Woven Fabric Mini Quilt

This is actually one of my City & Guilds 10 inch square mini quilts but I thought I would share it on my main blog as it is a technique that I have never tried before. It is a lot of fun and you can achieve quite good results with a minimum of effort.
The fabric is cut out as two squares, one blue and one pink. Bondaweb is applied to each. They are each then randomly cut into wavy strips which are woven together. The whole thing is then ironed to stick it all together abd then the raw edges are zig zagged in satin stitch.
I then appliqued a flower using bondaweb and used raw edge applique and stippling on this.

The inspiration for this little quilt came from this book which is full of lovely woven quilts.

Liberated Amish Quilts.

Just a quick note to say if you fancy making a liberated Amish quilt this year there is a new blog which you can join here.

Philippa Naylor Workshop - Precision Piecing

Last Saturday I attended a workshop with Philippa Naylor who visited our embroidery/quilting group here in Barnsley.
I finished the sample last night so here it is....
Not quite as precise as it could be but better than I have acheived in the past. I used hand dyed fabric which I really enjoy working with.

I have picked up quite a few tips which I will use in the future. For example - pressing seams open can help to improve accuracy in complicated designs, try to use finer cotton fabrics for intricate piecing and never underestimate the importance of correct pressing!
I also learned how to make mitred borders which is something I had never tried before.

We had a lovely day, Philippa is an excellent teacher - try to get to one of her workshops if you can!

This is a photo of the room we use - loads of space, we are very lucky!

On Wednesday Philippa returned to talk to our group - four ladies had finished their samples.

Philippa is on the left with her pile of magnificent quilts. She gave a very inspirational and interesting lecture about her life in Saudi Arabia and her quilts.

Liberated Quilting

This is the book I have waiting for ever since I discovered Gwen Marston's style of quilting last year. I had it on pre order from Amazon since Christmas and it arrived a few days ago.
It is an excellent book and has loads of ideas I am looking forward to trying.

It also goes well with my liberated stripes quilt which is still not quite finished.
What have you been doing with your time? I hear you ask!

Well.........

Since Christmas I have taught my first 3 patchwork and quilting workshops which went very well. I have been to College for a weekend for my City & Guilds. I have also made my first fabric postcard which I can't share until it arrives at its destination.

Also, almost at opposite ends of the spectrum I have taken a workshop with award winning quilter Philippa Naylor in precision piecing! I have not completed my workshop sample yet but will hopefully report soon.

So as you can see I have not been too lazy - except perhaps when it comes to updating my blog!

Liberated Stripes Quilt.

The weather is no better here today - still snowing and school closed again. The novelty has worn off now and I want it to go away. Indoor quilting activities are great but this week I have two important quilting events that require travel and at the moment both could be under threat so that is making me stressed.

Over the weekend I have been working on the second quilt made with the over dyed striped fabric. This came about because I had so many leftovers and trial blocks fom the first quilt and also because I wanted to try more liberated quilting. My interpretation of liberated quilting in this particular quilt is using up all the leftovers in as pleasing a pattern as possible.

This is my progress as of last night. It is 33 inches square and has one more border to go on which will be a nine patch border.
I know that some of you in blogland will hate it because it is loud and busy and a bit chaotic but I rather like it and I love being able to use up all the bits so that I can feel a project is truly finished.

Here are photos of the various stages. When using scraps I find the medallion style easier to work with.

I started with 5 metres of striped fabric (it was probably a little extra as they are often generous with the cutting of sale fabric) which was 56 inches wide. Some was over dyed with procion dyes, some dyed in an indigo dye bath and some left undyed. If I have calculated correctly I will have managed to make two quilts with this fabric, both approx 40 inches square including both backs and bindings! So you can see there won't be much fabric left!

One quilt will have a plain undyed back and the other a pieced back which I have made but not had chance to photograph.

A visit to Rob Ryan's Exhibition at Yorkshire Sculpture Park

The snow is still really thick here and driving on the side roads is treacherous especially after dark. However my son Rob's school reopened today and we are trying to carry on regardless!
Today is Geoff's birthday and we decided to venture to Rob Ryan's exhibition at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Most of the exhibits were closed and access to the sculptures in the park was only for those with long wellies!
However Rob's exhibition was open and more than lived up to expectations. If you are in the Yorkshire area before Feb 21st I thoroughly recommend it. Admission is free but you do have to pay to park.

Rob Ryan is an artist famous for his papercuts and screen prints. You can read more about his work and the exhibition on his blog. He has made loads of vinyl stickers for the windows at the sculpture park which are really striking - I really love his birds!

These window pictures were too big to take proper pictures of but you get the idea!

I first heard about Rob's work in an article about Clothkits in Sew Hip Magazine as he has designed some fabric for them.

The other reason we knew about his exhibition was through the Arts Council Own Art scheme which we watched a TV programme about. This is a scheme where you can have an interest free loan to buy contemporary art.

The photo above shows our first purchase of original contemporary art which we will buy through this scheme.

I also bought this limited edition card only available at the exhibition. I love it because of the birds and its connection to sewing!

All this was followed by a fish & chip lunch so it was a good birthday for the birthday boy!

Snow Day.

Today has been a snow day - this means schools have been closed and most people have not been to work or come home early. It was snowing steadily at 7am and snowed until after it got dark at 4pm. We have had at least 6 inches of snow which is quite a lot for us.
It is good to stay warm indoors and get on with quilting, or even just household chores but if it continues it will start to mean things I enjoy will be cancelled.
I have already had to cancel a visit to a dear friend tomorrow and my embroidery meeting tomorrow night might be at risk. Thursday is hubbie's birthday and we are hoping to go out for the day and that might not be possible either.


This is the view from our back window just as it was getting dark. The building is actually a little brick built outhouse which used to be the wash house when our house was built about 100 years ago.

My car and our road completely covered in snow.

The chickens have had to stay in the hen house all day and the cats have stayed in too.

Here they are enjoying tuna for lunch!