Wednesday 30 May 2012

How many things can you make from a recycled cotton shirt?

I know that I have not shared much recently - life has been hectic and most quilting has been work related making sample blocks and quilts for classes.
However this is a little treat I have been meaning to share for a while. All the items in the following photos were made by Maureen, a creative and prolific quilter who attends my Tuesday class and does not have a blog of her own so it is my duty to share her work with you all.
She started with a red white and blue men's shirt that she bought at the International Quilt Day Event.
She added some plain white and blue star fabric and made a quilt.

 Here is a close up.
 Then she made a bag - here is one side, note the button holes in the handle!
 This is the other side - the label from the shirt has made the flag on the yacht!
 Then she made a cushion.
 A couple of pincushions made from the scraps!
 And finally this cute little fella!
 Look at his coat with tails made from the collar tips!
Awesome work Maureen!

Sunday 20 May 2012

Malvern Quilt Show


This weekend we have visited Malvern Quilt Show. Geoff came with me and did his best to enjoy himself! He also bought me my birthday gift of EQ7 which I am looking forward to getting to grips with!
We have been to the venue before as it is where Vanfest is held every September, but it was our first time at the quilt show.
I have really enjoyed our weekend away, we met up with Anthea and Rachel from Quilting Antics for dinner and drinks last night, but I did not feel that the quilt show lived up to my expectations.
As this is my blog I can express my opinions without fear of hurting anyone's feelings.
The venue was not as good as Harrogate, my local quilt show. The cafe was tiny and expensive (£1.80 for a small cup of tea!). There was another cafe just outside but that was also quite small.
The hall was cramped in my opinion and there were not enough competitive quilts. Also lots of quilts I had seen before at other shows and many were not shown to good advantage. There were also not many modern quilts or quilts with the 'wow' factor. I know this is very subjective and many of the quilts were made to very high standards but they were just not speaking to me.
It made me realise, that even with all its faults you cannot beat the Festival of Quilts and that Harrogate comes a close second.


 I did buy some great fabric though, this is the latest from Alexander Henry.
This will become cushions for Jonathan's next student flat - 16th floor of a high rise near Leeds Uni - the 'penthouse slum' as it is known!

And for those of you who wished you could have been there here are a few snippets of the quilts......



 How can I resist wonky trees and houses?


 This one was made with recycled fabrics - the hand quilting on it was stunning!
Piecing over papers in Civil War Fabrics - what's not to like?

As usual I didn't agree with the judges - good job I'm not one - that would be controversial. I don't think a single first prize went to an amateur quilter which is a shame because it might just put people off entering.