Saturday, January 20, 2007

A talk and a quilt

Well I survived. I didn't even get pelted with rotten vegetables (well quilters cook them before they go off so I wouldn't would I). In fact I think the talk went well. People seemed to enjoy it, and the audience was very interactive. I think I will have to encourage heckling as I like having the direct feedback. It turns out that I can indeed talk for about five minutes on any of my quilts, and with the help of a clock on the far wall I managed my 1 hour talk. It is somewhat disconcerting having the crowd rush the stage to come and look at quilts. I had never thought how it must be for a speaker, I will in future. I also know why speakers seem rather disoriented when you try to catch them after a talk, they are. The crowd just adds to it as well. Weird. I think a quite positive experience though, and after the fretting I rather enjoyed it. Several people said they thought I should do more speaking and I will take them at their word. Strangely it looks like my next talk with be to a lot of the same people in April, so I will have to work hard to have a lot of new work to show them.

We did manage to finish the wedding quilt last night, and as it has now been delivered I can show you some pictures of it. It has been named 'Grace under Fire'. I wanted a title that covered the elegance of the cranes it is quilted with and the somewhat military looking colours used. Believe it or not most of the blues are quite grey and dull looking on their own, and the other colour a kind of tan, but together they are so different. I think it is really quite vibrant. I hope it isn't too bright now. The new owners seemed very pleased with it, and they are people who make things too, so have some understanding of the time and effort that goes into something like this. It was quite a hit with the other guests at the dinner too which is a very nice bonus.

As you can see we went for a quite subdued backing, it is actually a very dark blue with white vines on it. The binding uses the same fabric as the centers of the log cabins, and I think adds a lift to the quilt. The rest is scrappy. We picked colours that were roughly the same colour, cut the strips and just grabbed them at random. We both particularly like this method for making quilts, it adds more depth to the colours that one fabric could possibly supply. As ever in the sake of speed, a Ricky Timms binding. I love this method, and I seem to be getting better at it at last.

Robin is very proud of this quilt as he did all the piecing while I did the cutting and pressing for him. He hasn't been quilting long but his points are great, and this is just a utility quilt! It is intended to be used, and as such there are errors in the quilting that we chose to leave. For a customer or a show they would have come out, for a working quilt I think they add character and I am sure it will be kept well away from quilt police. Ops, I just realised I forgot to warn them that after washing it will look different, oh well too late tonight I will have to try and remember tomorrow.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love the colours of this quilt.

I am glad your talk went well. How much will you charge for your talks? (I can pass on your details then)

Anonymous said...

Forgot to ask, is the quilting design a crane? Did you make it up or use a pattern?

Ferret said...

I charge 60 pounds per talk plus 40p per mile travel. Thanks.

The quilting pattern is a crane. It is a pantograph pattern. I can look up the name of the designer but I am just on the way out of the door :)

Joyce said...

How do you do a Ricky Timms binding? I am always looking for an easier way to bind. My least favorite part of quilting.

Anonymous said...

Fabulous quilt - even more glorious when seen close up. It was an honour to be at the table when such a beautiful gift was unveiled. See you next year, if not before, Alix
PS I'm not familiar with blogs so have no idea if this is an OK post, just wanted to sing your praises!

Nellie's Needles said...

Of course your talk went well ... you were talking about something you love. Yeah!

I hope you don't mind that I tagged you on my blog. I was hesitant to participate, but then its the personal information that may explain the art.

Beverly said...

"Grace Under Fire" is spectacular, I have always loved how complementary colors play off each other. At least they are blue and orange on my monitor!

I am glad your talk went well- as Nellie said, when you speak about something you love it somehow becomes easier. And, being in front of a crowd gets less stressful with practice. I've no doubt that you will have plenty of opportunities for more practice!

I have been debating all week whether or not to change over to new Blogger- any chance you could fill me in specifically what you are unhappy with (besides the new agreement)?

Ferret said...

Hi Alix. Yes this is just fine. You can say pretty much anything you like, and positive comments are always welcome. It was gerat to see you again as well.

Ferret said...

Nellie, not problem with being tagged. I will have to ponder that overnight...

Ferret said...

Beverly, problem 1, I can't access your profile anymore, so I can't go to your blog from your comment :(

I don't like the fact you ahve to change your blog before finding out about the terms and conditions as you are then in the position of having your blog held hostage.

I find the spellchecker slower to use and harder to spot all the changes needed and it is still very poor at offering alternatives.

I am finding uploading pictures more problematic han with the old blogger but apparently that is really rare.

I am struggling to stay logged in now.

I am most upset that they don't seem to be upholding the google principle of 'do no evil'. I am worried they have got to big and will head the way of the evil empire (micro*oft)