Carolyn Forster's Quilting-On-The-Go

There's a little bit of everything in this post!

I had a great day last weekend when I taught the Spools workshop at Natterjack Quilters.

One of the questions I was asked in the day was 'How many spools do most people get sewn in the day?'

Well I said then that I had not really ever been counting, but I can tell you now, no group had made a whole quilt top in the day. Until the Natterjacks did!

Here is the top:

And here are the lovely ladies:

They were sewing it from donated fabric and were aiming to complete it and the raise some money for Cancer Research and their local church. I think that is right, such a lovely group and great causes!

Around here the sewing has been a bit on the slow side. However, I am to catch up over the next fews weeks as we are away to France to ski, and I take some stitching to do too!

I will be working on these 'Rose Star One Patch' blocks from The Quilters Album of Patchwork Patterns by Jinny Beyer.

This is what I have done so far:

I plan on sewing about nine, but I will see how it goes, as they are very large. I should have put a ruler for scale in the shot!

For more quilty inspiration whilst I am away go take a look at what Jane has sewn this week from the Blue fabrics!

And a quilt I have long admired as Lori has been working on it is this. I just love this, and she has done such great job!

See you all after Easter!

There seems to be much discussion in the patchwork world about 'new or 'modern' ideas.

I think debate is healthy, and I enjoy hearing what people have to say, or seeing what they sew under these titles! The more people sewing and quilting the better I say, and if they think they are doing something new or modern so be it!

I am often asked about the 'quilt as you go' as most people assume that the desire to quilt your quilt in smaller manageable or portable size sections is a 'new' idea.

Those of you who have been checking out Barbara Brackman's blog will have enjoyed, as I did, her post about 'Pot Holder Quilts'. Check it out HERE.

These quilts were sewn and quilted in small sections and then put together……… in the 1880's!

I saw a similar quilt at the American Museum of Folk Art in New York last spring, and I was blown away. Let me show you.

Looks like nothing out of the ordinary from a distance:

Take a closer look at the green sashing:

You can see the different quilting in the different sections:

And this is the information card:

This quilt was made for Mary Grow in 1856!

But what I found even more amazing was that no where does it make any reference the the technique that has so obviously been used to sew the quilt! I know I can be nerdy about the construction processes that are used to make quilts, but surely this would have been worth a mention?

Of course I am now just desperate to get my hands on a copy of the book by Pamela Weeks and find out all I can about these quilts!

Sometimes whilst I stitch one thing the idea for something else is working it's way through my mind, and then I have to have break from one thing to put those ideas into practice!

I have been wondering about embroidering labels for my quilts with cross stitch.

I got some 'waste canvas', and had a go:

I have not sewn cross stitch for years, and I found it very refreshing to do something new for a change!

And once the threads are pulled…..!

Then I stitched this block:

It is from an antique quilt. After a few miss calculations I got the proportions and the maths right for rotary cutting and this little sample hit the mark. This block will be something I think I will be working with in the future.

And this block, well in the book it was pieced! That seemed too much for me, so I appliqued it:

I have seen the block in a number of Japanese quilts. It is called Morning Glory.

I adapted the pattern from the one in the book by Suzuko Koseki, called 'Playful Patchwork'.

It seemed like a good block to sew this weekend with all of the lovely spring sunshine!

Well, even though there are other things that have priority in my stitching time at the moment, I could not resist starting a quilt from the scraps left from the Give Away!

The range is Blue form Makower. I like it when the name of the range is simple!!

And those of you who know I am big fan of Gwen Marston, will be as excited as me to see she has anew book coming out. Check out her website!

I must start saving my pennies!

Thanks so much for all of the great comments.

I hope you all had fun seeing the other blogs and seeing what the book had inspired!

So without further ado, I shall reveal that the draw winner was comment no. 252

This was Gill, who wrote 

Just to say I added the comments from the second post on to the original, as there had been a glich. So everyone who commented got a chance!

And in keeping with the Utility tour, I was in one of my most favourite places yesterday teaching a Utility Quilting class.

I was in Lewes at Patchwork Dog and Basket. They have a great new space for classes, roomy and light.

As ever, some students I had met before, one of whom was Walter.

He was good enough to let me see the finished quilt from a class he did with me a while back. This is his Hidden Stars Quilt.

Doesn't it look great!

And here are a few shots of the day:

Have a quilty weekend!