The last of the family quilts at Sandown

 Finally I am at my computer and it's working and I can get it to load the photos. Must be time to share the last of the 'family' quilts. For this post I'm adopting Susan Briscoe, or at least our quilt. It isn't quite as cheeky as it sounds, I did at least quilt this one. It is called 'I can only do so much pink in one go'. Susan says "After making a scaled-down replica of a quilt shown at the V & A's 2010 exhibition. I wanted to give it a modern twist. The fabrics are all from the Sultry range by Moda. There are 1536 1 1/2" squares in the mini checkerboard blocks"

It isn't actually too pink. I quilted it with green leaves and vines all over the non brown areas. In the brown Susan asked for a garden gate effect so it has brown curls in a wrought iron sort of style. These curls extend from the central area in the the brown sections at the sides of the quilt. We were both very pleased with how it came out. I was thrilled when people were admiring it folded up on it's way back to Susan at the Malvern show. For me that is something that really speaks volumes about the quilt. When such a small piece can inspire people.


Next quilt up is another one of mine. This is Quite Moment. I started this quilt last August and posted all the steps on here.  It's still being very tricky to photograph. Most of the image is in shades of purple, with the shoes in blue.  It seems that whenever I photograph it inside the colours come out wrong. I know I should choose colours that I can photograph more easily, but I like purple :)

 This is 'Stars Innit', made by Tet to test the new pattern Ferret Fractals, friendship stars. It seems to have been a very popular quilt. A lot of visitors came and talked to me about it. It is also the cover quilt of the pattern. It was made from fabrics in my stash, and we had hoped to be able to offer a kit to make on the same, but it would be only one kit. What do you think? Should I make up one kit for someone to make a quilt just like this one? I really like the border Tet designed for the quilt. I stopped with the stars, as for me that is where the fractal principle took it.  The border though does finish it nicely and I think I might have to get him to come up with a borders for the rest of m designs.

 This is my charity entry. I really don't like pink and there was no way I was going to make a pink quilt, but I couldn't let the charity down. So 'No effing p**k' was born. I knew this would never be a show winning quilt but I was determined to have fun with it. I tried out a lot of different threads, I tried blending two very thin threads as my top thread. It gets some very interesting results. Using a cotton thread with a metallic does support the metallic thread very well, but maintaining a good tension is tricky. It was certainly fun to have a play.

The background black quilting is many many patterns. I figured that this quilt would be recycled as a teaching tool, so if I come to teach you machine quilting expect to see this quilt. If you look back on my blog to May you will find a few close ups of the quilting.

 Remember that you can click on any of the images to see a larger version, where you should be able to see the background quilting quite well.

The other fun thing about this quilt was seeing what the fonts day to people. I could see several bands, and Blade runner (although none of the fonts are exactly right they have a strong flavour of something). My students spotted loads more familiar brands in the quilt. It's funny how distinctive a font is even when the word is completely wrong.

Finally, a rather special picture. I've wanted to be able to do this for a while and things just came together on the Sunday of the show. This is the model for Quiet Moment standing with the quilt. The rosette she is wearing is a Judges Merit that was awarded to the quilt. We have been trying to get the two of them together for quite a while but things just hadn't been working out. It was great to be able to use the free tickets from my entries to get her and her dad into the show. Even better she wore a branded t-shirt and was prepared to stand in for me while I was at the awards. I'm thinking it's a good sign when the model is prepared to stand with the finished quilt :) Oh and yes you are likely to see more quilts staring this model, just as soon as I have time to play. Speaking of time, I should be getting ready for tonights talk, where several of these quilts will be getting their next outing.

Patchwork Corner quilts at Sandown

 I guess I should confess. I am mean and cruel and I beat not only my students but Jenny's as well. I've been trying for years to get more people from Patchwork Corner to enter quilts into the Sandown quilt show, partly because it's a really nice show and partly because there are a lot of good quilters there. It also seems daft not to enter when most of them go to the show anyway and entering gets you a ticket.

In the past one or two students have given it a go, and enjoyed the experience, this year was the best yet, with 8 quilts from the shop. This was helped a lot by the charity category. All the entry fees for quilts in the charity theme (In the Pink) were donated to Breast Cancer Care, it was a win win situation.

So on that note the first quilt I am sharing (with permission) is a small wall hanging. It was made by Karen Benge from a McKenna Ryan pattern. It's a lovely quilt and the picture doesn't do it justice. The quilt on the washing line is a separate little quilt and there are real pegs. It's scary to be responsible for it, but worth the effort.

