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

A challenging challenge

I like the curvy line quilting because it’s easy to do and does not rely on the accuracy of the piecing, in fact if your piecing is not accurate curvy line quilting is very forgiving. That’s always a good thing.

What do you do if you don’t like the challenge block? Hide it.

Cecily's favourite churn dash block

This Lap quilt is made using the Churn Dash block (or monkey wrench), I think it was the favourite block of our most venerated late member and the instigator of our quilt group’s challenge, Cecily. But I dislike it. I wanted to rise to the challenge as always but I find the block rather pedestrian, perhaps because I’ve only made it in co-ordinated colours and plain fabrics, so a decided to do it in heavily patterned fabrics and mix it up so that the pattern was lost and the fabric became the star of the piece rather than the block.
Good idea, but I think I took it too far, the pattern is completely lost and with it the sense of rhythm to the quilt top, as a consequence what stands out are the pale squares, rather than the fabric in general. All of the fabrics are Liberty scraps from the printer’s factory shop, I’m so lucky to live nearby; I call in occasionally to buy craft packs, but I can also buy off the roll if I have a big project in mind.

Detail of quilting on Churn Dash quilt

In other senses I’m happy with the quilt; it hangs beautifully flat and straight and is evenly quilted throughout. I created my own wavy line quilt guide using taped together strips of cereal packet, with a hand drawn wavy line. On one side the wavy edge has wide and fairly flat curves, on the other side they are closer together and therefore appear deeper. I used the flatter side, drew on the lines with an air dispersible pen, and chalk pencil taking the quilt pattern right out in a continuous line to the edge of the quilt.
I like the curvy line quilting because it’s easy to do and does not rely on the accuracy of the piecing, in fact if your piecing is not accurate curvy line quilting is very forgiving. That’s always a good thing.