FOQ - Gallery - Phoenix and nudes

Well that was nearly a unanimous decision, we will get to the Dragon too, but for tonight we will head towards "Phoenix Rising". This was the last of my pieces finished, or indeed started for the gallery. So what, one piece has to be right? Well this was the piece the whole gallery was designed for, and I only made it the week before the show. It felt right that this should be the last piece, it had to slot in and complete the show, yet for many people it will have been one of the first quilts they saw. As with many of my pictorial quilts this one was made directly on my quilting frame. I had to work the phoenix itself from the top down hoping that when I had the wings in place the body would fit. It did, although it is a little slimmer than it started. Each feather is individually cut from hand dyed cotton sateen from Fabric to dye for. I bought rather a lot of fabric to be sure I had the exact shadings I wanted. It worked very well. I had chosen to work entirely with cotton sateen for this quilt because I wanted it to glow, but I hadn't realised that the sateen would have an added bonus. It frays, not only that it does it in a way that really looks like feathers. Perfect.

As you can see this is a very heavily quilted piece. I really enjoyed working on it and it went surprisingly fast. I am now quite short of these thread colours. The background quilting looks very similar to my 'standard' background fill which I call 'decadent swirls' but if you look closely it isn't quite the same. On this quilt I wanted to suggest the air currents as the phoenix launches so I tried to spread out the curls into lines and eddies. You wouldn't spot it if you didn't look closely, but I know it is there and that pleases me.

Next to 'Phoenix Rising' is another early quilt. It is called 'Bicameral Pierrot'. It was named for having two clear sections and being in black and white. I love this quilt, and it has spent a lot of time on my studio wall. Unfortunately show judges really don't. I was so perplexed by this that I took a critiquing class just to get some more opinions on it. Sadly most of the people in that group couldn't see the problem either. The best guess was that this style has been done too many times. If that is the case, tough. I will be amazed if I don't make more bargello quilts, I like them however many have already been made in the past.

Turning to look behind us we can see a cluster of nudes (I wonder if there is an official collective noun for nudes?). Lets start with the best known of them, 'Nude with Rope'. This quilt has been to several show around the world, and I would love her to travel to more (she is one of my easier quilts to ship). She started appropriately enough at the Festival of Quilts 2007. Unfortunately she cause a stir by being hung next to a portrait of Jesus. It was one of the quirks of fate that really didn't go down well. Still she picked up a judges choice award, so it wasn't all bad. She then went to the Road to California and the World Quilt Show and was well received at both. I think this is the quilt that has sent most messages home, yes even more than the cows. For me the most interesting show was Sandown, where I used her as stand decoration while I was demonstrating a quilting frame. The number of people who remembered it from the FOQ was impressive in it's own right, but what really fascinated me was how they remembered her. Peoples brains had added a lot more detail to the quilt and it was such a strong memory they were struggling to believe their eyes. The human brain is a very impressive (and at time disturbing) piece of equipment. This is one of the few quilts I have made more than once. A purple version hangs over my bed, it was made for the Royal Acadamy Summer Exhibition, so is mounted on stretcher bars. It makes it very hard to transport, so I just have to have it on display at home.

This pair of quilts have been a long time in progress. The one on the right was made first, and was entirely unexpected. I came across a photograph on a friends blog and I just had to make a quilt of it. A few emails back and forth and I got permission from both the subject and the owner of the photograph, great. The really strange part is that I had been asking this friend to model for me for a while, but I don't think she believed me. I really loved the idea of having both mother and daughter, so I kept asking. After 'Mother' saw 'Daughter' she decided to go for it. She sent me several pictures and this one just lept out at me. It's a great picture and I felt it fit perfectly into pairing I was after. However by the time I got the image time was moving on and I only managed to finish the quilt just before the show. She knew it was done but didn't get to see it until her spies (friends) managed to get a picture and send it back to her. I hope she is pleased with it, and if you think you might like to model for me please do get in touch. I am always on the look out for more models. Those of you I already have pictures of, rest assured you are not forgotten and will become quilts as soon as time permits.

As this corner had a family feel I added this small portrait to the group. It is of a daughter for her mother. This time the subject knew and the mother in question didn't. Her whole family had kept it a secret from her for months. So long in fact they weren't sure I had actually done it. The mother, a friend of mine, kept trying to find out what I was making for her but I wanted her to find it hanging so the last thing I told her was that is was something she created. Yes I intended her to think I had made a copy of one of her quilts, but I think this was a better option.

Ahead of us now is another well known piece, my first and possibly my favourite nude, 'Nude Triptych'. This was the first piece I ever entered into the Festival of Quilts. Being me I didn't just enter I tried to get into the quilt of the year section. I didn't manage it but it did take second place in the pictorial category, which was very exciting. It was the first cash prize I won and I still have a photocopy of the cheque in my studio. The idea with this piece was to explore the effect of technique and colour on an image. The grey image is made from 1/4" squares. I wanted to get a pixalated feel to the image. It is one of my "seemed like a good idea at the time" quilts. 1/4" squares have a nasty habit of falling apart when you try to pick them up, and are very very light. If you breath near them they move, a lot. This one image took me a month to assemble simple because it required so much concentration and fiddling. I needed every piece to line up as perfectly as possible.

The red image was much simpler, and is the technique I teach in my 'Art Quilts by Numbers' class. I was looking for a texture like that of oil paintings. To achieve this I used triangular pieces of fabric. They tend to stick up a little at the points giving the textured finish I was looking for. I really love this technique and it has lead me in many other directions. The last part of the triptych is the blue image. This has been my technique of choice ever since for nudes, although writing this has me thinking that some of my other might look very good in the same style as the red nude. Anyway, the blue one presents the smoothest clearest image by using flat pieces of fabric. All are quilted with very fine cotton thread that matched the fabric it is on. This is also a common theme in my pictorial quilts, I try very hard to just blend the thread in, this isn't a place for the thread to steal the show.

The final quilt as we leave the gallery for the night is 'Heat'. Her biggest claim to fame, in my mind at least, is that she has my most three dimensional nipple. I was told this by a lady at my Dissenters Gallery show, and it does have to be said she is right. You do have to stand in exactly the right place then it just pops. I guess I just got the colouring right and the angle then completes the illusion. Sadly it doesn't seem to work in photographs so this one you will have to see in real life to get that effect. It is also one of my quilts with a good wholecloth on the back. I usually use a bobbin thread that matches the colour of the top thread, so if the backing contrasts you can get an amazing reverse side. Sorry I couldn't get a picture of it while it was fixed to the wall but I do show it in most of my talks, being small it's a good quilt to fly with.

Well that's it for tonight. Rather than go back past the archway tomorrow I suggest we walk around the outside of the gallery to go back in through entrance one. This will take us past all the wholecloth quilts, then we can work our way back to the other side of the gallery. I've included a plan of the gallery so you can see how it all fits together.

Finally you might like to take a look at these two links they give you a bit of background information on 'Mother' and 'Daughter'. Just how cool is she! If you haven't seen Quilters Home magazine you might want to check that out too, Mother featured in a makeover article in the last issue, she is such a good sport.

