Red and White Quilts

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In case some of you are not aware there is an exhibition of Red and White Quilts in New York this week. It is only on for a week, and no matter how hard I looked at my calendar I did not have enough clear days to go out and see them!

However lots of bloggers have had their own show, and I know lots of blogs will feature posts on the quilts once they have seen them this week.

I hear there will be a book about the show, so that is something I will look out for. In the meantime I think you can buy fridge magnets, so when I am in New York at Easter I will be buying them from the American Museum of Folk Art whether I need them or not!

I have a feeling I will succumb to the book of quilts from the Museum too even though I have the first book they published a few years back. I will have been seduced by the two great exhibits they have on into a spending panic! Here and here

In the meantime Minick and Simpson have a pre show post with some links.

And here is a video of some of the great quilts those travelling to the show will see.

So I have been inspired to start a red and white quilt too. I think my stumbling block to sewing a red and white quilt previously was the thought of only using two fabrics. However I have gotten over that by sewing mine with lots of reds, not just one!

The quilt has been inspired by one that I have always liked from the American Museum in Bath in the UK. It is a crib quilt, but I think I will sew mine to a lap quilt or larger. Depends on how many fabrics I find in my stash!

FYI my blocks are 8in finished.

Happy New Year!

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 I hope you all had a lovely Christmas with Family and Friends, and found some time for a bit of stitching?

Looking around Blog Land I have been admiring the Holiday decorating that goes on. I decorate, but nothing like some of the pictures I peek at. They are amazing. I do however have a couple of quilts that only come out at Christmas.

This is a strippy quilt that I made and had long arm quilted. I loved the clean lines and unfussyness of its Christmassy feel:

We had a busy time, and spent New Year in France skiing. We were lucky with the snow and the weather was great!

I managed some off piste sewing:

I had some fun gifts at Christmas. When I was small I started reading with Ladybird books, and I can remeber saving my pocket money to buy titles as I got older.

A while back the graphics used on the books started to be used on other products, like mugs, note books and giftware.

I was lucky enough to receive:

P was not for 'patchwork', but for pets, but M was for:

And I even got this:

My husband thought I was mad, but I really wanted the tin, not the kit to make a felt teddy bear that is inside! I shall use it to store buttons and the suchlike!

I may not blog much over the next month as I have a deadline to meet on a book……more of that another time!

I will be at the Quilt Show in Ardingly, and then back to 'normal' in February.

Happy New Year to my Blogging Friends!

Whilst it was snowing!

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Sorry to those of you who I missed when we cancelled the workshop last Wednesday because of the snow.

I am trying to get the pictures off the camera, but the technology is not happening at the moment, so my pictures of snow and antique blocks that I got in the US will have to wait a day or two.

In the meantime my friend Jennifer sent me some pictures from the Take and Teach that I did at the Quilt Market in Houston.

In full flow!

The funniest thing was that these two ladies at the front were from Holland! I had read about one, Isabeau in Quiltmania, and the other had a blog that I look at! It was so great to meet them!

Go and see what Meester has to say about the show! It was also funny as Jennifer who was helping me has connections to Holland and had been over there in the Summer. What a small world!

For a good account of what shop owners get up to, read what Anna has to say over at The Eternalmakers blog!

Having seen the pictures on Meesters blog about the book signing of the 'A History of Dutch Quilts' at Festval I finally ordered my own copy. It is just lovely, so inspiring! The quilts and the fabrics are great, simlpe shapes and beautiful fabrics. If you need to add something to your Chrismas list, I suggest that this is it! I got mine here.

Houston, Part 1

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Well ambitiously, this is Part 1, of hopefully, at least two posts about Quilt Market!

These are some of the new quilts that caught my eye in the show:

Orphan Blossoms, by Timma Tarr, USA:

 

Earth Trees, Earth Flowers, by Yuko Kosaka, JP:

 

Circular Momentum, Becky Goldsmith, USA:

 

Flower Road, Hideko Kubota, JP:

 

Quilt by Keiko Goke, Japan: ( I was so excited to see one of her quilts close up, I forgot to note the name of it, Sorry)

So many great quilts and so much inspiration, I need to get stitching!!

Stripy Sampler Pattern

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Just wanted to share with you the news that my latest pattern is now available!

I am so pleased with it, and it has come in time for me to take it with me to Quilt Market in Houston……so something else to add to the packing list!

