Sunday 6 April 2014

Suffering the end of course blues



One of the joys of taking up this new hobby has been meeting so many lovely people. A group of us started last year on a course at Busy Bees in Newport to learn to hand piece. Then a number of us went on to a machine piecing course to make a medallion quilt. The course finished on Thursday and most had managed to finish our quilt tops.






I have pieced the back and cut the binding so mine is all ready to be taken to be quilted.


Yesterday I attended a workshop called "Glorious Welsh Quilts". The teacher was the inspirational Sandie Lush who has been making Welsh whole cloth quilts for many years. Many of her quilts are worked on charmeuse satin which shows her exquisite hand stitching to perfection. Sandie has exhibited both in the UK and the US.

The project for the day was to make a cushion top with a Welsh quilt design on a plain fabric. I chose to use a blue cotton sateen with Quilters Dream Orient for the wadding. The wadding contains silk and has a lovely fine and soft feel.

Our chosen patterns were traced on to the top. I taped my pattern and material to a window as it was fairly opaque and this worked quite well. Only problem was that I could not see that I was pressing quite heavily. I just hope the lines come out when it is washed!

Sandie with her wonderful quilt



The examples above are of Welsh quilting while the example below is of Durham quilting. Durham quilts feature a central medallion with larger infills to the corners.




Hand stitching gave us time to chat and have a laugh.

The second part of the class was devoted to learning the principles of drafting a Welsh Quilt. Concentration needed here!



 Sandie has been working on what she calls "sweater quilts" and these are now on exhibition at The Welsh Quilt Centre at Lampeter in Ceredigion. Images of these are on her website and also the Quilt Centre's website. They will be on exhibition until November 1st. Please take a look; they are so different.

I'm writing this in bed on Sunday morning and I can hear Mike putting the kettle on in the kitchen so I had better get up. It's a bit grey outside and not too promising but I think I'll go down to the Farmers Market for a stroll. I spent too much time sitting yesterday.

Whatever you are doing, enjoy your Sunday!


Catherine




5 comments:

  1. The medalion quilts are lovely. Wholecloth quilts look quite complex and I'm always in awe of anyone who does them :)

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    1. Sandie's quilts are fabulous. Her stitches are so small and even. I'm afraid I'll be practising for a long time. I even cut a new cushion front and redrafted it today. My stitches are getting more even though.

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  2. Looks so interesting and a lot of fun! I really do need to learn to hand quilt properly!

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  3. Sandie is an acknowledged expert and it is well worth attending one of her courses if you get the opportunity. She made the day fun too and was really encouraging.

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  4. What fun to learn a new technique from an expert!

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