Spring has finally sprung

was excited to see evidence of Spring bursting out all over. Thank the Lord.

Spring has finally sprung, and the first warm Saturday morning we have been blessed with I spent indoors helping to steward our quilt show.
Spring has sprung

The daffodils are finally blooming so late in April but it’s still a joy to see them at last, and the hedges are all about to burst into life.

my apple core quilt

My lap quilt was finished in time, thankfully, and was hung at the exhibition. I got some positive comments from visitors, but tried not to hang about near it, you don’t always want to hear what folks have to say.
There were some wonderful quilts on show, we are fortunate to have some very skilled needlewomen amongst our number and they produce the most covetable and imaginative designs.

raffle quilt

I have many photographs, but cannot post them without the owner’s permission, so will make do with a photo of the group quilt made as the main raffle prize, there’s still time to buy a ticket if you can get to Bilsborrow Village hall before 3 pm on 21st April.
quiltersquarters

There’s even chance to buy fabric if you have been inspired to quilt. One of our members has her own quilting shop in Longridge, and is one of the traders at our Exhibition. She has an excellent range of fabrics, threads and quilting supplies; offers workshops, and a long arm quilting service.
See www.quiltersquarters.co.uk or follow on Facebook.

cherry blossom

On returning home I took a turn round my back garden, and was excited to see evidence of Spring bursting out all over. Thank the Lord.
tulip

How did that happen?

Last night I attended my Quilting group meeting, the committee members were very industrious in collecting together all the exhibits for our exhibition which is being set up today , and will open tomorrow 21.04.2013.
We had a very funny talk given by Chandra Law a lovely lady who came to tell us about batik as it is made in her native Malaysia, she had us in tucks of laughter remembering her first visit to Britain as a wide eyed young bride to be, and went on to tell us of the craft of batik and how it is taught in schools in Malaysia, she showed us many beautiful pieces of work of her countrywomen, both in silk and cotton, and demonstrated how to wear and tie a sarong, and how not to!
Chandra’s husband Richard demonstrated how batik is made and brought along some of his own work to show us. I really enjoyed the evening and would recommend anyone to hear Chandra speak if you ever have the chance. Find them at www.silk-batik.co.uk
Next month is our AGM and Jacobs Join , I very much fear I may have volunteered myself back on to the committee, oh dear, really, how did that happen? Well we all should expect do our bit to help run the group, or it won’t run, after more than 25 years it would be a shame for Garstang Patchwork Quilters to fold for lack of volunteers.
See my previous post for details if you are near enough to visit our exhibition, do come if you can, we only exhibit biennially, and the money raised is going to the North West Air Ambulance this time.

Stained Glass Window Quilt

Eek, no pattern, no instructions, just an image. So Mum set about it valiantly, scaling up the image then drawing it onto a backing layer, sourcing the fabrics, so many colours, so little time.

Here’s a quilt my mother made for her granddaughter to celebrate her 21st Birthday, Sally found the design in a book and brought it to Mum, “Grandma, I’d love this for my 21st Birthday, could you….?

working diagram: stained glass window quilt
Eek, no pattern, no instructions, just an image. So Mum set about it valiantly, scaling up the image then drawing it onto a backing layer, sourcing the fabrics, so many rainbow colours, so little time.

Each fabric piece was individually cut to fit the space on the backing where that colour belonged, and stitched to the backing along the very edge of the piece, so that the black bias binding used to “lead the windows” would cover the stitching. It was then quilted with images relevant to Sally’s life, the logo for her university, The University of Cumbria; a Dragon, because she was born in the Year of the Dragon; a set of Scales for a Libran; two Trefoils to represent the Guiding Movement; the logo of the University of Lancaster where she teaches swimming and a Gerbera to remind her of her Prom Night.There is also space for more quilted memories as they occur.

stained glass window quilt

The quilt was displayed at the last Exhibition our quilt group had two years ago , the best photos of this quilt have my mother standing proudly in front of it, but she would KILL me if I published a picture her on my blog, so this one will have to do.
The Garstang Patchwork Quilters’ next exhibition is 19th to 21st April 2013, find us at Bilsborough Village Hall on the A6 north of Preston,Lancashire, UK. I’ll be there on Saturday morning, see you there.

Elegy to a Country Churchyard

Charlotte Bronte would not have looked out of place wandering amongst the gravestones outside this grand old dame with her tiny medieval doorways and leaning walls

Churchtown village church
Having planned to go out on Sunday with our cameras, we took the 16 year old to Churchtown an ancient village nearby, mainly because although the sun shone and the day was mild and dry, there is still little evidence of spring to brighten the day and gladden the heart.

crocus

I do enjoy wandering about a country churchyard occasionally, this one made me think of Victorian lady novelists, Charlotte Bronte would not have looked out of place wandering amongst the gravestones outside this grand old dame with her tiny medieval doorways and leaning walls.

So many died young
So many died young

The crocuses are just blooming and still picture perfect.crocus round a headstone
We walked down the high street and found a house, old and uncared for almost derelict, how I would love to get my hands on that when it finally comes up for sale, what a development project, how beautifully and sympathetically I would love it back to life. Sadly I won’t have the wherewithal, no doubt some property developer will buy it and “modernise” the heart out of it, and sell it on for a King’s ransom. Such is life. Beside it we found a strange thing, an old red phone box, of the type which generally no longer exists in villages. This one is a free to use phone, not economical to run as a pay phone, the phone company BT have simply left it operational but no longer empty the coin box, so allow it to be used, Gratis!Old Red Phone box

Opposite is this picturesque post box set in the brick garden wall of the house which in turn faces the Old Post Office now a private house, it still has its Victorian shop front.

George VI post box
This tiny village boasts two public houses one a famous gastro pub, The Punchbowl, I haven’t been inside for 30 years but remember very clearly being accidentally squirted in the eye with a lemon by my friend, ouch! The other pub has lain empty for some time now, so I was really pleased to see it reopened and spruced up, perhaps I’ll take the old folks for lunch, on the way to the Quilt Exhibition in a couple of weeks time.
mini
We came across a delightful young couple, who were working on a little mini car, they were renovating it meticulously, the interior was all new leather, the body work resprayed, and they were polishing the chrome fittings the grill and headlights. They looked so young; the car they were working on must have been older than both of their ages, combined. I hope they enjoy having such a great little car.