Duxford Quilt Show

At the beginning of the month I went to a show at Duxford Air Museum. It was quite small compared to others I have been to this year but there was some lovely stuff on show.

I really liked this simple but effective adaptation of a quilt design by Karin Hellaby from her book 'Magic Pillows, Hidden Quilts'.

Another simple but effective quilt was 30 @ 30degrees by Maggie Howell. It seems as though it would be good for using up scraps of fabric.

One of the guest exhibitors was Greta Fitchett. She produced some wonderfully detailed work. This first one is called 'Aberdeen Harbour' and I love the way the image has been divided up as though it is reflected by a window. I also really liked the close machine quilting, I have been using this in my work a lot lately.

Another beautiful quilt was 'Venice Water and Glass'. The use of colour is stunning.

'Moroccan Pots' had so much detail in it that I have included a close up photo as well.

'Volubilis' is another quilt with so much detail. I really love the use of lots of brightly coloured hand dyed fabrics, net, buttons and the mixture of machine and hand stitching.

Exeter Quilt Show

On Friday I went to this show with my mum and some friends. We had a lovely day out and although the show was very small this year there was some beautiful work to be seen.

This work is by Jane Hopkins and has been inspired by a place called Clennon Valley. The left hand one is 'Spring at Clennon Valley' and the right 'Winter at Clennon Valley'. Reverse applique using organzas and embroidery have been used. They are quite large (about 90cm) and wonderfully detailed.

Here are three detailed shots from the Spring one.

 Another piece of hers that I really liked was 'Early Riser', made using the same techniques.

These two pieces were created by Joan Dawson of South West Quilters.

Kathleen Matthews had an exhibition of the pieces that she had made for her book 'Stitched Textiles: Landscapes'. As well as featuring beautiful work the book shows you how to make some of the pieces.

Flower Garden; Lavender Farm; The Old Wood Shed

 These two pieces by Mary Bird contained hand dyed fabrics, photo transfers and loads of stitching.

River Stour 1 and 2

Applique work from 'Images of Egypt'

'Fossil Town' by Liz Drake

'Harbour' by Delyth Mattingly

'The Blues' by Marion Mountjoy Row

'The Old Barn Steps' by Penny Armitage

'Portobello Road' by Stella Hammond

'Rhubarb Picture Gallery' by Maureen Rhodes

Ready for the off ...

We are just about ready to leave for our trip to Northern Europe. The route is planned (ish) and will take in many centres famous for their Textiles.

The van has been serviced and cleaned, is full of food, clothing etc. The only problem is what textile work shall I take with me. I could take my book inspired by Francis Pickering (see last blog) to complete and even make more, recording my travels.

Whenever I travel by plane, train or coach I take small hexagons (4cm across) to make patchwork.

I start by tracing round a plastic template and roughly cutting the hexagons out, mainly from recycled fabrics but also small pieces left over from making something else. This is completed before I travel and stored with needle, thread and thread cutter in a zipped washbag. Whilst travelling I fold over the raw edges of each hexagon and tack them down. I then sew ten together in a row. I would then sew ten rows together. In this way the work never gets too large to travel with. These blocks of hexagons can then be sewn together into whatever size you want. So far I have made two king size throws and almost have enough for a double one.

Something else I work on periodically is crochet. I have made all sorts of things: blankets, toys, hats, slippers, baby clothes, etc. After a trip to Sheffield with my daughter recently we discovered lovely crochet hooks with flat bamboo handles. These are really fun to use and so I started making small 'granny' squares.

I have about fifty so far but as they're only 6cm square I will need quite a few more.

I could of course take something that is put together but still needs quilting. The flowers and leaves are appliqued, with the designs being taken from the printed fabric. I plan to quilt similar shapes onto the plain triangles.

Of course it goes without saying that I have to take my sketchbooks, pens, paints, etc. Perhaps I don't need so many clothes ...

Using recycled fabrics

One of the things that everyone knows about quilts is that they were often made of scrap or old material. I had been collecting my husband and son's old shirts, pyjamas and nightshirts for a number of years because I liked the fabric but with no end in mind. One hot summer (yes we have had them) I decided that we needed a throw for the bed rather than a duvet and set to work. I used large and small squares and rectangles. (The flowered fabrics were added to balance the strips and plaids)

 For those in the know 'jellyrolls' have become very popular and I liked some of the quilts made from them. So I collected more shirts/blouses and just used strips.

After the single bed size quilt I made a lap quilt.

Then I went back to the squares design but added appliqued hearts.

Then I tried the strips alongside plain fabric in a different format.

This one had a fleece background and was made using the 'quilt-as-you-go' technique.

All of the quilts are cut out using a rotary cutter, machine pieced and then hand quilted.

Diary covers

I have recently appeared in a guest blog on thestringempire.blogspot.com showing my latest diary cover so I thought I should show you some of my previous covers.

The background fabric is dyed, the rose is a transfer print and it is then quilted

 This cover was inspired by onion seed heads. It has a velvet background, appliqued silk, foils, beads and buttons. Much of the 'glitz' has worn off. This is the front ..

... and the back.

Dyed, appliqued and stitched wool blanket - front

... and back. This time with a book mark.

This one had a base of calico and then torn strips of plain, patterned and dyes fabrics. All hand stitched.

I really enjoy making book covers and will show more at a later date (when I have rounded them up and photographed them)