Holiday quilt

As you can see my holiday quilt is progressing. I am ready to make the blocks up now. As I want to make the quilt larger I will need to add fabric to the kit. I don't have any appropriate hand dyed fabrics but the very dark batik looks pretty good. Initially I thought about just adding borders but I think it will look more planned if I use the batik in the centers of the blocks too. It will make my version a bit darker and I suspect more extreme. I think those are assets, so time to cut the batik.

I spoke to a lot of ladies about the APQS machines at the show, don't forget to drop me an email and I will put you in touch with the UK rep.

FOQ - Gallery - Through the arch

So it appears we will start our tour through the central door of the gallery, the archway. I am sure Jan will be very flattered you picked his door first. Before we go in lets take a look at the quilts to either side of the door. To the Left we have 'In Full Bloom'. I made this quilt for the Celebrate Spring show in Chicago. I think that was my first go at a juried show and this quilt made it in. I was thrilled. The quilt came from spending far too much time at the National Gallery (is that really possible) and falling in love with the impressionist paintings. I hope at some point I will make more quilts in this style.

If you look closely (you can click any of the images to see a bigger version) you can see the whole quilt is made up of 1" squares. This is how I felt I could best represent the sometimes blocky brush strokes. In the detail picture you can see that the quilting is designed to fit the texture of the item being represented, right down to every blossom having a flower in it.

To the other side of the archwayy is 'Radiance'. This is one of the very few quilts I have on display in my house. I don't have much wall space but this fits nicely on one chimney breast. I really aught to get it unpacked and re-hung. It was on display here last year where it was awarded 'Highly Commended'. It is a whole cloth on plain cotton stitched in four shades of purple.
When I was planning the gallery this space was designed as the neutral area. The fulcrum that supported the rest of the gallery. It gives you a great framed view of 'Herd Mentality' on the center of the back wall. This quilt seems to have a fan base all of it's own, and many of them have followed it around America and back home. This is a good point to thank all the ladies at the international quilt festival for getting this back to me so quickly after their last show. I would have been in trouble if it hadn't made it back.

As we go through the arch my sample book quilt is hanging on the right. I had always intended this to end up as the cover quilt, but I was advised against using it. I trust the people who I ask for advice, so it had to make do with just being in the book. One of the perks of having my own gallery was being able to handle the quilts when I needed to and to allow others to do the same. A pair of ladies bought the book on Thursday, went away and read it then came back with a question on Sunday. They were worried the seams would be overly bulky, after feeling this sample they were satisfied there isn't a problem. It was a great feeling. The quilt is inspired but the black and silver fabric. I had decided I would make a sample up in only three fabrics to show it could be done and then this fabric came up and I fell in love. It is a lovely fabric and I like it as the background to this quilt. I had intended to bind the quilt with plain black the same as the outer borders, but I ran out of fabric. So I was forced to use the black and silver again. What a lucky accident it looks much better than black would have done.

The quilt opposite is Tet's first quilt, and you can see him with it here. He was proofreading the book and decided the only way to do it properly was to make the quilt, and on his own. I was banished from my sewing room, my machine commandeered, and my stash raided. I can't complain he turned out a great quilt. It also has a much more exciting back than most of them, even though all of the book quilts are reversible.
If you are lucky enough to catch us at a talk you might be able to get him to sign his quilt in the book too.

Next to Tet's quilt is a very important little quilt. It is a portrait of one of my six cats, this one if called 'Skadi'. She is significant for two reasons. Firstly she was my first award winning quilt. Not only that she won a prize in the first show I entered and she was judged by an artist who makes a lot of stitched animals, and she gave me tips on how to improve my work. It's a very special award. She is also the quilt that started all my pictorial quilts. I made her as part of a Quilt University class with Marilyn Belford. She wasn't initially keen on me doing an animal, the class was for human portraits, but she let me take the class. The skills I learned there have allowed me to make all my other art quilts. I may have evolvesdmy own ways of doing things, but I don't think it would have happened if she hadn't let me do my own thing. This quilt is always one that draws people in, she does look amazingly furry, and it is hard to resist stroking her. The border also fascinates people. Yes it is a printed fabric. Yes I did buy a lot of it, it's fabulous.

Finally in this section we have 'See Sound' it's another one of my older quilts. It's come home this weekend as it was designed specifically to be hung at the Festival of Quilts. It was when I was walking around the Festival one year when it struck me that quilt were missing out at shows. Part of the appeal of a quilt is it's tactile quality, in shows it isn't able to share that. I knew I wanted to give a quilt a new dimension. It had to be something that didn't involve the quilt being touched, and I decided that sound would be a simple thing to use. After all quilters stand in front of quilts and talk. I also wanted to see if I could make a quilt that would talk to more of the men who come to the show. Of the UK shows the Festival is the one with the most men at it. I admire them coming to support their partners, but I've also noticed how wilted they look after a few hours. This quilt worked very well for that too. I saw several men walk around it and then start explaining the circuit to their wives, who then wilted. It was fantastic to watch. The quilt is actually double sided, the back have solder spots and the tracks of the board.

Well that's your lot for today, the new poll is do we turn left or right. Left will take us towards the Phoenix and right would be towards the Dragon. Let me know by voting in the poll to the right of this post. Continue the tour.

Quilter on holiday

It's sad, I know. My idea of a break from work looks a lot like work, but it doesn't feel like it. I noticed this on the day we hung the show. We had had 1 hours sleep and there was a quilt that needed binding before it could be hung. I set my machine up in the middle of the building site which was my stand and started sewing. As soon as the stiches were forming I felt better. Daft, the thing that caused the sttress could also cure it.

On Sunday I found the Starr Designs stand. It was the first chance I had had to look around the show. I had seen her fabrics before but only online, they are more stunning in the flesh. I passed on this pattern because it was too small for my bed but I bought a lot of other fabrics. Then I got chatting near the stand and all I could see was this quilt. Well I had to have it and now it is my holiday project. As you can see it is progressing well. I hope to have some Aurifil threads to quilt it with too by the time I have the top made. It is as it says a quick and easy pattern, just what I need.

Don't forget to vote for the next section of the gallery tour, I will put that up before bed tonight.

FOQ - Gallery

I can't believe how many pictures I have that I want to share with you guys. I am planning a gallery tour like the one I did for the Dissenters Gallery show, but this one is so big I will have to split it over several days. Today I thought we could start with a walk around the outside of the gallery. I was very lucky to not only be given a huge space but also a very central location. My gallery had a shared back wall and three sides that opened onto aisles. The gallery behind and to the left of me was occupied by Denys Short. He was showing a wonderful collection of his paintings inspired by quilts. I couldn't believe how much he had managed to fit in, and it looked great. Walking from his stand you come to the first opening into my space. On each side of this entrance I have a black wholecloth. To the left you can see 'Guide Me', and to the right 'Winter star'. Don't worry we will be back for a closer look later.

As we get to the corner of my stand you can get the first look at my archway. I had planned to quilt an arch to go in this position but it was one of the things I just didn't have time to do. I had come to terms with it when I was talking to Jan (the very helpful man who built my stand) and he mentioned he could make things like arches but no one ever asked. Well that was the wrong comment, I asked, and boy did he deliver. I loved it and it did make my stand very easy to spot.