The next quilt is a group entry. Unfortunately groups were not allowed to enter the theme category, but it wasn't obvious from the entry form. Looking at the show guide, there were a few groups who didn't spot that restriction and there was a larger then usual group category. Again the picture won't show you the half of this quilt made by the Thursday Morning Ladies. The blocks are very effective and were a great choice for a group project, but the detail in the machine quilting is mad. Do try clicking on the photo, but I don't think the tiny hearts will show. This was Jill's first attempt at machine quilting on a frame, brave or what? She did a good job and learned a lot. I love finding new frame quilters, they get all the fun little problems that you don't even think about until they happen to you. This quilt will be raffled for Breast Cancer Care, I'll let you know about tickets when I find out about them.

The next quilt is by Liz Norton, one of my Thursday night ladies. As soon as we knew the theme it was clear this quilt had to be entered. What I didn't realise until I saw it hanging was how good it is. Just look at how well it hangs. I wish I knew how she did it, I would love all of mine to look that good in a show. 

Another quilt that really pleased me is this one by Carolyn Meggison. She recently joined myWednesday morning class 'to learn machine quilting'. She meant it too, and her dedication is paying off. Those feathers are completely freehand and sewn on a quite basic little domestic machine. Watch out for the name, she has picked up machine quilting a lot quicker than I did and is rapidly soaking up not only everything I can teach her but all sorts of things she finds on the internet. I don't know how she got the lone star done so fast and to the standard, I only know I didn't teach her it. I can't wait to see what she enters next year.

 Ah, now this one is really cool. This is from the boss herself, Jenny. It was made as a sample for a new range of fabrics but then she realised it was pink and thus could come to the show. She doesn't read my blog so I think I am safe in saying she is probably the best piecer I quilt for, and this is the first time she has entered a show. Maybe we should be thankful :) This quilt was a bit of a challenge to quilt. The fabric is a very loose weave and with the blocks on point it likes to wander about a bit. I did go a bit crazy with the quilting. It's full on show quilting, with rulers stencils and all that fun stuff, and I loved doing it. I wish it had picked up an award, but the charity category was big and had a lot of very good work in it, so not this time. I hope Jenny can be persuaded to enter again, her work should be out there being seen by more people.

I'm not sure how I should describe Angela, she wears so many hats at the shop. She is in my Wednesday morning class, teaches her own classes (from her own designs) works in the shop and demonstrates machines. This is a quilt of her own design called 'I wish I was blue'. The centre was inspired by my second sampler quilt pattern which she enlarged. I don't like pink but this quilt shows how striking 3 fabrics can be when you have good contrast. There are hand quilted stars that you should be able to see if you enlarge the image by clicking on it, and a lot of machine quilting. Angela has been my star example of quilting with decorative stitches for years, as she swore she couldn't do free motion quilting. Then her students started mentioning that they wanted to learn to free motion quilt. Rather than put them off or send them to my classes (which would still have given the message this was hard and put them off) she decided she was going to master it. This is one of the great things about teaching. It's not a one way process. Your students can teach you so much both directly and indirectly if only you will let them. She is now encouraging the rest of the class to give it a go and is solidly hooked on the process. I did tell her it was fun and she could do it. I think she is now looking to try a wholecloth along with Carolyn, and several others.


Gill hasn't been able to come to class this term, but it didn't get her off the hook. She still entered the show with this little quilt. She was inspired by Ashley Newcomb, from the blog 'Film in the Fridge'. She found this to be a real learning experience, and seems to have enjoyed it, even the stressful bits. I was amused to discover that most quilters finish show quilts at the last possible minute if not a few minutes later. I thought it was just me. She also discovered that delivering quilts is fun. I haven't heard from her since we took the show down, so I don't know what she made of that. I know I really appreciated her and her families help loading up the van. Other traders were very impressed with how well they worked too.

Carol Brackley comes to a class with me on Thursday afternoon and is another student who has really taken off. When I first me her, she seemed quite nervous and unsure of her skills, now she is up for anything. She plays with all sorts of patterns and fabrics producing an impressive number and range of quilts. This quilt has four bows quilted into it in honour of the theme. Unfortunately her family were really busy during the show, so weren't able to see her quilt hanging. I hope they will make it next year, I can't wait to see what she is making by then.

So there you have it. Those are this years quilts from the Patchwork Corner crowd. It would have been great for one of them to go home with a ribbon, but I hope everyone enjoyed the experience of entering a show and seeing their quilt hanging. It is magic just to see your work displayed in an event like this. I know a couple of these students did hear people saying nice things about their quilts and that is an amazing buzz. They also discovered that the competing bit isn't really scary, you don't hear directly from the judges unless you apply for them, and on the whole people who visit the show are pleased you entered. After all if no one enters quilts there isn't a show. I hope some of you will join in the fun next year.

