Festival of Quilts 2015 - In The Spotlight

I have a quilt in the exhibition called 'In The Spotlight' which is a small gallery showing up and coming quilters at the show and it is not part of the competitions so it is not judged at all.  Trouble is that not all the quilters are up and coming, some are well known and it is stretching the term a bit.... I will say no more.

Anyway, this is the first time I have ever had a quilt put up at a major show and so I thought I would post a photo of it.  This is the one I took at home because the show organisers have put a spotlight shining onto the middle of the quilt and I think it is too bright so the photo of it I took at the show is not as good as this one I took in my spare bedroom at home.  The theme we were given was "Adventures in Wonderland" to celebrate 150 years of the Alice in Wonderland book by Lewis Carroll.  I liked the rabbit because of its heart heraldry.  I think if you look closely you will see I have tried to inject some humour into the theme.  I am pleased with the quilt but think I should have quilted the background, so I ordered Diane Gaudynski's book called 'Guide to Machine Quilting' just now because I think it will inspire me.  When I receive the quilt back I may have another fiddle with it.  After all, I am an up and coming quilter and I am still learning.

Oops stung by a wasp on the big toe

Just as I was about to empty the compost bin I felt a pain on my toe......

Anyway, as I now have a swollen big toe my afternoon plans have changed and I am sitting at my computer instead of doing other things...

So how about looking at some photos of Take 5 at our recent Quilter's Guild Regional Day.

Rhythm

There are five members of Take 5 naturally and they are as follows:-

Debbie Wooley, Chris Gash, Margaret Boughton, Carolyn Madden and Sheila Jackson

Entry



Time

Luminosity

Sky

Forest

They made a lovely, stunning display and I presume the idea was that they were sort of Journal Quilts?

Thank you ladies.

Farfield Mill, Sedbergh quilt exhibition

Two ladies admiring my Wainwright quilt I see

You may recall that last Sunday I went to Sedbergh to see some quilts which were being exhibited at Farfield Mill and that I was unable to post photos of them because of a problem with blogger.  Well they fixed it and so I thought I would make a start this evening. I don't have all of the photos ready yet so you will have to make do with these two.  The first photo gives a general view of the space allocated to the Quilter's Guild members and is at the very start of the event so more people were supping wine than actually viewing..... I quickly downed mine and put the glass back empty because wine and quilts don't mix in my opinion and when I saw that they had placed some of them really low on the floor I was pleased I had not wandered about glass in hand.....

A quilt by Nicola Howell our Quilter's guild Regional Coordinator

This second quilt was the largest in the exhibition and the colours were lovely and vivid, it was a shame I could not find a catalogue anywhere to bring away so that I could name each quilt and I resorted to taking a photo and then speaking into my camera's microphone to say who made each quilt. I did not have time to also say what they were all called, sorry. 

This exhibition runs for another 10 weeks and finishes on the 7th April so you have time to go and see for yourself.  Their are plenty of other exhibits and more quilts in other rooms by professionals.  You will find ample parking albeit a bit muddy and the outside of the mill does not impress, but inside is a different story. There is also a very good cafeteria which sold lunches and the usual snacks and home made baking.  We did not have long to spend there because the snow was starting to lay and we wanted to head back before dark, but we are planning a trip back for the day and you really could spend several hours at the mill, it's so interesting.

I will post more photos soon.

Farfield Mill, Sedbergh

Hi all,  sorry I have not posted for a bit, don't know where the time has gone. Anyway, I will try and make amends with the next couple of postings. This will be short tonight as time has flown again.  But sneak a peak at these......

Oops, blogger will not let me load my photos from my computer, so that's the end of that then.  I was going to post some quilts up....

Does anyone have the same problem, when I click on the photo link it does not come up with the option to upload files from my computer anymore.....and I don't use the picasa option its offering me, I don't like Picasa and I don't like being forced to use software I don't like....... annoyed.

Threlkeld show continued

My wool wadding winter quilt, usually on my bed.....

I was pleased with the hanging arrangements at Threlkeld, especially with one of my quilts which they had hung infront of a window which gave it a jewel like quality.  I must admit I thought seeing the construction seams through it would have been a problem but no I quite like the effect.

Gloria's appliqué
quilt

Val Osborn

Maureen Rushton

Liz Beresford

A Baltimore by Gloria Walker - took over 3 years to make

I cannot find any information on these quilts at the moment because we did not produce a catalogue for the show which, with hindsight, is a shame.  It's always good to have a keepsake and it comes in handy for the typist when she is doing her blog update  .........

There are more quilts, embroideries and knitting to see at Threlkeld and tomorrow is the last day, so if this small display has wetted your appetite go along before it is too late. I think the show closes at 4pm.

Threlkeld in stitches

Today was day one of a three day show of quilts, embroidery and knitting at Threlkeld, a small village which nestles under the mighty hill Blencathra. As I arrived this morning the rain was falling but the forecast was good so I quickly attached my banner to the wall and made a dash for the dry hall.

