tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5672966179963860022024-03-13T23:04:34.464+01:00Needle, Thread, Scissors, ThimbleRachel Wolstenholmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06197750503547877437noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-567296617996386002.post-58301440117582716162014-10-13T11:09:00.000+02:002014-10-13T11:09:31.789+02:00Still not convinced about Big Stitch Quilting?Well my very first blog post was about big stitch hand quilting and I still have a feeling that not many of you are convinced.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6x-0IGp1LBJLzQAr_kAByvBnGjZIyaOHbRaASVDARk7DL5_PriPv9zH4RXfqZrA9ZkGxs1TJdxmn1RDftHlfXCE2zy2k5gef_udf2g3x8j_gMVRXpJQ369gSRz-TS6sQKjCU1B2JgzvRh/s1600/3c+100_9643.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6x-0IGp1LBJLzQAr_kAByvBnGjZIyaOHbRaASVDARk7DL5_PriPv9zH4RXfqZrA9ZkGxs1TJdxmn1RDftHlfXCE2zy2k5gef_udf2g3x8j_gMVRXpJQ369gSRz-TS6sQKjCU1B2JgzvRh/s1600/3c+100_9643.JPG" height="317" width="320" /></a></div>
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Since that first post, 22 months, ago I've big stitched lots of my quilts. Most of the Trip Around The World series has been finished, just one left. This fact on its own shows how good this method of quilting is - my UFOs are almost non existant. I've even finished big bed quilts, the ones you procrastinate over for the longest or send them out to a long arm quilter!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoG424zRYrO9V8wkGZ-t_9yF5RTmDAGWsMR2mqbhxoCEgEgQqR4Nka1L5V9nZtVBErhDfkyVI0kDP6WQ2KA6csR6SdNg1nibx6zbuyaDuqTuB2f1Q0eXn43cudztnWscc7SsDH7CtcW4hR/s1600/11b+100_9632.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoG424zRYrO9V8wkGZ-t_9yF5RTmDAGWsMR2mqbhxoCEgEgQqR4Nka1L5V9nZtVBErhDfkyVI0kDP6WQ2KA6csR6SdNg1nibx6zbuyaDuqTuB2f1Q0eXn43cudztnWscc7SsDH7CtcW4hR/s1600/11b+100_9632.JPG" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If you look carefully you can see the Big Stitching on all of these quilts.</td></tr>
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I am completely convinced that this is the way to get your quilts finished.</div>
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I love stitching.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUy49yUtMl8Td3NQWyplWuCxlh8Ck_XoD-VjspHzTCpEPXMaFiITLbN3KjtzHqKB2afVdU0LDyhtGGiWIJswh8MUFp4gQ-qqeunUaXqqkj2H2z9x15u4xJRKiTDgTMKbaRqDxFQq3MKO6c/s1600/100_9934.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUy49yUtMl8Td3NQWyplWuCxlh8Ck_XoD-VjspHzTCpEPXMaFiITLbN3KjtzHqKB2afVdU0LDyhtGGiWIJswh8MUFp4gQ-qqeunUaXqqkj2H2z9x15u4xJRKiTDgTMKbaRqDxFQq3MKO6c/s1600/100_9934.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's some recent stitching on indigo dyeing</td></tr>
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The first quilts were sparsely stitched and I used the seams as my guidelines, usually staying just a little beyond the underturned seam allowance - less fabric to sew through. The Trip Around The World quilts lend themselves to lovely long diagonals or chevrons. The quilt backs are beautiful wholecloths.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvnnuUBy2zhMkjzek8t4-1o-aJbti93AfTvXwHG75S_kwqgsM_IJARKVWkPgNlF_TGoQXQ2wc4HsLlCHnqZeXh9vU7OxiqIZ18xglOgsjtuVCIlVcNWAqBbFkYQvsBybfDJfJRq4BxhpmH/s1600/100_9929.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvnnuUBy2zhMkjzek8t4-1o-aJbti93AfTvXwHG75S_kwqgsM_IJARKVWkPgNlF_TGoQXQ2wc4HsLlCHnqZeXh9vU7OxiqIZ18xglOgsjtuVCIlVcNWAqBbFkYQvsBybfDJfJRq4BxhpmH/s1600/100_9929.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the centre of this quilt where the chevron design from both sides meets.</td></tr>
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But now I've begun to stray off the path and do freehand lines. It's a bit daunting and when not all of the stitches are perfect it really shows.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNYEcpGp4kKuTTJ_EY1P7reeuFWs2C7PKFNY7UXhiTflfxU__zgu5ts-CzVQwhXQSy_rSmX61KGmxlXWhvr_ZLDEOSbNN463peroMfCghPqptnf0HlMWGWK9D8UCLX9EowNNV_Qw3S38Vq/s1600/100_9932.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNYEcpGp4kKuTTJ_EY1P7reeuFWs2C7PKFNY7UXhiTflfxU__zgu5ts-CzVQwhXQSy_rSmX61KGmxlXWhvr_ZLDEOSbNN463peroMfCghPqptnf0HlMWGWK9D8UCLX9EowNNV_Qw3S38Vq/s1600/100_9932.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a>The trick is to keep your needle lined up with the stitches as you make them. Not all of my stitches are the same, but most of them are. In fact someone - a non quilter - just presumed the stitching had been done on a machine!! Also if I am quilting across the whole width of the quilt I will cut the thread the length to go from one side to the other. Then I pull it through the centre of the quilt line and leave half of it dangling and quilt from the centre to the edge and then go back to the centre and out to the other edge. This way the beginning and end of the threads are in the outside edge of the wadding.</div>
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I use my own hand dyed threads which match the quilts. I love the way this creates an extra element of surprise; a little pop of white thread from where I'd tied a knot when dyeing, a stretch of yellow running over brown fabrics, a sudden green thread where the dyes mixed.</div>
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Choosing beautiful thread will enhance your quilt. Having different colours, or shades of the same one, allows the thread to appear and disappear against certain prints or solids. It creates small details and interesting elements which you will notice much later when you're using the quilt and sitting under it, and studying the geometric shapes and the fabrics and the quilting.</div>
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So take one of your UFOs and try big stitch quilting on it. Take the plunge into the unknown, you don't know what might be out there.....<br />
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<br />Rachel Wolstenholmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06197750503547877437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-567296617996386002.post-68168627542158287332014-03-15T19:49:00.000+01:002014-03-15T19:49:45.724+01:00Dyeing with Woad.<h4 style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Today for the first time ever I got blue dye from a plant. I'm thrilled.</span></h4>
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I live on what's called the Tropical Coast, the local commercial crops are mangos, avocados and custard apples. I sowed the seed last August and in January we planted the plants out on a terrace of mango trees.</div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">This week we reckoned there were enough leaves big enough to try - even though normally woad is harvested in Northern Europe during the summer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">So first thing this morning off I went to pick the leaves.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The plants under a (small) mango tree.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv-vE5IWY6o-lR9gC_xUoUCpDBaPAv-LvoYZ-rG9hpy3dv74j-Eg1CWv_VLs8yS9r9Vdnyq6bWns9cf0L6SGJiLwvztrOyts5FBGx8qjp1MoX9YLJ5Xb2o9U2zi2vUWL2l8Nt_sqpAsxGi/s1600/100_9172.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv-vE5IWY6o-lR9gC_xUoUCpDBaPAv-LvoYZ-rG9hpy3dv74j-Eg1CWv_VLs8yS9r9Vdnyq6bWns9cf0L6SGJiLwvztrOyts5FBGx8qjp1MoX9YLJ5Xb2o9U2zi2vUWL2l8Nt_sqpAsxGi/s1600/100_9172.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I used leaves mainly from the plant on the left.