Sandown Inspiration

 

On Friday I went to Sandown for the National Quilt Championships, partly to drop off my 'Unfini-SHED'  donations for Quilters Guild tombola and partly to buy some more fabric from Jo Lovelock!(below). It's very straightforward to get the train to Esher but as there are only 2 trains an hour, as I'd just missed one on my return (despite running up stairs and over the bridge), it gave me plenty of time to  observe the splendid peeling paint ( above)

I also bought some  fabric from  'Images of Egypt' - dyed linen for overdying in indigo and some discharged  cotton and looked at some quilts. There seem to be fewer and fewer competition quilts which is a shame  but there were several  displays by both individuals such as Greta Fitchett as well as groups that were well worth a look. Pieces in 'Elements of Nature' in the 'British Art Quilt Gallery' were particularly interesting. It looks like most of the artists are also involved with  Art Textiles :Made in Britain  - I look forward  to their show on 'Idendity' at FoQ.

Among that group, I was less aware of the work of  Louise Baldwin ( above) than the others but I loved the lively stitching in her small framed pieces.

These contrasted with the controlled machine stitching of  Pauline Barnes - it was great to see such a large diverse display of her work.

 

Inspired by my visit and catching up with various people I headed home to put some serious hours in on my 'Dilocation' quilt while Ian was at his parents. And  it paid off , entry completed and submitted ahead of deadline (just!) Just have to catch up with the housework now... 



 

Blues in the Mail

In response to the Dislocation theme for the next CQ challenge, I settled on  chopping up and rearranging this wonderful piece of hand dyed  cloth from Jo Lovelock ( looking forward to buying some more from her on Friday at Sandown quilt show)

Of course with quilt layered and a deadline looming, I found that  I didn't have quite the right blue threads for the job despite have a good collection - they were all on the red rather than green side of the spectrum.  However some quick online ordering from Barnyarns ('King Tut' and Madeira)  and Wonderfil brought some contenders winging their way through the post. Always difficult choosing colours from the screen but I think the heavier 12wt 'spagetti' and  fruitti' threads will do the trick ( they work fine in the machine with a 14 titanium needle and are nice for hand stitching too)

 

I'd intended to do some sample stitching today but a little fragile after a wine tasting session  yesterday at the Club at the Ivy ( very swish glass elevator) . So instead I took some photos with different orientations of the proposed indigo shibori layer that's going over the top and have left them around to marinade and mull over. I've also finally got round to ordering  indigo supplies from Kemtex - hope to be setting up my own vat in the garden in July, concentrating on dyeing pieces of vintage quilts.