Foundation Piecing

Over the next 2 weeks all my classes will be enagaged in foundation piecing. For the beginners this will be an introduction, for others, a refresher and for many, old hat!!

In prepping for one of my classes I remembered Carol Doak's website. She is undisputed FP expert and if you check out her website (look left) you will find lots of free patterns to download for personal use.

In the meantime, looks like the weather is turning to a quilting front....................

Rural Views..........

So, last night I was off to Barr to give a wee talk to the Upper Stinchar WRI. It's many years since I was last in Barr (as a rent collector!!).........I took the coast road and what a beautiful evening it was as I drove down, Ailsa Craig was standing very clear and dramatic as the sun was setting.
As I turned off the road at Old Dailly, the sign said 4 miles, apparently I was following "the corkscrew". The windfarm was a new sight since my last visit and as I climbed up into the hills they became larger and larger until I was surrounded by turbines, they were turning quite slowly and with the contours of the hills the whole effect was quite spooky - I am sure there is probably a quilt in it somewhere!! After a very long 4 miles, I arrived in the village, feeling somewhat mesmerised by my twisty drive.

The ladies were very welcoming and seemed to enjoy my quilts - if any of them are visiting this blog, many thanks for the invite and for your hospitality.

My return journey was dark, and incident free..........

Half Term

Sunday, and I am thinking of all the things I want to do this week when there are no classes on................think I might be overestimating my capabilities!
I keep thinking of things I would like to make for Christmas - those of you from the Thursday a.m. class will have seen (pink) Carol's lovely Patchwork Pup which was imaginatively named "Patch"- well I want to make one for my wee nephew for Christmas and have already purchased the fat 1/4s. I did a bit of searching on the net to see if I could source a free pattern for you all and found a great slide show of completed pups at flickr. (email me for link) It also has some diagrams of the construction of the pup - basically made from heaps of squares, Carol's were 2 1/2" - I plan to cut mine 3 1/2" so we'll see what size he turns out. I first came across the pattern when dear old Margaret Clark was working from an original 70s pattern in class......about a year ago.

Try this link for a tutorial. quiltastic.typepad.com look under "stuff animals" on left side of column.

Meanwhile one last pic from last Sunday, courtesy of Lorna & Delia.

Tinternet

Well, following all our recent problems with internet connections etc, we have just had our phone line - the extension bit - renewed, as apparently it was the cause of all our distress.......we shall see.

Hopefully I can now access my blog at regular intervals so keep on visiting. Will post some more feathered friends in a bit........

Stuff a Goose for Christmas

What a lovely day we had yesterday creating geese inspired by Tone Finnanger's book "Crafting Springtime Gifts". 15 ladies attended the workshop and by the end of the day we had 15 different character geese produced! It was possibly the quietest workshop ever, concentration levels were at an all time peak. As usual the weather outside was beautiful - don't forget, if you are planning an important event, check out my workshop dates, I think the good weather record must be at about 99%. Have a look at some of the photos from yesterday.........I have had some more sent by Lorna but unable to access our mail at the moment - any recommendations for a reliable internet provider??

Raffia

Poundland now out of raffia - I imagine there might have been a run on it...............you don't need much, I am sure there will be plenty to go around.

Before I forget, does anyone have a copy of Magic Patch, "Born to Quilt" ? I have a buyer in one of my classes if you would like to part with your copy.

Autumn

What a glorious morning - sun shining, leaves dropping, my favourite season..........

Welcome Kate - nice to meet you. I am very new to blogging as you might imagine - how did you come across the blog? Just interested. I will take time later to have a look at your blog. Small world this quilting community isn't it.

Another snippet for the goose makers on Sunday - Poundland has raffia!!