Sew Caring Quilters workshop & exhibition

I was on Teesside last week, where Sew Caring Quilters at Redcar made 'Japanese Circles and Squares' for their workshop on Tuesday and had their annual exhibition on Saturday (photo of a corner of it above). I didn't get many photos in the workshop or the exhibition, where I was busy demoing, but I don't think I've done a workshop where it was also one of the quilter's birthdays, and a special one at that.


Betty had a lovely fabric selection for her quilt, including a lot of hand dyed South African fabrics, and chose a circle pattern print for her applique circles.


Helen and her mum Margaret were working with the same fabric selection and are going to combine the blocks into a larger quilt.


Another subtle fabric set, with many neutral colours and several plaids (I love plaids in this design).


Looking forward to some photos of the finished quilts!

Redcar last Saturday

Sew-caring Quilters and Embroidery with a Difference group members had been hard at work on Friday afternoon and almost everything was finished when I arrived at 6.30. It didn't take long to set up, as the church has an access ramp. The builders have nearly finished modernising the church - luckily they managed to tidy everything up in time for the exhibition! As it was only open from 10a.m. - 3p.m., it was very busy and the groups raised a great donation for Zoe's Place hospice.


My display included the "Denman Kannon", the kasuri sampler from "Japanese Quilt Blocks to Mix and Match", "99 Treasures" (not in photo) and "Fish and Chips", my Batik Beauties "Delights of the Sea" challenge entry from the National Quilting Championships. "Fish and Chips" was very popular and the Lowcock's dandelion and burdock bottle was a talking point (Lowcock's are the local pop manufacturers in Cleveland and we all remembered the old fashioned bottles from the 1960s). Another kitty quilt, inspired by Pacitto's ice cream parlour, is now on my project list. The groups will have another exhibition next year, so I might be back with that one!

I stayed with my godmother, who belongs to the embroidery group. With this fantastic view across to Marske and Saltburn, her sewing sofa in the porch is a good idea! From her sewing room upstairs, you can also see the sea beyond the dunes... What an inspiring place to be able to create. Redcar has been in the news recently due to the closure of part of the steelworks, but the sand dunes and beach to the south of the town are the beautiful start of the Yorkshire coast and worth a visit - it isn't all industrial. Click the photo to see it full size.