2011 April

Maltaville Album Quilt ~ I’m ready to start the centre…

April 29, 2011 by Margaret

image of Maltaville Album Quilt centre block pattern

I can’t wait to start cutting out fabric…

It seems to have taken so long to get to this stage.

For a long time it has been only in the first rough draft stage.

Just a basic outline with some very general placement to judge the spacing but this stage allows me to see how the shapes will fit and the scale the individual pieces need to be.

However straight away I wasn’t happy with the vine.

It was too uniform because I had used a compass to put the margins for the inside and outside of the vine, which is well and good for reference points but it needed to be more free-form.

Many versions (and days) later I had this -above- which I am happy with but all the shapes are hand drawn so they are not exactly the same…way too many templates.

At that point I was really itching to get the fabric out and start the block.

I thought “I can work off this drawing and make a good master copy later”.

I just wanted to start sewing.

But I controlled my natural impulsiveness and stayed focused…

I’m glad I did because I altered the stems again for the better, changing the way it branches off in to the corner roses.

And made templates for the shapes so that there won’t be a million different templates.

I figure that with the stitching little variances will occur anyway.

and fiddled about with the spacing again.

I think this way it will work well, there is a frame work there but still scope to place the flowers and leaves randomly.

I’m tossing up whether to add something to the middle (optional of course)

I could…

add an inscription or poem

applique something ~ bird? Not more grapes!

Or have it perfect for some intricate quilting.

Any suggestions?

3 Comments

Filed Under: Applique, Design, Maltaville Album Quilt 1847, Reproduction Quilts

Morrell and Valdani…and a new studio space

April 26, 2011 by Margaret

After my last post Kathie said she’d love to know what I think of the Valdani threads so I had a quick rummage around in the sewing room for something to have a little trial with…

A Sarah Morrell block in progress using RJR Smithsonian fabrics, from the Rising Sun Quilt collection... the chintz is Potpourri #2200 in Purple and the small print is Teardrop #2207 in Plum.

…then remembered this nearly finished bit of Broderie Perse for my Sarah Morrell quilt.

I had been using one strand of DMC for the stitching and had been around all the raw edges except for the purple roses because I didn’t have the right shade of purple in my DMC threads.

The Valdani ‘Antique Violet’ #P-10 was a perfect colour match even though in the photo it appears to be closer in shade to the pieced fabric…because of its variegations it blends beautifully (is variegations a word?)

I am a quilter who refuses to obey the rules and I cut my thread (but not DMC obviously) longer than fingertip to elbow…always have… and sometimes/frequently I am sorry I did that, but like Homer Simpson I keep doing it. But this thread didn’t tangle or knot, it didn’t shred -granted it is meant to be stronger than DMC- and because it’s a bit thicker it gives a really nice edge to the Broderie Perse.

I like it a lot.

If you click on the photo it will give you a close up view, then click again on the green arrow to get a bit closer still…all the purple is Valdani and everything else is DMC -single strand.

I was so inspired I added two of the border strips – all four have been made for ages – but I won’t make the corner pieces just yet as I am concentrating on other projects. So this block will go away again but it’s slowly progressing on its journey.

Very soon everything in my sewing space will be turned upside down and inside out because it’s moving to a new home…

Yes...at last !!

…I know, you can hardly see anything but I had to do some major photoshop cropping because I am embarrased about the weeds.

My gorgeous son told me 6 weeks ago that he’s got his own place and I have been counting the days until he vacates the little cottage at the bottom of the garden..and that day is Friday.

I will love having my own “I’m off to work now” space because it’s so easy to get distracted when working from inside the house even though I do set myself quite regimented working hours. The cottage has a little kitchenette (more ette than kitchen) but it’s big enough for a fridge, a couple of cups -for visitors – and a coffee machine, it has its own loo and even a shower so I may never need to come out. I’m planning on moving my computer and printer over there too so I will have my design space and office under one roof.

