MakeFest Update

Wow what a day!  Thank you to everyone who came by our stall at Makefest.  We were rushed off our feet.  A special 'thanks' to Adriana, Liz, Susan and Nichola for volunteering!  I could not have managed without you.  The event was amazing.  The only down side is that we didn't have time to look around the other booths!  Maybe next year.

We have over 200 hexagons made by people of all ages and in several different languages.  There are also pictures of puppy dogs and bunny rabbits which will also be used as part of the quilt design.  I'm playing around with them to design on a pattern, and am leaning towards flowers. The other side will have all of the "writings" on it.  Can't wait to read them.

I had the pleasure of meeting the lovely Women of Westhoughton last night.  They have made some for our project.  Thanks!

Museum of Science and Industry MakeFest 2015

This year we will be part of #MakeFest2015 at the Museum of Science and Industry.  We will be teaching people how to do traditional English Paper Piecing and making a community quilt.  Would you like to volunteer to help out on the stall?  Just get in touch.  Here's an overview of our project.

Here's a video link for paper piecing hexagons video

Quilting circles in a virtual world. 

 Overview

We’ll be promoting our new social enterprise, Breightmet Long Arm Quilting Studio, and working on a social media quilt project.  We’ll be teaching how to do English Paper Piecing (hexagons) and having people write a secret message on the underneath side of the paper which will be revealed when the quilt top is complete. The theme of this project is "comfort".  I’ve chosen this topic because quilts are comforting, something to snuggle up under when we are cold or ill or relaxing on a lazy Sunday morning. When the quilt is complete, and the paper is removed, I will tweet the positive messages daily and do regular Facebook and blog posts as the quilt progresses. People can join in the “virtual quilt-a-long” or visit our studios and work on the project with us.  I'll also use the text as my quilt design using on our long arm quilting machine.

Workshop

We will be teaching visitors how to make a quilt using traditional English Paper Piecing.  Visitors can make-and-take a small sample of patchwork with them which can be finished at home and can join in our virtual quilt project. 

People have been using this technique for centuries.  It is simple and effective. All ages are welcome and no experience is required.  It’s also good fun.

Sun Printing: Experiment One

I've been wanting to try this for ages: Sun Printing.  It's pretty straight forward, you paint over your fabric and place what ever objects you want to make an outline of on top, which blocks the sun from exposing the pigment.  First, I covered some cardboard with bin bags (need a water proof surface to put your fabric on) and chose some flower cuttings to print.

Here's my diy plates... easy peasy

 

 

Here's a couple of pictures with the plants scattered on the fabric..... I also wanted to try adding some text.  I used plain copy paper but I was too thin.  I think I need something that won't soak up the paint.

 

 

In the bottom picture, I have shifted the bleeding hearts to see if it was ready...  The areas with the most details were where the plants were pressed firmly against the cloth.   I'm pleased with the results but will alter the way I use the plants in the future.  Here are some close up pictures.  The whitest areas are where the plants were flat.

 

Will be doing some more of these in the future, weather permitting...LOL

 

Block of the Month Update

We've been busy making new blocks for our sea side quilt-a-long.  I'm planning to scan in the applique templates so you can join in.  Here are our last two blocks:

Light house

Beach Huts

Allotment Textile Art Collaboration with Susan Syddall

I spent yesterday with textile artist Susan Syddall experimenting with new image making techniques and fabric dyeing as part of a brainstorming exercise for an upcoming exhibition: Allotment.  The project is a mixture of independent and community art work.  We will be visiting various allotments in Bolton to collect stories about planting, growing, brewing up and all things in between.  It will also be an opportunity for our studios to get involved in the project and try something new.

We had a go dyeing fabric with eucalyptus bark...

 

And image transfer on to fabric....

 

But we spent most of our time brainstorming and eating biscuits.



Block of the Month and Quilt-A-Long

We are now on our second block for our "seaside sampler".  The first block was a sailboat.  Jackie has embellished hers with top stitched waves, appliqued sun, a cross stitched anchor and embroidered birds.  If you would like to make one yourself, here is the pattern. http://www.generations-quilt-patterns.com/sailboat-quilt-block.html

 

Our second quilt block is called "whirligig".  It's a simple spiral shape which can be stitched together 'as is' or as chevrons.  Here's a picture of the block made both ways. Here is the pattern http://delawarequilts.com/BOMs/Whirligig/index.html

I'll be posting all our patterns here on our blog.  If you fancy having a go, we'd love to see some pictures. 

Gawthorpe Hall

 

Yesterday I had the privilege of seeing a few of the lovingly made quilts from the Textile Collection and help Rachel (the curator) to photograph and archive 3 of their quilts.  The process was fascinating.  All of the quilts are stored in protective boxes with tissue paper and polyester film to prevent damage.  Each quilt is taken out of the box, while wearing white gloves) and accessed to see if it is sturdy enough to hang and be photographed.  If it is deemed to be too fragile, it is placed on the floor instead. 

Rachel inspects each quilt looking for clues to determine the date, fabric content, origin, damage and social relevance.  The quilt in the picture above had magenta fabric in it which was a new dye colour in the late 1860's.  The blue and white fabric in the very centre was from much earlier, and was probably the most precious fabric.  Much like today, we tend to put our best/favourite fabric in the centre or as the focal piece.

This quilt is actually an incomplete one.  It is only the top of the quilt.  It was paper pieced and had the original papers still inside.  You can read hand written words and numbers on it.  Fascinating.  Here is a close up.

 

The next quilt was stripy "thrift" quilt.  The wadding was mainly made from a woven blanket, but had a cut up wool jumper in it.  You can see the shape of the sweater outlined in the sunlight.

This section of the quilt (where the jumper was used) was very damaged.  It isn't clear why.  It could be something to do with the inserted jumper. It's hard to say. (Here's a picture of the back and front of the quilt)

The last quilt we looked at was a "whole cloth" quilt.  The front and back are one continuous piece of fabric, versus a pieced top.  It's design or art work was added through the quilting process.  They are much harder to photograph, as you can see.  Whole cloth quilts were mainly made in the North Country and in Wales.  Rachel used the clues in the design to work out which area it was from.

Thank you Rachel and Vanessa (Director) for inviting me to visit you at Gawthorpe Hall.  We are working on some exciting partnership visits in the near future.