<br /><br /><h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">I have never done any dyeing with indigo, despite having synthetic indigo and all the additional chemicals sitting in a box since last summer.</span></h3>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">I followed Jenny Dean's recipe for fresh woad leaves from her book Wild Colour. I substituted soda ash for washing crystals.</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">First I steeped the leaves in boiling water for an hour. I had to keep the liquid warm for an hour but by putting the pan into another filled with boiling water and out in the sun the water remained very hot for the whole time.</span></h3>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">I hadn't been able to find a thermometer but she tells you that 50 degrees is as hot as your hand can tolerate. I strained off the leaves. So now in went the soda ash, again a bit of guess work. I used 250g of leaves and 1.5 litres of water and put in about 3/4 of a teaspoon of soda ash. The pH changed to about 9.</span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">Now I had to whisk to get a blue froth. We whisked and whisked and I was told not to put in more soda ash by the chemistry student in the family!</span></h3>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">This isn't blue! By now I was wondering if I'd picked the leaves too soon but we continued. </span></h3>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">I added 3 teaspoons of sodium hydrosulphite and waited.</span></h3>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">Now it was time to put in the wetted fibres. We still had no idea if there was any blue present.</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">And then we noticed a blue tinge to the film on top of the water and suddenly it all looked like it might work.</span></h3>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">And it did!!!</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">It was so exciting and just like magic. You take out the fibre and it just turns blue in front of your eyes - MAGIC.</span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">The thin cotton muslin dyed beautifully as did the wool. I also put in some other cotton, which as usual with natural dyes was really disappointing - though I'm wondering if there was soda ash left in it from scouring which could have affected the result as the muslin was just washed.</span></h3>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">Here is the magic on video - it only takes 38 seconds!</span></h3>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dz41IQplLqF61yo9NdyMRNxK5O97hyeCXllTTfyuPHHnHSKrICvDsNjaJ0kCEl7-hAaFxFqyRBLKZBSOyJtDw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">So now I'm just incredibly excited, and full of questions. We're sowing the rest of our woad seeds tomorrow. I'm wondering if with the climate here we can get colour all year round. I'm hoping when it gets a bit warmer to experiment by using different alkalis and reducing agents which are not chemicals out of a bottle.</span></h3>
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<span style="font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal;">But for now I'm just basking in a blue glow.</span></h3>
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Rachel Wolstenholmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06197750503547877437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-567296617996386002.post-2033649376702738092014-01-19T21:07:00.002+01:002014-01-19T21:07:59.533+01:00Making Felt<div style="text-align: center;">
Last weekend I spent making felt.</div>
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It's been in preparation since the Autumn. I've been experimenting with natural dyes - pomegranates, fig leaves, onion skins, cochineal - all ingredients which I can find locally.</div>
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Experiments on cotton were very disappointing so I switched to wool.</div>
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In November, whilst in Ireland, I picked up two fleeces; one from Evelyn Shannon and a beautiful Jacob's fleece from her neighbour in County Wicklow.</div>
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Here's the wool. It's quite dirty and just working out how to wash it took a lot of experiments. The trick is to take out enough of the grease and dirt so that it'll dye well, but not too much otherwise it feels like a pan scourer!</div>
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So having done lots of experiments , including little bits of felt, I decided to really try and ''produce'' some.</div>
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It took three days.</div>
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Friday evening I made the sandwiches - layers of wool running in different directions. I put four layers and as my wool isn't carded I teased it out bit by bit. Even though it was washed a fair bit of dirt still fell out. But it was worth it as the finished results were scrumptious.</div>
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Two pieces had Jacob's wool, white and dark on the top and the other has wool in various shades of pink, all from cochineal.</div>
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Saturday I started felting. Copious amounts of hot water with soap in. Possibly using too much water? Out on the terraza. It's really hard work not helped by a rabbit running around my feet and making me worry that he'd end up with soapy water in his eyes. I eventually shut him in his cage.</div>
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Most of the layers began to felt together so after a lot of rubbing I put them out and had a break.</div>
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In the end I didn't get back to them until Sunday. They now needed serious beating to finish the process. I rolled them up with bamboo mats and bubble wrap and rolled, and rolled, and rolled. Poured boiling water all over them and rolled, and rolled, and rolled. The bamboo mats fell apart so I started just using bubble wrap and suddenly everything began to felt together and shrink.</div>
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I was considering making felt cushions to sell but have decided that they would cost a small fortune because of the time and sheer hard work making felt entails.</div>
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I'm going to keep experimenting with the natural dyes and the wool but just for me.</div>
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Finished pieces out drying.</div>
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This weekend it's poured with rain and I've ended up back with the textiles I love -my own hand-dyed fabrics. I'm making a range of bags to sell - but that's the next blog.</div>
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And I now, finally, have loads of rainwater collected to use with my cochineal.</div>