Prometheus, some better pictures (I hope)

 As ever if you click on the images you will get a bigger version and they are big. I hope this will mean those who haven't seen it can get a good look at the stitching. I'm sorry there is nothing I can do to show you the size. This thing is huge. Well to be fair it's about the same size as a lot of my bed quilts, but as show quilts go it's on the large side.

Once upon a time I entered a quilt to this show that was too wide for the frame and too long. It dragged on the floor and looked like a curtain. It wasn't good. Since then the organizers have bought bigger stands and until this quilt everything I made fitted.

Last year I came to Sandown and started asking what they could hang if they had to. Their official maximum was smaller than the fabric I was going to use. Well, they had planned ahead and bought extension units for the frames. Height wasn't a problem. Width was more trouble. So we cam up with a plan. The quilt had to have a special sleeve. It has gaps at the points that the support bar for the quilt needs to be attached to the base frame unit. It also had to be hung on the end of a row. So there is a limit to how many monster quilts they can hang in one show. On the other hand they can, and will, hang these outsize beasts, so if you've got a monster quilt lurking how about entering it into the show next year?

This quilt is made from a single piece of fabric. Yes, it's huge. No, it doesn't have any seams. No, I didn't dye it myself, do I look that stupid brave? It was dyed for me by Heide Stoll-Weber. I don't know if she will be up for dying more of them but you can always ask her when she is at the Festival of Quilts in August. I had actually planned on using the fabric for both the top of a quilt and the binding, but when it came I couldn't cut it. So I worked my design into her fabric. I'm very pleased I did.

The photographs actually probably give you a better idea of the shading of the fabric than you get in real life. There are places on the quilt where the thread changes the colour you see a lot, interestingly the camera picks up the background colour more.

 The quilt contains about 16-18 cones of thread, in about 10 different colours. There is no actual trapunto it has two layers of wool wadding throughout the quilt. The trapunto effect just comes from the amount of quilting in the background.

At the moment the quilt is very stiff. If (when) it gets some real use it will soften up. Greek Fossils, the test piece for this quilt, has softened a lot and it has just been rolled and unrolled for a couple of years.

The quilt is pretty much reversible. The bobbin thread is the same colour as the top thread every where, so yes when I change one I have to change the other. The backing is a black and grey floral fabric, but you can't see much of that any more :) We think there are between 400 and 600 hours work in the whole thing.

I think that covers most of the questions I got at the show. Please do ask if you have any questions I haven't covered and do click on the images to get a closer look.

National Patchwork Championships - Sandown

Better late than never right? I've not been home much since the quilt show last weekend so I haven't been able to process the photographs and share my good news. Finally I have a little spare(ish) time and I thought I should get on with this report.

As Sandown is my local show I can hand deliver my quilts to the show ground. This gives me a chance to enter some of my larger and more fragile pieces. Also the team at Grosvenor have been working really hard on how they return quilts, they have got really good at dealing with difficult quilts. This year every quilt that had been delivered on a roll was brought to the collection area unfolded with it's roll so it could be packed properly. If you have  quilts you are concerned about this might well be the show for you. Also being a smaller show it's possible to get around all the exhibits in a day and still have time for lunch. Lunch isn't cheap (although it isn't bad for this sort of venue) but it's large portions and it's good food. Can you tell I really like this show :)

The sample quilt from my book Ferreting Around was one of he quilts I entered. I had wanted to put in Tet's quilt but you can't enter Malvern and Sandown in the same year, so I thought mine could have an outing. It is what it is, a sample. If you look in the book this is the quilt you see being made. I couldn't see it winning any pizes, but it was nice to see it on display especially as it wasn't allowed to be the cover quilt of the book. I forgot that there isn't a show guide at Sandown, but I hope the Home Workshop folks had time to read the statement with it. They really have given me a lot of advice about  producing books, and I do appreciate it.

Another quilt I put in with no expectation of it winning anything was Bad Rain. This is the quilt of a double page spread from the book Cancertown. It's a large quilt and there aren't many chances for me to display it in the quilting arena, so I took this one. I was very surprised (and thrilled) to see it sporting a Judges Choice certificate. Even more surprising was the number of people who came and talked to me about it. It made an impression and for a lot of people a positive one. I have to admit I just enjoyed seeing it hanging. I also think it is good for the quilts to hang, and this one lives rolled up in a storage unit most of the time. It does get a few outings to talks, but not as many as I would like.

