North Somerset Quilters and other things

Last Friday I went to Backwell having been asked by North Somerset Quilters if we would be interested in taking a trade table.  Debby was still recovering from her operation and so my husband offered to come with me - at least he drove, helped me unload and then went on to Clevedon for a walk and then a pint watching the sun go down.  No alcohol for me, I was busy working!  The speaker that night was Gwenfai Rees Griffiths, and yes she was Welsh.  I was made to feel very welcome and it surprised me how many people I recognised.  Gwenfai was an excellent speaker, she told her life story through her quilts.  She was very amusing and didn`t mind making fun of herself.  Her quilts were absolutely stunning and just took my breath away.  She was remarkably laid back about people touching the quilts, in fact she positively encouraged people to do that.  She has won lots of competitions not only in the UK, but also in America.  I didn`t  have a chance to take any photographs because by the time I had finished selling and packed up, she too had packed the quilts away.  My favourites were her wholecloth Welsh Quilts, the work that had gone into them was just amazing.  I particularly liked the fact that the design of one of them was taken from images in the church she had married in and had her children christened in, it was just lovely.

Debby and I love to buy quilting books, we use the fact that we have a shop as an excuse, but we would buy them anyway.  I have two new ones which I am loving and thought I would share them with you. The first is The Modern Quilting Bee Block Party by Alissa Haight Carlton and Kristen Lejnieks.  It is about 12 women who met online and each month they decided they would sew one quilt.  Every month one person would be the host and would be responsible for organising  that month`s quilt by chosing the fabrics and the block.  They would then all make a block each and send them back to the organiser who would then make the quilt up.  At the end there were 12.  If you like bright contemporary fabrics then you will love this book, if you are more into traditional quilts then you might not like it so much.  Of course as usual I want to make all, or at least most of them.  The one above is, if not my favourite, then one of my favourites

This quilt is based on a wonky Log Cabin made from old (they actually refer to them in the book as upcycled!) shirts.  The completed blocks are different sizes, but when completed are turned into four quarters, and then all stitched together.  I love the make do and mend ethos of this one, although you would have to cut  up a lot of your husband`s shirts to make it!  I remember going to Oxfam once in Hampstead and the shirts were all fantastic and about £15.00 each so I gave that idea up straight away.

This modern dresden plate block is fantastic, I just love the colours, and the wonky blocks.  I wasn`t too sure about the way they tell you how to put the circle in the centre, but I would just do that my way!

The other book is Flower Power Patchwork by Anne-Pia Godske Rasmussen who if you haven`t guessed already is Scandinavian.  I can`t show any photographs because I have had huge problems posting this blog today, I lost it once and had to start again, and now it doesn`t want to show any more photographs, and I am so scared that I will lose it all again that I have decided not to try any more!  I am sure it isn`t me because I keep reading of similar things happening to other bloggers.  Anyway back to the book.  It is full of small projects, no quilts, but they are all beautiful.  Everyone who has looked at it has loved it and gone away inspired, and guess what the projects are based on flowers!

I have had this week off, and I am afraid to say it has not been a good week as far as stitching is concerned.  I have finished the quilting on the quilt I showed you last week, I just have to bind it, but I just can`t get into anything else.  I think this is because I need to make some sample cushions based on flowers.  I was really looking forward to making them, but you know what, I just can`t seem to get going, nothing I do looks right.  I will have to put them away for a few days and come back to them I think.  I also made a big mistake this week because I went to the library and came back with a pile of novels, and of course I started one and then just couldn`t put it down.  Every time I go back to the sewing I keep thinking of the book and then find an excuse to have another cup of tea, or think I will just read for another 15 minutes, and before I know it, it is lunchtime and I`ve wasted another morning!  My house by the way, is a tip!

Debby is off to Sardinia on Sunday morning.  If I go away, I like to have everything booked weeks in advance.  Last Saturday she told me she thought she ought to get her accomodation booked!  If that was me I would be having a nervous breakdown.  She announced yesterday that she really needed to get her legs waxed before she went, talk about cutting it fine - she is in the shop every day this week.  She did however manage to get an appointment at 5.15pm today.  I too was in the shop today.  We had just driven down the road when I remembered I had left something in the shop - actually it was tea.  She did tell me that if she didn`t get there in time she would never forgive me, but turned round and took me back.  We then took ages to get out of Wellington as all the lights were against us.  We made it to the motorway in record time and then had a white knuckle drive back to my house.  I do hope she got there in time, but I am scared to ring her in case she didn`t!

Happy sewing.