29/03/2009 by Kevin.

I was just sent these photos from the Quilters Guild AGM showing Anna’s work being displayed.  Thanks to Mary for the photos

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17/03/2009 by Kevin.

Not quite sure why these are involved in patchwork but …. I have just come across my wifes stanp collection.  No these have little relation to those issued by the post office. these are ink type stamps with patterns and shapes.  I suppose I can understand why wyou would occasionally need a pattern to make a shape on some fabric.  My wife doesn’t just have a few - I would expect that there is more than a hundred, with all different shapes.  I suspect my wife is not unusual in this and it is just another aspect where patchwork enthusiasts become obsessive collectors.

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02/03/2009 by Kevin.

I earlier stated

“As an ‘outsider’ to the patch world – I am totally amazed about how the perception of patchwork is so different to the reality.  The public perception of patchworking is a woman sitting in a rocking chair, cutting up old shirts and sheets with scissors and sewing them together to eventually make a quilt.”   

In continuing this viewpoint I would like to talk about the cutting up of material. The vision of using scissors is very outdated.  Today’s patchworkers use rotary cutters (a glorified pizza cutter!) to cut up material and do so on a calibrated cutting pad - as a precision paper cutter would use.  On top of this to help make the right cut an acrylic template is used.  This help to get the precision in the sections used for patch. However don’t think it is just a single acrylic template.  Any patchworker will have a large library of these acrylic templates.  In fact the collection of these templates seems to be a standard obsession among patchworkers.

So scissors are not used? Hmm - not sure where scissors are used, but there certainly is no shortage of scissors in my house.  In something that looks more like a scene from some horror movie - scissors seem to be everywhere I look in the house.  Strangely, it seems, none of these scissors can be used for anything other than material (all 100+ of them) - so if I want to cut a piece of paper I apparently have to tear it by hand, rather than use these specialist instruments (that don’t seem to be used in any case!).

Will I ever understand this world?

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13/02/2009 by Kevin.

As an ‘outsider’ to the patch world – I am totally amazed about how the perception of patchwork is so different to the reality.  The public perception of patchworking is a woman sitting in a rocking chair, cutting up old shirts and sheets with scissors and sewing them together to eventually make a quilt.  How different it is in reality.  The low-tech impression is much more high-tech.

Take the old shirts and scraps used as a basis for the quilts.  I wish it was the same in the new world.   However, rather than oddments and scraps, it seems my wife spends a fortune on by purchasing ‘fat quarters’ of exotic patterned fabrics. (Fat quarters are quarters that are square, rather than a running quarter metre off-cuts).  In reality even these seem to be the cheaper option, since sometimes the material is hand dyed.  And although there seems to be a large variety of different ways of doing this, most seem to involve a large purchase of plastic buckets, various dyes and other specialist material, that then seem to fill up our kitchen and garage. If this wasn’t enough – each time a new technique is used, not only does it require the purchase of more buckets, etc – but normally involves going off to some specialist place for a training day, and also the purchase of a book.

I suspect even on material cost alone – you would be far better off just buying a completed quilt – when all the associated cost are taken into account I think people would be very frightened with the real total.  I certainly am.

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05/02/2009 by Kevin.

Anna seems to give very high level statements about what she does with very little detail - more like bullet points of what she is doing. I have got used to clothing terms during the year and can quite happily talk about blocks, bias, etc.  Now of course patchwork has another realm of terms.So in Anna’s catching up on course work, I can illustrate what I have learnt from her working.  Anna has been working with half squares and quarter squares.  From a mathematician’s point of view - they are the same - both are right angled triangles with 45 degree angles, it is just a matter of size. Of course this is not mathematics this is the world of patchwork. So instead of the logical approach you need to remember that these are fabric - and fabric is not an even material.  It has a grain (or weave direction as I would see it- going across and along the length of fabric).  It appears in patchowork world - on quarter squares the two equal sides (non hypotenuse side) runs across the grain, while on the half square, the hypotenuse runs diagonal to the grain.  (Or to think of it another way if you cut a square of material out logically (sides along the grain) then if you cut it diagonally you get a half square (and hypotenuse is diagonal to the grain) if ou cut it into 4 (across the diagonals) you have guarter triangles - the hypotenuse along the grain)So you see, unfortunately when you are not even in the world of patch you still have to still an listen to all this  - and I do listen.

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27/01/2009 by Kevin.

I have just been sent a press release from Village Green Quilters regarding their highly successfull quilt raffle in Farnham Maltings.  They raised over £900.  I have enclosed the press release. Village Green Quilters Press Release Jan 2009 Or go to their website  

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02/01/2009 by Kevin.

On Sunday 11th January 10-16:00 there are amazing bargains to be had.  Lots of local groups demonstrating and exhibiting.  There are also refreshments and a raffle.  A small admission charge is payable at the door.

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16/11/2008 by Kevin.

The exhibition was fantastic.  Every item looked superb in its own right, but together they combined to make something which was truely amazing.  Going by the comments people left in the guest book as well - the visitors thought the same.

I have added some photos on the web site under the Events section - and added the comments from the guest book - or go straight to the page here

Once again - well done to you all.

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02/06/2008 by Kevin.

There is an exhibition on Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd June - in the area of the University of Reading www.studiotrail.co.uk

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26/05/2008 by Kevin.

As a non-patcher, I am amazed by the obsession that people have with patchwork. If it was a drug then it would probably be regulated – it isn’t and I am sure there are a lot of partners around the world wishing it was regulated!  My wife has spent the whole bank holiday weekend designing an overly complicated sampler and then making it.

So what makes people so obsessive?  The house is full of loose threads that escape from the construction process – we have a loft full of cloth and threads. Every cupboard is bursting at the seams with all the paraphernalia that surrounds this so called ‘simple’ pastime.  As an outsider, it is difficult to see what the obsession is.  What seems odd is that once complete – the obsession ceases and it seems fine to give it away – or whatever.  So the challenge is in the planning and construction, not the having. 

Thinking about it, is it that different from people who obsessively complete crosswords, or sudoku puzzle books?

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