Looking back at 2014, welcoming in 2015

I've been a bit quite on the blogging front for the last few weeks. Many of you know that I suffer from CFS and the last month has been very rough. So here's hoping for a better 2015!

Square Spiral - 2014

So as 2014 draws to a close, I thought I would take a little look back at the year and it's quilts.

Fracture 2014

2014 has been a year of contrast; a year of ending and beginning; a year of significant loss and significant gains, a year of major change.

Sidetracked 2014

I have had to face the fact that illness is long term and life changing. I have lost my job, my income, my career, much of my social life and many friends. I have had to accept a life at a much slower pace and that there are many things that I can no longer do at the moment and everything I do manage takes soooo much longer to complete.

Learning Curves in 9 Squares - 2014

It is also the year I decided to take my quilting seriously. For the first time ever, I started to enter quilt shows and in 2014 I have won 5 ribbons, including a first and second category placement and one for machine quilting.

Black on white, White on black - 2014

It has also been my first year of serious blogging. I have discovered a whole new community that I never knew existed. I have seen thousands of quilts and textile art that have thrilled and inspired. I have also formed some wonderful 'quilting buddies'.

Cosmic Split 2014

As well as following others on their quilting journey, I love getting to know others, seeing where they live and learning a bit about other countries and cultures. Thanks to Google Earth, I can even get an idea of what the countryside looks like in their part of the world. So, if you do visit regularly - do let me know where you live so I can look you up!

Going to Pieces 2014

In the UK it has also been a year of many mild and sunny days - and quilting in the garden!!

Round the Bend in 12 Squares

I wish you all a happy, healthy and quilt productive 2015!

Thanks for visiting and all your comments and encouragement throughout the year.

Hilary Florence

Please find below a list of linky parties. I may not link with all of the every week, but with some of them most weeks. Please go and have a look at some of the other wonderful quilts and quilters there.

Linky Tuesday at Free motion by  the river­­­­ @ http://www.conniekresin.com/

WIP Wednesday at freshly pieced   @   http://www.freshlypieced.com/

WIP Wednesday at TN + TN  @  http://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.ca/

I Quilt Thursdays @ http://prettybobbins.com/

Off the wall Fridays @ http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.co.uk/

Lizzie Lenard @  http://lizzielenard-vintagesewing.blogspot.co.uk   

Finish Friday @ http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.co.uk/

Messing about

My gold squares are coming on, but I thought I would have an injection of colour this week.

I have been messing about with paper, acrylic, home-made funky foam stamps and dyes.
No plan, no rules, no objective, no purpose, no thinking, no need for good results.

We had a day of blue sky and warm sunshine - in December!!! I couldn't resist the temptation to get back to working in the garden.

In no particular order, with no rhyme or reason, the results:

Thanks for visiting...

Hilary Florence

Please find below a list of linky parties. I may not link with all of the every week, but with some of them most weeks. Please go and have a look at some of the other wonderful quilts and quilters there.

Linky Tuesday at Free motion by  the river­­­­ @ http://www.conniekresin.com/

WIP Wednesday at freshly pieced   @   http://www.freshlypieced.com/

WIP Wednesday at TN + TN  @  http://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.ca/

I Quilt Thursdays @ http://prettybobbins.com/

Off the wall Fridays @ http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.co.uk/

Lizzie Lenard @  http://lizzielenard-vintagesewing.blogspot.co.uk   

Finish Friday @ http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.co.uk/

Round the Bend squares 3 and 4

The next 2 squares for Round the Bend 2 are complete.

This is the top row left hand corner, using the motif 'Encore'. It is important to audition the motifs for the amount of curves in each square. Here the curves are very tight, so need a smallish, flexible motif. Encore is quite simple - which often gives the most flexibility. It is also very quick and easy.

This is the next row down, still on the left hand side. You haven't seen this motif before and I have yet to come up for a name, but it is sort of based on an alternating round and square snail shell. No, we don't have square snails in south Devon UK (although I have thousands of the round variety)- I do have imagination!!

Here are the 2 squares aligned together. 

Happy Thanksgiving to all US visitors!

Thanks for visiting...

Hilary Florence

Please find below a list of linky parties. I may not link with all of the every week, but with some of them most weeks. Please go and have a look at some of the other wonderful quilts and quilters there.

Linky Tuesday at Free motion by  the river­­­­ @ http://www.conniekresin.com/

WIP Wednesday at freshly pieced   @   http://www.freshlypieced.com/

WIP Wednesday at TN + TN  @  http://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.ca/

I Quilt Thursdays @ http://prettybobbins.com/

Off the wall Fridays @ http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.co.uk/

Lizzie Lenard @  http://lizzielenard-vintagesewing.blogspot.co.uk   

Finish Friday @ http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.co.uk/

Be Careful for Asking for What you Want...

... you might just get it! The well know phrase is meant as a warning getting what we want doesn't always turn out quite as thrilling as we had expected. But in this case, I rather think it has.

In my post on 'Round the Bend in 12 Squares'...

...entered into the West Country Quilt Show, I said I secretly wanted the prize for Machine Quilting - and I got it - and I am thrilled!!

Thanks so much to Muv of Lizzy Lenard Vintage Sewing who went to the show on day one and emailed me this photo as soon as she got home.