<br />Rachel Wolstenholmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06197750503547877437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-567296617996386002.post-25949256589802233352013-12-09T21:22:00.000+01:002013-12-09T21:22:43.710+01:00Trip Around the World Christmas Cards<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's December and it's that time of year when I put a morning aside and make Christmas cards.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These are actually what I made last year but I made them so late that there wasn't much time left to share the idea.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hope there's time for you to try them this year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">First of all cut lots of 1'' x 1'' squares of Christmas fabrics with your rotary cutter and ruler. Cut as many as you can.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now start laying them out in rows <b>on your ironing board</b>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Make sure you place them <b>right side down.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Make the rows as long as your ironing board.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And then keep adding rows. Make sure there are no gaps between the squares. Spend time trying to get the rows as perfect as you can.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Cut some bondaweb/fusible web the same height as your cards are going to be. Now carefully iron the strips of bondaweb onto the fabric squares, trying very hard not to displace them.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihXf_UqQSi9lkO9kNRB8FkHztrKhZvsZU1t-F7nqMTjMMQ6I-yfp8gAwT5nN9av93_fVDYHq1qyFMoZ1bGUxEqxkX0SCKNiDB8AddEBIZjdMpG6uixyLxvgj1mexKCKBfL0HH6-zD72tWC/s1600/blog4+%25281%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihXf_UqQSi9lkO9kNRB8FkHztrKhZvsZU1t-F7nqMTjMMQ6I-yfp8gAwT5nN9av93_fVDYHq1qyFMoZ1bGUxEqxkX0SCKNiDB8AddEBIZjdMpG6uixyLxvgj1mexKCKBfL0HH6-zD72tWC/s1600/blog4+%25281%2529.png" height="222" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's very cool when you can lift them all up once they're attached.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now carefully trim the top and the bottom. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Once this is done you can cut various widths to fit your cards.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjotBMnwIhmr6Vi-6OdH8lyjBzhIi1AXsommtSf34CLGckpErJ5zk54EmVW1sLAZTRLSmGnq5zCl8sJJ7k-LnI0NUTllRHAccgRcdhKiRoiNmLU2xnFn-7VgUlcXtcOwnKcKZy_ff1ql5GL/s1600/blog7.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjotBMnwIhmr6Vi-6OdH8lyjBzhIi1AXsommtSf34CLGckpErJ5zk54EmVW1sLAZTRLSmGnq5zCl8sJJ7k-LnI0NUTllRHAccgRcdhKiRoiNmLU2xnFn-7VgUlcXtcOwnKcKZy_ff1ql5GL/s1600/blog7.png" height="237" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you look carefully at my selection of cards you can see how I cut differing widths. Sometimes a small, narrow piece is more effective than covering the whole surface.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3iF-_dzTIhgJrvPyVRbJECG77XufYdU992fcheUog4axTkPY8KhxbLhyL3VAi8DnXQutZ2VTkZmMXHUIoy-J6cY9N0lPZydUwxdA5JtJF-dONx9Ia2vAaNMFImYCpRvfL1jj6V0Jb7iE1/s1600/blog.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3iF-_dzTIhgJrvPyVRbJECG77XufYdU992fcheUog4axTkPY8KhxbLhyL3VAi8DnXQutZ2VTkZmMXHUIoy-J6cY9N0lPZydUwxdA5JtJF-dONx9Ia2vAaNMFImYCpRvfL1jj6V0Jb7iE1/s1600/blog.png" height="400" width="282" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And you can also make bookmarks.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpX8idmUtTfXpmf4_NZWT3-Cvagi_cMUGraaDHgyo4-2b60ZAqChX3p-GGbB_Al96wn-xm1ek2qR8HN2gcZfY5HDkj_0wk7w71cKZTPY0dn1UaGAALd3OOKwGx_T8nsn-0CzbSmKlgf6bl/s1600/blog2+%25281%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpX8idmUtTfXpmf4_NZWT3-Cvagi_cMUGraaDHgyo4-2b60ZAqChX3p-GGbB_Al96wn-xm1ek2qR8HN2gcZfY5HDkj_0wk7w71cKZTPY0dn1UaGAALd3OOKwGx_T8nsn-0CzbSmKlgf6bl/s1600/blog2+%25281%2529.png" height="320" width="147" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here I've used Christmas fabrics but you can use any fabrics you like and make any cards you want with whatever patchwork block design you like. Cards for all times of the year and for every occasion.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Happy ironing.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Rachel Wolstenholmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06197750503547877437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-567296617996386002.post-83425749846305784322013-09-16T11:59:00.000+02:002013-09-16T11:59:25.690+02:00End of the Summer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">Well it's Monday, September 16 and here in Andalucía everybody is back to school.</span></h4>
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September for me always feels like the beginning of the year so before I embark on more projects for the autumn and winter here's a photo review of the summer.</div>
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I actually had two free months this year and having moved down here to the coast there were a lot of new inspirations. July I did loads of work but I think that the heat was getting to me by August and I wasn't half as productive.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaxYWStACH4Pu_gGtbkrRlufp-b9xuzJTwGmCnYkHxybyJaje1blI1Tf-RLOhUUgsPUxEHjRdTRX-p8o4Uhbv7rG5RjSeBDwi7eAPTcnsHD8U69OcRB5gH8_saXukZlkNZq_fyP-1aCGug/s1600/100_7347.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaxYWStACH4Pu_gGtbkrRlufp-b9xuzJTwGmCnYkHxybyJaje1blI1Tf-RLOhUUgsPUxEHjRdTRX-p8o4Uhbv7rG5RjSeBDwi7eAPTcnsHD8U69OcRB5gH8_saXukZlkNZq_fyP-1aCGug/s1600/100_7347.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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Well I'm living by the sea and at the end of the beach there are piles of nets with wonderful lines and a palette of colours which I wanted to use for dyeing. Project for the future?</div>
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Later on in the summer I photographed beach towels hanging from a hotel's balconies at the end of a day. This project I did mange to use.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEnNAvat1SpjiIt46IhtfjfekgoTxUbetoFkqpiLfELMjkRVf6qKQqjaHfVpTuS7slJWG-kG11-j55a7dGoJjpZEOSIbdauaIKxoa77mGVxsAz2iIDbmXqV3uFha3YxMhuKdHgeJnYlxq2/s1600/photo+1+modified.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEnNAvat1SpjiIt46IhtfjfekgoTxUbetoFkqpiLfELMjkRVf6qKQqjaHfVpTuS7slJWG-kG11-j55a7dGoJjpZEOSIbdauaIKxoa77mGVxsAz2iIDbmXqV3uFha3YxMhuKdHgeJnYlxq2/s1600/photo+1+modified.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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One photo which I didn't get was the lines, and double lines, of colourful parasols all the way along the beach. Next year.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA7eivOg5QnBCzlaRTTeBsakoKhDhTJ5ipKbXKuGjPEurj7vfz3XlXphbuFUtosOCZi4iQ4Cpk3SclVXHZC7QXnruzuGDgtN-NFCZn31k6nXJqo-sOzmBM1iWTdPhyphenhyphen5Jjm9PMRJgsYl6h2/s1600/100_7448.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA7eivOg5QnBCzlaRTTeBsakoKhDhTJ5ipKbXKuGjPEurj7vfz3XlXphbuFUtosOCZi4iQ4Cpk3SclVXHZC7QXnruzuGDgtN-NFCZn31k6nXJqo-sOzmBM1iWTdPhyphenhyphen5Jjm9PMRJgsYl6h2/s1600/100_7448.JPG" height="200" width="150" /></a></div>
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Of course there were new paving tiles</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx85YvRi3CFApJOfNdz188vuDqV9aQ3CBVPZEQ2pusPaIMjfev4wXVhFPoQ-S0WOo2IDTmnRmRoVQSKvg3bKxmgxiKeVEh5nvEWtObvvn8UBquDqXGIQ2J0N6VthAlRr9eOo4rz3yISFQl/s1600/100_7508.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx85YvRi3CFApJOfNdz188vuDqV9aQ3CBVPZEQ2pusPaIMjfev4wXVhFPoQ-S0WOo2IDTmnRmRoVQSKvg3bKxmgxiKeVEh5nvEWtObvvn8UBquDqXGIQ2J0N6VthAlRr9eOo4rz3yISFQl/s1600/100_7508.JPG" height="200" width="150" /></a></div>
