Cambridge Quilters Workshop with Anja Townrow

Following on from my last post I thought I would write about the brilliant workshop we all enjoyed (if that's the right word) with Anja Townrow.  

The topic of the day was 'Curved Piecing' and Anja had put together a project to teach us how to do curved piecing. That is, the entire background to the patchwork was pieced either around leaf shapes or a fish.  If time allowed we could then add applique and/or built in embroidery stitches. So this is what were were aiming for!  Most of us chose the flower, top left,  but a couple of brave souls chose the fish.

There followed five hours of intense work......I found this, by far, one of the most difficult things I've ever had to do in my 'sewing' life.   So this is the design I picked...

We had to copy the design (not the flower) and trace the shapes onto freezer paper. We then laid out the shapes in the same orientation as they appeared in the design (for straight of grain).

We then added a seam allowance and some balance marks and cut them out. 

Much careful pining and sewing later to put it all together again. 

We eventually pressed it all and cut off excess fabric. Here's Pam with hers.

 Voila! This looks brilliant! Just add flowers...

And the fish....just add decorative stitching.

My efforts were less than perfect although after five hours of intensive work, I did manage to finish the background.  I found this to be one of the most challenging workshops (in a good way) that I've ever attempted. Got home, put my stuff away, made cauliflower cheese, ate dinner with my husband and was fast asleep by 9pm.  I can now look at pieced quilts with a much greater appreciation of the skills involved. 

Pam Southworth posted a picture of her finished piece on the Cambridge Quilters' FaceBook page.  Well done Pam.

Anja Townrow wows Cambridge Quilters

Cambridge Quilters had a special treat recently when Anja Townrow was our guest speaker.  Anja was born in The Hague, Holland and moved to England in 1974. She developed her skills via the more widely available American books and magazines but in 1993 set up 'Dutch Quilts' to sell her first patchwork quilts. She has won many prizes and is a published author. 

Anja explained how when she started doing patchwork and quilting she found it impossible to do the 1/4" seam.  This is how she ended up doing the foundation piecing (with templates) method which is very accurate, though time consuming.  

Here is a close up of one of her flowers made with foundation piecing.  Anja draws out her design full size on paper. Adding the border is no guess work or jiggling to make the 'bars' fit. Anja works out on paper what all the measurements should be which ensures a white block in each corner and the blue bars coming next in the arrangement. 

Anja's 'Flower Festival ' quilt, mainly foundation pieced, 88" x 88" 

'Abundance' made with curved piecing, foundation piecing,appliqué, broderie perse and embellishments. It is huge! Anya's classic 'Dutch Tile' blocks are set in the border. 

'Floral Compass'  awarded a judges merit at Quilts UK Malvern 2014

I took this close up photograph which shows Anja's classic 'Dutch Tile' block

Aren't these colours stunning?

Finally an example of one of Anja's pattern called 'Pond Life'.  Brilliant 

appliqué and piecing.  

Watch this space for our experience at Anja's workshop the next day. For me it was the most challenging day's sewing ever..but challenging in a good way! 

Cambridge Quilters Chairman's Challenge 2016 Mark 2

I described in a previous post how Cambridge Quilters are set a challenge each year by our Chair. We don't have to join in but it's a great way of getting to know other members. I wrote about the set of Egyptian themed place mats started by me which went around my group.  I thought it would be a good time to show what I made for the other members in my group....

Elaine's bag contained a batik jelly roll and she requested the blocks came out at 12" (finished).  With a good eye for putting colours together Elaine made her first block. 

So, here is the block I made for Elaine. Not too hard then? 

The next bag proved to be a bigger challenge....there was a Christmas theme with the idea of making a lap quilt.  With quite a few design ideas to choose from I decided to tackle this one. It was quite big at 22" x 12".   I first had to create the 'background' and pieced together several fabrics. The Christmas tree in the centre was foundation pieced. 

 Then I drew all the letters using the Techsoft 2D tools drawing programme. I printed them out, fiddled with the sizes and finally cut them out of fabric using Bondaweb. After some careful appliqué I was done. Phew, that took a while. 

In the next bag, I found a maritime theme and the bag owner had started off stitching these beech huts. Red, white and blue fabrics were requested on a sort of 'shabby' background which was provided. 

 

The next person in rotation made this light house! No pressure then! 

I decided to keep things simple and researched maritime flags. The design of the flags have a meaning but these were rather random. So this is my contribution......

and here is a close up of me free machine stitching it. I used some vilene to support the fabric and used a hoop for tension.

