More work on HSTeria

My small Half Square Triangle piece got quilted today and made into a pillow cover. More straight line quilting, but with the occasional change of direction for variety.

I also removed loads of dust from under the bed along with several things, including a bag of small quilts that I had thought lost! There was also a bag of stuffing that will make the pillow insert for this - another finish!

Pallets 2

Second sample now done. I'm really liking this matchstick quilting. I've only ever used it on my journal quilts before. I start in the middle and work out to either side stitching from the top each time. I stitch a machine-foot width apart first then go back and sew in the spaces. It gives a very nice handle to the cloth. I used two shades of grey thread and a variegated black thread which I've had for ages and never found a use for before.
Here is the monochrome version under the machine.

 I've also been playing around with some new cloth samples where there is a different colour on each side so that 6 pieces give you 12 colourways! How about that?

Delicious Heathery colours!!

Colour Play

I've been designing today with the lovely shott cottons from Oakshott, and made a piece based on my photographs of the coloured pallets and the Farm shop. Now I have to finish writing up the pattern and make another sample in a different colourway, but here is a tempting part of the picture... all will be revealed at the Festival of Quilts next month.

I also had a lovely parcel today with two quilts returning from Mandy Parks having been beautifully Long Arm Quilted.. just need binding which is, incidentally the subject of the class I am giving this week!
Pictures to follow when they are completed.

Work in Progress

The severe electrical storms seemed to interfere with the laptop and I haven't been able to post for several days. Herewith some pictures of stuff I am working on.

 I have set my little experimental squares into wide sashings of very pale blue hand woven linen that we found in the drapers in Bungay, lovely stuff but you have to wash it first as it shrinks.

I was trying out the technique of using very narrow strips of fabric, using plains and Oakshott cottons from my stash. I have another set of these, bigger blocks using a deep mustard yellow and black with Japanese fabric, which are waiting their turn at the finishing...

And below is my second attempt at image transfer using paper lamination. This is for the Stretching Art challenge based on Illuminated Manuscripts, but I've rather turned the idea on its head as in my piece the meaning is obscured, partly by the technique where the paper is mostly washed away (picture of that to follow) and also because I have used texts which mainly I cannot read as they are in a variety of languages.

There are texts in French, German, Spanish, Chinese and even the English is taken from the financial information at the back of the newspaper on stock prices, which is all gobble-de-gook to me!



I've also been working on some more Modern Blocks using Log Cabin as this is the subject of the next two classes I'm doing with my rolling program for beginners. I have traditional samples so its nice to make one that is freer and plays with the idea.

 First two completed blocks: but as you can see from the picture below it does make an awful mess... had to get out the hoover before the day got started!

And finally:
No Room At The Bin!!!

A River Trip

Hot today so I didn't go to sew at quilt group but went down along the river for a picnic lunch. There was not too much river traffic.
It was cooler, greener and there were birds to see.

We saw a Pen with a nest of half grown cygnets and counted seven when they came along to investigate our lunch. Beautiful young birds still with grey downy feathers and unformed wings which they stretched and waggled, but no flight feathers yet.

There was a great crested grebe too with two small youngsters who kept hitching a ride on the mother's back, but too far away to photograph.

Children coming out of school were hitching a ride up river to their sailing lesson on Barton Broad, The Orange dingy is towing the two sailing boats out to open water and has a couple of sailboards over it: later we saw some of them falling in the water!

 We also saw the Edwardian Steam Launch, Falcon, giving a boat trip. It makes a nice puttering sound as it goes along. There is also a Solar Powered boat called Ra which is silent, but we didn't see her today. There were lots of butterflies on the buddleia that grows by the water, mostly Peacocks, but some Red Admirals too.



On the way back we passed Hunsett Mill an old Drainage windpump which has had the most amazing modern house built onto the old mill cottage with huge panes of darkened reflective glass in all the windows. The new building is faced with dark wood and built at odd angles, but it's interesting and I don't dislike it.

Paper lamination

First, a lucky find:
these are hearts and small so ideal for the Quilters Guild Tombola at The Festival of Quilts next month.. little felt Heart brooches, leftovers from a table sale for the church!

I've been working on some more paper lamination that I did at Summer School with Christine Chester. A collage of newspapers is laid down on the print bed and then a sheer voile is pinned on top. Then a fabric medium is screen printed over the top, heat set and dunked in warm water to remove the excess paper. in theory you can see through to the print layer underneath but today my medium was too thick and is too opaque. however the back, paper side is rather interesting...






Yesterday I went to print in Helen's workshop at Raveningham and used two sizes of thermofax screens with almost writing to print a background fabric on some pretty commercial cotton left over from a grand-daughters quilt.

The plan is to combine the two to make a quilt for the Stretching Art challenge in  the USA.
Deadline approaches!