Vintage Bouquet

I have been working on another quilt Vintage Bouquet by Jo Colwill of The Cowslip Workshops , the pattern is from her new book.

I was anxious to complete the second border in was the most complicated I have done to date  on joining up the corners. 

Now for the large third border which has oodles of appliqué.

Another weekend has been and gone. We were eagerly awaiting this last one as The National Youth Choir were performing at Truro Cathedral as part of their SummerFest 2015.

The programme started with Ave Regina Caelorum from Mexico, then we journeyed to Brazil, Canada, Haiti, Uruguay, Times Square, Appalachians, then home to the west country and folk songs from Dorset, Devon, Cornwall and Somerset.

A very enjoyable evening with a choir performing at the highest standard plus we had brilliant seats, we were even in front of the Mayor and Mayoress!!

We had company today as Kian joined us. Truro was buzzing with a local produce market. 

At this time of year the flower displays were at their best and it was a pleasure to wander the cobbled streets in the sunshine.

We had a pre-performance dinner at our favourite Truro restaurant. Kian at 14 was too young to sample the champagne bar but still enjoyed the setting and the food.

Ray had me in stitches yesterday morning.

He was washing his balls and cleaning his golf shoes in my breakfast room. If you look closely you will see that Poppy is holding onto her ball just in case Daddy washes that too .

Faded Roses

Faded Roses from Jo Colwill's (The Cowslip) book Cushions and Quilts. At 72" square it took a while to quilt.

I am pleased how it came out though.

I had a very special visitor this week, one of my dearest friends, there have been several occasions in the last eighteen months when I never thought she would be here to visit Trewoon again.

DAY THREE OF KIAN'S QUILT

This week's session with Kian was today.

He cut and attached the four borders around the central patchwork panel.

We focused on how to achieve perfect seams with pattern matching on the joins and making sure our corners were at right angles.

Kian picked this up quickly, he does well in Mathematics at school and he put his geometry to good use.

He finished the quilt top and put his quilt sandwich together with supervision from Poppy and Blue.

We even had time to digitize a pattern of some dog paws and start the quilting.

We will be having a two week break now as Kian is away followed by me being away.

The weekend saw a visit from the family and we spent Saturday morning in The Craft Box in Helston.

The boys made treasure chests.

Theo also painted a mug and Rhys a lighthouse.

 It was home for lunch then a stroll through the garden onto the beach. It was a glorious day.

Ray participated in the warm up exercises !!!

Time to go home.

We then enjoyed an evening meal at The Halsezephron Inn at Gunwalloe. They will be doing some filming in September at Gunwalloe for Poldark.

The next morning we were off to Crealy Park for some fun.

Slightly wet !!!

Drying off in a hot air machine

Nana "I feel sick". Rhys "Good, I will spin us faster" Nana "ooooooeeeee"

Always wanted to try a zip wire

The end of the weekend saw two very tired but extremely happy grandparents.

The Postman Brings a Surprise

I have been quilting today, I start to get excited as my patchwork turns into a quilt, I love the way it feels with the added body of the stitches.

Yesterday found us at the Minnack Theatre.

The setting is amazing and so unique.

During the performance there was a dramatic helicopter rescue from the cliffs rising up from Porthcurno Cove.

We saw a performance of Grapes of Wrath by the Shattered Windscreen Company.

Wednesday was day Two of Kian's quilting project.

It is always good to walk away from a project and come back and re-assess it. Last week both Kian and myself were not happy with the background fabric for the boxer dog squares. 

An S.O.S call to Penny brought a quick response and with her help, guidance and the donation of some red fabric a new background was decided on. Thank you Penny.

Kian has a Spanish heritage so the colours of Spain's flag were chosen.

Today was spent drawing, cutting and appliquéing boxer dogs onto the new squares, the old ones won't be wasted as Kian will be making some pillows out of them.

We then spent time going through the importance of an accurate and consistent 1/4" seam and the knock on repercussions when this is not achieved. Kian practised on scrap fabric then went for it. I think when you look at the photos you will agree that Kian absorbed and applied this well. 

We also discussed the correct ways to press patchwork and how the seams should lie to achieve perfect finishes.

It was a long day but enjoyable sharing my studio, we chatted about many different topics and had lots of laughter too. A day well spent.

A silk work has arrived at Trewoon today, at auction it was listed as being from the private collection of Victor Needham of Bournemouth. I bid on it purely as I adore silk works and this one was so appealing.

We were surprised when we unpacked it to find some writing on the reverse indicating that it was given to Charlotte Knollys by Queen Alexandra, Edward VII's consort. 

Charlotte Knollys was Lady-in-Waiting and the first female Private Secretary to Queen Alexandra until her death in 1925. We found images of her writing on the web and it matches. Here is Charlotte in Court Dress.

Charlotte died, aged 95, unmarried, at her flat in South Audley Street, London in 1930.

A major part of the attraction of samplers and antique needlework is the history that surrounds them. Art and history have always been of interest.