So, with all this gold fabric I now have, I aggonised for a few days over a possible gold version - would it work without the change of colour per square? Would this or that be better? And then I got fed up with myself. Do you see Norma Shlager whinging over what might or might not work in her Skinny Wriggly series? No. Do you see Heather Pregger holding back on Tuning Fork Series? No. (Both series worth a visit - see my side bar) So stop whinging, prevaricating, procrastinating and just do it, and if it doesn't work, move on to number 3.

So here is the start of Round the Bend 2!
A few of you have asked how I get the lines to join together. Quite simply, I draw the whole thing out in one piece and then cut it up into squares.

Here it is once I've quilted in the lines. There is no way to mark this gold fabric without leaving a permanent line, so I've stitched it from the back...

... and here is a detail from the front. Then working from the front I can fill each square with pattern.

This is the top line, middle square, as yet with no binding. I start with sewing around the square as close to the edge as I can go to hold it all in place. It is quite useful to be able to start the design outside of the square when curves are involved, which you can see I have done at the top. Of course, this is only possible on and outside edge - it gets a bit tricky quilting at the other edges of the square.

 This is top row, right hand square. At the moment, my plan is to cut out the central unquilted curve that runs through the piece and have it black. That may change when I see it all together.

Here are the two squares side by side, as yet unbound. I think, as I feared, the change in pattern alone without a change in thread colour, is not going to be enough to distinguish the squares. However, I've started so I will finish!! 

Thanks for visiting...

Hilary Florence

Please find below a list of linky parties. I may not link with all of the every week, but with some of them most weeks. Please go and have a look at some of the other wonderful quilts and quilters there.

Linky Tuesday at Free motion by  the river­­­­ @ http://www.conniekresin.com/

WIP Wednesday at freshly pieced   @   http://www.freshlypieced.com/

WIP Wednesday at TN + TN  @  http://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.ca/

I Quilt Thursdays @ http://prettybobbins.com/

Off the wall Fridays @ http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.co.uk/

Lizzie Lenard @  http://lizzielenard-vintagesewing.blogspot.co.uk   

Finish Friday @ http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.co.uk/

The same but not the same - the quest for the perfect gold fabric

My first trial on gold foil fabric just happened, by chance, to be on the perfect gold fabric - the remains of a fat quarter that I had bought locally. Cotton backed, it didn't fray, cut well into the smallest sliver, quilted like a dream, did not split, had a lovely soft handle and was a beautiful rich colour gold. It's only imperfection was it appeared no longer to be available - not locally, not on any quilting shop website nationally or internationally. I sourced, bought and tried about 6 other gold foil fabrics, none of which came up to the standard of my first.

Then, a friend of a friend sent me a fat quarter that she had found at the FOQ in Birmingham. Yes, this was it, the real deal, my original super-duper fabric!! I rang up the supplier (Bramble Patch UK for any one interested). Yes, they had it in stock. No they didn't always have it, couldn't always get it and couldn't say when or why they would/wouldn't have it. So even though it was quite expensive, I bought 10 meters - AND IT IS NOT THE SAME!!

It is close, much closer than the others. It is cotton backed, it does cut well and doesn't fray. The colour is the identical rich gold. It is the handle that is different. It feels like there is a thicker layer of plastic over the gold making it much stiffer. Where as my original and the fat quarter sent by my friend, handled like any other fabric, this is more like a plastic table cloth. It tends to drag and pucker a bit when quilting.

So, I've been trying to adapt to it - after all, I now have 10 meters to use!

I think what works the best is to alternate very dense with more open patterns.

Thanks for visiting...

Hilary Florence

Please find below a list of linky parties. I may not link with all of the every week, but with some of them most weeks. Please go and have a look at some of the other wonderful quilts and quilters there.

Linky Tuesday at Free motion by  the river­­­­ @ http://www.conniekresin.com/

WIP Wednesday at freshly pieced   @   http://www.freshlypieced.com/

WIP Wednesday at TN + TN  @  http://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.ca/

I Quilt Thursdays @ http://prettybobbins.com/

Off the wall Fridays @ http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.co.uk/

Lizzie Lenard @  http://lizzielenard-vintagesewing.blogspot.co.uk   

Going, Going, Gone Round the Bend in 12 Sqaures

Round the Bend in 12 Squares in now finished and its way to the South West Quilt Show - this is my 'local' show in the south west of the UK .

This photo makes me think I need to improve my photographic skills - which might mean getting some decent lights! It doesn't do justice to the colours, but you do get an idea of the flow of one square into the next and the shading given by the variation in quilting density. This is entered into the large wallhanging category - but you know secretly I am after the free motion quilting prize!!

I went a bit crazy taking photos for the transition from one square to the next - sit back and enjoy!

Thanks for visiting...

Hilary Florence

Please find below a list of linky parties. I may not link with all of the every week, but with some of them most weeks. Please go and have a look at some of the other wonderful quilts and quilters there.

Linky Tuesday at Free motion by  the river­­­­ @ http://www.conniekresin.com/

WIP Wednesday at freshly pieced   @   http://www.freshlypieced.com/

WIP Wednesday at TN + TN  @  http://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.ca/

I Quilt Thursdays @ http://prettybobbins.com/

Off the wall Fridays @ http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.co.uk/

Lizzie Lenard @  http://lizzielenard-vintagesewing.blogspot.co.uk   

Finish Friday @ http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.co.uk/