Rain rain Canterbury rain rain talk

This weekend I am back in Canterbury. Back as this is where I went to university and as it turns out today is the university open day and we were invited to visit and catch up with some of the lecturers. Of course on an open day there are lots of visitors and not much parking but we got lucky and got the penultimate space. It was good to see some familiar faces and to see what had changed.The talk today was in a school, which meant a lovely big stage and a large hall. Just as well as there was a very good turn out. Unusually for an afternoon talk I managed to keep most of them awake. I came to the conclusion the afternoon slot is the hardest as everyone tends to be warm comfortable and well fed. So congratulations to the Canterbury ladies. Following my talk we had a huge show and tell with a great selection of quilts. I can't wait to see what is achieved tomorrow in the wholecloth class. There is so much potential here, I think we will have a lot of fun.Now to the bar, and catch up with the reunion.

Better late than never.

Since I last blogged I've managed a fair amount of milage, but no photos sorry. The evening after the museum I spoke to Somerset Quilters in Taunton. Taunton is a tight place to get a van into, but with a bit of wriggling you can park pretty close to the door of the hall. The caretaker was fantastic there, and by the time the audience were arriving I was pretty much ready for them. I do love it when I can get set up am organized before the hall fills. The group were very appreciative and with the aid of the caretakers trolley packing was really quick.The drive from there towards Chilcompton was interesting. I should have worked out the Mendip hills might have hills in them. My van is great but it isn't quick up hills. Still we made it and I got parked up before midnight.The plus point of doing the driving the night before is a little more sleep in the morning and a shorter commute. Midsomer Quilting was only a 20 minute drive in the morning. MQ is at a garden center in what looks like a converted barn, with a workshop separate to the shop. Plenty of parking and despite their appologies the toilets are fine Tuesday we were working on Autumn Leaves, my class based on the quilt 'Golden Storm'. Everyone progressed well leaving with their bindings at least partialy on and some of their leaves done. It sounded like a few of them were planning on carrying on as soon as they got home.Wednesday was advanced machine quilting. Wow what a day. I was so impressed with how well the students progressed. Most were already accomplished quilters but even those who weren't managed very well. I think everyone went home with at least one new pattern they could not only do, but enjoy. It really is a lot of fun when people grab the ideas you give them and run with it. Several students came up with new and interesting variations of the patterns I was teaching and were happy to help each other, a good day to be teaching.If you are part of a group in the area it does look like I will be back in the region next year so if you would like to add your group to the booking to save on milage please get in touch.Now I am in Nottingham. Tonight I am speaking to West Bridgeford Embroiderers Guild. It looks like a good venue from outside so hopefully this is going to be another good night.

Haynes motor museum

Today I had some time to kill between bookings and after some reseach at motorway services I settled on the Haynes Motor Museum. It was a great choice. If nothing else it is related to the Haynes of vehicle manual fame and I loved shopping in the museum shop. They have 11 halls filled with vehicles (2 are filled with motorbikes). Outside they have a few military vehicles too.As promised the red room is impressive. No they aren't all Ferraris but they are all red. Personally I found the motorsport hall a little disapointing but everything else was better than I expected, so I have no complaints.From the museum I went to the Haynes publishing company, it seemed rude not to given I was in the area. I've now driven past the workshops which have benn the brunt of much swering when following their manuals. I know they do their best but they do make a lot of errors. Now I am back on route to Taunton for tonights talk to Somerset quilters. I hope it cools down a bit right now it is far too hot to be unloading a van.

South West Quilters – speed 4

While I queue for a coffee in Taunton services I thought I would share some photos from South West Quilters who have been hosting me the last two days. Yesterday I was the afternoon speaker at their meeting. They had a great venue with very easy loading and unloading, and despite the microphone not working for me every seemed to hear most of the talk. The scrum after that talk was amazing. It's been a while since we have been that mobbed. Thank you all for the warm welcome, I hope I can encourage more people to come and visit.Today I was teaching a workshop, Speed 4. As you can see a lot of work was done and the quilts are all well on their way. I always love seeing the different colour combinations people come up with. The smallest quilt isn't as far behind the others as you might think. She has scaled the pattern down to make a smaller quilt without missing any of the borders. However that means you get less quilt for the same amount of work.After class we even had time for a bit of sight seeing. The views around here are amazing. I also have to mention the catering. It was great both days. This group is very lucky to have so many talented cooks. If you are in this area it is well worth seeing if you can get to one of these events.

Motley and pot

We made it to the finals despite all the problems so we get to come home with a trophy. Unforunately the car couldn't manage the steps to the podium so he had to pose in front of it. Tet lost out in the final to Kevin and the Toyota Soarer but I think we can let him off, it was good tight race. Just time to tidy up, stow everything and get stuck on the motorway.