On our walk to the corner we come past 'Flying Feathers', this white wholecloth was in competition her last year and won the longarm quilting award. You can also see the small nude Heat, framing the second entrance to the gallery. As we carry on around to the front of the gallery you can see in to my longarm. I spent a lot of time during the show showing people how I quilt. They were very surprised to find there is no computer on my machine I just make it up as I go along. Mostly it works out. Above the machine is 'Herd Mentality'. I am so grateful to team from the Houston quilt show, they got it back to me in time to hang here. To the left of the central opening is 'In Full Bloom' and to the right you can see 'Radiance'.

Moving on we come to the fourth entrance to the gallery. Excuse the tripod, it was desperate to get into at least one photo. Through this entrance you can see 'Brief Moment of Clarity' to your left. On the right are two of the pieces I have been keeping as a surprise, but more on them later. To the far left of the picture you can just the 'Nude Triptych', I was amazed by how fondly this was remembered and by how many people. I never imagined that my work would stick in peoples heads for so long and I am so thrilled when it does. It was also wonderful to hear from people who had seen my quilts all over the world. It's like getting postcards from the quilts.

Finally the fifth entrance, this one is exactly opposite the first. The black quilt on the left should be familiar to regular readers, it is 'Joker' I posted a lot of in progress photos of it. This was because I wanted it's new owners to feel that had seen it grow, and I think it worked. The pink quilt is one of two in the gallery that I didn't make. It was made by a student in one of my regular classes and is her first ever quilt. I had wanted to hang the quilt that is on the front cover of my book, but I didn't have enough long walls. Who would have thought in a gallery this size I was still short of large spaces? This quilt can be seen on the back cover of the book. Looking through the gallery you can see 'Bicameral Pierot'.This is one of the few quilts I hadn't planned on having in the show. It is hanging in the spot of a quilt I found I didn't need to make when the time came. I love this quilt, even though it was very unpopular with show judges and it was great to see it hanging again. I have to find it a space in the house. Next to it you can just see a glimpse of 'Phoenix Rising'. To see more if it come back and follow the rest of this tour. I will set up a poll so people can choose which door we start our trip with. The gallery tells a different story depending on where you start and when I set it up I decided I was happy to let people discover it in their own way. So vote now for where we will go tomorrow.

Home - FOQ survivor

Sorry I didn't manage to post more from the Festival. I was just so busy I didn't get time. It's very different when you are there manning a gallery. I have been told by several people that not only did I have the biggest gallery but also the busiest, which is great news. I was so busy on Thursday I didn't notice! I know that sounds weird, but I would talk to someone, then the next some one, then the next..... and then it was 4pm. I have no idea where the time went but it did. I have woken up today with very little voice, I guess a combination of talking solidly for 4 days and not getting much time to drink anything takes it's toll. I am just glad it waited until today.

I think the show went very well, I've certainly been told it did. My new work seems to have been well received which makes the very long nights well worthwhile. People were chocked at how quickly I had made some of the pieces, but what can you do. If you need them for a certain date you have to settle down and get them done. I will put pictures up later today, the camera is being uploaded. We had a brief panic when it looked like the card was corrupt, but it;s working again now.

I think the high point of the weekend for me was the people. I had kept walking in the opposite direction to Jenny Bowker and not having time to talk. I was pretty sure she must have thought I was either very rude or just not interested in her work (really not the case). I got lucky Saturday night and found her in the bar of my hotel, obviously waiting to meet some one. So I took all my courage and went and invaded her table. I am so glad I did, what a fun lady. We got talking to her about all kinds of things, including graphic novels. I will have to add her to any fantasy dinner guests list. Did we ever come to a conclusion on whether boiling sugar will void the warranty? She did introduce me to Hendrics gin, with tonic and cucumber. I was already a fan of Hendrics and the cucumber was a great addition.

The show also gave me a chance to catch up with Rosemary from the traditional quilts branch of the quilters guild. Strangely, well actually she claims not at all strange, we get along rather well and have very similar views on quilts. I had assumed I would have most in common with the contemporary quilters, but apparently not. I seem to think like a traditional quilter. Rosemary took on the challenge of teaching me to hand quilt. Not only did she take it on but she succeeded! Apparently my biggest problem was chairs, closely followed by the wrong thimble. I had accepted that I may need a thimble for hand quilting, much as I dislike them but I had only considered my top hand. It turns out what I need is one for the under hand, and it needs a crown. Yes this might mean some stories you've heard about me are true :) I also like working in a hoop, just a hand held one. I had been looking at some on stands, but I think they will encourage me to bend in the wrong way, which hurts my shoulder and stops me quilting, so I will give a plain one a try.

I think that will have to do for now. I am going to dig out my purchases (mostly hand dyed fabric) and have a play. I did buy two kits and I think they might make a fun holiday. Sorry folks but I think I deserve and day or two off.

Oh no, one more thing. I had people who bought my book on the Thursday coming back later in the weekend to tell me they had already read it! How cool is that? Not cool enough? Well they all liked it and the only questions I got would have been answered if they had been working through it. The best comment I got was that it read like I was talking directly the reader and that I sounded just like me. That was amazing as it is what I had been trying to achieve, but I had no idea if I had managed it. I guess I did.

Festival of Quilts - day 1

These are probably not the greatest photos but at least it will give you a taster of how my gallery looks. It's a fantastic space, I can't believe how much work the show team put in for me. Today was madly busy, which is great if very tiring, I suspect I won't have much voice left by the end of it. I will try and get some better pictures in the morning. Night night.

Things I don't need right now.

The long hours have been taking their toll, but I was actually feeling pretty positive until about 2 hours ago. This probably won't make sense to anyone who doesn't have animals, but consider to us they are family, much like children. One of my cats came home wearing a collar. The problem is she didn't leave wearing one. So someone has caught her and put it on. Not good. I am not pleased that she let someone else get that close, we try to train them not to go up to strangers, but it's hard explaining that to humans and pretty much impossible with cats. So I know someone has an interest in one of my cats and I am supposed to go away for five days. We took their collar off and put on one with my phone number on it. I hope that once they know she has a home they will leave her alone, but who knows. I can't just leave her to a cat sitter, if nothing else I wouldn't want anyone else to feel responsible if she goes missing. So it looks like Tet will have to cat sit instead of coming and helping me at the show :( It's not what we had in mind, and I really didn't need the extra stress. Besides even with him here I know I am going to worry. Not the way to be at my best for a show, and not an encouragement to finish the quilts.

Any suggestions on what else I can do to look after her? Our cats have always had freedom to come and go as they please. If we try shutting them in the break out (we've tried it before) and they refuse to use a litter tray if they are shut in. Fine if it is optional but not if they have to. Also if we tried to shut them in securely it would make it very hard for the cat sitter to get in the house without them escaping.

On the bright side I can't see me getting much sleep tonight so I should get a lot of sewing done.

Oh my!

