Monday 23 April 2012

Acting on impulse...


Last weekend, in a spur-of-the-moment move,
I hauled my patchwork across the
border into Lancashire for the
Patchwork Chicks Quilt Show
at the Pendle Heritage Centre

Many thanks to Karen and the lovely ladies
at Patchwork Chicks for
not only taking my quilts after the deadline
 but for being so encouraging and helpful.
I'll read your newsletter properly next time!


Me and my chickens in the
Pendle Heritage Centre barn - seems appropriate!


The barn is beautiful and the quilts look
lovely against the rough stone walls.
Loved the big quilt hanging
on the wall at the left (below)
Would've liked to take it home...


A few of my smaller projects



The heart was great fun to make,
& the red and cream runner
further along was inspired by the
Underground Railroad project
at our quilt group

My 'House & Hearts' runner and, at the back, 
the first bit of patchwork I ever did
 - a trio of little people






I named this one 'Tesselations', but friend Denise described
 it as 'Falling Leaves' - sounds right.


Had a lovely birthday - lunch at the Alma,
an hour or two at the quilt show, tea and cakes with friends
 at the Heritage Centre cafe, then home for
an evening with my lovely husband and best pal. 

 If you're going to Boundary Mill, Barrowford is two minutes
away and a trip to Patchwork Chicks is well worth the detour.
The  Heritage Centre is nearby and has a good cafe
and a shop selling hand-made crafts. Fell for a brooch...


Monday 16 April 2012

All Quiet On The Quilting Front...


As Jane Austen said,
'It is a truth, universally acknowledged, that a young man in possession
 of a grandma, must be in receipt of a hand-knitted garment or two.' 

Seduced by the very cute photos of this little duffel coat by Debbie Bliss, I parted with a small fortune for the wool and got knitting.  All garter stitch - easy peasy!
Weeks later I I was thinking Hector would get his pension before he got his coat.  Nobody told me that garter stitch takes twice as long as stocking stitch, that mistakes are harder to rectify, and any variation in tension shows up big time further down the track...

But here it is - effortlessly modelled by Buster.