Thursday, October 10, 2013

The finished quilts


I had an amazing week of sewing. It had been a long time since I had taken a class. I've used books, and internet patterns and you tube videos for ages. Sitting in the class with others working along side does focus your mind in a way that it sometime isn't at home. There was no housework to do, no meals to prepare or clear, and no everyday life to get in the way.
Taking the class also got me to undertake something that I had shied away from previously in my quilting. I made a quilt using templates and with awkward angles to piece. I also cut the entire quilt and placed it on the design wall before I started. Being able to stand back and look from a distance meant that I could be happy with the layout before the careful sewing began. Admittedly being able to stand upstairs in the barn and look down at the design wall helped .... and I'm unlikely to have that advantage again in the near future.

Watching others plan their quilts too was fascinating, seeing different fabric choices and colour variation extended my thoughts and ideas for other quilts. Four of us decided to piece Chris' Medici quilt, and I'll share them below.

This is Anne's quilt - she had a beautiful green and blue peacock style fabric (that I didn't get a picture of, sorry).  She decided that machine sewing the long rows together was just not fun- so sat in the orchard/garden and hand sewed some of the rows. I suspect she got the best view for sewing to!

This is mine, the border fabric is a William Morris pattern. The corner is hidden by the quilt I'll share tomorrow. 


This is Marcia's quilt, she has completed over 150 quilts! She has a love for teals and aqua's and came with a suitcase full of fabric. A great way to use old suitcases and travel to retreats. I love the tonal progression in her fabric choice.

This is Paddy's quilt. By putting her pieces on the design wall to begin with she could see that she 'lost' some of the blue centres, so was able to add some gold and the alternating gold and blue I think is very effective. Her corners were born of frustration, and look amazing.

I'll share some of the other projects tomorrow. TTFN.

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