Return to Quilts UK

We will be back at Quilts UK at Malvern from Thursday to Sunday this week, in my usual spot in the marquee, near the bottom of the ramp.  I wasn't there last year because I was invited to the Loch Lomond Quilt Show instead.  I can't believe the last time I was at Malvern was two years ago!

My stand will be in the usual place, but this year I am taking a lot more Japanese fabrics on the bolt and as precuts rather than taking a kimono sale rail, including these, as well as some that we have been taking to recent World Textile Day events.

I will be teaching a sashiko workshop every day at Malvern, so please book for that at the workshop booking stand asap when you arrive.

If you can't come to Malvern, we will also be at World Textile Day near Stirling (June) and near Bristol (October), at the Great Northern Quilt Show at Harrogate (September) and the Scottish Quilt Championships (September).  I won't be at Festival of Quilts this year.

Autumn Quilt Festival Malvern

Just a reminder I'll be at the Autumn Quilt Festival at the Three Counties Showground from Friday to Sunday.  Anyone else going? For all the info, click here.

Malvern photos

First there's a pic of my sampler quilt from 'Japanese Taupe Quilt Blocks'.  I called this the 'warm' sampler, referring to the fabric colours.  It won the Sampler Quilt Award, so that's the third time I've had it - I also won in 2009 and 2008. It is machine pieced, with hand applique and hand quilting.  I've entered it for the National Quilting Championships at Sandown Park next month, but want to add some more quilting before it is shown again.  As usual, it was a question of time.

 

The second quilt is the one I made for the theme challenge, ' Go for Gold with Fire and Circles'. I called it 'We are the Champions'. It is machine quilted and embellished, with the 'flame' border done with a cording foot and a lot of sparkly fine braids.  The border fabric is the same batik Glyn used for his 'Mission Impossible' quilt in the background for the explosion.  I had to fudge one corner, because there wasn't enough left for a continuous metre square, so it's in pieces!  With the metallic crackle mesh overlay, it isn't obvious at all.

 

The figures are adapted from several ancient Greek vases.  The 30s polyester topstitch thread I used for the freemotioned outlines was a bit of a problem, as the machine really didn't like the first spool and it kept snagging up underneath.  Couldn't work out the problem - the spool seemed fine.  It performed better with the second and third spools (30m on each).  I only had a couple of days to work on this, so any glitches were not welcome. At least I got it finished. I wonder if anyone spotted that the binding on these two quilts is exactly the same? LOL

 

The winning theme quilt was by Sheena Norquay.  I admire her designs and her machine quilting is fantastic.  We were lucky to have Sheena as one of the speakers at the Quilters' Guild AGM in Dundee a few weeks ago.  This quilt is just amazing - click the photo to see it in more detail (there's a LOT of detail in this piece).

   

Reiko Domon and quilters from Peaceful Heart Quilt Group and Yuza Sashiko Guild have sent an exhibition of their quilts which will be touring with the Grosvenor quilt shows this year.  Unfortunately Blogger won't let me put all the photos on this post, so I'll have to try to add them to another post later. First, here are some of Reiko's quilts -

 

 

Some general views of their exhibition space -

 

 

I only got one photo of my stand (I left my camera at home until Sunday - oops). This quilter had made a super version of the Rice Sack Bag from '21 Terrific Patchwork Bags' using African fabrics and the patchwork design 'French braid' for the main panel. 

 

We had a good time at the show, although I was so busy, I didn't really have much chance to see the quilts and feel like I must have missed at least half the show.  Hopefully there will be a bit more time for quilt viewing at Sandown Park later next month!

Note - Blogger's new photo uploader doesn't make it easy to get pictures onto my blog in quantity!  There are several photos it just doesn't want to upload, despite several attempts.  So annoying!  It also keeps altering the alignment of text and photos from centre to left when I don't want it and reversing this when I do.  I wish they'd bring back the old blog posting page.

