Quilt fabrics and cupcakes in Saltaire - oh dear!

 

 

Oscar Wilde famously said

 'I can resist everything except temptation' 

Not sure he was talking about quilt fabric or cupcakes,

 but I know exactly what he means...

 

 

Just spent a very happy Saturday in Saltaire

helping Lesley O'Brien get 

BARLEYCRAFT FABRICS

ready for its grand opening on

Monday June 3rd

 

Stash-wise, this is very bad news . . .

Lesley has several lovely things that are sure to end up

in my over-stuffed fabric drawer -

but the prices are too good to miss.

 

Priced from £3.50 to £10.95 a metre,

There are patterns, plains, children's fabrics, jelly rolls,

fat quarter bundles, and a variety of 

60-inch wide fabrics just right for backing quilts

 

 

Oh, and buttons, braids and batiks . . .

 

You'll find Barleycraft Fabrics just behind

KFC on Bingley Road, Saltaire.

It's open 9 to 5 every day except

Wednesday and Sunday.

 

There's parking just behind the Co-op.

The first 20 minutes is free, but it's very cheap

if you need more time - and you

will need more time, cos

Jeanette's Cakery

is just round the corner.

This tiny tea-room is a gem, and the Wurlitzer in the corner

takes you straight back to the '50's

- church fetes, felt skirts, ankle socks,

Tennessee Ernie Ford, Summertime Blues . . . 

All the staff, and even some of the customers dress the part

 

 

China cups, real tea, great coffee (won an award for it!),

cucumber sandwiches, cupcakes - oh dear . . .

 

Add Salt's Mill and other delights and you have

the makings of a really fun day out,

and of course, the makings of another lovely quilt!

 

 

Wonders will never cease!

Two UFOs reached a significant stage this week -
this is one of them!

 

After many months, the hand-quilting on my

ODEON quilt is finally complete.

My daughter's delighted - she's waited patiently

for this moment for quite a while.

My own feelings are very mixed...

I absolutely love this quilt and don't want it to go!

 

The inspiration for this project was the Art Deco Odeon

of my 1950s childhood, and batik fabric seemed the only way to go.

Hadn't been a fan of batiks until I made this,

but I'm loving them now!

Foundation piecing with EQ7

Lots of fun, but fiddly...

 

Electric Quilt patchwork design software and foundation piecing -
a fantastic combination for creating all sorts of lovely things!
Love it, love it, love it!
Sounds complicated, but a bit of time playing around and
 getting to know the programme really helps.
After a bit it all starts to come together ....

Planned this little block for Plantlife's
Wildflower Meadow project
on my new EQ7 software upgrade.  It needs rearranging a bit, and a border
 to make it the required 15cm square - and I need to be A LOT more
 accurate with my piecing, but it's a start.

Printed out the numbered block...
EQ can number the patches automatically, or you can do it yourself

Opted for a printed 

1/4" seam allowance round the templates

 



 

 coloured them in roughly with coloured pencils, just to make sure I didn't get lost.

 

Tunnel vision

I never buy purple fabric - so why design a purple flower?

My block needed three purples and I couldn't even find one in my stash.

Eventually, at the back of the cupboard I found a piece

shading from deep purple at one selvedge to pale violet at the other.

Sorted!

Decided to be more adventurous with colours next time I shop for scraps!

 

 

prototype ready for its border.

 

Designed this applique pattern on EQ7 too -

ain't it cute!

Would have had no trouble at all finding the fabrics for this...

 



Patchwork Meadow - lovely idea!

 

Happy New Year, Folks!

Christmas decs are stashed, days are getting longer, bulbs are coming up - it’s time to celebrate SPRING with a little project, and this idea from

the wild flower conservation charity Plantlife could be just the thing.

Plantlife are creating a giant “Patchwork Meadow” of textile
 squares celebrating the role of our native wild plants in British Culture. 

It's open to anyone, and once completed, the “meadow” will
be shown at a series of exhibitions around the UK.
My craft group's really up for it - looking forward to seeing the results!
 They want 15cm squares created using any medium - sewing, knitting,
patchwork, felt, painting, printing, cross stitch - anything at all!
Here are a couple already submitted by Seona Anderson

Love the jacobean black work, and the glistening beads
 on the sundew just bring it to life

I'd love to try foundation piecing again.

It's a method of sewing fabric to a numbered paper or cloth grid
and can be almost like painting with fabric. - great fun!

  

I love Regina Grewe's foundation-pieced ‘Year of Flowers’ collection  

Winter aconite pattern by Regina Grewe
pieced by quiltexplorer 
Love  the fabrics & how the background fabric changes direction

Pansy pattern by Regina Grewe -
Lovely piecing and choice of fabrics by quiltexplorer

Do check out this link to Regina's website -
I just love her snowdrop wall hanging 

http://www.reginagrewe.de/04muster/0405blumenjahr_e.html#bom200801

Below is a free pattern from Regina's website
showing how a foundation pattern is numbered.

It looks complicated, but once you've got the principle,
everything drops into place.  There are loads
of tutorials on the net - try Crafty Gemini's
 paper piecing made easy tutorial on YouTube.


These are a couple of little squares I did when I first started patchwork.
The seams on the maple leaf aren't accurate and the points
 are cut off - but I did love doing it.  The bromeliad is a bit better...
 

First effort - 5" square -ish!
Wonky seams, poor points - ho hum - but I still like it

  



2nd try - a little bromeliad. Love the colours.

 

Fancy having a go?

 

Check out the Plantlife website for details
 

http://wildflowereurope.org