Workshop with Angie Hughes

I've spent two days at Raveningham working with Angie Hughes. 
I had a brilliant time playing with transfer dyes and experimenting with colour. Here is my piece of work so far..

I can't quite decide if I have flames, leaves or feathers!
Much more stitching required.

February Journal quilt

Here is the second of my Journal Quilts based on the photographs of faces taken at the Sainsbury Center for the Visual Arts. This is not quite finished as I have to add a line of hand stitch across where the mouth would be. Each little quilt had to be 8" square and to have a line running from one side to another. I may also heat distress the Lutradur that is the darker fabric...

Art With a Needle: Photo suite 113 -- bark textures

 Here are some interesting pictures that would translate into textile..



 bark textures

And then there were three...

I made another block, but modified the technique as joining the quadrants and getting a really even join is difficult. If it isn't even the spokes look strange. I used slightly wider strips and joined the foundation pieced sections into a circle before adding the centre and outer parts, thus eliminating the annoyingly tricky bit! not a very square photo.. just getting used to a new PC.
Had I thought of this sooner I could have also eliminated the joined sections in the centre which would be more pleasing.

A Yellow Wheel Block

I made another block this morning using 5" squares cut in half diagonally,

and then we went for Sunday lunch. I had a walk afterwards looking at the snowdrops in Overstrand churchyard. I went into the church to have a look and there was a beautiful Victorian stained glass window depicting Christ risen in glory flanked by St. Cuthbert as a monk and St. Martin as a soldier.
Generally a very plain church with newish pews. Some worn, old tombstones set into the floor which had lost their decorative brasses.
Also at the back of the church a lovely hand written list of the Rectors (and their Patrons who presumably paid their stipend). A recent Patron was the Queen, through the Duchy of Lancaster. The earliest Rector was John Heymes rector until 1345! No record of when he started.
There is a cistern built into the wall next to the door where Holy water would have been kept for blessing those who entered before the Reformation...

New Cushion and New Block

Quilted Cushion

The Suffolk Puffs are made with a commercial tool, a large plastic disc with holes that you stitch through evenly spaced around the edge, which gives a nice uniformity to the finished puffs. (Yo-Yo maker by Clover). I appliqued them onto the cushion and then decided to quilt it - it would have been much quicker to do it the other way around...

New Block

The block is foundation pieced in the curved quadrants and it is advisable to take the paper out before trying to add the centre and outer pieces. Ask me how I know!! Also it helps with the construction if the fabrics are similar weights: the white is a beautiful tightly woven cotton poplin and the patchwork cotton a much more loose weave. Poplin is the type of weave we used to have school shirts made of as it is so hard wearing, and it is often the base fabric that Batiks are made with. This was only £6 metre from Val Hope at House of Pasha in Norwich.
I should try another block using batik in the wheel.

The block is designed by Lynne Goldsworthy for the new "Love Patchwork and Quilting" magazine. it is designed as a block of the month and the second magazine is out now. Lynne writes the blog Lily's Quilts and makes beautiful modern style quilts.

A very pink bear.

Linda's Bear.

Linda at Winterton quilt group today showed this newly finished bear. She has acquired a new embroidery machine so had stitched the patterns on the arms and feet with it.

I had a really good session and spent most of the time quilting a cushion for a raffle prize at the Quilters Guild Area Day that we are organizing for the 26th April. I'll post a picture tomorrow when I have stuffed a cushion pad for it.

I managed to make and almost attach the binding on my newly quilted Winding Ways quilt (thank you Mandy Parks of the Quilts Whiskers!) Picture to follow when I've got it bound...

New Blocks

Read my post about these here

Dark is not the answer!

Still struggling with my tesselation which has been cluttering up the design wall, I decided today to remove the dark shapes I had put in and try white instead. I now have a fair few blocks joined and some interesting border decisions to make. I then can take it down and get on with the little contemporary block which are
queuing up for their turn on the wall.