Cycling for quilters

Come ride with me. One thing I am loving about working in one place (Okay, two but they are pretty close together) is that I am home in time to go straight out on my new bike. So, today I thought I'd take you with me and we could talk about quilty stuff as we go around - how would that be?

Now, I know this is not an auspicious start but bear with me. Cross over this junction which is two roads from my house and you get into much nicer territory with a dedicated bike lane along side the Rainford bypass and verges chock full of dandelions which of course reminds me of the very first Twelve by Twelve challenge.

Soon there are fields which reminded me of Elizabth Bririmelow's reversible field quilt and the time when I was standing in front of it in Wales and Dennis, looking at another of her quilts pronouced them' horrible'. Loudly. When she was standing right behind him. Time to move on.

Nature of course has colour lessons for us. You have to go a little further on to actually pass the rape seed fields but you can see them from the bypass.

And there are several copses of trees which remind me of Gerrie's Aspen quilts. After a while we will turn off down a side road. I wonder what is around the corner?

Lines, thats what.

Now this is not guerilla knitting but when I saw it I was reminded of the blog entry about these sweet smelling sexy looking knitting needles I read about just this morning.  I passed them over to move to the next blog regretful that I do not knit. But maybe I should do just a small piece to welcome myself around my cycle routes.

A little further on we have purple and yellow - the first time since those colours were announced as the new Twelve by Twelve themes that I have seen them in nature,

Now, despite that fact that we live in a former mining/ glass making northern Town we do actually have animals.and look - thats my estate up there. Am in fact semi-rural? That description might add a bit to the house we are trying to sell!

I am sure, absolutely convinced that I read about a project that Maggie Grey started whch involved burying or letting phone directories decay outisde for embroidery related purposes, but a quick search did not locate that. Am I making it up? In any event this Argos catolgue was under a hedegrow and had become quite beautifully altereted by the elements.

A little further on I found a scuplture in a field. Well, I think it was some kind of mechanical scarecrow contraption but it glinted in the evening sun and changed in quite compelling ways as the two set of blades moved differently

Just by taking the camera out I saw all kinds of things I would normally whizz past. So I hope you enjoyed coming with me. Maybe I could come along with you in your neighbourhoods soon?

Man thinking

I have been talking about the Bernina 830 and its embroidery machine capacity for some time now. It is the only thing ever Dennis has balked at me buying and to be fair it costs the price of a small car.Or a small kitchen for that matter. But, you know, the drip drip of attrition sometimes work and so every now and again I mention it. I mean, maybe he just doesn't understand what the thing does.

So today I watched one of Linda Kemshall's vidoes on her Design Matters TV. She was making a pillow with an embroidered mackrel on it. Now Dennis likes fish. Too look at more than to eat, I mean, which is good when it comes to fish on cushions. So I call him over to see the fish. He likes it.
"And do you know how she did the fish?" I ask,ever so casually.
"Grilled?"
"Ha. Well maybe eventually. She bought it at the supermarket, photographed it and digitised it using embroidery software then used her embroidery machine to sew it. Isn't that good?"
"Don't even think about it."
"But...."
"You are forever buying stash and not using it for months. I've just had to clean the stinking fridge out because you left rotting carrots in there. Don't even think about buying a fish then forgetting to digitise it for days afterwards."

Huh.
This is what you get with a househusband. He needs to get out more.
Like to a sewing machine shop, say.

The nice things in life.

First, tonight I was able to enjoy a ride on my nice new bike. I am fortunate enough to finish work in time to still enjoy these bright evenings and to live on the edge of country so I can get out in open fields. (Thought not smart enough to take my camera to show you where I have been: next time

Secondly, today I finished this quilt. You can see the inspiration here.

Then, messing about on the internet I was suprised to learn that my little tootle around the lanes had worked off 340 calories. And even more pleased to find that the White Magnum in the freezer only had 237 calories. Good net result I'd say.

And no. It is no longer in the freezer!

New Prayer Flag Project Blog

The new Prayer Flag Quilt Project Blog is up!
If you have not yet  got on board why not read more about it on the sidebar  and think about joining in?

Making up my education

I was 8 in 1978 and not in the kind of family where eight year olds got taken to see American high school films.  In 1979 our TV blew up ( in the middle of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, which was deemed suitable family viewing) and we didn't get a new one in the household until 1989. Accordingly there are certain gaps in my popular cultural knowledge.

Which is why I am, even as I write, watching for the very first time....

I am mesmerised. It is so bad!! Tell me - did people really dance like that?!
And how, if Betty Rizzo got her self knocked up did she get to be the First Lady?

