Great to see you Helen!

There is another Fiesta in the village, meaning we only had one table to work round this week, but as always, those ladies that came to this week's meeting managed very well!  It was great to see Helen for a couple of hours too, good to see her with a needle and fabric in her hands!

Eloise, Helen, Vanessa and Carole and Maureen's back (sorry Maureen!) 

Christine and Cath taking a breather from stitching

Vanessa in the foreground, with Maureen and Eloise

Not much stitching but lots of constructive discussion in the background between Carol, Jenny and Ann

There were several finished projects on show, which is no mean feat in this weather.  Working on large quilts is hot work.  Christine has met her deadline to get all three quilts ready for her grandchildren when they visit next month, I'm sure they will be thrilled to take them home with them for the colder weather.  We have seen two of the quilts in previous blogs and this one shown here is for her grandson who has a tropical fish tank and just needed it's binding stitched on, but I'm sure by now, knowing Christine, as I write this it will already be attached.

Pam showed us her completed Christmas projects

 

 complete with this embroidered label made by Pam for the Xmas tree quilt

and a pair of cushions which "I just ran up last weekend" says Pam!

Pam's next project will include more blocks like the one below, and will be a double bed quilt for her bed.  The quilt which Pam has designed herself will include this motif in a different colour-way, additional celtic-knot style blocks in the corners and a large interwoven design in the centre of the quilt.  I am sure this quilt will be made by the time we all come back after the summer break!  After seeing Pam's design work today I'm looking forward to seeing it.

Jill showed us a little wall hanging she made using up left over fabrics, and utilizing some of the embroidery stitches on her machine to embellish Sunbonnet Sue's dress and Sam's dungarees.

Eloise is on the last stage of her mystery quilt, she just has to apply some broderie-perse flowers to the centre and setting triangles of the quilt, and then the quilting can be done.

Jenny has taken on an interesting project.  She has been asked if she would finish a quilt for her neighbour.  This is a big challenge as Jenny has to adapt and make quite a number more blocks to complete the very wide border on the quilt,  and has already made a flying geese border.  A large box of assorted fabrics came with the quilt top, but Jenny thinks she will need to find more to complete the project.  Quite a difficult task to match fabrics bought some time ago in Holland!  Another interesting project for us to follow and see completed in a few months.

Gill attracted many jokey comments when she arrived with her laundry, explaining that she doesn't have an ironing board in the house she's staying in temporarily, so thought that while she was chatting to us all, she may as well be doing something useful!

Unfortunately, this will be the last regular update for a few weeks, as I am off to visit family in the UK, but if I find anything of stitching interest while I'm out and about I will post a few photos.  I do hope to have something from the Festival of  Quilts Exhibition so call back over the next three or four weeks to see what I found to inspire me, and hopefully you.  Thanks for visiting,  Rachel

Sew and Sews end of term lunch .........

 Vinuela Sew and Sews usually have an end of year luncheon, because of the financial situation this year an alternative was found., delivery of tasty bread by a friendly little man in a van!!!       Christine
                                                                                                                   

Cath, Ann and Pam 

The photo above was sent to me by group member Christine Speller, who thought it would bring a little lightheartedness to your day. 

For those who may not have been to our meetings the last couple of weeks, there has been a welcome addition to our weekly session.  The local bread delivery man from the bakery in Alcaucin has discovered there is a ready source of customers in the hall on Tuesday's who are more than happy to buy his cakes and fresh bread each week, so he has agreed to call in each Tuesday around mid-day.  Just in time for our lunch!

And the projects keep coming.......

Although I have belonged to several quilting groups over the years wherever I have lived, this one is by far the most enthusiastic and productive!  Maybe it's because we are a "young" group with members who are still new and enthusiastic in their techniques, or maybe because the stitching and knitting world is changing so much, with fabulous fabrics and yarns to tempt us,  or it could be because we now have access to so much freely-given information and patterns on the internet that it is easier to learn new things.  Maybe it's a combination of all of these factors, but whatever, our Group certainly has the "bug"!
New workshops are in the pipeline for the Autumn, one of which will be a Row-by-Row project with Christine Speller.  This will take the form of a block of the month project, but instead of regular square blocks, participants will be making strip or rows each month.  Christine has a busy summer ahead, making up samples and a quilt to inspire you all.  It's expected that this workshop will begin in October, but dates will be confirmed after the summer break.  Any Group members who would like to take part should email Christine to register their interest.
Another proposed workshop is to take the form of helping participants to draw up their own quilt design, along the lines of a kaleidoscope style.   The quilt will have a basic kaleidoscope shape with lots of applique shapes added and could be made in  any size from a wall hanging to a bed quilt. Participants will be able to use any theme they like to make the project individual to them.  I too will be busy working during the summer, drawing up samples for this project, and hopefully starting my own quilt ready to inspire others to join me.   Again if any Group members are interested in this project, please contact me.

There were more beautiful projects, large and small on show at this week's meeting.  Some are works in progress, and others completed.  Cath has all but finished this bed quilt using up scraps of fabric left over from previous projects.  Only the label needs attaching then it will be displayed on the bed in Cath's spare bedroom.

