the patchwork dress

tumbling blocks

Again, I'm not sure who this is by, perhaps Sally Holman - really should have taken notes as I went.. But one of the most eyecatching quilts on display.  

I love the simplicity of it - both pattern and colourwise - and somehow it just works without all the fabric needing to 'match'.  It's a huge quilt.  If you stare at it long enough, the 3-d boxes start to come out at you!

a quilt a day...

... keeps the doctor away.

I think this is 'Pink/Floral Print Welsh Quilt' owned by Pippa Moss from 'antique quilts'- curated by Jane Rollason & Grosvenor Exhibitions.

A wholecloth quilt with a vintage print.  Especially liked the bird silhouettes.

washed out wednesday

(antique quilt - curated by Jane Rollason & Grosvenor Exhibitions)

I'm not sure who owned this quilt or what it was called, but it was colour soft and lovely in washed out pinks, blue and red.

spring quilt

('guest room quilt' 1996 by Lee Brown) - I think!

Loved the colours of this very springlike quilt!  It's quite a conventional pattern, but somehow the use of large chintzy prints has broken it up.  It reminds me of daffodils, crocus and snowdrops bursting through the snow - and for some reason, cosy B&B's!

patchfest

(antique quilt - curated by Jane Rollason & Grosvenor Exhibitions)

This weekend saw the annual Spring Quilt Festival at Ingliston Highland Showground near Edinburgh.  I made this trip into an artist's date and went along, not really knowing what would be on show.  Luckily there were a couple of exhibits of particular personal interest - some 'jelly roll' strip quilts, and the other antique quilts.

As the patchwork dress has been a little empty the past couple of weeks, I'm going to post a quilt photo a day (from Tuesday) this week of my favourite snapshots.  Normally show organisers and exhibitors prefer you not to photograph the quilts, but there was no notice to say otherwise, and everyone seemed pretty snap happy.  I mainly took photos of the antique quilts - all without a flash, so some of the colours may seem a bit dull.

I also took the opportunity to visit some of my favourite stalls including Euro-Japan Links, Susan Briscoe and bought an amazing book about my new favourite quilt artist, Kuroha Shizuko.  See a bit of a theme emerging?

birds, patterns and patchwork

I can hardly believe more than a week has gone past since my last post.  We had really heavy snow here on Monday and then again a little more midweek, and there seems to be a little patchwork of distractions and busyness which meant I totally forgot to blog!  These should probably have formed little daily blogs, rather than this unfocussed rambling report.

It has been a week of patterned gifts... last weekend I did a little shopping on folksy for some belated birthday gifts, which I'll reveal once they have reached their recipients.  I bought this space invaders scarf for myself, done by Catriona at Wildcat Designs, who turns out to be in Edinburgh.  I had been oggling it for ages and decided to take the plunge - made from merino and felted - I love it!  It came with a lovely note and a packet of retro sweet space dust!

Last time I was in Paperchase, I came home raving about the new stationary range which features multicoloured patchwork owls.  N took my hints, and when I pulled the curtains this morning, I found this owl bag hiding there - which I am going to use for work - thanks St Valentine!

You can't go wrong with a funky patchwork owl!  So cheery.

Last weekend I completed the patchwork part of this quilt top - I really had to push myself to get it done, but now that it is, I quite like the randomness and colour of it all.  Hoping to get onto quilting it soon.

Last weekend also saw me pulling out the sketchbook and tried a couple of quick sketches of birds in the garden (bluetit above/blackbird below). 

Drawing like this makes you examine the form, as they move so quickly, the sketch becomes an impression of several fragmented observations.  It will take a few more practices before getting these right!

making tracks

Waking yesterday, everything was under a thin layer of snow.  I picked up my camera and decided to go for a walk up the lane.  It was that proper stillness you get after snow, no wind or breeze, and all sound slightly deadened.

I was struck by the number of tracks in the snow, leaving a history of who had been past in the hours before.  A person with their dog, a cat had trotted under that hedgerow.

In the woods, some rabbits had crossed by earlier...

...round the base of this tree...

..and through into next door's field.  They are usually long gone before humans turn up.

Along the path a little, some birds had got together and formed one big bird print - aha! trying to put me off the trail!

Further up the hill I could see where one or two foxes had passed.  One had had a successful kill, the tell-tale drops of fresh blood (a shrew sized amount perhaps) on the snow.  

Another observation was looking across to woodland, normally a dense mass of browns and blacks - now each tree was framed against white where snow lay on the ground behind it.  The monochrome palette of patchwork and landscape makes it all very sketchable.