Butterfly Quilts for Barnsley College

Earlier this year I was asked if my Embroidery and Patchwork Group would like to be involved in producing Art Work for the new building at Barnsley College. Of course I said 'Yes!'
The theme was butterflies.
We asked members to produce an embroidered butterfly block which we then joined to make this very attractive quilt.
It now hangs proudly in the Library of the new building.

We also made some Butterfly Blocks in my Tuesday patchwork class, which I joined and made into this quilt.
This now hangs in one of the corridors.

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I think it is really great to see quilts hanging in public places. I think they look really good!

Hello - I'm Back Again - With lots of quilts to show!

Hello! I'm back again!

Don't really know why I have stopped blogging recently. I have been busy with new quilt classes and lots of workshops but I suppose really that you just get out of the habit.

The first photo I am going to show is very special. This quilt top was made by my good friend Chris who sadly lost her battle with cancer and passed away on October 28th.

This is the quilt she was making for her new Gandaughter, Charlie who currently lives in California. The block comes from Quilters Cache and is called California.

I was lucky enough to meet Charlie at Chris's funeral, Chris didn't quite manage to complete this quilt before she died but me and a couple of her quilting friends will make sure that its all finished for when Charlie comes back at Christmas.

 Recently we had a show and tell at our embroidery and patchwork group and I took some photos of quilts that were made in my classes last year. This is Kath, hiding behind her 'Handbags' cushion.

 The cushion holds this quilt which Kath designed using my little handbag block.

 This is Kath's Blue Ridge Beauty which is a Bonnie Hunter design. We worked on scrap quilts and using recycled clothing last year. This quilt is made entirely from recycled shirts.

 Smruti made a baby quilt using Bonnie Hunter's Scrappy Irish Chain block.

 Jean's Scrappy Irish Chain Quilt.

 Look at the back!

 And Celia's Scrappy Irish Chain.

What lovely quilts!

Pieced Quilts from Festival of Quilts 2011

More and more I am drawn to pieced quilts, preferably scrap quilts, based on traditional quilt blocks with lots of small pieces.
Somebody wrote on a blog recently that as modern quilters, we often move away from traditional piecing and would rather use applique, fabric painting or other modern techniques in our quilt designs. I suppose what she was driving at was that we go for speed of completion rather than the actual journey of piecing.
So perhaps we need to slow down sometimes and enjoy the repetitive nature of piecing lots of small pieces into blocks and quilts. There is nothing that gives me more pleasure than an uninterupted piecing session at the sewing machine, feeding through chain pieced sections and building up blocks in a lovely methodical way.
So when I go to quilt shows I love to look at pieced quilts, the scrappier the better. I love quilts with lots going on.

This morning I am going to treat you to a little quilt show of pieced quilts which were on display at Festival of Quilts. None of these won any prizes, if you think about it pieced quilts seem to be out of fashion with quilt judges in the UK.

I love the kaleioscope block and the way that the maker has substituted a blue triangle in the photo above.

A pineapple block quilt. Controlled scrappy - interesting placement of the orange scraps.

A miniature flying geese quilt - Flying Goslings by Dorian Walton. This was probably only about 8 inches square!

Following my visit to the Elegant Geometry exhibit in Nebraska I was drawn to this quilt made from elongated hexagons. and squares made in the mosaic patchwork style.

I really loved this pineapple block quilt.

I also loved this tumbling blocks variation.

Hope you enjoyed these quilts. I fancy going to do a few hours piecing now but instead it will be back to completing my book for my City & Guilds course. I will hopefully get time to baste a quilt this afternoon though.

Pictorial Quilts at Festival of Quilts 2011

I really enjoy looking at pictorial quilts. I love to look at how they are constructed and marvel how the makers manage to translate a picture or photograph into fabric.

The first quilt is called 'The Bayeux Tapestry to Quilt'. The maker isn't in the catalogue because it was a late entry but I think it was made by an Australian Quilter.

Absolutely beautiful applique and quilting.

This quilt is called 'Ab-Original' by Valerie Wheeler.

I loved this one - it is actually constructed from tiny hexagons! It is called 'Billie Joe Armstrong'

This beautiful mountain scene drew a lot of attention and looked better the further away you viewed it. It is called 'Lyngsfjord I' by Jane Ashe.

This quilt is so life like. It is called 'Dassehra' by Bette Kultorp Andresen of Norway.

I really loved this one as it was very 3 dimensional. It is called 'Loss of the French Schooner 'Jeune St Charles'' by Anne Taylor.

Finally this trio of quilts really stood out in one of the galleries. It is so clever - the piecing fascinated me. In fact I love it more because it is pieced rather than being appliqued or painted.

'My Way' by Solvi L. Krokeide of Norway.

Marina Mamonova - my favourite gallery at Festival of Quilts 2011

I have decided to do a couple more posts about the Festival of Quilts and then I will bring you up to speed with the sewing I am doing at the moment.
Every year I choose a favourite gallery and this year it had to be the quilts of Russian Quilter Marina Mamonova. I didn't think they would be my style as I usually am attracted by pieced quilts these days but as I started to view her small gallery I was totally amazed by them. One of the things about her exhibition was how different each quilt was and how texture played such an important part in her work.

I love her use of weaving in some of these quilts, and the wonderful texture she achieves. Lots of inspiration here.
I also loved the Japanese silk quilts but forgot to go back to take any photos of those quilts.