Opposite Bad Rain was Herd Mentality. I am always being asked to show this quilt and that was why it apeared here. The layout of the quilt stands isn't ideal for either of these two quilts as they are best viewed from a distance, but you take what you can get. I think you can get a reasonable view of them when you stand back. From what I saw this quilt was one of the most popular with small people. The number of children I saw wanting to stroke the cows was amazing, and thank you very much to all the parents who were so careful to restrain the small fingers. This will be it's last appearance in the UK for a while as it was accepted into the World Quilt Show and is heading off to tour America. On the other hand if you're reading this from the US please keep and eye open for it and send me a picture if you meet it at a show. I do enjoy seeing my quilt's holiday photos.


The rosette on the cows is first place in computer aided design. All of my art quilts are based on photographs which I process on the computer to produce patterns. This one more than most, as the relative brightness of various parts of the image were adjusted first to give the more detail in the final pattern. I'm really pleased to have won the award and I rather like the silver plate that comes with it. I got an angular geometric one rather than one of the more frilly plates. Funny how these things seem to just work out.


Given how popular my other leather quilt had been at Malvern, I thought that this one might have done well at Sandown. I guess I spoilt people with Leather Star. This one, Leather Feathers was the first piece of leather I quilted and I did get more comfortable with it on the second one, the star. It was nice to have it there, anyway as lot's of people hadn't been to Malvern and were fascinated by the idea of quilting leather. It is a very stressful thing to do, but at the same time wonderful. The leather feels so nice to quilt on and I love the smell of it. On the other hand you can't make mistakes as they leave holes you can't heal.

The art quilt category at Sandown isn't large, and I try to make sure I put something in it each year. I generally don't do well here but still it's a category I like and I wan to see it continue so I have to enter something. This time the something was Daughter. I liked the idea of Mother and Daughter each getting an outing a consecutive shows, it seemed fitting. Not only that, she did me proud, winning the category. Sorry Roy, I'm sure you can get the trophy back next year :)

Finally there was my entry into the bed quilt category, Phoenix Rising. This is generally the biggest category of the show and I would say the mst fiercely contested. I think for many quilters this is the award (other than champion quilt) that they most want to win. I entered this quilt here because it is my quilt. Maybe that should be MY quilt. It is the most me I have done in a while and I love it. I thought I didn't care what anyone else thought I just loved it. Well on judging day I woke up worried, I wanted this quilt to appeal to the judges. I feel that is a very dangerous desire. It seems to me to be a very good way to disapointment. Generally I manage to avoid it but this just crept up on me (I wonder if it had struck earlier if I would still have entered the quilt). Of course at that point all I could do was wait and see what happened.


Part way through my afternoon class my phone went. It was Vicky and the first award she told me about was this one. I was so relieved. Yup, relieved. After a while I makde it to thrilled, winning the bed quilt category was cool, but not as good as just knowing the judges did think MY quilt was OK. I'm sure blind faith in your work is a great thing to have, but I haven't really got it. Maybe this quilt was just more important because it is more personal than some of them, or maybe it is because it hasn't done well with US judges. I don't know but as you can see I am very pleased with it's award.

I hope that some of you will be inspired to enter this show next year. It really is a great place to get your feet wet and start showing your quilts. It is a thrill just to see your work hung up, as one of my students discovered today (more on that later). You really never see your work as well as you do in a show. Also if you like looking at quilts in shows you can help by sharing your work. The shows can only carry on while there are quilts to see. No entries, means no quilts, means no show. If you're local you can do what I do and deliver to the show then collect on the Sunday. You get a ticket with your entry so you can get in for free, and it's a great chance to catch up with other quilter while you wait for your quilt to arrive. Give it a go, you never know, you might enjoy it. Forms can be obtained from Grosvenor Exhibitions.

Much good news

Sorry it's been a while. Things got a touch hectic again. Still this time it was largely good hectic. I delivered nine quilts to Sandown for the National Quilt Championships. Not all mine I hasten to add. I just figured as I was taking mine I may as well fill the car as much as I could. All seem to have been very well received by the visitors. I was lucky enough to win two ribbons. Winter Star collected second place in the bed quilt category and Radiance was awarded a judges merit. It was really good to see how many people liked my students and customer work too. With a range of people looking at the work there is someone to love every quilt. Very few spotted the stitched aircraft on the tie quilts though, but a lot were interested in making one, and I gained a father :)

You might have noticed the wholecloth winner. A small white quilt with a lot of featehrs on it? It was made by Sally (who you can see collecting her awards at her blog). A while ag she and I decided we would make each other a quilt. Being a bit more organised than me she has finsihed my one and on Sunday I was presented with not one, but two little quilts. One of them even looks like the award winning quilt! Of course she thought to make mine in a proper colour (OK non colour then) black. I will get a photo of it as soon as I have a chance.

