CHARM ABOUT YOU

"This is the power of gathering: it inspires us, delightfully, to be more hopeful, more joyful, more thoughtful: in a word, more alive." - Alice Waters

Last Sunday was Stitch Gathering, the wonderful day retreat organised by Jo Avery of myBearpaw, in Edinburgh. It is always a full day of fun, with great classes and company and it's always over too soon. I was there teaching a class - something a little different, more on that later! - and also had the opportunity to take a class. As someone that relishes learning and trying new techniques it was very exciting. And oops... I've started a new quilt!

Now, as I type this, something has occurred to me. For the first time I did not have the overwhelming anxiety I've had before every social occasion/journey/outing/time being around other people that I've had for the past three years or so. It could be because life has been extra crazy busy and I didn't have time to stress, though I suspect that's disbelief talking because those negative/anxious thoughts shout really loud. Mental health is fluid, with ups and downs - I am under no illusions but right now it does feel that gradually all those things that previously felt SO difficult just aren't. Usual worries like 'have I got everything?' and 'will people enjoy my class?' were fleeting and manageable. Thoughts like 'I can't do this' and 'I don't want to do this because of x,y,z', which would usually flood my brain, didn't take over. I know I batted a few of them away, they weren't non existent but they were quiet and didn't feel real. Anyway I'm taking that as positive and, however I may feel in the future, it feels nice that there wasn't a dreaded build up and it was all enjoyable!

I do always like to try something different and have found myself more drawn to incorporating vintage fabrics and re-purposing fabrics. Partly so that I can create something completely unique and also to use what already exists. I happened to discover a unique find that worked perfectly for this months Aurifil Artisan challenge! I've created a cross stitch piece using vintage lettering and a second hand embroidered cloth... yet it still has a modern flair!

While I was at Stitched Up my eagle fabric spying eyes were drawn to a dainty and beautiful cloth. Amongst a variety of left-over bits and fabric scraps that were being used to create peace banners; there was this piece of white cloth with intricate detail, floral appliqué, embroidery and weaving. I believe it is a small table cover or tray cloth. 

Gathering together to sew in company is really quite special. It can be lonely and a bit boring sometimes sewing at home by yourself. While that quiet time is still vital for my sanity, recently I have been much more open to getting out and taking part in sewing groups. Partly because I have more time in the evening now, also my anxiety is manageable, it feels nice to be sociable and join in. Also real life is better. 

I am super excited to be guest hosting this challenge with the founder of The Great British Quilter, Sarah Ashford! The photo challenge is on Instagram and we invite you to join in! (exactly what + how is outlined further along in this post...)

Starting 1st September we will post a photo prompt every day throughout the month. Joining in is simple and it's a great way find inspiration, make new friends and for us all to share our passion for patchwork and quilting!

There is also the opportunity to win some amazing prizes when you take part in the challenge and (since I know what they are) trust me, they are AWESOME!

This is an incredibly playfully stitched project and there are elements I absolutely love and also some lessons learned.

I was sent solid fabric in the colour Haze, Painter's Palette Solids by Paintbrush Studio. It's one of their 2019 colours of the year and it a beautiful grey blue. It looks different in the photos because of the time of day they were taken but the one below is possibly the closest to real life. The piece I'm stitching on is about 20" square. Aurifil also sent me a spool of 12wt thread, in #2612 Artic Sky - a lovely soft grey. 

I want to make every quilt in this book. The Seedling Quilts book is one to be savoured. I was thrilled to be asked by Jodi of Tales of Cloth to join the book tour as she has been an inspiration to me since we became blogging friends. I have always admired her sewing style, the way she combines fabrics and I LOVE her writing (so much I have actually embroidered a poem she wrote). She is endearing, interesting and very talented. 

It's no surprise then that this book is full of all that - gorgeous quilts, excellent advice, tidbits and stories of the herbs that the patterns are based on. There are 11 quilt patterns in the book but it's more than that, you can easily just make blocks or create sections based on the designs to use in other projects too.

I made the Peppermint pattern using Jodi's paper pieces, you can order kits of the papers for all the quilts in her shop. Choosing fabrics was not hard, they just jumped out of my stash at me. The grid print was the starting point because I thought the background of the pattern could look like a trellis for the plants to grow up.

The block were simple to sew, pre cut papers mean the pieces are super accurate. I took basted pieces with me on a train journey and snuck in sewing a block here and there. These could get addictive. Once I had made enough it was time to arrange the blocks and sew them together.

As I was making the blocks I realised that I didn't want to have to cut them top or bottom, which the original quilt pattern calls for. For a larger piece it makes sense but as this was a cushion I didn't want to lose any edges to the seam allowance. Appliqué is the best answer for me. I can keep the piece complete and it was a way for me to tame the (slightly busy) use of grid. The perfect background fabric was the one I picked up at the festival of quilts. Then there was the decision of how to do the appliqué and quilting. My favourite way is to quilt the background and then add the appliqué. It's something about the texture of doing it that way that I really like.

My youngest recently had her first wobbly tooth. I asked her if she wanted to help me pick fabrics out to make a tooth fairy cushion and she was very excited. Lois is very into pink and glitter and flowers. We thought about colour combinations and she said she liked the colours on her dress:

So we used that as a starting point, pulling out prints from my stash and she would give a yes or no. Once we had a few prints she got selective and basically chose every print that had a flower on it.

To let those prints shine, for the background I picked a plain canvas. Most often for cushions I use fusible fleece because of the slight structure it gives, it's so easy to use and you don't have to baste! The front and the back panels of the cushion were machine quilted with a cross hatch pattern using Aurifil Forty3, which gives a great texture.

I spent two days at the Festival of Quilts this year and it was fully all about friends for me. It's like a quilty friend reunion and this post is going to be unashamedly about the people I met and the friends I saw... with quilts and cool finds interspersed throughout. If you are looking for a blog post featuring all the beautiful quilts that were on display, this isn't it (sorry). You will certainly find pictures of all the quilts on social media, like here.

Friday

After a fun road trip down with my friends Michelle and Rachel we arrived in Birmingham (a bit later than expected thanks to traffic) on Friday and I went straight to find my friend Nicky. She made this amazing Expanding Universe Quilt with signature blocks from quilters that have contributed to Siblings Together.

My block is a cornerstone in the top right of the quilt but I'm too short to properly point at it. Cue the first of many friend selfies...

Next on my to do was visit my colleagues and friends at the Janome stand and of course to see the awesomeness that is this quilted jacket made by talented Lucy Engels.

I am madly in love with every aspect of this, the colours, the collar and cuffs, the log cabins and the texture of the quilting. It's the only quilted garment I've ever truly wanted to wear!

I also had to visit my friend Charlotte, we have known each other since we were in an online quilting bee ages ago and it's always nice to catch up. We also compared bee tattoos and I admired her beautiful bee dress!