 

The place is a typical village hall and the exhibition was organised to raise funds to keep it from falling into disrepair.  Like so many public buildings in Cumbria the local people have to do a lot of work to raise money if they want to keep their facilities going.  Threlkeld village hall is no exception to this rule and a lot of hard work and enthusiasm from a few had gone into organising and staging the exhibits.  Whilst I am on the subject, that means that the ladies have to ask their husbands to hang the quilts and to help with the lifting and carrying and in this case even taking the money on the door.  So before I forget, well done chaps! We could not do it without you.

Once inside it was not long before I too was given a few jobs to do, but it was all for a worthy cause so I was happy to oblige. There was a good atmosphere even though in the early stages we had to wait for the customers to appear. But by lunchtime the place was buzzing. One of the events organised by the ladies was to help make a Linus quilt and in the photo below you can just see the quilt pieces on the left pinned up prior to assembly.  Members of the public were invited to sew a square (quick cathedral window) and this was where they were placed ready for making into the finished quilt.





I was stewarding all morning and I am back again on Monday, if you are in the area, why don't you call into the exhibition, it is well staged and the exhibits are lovely.  I will show you some of them in my next posting hopefully tomorrow.

Quilt exhibition at Temple Sowerby

This week I have been busy adding sleeves to two of my quilts because they are going to be hung at the Temple Sowerby Quilt Exhibition. Actually, the exhibition will feature, quilting, patchwork and embroidery and is taking place at Temple Sowerby Village Hall on Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th September from 10am till 4pm.  Admission is £3 for adults and £1 for under 16's, and this includes tea/coffee.  Other refreshments will be available too as well as mini workshops for £2.  They are:-
Silk painted and embellished postcard Sat 10.30 - 12.30
Folded patchwork squares Sun 10.30 - 12.30
You can also help make a Linus Quilt and there will be demonstrations and sales tables. Phone 017683 61440 for more information or to book a workshop.



View of Temple Sowerby

Whilst there you might like to take a stroll around the village green, which has some interesting relics including this stone.


John Wesley preached from this stone in 1782 - 'The World is My Parish'

A Roman Milestone

It is a lovely village and quiet now that it has a bypass which has taken all the traffic out of the village.


Lastly, if you want to explore the village and surrounding area on foot then check out this link

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/activityandadventure/walkingholidays/8430292/Temple-Sowerby-Cumbria-walk-of-the-week.html#

Keswick Embroiderers' Exhibition - 6th July 2012

Hi everyone, I type this under severe pressure with no first letter the key does not work..........so I commence with b if you see my point.....It is going to be difficult but I must try.

Our exhibition went down very well with the public, so I intend to show you some of our work.

Only eleven of us could turn up for it but we enjoyed ourselves.

So I offer snippets below with terse comments without the letter before the B ........

Cushions

Felt work

Close up shot

Still life

3D effect

Needle LAce

 Got one to work there but only coz it's fiddled............

Mixed MediA

Add caption - don't know the medium/technique - sorry

Top two silk pAper

A huge diversity shown here

Stumpwork? or something including goldwork?

A snil - remember I've keybord problems.....

Embroidery on Mini Quilts

Big Quilt  - no embroidery here

Red Squirrel

Mixed MediA

Silk PAper purses

Boxes MAde esy using zig zg stitch

Well I did it; just. If you ever feel like trying it yourself, my only comment is it's blinking difficult....

Now for my next trick I need to get my keybord fixed pronto, coz it's driving me md.

It's more Dumfries EG stuff

I have been so busy with the Keswick Mountain Festival all last week that I just could not find the time or energy to blog, I am doing a quick one tonight as I still don't really have a lot of time tonight either.


Blogger is playing games and won't do anything I want it to, so I will publish this as is because its so frustrating when you can't see what's going on properly.

detail of Aquarium

Margie Booth

So I found a couple of the embroideries I liked which I had photographed in detail too and when I looked at them again discovered they were both by the same person! So Margie this is your spotlight. You do deserve it too because I like your whimsical work very much.

I am sorry the glass has caused some reflections, but I think it does not detract from the work.

Keswick Embroiderers' Guild Exhibition - Friday 2nd July

3 years ago I made this banner to hang outside the Moot Hall in Keswick on the day of our exhibition and I just took it out of storage and checked it was still ok because I need to use it again next Friday 2nd July for our new exhibition.  So if any of you want to see what Keswick EG ladies have been up to this last 3 years then make a note of the following:-

Moot Hall, Keswick Market Square, 2nd July from 10am until 4pm. Entrance FREE

On show will be all the many interesting items we have made including my award winning Wainwright Quilt and some of my silk purses from my workshop I ran in the Spring.

There will be hand made items for sale and also refreshments i.e. homemade biscuits and cakes.

I do hope you can come in for a chat as we are a small friendly group who love talking about our creations.