Autumn Quilt Festival, Malvern

I'm back home from Malvern today after a very easy and relaxing three days (for a quilt show LOL!) I was demonstrating and teaching one hour sashiko workshops, and the quilts from 'Japanese Quilt Inspirations' were on show again. For the first time, I was on the same side of the main hall as the entrance doors and it is quite a difference experience from being either in the marquee in May or further down the hall - the quilters reached me within a minute of the doors opening at 10 a.m.

My red and white 'Fanoe' quilt was on the end of the Fabrications magazine stand (photo above), just inside the entrance. It will be in the next issue. There were plenty of red and white fabrics for sale at the show, which would be ideal for this. One trader told me that quilters seem a bit reluctant to mix slightly different reds in a quilt, but I hope they notice that it is actually a feature in my quilt and the subtle changes in reds makes the design more lively. The longarm quilting is also in a shaded red thread, and was done by Pam Ablett at Quilter's Trading Post, Whitchurch. I saw Pam at the show and she told me that they are just about to move into their new premises, where she'll be able to have both Gamill machines up and running, and they are also going to start running workshops.

I found some interesting fabrics from several traders, including Tudor Rose, who were opposite me - they had some excellent taupe fat quarter bundles which would be ideal for a remake of the little grey lap quilt hanging up on the corner of the left of my demo stand (from 'Japanese Taupe Quilt Blocks'). I'm teaching there next year, with a freezer paper applique workshop based on my 'Sensu' (fans) quilt from 'Japanese Quilt Inspirations'.

We had the pumpkin trick or treat bag from '21 Sensational Patchwork Bags' on display of course, full of sweets (candies) as this has become a bit of a tradition at this show, which coincides with Halloween weekend annually (NB - Glyn is keeping his hands well away from the sweets in this photo - they are for the quilters!) This year we had traditional boiled sweets (mints, chocolate limes & Werther's Originals) and (luxuriously) chocolate eclairs... mmm.


The 'Japanese Quilt Inspirations' display -


I spotted several quilters walking around with versions of my patchwork bags, including a lovely Rice Sack Bag I spotted near the main entrance but unfortunately didn't catch up with its owner later on. This splendid sashiko bag, complete with Ainu ayus ('having a thorn') patterns up the sides, was the only one I managed to snap. The various sashiko designs are all from 'The Ultimate Sashiko Sourcebook' and this is an ultimate sashiko sampler bag.

Greetings from sunny Malvern

The first day of the quilt show seemed busier than ever. It got quite warm in the new marquee in the afternoon, so if you are planning to visit, wear layers and think 'summer'! Quite a lot of the kimono have been sold, but there's still a selection to choose from and we now have space on the rail for a few more.

The new books are selling well too - I hope I will have enough of everything to last through until Sunday.

My little quilt made with the 'Retro Revival' blocks from '130 Little Quilt Blocks' won third place in the 'Cot Quilt' category. I'll take a photo tomorrow. Hopefully I'll get there in time to have a look around the quilts.

Shows roundup - Ruthin, Crafts for All and Autumn Malvern

As promised, here is the first of several round up blog posts, filling in some photos from the last month or so. Starting at the end of September, I attended the trading day for Dyffryn Clwyd's quilt show, part of the 700th anniversary celebrations for Ruthin's parish church. I taught the "Super Strips" workshop there back in June, where this quilt top was begun - click here to go to the workshop blog post - can you spot it? You're not looking for a rainbow centre, more purples and that distinctive yellow ochre band. Now it is tacked, ready for quilting, with borders added. Gorgeous.


Debbie rolling up fabric - some of those silks had arrived just days before -


Crafts for All was a show I managed to fit in at the last minute on the first weekend in October. It was held in Bristol and I could only fit in one day. This was the first time (I think) for this show. The next one will be from 1st - 3rd April 2010 - hopefully I'll be able to attend for the whole show. Here is Clare in front of my display & demo area.