Pictures from the inside coming soon-ish

6 Comments

Filed Under: 1800s Reproduction Fabrics, Applique, Broderie Perse, Sarah Morrell Album Quilt 1843, Smithsonian Fabrics

Valdani Threads…

April 18, 2011 by Margaret

I went to AQC (Australian Quilt Convention) on Saturday and was volunteering all day (9-5) so the only time to do any shopping was lunchtime. I had arranged to meet up with Jennifer and ~as she’d had a chance to do a pre-purchase circuit~ the first shop she pointed me to was The Thread Studio. I had been looking for these threads at every show I’d been to since Jennifer told me about them~and posted about them here. The threads are from Romania, are Hand Overdyed, 35 weight 100% high merc. long staple cotton. (35 weight European = 24 weight American)

So now I have managed to get some…thanks Jenn for your eagle-eyed shopping skills

These will be beautiful to Broderie Perse with. I’ve laid them out on this piece of Smithsonian Broderie Perse-able fabric because it was the only fabric I could bring to mind when choosing thread colours in a hurry. But I see I should have slowed down and thought about it a bit more…too many orangey/reds.

I’m sure I’ll add some more colours but for now I’m happy to have found the threads, the Australian distributor and also Valdani’s website.

Link www.Valdani.com

9 Comments

Filed Under: Broderie Perse, Design

Paisleys part 2…

April 17, 2011 by Margaret

While poking around in tubs looking for more Paisleys I found this, so I’ll start off with a Paisley in progress…I’m not sure how many years this has been up on the shelf, but I do get it down now and again and sew another block or two…I know this will end up a fave quilt so one can’t rush these things.

King David's Crown

This is a Michelle Yeo pattern and I did the class with Michelle at Threadbear. I was able to source some more of that delicious red paisley from a friend so I could continue with the quilt as I feared I would not have enough. It’s Floral Bouquets and Fancies II by Sharon Yenter for In the Beginning Fabrics 2001. All the blocks will sit on that pale lemon ~ Treasures Uncovered c. 1870 by Mary Koval pattern # 25826 by Windham Fabrics.

Last time I finished up with a tempter about my French and Indian Paisleys…so I’ll start with a couple of photo’s of some lovely Provencal paisleys.

The first fabrics are from Les Olivades in St Etienne du Gres, France and are current repro’s of Fabrics reproduced in that area in the 17th century and are typically what I think of when I think of Provence.

This is a selection of provencal prints, along the same lines but from a variety of sources (and collected over many years). The one on the far left came from a friend, it’s the remnants from a dress she made.

These Indian ones I collected when I visited Rajasthan a few years ago. I believe these examples were produced in 1910 in Gujarat, Western India and you can read a bit more about them in an earlier post here so I’ve only added a few images.

I also collected a few cards from companies in Jaipur who are producing block printed textiles in the traditional way for clothes and home.

www.somashop.com

www.anokhi.com

This is what a traditional Indian wood block looks like…

…and wood blocks produce this type of quilt today.

a modern Indian quilt

My search through my French and Indian fabrics also led me to fabrics in my stash like this…

India Chintz 1730-1800 by Windham Fabrics pattern # 27850

…which opens a whole other can of worms.

I may need to do some further reading.

Stay tuned…

Links www.somashop.com the website has images of block printing today

www.anokhi.com the link to the museum of block printing, very interesting.

4 Comments

Filed Under: French Fabrics, Indiennes, Paisleys

I really can’t go past a good Paisley…

April 14, 2011 by Margaret

Paisley n. 1 a pattern of small curving shapes with intricate detailing, usually printed in bright colours. (Collins English dictionary)

I might beg to differ about the bright colours bit…

I’m a creature of habit and I like my 10 am flat white in my favourite paisley cup…I try to stick to one coffee a day, but sometimes the aroma gets the better of me.

Its textile origins are Indian and Persian but the East India Company brought the Paisley shape to the rest of the world in the first half of the 17th century and production soon after began in Europe when the demand became too high. Marseilles in France was the forerunner (1640) but England and Holland soon followed.

Indian wood block for block printing fabric.