I bought lots of fabric at the show including the most perfect dragon scales. As soon as I finish the last custoemr quilt which is now on the frame I will be able to load up the backing for the dragon. The pattern has been drawn for me by an artist friend so it is exactly the dragon I wanted. It's currnetly lurking in my longarm room, just waiting to chomp unwary visitors. I am so looking forward to getting on with it, it's huge and I love it already. I'd better get on with this customer quilt then hadn't I.

Oh and my friend who collected his free helicopter ride is out of hosptal and doing well. Thanks for all the good wishes.

The National Quilt Championships, Sandown

Well the car is packed and now I am at a bit of a loss. I am normally panicking right now. I guess this is the advantage of entering quilts you've already made. I have five quilts going into Sandown this year.(Why is it quilt shows are more often known by their location than their name?) 'Guide me' will be making it's last UK appearance before it heads off to the World Quilt Show. Perttu, the cellist has only been seen at my gallery show so this is his first competitive outing. I hope he will go down well, he does at least have some clothes on.

I've also put in "Where is the North Star?". This is a quilt I made for the theme category at Malvern a couple of years ago, and it hasn't been out since. I show it as my talks and it is a very popular quilt, so I decided I aught to put it in another quilt show. If It hadn't had such an amazing response in talks I would still be sitting in the storage unit.

This is "My Fat Quarter of Paradise" It is one of the quilts DHL failed to deliver to a show. It is HUGE. I have no way of getting a good picture of it at home, this is it in a Hotel room. I love the quilting on it but I don't like paying postage to send it to shows. So as I can deliver it to this one, it's going. The hanging sleeve isn't at the top of this quilt to keep the bottom of it off the floor. Hopefully this will work at Sandown.

My last entry is "Lily". This is another quilt I have entered because of other peoples reaction to it. I can't say I like this quilt, but I have to accept a lot of other people do. I would say it was the second most popular quilt in my solo show. I don't get it but I figure it has earned it's place in shows. If you are in Region 1 of the Quilters Guild you will have seen it in your regional magazine recently. Here is your chance to see it in the flesh. It will be interesting to see it the judges agree with my visitors, if they do I will be checking with more people before spending money on entering quilt shows :)

I want to move on

I am getting really keen now to finish the work for my show so I can move on and try new things. Is that a bad thing? I feel I aught to be more caught up in what I am doing but I've got two ideas I really want to work on and right now that feels the most important thing creatively. Fortunately my head does have control and I will finish my cows.

I wish I could remember who's blog started off this need to do something different. I read something somewhere about Chuck Close. I hadn't heard the name but I recognised the work when I checked the site. It's interesting, but not quite to my tastes. However I can see ways the ideas nearly meet what I do, and I want to explore that area. I think it could be fun even if it isn't successful.

I've also, probably are a result of this and some lamp posts, had ideas for the Sandown theme for this year. Going Around in Circles. I don't know if that idea will work either, and it will involve some very interesting maths or good construction drawing. Once I start on it I am quite certain it will absorb me fro a while. So it's got to wait, and I don't like waiting...

My Sandown Award Winners

OK I only got second places this year, but I am quite pleased that half of my quilts picked up awards. I still think the best quilt I've made in a while is the pink one, I think that would have won the longarm award, but possibly not the bed quilt. Who knows, it isn't going to happen.

Still 'Wait' has done really well for me. Not bad considering how bad the bearding is on it. I did consider just binning it when the bearding happened, but for some reason I stuck with it. I guess that was the right answer as it was juried into Road to California earlier this year and has now taken second place in the small wall hanging category. I am really very pleased that people can see past it's issue to it's good points. I haven't decided yet if this is it's last outing, watch this space.

I really like the rosettes this year, I love purple anyway and having a matched pair is fantastic. Thanks Kate for suggesting a way to carry them without creasing or crumpling them. I did decide they were too big to wear as earrings.

This was really very unexpected as 'Red and Blue Tulips' took second place in the long arm quilting normally there is only a first place for that category. Maybe this shows we have more longarm quilters entering these shows. I hope so, we do need to show people what can be done.