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and another antique quilt which sent me off into a whole new series of work.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHxpEJtanum9kLkiGDoSUAaTy_x0ZfkhA58waeqXIOekKTxzpkrXc53M_RoWcHeuWM6wURy6aJekXXeDzoQcZvdH9CM2i-v-n_ApOORtAmnWIKzM4H_i2l8Y2tkzFTQuFrVAbNxvQs7KM6/s1600/100_7449.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHxpEJtanum9kLkiGDoSUAaTy_x0ZfkhA58waeqXIOekKTxzpkrXc53M_RoWcHeuWM6wURy6aJekXXeDzoQcZvdH9CM2i-v-n_ApOORtAmnWIKzM4H_i2l8Y2tkzFTQuFrVAbNxvQs7KM6/s1600/100_7449.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
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As I've already written, I spent alot of time dyeing.Here's my 'Dye Studio'.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8o7wVtVjU458R7ZPfDf6QOGtkfnW23DrC6IUjWq63L1b9Bmvz4f2P1W7xhQNNQV3hc8Y0thkm_AO4mlICyVb6nfmtC37xTX1WeDEsEGsJuBE4NNtB6kLCd3OBLCsLvjgXYF9PNeHGhOcy/s1600/100_7835.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8o7wVtVjU458R7ZPfDf6QOGtkfnW23DrC6IUjWq63L1b9Bmvz4f2P1W7xhQNNQV3hc8Y0thkm_AO4mlICyVb6nfmtC37xTX1WeDEsEGsJuBE4NNtB6kLCd3OBLCsLvjgXYF9PNeHGhOcy/s1600/100_7835.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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A few things side tracked me:</div>
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Sun dyeing - with procion! Fun but didn't lead anywhere.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDgDe8Ex6ngmHzOBcyK91c1IZaJwfgvLQ9HYYy-KKuRW5sWVUZmqE06E3u8OHM1Hr5_AjIIoKXFMhgzew8o-TtA2fh_nw5UX3DxqH_8vFND_EzyTt5OC14Q6ku-7denI902M_TLmbPaoZl/s1600/100_7662.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDgDe8Ex6ngmHzOBcyK91c1IZaJwfgvLQ9HYYy-KKuRW5sWVUZmqE06E3u8OHM1Hr5_AjIIoKXFMhgzew8o-TtA2fh_nw5UX3DxqH_8vFND_EzyTt5OC14Q6ku-7denI902M_TLmbPaoZl/s1600/100_7662.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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Natural dyeing. No idea where this is leading.</div>
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I have a saucepan of pomegranates stewing at the moment and mordants coming in the post.</div>
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In the grips of the first wave of enthusiasm - I had sewn the first indigo seeds- I found these amazing and HUGE saucepans in the weekly flea market. Of course I had to buy them - they were a bargain!!!!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiWsIf2TcXP3d3Jb4skWrwR1Ee9shQx9MTjqI2Zz3qxDYs4BwmwBKn7gpMPJx1eBSceUyBC1tT-08CCZ-MSP82QAKaMIPVRbEn9v5H1sCE_nV5ARfcfQ_2BDgKX-2Bn9ASrx0jDnJz05eg/s1600/100_7648.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiWsIf2TcXP3d3Jb4skWrwR1Ee9shQx9MTjqI2Zz3qxDYs4BwmwBKn7gpMPJx1eBSceUyBC1tT-08CCZ-MSP82QAKaMIPVRbEn9v5H1sCE_nV5ARfcfQ_2BDgKX-2Bn9ASrx0jDnJz05eg/s1600/100_7648.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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The end of the summer saw a whole new range of fruit come into the market: figs, dragon fruit, passion fruit and the very first mangoes. I love the way they are arranged in rows on the market stalls. I've got lots of photos and they're ready for a big, winter project.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY-M_UU_eVAQhvu6t7Qw6VyM0RA5WgFTB6r5FClGnSOnGag-s281hKSymcviwFXFDothN-7HHJIEiKK1i2PUg6hx5lDxQ7RAijpLSyEWIdHlaI9XI1eOgdVueqknLtx-Jei-Cch_ATK-Ct/s1600/100_8204.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY-M_UU_eVAQhvu6t7Qw6VyM0RA5WgFTB6r5FClGnSOnGag-s281hKSymcviwFXFDothN-7HHJIEiKK1i2PUg6hx5lDxQ7RAijpLSyEWIdHlaI9XI1eOgdVueqknLtx-Jei-Cch_ATK-Ct/s1600/100_8204.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRgfjZ1oknFpRMUPZw_fD_WyDr4c7Hwo-XIfuPVL5fofraTt2pnUE_-G3E8pww1nLG3nK-PqWtiQ-0HfI231V7jQ00CYew5sf5Jn3L4KxEluveICVeMolHbUMV6XYL4Ev3ZTdW7fVeB2ZC/s1600/100_8225.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRgfjZ1oknFpRMUPZw_fD_WyDr4c7Hwo-XIfuPVL5fofraTt2pnUE_-G3E8pww1nLG3nK-PqWtiQ-0HfI231V7jQ00CYew5sf5Jn3L4KxEluveICVeMolHbUMV6XYL4Ev3ZTdW7fVeB2ZC/s1600/100_8225.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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These two are nothing to do with textiles or needles and thread but they did take over quite a bit of time. Perhaps this is why I got very little done in August? Finally our budgies mange to hatch their eggs, luckily only two of the six hatched. Suddenly one night when the chicks were about three weeeks old their mum decided to pull out their feathers and so suddenly we were hand rearing chicks. It took three of us to do it at the beginning but slowly, us and the chicks, worked out what we were supposed to do. They are now beginning to fly around and almost feeding themselves at last!!!</div>
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And finally THE STORM which landed on us one afternoon at the beginning of September.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu4kmzTUuy2RoWwompoYkoz0doF65LT43ZLqHo3xUVRlWlEtS7GOKlkjQLcH53YjDziWQrCcTeNRLNipmA2cJgo37vok6N5kvB3ZybAveb4z3Gx4Gg3d2ydJmnzFvYlMJyDzRgetJtXI8e/s1600/100_8252.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu4kmzTUuy2RoWwompoYkoz0doF65LT43ZLqHo3xUVRlWlEtS7GOKlkjQLcH53YjDziWQrCcTeNRLNipmA2cJgo37vok6N5kvB3ZybAveb4z3Gx4Gg3d2ydJmnzFvYlMJyDzRgetJtXI8e/s1600/100_8252.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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Dramatic and swift and despite being up on the terraza taking photos of the clouds I forgot to bring in my pots of indigo seedlings. By the time I realised that they were out there I would have had to wade across to rescue them, and there was a lot of lightning and hail stones, well more like small chunks of ice. Needless to say the seedlings didn't do very well. They're still alive, just, but with burnt leaves. One little plant was under the table and is still nice and green and I'm hoping come the spring this will be the one which flowers and gives me seeds for the next attempt.</div>
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I'm now looking forward to it all being a bit cooler. One of my other projects was quilting my Pink Trip Around the World, not the best idea sitting underneath a wool filled quilt in the middle of August on the South coast of Spain. Just have to get all the quilting done before next summer!!</div>
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Rachel Wolstenholmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06197750503547877437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-567296617996386002.post-75047153676567653962013-07-30T12:24:00.004+02:002013-07-30T12:24:49.712+02:00Back to Dyeing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8pfPQNW9lqRdpKna29ZuyDFbNlaZD8xZ5GmmMp0-9XyU__EERPL2qlkJrzaHBTaSL4u549ZTmE8FMydGQLd7codRd2iUFq6jnFQuGfo_HcRNFsEOOzcIX7olDtvkG_e5jCDMuted5ngje/s1600/100_7746.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8pfPQNW9lqRdpKna29ZuyDFbNlaZD8xZ5GmmMp0-9XyU__EERPL2qlkJrzaHBTaSL4u549ZTmE8FMydGQLd7codRd2iUFq6jnFQuGfo_HcRNFsEOOzcIX7olDtvkG_e5jCDMuted5ngje/s1600/100_7746.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Last
week I was hand dyeing. I've been dyeing fabric for years and
probably all of my quilts have my own fabric in them somewhere. Some
of my quilts are all hand dyes.</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCgahFB3r1PIHlaknaTvTDtj5rdpyHCN2qfjU9uXwNAwEyDFpTXawURFzksnMupcXqu0oO9HqanhHX8cAnBpYO6TAQPEZOjQVl6y88cG7eROiKfwzwwoSaEVWq9WvSQARSC_X4EA_fswK5/s1600/100_7752.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCgahFB3r1PIHlaknaTvTDtj5rdpyHCN2qfjU9uXwNAwEyDFpTXawURFzksnMupcXqu0oO9HqanhHX8cAnBpYO6TAQPEZOjQVl6y88cG7eROiKfwzwwoSaEVWq9WvSQARSC_X4EA_fswK5/s1600/100_7752.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Birds of Paradise, 2005</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The
Trip Around the World series had lots of rounds of hand dyed squares.
