ARTICLES FROM NEWSLETTER JUNE 2006

INTERNATIONAL QUILTING DAY

International Quilting Day was spent by a few of Weston Quilters preparing the stand fabrics for our show in September. A big thank-you goes to the following:-

The super cutters - Jenny, KarenS, Karen LP and Vicki McHugh

Super Machinists - Molly, Verity, Jean Guard, Den Abrams and Liz Hooper

Super Steam Room Girls - Beverley, Sheila, Helen G and Chris Lawrence

Selvedge cutters - Sue Hart and Jean Counsell

Life Saver Teas - Arlene Jones

I hope I have not forgotten anyone, but a big Thank You to everyone.

The day started early and the first batch of fabric was being cut as the gang arrived. It was a busy day from 9.30 to 3.30 and all the fabric was cut, pressed and mostly stitched. 

I know Penny was most appreciative as she had planned the day, ordered the fabric and set us on our way.

We had a surprise visit from Penny with Cyril and we were all so pleased to see Penny up and about.  We also had Betty Med and hubby, which was great as it is a long time since Betty has been able to come to our monthly meetings"

All-in-all a constructive and most welcome day.  We hope to be all set for the quilts to hang in unison in September.

RONI TAPLIN

THE ART OF THE STITCH AND SCHOLAR

I was very luck, not only to have this exhibition on my doorstep, but also to have a friend with a free ticket.  The Royal West of England Academy is only five minutes away from my office and so I spent a most enjoyable lunch hour looking at the pieces.

In order to promote embroidery in its various forms as a valid art form, the Embroiderer’s Guild started the innovative biennial open exhibition in 1995.  STITCH is the sixth exhibition and this year is accompanied by SCHOLAR, an exhibition of work from Guild Scholars since 1995.

On the day I visited I also benefited from being read to.  A piece of work from the collection had been selected which was reminiscent of a piece of John Keat’s poetry.  Consequently we heard the story of Isabella; or the Pot of Basil whilst looking at ‘Overgrown’ by Marian Smit.  A very long poem about unrequited love, murder and the most bizarre keeping of the beloved’s head in a pot of basil.  Once concluded I could see why the connection between the two had been made.

Once serenaded I proceeded to take in the rest of the exhibition.  Using many forms of construction, it was a most intriguing collection.  I recognised many construction techniques, which were used in more unusual ways.

Lynn Setterington produced a piece called Carrier Bags.  It used recycled carrier bags, which were made into Suffolk puffs.  Pieced together in a large rectangle, the dark blue puffs spelled out ‘Recycled carrier bags’.

Susan Wood’s piece, ‘Looking North, Looking South’ was based on the landscape of rural Australia.  More recognisable to us quilters, with machine and hand quilting to give different textures to the hand died fabrics.

Clare Proctor produced a piece called ‘All the same but different’, which I liked.  She used felt flowers (all the same) which were pieced so they curved upwards and gave it a 3D effect.  Each centre was embroidered with French knots.

I also enjoyed a piece by Sandra Flower.  As being a cross stitcher in my past life I found Rambling Sieve in Rose Pink Yarn most entertaining.  A rose stitched across the mesh of a flour sieve aiming to provoke thoughts about domesticity and questioning the English obsession with keeping up appearances of the perfect home.

I thought it was a clever and amusing use of objects around us.

SPRING QUILT FESTIVAL, EXETER

I arrived at the exhibition Site on Saturday 11 March to find the car park a quarter full and no queues at the entrance.  Inside the traders stalls were well spaced out, giving us an unhindered view of all the stock of books, fabrics, buttons, card making materials and lots more.

The exhibition of quilts was well presented and colourful.  There were nine different collections of quilts and two competitions: Art Deco Revisited, which varied greatly, and Rhythm and Blues, which was mainly musical instruments.

One of the collections was Long Arm Quilting Revealed, where different people had made quilts and either Fran Jones or Mandy Parks had used a long arm quilter to quilt them, giving us an insight into the different techniques you can get by using a long arm quilter.

Another collection was Painting with Fabric by Jenny Lancaster.  These were mainly animals including a stag, an Amazon parrot, an elephant and, my favourite, a male lion.

There were several collections from past challenges including the Weadon 2004 and 2005.

The dates for next year’s show are the 9th – 11th March 2007.

The Festival challenge theme is ‘Black and White’ and the South West Challenge 2007 theme is ‘Summer Delight’    So get sewing……

STASH !

Overheard on my trip to the quilt show in America

Granny to her friend:

"Well, I've got the grandaughter started on patchwork and she loves it.  Now I have to explain to Grandad that her 'stash' is not an illegal substance.”

JEAN GUARD