I just made my check list. There are 13 quilts in need of binding and sleeve. Eeeeek. I guess that means there are more than that many new quilts for the show which I think is great, but boy tha't a lot of binding. No they aren't all small, they are proper Ferret sized quilts.

They're here and they are ready to go.

This afternoon I took delivery of a metric tonne of books, literally. The lorry driver didn't think his lorry would fit down our road (we disagree) but he did drag the pallet up to our gate on a trolley so it wasn't too bad. The books don't take up as much space as we had feared and are pretty neatly stacked in the hall. I am however hoping that I can sell a good percentage of them at the Festival of Quilts next week and clear some space again. I have spent most of the time since then packing books up to go out to all the people who have pre-ordered. There was a mad rush to get as many to the post office as possible. I think about 60 went out in the first posting although some missed the last collection from the post office as printing the postage seemed to take forever. It took so long that the car park closed locking my car in, so we had to walk home. Of course that means the car will need collecting tomorrow morning too. I will take a picture of a finished book for you tomorrow, but I am now exhausted I feel like I have been lugging book about all day. Oh yes I have.

All of my quilts for the show are now at the binding and sleeve stage. The weekend will be spent working on that. It isn't my favourite job, but the machine bindings aren't too bad. I do have at least three quilts that need hand sewn bindings, they will be more of a problem. Still at least the end is in sight. I think this is the time to make a list on a white board so I can rub them off as I complete them.

Changes on the web

Some house keeping and improvements have been under way at my main web site www.ferfab.co.uk. There is now a map up of the location of my gallery at the Festival of Quilts. You can also now buy my book directly using paypal. The pre-order price will be available until the 18th of August, book should be with me on the 13th and I will try and get them out on the 14th. There I've said it, now I have to at least attempt it :)

On the quilting side I think I am finally getting tired. I've definitely slowed down and I have to take more breaks. Still the quilt is looking good, I an really enjoying working on it and I think it will do exactly what I want at the show. In between adding jobs to my to do list I am starting to get excited. I have huge respect for those who organize these events. I only have to get one stand together. One not terribly complex stand and there seems to be a never ending list of things that have to be done. How big must the Twisted Threads to do list be? If you check out their website you can sill buy tickets for the show and the social events. There are also meet and greet sessions that are only available to people who book for evening events.

If you are coming please do pop by to say hello.

Moving forward

The last quilt for my gallery is now well under way. It reminds me a lot of 'Golden Storm' my leafy quilt. This quilt has been fully planned for a long time now. The fabrics were just waiting to go by my machine along with the wadding. I just had to load up and get started. As with 'Golden Storm' this quilt is progressing very quickly. I think than when they have been fully formed in my head for so long I can just follow the script I have rehearsed which speeds things up. There is very little need for planning once I start work. Again I thought I had bought far more fabric than I needed, and again it's going to be tight. I have most of the largest pieces cut now and I will do the rest first thing tomorrow. I can fit smaller pieces into the offcuts as I am having to do a lot of fussy cutting and so cannot use the fabric as efficiently as I would like.

'Herd Mentality' arrived home today. It was perfectly packed and looks to have weathered it's tour of America very well. It's a relief to have it back in my hands as it is one of the centre pieces of my NEC display. Of course I still have a small mountain of binding and hanging sleeves to tackle but I'm feeling quite positive about having everything ready, and maybe even getting one of my optional quilts done. It's been very hard cutting down the quilts I want to make to a manageable number that would work well together.

Post post and yet more post

I think I am trying to wear out the postal system. I've had three deliveries this morning (one was Parcel Force). My response to all this post? Post something :) One of the deliveries was the envelopes for shipping my books out and I want to do a test posting before I use them. So I am posting a book back to me to see how it does. I suspect I need to add a little packaging to it, but who knows. I am certain that for international postage I will add tape to the corners, but it would be nice if it can survive inland mail as is. Paranoid? Me? Yes. I want my books to arrive with their owners in good condition and I'd rather test first than find out from a complaint that there is a problem. Now I guess I just have to wait.....

Also in the post was my Spooktacular jelly rolls and fat quarter pack. I've already got two patterns designed that I will use them for. I love the Halloween fabrics but most of them never make it to the UK. Fortunately I spotted these before they sold out. Although I have just realised I now need yardage of one of them to make a border. Maybe two of them so I have a border for each quilt. Oh well.

Too much time to think

I spent far too much time on the computer yesterday. I wasn't feeling well and doing really fiddly cutting out didn't seem like a great plan. It did mean I finally found some strong envelopes that my book will fit in and that will fit the large letter size for posting. Sounds trivial, but I assure you it isn't. For the first time I found a live chat on a web site that actually worked too. They got the sale as they could answer my questions there and then (Saturday evening).

I got a lovely letter from a lady who reads British Patchwork and Quilting. In the mad rush to tall you about the quilts I've been working on I failed to mention the article they published about me in the latest issue. Very bad of me as it is a lovely article.

I've also been giving some thought to future books. I think the quilt that I had intended as my first book has just been demoted again. I think it is now looking at fourth place at best. Not only have I had several enquiries about a book on how I make my art quilts but two of my students now want me to teach the technique as well. If I've got to write the lessons I might as well write the book. My first thought was that there wouldn't be enough information to make a good book, it's not hard there aren't many steps..... well when you start trying to write them down they look a lot longer than when you are doing it. I guess it is like anything you get familiar with, you don't notice all the steps things just happen.

I also got thinking about a couple of extra things I would like to add to the first book, but it's too late to do that now. So I am planning to write up a couple of extra tutorials for people who buy the book which they can access from my web site. You will also be able to download PDF's of any pages you need to photocopy so you can just print them out. I guess I can't be the only person who wants to work on things in the middle of the night and doesn't own a photocopier.

In short being ill makes work. I'd avoid it if I were you :)

The sample quilt

Embarrassingly, the first quilt started for my book was the last one finished and photographed. You may remember seeing a bad picture of this quilt quite a while ago, but I thought you might like to see a good one. This quilt was very much made for my bed. I love the black and silver fabric in it, and I was determined to have a quilt with it in. I also wanted to check the quilt worked with as few as three fabrics. This quilt really divided opinions, but whatever others think, I love it, and it did good service as the book sample.

Exciting delivery

Well it's exciting to me, and I would hope about 10 others. The QuilTarT t-shirts have arrived. My regular Thursday night students who are responsible for the quilt in my book, have offered to come and help look after my gallery at the NEC. We thought some sort of uniform might be a good idea, and well with me that means t-shirts. I asked what they wanted to be called and they came up with QuiltTarT. I am thrilled with the shirts, and I hope my helpers will be too.

I guess this would be a good time to tell you what the design specification for the book quilt was. I had only been teaching the class for a term and I wanted to see how they thought it was going. At the Christmas party I was dumb enough to ask. I think everyone came up with a suggestion, or two,

• we should all work on the same quilt
• but we have to all be able to take it home
• we have to be able to use our own fabric
• we will be broke after Christmas so we can't buy any fabric for a
• while
• it's got to be a lap quilt
• it's got to be a single bed quilt
• it's got to be a king size quilt
• it has to be quilt as you go

OK that's an interesting list to start with then they went on to techniques they wanted

• Celtic knots
• half square triangles
• flying geese
• foundation piecing.

