This and That

Or bits and bobs, odds and sods.  Whatever you want to call it.  I don't like that British Summer Time has ended and the day is darker earlier, in fact almost dark by the time I get home from work.  I feel the first week as though I have jet lag and struggle until my body gets used to the new time.  Ugh!

Last weekend we had a lovely time in West Sussex where my son Alex lives, with his wife and daughters and it was nice to see them all.  Next weekend will be taken up with more visiting to my sister and husband in Berkshire then my brother-in-law and his wife in Surrey, so a busy time.

Anyway, Saturday before last I went Shepton Mallet in Somerset for the Craft 4 Crafters Show at the Royal Bath and West Showground.  It was a lovely to enjoy a drive in spite of the occasional heavy shower.  I went on my own as no-one else wanted to come with me, but it meant I could go at my own pace.  The reason was to see the Magna Carta quilt which is actually 8 quilts joined at angles to give a pictorial history of the Magna Carta, signed in Runnymede, Surrey, along with images of people who made history defending human rights.  The back side of the quilts had a pixilated view of of the Thames in greens and blues with names of people who contributed in some way towards the making of the quilt.  The quilt has been travelling to various locations, but this was the first time I've seen it.  It will eventually have a permanent home at Royal Holloway College in Egham, Surrey.
I've not taken pics but I did buy a booklet about the quilt, but have a look at the website link above for more details.

Near the Magna Carta Quilt was a collection of Canadian Red Cross quilts called Comfort from Kindness which was from the collection of the late Dr Anna Mansi.  There are several images from Google here, but for those unfamiliar to the quilts, these were quilts made and donated by people from Canada to the UK during the Second World War and were made from whatever fabric was available.  I did take some photos of these as I find these old quilts fascinating.

 The first quilt above was a nine patch made from assorted cottons, as you can see the yellow fabric hasn't worn quite as well as the others and has shredded.

 This one was of squares and rectangles in strips.

 A traditional Maple Leaf quilt

 I was wondering how this quilt above was tied, it seems to be quite a thick yarn that looks almost like bobbles.

This quilt was made from woollen patches, probably suiting or from coats?  I'm not sure.  It was difficult to get to find out as I didn't want to touch.

Although the show had some lovely quilts exhibited and quilt suppliers I didn't buy anything! I did buy a hand dyed sock blank, which is a knitted piece of yarn which has been dyed and can be unravelled and knitted into socks or a shawlette, in lovely rainbow shades.

When going to West Sussex we stopped briefly in Chichester as I found on Facebook just the day before that Chichester Quilters had an exhibition in the Assembly Rooms in North Street.  As the former Town Hall it was a lovely old building that holds the Mayoral regalia and charters given to the town, so that was as interesting as the quilts.  Anyway here are a few pics.

 The group had a workshop with Gail Lawther, whose bird designs were used in several quilted objects which are appliquéd though made to look like they've been stencilled. Very effective.

The lady who made this kaleidoscope quilt showed us how she made it from some Kaffe Fassett fabric, the back of the quilt had the who piece of the same fabric.

Then we saw pumpkins.  In the afternoon, David and I met up our daughter-in-law, Mary and the granddaughters to see the pumpkin display in Slindon, between Chichester and Arundel., which raises money for charity.

This is snakes and ladders made from different pumpkins and squashes and a very effective display. Below the flags are photos of displays in previous years.  Different varieties of pumpkins were for sale there too.

Want to see some pumpkin inspired knitting? Saw this yarn in Salisbury the other day which I went and bought.

This was a pic I put on Instagram (@suewilduk, in case you're interested). I tried a sample piece to see how this would turn out.  I have started knitting the Easy Lace Socks from the Winwick Mum blog.  I seem to have got the bug for sock knitting and quite enjoy making them and this is something a bit different.  I just hope I can keep track of the lace pattern!

So that's my this and that.

Sometimes You Just Have to Play

My time to create is limited and have to take opportunities to sew, knit, whatever.  One of the Facebook groups I belong to is a postcard sub-group of UK Quilters United, although I didn't take part in the Autumn swap that they had.  So when there was a random "flash" swap over a few days I quickly made a postcard of autumnal leaves on Sunday evening just before the deadline.  Simple fused leaves with outline stitching and some veins which took just over the hour.

 And below is the back, the iron mark from fusing the fabric onto the back of the postcard is showing but it's not really that bad.  I used a strip of selvedge fabric to divide the message area from the address.  It was sent out today and should get to Nicola, my swap partner, before the end of this week.

I haven't made postcards for a long time as the Yahoo group I used to belong to had swaps in groups of up to 6 and postage became expensive and at the time it was to move onto something else. I enjoyed making the leaves postcard so I think it I will explore the postcard making again.

On Monday lunchtime I bought a Quilting Arts magazine as the local WH Smith occasionally stocks it.  One article in there was Fused Geometry by Tracy Williams (sorry, no link here), but basically a fused piece of fabric is cut into a shape and a smaller one cut from it by folding the shape and cutting around so there is a framed and solid of that shape.  I didn't do that, I cut out one outline shape and then cut another.

Then I cut  along the folded edges instead of the outside of the folded shape and got a cross! There you are, not exactly wrong but different.  I did get 4 solid small squares from that though. Ironed then attaching fusible fleece I quilted around the shapes and some echo quilting around the outside edges.  I enjoyed that!

Here's the back

As well as another selvedge I found a stamp from a little kit that I bought at Flying Tiger shop last year, it seemed appropriate.

Here's another in progress which will be quilted later this week

Sort of circles and because I was cutting the original circle from a square of fabric I had enough scrap to cut some small circle shapes by drawing around cotton reels.

It was an enjoyable bit of playtime.

Taking part in a swap however, means that I get a card in return and this came from Nicola who will be receiving my card.  Hers was from an earlier swap called Under the Sea and although you can't appreciate it in the photo the scaly bit of the fish is from shiny fabric.  Lovely.  It is good to take part in a swap.

Finish-A-Long Quarter 4

Following on from the last quarter I have outstanding things which I'm adding to the list for this last quarter of the year.  One I can't guarantee will be finished - the Frivols quilt, but another - the Hexie runner most definitely will be.

Here they are - The Frivols Quilt.  I've been wanting one of those Moda boxes of fabric with the instructions for some time. I loved the quilt top and it's got wadding and backing so I should get it done, but somehow the impetus has gone.  If I do get down to doing it then it may become a lap quilt for the Teenage Cancer Trust as it seems a bit old for Linus.

The Hexie runner was from a Bramble Patch Box of Delights subscription box which has been hanging around for a while and feel I need to get this finished, even though it is a slow project.

This quarter I have some knitting projects to get done, but they are a bit secretive as are Christmas presents (sorry, I've used the C word, but they have to be done in time!) but here's a sneak peek of a sock for someone (not saying who!)

A bit of crochet on the go too.  This continues to be the Vintage Sweethearts CAL (crochet a long) in the Crochet Now Magazine.  This will be an ongoing project as issues of the magazine appear.

Back to quilting and the Beanstalk wallhanging which I have to decide how I'm going to finish this off, but I haven't done anything with this so far

And finally I've also got a machine stitching project.  This was a kit I bought at FoQ back in August by Wendy Dolan.  I painted the fabric last month just before the wedding, and will need to be free machine stitched with the details.

And really, finally, I've got some hand stitching with a Kantha kit from Angela Daymond of Fenland Textile Studios.  You can just about see the pencil marks on the fabrics, but its a start.

So I have enough to keep me busy. Better crack on then....

Linking up with 2017 Finish-A-Long