New Bradwell Scrappy Quilt Update

This is yesterday's picture of the work so far.....

Lots of ideas for more patches and details, I only hope we have time to do it all justice!

Very exciting though and some lovely stitching going on

xx

Windmills on sunny days

We have been working on this project since last september (I think!) and finally pulling it together. Sue has been working on the windmill, the sales will move with the help of a split-pin.

'Windy Miller' has been reincarnated to look after the mill and we think the 'Mouse with clogs on' will come and help soon too - the more the merrier.

We are just coming to the end of the Seasonal trees, they just need to be bound and quilted by hand which doesn't take long at all.

Kay has made a flock of sheep for the Windmill project, so she is now continuing with her upcycled quilt.

It is looking just great, a simple collection of colours but the scale is lovely and stitching is very neat. Well done Kay.

This weeks update....

What a busy week! I have had full 2 busy classes packed with eager stitchers to get on and stitch - fantastic!

This is the beginning of a lovely project, I am looking forward to the applique and embroidery planned for it.

Here are some little characters for a collage based upon the Government scheme 'every child matters'. We have borrowed the images and enlarged them, then coloured them with fabric pens and made little cushions, any fine features are embroidered on afterwards. They will be stitched onto the collage to give a real 3D feel to the picture. This was all done in one morning, well done ladies!
Maggie is working on a mobile for her daughters based on weather and seasons. She got the idea from this lovely Doodle stitching embroidery book and has worked really well at home on her own. Good work.
This morning I started stitching with a new group. Last week we planned a collage for the Children's Centre based around first sounds in language - cat, dog etc and also native british animals - bat, badger, fox. This is work so far: not a great picture, but a good start to the project and there are lots of brilliant ideas for the rest of the term.

Vintage quilts....in Redditch!

I dragged my poor family to a needle museum today in Redditch, Worcs. We were staying with my mom and dad in Bromsgrove and I fancied a bit of crafty culture! Anyway, I was truly moved by a collection of vintage quilts there for an exhibition. It is part of a collection by Jane Cobbett and is on until the end of June. In no particular order and I don't know everything about all of them because there was no guide to buy......:-(

Just a lovely mix of mad fabrics....

This one bought a tear or two to my eyes, not unusual some might say, but it really was a piece of someone's family history, somewhere in North Carolina I think?? Stitched in the 1930's and included a bit of everything from this family. All stitched on their own clothes and fabric from grain sacks!

Bees and rabbits....
Hand prints of all the family....
The farm where they lived....I do love the way the man and sheep are sitting just right on the 'hill of blue'.
This was the overall collage, lots of naive drawings, too many to photo and I was in danger of crying too much...silly woman. But I am inspired to try this one in a group project! any takers??!!
This one is a lovely shape, the pieces have small joins in them to make it easier to stitch.
Just lovely....quilting and patchwork...
A close up.....
This one, pass me a tissue, was stitched by a 9 year old boy in ( i think) the 1890's! Each patch is about the size of a 2p coin and the whole quilt was flamin' huge.....
This one, a bow tie pattern, was just lush too....
This exhibition is only on until the 28th of June but if you could spend a couple of hours driving to Redditch to see about 20 vintage quilts, I recommend it...there was a nice little shop and a cafe with swans milling about, and a good adventure area to keep the children happy....a very happy afternoon was spent, hurray! I might just have to venture to find more of this lovely collection....here!

Patchwork with t-shirts....reference

Just thought I would reference this while I remember.....Two learners have talked this week about making a quilt with their babies old clothes, as a memory quilt.  Lovely idea, but we weren't sure whether you could make them out of jersey fabrics.  Well, after a bit of research I found this link and will now be chopping up some t-shirts of my own. There is then a link to how to quilt the lovely result.  Will report back soon.

Two updates in one week....What's going on?

I made a point of catching those learners who had avoided my camera for the term, this is what they have been up to.  I have been suggesting that they plan out patches of colour on paper first. This has been a valuable process.  It makes things clearer, gives the learners space to experiment and plan colours and cuts down on mistakes in cutting the felt!

J has made 4 coasters for her dining room and is now planning the table mats.  We are concerned that the felt is not washable and thinking about how they can be protected from inevitable spills.  Lovely mix of colours.
M is working on a collage that grows out from a simple circle.  She is using a variety of fabrics and embellishing the layers with different stitches and beads.
G is planning her cushion cover on paper.  She has been keenly starting a new project each week and managing to finish most of them off during the week.  A brilliant achievement for anyone!

Below is the finished heart cushion from the previous posting, G has experimented with different flowers made in felt.

A quick update.....

Here are a few more pictures of inspiration, showing real progress and trying out new techniques...

G followed instructions from a book to make her little dog, he is proving very popular with lots of learners.  The heart is something she is working on over the weeks experimenting with different decorations she finds in books.
E spent the session arranging her patches, she then pinned them onto a big sheet.  It was a really good way to see how the quilt is growing and developing and just how much there is still to make!
For World Book Week, G decorated a t-shirt for her daughter (the theme was Sharing a Shell by Julia Donaldson).  
G has also made this little worm this week she is a VERY keen stitcher! I am looking forward to seeing the finished article.

Work in Progress......

Where have those three weeks gone? We are in the last week of the Spring term now :-( and as many of the learners are part way through various projects I thought I would update the blog with some lovely but unfinished projects......

S has never sewn before! She put together three safe colours: brown, beige and cream and then suddenly put in a bright green.  The result is lovely, really fresh and interesting, the felt comes from Kirstyfish.
K has started a patchwork quilt after finishing her handkerchief quilt.  She is really enjoying finding great fabrics in sari shops and putting them together, the more we play with the colours the better the quilt gets. 
E has taken on the task of making two quilts at the same time!  She is just becoming obsessed with making the patches and will sort them later.
E is enjoying working with some vibrant colours for her cushion, they work really well together and are inspiring others to do colourful work.