The next bag, from Jane, proved to be an even bigger challenge. Jane asked for circles and she had made an amazing New York Beauty block which I now regret not photographing. I knew that it was possible to make a 'log cabin' block which, when you make four, will look circular. I struggled to make this design down in scale to make a 12" block so I just had to make four. I think Jane plans to make this the centre of her final quilt. Isn't log cabin versatile? 

The last bag proved to be very different from all the others. On opening the bag I found recycled denim, pink appliqué, buttons and the like. All very 'casual' for want of another name. So I decided to improvise and made a series of corded pin tucks, stitched lines of built in embroidery patterns and added some 'rough and ready' appliqué. I then added pink buttons to complement the pink fabric used on a other block. 

I have so much enjoyed each and every mini project and when we all got together to return the bags and contents to the original owner everyone seemed pleasantly surprised, if not amazed, by the results. I know I was. 

As I write I hope the others in this group are well on the way to completing their quilts which should be ready for the big reveal next January. I wonder what our next challenge will be? 

Cambridge Quilters Chairman's 2016 Members Challenge

 I've been a member of Cambridge Quilters for two and a half years and thoroughly enjoyed every minute.  The talks, the workshops and meeting new, like minded people.  Every January when we regroup after Christmas our current Chair sets a challenge for the coming year. This isn't compulsory but quite a few join in with the plan.  

Last January Susan Ross put forward the idea of working in groups. We each had to make a 'block' then place it in a bag, with a few notes and possibly some fabrics, then pass it onto the next person in the group. We could set some 'rules' and eventually the bag with it's contents would come back to the first person with a number of finished blocks. 

With the big Egypt exhibition on at the Fitzwilliam museum in Cambridge I decided I would like some new place mats for my dining room. This room has a bit of an Egyptian theme already, between the curtains and the framed papyrus paintings on the walls.  I found some suitable fabric in my collection and set about making a 'block'. I stipulated the finished size I was looking for and said 'no appliqué' please as I thought the mats would get washed a fair bit. 

So here is the piece I made. It took me about an hour. I kept it simple and based some strips around the motifs based on tomb paintings. I think I bought the fabric almost ten years ago. 

This next piece has delightful 'flying geese' blocks which look like pyramids. Whoever made it added some turquoise fabric from their collection.  I concentrated on free motion quilting the turquoise panels. There were six placemats made in total but only a selection shown here. 

This one below is my favourite. Paper pieced by Elaine in the group. She must have spent quite a bit of time on this one!

 I decided to stipple quilt in the black background as I felt I didn't want to detract from the motifs. So with a bit more quilting, making and applying the binding, not to mention hand stitching it all in position, my six placemats were complete. 

Still recovering from my trip to the Festival of Quilts....more next week

Looking back and looking forward...

Looking back.......have you noticed that Face Book will from time to time, unearth photos that you posted ages ago? Well this one below popped up this week. I posted this series of pictures because my niece, Gemma was getting married.  

I love making bobbin lace but it is a very slow craft indeed. The picture above shows my lace pillow with the lace edging three quarters finished.  Some of my favourite bone bobbins feature at the bottom.  

There are many different types or variations of bobbin lace. I began, many years ago, with the basic torchon lace. This lace is made at an angle of 45 degrees and is relatively easy. 

I tried many different laces over the years; Bedfordfordshire, Binche, Russian lace, Honiton, Bruges, Schneeburg to name but a few. Nothing captivated me more than Buckingham Point lace or more commonly called 'Bucks Point'. 

This lace is made at an angle of 60 degrees and has a floral character to it. A design feature will be surrounded by a thicker thread or gimp and the edge will usually have tiny picots or loops.  It has a 'ground' stitch called 'point ground' and a 'honeycomb ground'  which makes the more open areas. 

Bucks Point lace is really slow. This whole piece took me about 100 hours including the setting up and stitching it onto some silk.  I added The word 'Gemma' in the centre using a computerized sewing machine. 

Bucks point is a type of bobbin lace from the East Midlands in England. it was also made in Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire. Apparently it is similar to the French Lille lace.  At one time Buckinghamshire was the centre of English lacemaking from as early as the 16th century, its style changed and evolved depending on the fashion of the time. What we know as Bucks Point only appeared at the end of the 18th century and was possibly inspired by Mechlin lace. 