She was dressed in furisode by Jill Clay of Festival of Japan.


Jill did two kimono dressing demos during the day and both Sunday's volunteers had a lot of fun. Here's the afternoon model chatting to Clare later on.


Rather than having a set time workshop, I did a rolling "make and take" session where visitors could learn how to mark and stitch the kusazashi (grass stitch) pattern taught by members of Yuza Sashiko Guild at the Great Northern Quilt Show earlier in the month.


Not many photos from the Autumn Quilt Festival at Malvern - it was so busy, we only got this photo just before demolishing the stand at the end of the show! That's the strange thing with show photos, there's rarely time to take a photo while the show is busy, so those images I do manage to snap are always in the quiet moments, and the halls look deserted!


The pumpkin bag from "21 Sensational Patchwork Bags" always gets an outing at this show, as it is held on Halloween weekend - not so much "Trick or Treat" as "which treat?" This year it was full of chocolate limes, lemon sherbets, mints, toffees and fudges - all the old fashioned sweets.

Off to Malvern tomorrow

Just a few more things to do in the morning before setting out, not least to put the quilts for my display in the car! All the projects from the new taupes book should be on display, so long as I can find a cushion pad to fit the cushion (the one in the book photo was from the photographer's studio sofa cushions). Another couple of boxes of books arrived today and the last few of the recent mail order batch will be on their way tomorrow, so I have some for sale (and signing) at the show.

All the info about the show is here.

The workshop at this show is a small sashiko kinchaku or drawstring bag. Earlier this year there was only one colour option for this workshop - pale blue. I've now run out of that fabric and more hasn't arrived yet, so this time the colour options are dark blue, purple or leaf green, with other colour accents for the circles in the maru shippou design. The lining is the purple colourway of the red yukata cotton I used earlier in the year.

A few jobs for tomorrow morning include cutting and overlocking some squares for sashiko stitching demos and, if I have enough time to squeeze it in, making a quick cushion panel from one of the kinran fabric panels.

Autumn quilt festival at Malvern

The whole weekend has been full of autumnal colours and imagery, from the fantastic foliage colours on the drive down to the leaves that were blown into the hall by the high winds on Sunday morning, scattered all over the carpet! This Fabric Freedom "Noodle" (their Jelly Roll equivalent), from Quilting Madness, was the perfect weekend souvenir. It is destined to become another workshop sample for Super Strips, although I don't think there will be time to assemble it before the next workshop on November 22nd at Gresford. Fabric Freedom rolls have been used many times at my Super Strips workshops. Overall, they often have lower contrasts than some of the other strip cuts and they are the ones that most quilters are holding when they ask, "Will this roll be OK?", but that simply makes for a very harmonious quilt top. A similar roll was used when I taught on Jersey in June - it is easy to spot among all the other tops. The blue and yellow one below it (in the linked blog entry) is another Fabric Freedom roll.


My workshops went well, with Saturday being the quietest day at this show, rather than Sunday. Perhaps people looked at the weather forecast and decided to make Sunday their indoor day. I almost forgot to photograph my demo stand just for the record - if I'm looking a bit worn out (below), we had just begun breaking down the stand and had packed up a couple of boxes when I remembered there wasn't a photo of it.

I eventually started demoing on "Tennyo" on Saturday, as the A0 pattern was too large to manage easily on the central area of my demo table, and I transferred it onto the fabric using Chaco paper on Friday evening instead. Travelodge rooms usually have a long built-in desk, which means I have somewhere to work and an ideal cutting table for narrow width kimono fabrics. It turned out to be a good marking area too. At the show on Friday, I marked and began stitching another version of the "Kiri" crest on a smaller square, the design I was using in the sashiko marking workshop, which will become the centre of a cushion panel when I bring it out as a kit next spring. Every year since about 2004, I've brought out the Grosvenor quilt shows' sashiko workshop project in kit form, so if you missed the workshop, there's still a chance to make the project.