Just to round that off, it had to work for a lady who was going to join us the next term to start learning quilting and teach something to those who have been quilting longer than me.

I came up with a round robin style sampler quilt. It works well with three fabrics or a whole scrap bag full. It has places where beginners can fudge things to get back on track (actually the experienced ones used
this more I think). I like the fact that the center panel can be pretty much completed in 3 hours which is
the standard class length (for the weekly classes) where I teach. It means they leave their first class with something they can show off.

So if you see anyone wearing a black t-shirt that says QuilTarT you will know who they are.

Is this a first?

You see quilters crossing over into all sorts of other areas, but I wonder if this is a first. Having my quilt displayed on Forbidden Planets web site is something I never expected. I am thrilled it has captured their imagination. I would love to see this craft being picked up by more people with different ideas. There are already plans for me to do a couple more projects with comic artists and I am really looking forward to them. They have their own set of challenges and well, they are different. I'd love to take this further, but well you will just have to watch this space. Right now I have some celtic knots demanding my attention.

Small Art Quilt

I've made good progress today with the smallest of the art quilts I needed to complete for the Festival of Quilts. I've not quite finished quilting it but I don't think I am much over an hour off now. As soon as I have it off the frame I will get on with the next small quilt. I am starting to think I might actually get things finished. I've got a lot of hand sewing to do and some other bindings, but overall it is starting to come together. It is amazing how much more you can get done when you don't need to go out two days a week. I love my classes but the extra time to concentrate is really valuable right now. I'm sorry but I can't (won't) show you this piece until the show. It is a swap quilt and I want it's new owner to see it in it's best possible light. It will just have to be a surprise for you all.

Hmm I forgot how fiddly cutting could be.

I've gone straight from the biggest art quilt to possible the smallest and most intricate I've done. I was looking forward to dealing with smaller pieces of fabric, I thought it would be easier. I had entirely forgotten how small some pieces are and how hard it is to cut them out without the fabric falling apart. Also when doing this really complex cutting I have to keep ironing the freezer paper pattern back in place with the bigger (all things are relative) piece on Bad Rain it was easier. Still the quilt is looking good even though it is progressing quite slowly at the moment. Being small I am making the top first and then mounting it on the longarm frame. It's nice to be able to sit and work and to be able to listen to audio books without wearing headphones.

Bad Rain - Day 10

Well that's it. It is off the frame. I didn't realise while I was working quite how big it is. When Cy described it as a "Bad Rain: A Double-Page Bedspread" he was quite right. The picture doesn't show all of it because it more than covers our king size bed. Of course it wouldn't actually be any good as a bedspread, it's too fragile and too heavy, but size wise it looks the part.

I thought you might be interested in some facts and figures about this monster of a quilt.

• When bound the quilt will be at least 90"x70"
• There is over 4000m of thread on the front of the quilt
• About 40 pre-wound bobbins were used in this quilt
• More than 1/2m of solid black appears in the quilt - it surprised me, as most of the black - isn't
• 4 1/2 cans of 505 spray baste held the pieces down so I could stitch them
• 3/4 roll of freezerpaper was used to make patterns
• 5m of washaway stabiliser was the pattern and quilting design
• over 15m of ombre fabrics went in to this quilt.
• the master pattern was 112 sheets of A4 paper
  

In ten days all that had come together to make my version of the double page spread from Cancertown. I am thrilled with it and I can't wait to see it hung in my gallery at the Festival of Quilts. It will be the first chance I get to have a really good look at it. I hope some of you will be able to join me there.

I think I will take the rest of the evening off, and get on with a small art quilt tomorrow.

Bad Rain - day 9

The end is in sight. Today I have mostly been making blistermen and looking for badmouth noses, which have a habit of running away. Doing the quilt really brings home how big the bad guys are. I've got one more badmouth to cut out, but I am putting it off. I think it is about 60" wide, so it will be a pain to handle and get into place. A job for early in the day I think. Still hoping to finish tomorrow, keep your fingers crossed.

Bad Rain - day 8

I have spent most of the day working on this one small area. It has a lot of pieces in it and requires new colours. However it is now finally looking like I am making progress so I thought I would share it. I think this is the last intricate are of the piece, so I should be on target for getting it off the frame over the weekend.

Bad Rain - Crosshair

Woo hoo, he's quilted and I think he looks pretty good.

Bad Rain - Crosshair

This is my first quilting task for today. The lines you can see in the picture are the markings, I need to stich them in now. This is the first of the human character I need to do and as such is a big deal. The people are tiny yet they are the focus of the story and therefore the quilt. Having looked at the picture I am hopeful it's going to work.

Power of photos

Last night when I stopped I had a couple of concerns. The biggest one (in more than one sense) was the fist under the eyeball. The problem is I didn't think it looked like a fist anymore. It looks fins in the book, it looks fine in the pencils but my pattern and the quilt looked wrong to me. This morning I've taken a look at the photograph and I can see it again. I find this happens quite a lot when I am working on big pieces. They are hard to take in and see what they really look like. It's something I also see in students when they are working on my art quilts class. They can't see their picture is working so I take photos for them with my phone. It always helps, even if one lady declared her rose a yellow cabbage!

Feeling somewhat encouraged I think I will start the day by cutting my fist. It will take a disproportionate length of time, as it is a large piece of fabric, but it will bring the overall quilt on in a leap so it will help encourage me for the day. I also know it has lots of very satisfying quilting to be done on it to make it's muscles at least two and a half d. Fun fun fun.

Bad Rain - Day 5

It's reached the point where it is too big to photograph, or indeed see properly. I hope the pictures will give you an idea of how it's going. I've got a new favourite badmouth. I have always liked the ones with their arms folded, but now I have a new fondness for the dark one with it's arms out. It is in the crease of the book, so it doesn't get much appreciation, which is a shame as it is a very detailed badmouth. I wonder if if was one of Stephens pets as well, as it seems to have a lot of work in it. Maybe that is party why I like it so much, I've spent a lot of time working on it. I think each line takes about a minute whether they are 1/2" or 3-4". Most of the time is in the starting and stopping the line, so the areas that have more lines in take a long time.

As you can imaging the side of the building has been another very time consuming area. It's been fun too. In fact I've been really enjoying working on some thing completely different. I'm also starting to think about which of my other projects (hmm I nearly typed problems, how Freudian is that) I will move onto next. I have two small ones that need to be done before the show and I think they might be the next stop. They are more the sort of thing I usually do so will be another complete change and being small I should be able to finish them relatively quickly. I find it helps keep my going if I can have a few quick targets then a longer one.

Track your fabric

I've been a bit quiet since yesterday afternoon, because I have been panicking. I bought a lot ombre fabrics just to make Bad Rain. It arrived in several packages, and looked great. I thought I had put it all in the appropriate project pile. I tend to overbuy rather drastically for most projects, especially if I have to buy from America. So yesterday when I realised I had two large pieces still to cut I started to worry. I've been trying to get on and cut all the really big pieces. I've managed all but one piece and the ground. So as soon as Tet got home he had a look though my stash to see if he could come up with any good solutions. He found the perfect fabrics, then one package I had entirely forgotten and left in the wrong place! I now have the perfect fist and ground fabrics and can press on with a lot less stress. I didn't think I would have ordered so little fabric, so finding the other 25% has helped. Being the sad person I am, I am really excited to get on with the quilt. I'll try and take some more picture later.

