FINALLY - JUST A NOTE FOR OTHER STRESSED OUT PARENTS OF GCSE STUDENTS

Nothing to do with quilting but I am having a dreadful week coping with DS1 who is currently doing his GCSEs. Nobody told me it would be so stressful! He doesn't seem to be doing any revision and I am sure that I am worrying more than him. He is also constantly in a bad mood and picking fights with his brother - it is driving me mad!

The only thing keeping me sane are the cats and my patchwork/quilting of course! Roll on June 20th when this is all over!

So I will end on a photo of Gizmo keeping me company in the dining room while I do my college work.

CRAVEN COLLEGE CITY & GUILDS EXHIBITION AND OPEN DAY

On Saturday June 28th there will be an exhibition and open day at Craven College Skipton, North Yorkshire for City & Guilds Patchwork & Quilting and Embroidery. There will be work on display from students doing Part 1 and Part 2 plus an opportunity to talk to students and tutors. If you are thinking of taking this course this would be the day to find out all about it! I will be there so if anyone out there in blogland is able to come it would be great to meet you.
Also a couple of people have asked me about the course via the blog so again this would be the best way to find out about the course.
Di left a comment on my blog over the weekend - I have replied via the comments but I could not reply personally because I did not have her email address - so if you are reading this Di please email me.

CITY & GUILDS MODULE 3 TEXTURE SAMPLE 5 TESSELLATIONS

I have just completed my 9th class out of 10 for my City & Guilds. This weekend I had my texture module assessed which means I have only 2 more to complete. Module 4, Form is almost completed - just the resolved piece to do and the presentation to improve. So no excuse now to post up the rest of Module 3......

We looked at tessellating shapes for our source and I found this drawing done by Escher. I drew out the crosses onto squared paper in order to design my sample which is enclosed in the black square.
I then made a collage in textured paper to show the interlocking crosses.
For the sewed sample I worked out rows of rectangles of differing lengths, based on whether they covered 1, 2 or 3 rows on my squared paper drawing. I then quilted the sample, outlining within each cross. As for most of this module I have used my hand dyed fabric.

If I had more time I would have liked to have done a more complicated tessellation but as it is I am quite pleased with the result.

CITY & GUILDS MODULE 3 TEXTURE SAMPLE 4 MOCK CATHEDRAL WINDOW

This sample really goes with Sample 3. We tried two types of cathedral window and this one I really liked. My source photo shows a stained glass window but I think that it's layout is very representational of cathedral window patchwork.
My artwork is a collage made of hand made paper and glitter card.
I used my hand dyed fabrics for the sample. The big advantage with mock cathedral window is that you end up with a seam allowance on each block so that they can be easily joined and incorporated into a quilt containing other blocks. I have alternated them with a plain block. I have couched down a thick black cotton knitting yarn onto the plain blocks to represent the stained glass.

4 MORE DEAR JANE BLOCKS

I am hideously behind with my Dear Jane challenge but I have not given up and I WILL catch up soon. I am just so busy with my C&G at the moment and that is taking up all my time.
The first block is B12 Starflower and this has been done using reverse applique - a technique I had never tried before joining the DJ challenge but one I really like. The second block is B2 Sweet Tater Pie. This is my second attempt at this block - the first was hand pieced - it came out too small and I could not get the center right. This second block is much better as I used the method of half square triangles - cut a circle and appliqued it.
The third block is K7 Rose of Sharing. Appliqued in four pieces which are then joined.
Finally C3 Rayelle's Fence - very time consuming but worthwhile. This was foundation pieced in strips and then strips joined in traditional manner.
The final photo shows the method I am using to keep track of my colour placement. It is a calico grid of one inch squares. Each time I make a block I attach a square of the fabric used with my tagging gun. I know that a lot of you have fancy computer grids to do this - but this method works well for me.
I am reusing some of the fabrics so this helps me to see how the finished quilt will look. It is going to be random - not TATW.

CITY & GUILDS MODULE 3 TEXTURE SAMPLE 3 CATHEDRAL WINDOW

I did not really enjoy doing this sample as I felt I had already 'done' this technique when I did Secret Garden in the first module. I do like hand sewing but I dislike this as I find it difficult to get a really neat result. I know that practice makes perfect and I am sure I would get to grips with it if I did enough. However I did enjoy doing the art work. My source is this tile photo which I thought was perfect for cathedral windows.
This is my collage which I really enjoyed - I have tried to make it representational of the tile rather than a straight copy of it.
Finally the stitched sample - not really my thing - but at least I have tried it.
I am noticing that my posting is not that regular but life seems very busy at the moment. There is still loads of my City and Guilds work to do with only two months left. I am determined to get all the Year 1 work completed and I will also eventually get it all posted here as I want to have a record of it all.