Elvington and Garstang

On Tuesday I was with Priory Patchworkers at Elvington near York for the sashiko furoshiki workshop, followed by 'Sashiko and Japanese Country Textiles' talk. I didn't take photos in the workshop as I'd planned to take them at the talk afterwards - everyone in a line with their stitching, as quite a bit got done at tea time - but somehow I didn't. It was a bit of a busy day. I'll look foward to having photos sent later.

I did manage to get plenty of photos with Garstang Patchworkers and Quilters in our Super Strips workshop yesterday, after my 'Travels with a Bag Lady' talk the evening before. As usual, I came away with another potential workshop sample on my 'to do' list, this time using one of the 'Arcadia' Moda Jelly Rolls like Debi did (see photo above), as I love this range and have a few rolls stashed away. Here are the other patchworks, in various fabrics - some are from strip cuts and some were cut from the quilters' stashes. Some are done with 2 1/2in strips, some with 1 1/2in.


Debi also brought her version of my Rice Sack Bag from '21 Terrific Patchwork Bags', in batiks -


The workshop was held in Bilsborow, where there is an excellent fish and chip shop - so had some for lunch, purely for research of course, just in case I do another 'Fish and Chips' quilt anytime soon.


I'm off to Lincolnshire for a Quilters' Guild Regional Day tomorrow and workshop on Sunday (Japanese Circles and Squares), so more photos after the weekend. I'm also looking forward to seeing photos of finished projects from both the workshops above. Thanks for some fun, creative days! :-)

Fish & Chips at Sandown Park

"Fish & Chips" won a Judge's Merit at the National Quilting Championships at Sandown Park today. Not bad for a quilt that was only pieces of fabric Wednesday of last week!

Fish & Chips - design influences

Other than fish and chips, there are several inspirations for the quilt (which is 1 metre square).

My cousin's cat, Billy, a large black cat, used to like to sit up at the dining table and watch what was going on. He seemed to enjoy this immensely. I imagined he might just like to do the same thing at a fish and chip counter. Black cats usually have a hint of tabby when seen in bright light, so I used this when I chose the piece of batik for the cat.

I like the way that artist Mary Fedden arranges and interprets objects, particularly the way she views adjacent objects or even parts of the same object on different planes simultaneously. For example, she will depict a mug with the bottom edge straight as if you are looking at it from the side only but the top oval, with a view into the mug. Her work often depicts the sea or things of the sea, and cats frequently make an appearance. She uses strange colours or textures to depict familar objects (such as pairs of black apples). Her still life paintings are full of everyday objects yet are mysterious at the same time.

"Cat and Compass"

"Still Life by the Sea" & biographical notes

"Irish Lilies"

"Black Cat Cafe"

Try a Google image search for "Mary Fedden" and you will be able to see many more images of her work.

Fish & Chips

I finished binding the quilt this afternoon (still need to remove tacking threads and add a hanging sleeve this evening). Click the photo to see it at a larger size.

Cat, salt shaker, vinegar bottle & mushy peas tub all have a bit of extra wadding/machine trapunto, as do the fish & chips.



The pop bottle is based on my recollections of the very distinctive Lowcocks bottles that used to be sold on Teesside in the early 1970s. They were pressed glass, with a stopper that screwed down into the neck and very heavy - 3d if you returned one I think.


Batiks have so many designs that look like 50s laminates, batter etc. Even the border batik has fish bones! The "Kitty Chronicle" newspaper was a real find.