Patches of Destruxion

Hello everybody! Last weekend I went to a short workshop making EPP Christmas ornaments, here in my current home city of Coventry. We were at St-Martin's-In-The-Field Church, which was a very nice venue, providing excellent tea and cake in the café. We were in a heated marquee due to building work, but I really didn't find it that cold (note: I was the only one with this opinion. None of my fellow classmates took off their coat like I did). Our tutor was Jane Cobbett, a local textile artist, collector and quilt restorer. She started by giving us a talk on how the Victorians used to make Christmas decorations using fabric scraps, often selling them to raise money for good causes. She brought in this lovely late Victorian Moravian star from her collection (maker unknown). Isn't it lovely? A lot of the fabrics are silks, and you can make out some brocade designs. The beads are held in place by pins. Jane also showed us this version of the same pattern she made herself. Then we...

Hello everybody! As I mentioned in my March post last week, I have finally finished all my blocks for August in this sewalong. The theme was Animals. Here they all are together. I made 8 blocks in total. Some of the blocks have been sewn into their colour rows, which made them a little tricky to photograph. Week 30 was identifiable motifs. I made 3 blocks. First up, these toucans. I love this fabric, and have used it in previous years here and  here . Unfortunately for this block, the pattern created by the cutting didn't come through as strongly as I was hoping. the fabric is just a bit too busy for the size of the shape. Secondly, whatever animals these are. I am pushing the definition of 'identifiable' with these motifs. This is from an Aldi pack of licensed Encanto fabrics. It was clearly rushed out really quickly to take as advantage of the hype and this print in particular is just... terrible quality art. I am guessing these are meant to be animals to represent Anton...

Hello everybody! Some embroidery from me, for the first time in a while. On Saturday I went to a lovely workshop at Spode museum in Stoke on Trent. The Stitching @ Spode workshops and talks are organised by Mary Chadwick and our tutor for this one was Vanita Roberts. We made these little hanging Christmas tree ornaments. The embroidery is mostly based on blackwork designs with a small amount of cross stitch. We were all given these kits to work with. And of course, being at a pottery museum in Stoke, the tea service is a beautiful blue willow. I got most the blackwork elements finished in the class. The rest I had to finish off at home. All the blackwork part done Here it is with all the embroidery and bras done before joining the sides together. And here it is finished! I even did a mini video so you could see all the sides. The shape is called a watbo. It's named after  Wat Bo in Cambodia, which means 'Temple of the Lotus' in the Khmer language. I haven't been able t...

Hello everybody! So after realising when I was writing my October roundup that I couldn't link to the March one because I hadn't written it yet, I decided to make the one outstanding block and rectify that. So here are the 5 blocks I made for the March theme of Orange, which were obviously not all made on time. Week 9 was a freestyle week to celebrate International Women's Day. This is the one that for some reason I only just got around to making. Here is my block. It is intended to represent Mary Anning, the fossil hunter and early paleontologist. I particularly wanted to include the word 'extinct' as her work helped to demonstrate the concept of extinction. This is the second time I have done a block representing Mary Anning, you can see the previous one here . Week 10 was orange identifiable motifs. I made 2 blocks. Like purple, orange is a good excuse to pull out some of the fabrics I am using in my Halloween La Passacaglia quilt. So first up, we have these spo...

Hello everybody! Something slightly different from me today. I made a block that's going to be used in a group quilt for the Festival of Quilts next year! The project is being run by Chris English, aka @ afullenglish . He is well known for his use of recycled and vintage fabrics in his improv quilts, which are often protests against the Tory Government. He is also very proud of being the source of this disclaimer at the 2023 Festival of Quilts. Photo credit: Chris English  They really need to hire me as their proofreader, I would not let him get away with this... stuff. This project is not sweary or overtly anti-Tory, but it does have recycling at its heart. He has asked people to send him bear paw blocks made out of (if possible) recycled and old fabrics and he is joining them all together to make one big quilt. I chose two fabrics to use in my block. The first is a blue water-lily style floral cotton, from a bunch of old fabrics given to me by my mother. It had pieces cut out of ...

Hello everybody! I have finally finished my blocks for last month. Naomi gave us a freestyle theme for the month so we could choose to do whatever we needed to make our personal quilt plans work. For a lot of people, me included, that was largely purple blocks, to round out the rainbow. I made 6 blocks in total for this month. Week 39 was identifiable motifs. I made 2 blocks. A bit of theme here! Purple is a perfect excuse for pulling out some of the Halloween fabrics I am using on my La Passacaglia quilt. First up, these mummies. I like the little mice that appear next to some of the figures. This is my second time using mummies with this shape, as I used some back in March, which was orange month. Which I haven't rounded up yet, due to the fact I still haven't made my International Woman's Day Block. So here is a sneak preview of a block that I am 8 months late in posting (yes, that sentence makes sense, really). And secondly, these spooky creatures. This is a Lewis and ...