all boxes ticked

Thirty five kits to go for two workshops at the end of the week.    Paperwork gathered.   All ready to go.   Who knew it would take so long?!!

After this weekend, I am looking forward to having time to 'play'.    Summer workshops start at the end of the month, they are always fun.   The garden is in need of attention!   Plants are growing like mad with the 'April showers'.   Lots of ideas scribbled down in my notebook, it will be good to revisit and put thoughts into action.

but look

today I did some stitching and it felt good!

a patchwork bag to hold a iPad 

the photo was taken outside in the sunshine

which was a bit of a bonus

The Kurta Quilt

One year and one month ago, during a quiet spell between Christmas and New Year, I felt the need to make a quilt.    Old kurtas (tunics) worn on my travels in India were chopped up (prepared), and the stash of bits and pieces of block printed fabrics hauled out of various boxes and bags.    Hmmmm, quite a pile!   For the sashing, a beautiful soft calico from Rajasthan.

The block consists of a square on point and four triangles to make a square.    Quite a common block in the West, and also in India (with embellishments).   This quilt has been in my head for years, time to make it a reality!

The idea was to put the blocks together by machine.   Simple machine quilting and, a voila,
it would be finished.    The Indian Stitching fairies had other ideas.

the finished quilt top, wadding and backing

(held together with the wonderful 505 spray)

27 January 2013

I have to admit to attacking the making of this quilt in a rather haphazard way!   No starting in the middle and working my way to the edges, the quilting fairies were having fun, and I was getting excited as the quilt slowly came to life.

The shape of one of the applique flowers did not please me.  Perhaps a little stitching around the edge might help?  It looked fabulous.  Ah, there are one or two of these on the quilt, and what about the squares?

A little stitching in the ditch around a few blocks, then the compulsion to hand stitch.

Back to machine quilting which meant there were a few more blocks to stitch, and so on.

The centre of the blocks quilted in the ditch were now crying out for a little something.

Out with the needle and thread again.

And so the year passed with the quilt never far away.    It kept me warm during the cold winter of 2013, indeed this year too.   It kept me company if I happened to be somewhere with time to spare - stitch, stitch.   Five blocks are dedicated to Annalise my chiropractor.

After my 'sports injury' I spent many a happy hour listening to Radio 4 and, yes, stitching.

It was three weeks before I could walk comfortably, let alone drive.

Ben became interested in my mad obsession.  What was I knitting?   His other Grandma does a lot of this.   We discussed 'sewing'.   He 'helped' me with straightening the border.

Detail

detail of Indian applique squares, stitching and border

I used the odds and ends of my hand dyed threads for

quilting and embroidery    any thread left on the

needle was used up in the border

sashing with applique squares and applique flower with tiny shisha

the label

So, it's done.    Already twitchy fingers. This was possibly the longest time I have spent making and finishing a  quilt.

One or two things to catch up with, then I can delve into my boxes of odds and ends again. 

Do you find the volume of scrap/recyclable fabric never seems to diminish?   Does it secretly multiply?!!

Here we are more than half way through January.   The grey wet weather seems to have merged the days.    

Last Thursday was the first day of 'term' with my stitching friends at Walford Mill.   It was great to meet up again and catch up whilst stitching away.

the River Allen had spread itself

over fields and the walkway on the Mill side

the courtyard with tables and chairs sitting in water

a view of the bridge  the river is almost up to the arches

Fortunately the inside of the Mill is dry, which was good especially as a new

exhibition 'Tactile Textiles' opened on Saturday.   As the title suggests,

you can touch all the exhibits.

now for some colour

although the garden is sodden, the plants are very confused

this rose was in tight bud before Christmas and now it has

opened giving a lovely splash of colour

for years I have been trying to buy a copy of this book with 

no success.  On a whim, I searched Amazon.  Yes there it was.  

Ralli Quilts from Pakistan and India.   Very interesting.  

It covers the history of the people, ralli quilt making, and 

the historical motifs used.   

 and, finally

a string of elephants for a forthcoming workshop

keeping warm

we are experiencing real winter weather, even here on the sunny south

coast of England.   We had a goodly covering of snow and with temperatures

hovering around freezing it's still hanging around.   I should have taken a shibori

workshop on Sunday, which was cancelled due to the weather.   Actually, I was

quite glad.   My prepared Procion dyes really don't like the cold!   It's been

rearranged for the end of June, when we will probably have monsoon rain!

However, a good time for stitching.   The kurta quilt is progressing.   Sashing

stitched to the squares, so now I have 5 x 6 rows.    Horizonal sashing strips

prepared, and then there are the joining squares

a little pile is gathering  I am hoping to put the quilt together by the

end of the week

whilst rummaging through fabric baskets a little sampler of

Indian embroidery and mirror work.   I added a few more

stitches before filing so as not to loose it again

a blast from the past

seven appliqued stars on indigo dyed linen background

and I see I had started filling in the star with Kantha

stitching - the needle and thread are still there

goodness me,   this one deserves finishing

and finally, a dish of winter vegetables ready for roasting

warm wishes to you all

out of the blue

a quilt for Daisy

Some time last century I gave this quilt to Daisy

it's been loved to bits

see blog post 25 June 2012

 This log cabin quilt has been languishing in a

cupboard  and now has a new home

I guess I made it around ten years ago, when I hadn't

really embraced dyeing.   Dark blue cotton, white

and blue Japanese fabric, and dupion silk squares.

I made a start at quilting, using commercial quilting

thread - dark blue.   The quilt got shoved in a cupboard

, half finished, for years!   It was a sort of nice, but a

tad boring, and more exciting textile things

were happening.

Then on one of those days when the only way to

go is to have a good old clear out of the workspace,

the unfinished quilt reappeared and spoke, as in 

please finish me and made me into a

grown up quilt.

I took out all the horrid blue quilting thread, re-drew the stitching 

lines, which are Japanese sashiko quilting designs, and off we went.

This time I used my hand dyed threads, so much more exciting.

And so, with the binding on and the quilt finished, it has spent

the last few years in a basket, along with other quilts.

It surfaced again in November, and it's lovely and needs a

home with someone who will love it to bits.

Aha, Daisy.

detail of quilting

a wobbly machine stitched label!

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