As you can probably tell this quilt is from Ricky Timms Caveman quilting technique. It is somewhat modified after I saw someone else make one like this. I like the slimmer version much better than the wide one. The quilting I actually did sometime ago. In fact I think it was one of the first things I quilted after Myrna Ficken fixed my machine for me. I had so much fun doing this. I didn't really think it would ever end up in a show, it was just something to play with, but as I liked it I thought I would share it. I really didn't think this one would win anything. I guess it just goes to show, you never can tell.

There is no quilting on the little squares, so they stand up compared to the rest. The quilting mostly matches the fabric it is on. The red and blue background quilting does just slightly overflow onto the black borders. I only realised tonight that this is another background fill that I really like, and I think this is the only place I have ever used it. I think I need to have a play with it again and see if I can remember how I did it. It's quite an odd feeling look at your own work and having no idea how you did it.

I guess really I should take it with me to my class tomorrow. Maybe one of my students will be able to recreate it for me. Oh that would just be too funny.
I am glad I am not easily embarrassed.

On the subject of very cool background fillers, I was sent a link to this site today. Do go and have a look, she has done a wonderful piece of machine quilting. It is just what I needed to look at to inspire me to come up with some new patterns. Thanks Sally.

Sandown Photographs

I've finally had time to look at my pictures and to take advice on what I can and cannot do with the pictures I took at the show. I can't show pictures of other peoples quilts, unless they choose to send me them, which is a shame as I have pictures of most of the award winners and many of the others as well. On the other hand if you had a quilt in the show and would like my pictures of it, do let me know I will be happy to give a copy to the owner of the quilt.

pictures of the patchwork corner stand as well but I forgot, sorry. I'll start with the two that didn't win awards. This will probably be my last picture of Che as he has now gone to his new owner. He seemed to be very popular with the visitors to the show, which surprised me. I didn't expect I am however safe to put up pictures of my own work from the show, so that is what I will do. I did mean to take such acceptance of him, but I am thrilled by it.

'Tropical Punch" was seriously out classed in it;s theme category. The standard of work in the Batik Beauties category was stunning. There were two quilts there I would have loved to bring home. I was especially keen on the second place quilt, with it's huge leaves. I like the fact that the quilting changed colour to match the fabrics, the effect was stunning. I can't find my show guide right now to check who's it was, sorry. On the subject of show guides, the artists statement. I spend hours fiddling with my statements to get them down to the word count, I think it was 30 words for this guide, yet many of them are far longer. The longest I found was well over 100 words. So am I being stupid editing mine down to the limit. Often there is a lot more I would like to say but I don't because the rules say 30 words, yet they happily put in much longer statements. Any suggestions?

As you can see I still failed to get a good shot of the whole of 'Tropical Punch'. I think this time it was entirely human error. It looks to me like I wasn't holding the camera still. You would think that would be something I had learned a long while ago, but no I keep making that particular mistake. Still it probably gives you an idea of what was going on.

The close up pictures seem to have done a bit better. This first one shows one of the upper glasses. The background quilting on these was in a red-yellow variegated thread. I was thinking about the sunsets I saw in Cuba. They were red and orange and sort of spiky at the edges. There was often thin bands of cloud and the ends of them looked a lot like horizontal flames.

I guess I should mention that these are entirely pieced, I had a lot of people ask if the straw was applique, but no it isn't. The whole things is done by free cutting and then shuffling the pieces to get the different colours in the various places. The cutting did take a lot of thought to get the details I wanted, but the design came to me as soon as I read the entry form some months ago. I like the pieces that come to me complete. The parasol and wedges of fruit have their details quilted, with a silver metallic thread. I also used silver to quilt the crushed ice in the cocktails. Of course I was forced to go to a cocktail bar to research the look of crushed ice. It helped add detail to the glasses.

At one stage I had considered putting applique leaves around the border. I gave up that idea as too over the top for the design, I wanted something more subtle. I settled on quilting the leaves on in a variegated thread. they do slightly overlap the panels, as though you are looking through vegetation. If I were doing it again I think I would want to find a way to make the leaves more distinct. I still don't think applique is the answer, but maybe some way of making the quilting stronger. Thicker thread, double threads or maybe even bobbin work. Who knows, but I doubt it will come up again so it is rather academic.