Summer Nationals – eliminations

Firstly, if the images are rotated I'm sorry I'll fix them when I am back at my home computer. Last night our final qualifying round was postponed, which for Sportsman ET usually means cancelled, but we were called this morning and two ford lead the queue to the start line. It was great to see the two of them out together. We've been having pretty slow runs this weekend and no obvious reason so despite my hip causing problems I was determined to be on the start line today, and it seems to have helped. We have just got through the first round of eliminations and the car seems to be running better.

Sandown part 2

 I had been going to end with this one, but blogger is somewhat like kicking a dead whale along a beach today and I would rather be at the race track so I will live with the pictures in whatever order blogger feels like. This is Greek Fossils with it’s awards. It took first in large wall hanging and the Fran Jones longarming award. It’s the first time I’ve managed to win this since Fran died, so I am thrilled to have it again. I think Mandy Parks will forgive me for breaking her winning streak.

 This is “The Pleasure Domes of Xanadu”. It belongs to one of my students from Thursday night, Jane. It is a quilt she had made to use up leftovers from another quilt, and I only happened to see it when she had a mass quilting of tops. I was lucky enough to quilt several tops for her but this one I felt was a bit special. It was also a bit of a pain in the backside. I have no idea how Linzi Upton copes with using so much of this wriggly gold fabric. It’s a nightmare and the only way to control it in the quilt was to stitch in the ditch on both sides. If you know me, you know that is just not something I do but well if the quilt demands it who am I to argue. The quilt has very clever use of fabric and was a joy to quilt. I am thrilled she agreed to share it with everyone at the show.

 Next we have “100 Proof”. This is the quilt Tet made to test my books instructions. It’s not only his first bed quilt, but his first quilt in general. Not bad after not using a sewing machine for a quarter of a century. I thought it would be good to have a clear picture up of this as I think it is the most requested modification of my quilt. Tet thought the half square triangles would be quicker for the outer border than the celtic knots I suggested. He was probably wrong, but the outer border is really striking and hopefully those who want to copy it will not be able to work it out.

Lastly  (by bloggers choice remember) is “Vanessa’s Rhapsody”. I don’t think the photo really does justice to this and I might have to have a chat with Vanessa about getting a picture of the back. The thing that makes this quilt for me is the quilting, which isn’t showing as well as I would like. This was a real step out of her comfort zone, and at times quite a fight. We both learned a lot from this quilt. Never ever try to put bits of a rhapsody quilt together when you are already having bad day. Sewing the curves is fine when relaxed, when you aren’t it’s really hard. Vanessa also wasn’t sure about machine quilting when she started but has finished the quilt off with freehand feathers in the four background corners. This is a very special quilt it seems to have inspired not only Vanessa but other members of the group and it was great to see it in a show, if not as visible and well lit as I would have liked.

I’m trying very hard to encourage more of my students to enter next year. We had a great day on Sunday and I would love to share that feeling with more people. Maybe next year you could have a go? There is a special extra category at Sandown next year. “In the pink” all the entry fees from that category will go to Breast Cancer Care. What more excuse do you need to have a go. You can support charity, get a ticket to the show and get the thrill of seeing your work hung all in one go. The entry forms are available from here. The one you need for “In the pink” is “National Quilt Championships 2012″. See you at Sandown next year.

Wow! I can log on

I can’t remember the last time I managed to log on to blogger, but I’ve done it now. I guess I had better go and reply to your comments. I hadn’t been ignoring you but it was even refusing to let me use them without a login. I hope it’s actually fixed.

Sandown 2011

Sandown was fun at the weekend. The highlight for me was meeting up with two of my students on the Sunday. It was the first time they had entered the show and were there using the free tickets that you get for entering. For me the best part was watching them. It's great seeing your quilt hung, it's even better when other people photograph it. There is nothing like the feeling that your quilt has inspired a total stranger. If you've not tried it give it a go. There are plenty of smaller shows to chose from.My quilts did OK in the show. My three bed quilts and Tet's were hung in a row, our own mini gallery. The left most two each picked up Judges Merit awards. Given the quilts that won the category, I'm thrilled with that. I lost count of how many times I said that a lot has to do with who/what beats you. If you lose bed quilt or hand quilting to Sandy Lush you really can't take it too badly. One friend I looked at the show with was very upset that a bed quilt only got third, ditto the one that came second, then she saw the winner. Victorian Steampunk, my dress, was a but of a nightmare to deliver and display. I thnik the show did well given they needed to stop people standing on the train. Yes it would have been lovely to have it in a position where people could walk right around it, but that really wasn't possible at that venue. The dress collected third place in wearable art.

Delivered

Well that's todays job done. Nine quilts delivered to the Sandown show. Not all mine I hasten to add. Two belong to students and one is Tet's. The last of mine were finished last night so they are really fresh for the show. I had been putting them off as my right arm isn't happy, but ultimately they had to be finished or withdrawn, so I sewed anyway. I did enlist help pressing the binding and hand sewing the hanging sleeves though.The photo today is from Fridays talk. As you can see it was a good size hall with a stage (thank goodness) and a great turn out. From the feedback I've had a good time was had by most if not all. Hope to see some of you at Sandown. I will be going on Friday and Sunday.