New Zealand doesn’t really have a textile industry but in the 1970s New Zealand’s own Crown Lyn pottery produced these beautys which I have now aquired from my Mum…yes these have survived in her cupboards for that long. Cute huh?

A little bit of Kiwi nostalgia.

But I digress…back to fabric

The industrial town of Paisley in Scotland was a centre for the manufacture of thread and linen in the 19th century and also the production of Paisley Shawls…the name taken from the town’s name.

I don’t know why I love paisleys so much…but I always have and I got some of my faves out to show you.

I couldn’t find a skerrick of this one in my stash when I went looking…but there must be some left because I had metres of it, metres and metres. However, here it is in a finished quilt.

A classic selection of Paisleys…anything in here you recognise? Some have been in the stash a while.

Red is probably the colour I use most in quilts and I have some lovely red paisleys.

I hope you’re not getting giddy…it’s visual overload isn’t it.

Got to have some light ones

Some I bought metres of with grandiose intentions of making something long since forgotten.

A serious paisley collector also needs a selection of different scaled paisleys…some small, some big, some inbetween.

I usually stick to only buying reproduction fabric but I really can’t go past a good paisley so if even if it’s modern I frequently succumb.

I even wear Paisley…

You won't lose me in a crowd.

And I haven’t even started on the two tubs of French Paisleys plus the Indian stuff

To be continued…

6 Comments

Filed Under: 1800s Reproduction Fabrics, Paisleys

Some more Links…Not quilts but just as addictive.

April 12, 2011 by Margaret

I’ve been playing about with my blog this morning while eating my toast…and I decided to add some extra blog links on the sidebar.

Even though I spend more time than I should looking at quilting blogs…so addictive…I also manage to peek at these few I’ve added when I ought to be doing other things.

I want to bring your attention particularly to From Little Acorns which I found a while back by linking from Sue’s I Sew Quilts, thanks Sue. I first *discovered* this delightful young couple years go on my favourite TV show Grand Designs. They were newly married and building there first home (an Oak Frame house) in an area of Britain I had recently visited…you know how it is, such a tenuous connection but I became interested by their story and I was delighted to find them on Sue’s blog and to see what they had been doing in the years between.

The blog list is heavily stacked towards what I have politely called House Candy…that is, it’s a chance to ogle at other people’s gorgeous homes and gardens…so if you like to do that too, there may be something there you’ll find interesting.

Til soon…

6 Comments

Filed Under: Musings

Aoteoroa…the land of the long white cloud.

April 8, 2011 by Margaret

I’m back from New Zealand, otherwise known as Aoteoroa (translation above) and had a busy but enjoyable time with my Mum, just tending to some things I had left undone on my last hurried visit, and I’m happy that is all well with her.

Despite my intention to blog while I was away, it was a bit of a challenge to even check and reply to emails. I was in the lower-centre of the North Island and frequently drove to the top of a hill to be able to check my emails, so it may be the Land of the Long White Cloud but, where my folks live, it’s definitely not the Land of the Hi-speed Broadband Internet. I think I was being a weeny bit optimistic as I’ve always known you have to stand on a chair at the end of the driveway if you want to use your mobile phone at my brother’s house…I am really not kidding.

All that aside, I did take some pictures of a very beautiful part of the country. These were taken in the Manawatu region, in the Pohangina Valley. And I squeezed in a visit to a cousin who weaves Maori cloaks and she kindly let me photograph them to show you, she recycles materials for an alternative way of acheiving a very traditional artform.

This is always my first view from up the hill before dropping down, crossing the river and going up the hill on the other side.

Have to cross this stream before going up the last steep hill to my home away from home.

Autumn has well and truly started, my favourite season wherever I am.

View from the back of the house, a pretty spot to relax and catch up with family.

My cousin Rata is a teacher of Maori language and culture. In her spare time she likes to make Maori clothing but experimenting with alternatives to the traditional flax…it is a very long process to strip the flax and roll it to get just one fibre, though it is still done.

This is a finished cloak, Rata has replaced the traditional flax fibre with wool. On the front feathers are added and woven to the wool until you reach the bottom of the cloak.