Tired

The daft things I do in the name of quilting. Having had several people proof read my pattern we noticed an error after having them printed, so I needed to get a reprint. Well I can put in a correction, but I would like to have so correct ones too. So yesterday I went back to the print shop that did the first ones to get some more. This time they couldn't open the pdf file. They were adamant that it was either faulty or too big and I would have to change it. OK not ideal but not a complete disaster this was first thing in the morning and they were open late. We got back there half an hour before closing but the computer still didn't like my files. They couldn't do it. I decided I really wanted this resolved, and I know there are 24/7 printers in Soho, Google being my friend, it was pretty easy to find them. It turns out the cheapest is actually in Vauxhall, south east London, of course I live north west London. Ho hum, at least it is quite quick to drive across town around midnight. The printer did a great job and by 2am I had a new stack of folded patterns. Sorted. Just what everyone would do right? I do think it will be my chosen way to get my printing done it was a lot easier than doing it during the day.

Then an early morning to get the machine set up at the show. Fortunately I can live on five hours sleep, sometimes at least. I took one of my MQS quilts to cover the table, although I have put a cutting mat over it to protect it you can still see it around the table. Playing with the Sapphire has been a lot of fun. It really is a very nice machine for free motion work, even if the thing that most impressed a customer was that is could draw caravans! I think tomorrow I will take a larger selection of threads to play with, I missed having my whole range with me. Isn't it funny how spoilt we get by our stashes.

Oh yes, two of my quilts got awards. I got second place for longarm quilting with the 'Blue and Red Tulips', Mandy Parks won the first prize, but I haven't had a chance to look at all the quilts yet. 'Wait' also got a second place this time in the art quilt section. I will try and look at the quilts tomorrow and see what the winners look like. As I said I haven't really looked around yet but I am told there aren't as many traders as last year. Hopefully the ones that are there will be interesting enough to make up for it.

It was great to meet so many people in person that I 'know' online. It's so fun to have people I've never seen come up an talk about my work. Thank you all for taking the time to chat. To those I left abruptly I am sorry, I tend to take work related distractions quite seriously and drop the social thing. I was thinking about it on the way home and I will try and make the transition more elegant honest.

Hope to see lots more of you tomorrow.

Sandown Entries Delivered

Well they are there safe and sound. I've delivered them all tightly rolled so hopefully they will look OK when they are hung. Last year one wasn't tight and creased where the roll was crushed. Also they were happy to put 'Do not fold' on the applique quilts that would be damaged by being folded. I am very impressed with the changes they have made to the quilt handling process. I am less impressed with my photography skills today.

I felt I should try to take a decent picture of each of these before the show. Neither of them will be coming back straight after it so it made sense. Sadly that wasn't to be. 'Tropical Punch' will be touring until November. It is part of the Batik Beauties' challenge and I think it goes to Harrogate and Edinburgh. The last quilt that did that sold as soon as it got back so I didn't get a lot of time to photograph it. Maybe the universe will be equally awkward this time, I would be quite happy for it to move on, but I would like a good picture for my site first. maybe I will get a chance to take it's picture at the show.

I also forgot to take a picture of the back of it. Of course the quilting didn't show in any of the pictures of the front. Again, I will try and get a picture at Sandown, failing that I will have to wait till November to put the picture in my portfolio.

Che will be heading home with his owner after the show, so I wanted to get a picture showing the binding. It did look fine on the camera, honestly. I wonder if I was shaking or something because they do both seem to be quite out of focus. Also I am quite sure this quilt was straighter in real life than it is in the picture. I guess it just wasn't may day for taking pictures. Still I will be at the show and I have friends I can ask to take pictures for me if I can't make it.

I also got to talk to other quilters when I dropped off my quilts. It's fun to meet people face to face instead of online or the phone. I'm really looking forward to the weekend now. I do now remember how hot the hall gets, so can we all think cooling thoughts for then.

The post today brought a new supply of Turning Twenty and Turning Twenty Again quilt patterns. I will be bringing them along to Sandown, so if you are after a copy do come and find me at the Patchwork Corner stand. I will also try and find space to display the Turning Twenty Again quilts that didn't quite get to MQS. I don't know if there will be anywhere to put them, but I figure I have to try.

Tomorrow I want to get my demonstration piece set up, I have a plan that I think will be fun, if I have enough of the fabric I want to use. I also want to work on my quilt creation for the NEC, I have been really looking forward to some of the NEC work I have left to do, but I couldn't do it until I had Sandown sorted. Ooooh I love it when I have just sent all the quilts off for a show. I feel so inspired and ready to get on with other things.

