Wednesday Wonderings

Another month and another Wander and Wonder. But where? And what? And who?

Here’s a clue (or two)

Two of our intrepid explorers set off, crossed into another country (Croeso Y Cymru it said – but it doesn’t say Welcome to England on the other side!) then stopped for lunch (as you do) where we were offered free crumpets with butter and jam along with our meal. It would have been rude to refuse. Wouldn’t it? Much fortified we pressed on over hill and down dale to the first stop on our wandering/wondering adventure. Llanidloes, the Minerva Art Centre and the Welsh Heritage Quilters exhibition. The exhibition finishes very soon but do go if you are anywhere nearby as it was well worth the stop, and was raising money for the RNLI.

Back in the car and on we went – over mountain and down into valley, admiring (?) the floods as we travelled – reaching our final destination just around tea-time to find our other friends had arrived only a few seconds earlier. The fire lit, the central heating turned up and the kettle on we settled down to rest and recuperate – and catch up on news and, of course, eat another meal.

The following morning we set off again – you may (or may not) be wondering where we went. The clue is in the map above! A truly wonderful and joyous exhibition at the Welsh Quilt Centre – do seriously try to find the time to go. A visit to Calico Kate afterwards was a definite requirement after lunch next door and a few purchases may have been made but you will just have to wonder what and by whom – our lips are sealed! The same applies to the the visit to Jen Jones shop afterwards . . . But we all coveted the quilt that one of us bought.

We had a much longer trip the next day. Where to you may wonder – especially as none of us managed to take any photos – but it was something two of us had long wanted to see and we managed to persuade the others that it would be worth the journey in the rain. And it was. The video explaining all the design and organisation that went into the The Invasion Tapestry project was an excellent adjunct to the exhibition. (Invasion? What invasion? The French invasion of Wales near Fishguard during the Napoleonic Wars – the last time the UK was invaded). If you go to see it we can recommend the pub lunch we had in the pub opposite, where the surrender was signed.

It was time to set off back home – once more over mountains and along valleys, the floods subsiding slightly. And another stop for another excellent lunch, with a view this time, before returning to reality and self-catering! (If you are wondering where we stopped you will have to wait until our next Wandering post – but it wasn’t Loch Ness).

Back home we realised we were in time to visit yet another show. Should we go we wondered. Well . . . why not?! Which show? The one at Uttoxeter of course. Chris managed a couple of general photos as the show opened and the gallery was still quiet. A few things may have been purchased . . . but we’re not telling!

Wednesday Wanderings

A different wander this week as both of us went on ‘retreat’ to Birmingham clutching assorted bags of fabric, sewing kit and other ‘useful stuff’ while wondering if we had enough with us to keep us happily sewing for three whole days.

Coffee break (with plenty of sticky cake and biscuits) provided an opportunity to take a photo or two of the sewing room we were in.

Chris, of course, couldn’t let a sunny day (or three) go to waste so took a few breaks to go walk-about. You say you’re off to Birmingham and most people pull a face imagining an urban/industrial sprawl but there’s lots of lovely green in and around Brum and we were on the edge of the Lickey Hills.

So – did we actually get anything stitched together? Barbara was hand sewing a few blocks that had been awaiting attention for a while and Chris got the sewing machine red-hot while putting together a Trip Around The World top.

Many thanks to Judi and Jonathan for organising the weekend and to all our fellow retreaters who produced some fabulous work (and had very covetable fabrics too) which Chris utterly failed to photograph.

April Doodles

Not the most attractive of block titles for this month’s Doodles – Flying Fist – but behind the fierce name is a simple to piece block which has a lot of movement. Here it is with the EQ Library default colouring –

On to simple settings and sashings – we were surprised at the differences that small changes made to the overall appearance.

And then there are the on-point options

Our Technical Department have put together a pdf of templates for an 8inch block and also EQs rotary cutting instructions.

Wednesday Wonderings

This week we are wondering (or have wondered by now) what to demo at the group meeting – ‘random scraps’ was apparently what was offered so some of the smaller scraps have been pulled from the bags and much frantic wondering has taken place.