Copies are already for sale at The Eternal Maker and Thread Bear, at £7-95. Just give them a ring and they will pop it in the post.

You can buy directly from me too, but cheques only I'm afraid, but free P&P!

So amidst the packing and the organizing of Family before I go, I am low on sewing time. I will leave this on my sewing room floor, ready for stitching on my return!

Quilty things, Brittany, France

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Before my trip to France seems too far away, here are some things that were quilty:

'Bollards' in Dinard.

Lovely shop where I brought some French patchwork fabric: no picture as my husband said the car park meter was about to expire!

Could not believe this stall in the market at Bayeaux! Complete with Jelly Rolls and Charm packs!

Shop along the road from the hotel in Bayeaux. It mainly had American fabrics! But nice threads and books.

Part of the floor at the hotel in the reception area:

Brick work on the garage (built 1901) of our hotel in Bayeaux.

Hotel in th little town (Sables d'Or) next to out village!

Cherry Picking

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I spent some of my weekend picking the cherries from the tree Tracey and I had 'rented'. The weather was good, and we picked soooo many cherries!

Now I am spending my time stoning and freezing bags of them and today I will have a go at some jam.

We made cherry pie in the evening which was lovely and I have a few other recipes lined up, but my pile of cherries does not seem to be getting any smaller!

On the drive back from the orchard we stopped off at a garden nursery that was new to me, and was absolutely lovely. It is called The Walled Nursery and is in Hawkhurst. If you are close by you must go to visit. The plants and old glass houses are all in an old walled garden. It is just charming to wander through. Needless to say I came away armed with some plants, and some pictures in my camera!

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This Tin Man quilt that I have made ( a while ago, you can tell from the embedded creases in it!) is a favourite of mine, that is waiting to be quilted. I have had it out recently and now I look at it I am inspired to sew another one, but in blues. Maybe I should wait until I've quilted this one first though!

 

In the meantime if you are looking for some background reading for the up and coming quilt retreat in France that I am teaching on in September, have a look here at a great article by Barabara Brackman on these quilts.I can never read enough about quilts that I want to sew!

Post market Crunch!

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Well, this time last week I was in Minneapolis MN, and it was great! I can't believe I have been back almost a week, as although there is a lot to do before you go, then loads to do when you are there……. There is so much to do when you get back!

Lots of folks take loads of pictures at Market, and I took some, but not as many of people and parties as others did. Just Google and look under blogs to get the idea!

I did take pictures of the carpet in my hotel hallway:

So obviously quilts just waiting to happen!

I got some fabrics at Sample Spree (goes without saying really!):

My buying trends were in a taupe and brown phase! These are a selection from Clothworks and Red Rooster studios.

Although I have some of Dalene Zimmerman's 'Dear Betty', Lecien's 'Isso Ecco and Heart' and some great Flannels from Windham and Maywood Studios to add to the mix!

Let's hope I can find room for it in the stash!

Walk to the Post Office

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Although I ‘work from home’ I think of my main work as my teaching, which takes me all over the place! But when I am at home my most frequent trip out seems to be to the Post Office. Where I live there are lots of Victorian houses, and I mean streets and streets of them. We live in one of them! And although they are lovely what often catches my eyes as I walk are these signs that were painted on the sides of buildings. The signs are from later times and show signs of wear:

phpCNKmabAM sign

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And I like this railing where I cross the road:

phpKUiGAKAM railing

And even the post box is Victorian:

phppdKTSTAMpost box

 

My trip out this week will take me to London to see the Quilts at the V & A Museum. There are lots of blogs about it, and one I especially like is Susan Briscoe. She is so insightful!

The V&A have lots of information  and I enjoyed this video clip. Thanks to Samsy for pointing it out!

One thing that I do find strange is that the Curator  has been quoted as saying that she thinks the show is so successful with pre booked tickets because of the  reinterest in sewing skills due to the recession.

I think it is so successful because quilters like me have waited their whole life to get a chance to see the quilts that the V&A have never shown but we have always known were there!

 Is it surpising that we were pre booking tickets and will probably go to the show more than once!

(And will buy the book and the post cards and the fabric…. and have lunch in the cafe…. and buy more bits on my second visit…. and go to Liberty to see what they are selling ….. all in the recession)???

If you can get to the show, make the most of it as I don’t see these quilts coming out again for the next 30years!!!