So, you might ask, what am I looking forward to? The Festival of Quilts starts next Thursday and I am going on Friday with my friends from  Cambridge Quilters.  We will set off early in the morning to see this wonderful exhibition and huge selection of traders. I don't need anything of course but I expect I will find some things I want. I expect we will stagger back on the coach loaded up with goodies.  Will report back next weekend. 

  Visit the website  Festival of Quilts NEC

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Visitors make their own earrings and more

I closed my studio doors to visitors last Sunday feeling very pleased with how my 'open studio' had gone. It is quite a lot of work.....not just designing and making things but deciding on presentation and pricing, as well as personal advertising and social media.

As I do both textiles and jewellery I had quite a bit on display. The photo shows me in my gazebo with my textile wall hangings and quilts. There were also a few bags-mostly sold- and a few items such as cards and felted notebooks.  

I decided I would try to set myself apart from other jewellery makers in Cambridge Open Studios and offer a 'make your own earrings' service. This proved quite popular.  An early visitor and friend from Cambridge Quilters made quite a visual impact with her bright green top that I suggested she made a button necklace. Funky eh? 

Next comes Tania who works for Spirus, the marketing company used by COS.  Tania was inspired by these acrylic discs to make herself some earrings. 

Another visitor created these freshwater pearl drops

and Agnes put together range and purple to make these. Apologies for the not brilliant photo quality.

There were many more but I love these next earrings made by a good neighbour. Hilary was desperate to make some earrings to match the red skirt she was wearing. Red is a tricky colour to find in glass beads but we managed!   I think these earrings are stunning, especially when the red bead is teamed up with Swarovski crystals--not just tiny bicone beads but one which is more of a flat disc. 

This week has been one of sorting out my studio ready for more creativity including a special commission for another Cambridge Open Studios artist who asked me to make her a one-off pearl necklace.  It's quite an honour and privilege to make something unique that you know with be treasured by that person. 

Amazing artist Delia Cecil visits Cambridge Quilters this week

The meeting room was packed last Wednesday evening for the talk from Delia Cecil.

 Delia has been stitching and making textile art for over twenty years, She lives on the suffolk coast and it is clear from her work that she is inspired by nature, especially the wild life she sees around her.

Delia exhibits with a mixed media group called 'Running With Scissors'. They have exhibited at The NEC amongst other places. Delia has won awards for her work and featured in several magazines. 

Like many of us, Delia started making bed quilts but moved onto designing and making pictorial wall hangings. She uses appliqué with free machine embroidery. The triptych  below is called 'Leiston Abbey Ruins', Delia has layered organza with lace and cotton fabrics on a linen base. Stitching comes next followed by using a hot gun to burn away synthetic fabrics to revel underneath layers. 

Delia's latest work uses natural dyes sources from hedgerows, Fabric is steamed and printed with  leaves. The feathers are sun printed.  This form of eco printing was inspired by a book called 'Eco Colour' by India Flint. 

Delia does not use commercially printed fabric at all.  The leaf prints she obtains on her fabric are very subtle giving delicate  designs on the background of the fabrics. In the quartet of bird pieces below you can make out these prints. 

Next, close ups of the birds.......this one is 'Bossy Bird'. Isn't he gorgeous? 

Delia has appliquéd the bird then added machine stitching and small hand stitches. 

The detail on this lovely bird is exquisite. Again, the bird is appliquéd with the raw edge method then enriched with machine work and hand stitching. You can make out the long hand stitches, in cotton perlé. The birds are very well observed and the knack of capturing them in thread is knowing when to stop.......this piece is particularly stunning to see 'in the flesh'. 

I think it is fair to say that the whole group were blown away by Delia's work. She is a very modest, yet talented person who inspired us all. 

You can find out more about Delia from her website: http://www.deliacecil.co.uk/

Delia went onto lead a workshop on making sea holly with Lutradur and metallic threads and I plan to post any photos when I can. 

Workshop by Janet McCallum 'Loosen Up Quilt' Saturday 19th March 2016

Amazing photos from Saturday's workshop. Following on from Friday's meeting, Janet McCallum taught a workshop on her 'Loosen Up' quilt. Sue Morris has been kind enough to send me lovely photos of the work. Thank you ladies for giving your permission to publish these. You clearly had a great day! 

Well done Jenny Ayres, Margaret Rumble, Sue Morris, Rosemary Auker, Virginia Lavender and Maggie Squire! Hope to see them finished soon.