And why, oh oh why on earth does she now have a facebook page?

Great Internet Mystery - help!

Yesterday my husband started to have problems with the Internet at home when using his laptop
He can send but not receive emails. He can get all websites he tried except Tiscali - which allows him access to  his web based email - and the BBC and one private blog I write. He can get my public blogs and all the blogs are with Blogger.

When I got home I found that  - using my laptop - my email worked perfectly in Outlook and web based ( my email is Talktalk but Talktalk now own Tiscali) But I could not get the BBC or Tiscali. I forgot to check the blog.

He says the situation is the same at home today but at work I can get both websites so it is not a problem with the sites.

Any ideas?

Not having access to the BBC website on election day is not a happy thing for my political news hound husband. And, I shall not be happy if I cannot use it to watch TV on demand to get away from the wall to wall election coverage which wil be on our real TV when I get home!

Prayer flag challenge

Belatedly, let me alert you to fact that the 1st May saw the latest Twelve by Twelve reveal over at our blog. I love the interaction that goes with our process - this time I made these two quilts. When I made the strung and hanging mini quilts, I was thinking of abstracted lines of lava flow. But, in the context of me dedicating the quilts as a memorial to a recently deceased aquaintance, Terry commented that she saw Prayer Flags.

Then today I got an email from Joanne telling me she was thinking of making a prayerflag quilt in memory of someone she loved and lost. She said, "Do you think there are rules for prayer flag making?"

Now, I do not believe there are any rules for quilt making. Ok, I probably go with the three layers definition, but that's about it. So I was thinking - how many ways are there to make a prayer flag quilt and how many people would like to make one to remember someone they miss? And how may would like at least a virtual show of them to honour those people and maybe even in the future a physical collection shown somewhere?

So, I am going to find out.

Here is my prayer flag challenge and how to enter:

If you think this is a good idea please forward this link by email, tweet or carrier pigeon and put it on your blog whether or not you intend to participate yourself

1. First of all tell me that that you are interested in entering by emailing helen@helenconwaydesign.com with the title PrayerFlag in the title. Assuming I get more than a couple responses I will start a blog for the quilt reveals.

2 Make a quilt of any size and any technique showing your interpretation of prayer flags.

3. When it is ready email me again to let me know and I will add you as an author to the blog.

4. You then go to the blog and add your photo and any description you wish to add such as the name of the person you are honouring and the technique you have used. If you wish to partcipate but are unsure how to do  this I can either give you instructions or you can email me the photo and details and I will blog for you.

There is no deadline for completing the quilt but I would appreciate your registration of interest email as it were, early on so I can gauge numbers.

If that works I will give consideration to organzing a physical show somewhere, some place, somehow, but no promises at the moment!

The half hour project.

Now that I am longer partially professionally itinerent and partly working from home, I don't need the law related things I used to have surrounding me in our home study. Removing them will allow a little more creativity zone to creep into the room. But a re-organisation all at once? Who needs that? So, I have instigated the Half Hour Project. Half and hour here, half an hour there and eventually....

The before: It had become a bit of a dumping ground over prevous days:

The after:

 Ok, I did a double session the first time around. And this was mainly achieved by moving the piles of stuff elsewhere: the Oxfam book shop pile.

The take to work pile...

Internet - the good the bad and the bad

The good first: tonight I got a comment on my blog from 'Working Mum' - a new reader and a suggestion that I go to her blog  Working Mum on the Verge to work out who she is. So of course I did and it is one of my best friends from school with whom I had lost touch. I don't normally read Mummy blogs, not being a Mummy, but this one is good (because she is a working Mum with a life and not a potty obsessed drone) and if you are looking for a fresh addition to your reading list you might want to check her out. Of course I started at the beginning and am up to Dec 2008 but I am assuming she maintains quality!

The second, the bad. I am househunting. a house we about to view has house particulars that specify several times Karndean flooring. I have no idea what that is so I google. Then I think. Hmm, I wonder if I bought that house and I converted the garage to a studio would I want the same flooring and how much would it be. So I peruse the website. Jazzy. Lots of squares of colours and samples. But you have to see them so I think I'll find my nearest retailer. Not that I am counting all the eggs that are in one basket and have not hatched yet because they are locked in a stable which the horse has bolted ( or whatever the appropriate phrase is) but you know, advanced information is always useful.

So I click on' find your nearest retailer'. But I cannot search by town only postcode. I do not know the postcode of the house I do not own. So I make some up that sound about right for the nearest big town where I know the starts of the postcodes until one works. I am invited to to fill in the compulsory fields of choosing a property on that address and my name and email before they will tell me where I can buy their stuff. Do they want to make me likley to go to a shop and buy their product or do they just want to waste my time and annoy me?