Cath also showed us her completed Bargello project, made during a workshop with Christine earlier in the year.  Cath used satin ribbon to separate the strips, in place of  regular cotton fabric and these give the work a 3-D effect.  Cath is pleased with the result, but says it was hard work as the ribbon was so slippery and it is narrower than 1/4", she probably wouldn't repeat the exercise! There are also tiny beads attached in various places on the work, although it is difficult to see these from the photo.

Cath also brought along a small project she is making for one of her grandchildren, featuring outer-space themed fabric

Jan then showed us further progress on her jelly-roll quilt.  She has now added the borders and went off to Torre del Mar during the morning, to see if Isabel at Mar del Plata, had any toning fabric which she could buy to complete the outer border and binding.  She came back with a very nice batik, so watch this space for the completed quilt.

Jan likes to work on several projects at a time and below is another of the quilts she is working on using up scraps of fabrics left over from previous projects.

Kath has been working on a celtic- themed very large quilt for own bed.  I believe this is the fourth attempt Kath has made to make a quilt for herself.  The previous three applique quilts she has made over the last couple of years, have been snapped up by ex member Doreen, as gifts for her daughters.  Kath began the first applique quilt intending it for her own bed, but when Doreen heard about it from Pam, she aproached Kath and asked if she could buy it from her without even seeing it finished.  The second and third quilts were commisioned by Doreen from the word go. The first two quilts can be seen  by following this link http://www.vinuelasewandsews.eu/group_members/kath_mclean/kath_mclean_gallery.htm , then clicking on the "art nouveau thumbnail .  As it is so large, Kath is making this quilt in the quilt-as-you-go method, and has a further 12" border and binding to be added.  I'm not quite sure how we'll manage to hold it for photographing when it's completed, Kath and Jan are at full stretch holding this size!

It was good to see Trish in the meeting today.  Trish is working on a small project inspired by the colours of a goldfish of her son's.  She is using the project as a means of practicing her free-motion technique.

Our two newest members were also busy at their machines.  Carol was unhappy with some of the machine quilting  she had done on her quilt, and after seeking advise, decided to unpick a small area, then continued stitching in the ditch in other areas of the quilt.  The main problem seemed to be a particular fabric in the quilt, that although it is 100% cotton, has a much looser weave than other fabrics around it, causing it to ruck up when quilted.  I don't think it wil be long before we see the finished quilt.

And Vanessa is thoroughly enjoying using her machine and has made quick work of the centre piece of a cushion panel, her first patchwork and quilting project.

Sheila Maureen and Sandy spent the morning adding more to their knitting projects.  

Judging by the look of the pattern, I would guess Sheila has used it numerous times before!

Maureen is making quick progress on this roll neck cardigan for her grandson.  Talking of grandsons, I believe the Hungry Catterpillar quilt Margaret made recently for her grandson in Germany, has been very popular.  So popular that he didn't want to leave the quilt in the bedroom all day, it had to be with him downstairs!  But now it has turned too warm for regular quilts on his bed, he is happy to sleep with it upstairs as it is lighter in weight.  You must be thrilled Margaret, that your first patchwork project was so well liked. I wonder what your next one will be.

Pam will be bringing in her completed projects next week, before they go off to her grandchildren as Christmas presents, and Christine is winning the battle to finish the three bed quilts she's making for her grandchilden.  I hope to be able to photograph them next week too.  Ann and Cath spent the session working on their small projects,  Ann had to resort to hand couching some gold coloured ribbon on her Christmas table runner, as it was too slippery for the machine to cope with, and  Cath had to chase paper patterns and bits of fabric around the room as they got lifted by the lovely strong breeze blowing through the doors and windows! This hall is so much more comfortable to work in than the previous one.  Being an old house, the walls are very thick, keeping it pleasantly cool for us.  Although the Group always has a "summer break" from mid-July to mid-September, I think this year there may be several more members continuing to meet through the summer months than in past years.  

Next week is the last meeting of the summer for me, so there won't be the regular blog updates unless I can convince some of the girls to send me brief updates and photos while I am away in England for 4 weeks visiting family and friends!! I will be going to the Festival of Quilts at Birmingham in August so as long as we are still allowed to take photographs, I will attempt to blog about the show at some stage while I'm away.  I am planning on meeting up with two other group members, Yvonne and Ann at the show, who are also spending time visiting family.  We hope to be inspired by all the usually amazing quilts on display, and come back fired up with renewed enthusiasm.  I'll have to leave my purse and credit card at home though, the traders stands are always very tempting!

That's it for this week, happy stitching, see you here again next week.

                                                                                                        Rachel

Christmas in July!

There were lots of projects on show at this week's meeting of twenty members, and Jill managed to make us feel cooler by thinking of December with her finished Christmas Tree quilt.

And Ann has caught the out-of-season bug too, and is busy making a table runner for her Christmas table using up lots of scraps of seasonal-themed fabrics.

Christine is making great progress with her three grandchildren's quilts, for which the deadline is looming very quickly!  Christine is enjoying machine quilting these quilts with her new Bernina sewing machine, with it's larger throat space and special quilting attachment enabling Christine's free motion stitches to be very even.