Bad Rain - day 4

Who would have thought drain pipes and gutters would be so satisfying, but they are. It's what makes the blob a house, and they are quite fun to stitch. All the black lines are sewn and they become the quilting on the quilt. Check out the comments on the previous post for more on sewing pencil lines.

Bad Rain - what I am aiming for

As Stephen has borrowed a picture from me I thought I would do the same from here, exchange is no robbery and all that. He is the artist behind this image, and this is what I am trying to recreate. I am only using commercial quilting fabrics, so I won't be getting a perfect colour match. However I do think I should be able to capture the essence of the image. I have discovered a lot more detail in the picture than I had noticed when I saw it in the book. There are huge variations in the pencil strokes, that will be a huge challenge to reproduce. The most problematic areas are the human faces. They are very small relative to the whole piece but very important. I am happy that I have got them just big enough to render them. I have to admit I am really enjoying working on this. It is very different for me, but I like the locks of colour I am using then adding the 'inks' over the top. Look out for more updates tomorrow, remember I am on a very tight schedule with this one.

Bad Rain - day 3

I've sewn as much as I can before I add more pieces. I'm really pleased with how it's working out. I had planned on using lots of colours of thread but I think the black will give me a better result, so that's the way I will go. It will mean some of my lines will be stronger than the originals, but it should look pretty similar.

Bad rain - day 3

Just about to start stitching. I've got fabric on all the way across the width of the quilt and I can't roll on until I sew this bit down. Wish me luck.

Bad Rain - day 2

This is my current project, Bad Rain. It is taken from the Cancertown graphic novel written by Cy Dethan and illustrated by Stephen Downey. I am very lucky to have been granted permission to make my version of this image which appears in the book as a double page spread. You may recall that I have said some of my recent quilts have been test pieces for another quilt, well this is it. I've needed to come up with new ways to approach making art quilts to have a chance of pulling this one off. I've made two pieces recently where I have tried very hard to maintain the style of another artist, I am pretty happy with them and will be applying what I have learned on this one. I've also been playing with ways of assembling large patterns. It's helped, I needed to have less distortions in this one and I've got it. I've also had to have a think about which fabrics I can use and how I can get them in place. I'll let you know how that goes as I progress.

I realised yesterday that this is the biggest and most intricate art quilt I have attempted. It's over 90" long and I am not sure how tall yet. I had to scale it up to that size to be able to get the level of detail that was in the original. I felt that the detail was an essential part of the image, it is what gives it the feel of the busy crowded street, so I had to keep it. Also the main character appears in this double page spread so I had to be able to stitch the details of his face as well. Fortunately I've managed to get all those features in and keep the piece just small enough to make on my frame. I could theoretically have made the piece sideways but I find that a lot harder so it's good I can work on it the right way around. I spent most of yesterday tracing the first 40" of the quilt. I decided to work with it pinned to my blocking boards as there is nowhere I can lie it down to trace. It makes it more tiring but it is quicker and easier in the long run. Today I've been able to crack on with putting the fabric in place, although having been teaching today I didn't have much time.

Now for the really exciting bit. I need this quilt finished ASAP. I would like it complete by about Thursday this coming week. I've still got other quilts I need to make or finish before the show, so I have to get on with this. If things had gone to plan I would actually be at Santa Pod this weekend, but the weather forecast is for rain so I have gained a day to work on the quilt. I would rather be racing, but I am grateful for the extra time to work. I will try and share progress photographs over the next few days. The picture on this post shows the first few pieces of fabric laid down on the sky . The black lines are all my markings for where quilting needs to go, hopefully I will get that stitched tomorrow morning then I can roll on and place more fabrics.

Overwhelmed.

I don't know where to start, it's been a mad few days (it feels like weeks since I last posted but it's only 4 days!) and the title says it all. I guess I will start at the end. Thank you, if you think you might be due it, it's for you. If you think you don't really deserve it, you probably do or will soon :). I can't begin to say how much I appreciate all the support my friends are giving me with my book. Who says self publishing means less support?From the people who have helped me name it, design it and test it, to those handing out flyers where ever they go.

It feels now like my book as a life of it's own, and I am along for the ride. It's a very strange feeling, but not a bad one. People have told me publishing is like giving birth, so I suppose it should have a life of it's own. The strangest one I've noticed is my book being listed on Amazon in Japan! Don't know why but google found that as one of the first links to my book. Very strange.

I am just about keeping up with enquiries about it, but other email is taking me longer to get to. Bear with me and normal service should be resumed just after the NEC show.

These two quilts have been waiting for a long time to get their turn on the quilt frame, but it finally came. I decided I needed a bit more of a breather between large art quilts and these fit the bill nicely. They will both be on display in my gallery at the Festival of Quilts, Birmingham, in August. It's also a great feeling to be able to cross two pieces of my list in one go. Hopefully they will both be dry and ready to trim when I get back after my talk this evening, which will be another step I can cross off.

I had hoped to have more cars for the show, but who knows I may get another chance to show a body of work and I can put them in then. I really do need to find a way to add more hours to each day. I have too many ideas and not enough time. On that note I had better finish loading the car and think about making a move to Kew for tonight's booking.

Talks, classes and books

It's been a mad mad week. I hadn't anticipated the amount of excitement and orders the foreword to my book would generate. Having picked myself up off the floor and dug my way out of the emails, we've put the order form up on my website. The pre-order price for "Ferreting Around" is £12 which includes postage within the UK. For those further afield I will charge the actual postage cost, which appears to be £6 to any destination, I will double check that before I guarantee it. I will be accepting pre-orders until the 15th of August at which point the price will be £15.99. Payment can be made by a cheque drawn on a UK bank or by paypal. If you email me the request I will send a paypal invoice. Er, I think that is everything but if you have a question please do ask. I am still a little stunned.

I've also been out and about. Yesterday I had a lovely day out, I mean I went and worked hard, with Harben Oaks. I wasn't convinced by a morning talk (OK to be honest I am not convinced by mornings in general) but it actually worked very well. They are a very lively group and I was lucky enough to be speaking at their summer lunch. I was very impressed with lunch and spent far longer there than I had intended. It was a day well spent and I came home inspired and ready to work. So thank you very much Harben Oak.

Today I was back at Sprat & Winkle quilters. I did a talk for them earlier in the year and today was teaching a workshop. Again a fun and hospitable group. I was highly amused that they live up to one of my rules of teaching. The person who complains most about their fabric will manage the biggest success. She was thrilled with her work (a journal cover) by the end of the day, and had managed to really loosen up and go with the flow. I was also very impressed with how prolific one student was making not one but three covers in a day! I think though, having looked at several peoples work, my favourites are those using hand dyed threads. This group had several people who brought along really interesting fabrics which made wonderful, personal and utterly unique covers. I hope they will all use them for many years to come and hopefully make a few more.