On the assessment that the only logical conclusion is the latter, I figured that what is good sauce for the goose can be poured all over the heads of pesky gander. So, just in case, may I sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused in the event that there is actually some one called Jumping Jimmy Jones at St. Pauls Cathedral school in Blackburn with the email jummyjjones13456@hotmail.com.au. And I still don't know what the stuff costs.

The third: bad. I got online to quickly check emails at 7pm and five mins later it is 23.16. How did that happen?

Quilting....

..remember when I actually used to do that?! Househunting is tiring and time consuming and house selling means constantly tidying up my 'studio' i.e bunging items like vital threads and the last bit of matching fabric into a bag and hiding it away so that it takes up 90% of the short time you have to use them in to find them again. Sigh. I am not easily defeated though so I have found a little time to do some sewing.

Crop Circles.

Crop Circles is about 44 x 11 inches and is both machine and hand quilted and embroidered.  It does not have a wrinkly bottom so much as I polygon lassoed ( get me!) the natural drop shadow. The design was inspired simply by the two pieces of fabric used ( the two outer edges are one piece cut vertically with the second inserted) which had graduated paint ( or dye?) colours. they came in a scrap bag from Lisa Walton of Dyed and Gone to Heaven and my general playing around with aboriginal fabric in small doses with wavy lines.

Some details for you.

And I have also done not one but (gasp - this is so uncharacteristic!) two quilts for the latest Twelve by Twelve challenge. But of course I cannot show those until 1st May save for maybe a tiny sneak preview....

Message to Robyn Kirk

Robyn,
I lost your email when I changed laptops and didn't pay to get my email book transfered across. Sigh.
This is the only way I know to contact you - can you email me with your address please?
Thanks,
Helen

Magpie

As promised, and with the permission of maker Jan Bevan, here is a photo of my favourite quilt from Trentham. It reminded me a lot of the Gees Bend quilt on the cover of this book ( which I highly recommend and was another one pressed on me by Ed at Mr B's Emporium of Reading Delights) only with much better quilting.

In return for her permission I am happy to advertise an exhibition Jan has on. This is an exhibition of

"Paintings by Rosemary Abrahams with Textile Interpretations by Janet Bevan".  It runs from 27th March - 16th May, 10 - 5, at Sewerby Hall, Bridlington, YO15 1EA.

Trentham Gardens Quilt Show Review

Today Mum and I went to the Trentham Gardens show, relocated due to a collapsed marquee to Utoxeter Racecourse. Peversely we started by doing the gardens at Trentham themselves something which I never did while the show was actually there. We had a lovely walk with the squirrels around the Capabilty Brown lake (which contains these metal sculputures) and strolled around the Italian Gardens. After a quick lunch we set off to the racecourse, Mum to show interest in my hobby and me to hope that I still had time to see everything.

Sadly, I was very dispappointed with the show this year. I thought the venue low ceilinged and cramped and the lighting was appalling. Catering by midafternoon consisted of a stainless steel pot of premade tea. However the traders preferred it to the marquee and I gather that some of the problems result from the rushed move which was not the exhibitors fault and that the venue offers possibities for workshops in the future. We shall see how it pans out.

What really concerned me though was the low standard of the competition quilts compared to previous years. Many of the accomplished quilters who usually enter - such as Lesley Brankin, ( and her daughter who usualy scoops prizes in the children's section) Gwenfai Rees-Griffith, Ineke Berlyn, Stephanie Redfern and others were absent and the gap was not filled with new names of similar calibre. The way was clear for Anja Townrow to scoop a number of ribbons - and deservedly so as her work is superb. But one of her placed quilts dated fron 2005 and it was a shame that the fresh and interestingly designed work was limited to half a dozen quilts or so. One of the best was very reminiscent of a Gee's Bend  but with great machine quilting, and I have emailed for permission to show it in a future post.

The showcased quilts were much more interesting and proficiently executed... with two exceptions perhaps...

 

I was surprised to find my two designs for the African Fabric Shop hanging when I hadn't entered them! It transpired that the organser had asked Magie Relph to assist in filling the space with quilts made by her, her friends and her customers and of course as she has permission to do what she will with these samples it was nice to see them there. The Kinshasa quilt on the right is now available in kit form from The African fabric Shop. in several colorways.