This smart indigo and shades of blue quilt is for Christine's grandson

and this pretty apricot and pink quilt above, is for one of her granddaughters.  I hope Christine will bring the other one in for us to see before she hands them over next month.

After many, many hours of lovingly working on this surprise quilt for her granddaughter to take with her to university soon, Carole was hiding her disappointment at learning that her visiting granddaughter doesn't like the colours of the heavily machine-quilted lap quilt!  But I'm sure Carole will find a new home for it very quickly.

Pam brought in a quilt top she worked on some time ago, but didn't like the layout at the time so set it aside while working on other projects.  After showing it to group members and listening to favourable comments, she has decided that she will add an accent strip of white before adding a narrow strippy border using up the left over fabrics from the main quilt.

Pam spent this week's session working on an idea for an interwoven celtic-knotwork applique motif which she would like to use in a new project.  After tracing off the design onto fusible paper-backed webbing, Pam worked the design in two contrasting fabrics and fused them to a cream background, before machine appliqueing them down. 

 Pam was pleased with the effect so is ready to start her next project.  Never one to be content working on just one project at a time, Pam showed us a folded patchwork block she is working on, as part of a project she is taking part in alongside Christine, Cath, and Jan.  

Pam's folded star

Cath's folded star

Jan, who spent most of her time last week helping the other girls make their stars, hadn't quite caught up, so spent some of this week's session folding her star, shown roughly laid out below.  

This folded-patchwork technique seems to have caught quite a few member's eyes and several more girls decided they'd like to  take part in the project after the summer break.  The intention is to make several different blocks using various patterns from books Jan has, then put them all together into a project such as a wall hanging at the end.  Members can chose which designs they work on and what their final project will be.  It will be interesting to see all the different variations and colours at the end of the project, so watch this space!

I have to apologize to Louise for not taking very flattering photos of her crochet blanket.  Hopefully she will bring it back next week so I can do better!!  Approximately three hundred squares went into the blanket, and it was Louise's project during the winter months, keeping her warm as she stitched it all together

Cath helping Louise (right) show us her crochet blanket

Merlynne brought in a black-work sampler to show us.  She tells us  tells us that the names and date are missing from the heart, as the couple it was to be a present for, are no longer getting married, so she didn't finish the piece off.  Oh dear!

Ann brought along a cardigan she has finished for herself.... well almost finished.  What can't be seen from this photo is that one of the buttons has a broken shank, which is a slight problem as a long day trip will be needed if Ann can't find a similar button locally.  Ann bought the buttons in a shop on a day trip to Gibraltar a couple of weeks ago!

It was good to see Sandy and Maureen  back after a family wedding in Italy and  very interesting listening to their account of the wedding of Sandy's son to his Italian bride.  It sounds as though a really good time was had by all.

Also knitting this week, was Louise who is making a baby shawl with an intricate patterned border

Eloise is putting the binding on her Mystery Quilt project, and will bring it in to show us completed next week.

And Vanessa was thrilled to be able to use her new sewing machine after Jan spent a couple of hours showing her the basics of what it can do.  Vanessa has had the Quilting Edition Janome sewing machine for a while, but was not confident of  using it, so when she heard that Jan runs a "getting to know your machine" class, asked for her help.  Jan was happy to oblige and gave Vanessa a one-on-one session during our meeting this week.  I wonder what Vanessa's first project on it will be.

Michele called in this week and showed us her latest project, which is a round-robin  project with her internet friends in Australia.  Each member taking part makes a landscape style background and passes that on to the next participant, who hand embellishes a set part of the background in any way they like.  The piece then gets passed on again and again to other participating members, until it is finished and makes it way finally back to the original owner who will finish the piece off  in any way they want and can add more embellishment if desired.  There is some amazing embroidery on this piece of Michele's, check out the daisy necklace on the cows!  See how many other little bits and pieces you can find on this work.  Each time I looked at it I found more amazingly detailed tiny pieces of workmanship to admire, hence so many photos! Unfortunately my photo of the whole piece was too blurred to show, but I hope you enjoy looking at the detailed ones to follow.  I apologise for the poor quality of the pictures, hopefully Michele can bring it in again.  The whole piece is approximately the size of an A4 piece of paper. 

Realistic embroidered flowers and daisies adorn the cows and their field

Tiny fish beads swim among the corals

Butterfly wings are embellished with tiny stitches 

Two bee beads fly among tiny silk-ribbon flowers

more details of the daisies, and the clever embroidery which carries the butterfly wings over the seam line into the panel above

This cow has a gold "bell" on her collar

It's difficult to see but the red flowers have been stitched along their inner edge to give relief, and the orange flowers have been continued into the panel above by cleverly embroidering them over the seam line

Birds fly in the sky

and an egret takes a ride while looking for insects on the cow's back!  Well done ladies, whoever you are!

The last, but by no means least, note this week, is big hello to Helen from all of us, who I know will be reading this when she feels like a breather, "hang in there girl, we are all sending you our warmest thoughts".

See you next time, 

                             Rachel

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