Now I have an art quilt calling to me from the frame. I'd better get some more quilting done, and I might even have a really early night, well early for me anyway.

Whole dragon.

Hopefully you won't have to turn you head sideways, here it is finished. I didn't have time to play with how it was hanging. Sorry.

Very exciting news

Well I think it is exciting, and I hope some of you will agree. As you know I've been helping out a couple of friends with their new book Cancertown. I was really impressed when they asked a well known comics writer to write them a foreword and he did. In fact he wrote the a stunning foreword. I've joked all along that I was chasing them and learning from what they did, to assist in getting my book out. The foreword seemed like a particularly good idea, I like reading them, and I suspect I am not the only one.

The question was who to ask? I knew what sort of person I was looking for, but they are few and far between. It needed to be a quilter, who did both traditional and way out work. They needed to be technically great, but not afraid to break the rules. I pondered it for some time and wasn't coming up with an answer. When it did dawn on me, I didn't think I had a hope of getting the person to agree, they were just too perfect for the job and way too big in the quilting world to bother with my little book. I plucked up the courage to ask and knock me down with a feather they agreed! I still can't quite believe that Ricky Tims took time out to do this for me, especially as at the moment he is busy working not only on The Quilt Show, but also on his next music CD. Without further ado let me share with you what he has to say about "Ferreting Around".

Every now and again, a new talent emerges in the quilt world that transcends the ordinary and is instantly unforgettable. I witnessed this first hand at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham in August of 2008 when an emerging artist's name was announced again and again as a winner. Not only were her quilts fresh and exciting, but so was the artist who stepped on stage to receive the awards. It was a thrill to see a young talent making her mark in the quilting kingdom. It is obvious to quilters worldwide that the general quilting demographic is of a ‘certain’ age. It is therefore exceptional to me when someone from a younger generation latches on to this timeless art/craft and puts a fresh spin on it. To this I say, “Hear, hear!” However, I have discovered that Ferret enjoys creating her work using a variety of quilting techniques, many of which are rooted in tradition. She does not fly in the face of traditional quilting, but rather she embraces it and includes it into her extraordinary ‘quilting toolbox’.

Ferret is young and talented. But being young and talented are not the qualities that I most have come to admire in Ferret. It is her enthusiasm and heartfelt desire to share her passion with others. Many artists have a selfish side—or at least they hoard a few secrets to themselves in fear that someone else might rise above them. Not so with Ferret. She has not chosen to write a book about shocking and unorthodox techniques. Instead she polled individuals to find out what they most wanted to learn. In turn she has authored her first book with you in mind. The techniques included here range from simple to complex, but in every aspect it is written with easy-to-understand language and presented with excellent illustrations.

I am honored that Ferret asked me to write a foreword for her first book (thank you, Ferret). I hope she will pursue quilting and fiber arts as a lifelong career. If she does, you are no doubt holding in your hand a collector's item for it will always and forever be—Ferret's first book!

Dragon update

I've actually got quite as bit further than this, but the rest doesn't look terribly interesting on it's own. I thought you might like to see the teeth and a bit more belly. I love the belly scales though cutting out the ones for the tail wasn't entirely fun. I have two feet entirely quilted and most of the other parts cut ready to go on. I don't know if I mentioned but I really need this off the frame tomorrow, so I have been trying to press on as fast as I can without getting tired enough to make mistakes. So far so good.

I got to talk to the artist who drew the dragon for me today. Those who know me have probably guessed it is Glenn, the chap who drew and indeed tattooed the dragon on my arm. The even more astute will realise this is that dragon. He seems pretty happy with how it is turning out.

I can't wait to be able to see the whole thing. I am getting to the point where I can't really see the big picture at all. It's getting hard to work out what things are unless I label them very carefully. It's always a problem when the image is this big and I spend hours obsessing over a small area. Hopefully it will all look right when it's seen in one piece.

Dragon teaser 2

Well I am making progress and I needed to check the eyes, so you get to see the picture. Working this size makes photographs a really useful tool for checking progress. There is still a lot of quilting to be done in the area around the face, but that wasn't what I was interested in at this point. Having seen the picture I think the eyes will do. Bear in mind yo are seeing this as I do and to be honest probably better. This section is the whole of what I can see in one go, the roller shows in the top of the picture. As you can imagine it's pretty tricky to grasp the whole image when you can only see a section.

I'm very pleased with the belly scales too. The ones that have their stitching on are looking very scaly now. I am trying to decide how much stitching they will have. If I stitch shading on it may make them look more shaped, or it may have the opposite effect as it will crush the fabric down. At the moment the fabric sits up and curves the way it should. What I may have to do with this one is take it off the frame with the minimum quilting on it and then drape it somewhere where I can study it. It's going to be a close call either way.

Now you've all had a look I think I need to go and put some more quilting on this little beastie.

As promised

Here is a taste of what is on my frame at the moment. It's a large art quilt for my gallery at the Festival of quilts. I am pretty happy with how it is coming on although like any of my big quilts I get frustrated that I can't see all of it. I just had to unroll what I had done and take a peek.

It isn't a great picture, but then conditions there are tircky. Light from the window does save putting the lamps on but it doesn't help show the quilt in it's best light. Also to make things as easy as possible I used my phone to take the picture. Every little saving counts at this point. I love the horns on the wing tips, I think they have come out exactly as I imagine them. I just hope I can get the face right too. I was very lucky to be able to get the artist of my original dragon to draw the starting art work for this piece and to trace off the quilting lines from the enlarged image. I am hoping this will give the finished piece a strong feel of him as well as me. Well enough chat I've got a lot to be getting on with. I hope you've all enjoyed having a little look at what I am working on.

Oh wait there was something else I was going to say. I've been asked to do a meet and greet session at the Festival of quilts. It will be open to people who are attending the evening events on Saturday night. After the show closes there would be a chance to come to my stand and talk to me without the bustle of the show. There is even the promise of a glass of champagne each. So if you going to any of the events that night and would like to come to the meet and greet, get in touch with Twisted Threads for the details. As I am teaching on the Saturday this will be pretty much the only time I am on my stand that day so it will be great to have a chance to meet people I might otherwise have missed.

Bad influence?

It seems we managed to lead our host astray last weekend, she has joined us here on blogger :) Hopefully it will give all of us a chance to keep up with the goings on at Hobby Holidays. I'm looking forward to seeing her longarm up and running, then the quilts that will flow off it. For now Jo has posted and introduction and a bit of behind the scenes info about running retreats. She didn't even complain about those people who manage to phone in the middle of the cooking frenzy :) If you would like to take a look it's called Hobby Holidays Blog.

Now I had better brave the heat in the longarm room again and see if I can get to a point where I can post a photo later. My dragon is coming on pretty well, and I have to have it finished Monday or Tuesday next week so I can quilt a quilt for a friend, who needs it urgently.