The occasional gaps in the colour made me think of them as little
bits of sunshine coming through the clouds. They were an intrinsic
part in making all of these quilts alive and interesting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I
began dyeing with Procion MX dyes many years ago. I was then living
in Ireland and this meant ordering them from the UK. Then Dylon came
along with their Pure Colour range. They were a godsend: procion based dyes
which I could buy in Cork one jar at a time as they ran out. Perfect
until the product was discontinued. </span>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've
kept going since then on my leftovers and everybody else's but
finally the fix ran out. So I took a deep breath, didn't look at the
total, and ordered a whole new batch of dyes and soda ash from
Kemtex.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(</span> www.kemtex.co.uk<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> an excellent and really helpful company)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have
hundreds of dyeing notes but it's taken me all week to get back into
soda ash and urea solutions. I'm hoping all my colour recipes will be
the same, and if they aren't well I'll just have a new range of
colours.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRITiTF2q0v2gjiklcSP8hubkiWMOb7yUz5_2ZfFYq5pbSdv5begPZkY7i8MCjESueRgcuaJSBeqThamT50QJxaHluwrkYF2LHv4sBBi5GDw3ujt_pKU8xzjYjNMm2HeIv9q-JlXkhyq3d/s1600/100_7732.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRITiTF2q0v2gjiklcSP8hubkiWMOb7yUz5_2ZfFYq5pbSdv5begPZkY7i8MCjESueRgcuaJSBeqThamT50QJxaHluwrkYF2LHv4sBBi5GDw3ujt_pKU8xzjYjNMm2HeIv9q-JlXkhyq3d/s1600/100_7732.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I
spent the initial years merrily squirting syringes of dye into layers
of fabrics in jars but eventually I think you feel the need to be
more scientific/professional/organised(?). So now I have colour
charts and can reproduce colours or dye exactly the shade or tone
which I need. Purples, oranges and browns are my favourites. Blues
are still a disaster and that beautiful, clear, bright red remains
illusive.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've
learnt to re-dye. Think of painting a wall, the first coat of paint
dries a bit wishy-washy but the second one is much deeper. It's the
same with dyeing; dye a second time and you'll be thrilled with the
results.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF6kIUZ28IaT1sv6Dsra_jngj6X71AZcZu5eEIrneaIAMEpNB7Gh5AH8O6Hg2bZKwGJqpbUNDCY1uHv8e-g3PY0FVAFMaY5oYTirvaC1FtJFLbEXWwXDBqoSD1EsZMoakyZthnteI8wr-2/s1600/100_7757.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF6kIUZ28IaT1sv6Dsra_jngj6X71AZcZu5eEIrneaIAMEpNB7Gh5AH8O6Hg2bZKwGJqpbUNDCY1uHv8e-g3PY0FVAFMaY5oYTirvaC1FtJFLbEXWwXDBqoSD1EsZMoakyZthnteI8wr-2/s1600/100_7757.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fabrics dyed once, on the right, and fabrics dyed twice, on the left.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Also
in the box is a jar of synthetic indigo. Indigo – even the name is
evocative. I've been dying to try it for years. I have an idea,
possibly irrational, that living in a hot climate should produce
better results. I haven't opened the jar yet as I'm a bit afraid of
letting the genie out of the bottle, I don't think I'll ever stop once I start, but
I have done lots of research on the internet. This all led me to
thinking about dyeing with natural indigo. One web page led to
another and my first seedlings of Japanese Indigo and Woad have just
come up. But that's a subject for another post.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgusJBD8P1iJghbl_yT4kbOHzg9T3SwVeEqrIK0Dz-SAQi8k_seW3BahCh2PBDcew0gcsYTFdgWMvm_zJzR2hhH9wXEi6yLAjMGRZvsHL9tFWfEKwzsglNV5NhS7v7l58EQSsoz0R4Aebu2/s1600/100_7749.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgusJBD8P1iJghbl_yT4kbOHzg9T3SwVeEqrIK0Dz-SAQi8k_seW3BahCh2PBDcew0gcsYTFdgWMvm_zJzR2hhH9wXEi6yLAjMGRZvsHL9tFWfEKwzsglNV5NhS7v7l58EQSsoz0R4Aebu2/s1600/100_7749.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first tiny seeds.</td></tr>
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Rachel Wolstenholmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06197750503547877437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-567296617996386002.post-66446265759937941942013-07-11T22:41:00.001+02:002013-07-11T22:41:20.528+02:00A Room of one's own<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Well, here's the view out of window of my new studio.</span></h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm-XmCsQdXWihuD3QIUqSuwlJ43eFENZDWHxH6aqXd7QPIJHCP6jkIJ_vK77ADA9QxJxoUaI0bR0v7qa6CEhXxx-MN_pJrnlmemrjei7bvoSvbjKNSoiW6d6RS7dhipzWedGNmDbFj_ooh/s1600/100_7497.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm-XmCsQdXWihuD3QIUqSuwlJ43eFENZDWHxH6aqXd7QPIJHCP6jkIJ_vK77ADA9QxJxoUaI0bR0v7qa6CEhXxx-MN_pJrnlmemrjei7bvoSvbjKNSoiW6d6RS7dhipzWedGNmDbFj_ooh/s1600/100_7497.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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Well, it's the view if you stand right next to the window and look out sideways.</div>
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This is actually the view when I'm sitting at my work table</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVAU6GhBYvbfQbirlB5SR98vyGXHLibtxHek18yWO-oWILCVU4JsotqPnV6vvS9LEa7Hof2XICzUp7WNEO_exAZ6i7E8mDb7YXvkVA4beu4kidI9kNLztFwa7yOPamC1efZ3BSM3QHFMQB/s1600/100_7504.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVAU6GhBYvbfQbirlB5SR98vyGXHLibtxHek18yWO-oWILCVU4JsotqPnV6vvS9LEa7Hof2XICzUp7WNEO_exAZ6i7E8mDb7YXvkVA4beu4kidI9kNLztFwa7yOPamC1efZ3BSM3QHFMQB/s1600/100_7504.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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and studio is another name for the spare bedroom. But hey, it's a big step up from where I've been working for the last few years.</div>
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In May we moved out of Granada and came to live on the coast. Almuñécar, the small town where Laurie Lee ended up when he walked out one Midsummer's morning. We're living in the Barrio San Miguel, a large cluster of old houses on the hill around the castle and overlooking all of the town and the beach. The houses are built like a chinese puzzle. Our house is L-shaped with other houses nestling into us. Once up on the 'terraza' you're in Escher land with multiple levels and geometric shapes in every tone of white.</div>
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But back to my workspace. The last few years my large work table took up about a third of the bedroom. Turn around and there was the bed. To be honest when you're laying out all the blocks for a quilt a double-bed is quite handy and lying in bed is a useful way of assessing the latest design dilemma pinned to the wall - and my best ideas are usually first thing in the morning. But that's probably where the advantages end.</div>
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So now I have a whole room to myself. Almost. There's an ugly wardrobe full of chairs, boxes, electric fans and a large roll of wool wadding. The new house somehow doesn't have a lot of empty floor space and so basting a quilt means moving furniture. This is probably why the roll of wadding hasn't been opened. There are also boxes which still need to be unpacked, somewhere in them is my bead box. All the odds and ends which we don't want in other rooms seem to be defying gravity and moving up to my room.</div>