I particularly enjoyed the Thin Blue Line qullts, some of which you can see if you scroll down this page. The Maori inspired one on the right in the first picture of that page particular caught the eye of both Mum and I. However, maybe our favourite and the one which people were talking about as we walked around bumping into acquaintances as you do was Rainforest. I have only a bad photo with no permission to post it but you can see a picture on Pauline Barnes' own website, although even her picture does not really do the quilt justice. Sadly it suffered from dreadful positioning and lighting at the show. And, surprisingly, won nothing.

Interestingly, it hung near mine which also uses circles. Now I never considered mine to be a competition contender but was entered to support the show ( and yes, I can take all the crticism I gave to the general standard of the show applied to my own work, although for reasons come to below I think this one might not be too bad!). It was the first in a series I am doing using similar themes in different ways and I was anxious to get feed back from the Judge to assist me in improving towards the standard of Anja and the Thin Blue Line lot.

I was sadly disappointed. The Judge was Tracy Pereira who has won awards for her own work although with a couple of expections the long list of accolades on her website shows she won for longarming other people's designs and piecing.  Of the 10 criteria listed on the standard tick box form she ranked me 'very good' on 6 and 'good' on 4. So not bad but certainly room for improvement. What exactly should I do to get the top ranking available in each criteria of excellent, then in her view? I have no idea. Her comments were,

"A lovely well balanced design and colour choice with good use of patterned and tone on tone fabrics. Beautiful stitchwork and quilting. Well executed turned edge treatment."

Or at least I have no idea from her point of view. I asked Mum what she liked about Rainforest and she explained how good it was by comparing various features of it to mine, without appreciating it was mine she was using as the 'inferior' ( she prefers 'different'!) example!! She was fairly mortified when she discovered it was mine but you know, it was extremely helpful advice from someone viewing it as art.

I was also bemused by the praise I got for good use of tone on tone fabric. I accept the definition from Quilting.about.com....

"The term tone on tone refers to a printed fabric that is made by combining different shades and tones of the same color. Tone on tone fabrics often appear to be solid when viewed from a distance, but their printed motifs become recognizable on closer inspection."

I think that is probably uncontroversial. I am bemused because there are none of those in my quilt. There are some of Lisa Walton's handdyed fabrics which I assume is what she was referring to!

I had another quilt in the show too - the Sacred quilt I made with Mum.The one that taught me never, ever again to piece using this particular brand of silk. Ever! I would share my results for that one too but I can't accurately do so as 5 of the 10 criteria have not been ticked in the boxes but on the line between two boxes so I don't actually know for sure what she though of it. Sigh.

All I can say is that has lead to some deep thoughts on how I will be thinking about my own work in the future which will no doubt spill out into a future blog.

The afternoon was not a complete loss though as I had accepted several article ideas by a magazine editor I bumped into and took the opportunity to pitch to, including the pattern for my 'good but not excellent' blue quilt above and was also able to have some useful conversations about future quilt kits using a variation of that design! Oh and Mum and I found some great 'way-too-good-to -pass-over' jackets in various designs and colour ( but none tone-on-tone!) in the sale at Trentham for £20 -30 each and brought eight of them home between us!

Electioneering

We have a general election in the UK. There is no interesting race or gender card to make it tolerable so I have imposed a news blackout in the house at least for politics. In fact my new job  prevents me from active poltical comment anyway so I am unable to express a view on which party annoys me the most.

However, I do believe that I can stray into fantasy land so, here is my 'When I am Prime Minister and leader of the Don't Be Stupid Party' Manifesto for today.

When I am elected there will be a new law passed requiring every car owner to install on the roof of their car a series of lights which shall carry prescribed meanings to fellow road users, to wit:

Lilac: I am sorry for driving around the roundabout three times at 5 mph but I am  a tourist, I am lost.

Lime:  It is not me that is driving at 5mph. There is a learner driver in front of me so STOP HONKING AT ME

Cerise:  Yup. That was a stupid thing I just did. I am am idiot, I accept that, I apologise for that so put your middle finger away.

Yellow: Danger. I have just seen guerilla knitting and am about to slam the brakes on.

Red flashing: Make way. I have a thread emergency and the LQS shuts in ten mins.

You get the idea. To pay for the increased regulation this system will require ( including a consultation and public enquiry headed by a retired high court Judge into the impact on colurblind people) I will  place a tax on galleries who refuse to accept textiles as a proper art medium.

News Round up

I fell off the blog log again didn't I?

Quick round up.

We went to Bath for a week. I may have brought some shopping home.

We put the house up for sale and we have got four viewers this week.

Sadly we then found out that a close friend of mine and his wife had lost their 24 years old son suddenly in tracic circumstances. So all time this week went to this comfort quilt which, after this terrible photo was quickly snapped, was delievered today. It has the initials of the four members of the the family ( including the son) in the hearts.

