Maria's quilts this saturday

Anybody living near north Herts is very welcome to come to the QG's Region 7's Area Day, where author Liz Trenow will be speaking in the afternoon about her book The Forgotten Seamstress. The fun day starts at 10am and is being held in Cottered Village Hall, which is situated on the Baldock-Buntingford road. Nice pub there too!

USA trip

Back from a great trip to western USA, where we visited Yellowstone, Teton mountains, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, and Carmel. And at least six quilting shops, all really lovely, selling different fabrics to each other. I'm afraid I bought rather a lot of fabric which I don't need but will make two or three more quilts.
I have also been to Belsey Bridge in Suffolk for four days quilting, no time for jet lag. I have finally finished the log cabin part of  a new quilt for our six foot bed. Two borders on and it now awaits the final applique border. This was all in the fabrics that I bought in the USA two years ago!
Last Saturday I taught some ladies how to make a really nice Xmas tree. I found the original basic tree on the internet, but I have gone further with it, surface decorating it to madness!

Welsh quilts at Lampeter

Today visited the Welsh Quilt exhibition at Lampeter in mid Wales. It is on till November so try and get to it if possible, it is really fabulous. Collected quilts by Jen Jones mostly in wool. So intricately hand quilted and beautiful. Also in the exhibition is a room full of Sandie Lush quilts, inspired by Welsh hand quilting.  Beautiful  quilts to emulate. Must get my stitches smaller!

FoQ

Been to the FoQ for a couple of days but as I was on the Trad Group Stands for a few hours I spent most of my free time looking at quilts rather than the stalls! Didn't buy one piece of fabric! Most quilts were good this year, but I preferred Viewers' Choice whole cloth quilt by Sandie Lush which was hand quilted by one of the best hand quilters in the country, to the Best in Show which was also a whole cloth quilt but machine quilted to death and no way could be used as a bed quilt because such quilts are like cardboard and not snuggly at all. I am so sad that hand quilting seems to be a dying art. Intricate machine quilting seems to be the in thing.

Maria's quilt

I have finished my Maria's quilt designed by Lynne Edwards for Liz Trenow's book The Forgotten Seamstress. And I have started a Pinterest page of other peoples that I have found there. There are others if you look on Liz's website https://liztrenow.com/category/marias-quilt/

I used William Morris fabrics as they seemed relevant to the period.

My quilt is here

http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/1200x/41/e8/3b/41e83bd39c69b3dd216ce25c4886dc80.jpg

Traditional Group

Having just taken over the position of Editor for In the Frame the newsletter for the Traditional Group of the Quilters Guild, I am hoping that members will let me know of any local exhibitions that they have visited where they were impressed by a really lovely traditional quilt. With a picture too!
If you haven't joined the Guild, do think about it as they need support for our wonderful craft.

Duxford March 2016

Haven't been to Duxford show for a year. It was a pleasant surprise to go on Mothering Sunday and find it not too crowded. Probably not too good for the stall holders but great for the visitors! Not so many quilts this time and fewer stalls of the classic variety. Many of the bigger names no longer go, such as Creative Grids, and there is a distinct lack of stalls selling only items like stencils, rulers etc. There was a very nice display of journal quilts. Most on a seaside theme.

Last Word on BBC Radio 4

Friday's transmission of Last Word (29 Jan) had an interesting item on an American African folklorist. Her interest in their quilts was mentioned - if you are interested the link is:
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06yfypc.

Vienna

spent a really great few, tho very cold, days in Vienna over the New Year, and managed to fit in some museums and exhibitions of Klimt's fabulous paintings. I love The Kiss of  course but actually prefer some of his earlier works, society ladies in fabulous chiffony dresses where you feel you could go and touch actual satin bows they were so beautifully painted. A group activity I heard about last year was for members to pick a favourite painting and interpret it in fabrics. A friend had done Van Gogh sunflowers. I quite fancy having a go at a Klimt. Our group Chair's Challenge for this year might be this so I shall have to get my thinking cap on.