Splash of Darkness - Withdrawrn

After two rounds of un-picking and re quilting I have had t admit defeat. At best this quilt will be a utility quilt, and I do mean at best. I decided late Saturday there was no way this quilt would be fit to be seen in public. The backing just isn't playing ball. It seems to be stretching and warping as I quilt. No amount of stabilization seems to stop it. I think at some point it will go back on the frame and I will finish it pleats and all so I can use it. It's funny this quilt has been giving me trouble since I started it. I found m starting strips were wonky and the colours didn't work the way I expected. I ended up having to trim every block to make sure I had them square (although some still don't have their diagonal perfectly centered). The colours have come out looking very pink, not multicoloured as I expected. I have managed to get more contrast by quilting the colours with a very light thread and then doing the black with a thick black. Most of the quilting went well but just after I noticed the second round of pleats, the machine refused to sew. It worked fine on the test pieces but not on the actual quilt. Then I realised, the cat have shown no interest in this quilt at all. They haven't sat on it once.This is odd, show quilts are irresistible to our cats. This one has been lying on the sofa and the cats still avoided it. I guess it really isn't a quilt.

I do feel much better for having made the decision. My machine is now working like a dream again. Most of my Sandown quilts are ready for a final de-linting and packing, ready to deliver tomorrow. When I clean them I will take some pictures of them too. I think I will have to listen to the cats earlier next time. On the other hand I have a prototype of one of my NEC quilts lying around. I wasn't sure about it but it always has a cat on it. I think I will accept this vote of confidence. Maybe shows should employ cats as judges, they seem to know things about quilts that humans completely miss.

Things are moving forward

I know it is silly but I was thrilled to see that my entry forms have been delivered today. I guess it is just a reaction to the DHL mess, but I really was very pleased. Even with delays at both airports they still got it there before lunchtime today. It has made me feel much better about sending my quilts out again. I've been quite shocked at the number of DHL horror stories I've been told in the last couple of weeks, and surprised by how many people have recommended FedEx. I've been impressed by this experience so I am quite happy to try them again. Watch this space, I will try and remember to post the review positive or negative.

Another bonus today, Penny has posted pictures of the quilt I sent her as part of the art share meme. This is great as I forgot to take pictures of them. Doh! I was just keen to get them in the post. So if you are interested take a look at her blog here.

I've spent the day working on quilts for Sandown. 'Splash of Darkness' is on the frame, I am trying to improve the contrast between the dark bands and the colours. They looked quite high contrast before I put them together, but now they are a big muddy. Hopefully the quilting will lift and push as required and it will be good. I've also got 'Tropical Punch' underway, it is a really fun quilt and perfect to work on in between the quilting on Splash. I am both concerned by how close the deadline is and quite confident I am on track. I would actually be ahead of the game without all the distractions the last couple of week. Still nothing I can do about that now so I guess I just have to get on with it.

Theoretically we are racing this weekend at Santa Pod, but the weather isn't looking hopeful. I am saving some hand sewing just in case, now that should be enough to taunt the weather into being good right?

Wow!

Some days things do seem to be coming together. I took my Houston entry forms to Mail Box Etc to try out the FedEx next day delivery service. I like the idea that if they don't deliver I don't pay. Although I have just realised that I didn't manage to get a copy of the terms and conditions. I did ask but there were other customers distracting me and the staff member, I'll go back tomorrow and see if I can get them. Anyway I went in and they offered me somewhere to sit and fill in the forms, which I thought was very nice. I got most of the form filled in but I didn't have a phone number for the recipient. I asked if it was required and he said yes it was essential, they couldn't accept the shipment without it. Before I had a chance to say anything else he offered to look it up for me. What a difference. It was certainly a lot easier than booking a DHL collection and filling in their paperwork. Now I just have to wait and see if it gets there. I checked earlier and it was making progress, but having just checked it is stuck at Stansted with a delay beyond their control. Oh well maybe it is something about me, I can get even simple packages stuck.

I followed this up with delivering my new patterns. It is official, I will be launching my first pattern at the National Quilt Championships Sandown. It will be for sale at the Patchwork Corner stand. Somehow along the lines I also volunteered to demonstrate the Husqvarna Viking Sapphire, so if you are coming to the show, please pop by and say hello. I was really pleased that the patterns passed inspection, it is very similar to the first time I put a quilt into a show. I guess it is all a matter of sending your creations out into the world to fend for themselves. I am quite looking forward to spending the whole weekends at the show and meeting lots of new people. I am sure it will be very tiring, but hopefully it will be fun too.

I've finally finished squaring up the 204 blocks of Splash of Darkness, and I should have it on the frame tomorrow. I even think I have decided how I am going to quilt it, of course it may change once I get it on the frame, quilts seem to get more chatty once they are loaded.