The next (bigger?) problem is what to take for a whole weekend of sewing away from home and the comfort of a stash and scrap bags and lots of threads and . . . the whole sewing room will not fit into the car. So far Chris has pulled these fabrics

but as for a plan – Trip Around the World? Bargello? Something more imaginative? But then again away from home, stick with something you know how to do?? Decisions need to be made! Wonder what Barbara has decided?

Wednesday Wanderings

A wander nearer to home this week where the trees are still bare

and the snowdrops are nearly over

but the catkins are appearing in the hedgerows – signs of Spring!

And in the woodland a rather colourful little fungus called Elf Cups – and you can see why.

All this wandering means that very little sewing gets done but a promised demo at the next group meeting plus a weekend retreat coming up soon means finding fabric and getting something sorted . . . Procrastination rules, as ever.

March doodles

Our March Doodles are based on the block Greek Square shown here in the default colouring from the Electric Quilt Library.

Straightforward sashings are a simple and easy way to set blocks together into a quilt and it is worth taking a moment or two to consider the width of the sashings and also the colour of the sashings . Let’s start with zero sashings, just an edge to edge straight setting –

What a difference this sashing makes! But is the next sashing too heavy?

Adding a border can change the perceived proportions – in a good way.

Which border and sashing combination do you think is the most pleasing?

And then the delight of turning things on point –

You can download templates for a 9 inch Greek Square block here or EQs rotary cutting instructions here .

Wednesday Wonderings

Recently one of our followers found a block we had mentioned in passing and wondered how best to piece the middle unit. The block in question was part of our Stellar Sampler series from 2022 and was called Phoenix.

You can quite see the dilemma when you look at it, as the unit resembles a block sometimes called Tippecanoe and features a shallow Y-seam. Thanks to the genius of EQ we have come up with templates for 9 inch and 12 inch blocks for you to download.

As for instructions, we also found another block also called Tippecanoe but more usually called Crossed Canoes which has no Y-seam and can be foundation pieced for extra accuracy – once again we have the foundation papers for this unit for both 9inch and 12inch Phoenix Star blocks. Illustrated (brief) instructions for making this central unit can be downloaded here.

Wednesday Wanderings

Chris went wandering away from home again – back to the north Norfolk coast to do a bit of bird watching this time. To see the birds travelling from coast to fields inland and vice-versa meant being up before dawn and staying out until after sunset. But the views were worth it. Early morning sun can be spectacular – in real life this was such a bright red/orange it looked like a flare across the sky.

Not too many photos were taken (and most of them were out of focus!) but here are just a few.

Sadly no photos of the most spectacular sight of all – murmurations of Knot over the Wash in the early morning sunlight – the phone (and Chris) just wasn’t capable of capturing this magical view. And the sound of large flocks of Curlew (and Lapwings) brought back happy childhood memories.

February doodles

We’re always intrigued by names of blocks – our selection this month from the EQ Block Library has the title “Hither & Yon”. Our 2024 Doodle policy is to take the EQ default colouring of a block and to use the settings, sashings and border options to investigate some of the possibilities. So, first the block –

And on to a straight edge to edge setting

First comes the temptation to move the blocks around –

An on point setting looks totally different with a surprising optical illusion –

Turn the blocks around keeping the on point setting –

Sashing can make quite a difference visually, and can make the whole “putting together ” process easier to manage –

Sometimes it’s worth considering having space for quilting –

Download PDFs here Hither and Yon rotary 8 inch Hither and Yon rotary 8 inch for templates and rotary cutting instructions for an 8inch block.

Wednesday Wonderings

Yes, you did read that correctly. As we left you last year we said to carry on ‘wandering and wondering’ - so we thought we would do as we said (for a change).

Recently Chris was wondering and pondering that usual problem with Log Cabin blocks – how best to join them, what pattern looked better than the others in those particular colours? EQ can give a few ideas but shuffling the blocks around on the floor helps a lot more – with decisions, if not knees and back. Here’s a few that looked ok

And this is how it finally ended up.