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My Room: at the top of the house, next to the terraza, a little bit hot by the end of the day, with a view of a tiny sliver of the Mediterranean. My Room.</div>
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However, I have a sneaking feeling that when I finish the next quilt I might just miss that bed behind me. It's a long way down to the floor.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjowIuJmjKTmuIOK0Mb8lPuMhJeEEEVJXFogMdBJyBrPbGtW_gpsYUfjYBrUA8sO_Wd0nyQyuBUzvEry7Gt7bxUon5Qx28xZHu2xp2dbVaFOb7eUPrvn2p1LE8L6pRzwFxooqdNNt8tSGqe/s1600/100_7513.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjowIuJmjKTmuIOK0Mb8lPuMhJeEEEVJXFogMdBJyBrPbGtW_gpsYUfjYBrUA8sO_Wd0nyQyuBUzvEry7Gt7bxUon5Qx28xZHu2xp2dbVaFOb7eUPrvn2p1LE8L6pRzwFxooqdNNt8tSGqe/s1600/100_7513.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPP68HtIp8QUhkBbqYaOb10YGW6BP2-tbL__AwqHIALhrKtbvjHP5FHP2OAMd3UWXuGcw-E_c3he0Yalemztpw-8nOImWKtR-o-v_iESqEmMl4OIkeo2pOy20F8egXesWcwbg-2e90anfN/s1600/100_7520.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPP68HtIp8QUhkBbqYaOb10YGW6BP2-tbL__AwqHIALhrKtbvjHP5FHP2OAMd3UWXuGcw-E_c3he0Yalemztpw-8nOImWKtR-o-v_iESqEmMl4OIkeo2pOy20F8egXesWcwbg-2e90anfN/s1600/100_7520.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Escher Land</td></tr>
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Rachel Wolstenholmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06197750503547877437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-567296617996386002.post-69479569722829163092013-06-12T09:02:00.000+02:002013-06-12T09:02:05.602+02:00Designing with pavements II<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Here's the second part of Designing with Pavements.<br />
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The last post had a very beautiful and complicated stars and hexagons pattern but here's something much more simple.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj18Y1iG39Vms_r3JBpkMjq86x9YZGIYOQCnICDspFdBrPVKV2Ja3Izac70cH8zyn5-kCZEQFQf8iHfMPUukuxMGKoMcFnGbuHO_AmFNaLfwxh9KOrIxFh9RN02gSr9ixLfzBfDgGAJd8Nv/s1600/100_6064.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj18Y1iG39Vms_r3JBpkMjq86x9YZGIYOQCnICDspFdBrPVKV2Ja3Izac70cH8zyn5-kCZEQFQf8iHfMPUukuxMGKoMcFnGbuHO_AmFNaLfwxh9KOrIxFh9RN02gSr9ixLfzBfDgGAJd8Nv/s1600/100_6064.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a><br />
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Rows and rows of rectangles.</div>
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Sometimes it's more challenging to create using minimum lines and forms.<br />
I started by doing a painting/ collage. I had already decided that I wanted to work in one colour and chose a lemony yellow.<br />
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I decided against piecing and chose to create the lines using stitching.<br />
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The shading on the hand dyed fabric gave me the idea to actually dye the fabric in squares and then quilt.</div>
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This is as far as I got. Again probably due to the fact that my machine quilting skills aren't good enough for what I was trying to achieve.It would be interesting to go back and redo the project using big stitch hand quilting and see what emerges.</div>
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Here's another set of pavement tiles where you could use a similar approach.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIHsRbSDdASbNkWHnmnWm16uszqhATkxjP04F1F1OTTcIqQE8zSFNWT2cmlPpmRvmEGYnpvIgguIf9z2QUvklGuQ8Q9_iwph8AMduR6U47ggvTq8_GY6ksLDfa5JJxIYeYZ1V519J7xWXz/s1600/100_6143.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIHsRbSDdASbNkWHnmnWm16uszqhATkxjP04F1F1OTTcIqQE8zSFNWT2cmlPpmRvmEGYnpvIgguIf9z2QUvklGuQ8Q9_iwph8AMduR6U47ggvTq8_GY6ksLDfa5JJxIYeYZ1V519J7xWXz/s1600/100_6143.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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This design isn't mine at all, but a completely traditional one. Sometime back in the late nineties Quilters' Newsletter Monthly (as it was then called) printed this pattern.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtI_NAqQLPzMHz625xTevrSI-d9c1cE_ZMKsnHmrZtck2mSNgx82eeitlKrzF_rTSLJV0rUBuJquaEsfcC16PlMk7bXL1CxHwSuc4hWZQX4S7DFqj-mhyphenhyphen1Fzk5FBUa00VGudi_Hi2jm8Gb/s1600/100_7217.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtI_NAqQLPzMHz625xTevrSI-d9c1cE_ZMKsnHmrZtck2mSNgx82eeitlKrzF_rTSLJV0rUBuJquaEsfcC16PlMk7bXL1CxHwSuc4hWZQX4S7DFqj-mhyphenhyphen1Fzk5FBUa00VGudi_Hi2jm8Gb/s1600/100_7217.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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I think it's called Rose Dream. I started hand sewing blocks and I'm still trying to complete them. My aim is 100 blocks, or 50 different fabrics. As it's taking so long to do the fabrics are a veritable history of my patchwork fabric collection.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMiktNyBSxjbnkZ03hsQ4s1wTdTtmCAFBtpKL6dYr9jvg4gdYs2-suHbcJ5CZldcO6yaeAHhsZfpc-u0zqIadbw3YTUI8JGlbv64keC06u47zzjDs6xIdyEZuot45MY0hSthvC_AZTprkz/s1600/100_7228.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMiktNyBSxjbnkZ03hsQ4s1wTdTtmCAFBtpKL6dYr9jvg4gdYs2-suHbcJ5CZldcO6yaeAHhsZfpc-u0zqIadbw3YTUI8JGlbv64keC06u47zzjDs6xIdyEZuot45MY0hSthvC_AZTprkz/s1600/100_7228.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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I'm sure some of you even recognise, and still have, some of the same fabrics.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUEKJ4gUEyXHriRaAmfQKhg96XQM92eDba_tiOdEXwPbRvF5FWSIUeIk_VLmivKGYZIlyiU52HBhHbSLc550KuBGs_HJMskcx_nhGhvOHEovilV2a5mveCjKo71Z8UWUD-DVRVjUX_NCdp/s1600/100_7221.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUEKJ4gUEyXHriRaAmfQKhg96XQM92eDba_tiOdEXwPbRvF5FWSIUeIk_VLmivKGYZIlyiU52HBhHbSLc550KuBGs_HJMskcx_nhGhvOHEovilV2a5mveCjKo71Z8UWUD-DVRVjUX_NCdp/s1600/100_7221.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjkg7-mAM16-9pW6oc7-RwI007bd3bWbS8KV6yly7AxcYQk1m-WxvM5teEwo8ncIDszdttMyx-3g3n2zKjk353CIJ70-MLhpOah-7GYJAqQWEZZrm9yOc_FeMeW-R7mEoSUnxn9cuHnCa9/s1600/100_7218.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjkg7-mAM16-9pW6oc7-RwI007bd3bWbS8KV6yly7AxcYQk1m-WxvM5teEwo8ncIDszdttMyx-3g3n2zKjk353CIJ70-MLhpOah-7GYJAqQWEZZrm9yOc_FeMeW-R7mEoSUnxn9cuHnCa9/s1600/100_7218.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a>So, despite working on this as a very longterm project, for a long time I didn't recognise that the tiles in the patio of the house where I'm living in Spain were the same pattern.</div>
