I'm all packed up and ready to go for Textile Extravaganza in Llantrisant this weekend, so it's about time I got the photos up from Sandown Park last weekend. As you can see from the photo above, the original version of 'Masu', made from Japanese kimono silks and wools with a 1 1/2in finished strip width, ha's been getting a bit of a revival lately and I've reprinted the pattern. This is still one of my favourite quilts.
I named my first Wrexham Quilting Circle challenge from who-knows-how-many-years-ago (I'm guessing about 12!) 'Garden Party', so it just had to go into the theme category with the same name. The original challenge was a Split Nine Patch block (in the centre) and I just got carried away, playing about with progressions in colour and value. It gives the quilt a slightly 3D effect in places.
Yes, it didn't quite get part 1 of the quilting finished.... spot the marked but unstitched lines in the centre panel :-( I thought I'd pulled a muscle in the side of my left hand the week before the show - I now think I had a trapped nerve. It's fine now, but I couldn't stitch at my usual speed so I didn't get this finished. There's a little more quilting to be added in the large squares border, the plain strip borders, the sawtooth panels at top and bottom and the outer border before it's finished. It should appear as a pattern in Popular Patchwork this autumn.
My other themed entry was for 'In the Pink'. It is made to the same block layout as a quilt in the V & A's collection, after I made a 2/3 scale repro of the original patchwork. Ferret hand longarm quilted it in brown and lime green, which helps to get the pink under control for me ;-) I'm not really into pink and have only used pink in a handful of quilts. The pattern will be published in Fabrications.
My taupe sampler was in Bed Quilts -
Ferret scooped up Best in Show along with a handful of other awards. 'Prometheus' is better in her photos than mine, so here are a couple of links to her blog - click the photos here for really detailed views. In real life, it is even more stunning than in the photos. 'Greek Fossils' is it's close relative, if you think you've seen something similar from Ferret. I know there are some blog posts showing 'Prometheus' under construction - can I find them? Ferret - can you send me those links please?
BQ17 was one of my favourites - until I can get my hand on my showguide (accidentally bagged up with stuff for this weekend and now in the car), I don't know the maker's name, so I can't contact her/him for permission to show a photo of the quilt. It was a deceptively simple strip design but with a subtle rythym to it. I'll try to find out who made it so I can upload a photo.
Some other quilts I particularly enjoyed included those from the Sutton Hoo exhibit - here is one of Kim Shaw's pieces (I know Kim will be OK with me featuring her work). If you go to Sutton Hoo, another of her panels is hanging at the cafe entrance. I love the atmospheric quality of these pieces. They capture the mood of the burial site for me. There were some stunning wallhangings in that exhibit, some taking their inspiration from the landscape of the site, others from the treasures found there.
I was on the judging panel so that meant I got to award a 'Judge's Choice'. The only criteria for this is to choose the quilt that appeals to you most from the competition quilts, i.e. the one you'd most like to take home - if you could! I chose 'The Colours of Alba' by Frieda Oxenham. I've admired her quilts for a long time and her use of beads to accent her stitching is so painstaking. This wallhanging just shimmers and the beads and stitching adds an extra wash of colour over the fabric. I missed this quilt when it was at Loch Lomond in 2011 and the Scottish Quilt Championships that year, so it was a good opportunity to be able to study it in more detail. Frieda's blog makes interesting reading too. Hopefully I'll be able to post a photo later.
There seemed to be more quilts than ever this year! I'll be adding another blog post soon showing the quilts from Peaceful Heart Quilt Group, Yuza Sashiko Guild and Reiko Domon, which were also on show.
UPDATE - Here's some photos of Frieda's quilt. Hopefully the second one conveys something of the fantastic surface texture and the shimmer of the beads. Beautiful.
2 comments:
Hi Susan, I did send you an e-mail earlier but it doesn't seem to have reached you, just to say I've absolutely fine to add pictures of my work and thanks so much for blogging about it (and of course for giving me the Judge's Choice in the first place!).
Hi Frieda,
Thanks! I'll add a photo of your quilt - though I think your photos of it are probably better!
Post a Comment