A wonderful weekend

It's taken me a while to get to my blog as I came home inspired to work, which is probably the best recommendation I could give for a weekend quilting retreat. Still it wasn't the only thing that made the weekend a great experience. I have to admit I was a little wary about going to teach at a retreat. In my experience retreats (and actually most bookings, but shorter ones are less tricky) come in two types, very basic and absolute luxury. Until you've been there you have no idea which one you are going to be faced with, so the first time I go armed for every bear. Fortunately this turned out to be one of the ones where I got spoilt rotten.

Hobby Holidays is actually very easy to find. I wasn't sure when I looked at the maps, but it really was straightforward. I did feel a little foolish when I got very close to the venue. I realised I couldn't remember the specific address. I stopped to look it up, got out of the car and then saw the huge banner. Doh! I was right outside. The main house where the guest rooms are located is a listed building, and absolutely wonderful in my eyes. It is also cool even in the quite hot weather we had this weekend. There is a coachouse next to then main building housing the purpose built workshop which you can see in the picture. It's a nice bright room and they supply lamps for each of the tables. It's one of the features I find really handy at Patchwork Corner where I teach regularly, and surprisingly rare given how helpful they can be.

The class I taught was a very free form machine quilting workshop. Although we started with the absolute basics the students all moved on very quickly. I love it when students take a new technique and really go for it. Two of the students worked on freehand quilting projects they had brought with them. Another one completed a small whole cloth, and we got to plan quilting for another project. Frustratingly I forgot to take any pictures of their work. I am hoping they might read this and post it on their blogs (please pretty please :) As well as the time spent in the classroom we had a the chance to chat over the 'light lunch'. When Jo and Phil say light lunch they don't mean it. They do hospitality in a big way. It's amazing how much more you information you can pass on when you can relax away from the machines for a while. It's not something I've noticed at other retreats, I think because the classes often disperse at meal times. With only one class at a time this doesn't happen so you learn more and bond better.

In the evenings, after the wonderful evening meals which are available for all the staying guests, I got to go and and look at the local wildlife. It's been a very long tie since I last saw an owl, and they are even more beautiful than I remembered. They are quite eerie as they fly, silent flying is just weird. I didn't think to take my proper camera, but if I go back I certainly will. I hope I will get invited back as a tutor, I really enjoyed teaching there, but if not I can see me going back as a student. Oh and if sewing workshops are not your thing then they also offer model railway weekends.

As you might expect I took advantage of the shopping opportunity. I was quite restrained, but I suspect I will have to make use of their online shop at some point. I didn't buy any of the oriental fabrics at all, and I am starting to regret that already. I also bought some very strong magnets. I think they are officially for the train people but they have a lot of uses for sewers too. I am planning on making some name badges with them as they fastening so I don't have to put holes in my expensive t-shirts and they are good for picking up spilt pins too.

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.

Good news, bad news

It's been an eventful weekend. Trogdor our race car wasn't ready to race this weekend, so Joker stood in for him again. Saturday she and Tet couldn't quite get it together and they were last after qualifying. So Sunday morning we stood at the start line for round one talking to Spencer and discussing how it wasn't going to be so bad going out first round. We didn't want to be standing around in the sun all day and Spencer had lots of other cars he was crewing for. When we stood there again Sunday evening after the trophy presentation we agreed this must be the way towin race meetings, have agood reason to go out early :) Spencer came first Tet and Joker took the second place. Thrilled? You bet.

We made it home OK then found out we were in demand. Unfortunately one of our friends has claimed a free helicopter ride. He was involved in a crash with his trike and was airlifted to a specialist center. It sounds like he is doing OK, and the trike is safe, but it isn't really what we want.He isn't even one of our friends who would have likes a helicopter ride. So it seems a good time to mention that the UK air ambulances are a charity. They fly beause people and businesses donate to them. You really never know when you or someone close to you will need their services, so how about making a donation now while you think about it. There is a web site for all of the air ambulance services in the UK here. If you click on your local helicopter it will give you the web site to donate to them directly. I am sure other countries will have thier own versions of this service and are probably also in need of funds. It isn't cheap to keep a helicopter flying but it can save lives where no other transport could.

Inspiration

A lot of people have been asking me how the joker quilt came about. So I thought I would try and explain. Be warned it isn't a straight line design process, that isn't how I work. I should also mention this was designed entirely in my head on a car journey, so there aren't even any sketches of how it grew. Sorry, but how else do you kill a couple of hours on the motorway.

It started with the idea to make a bed quilt to fill a particular space in the gallery at the NEC, I also had someone in mind who might be interested in a quilt and I figured I could kill two birds with one stone. As it was a bed quilt it needed to be durable, and that rules out my art quilt techniques (great for the wall but won't handle cats) and using cotton sateen (same problem with felines). We fairly quickly homed in on the idea of playing cards. That straight away brings in another problem though. King size beds need quilts that are either squareish or wider than they are tall. Neither of those work well for a playing card (or that was my thinking at the time).

For a while I got detoured onto what borders might work with a large playing card. I wasn't terribly happy with any of the ideas I came up with but the best was a row of card trick blocks on either side of the playing card. If I was going to do that I felt I would need a narrow border to separate the two areas, probably densely quilted (to bridge the gap between the quilted design and the piecing). Some poker chips have an edge pattern of the four card suits and I thought that might do, maybe quilting the area that wasn't them in red on the background?

So I had a rough layout then to decide which card. For a rock fan (or indeed a fan of playing cards) the ace of spades has to be an obvious choice, but on the other hand I quite like jokers too. Hmmm, two cards could that work. Well as I said I can't use the applique technique from wall quilts on a bed quilt so how can I get an intricate design onto the quilt? With thread, which was what I had (and still have) planned for a couple of other quilts I will be doing. Great, we are nearly to a plan. Then I remember. I don't like working on white, and I don't think it is a terrible practical colour for bed quilts either. Playing cards (especially the aces) are usually largely white. Hmm....... Invert the colours. Less white.

That is pretty much what I carried around in my head waiting to be made. As you can see it didn't quite come out like that. I like to make bed quilts somewhere around 90" tall (top to bottom of the bed). It seems to provide good coverage for a range of beds. From some quick layouts I figured I needed the center spade to be about half that height and the joker a little taller. I produced the full size images of those then laid them on my bed. I realised about that point that I didn't need borders. If I just made the card square it would look fine, and I would have the simplicity of design I had started off wanting. Back to plan one and off I went. The result you've already seen.

I find this a lot. I kick designs around until I think I have them. They then live in my head for a while (months to years). Some do come out exactly as they were planned. 'Miss Baltimore' and 'Golden Storm' were both pretty exactly what I have in my head. Others like this one make last minute changes. Tow more of my NEC quilts have done the same thing. Usually it is the ones where I have had to compromise in a way I didn't really like (I really didn't want a border on this quilt) or where I have tried to deviate from what I do. There seems to be a general shape to how I work and design things. I never intended it to be that way, it's just happened. However when I plan to not do it my way things happen. Eventually what I produce comes out looking like one of my quilts. It's quite and odd feeling actually. Having a style that enforces itself when you aren't expecting it. Sometimes it does let me do something different, but only when it is really different it seems.

There you go, the mad way inspiration strikes and evolves in to a quilt.