Challenge

Recently I have agreed to take part in a challenge with some quilters from Canada. The challenge was to make a super-duper block (suitable for the centre piece of a quilt) and then the participants were to make blocks of the same area but not the same size. So, if a block was 10" x 10" you could make four blocks 5" x 5" etc. This was a bit challenging not only from the sewing perspective, but also mathematically!

Here is one of the challenge blocks I received. It is fabulous! There is Mariner's Compass underneath, and then Celtic knotwork on top! There is no way I would ever be able to make anything as good as this. But the question was, what could I make to go with it? Lots of head-scratching later and a bit of research (that's what you call flipping through magazines, isn't it?) I decided to do curved flying geese.

And here they are! It would have been better if I'd made one set go to the left and the other to the right, but I'm sure the recipient will manage to make the best of them. They are winging their way over the Atlantic next week, so at least they're ready!

Three down, two to go!

In true Master of Patience? fashion, I have been getting a bit bored with my challenge to finish 5 quilts by the end of the month. Despite Peg kindly trying to keep me motivated by giving me a second award, I got a bit distracted.My excuse is that we are having a Bag Day at Rocheberie Quilters in September, and I had offered to demo an easy bag I had made a while ago. I had one example (the one which I showed in my first blog entry) but decided I needed another. Why cut up good fabric when I had a piece which had already been cut up previously? My curved flying geese had ended up in the UFO box, and would make a great bag!

Here is my sample just before I sewed it together,

and here is the bag! Luckily I had some of the navy fabric left for the bag base, and more of the green/blue batik for binding and handles.

Some buttons which came out of my button jar added the perfect embellishment, and the lining is another piece of blue/green fabric with yellow. Couldn't have been a better match if I'd been out and chosen it specially.

Another UFO out of the box, a reduced stash and a bag to show my green credentials at the supermarket!

Curved flying geese

Today I was lucky enough to have attended a workshop with Pat Deacon, who showed us how to make curved flying geese. Pat is a superb quilter - especially famous for her prize-winning quilts featuring curved geometric shapes in primary colours - but, even better in my book, an ex-secondary school teacher, who is used to teaching, and does so clearly and concisely.

We were given a refresher on foundation piecing the no-fail way (it really was!) and then encouraged to draw our own curved flying geese patterns, before sewing them onto freezer paper. It never ceases to amaze me how wonderful other people's colours are! The participants used every colour combination imaginable, including black and white (stunning) and pink and orange (wow!). I went for my old favourites the analogous colours, this time blue, yellow and green.

Here is my piece ready for the final seam to be sewn. Pat advocates the use of 'invisible' tape instead of pins. I have to agree, pins do distort the seams slightly, so I've been giving this a go. It's good for hand-sewing, and I'll let you know how I get on with the machine.