Tuesday 5 May 2009

Festival of Quilts - Little Gem

My memory of quilting involves those hateful hexagons made from leftover Laura Ashley scraps - they took forever to put together and then were ghastly when they were finished. But things have moved on since then! I went last year to the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham and I could only stand and gawp at some of the work on display, simply awestruck.



The FoQ takes place again later this year and there is a 'tombola' of donated A4 size quilts - called Little Gems. Sandra Wyman has written about them on her blog The Dyers Hand and I laughed out loud when she referred to 'auditioning her fabrics'. I do a lot of auditioning of things myself - I find it uses up a lot of time when I should be, say, ironing, or washing the kitchen floor. Sandra's blog amused me so much I thought I'd have a go. The stash was raided for likely candidates for the casting couch and a selection, eventually, made. I know absolutely nothing at all about the practicalities of quilting, but I thought an A4 size might be manageable and shouldn't take too long to do. Oh hardeharhar! Let's just say that my unpicking skills have been honed to a T.















Now, be gentle with me, I'm being a Big Brave Girl and posting the photos of my attempts and I don't want to hear any sniggering please! These two obviously won't be submitted as Little Gems, but they've been a useful training-ground.

7 comments:

Guzzisue said...

thanks for guessing and well done, you were quite correct, aren't the arches fantastic!

Sandra Wyman said...

Thanks for the mention. If these are really your first attempts at making a quilt you're pretty amazing! And why can't they be little gems - it's more about design, colour and so on than making corners meet you know - and you have the design skills par excellence

Julie said...

There's no need to be gentle, your quilts are excellent! A very big well done!

Chrissie said...

Sandra - I just followed the instructions on your blog, thank you!

Julie - thanks for the encouragement,perhaps I'll have another go.

Cda00uk said...

Far better than my first efforts - my blocks got smaller and smaller as I tried to make them match up...

I'd give that blue on a home any time - I love the quilting!

Anonymous said...

What are you talking about girl? Everyone has said it already - Lord, but you make me feel inferior. But so glad I live close by and can enjoy all your work in the flesh - so to speak. Currently painting the house (12 hours a day) - I wish the end result was something as beautiful and artistic.
Anne

Rose said...

Now those are sweet and everything to feel proud about! Well done!