holiday. It's definitely worth looking up their videos. Jamie will still be working as Jamie Mason"Block Printer". Our group does have some print blocks & paint if you feel like having a go. Has anyone got a printed project they can send in a photo of?
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If you click on the youtube video on the left you will be abel to see all the Colouricious videos and you can still subscribe to Jaimie Malden's youtube channel.
Anne |
Other net finds include The Costume & Textile Association regarding a community quilting project - I enjoyed browsing their site more widely than just that.
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On the home front |
1st November
From Jane F
Jottings
Hello again. Well here we are – another month; another lockdown.
If the world had stayed normal we would have been having such fun!
This was, of course, due to be our busiest month, with the Montpellier Show the highlight of the year. Roll on 2021 and please keep making for the sales table. Let’s make next years show the best ever. Photos of things already made always welcome.
Thank goodness for Quilting-in-Quarantine. It has kept us all informed, entertained, connected and sane. So I would like to say an enormous “Thank You” to Anne for all her hard work and also thank you to all the contributors. Please, please keep sending your pictures, stories and news.
If the world had stayed normal we would have been having such fun!
This was, of course, due to be our busiest month, with the Montpellier Show the highlight of the year. Roll on 2021 and please keep making for the sales table. Let’s make next years show the best ever. Photos of things already made always welcome.
Thank goodness for Quilting-in-Quarantine. It has kept us all informed, entertained, connected and sane. So I would like to say an enormous “Thank You” to Anne for all her hard work and also thank you to all the contributors. Please, please keep sending your pictures, stories and news.
Apart from The Show, this month we would also have been having a talk from Emily Northen, a bookbinder based at the Brewery Arts Centre, Cirencester.
Elaine and I thought this would be an interesting way to end our “Year of the Book”, because whilst nothing to do with quilting, it is nonethelees a wonderful craft, beuatifully executed by Emily.
Before yesterday I would have recommended visiting Emily in her workshop, because although she does have a website -
Before yesterday I would have recommended visiting Emily in her workshop, because although she does have a website -
– I do not feel it does her justice. I have been to her shop and it is wonderful; the smells and the colours of the leather; the way you can see and handle her work and the different creations she has on show which are not detailed on her website. Emily is always happy to spend time to talk, explain and discuss any personalised commissions.
Chins up everyone! Happy quilting.
Jane
Jane