Tomorrow, Trentham Quilt Show.

I'm back!

Sometimes I fall off the blogging log. Its easy done. There you are gymnast like, carefully balancing life and blog then out of the corner of your eye you see a tempting and time consuming activity and - plonk! - off the log you go. I hope that I will be forgiven. Assuming you even noticed that is. Anyway, the good news is that I have been getting some fiber work done. Finally I am working on a series. (oooooh, get me -big grown up textile artist like words!) I am happily playing about with variations of the first wall hanging I made when I came home, inspired by aboriginal art, using aboriginal fabrics in very small doses and, hopefully, looking nothing like aboriginal art but somnething like I might be working towards acquiring my own style.

The one above is the second in the series and you have seen it before but it now has the machine quilting on it but not the hand quilting.  These thin ones to the side are awaiting quilting. they are made with fabric from a scrap bag from Lisa Walton at Dyed and Gone to Heaven Each is made by dividing one thick strip and inserting a thinner one vertically then some horizontal strips too. the fabric really dictated the format. sorry about the wonky floor photo.  As we have a trip to Bath coming upnext week, I hope to get the machine quilting done here and the hand stitching there but time is running out...

I also spent five hours putting letters around my South island souvenir quilt. I could not get the printer to do large enough letters so I had to draw and make templates and cut them out and arrange them on the floor using Stean a Seam 2. Only I didn't press them on enough so when I lifted the top onto the ironing board most of them fell off again. Grrr. Now I have to sew them.... later. Much much later when I have forgotten that I don't love it so much!

I chose the focus fabric for the blocks in Picton becuase the words reminded me of how I felt on that very relaxing part of the trip. Then the log fabrics were all accumulated elsewhere in the South Island of new Zealand. Some of the scraps got made into an as yet paperless and strapless journal cover.

And that folks was about it for the weekend apart from some very nice hours spent on 'my sofa' at Cedar Farm journalling and reading textile arty books.

Not much to show for a month..

Despite my having a month at home and off work there is not really that much quilting stuff to show for it. I do think I work more productively with less rather than more time. Of course I have been doing other time consuming stuff like househunting as well.

So this is what there is so far:

A wallhanging with aboriginal fabrics and handdyes by Lisa Walton. This will be on show at the relocated Trentham Gardens quilt show ( now at Utoxeter Racecourse on 9th - 11th April) Its not really wonky - its just that Dennis was holdig it up for me - not the best way to photograph it.

Some details for you.

I have discovered I really like mixing machine quiting with hand quilting/ embroidery in perle threads.

This is another one with aboriginal fabrics in progress - I started it at class in Penrith but spent far more

time talking so mot much progress so far!

I think yiou may have seen this small art quilt before. It is based on maori korowai (raincapes).

Then last night I made this - it is an unfinished top only so far - the eads are not yet attached just being auditioned and it needs a lot of stitch and embellishment yet.

And these blocks now actually have been assembled and borders put on ready for some applique on the borders - but frankly I am too lazy to go and rephotograph it! The fabrics were all collected in the north of the south island of New Zealand, so between Nelson and Christchurch.

And of course I have also completed my Twelve by Twelve challenge quilt in blue, white and black which will be revealed later today UK time as the US wakes up to the Ist March!

Trentham Granden show relocation

This is a post for UK readers really (or travelling foreign readers I suppose).

I have been asked to publicise the fact that the Events Pavillion at Trentham collapsed recently after a heavy fall of snow. Trentham Estates are unable to be certain that they will be able to repair or replace the structure in time for The Trentham Gardens quilt show on  9th, 10th and 11th April, but the organiser, Margaret, has managed to relocate to Uttoxeter Racecourse and Conference Centre, Wood Lane, Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, ST14 8BD for the same dates. This venue is a short drive from Trentham and so you can still combine the show with the gardens at Trentham if you wish to do so.  (Joint tickets remain available) Directions are available here.

My favourite trader Magie Relph of  the African Fabric Shop will be there as ususal and I doubt I shall be able to resist her Ghananian batiks!

Although, given the amount of fabric I accumulated recently maybe I will just binge on her beads. But what colour? These recycled glass beads are all so pretty and the big ones come on elastic circles just like the edible braclets we used to get as a kid.

Maybe I will go multi colured with these plastic beads which come on sticks - you are supposed to pull them off but sometimes I like to couch down the stick.

And then of course there is the perle threads she sells in set of three co-ordinating colours which I love to quilt with ....