Quilting in the Snow

08/02/2009 by Erica.

I was thinking that I had not done very much this week so I decided to review - and I have done loads! It started last weekend when I taught a workshop on Contemporary Approaches to Hand Quilting to Tove Quilters. I did a workshop on traditional hand quilting for them last year but contemporary approaches really lets people’s imaginations start to run. Much as I love traditional hand quilting, many people find it hard - the rocking, the evenness - whereas thicker threads and bigger needles and almost no rules means everyone can find a way to suit them. It was very satisfying for me and I got some very positive feedback.

This week I had my boys at home on three days as the school was closed, but I still manged to finish no less than three projects! The first was just a row for Potter Patchers Row Robin project - I pieced some stars, not my usual sort of technique but I was pleased with the result. The next project was the January challenge for Loose Threads - Under the Ice - using lovely blue and turquoise sheers on lutrador. I had lots of samples which worked beautifully. Unfortunately when I used my technique on the bigger piece it looked like the frilly waterproof knickers that baby girls used to wear over their nappies! Back to the drawing board, a new technique and it is done, remarkably quickly - I work well under pressure.

Finally I finished a double bed sized kaleidoscope quilt that I started in November 2007 at an Edwina MacKinnon workshop. It is hand quilted (traditional style), I used blue and brown batiks and wool wadding that was a joy to stitch. As I always bind my quilts as early as possible - always way before the quilting is finished - over a year of quilting seems to finish with a quiet sigh rather than a fanfare of stitching the binding. But I shall take it to Show and Tell at Hexagon Quilters which is on 19 February. The speaker is Jan Hassard and I am going to her workshop as well - one big quilt finishes, another starts? We’ll see….

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