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Interestingly I started the project by drawing around the templates and sewing along the pencil line and then randomly cutting a seam. A few years later I bought Jinny Beyers hand sewing bible and changed to adding the 1/4 inch seam into the templates and sewing by eye. It's a much better system.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Qaa1gX-N_V93N7SlDDiXvm80cGmsCEcIkxDViZ7c4_3QfOqWz1e0Gi4J28NiduwXjnL4g710_2v7HsATkGRfwsw_CKB0MTM3Eu3718EdVG9sigpB4sIQPVthE62yitZHPi2a6fLX5yEJ/s1600/100_7229.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Qaa1gX-N_V93N7SlDDiXvm80cGmsCEcIkxDViZ7c4_3QfOqWz1e0Gi4J28NiduwXjnL4g710_2v7HsATkGRfwsw_CKB0MTM3Eu3718EdVG9sigpB4sIQPVthE62yitZHPi2a6fLX5yEJ/s1600/100_7229.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Jinny Beyers method block is on the top.<br />
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And finally, a few weeks ago the bus stopped and out of the window was another traditional design there on the wall in front of me.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpSqBcD8qRgkB1j_5z0oxJ4Qo61a-n1BPPBoXUOS1b5HSLVF3lSo67rMsB8ausob919eFhee0XwzDWXE9GM_oysHclqeoBihwnyr7_JkYuHUjzEA0oBTlHoSPDBRI3xIXz6mTcMHrSQyVe/s1600/100_6872.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpSqBcD8qRgkB1j_5z0oxJ4Qo61a-n1BPPBoXUOS1b5HSLVF3lSo67rMsB8ausob919eFhee0XwzDWXE9GM_oysHclqeoBihwnyr7_JkYuHUjzEA0oBTlHoSPDBRI3xIXz6mTcMHrSQyVe/s1600/100_6872.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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Once you start looking there are design possibilities everywhere and honestly I do finish projects, sometimes!</div>
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<br />Rachel Wolstenholmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06197750503547877437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-567296617996386002.post-18942378419142358372013-05-12T12:19:00.001+02:002013-05-12T12:19:07.924+02:00Diary of a Revolution Sampler - The End<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Well, it's actually May 12 - a happy coincidence - and the Revolution Sampler is finished.</div>
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Really it was finished two weeks ago, and it immediately travelled with me to Ireland, I only got around to posting this today.</div>
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It's finished but I'm not sure if it is.</div>
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I had no way of assessing the piece except that I knew that as a quilt it was perfectly made. In Ireland a few people were actually brave enough to be honest about the piece and I got some very interesting constructive and positive criticism.</div>
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Criticism when it's positive is what allows you to grow. And so now I'm full of the beginnings of ideas for the next piece. I may also take the Revolution Sampler apart and rework part of it, perhaps.</div>
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But for now it's complete. It has been a great experience making it. I finally feel I can begin to call myself a textile artist, a term I have been very wary of for a long time. Writing the blog added a whole new dimension to the process. On one hand there was the surreal week when 1,881 people saw something I was working on to the realisation that even my closest friends half the time don't read the blog just look at the pictures!!</div>
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Two people were instrumental in this quilt's evolution and I don't think they have any idea about the part they played. Last summer Elena Moral shared a picture of the original graffiti from Germany of Revolution, with Love backwards, and Syk Houdeib helped me to collect a lot of the posters and stickers. Without their input this Revolution Sampler wouldn't have existed. Their interest along the way was an additional bonus, thanks.</div>
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So that's it. Not the end at all just the first step.</div>
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And for those of you who are actually reading, here are some inspiring words from Howard Zinn which I read whilst sitting in Malaga airport, with the Revolution Sampler next to me swathed in bubble wrap.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places - and there are so many - where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.</span></div>
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Howard Zinn.<u> A Power Governments Cannot Suppress.</u></div>
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Rachel Wolstenholmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06197750503547877437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-567296617996386002.post-35007038346766797952013-04-20T21:49:00.000+02:002013-04-20T21:49:05.188+02:00Diary of a Revolution Sampler 6Well last weekend I bought some wadding and set out to finish the Sampler.<br />
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First I taped the back to the living room floor. Smoothed the wadding onto it and basted the two together. I'd decided not to baste the top mainly to avoid putting unecessary holes in it and also as it lies flat I didn't see the need.<br />
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Next step was to lie the top on top of these two layers and at this point I did tack through the three layers just around the outside. Once this was done I decided to quilt the two outer rows on each side before lifting the whole thing off the floor and removing the tape.</div>
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It was a strange feeling as I lifted it up. This is usually the moment when after all the back breaking basting you get the reward of finally seeing and handling a quilt, as opposed to a top on its own. The Sampler is a quilt and it isn't. As I've continued to handle it while stitching the rows of quilting it has definitely become to feel more like a textile.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmJuxNUPPAUSqJyLTxFY8g9tM65MYUIR1F3kJF3WmKxRA6Fm5SRct6nPshVmQiyId6UbDuoAa50cy7jFd2zm-x2MWsmHwiEAgAvYDE_YRYXc8dOptrUQinDjnmZox3XGpbgm8tzi3Tju0_/s1600/100_6942.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmJuxNUPPAUSqJyLTxFY8g9tM65MYUIR1F3kJF3WmKxRA6Fm5SRct6nPshVmQiyId6UbDuoAa50cy7jFd2zm-x2MWsmHwiEAgAvYDE_YRYXc8dOptrUQinDjnmZox3XGpbgm8tzi3Tju0_/s1600/100_6942.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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Here are the threads I'd put aside, in order as I embroidered the rows, for the rows of quilting stitches.</div>
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So far so good. So I removed the tape and lifted the whole thing up. Mmmm.... not so flat as I thought it would be. Even here in the photo you can see how it's moving in waves!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz3T12n-dv7QO2HGCvP87mDMMRHam_F2OULAvxRcZ9EkoA5To0E_p5HvrLB2kxNJ7Gpt_moRzdz8gj4ulaOlSI87mjJdLB78mYSdLqLoyQfPbE2FDV3-lnuo_VEKjgrebQ_5Z1sO54yqvM/s1600/100_6943.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz3T12n-dv7QO2HGCvP87mDMMRHam_F2OULAvxRcZ9EkoA5To0E_p5HvrLB2kxNJ7Gpt_moRzdz8gj4ulaOlSI87mjJdLB78mYSdLqLoyQfPbE2FDV3-lnuo_VEKjgrebQ_5Z1sO54yqvM/s1600/100_6943.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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The problem is the T-shirt material which stretches and contracts as it wishes. On purpose I hadn't stretched the back too much when I taped it down. I'm hoping that the added pieces of posters in the rows with the T-shirt will help to keep the back in shape.</div>