The lights from the carpark lights at Frankley Services (M5) made a great gobo effect through the trees, straight onto the wall in the motel room!

My demo stand was next to Ineke Berlyn's, and she had some of her beautiful hand dyed fabric for sale. This piece was irresistable. Not quite strictly autumnal colours, but the yellow/orange/flame red end caught my eye. Next door to Ineke, Lousie Mabbs, known for her rainbows of colour and exploration of mathematical theories via patchwork, had her demo display, although most of her work is currently in an individual exhibition in the main quilt section. There is one more chance to see it all together at Chilford next weekend. Pat Archibald also has a selection of her quilts touring with Grosvenor this autumn, including many of the pieces in her online gallery. "Moonshadows and Sundown", "Celtic Moon" and "Sunshine and Shadow Days" are among my favourites. These will also be touring to Chilford.


I might combine Ineke's panel with some of these fabrics, for next year's Oriental Fabrics challenge (formerly the Kona Bay Challenge), "Cherry Blossoms and Maple Leaves", sponsored by Step-by-Step Patchwork Centre. The cherry blossom and gingko leaf fabrics in the top row are from their gorgeous selection of oriental fabrics. The fabrics across the bottom are from The Contented Cat (it turned out they also have the cherry blossom fabrics). Joyce Dawe of The Contented Cat has many of her quilts in a special section at this year's autumn quilt shows, including her striking red and blue version of the Dear Jane quilt and a quilt commemorating one of her cats, Sheba. I might think I have a handful with Fluff and Takenoko, but they have three Siamese!


Speaking of cats, "Fish and Chips" was on display again, as part of the Batik Beauties challenge. Next year's theme is "A Batik Landscape". Entry forms for all the Grosvenor quilt shows are available if you contact them through their website.


The Contented Cat also came up with the two paw print fabrics (on the left below), which I wanted for a challenge project for next year. They have a great selection of paw print fabrics and the only difficulty is deciding which ones to include. I bought a couple of cat panels from Robert Kaufman's "Curious Kitties" range last summer and the challenge is between myself and a quilting friend. I can't write too much more here because Debbie is probably going to read this sometime! I think she already knows that my challenge is going to involve a lot of red fabric, some Log Cabin blocks and quilt-as-you go...

The brown paisley print on the right is from Rustic Angel. I am collecting repro fabrics for a quilt inspired by an antique Turkey Red quilt in Pippa Moss's collection and this will subsitute quite well for one of the non-red fabrics in the quilt top. Finding just the right fabrics is a slow process, as many repro ranges dull down the reds a little (100 year old Turkey Red quilts are still as bright as new) or focus mainly on smaller scale prints.

Debbie spotted a Moda Arcadia Jelly Roll for me in a bargain basket! I bought one recently with a matching charm pack for a new Jelly Roll quilt design I'm working on. However, I ended up using the roll for another new design (a variation on my "Masu" quilt - blocks shown below). Only then did I find out that these rolls were fast disappearing off the shelves! I spotted one on Kaleidoscope's fabric stand at Malvern, but by the time I'd returned to buy it, it had been sold! Now I've got it again, the charm pack won't go to waste...

Taupes were very much in evidence on many trading stands. As I'm working on a taupes block book at the moment, I already have a lot of taupes in my workroom. Woven taupes are my favourites and the two on the right below look just like miniature Welsh double weave wool blankets.

And finally, at Quilts UK back in May 2008, visitors were impressed with a new piece of work at the showground. These fabrics are going to be used for a small wallhanging inspired by its colours, patterns and textures. The fabric at the top is metallic silver. Suffice to say the title might be "The Ladies at Malvern"...

Although there are lots of places where you can buy fabric online, there's really no substitute for a good quilt show, where you can see and touch the fabrics for real, and combine fabrics from different traders to get exactly what you need for a particular project.