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At this stage just a bit exhausted from crouching down basting and quilting I reckoned I'd call it a day. </div>
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I lay the quilt on my work table and covered it with my large cutting board and practically every heavy quilt book that I own. Knowing I wouldn't get back to it for at least four or five days I reckoned I'd manage to flatten it.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp-KJDj9NPG2z_f_mliDZwSxV9n1cvnCvVv55tBewUDHFoH7N1BOKLVgEZjehSGlkRtCGA-xK1ur3DaJMWcqLqnpeqgVQT8wNXPfC-YoMb5sMVxfVc37e5hz2RVdGt-d4MIRAxxtE-rSCE/s1600/100_6950.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp-KJDj9NPG2z_f_mliDZwSxV9n1cvnCvVv55tBewUDHFoH7N1BOKLVgEZjehSGlkRtCGA-xK1ur3DaJMWcqLqnpeqgVQT8wNXPfC-YoMb5sMVxfVc37e5hz2RVdGt-d4MIRAxxtE-rSCE/s1600/100_6950.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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And so to today.<br />
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I removed the books and there it was all lovely and flat. By the end of the morning I'd finished all the quilting rows.There was quite a bit of swearing involved, once again due to the T-shirt material. It was ***** hell to sew through, even the parts not printed on. One needle totally bent and even the next one was in poor shape by the end. I also gave in about putting unecessary holes through the paper and added some pins just to even out the waves as I quilted.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8goEOiRyePx8vAv_tRhwy-rijwlbDEhRKeOkhcsHeW7AO7ieb4FInKg2Py9pZ8D3qSRLEabThnyAZmbT-pILNKFQkt3UbtaWqS0H5uBaUqYzvyp1_sXOb0wKOmhgxYZTIaNLrVdj-Kq0i/s1600/100_7051.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8goEOiRyePx8vAv_tRhwy-rijwlbDEhRKeOkhcsHeW7AO7ieb4FInKg2Py9pZ8D3qSRLEabThnyAZmbT-pILNKFQkt3UbtaWqS0H5uBaUqYzvyp1_sXOb0wKOmhgxYZTIaNLrVdj-Kq0i/s1600/100_7051.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pins and two needles</td></tr>
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By two o'clock the 99 rows were complete and the quilt was only a little bit wavy. So I put it back under all the books for a few hours.</div>
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And if only that had been the end.</div>
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I'm putting a mustard/gold cotton double binding around the quilt. A double binding because it's what I always use and the colour because it frames the quilt but doesn't close it in as a black binding would have done.</div>
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I cut the sides and for once I had four perfect 90 degree corners. </div>
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Now to the machine, easier said than done. It's not a normal quilt which folds up and moves through the machine on its own. In the end I needed an assistant and even though it's a small piece by the end we both had aching shoulders.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN-DRD8Gqg_iyeTzlPsHprhBgggcA2Y3Chyphenhyphen0rK_MzNkHzunqWpIcDDtLizeRghevQbzJBK6RxGOYvOkgD5DR31bFXAGN7f-Ss5Tmzod5HwEVlpTL6ZBOWPtLoPNThCPWPWPdsK9HA2pMnT/s1600/100_7059.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN-DRD8Gqg_iyeTzlPsHprhBgggcA2Y3Chyphenhyphen0rK_MzNkHzunqWpIcDDtLizeRghevQbzJBK6RxGOYvOkgD5DR31bFXAGN7f-Ss5Tmzod5HwEVlpTL6ZBOWPtLoPNThCPWPWPdsK9HA2pMnT/s1600/100_7059.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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And here's the quilt with the binding almost all the way around and if you look closely you can see it's not flat.The binding exacerbated the problem. For some reason it went on tighter than the quilt and so is now pulling the quilt tighter, just the opposite of what I wanted.</div>
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Aching shoulders and just a bit fed up, there was nothing for it except to take all the binding off. Almost three metres of stitching to take out!</div>
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So now it's back under all the books, except that now there's a perforated line around it all from where I've taken the stitching out. I'm going to hand sew the binding on - has to be quicker than what I've just done - I hope that this way the binding will be more relaxed and follow the quilt instead of pulling it tight. I expect using bias binding would help too, but I haven't got enough fabric.</div>
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Then all I'll have to do is stitch the binding to the back and embroider my initials and the date. The end is in sight. Think I might have thought this before.</div>
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Now where's that bottle of wine.</div>
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Rachel Wolstenholmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06197750503547877437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-567296617996386002.post-73549191381722210212013-03-31T13:56:00.000+02:002013-03-31T13:56:21.608+02:00Diary of a Revolution Sampler 5<div style="text-align: justify;">
Well so much for the Easter deadline!</div>
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Thursday I finally manged to catch up and complete my daily deadlines for stitching the rows and by Thursday evening I had actually finished them all. Bang on time.</div>
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Friday morning I got up and straight to work.</div>
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First I sliced up my T-shirt from the demonstration last May 12.</div>
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The T-shirt was shorter than the sampler so I added on pieces of posters backed with muslin.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyx7MZwtZU4sWWa-SdmFzZdv8FZwWnQBmh2D19lj5eDR6cTtmy32hvPLOXLu8enF9CN3sROl6fu-2mH0HCLSKs-QuSCZ0VmpwaKxVJqgMiVLdhqVsQ8R5pYcWBz0BDpunAi5BT6ArfQWCw/s1600/100_6836.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyx7MZwtZU4sWWa-SdmFzZdv8FZwWnQBmh2D19lj5eDR6cTtmy32hvPLOXLu8enF9CN3sROl6fu-2mH0HCLSKs-QuSCZ0VmpwaKxVJqgMiVLdhqVsQ8R5pYcWBz0BDpunAi5BT6ArfQWCw/s1600/100_6836.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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Originally I had thought of combining my T-shirt with flamenco dress fabric (of which I seem to have bought quite a lot over the last few years and not really used much) but in the end I chose a nice bright communist/revolution red - really what else could it have been.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEittBiclTvZNJ5E6-kJ3jk9AsAZ-XF9UcSJrrQj2Gz-Dr_V719o2b3ZTE_wqk51Jpi7DB3tnoroKEXdjc3kQ_XqIn4az51tgQ0-27_O5xsSOZkhLxo8eejuLDI8esmD2I0_I2Dq9ZOqLf3t/s1600/100_6845.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEittBiclTvZNJ5E6-kJ3jk9AsAZ-XF9UcSJrrQj2Gz-Dr_V719o2b3ZTE_wqk51Jpi7DB3tnoroKEXdjc3kQ_XqIn4az51tgQ0-27_O5xsSOZkhLxo8eejuLDI8esmD2I0_I2Dq9ZOqLf3t/s1600/100_6845.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Strips laid out in sewing order</td></tr>
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I was a little bit worried about the stretchiness of the T-shirt fabric and I envisioned a few problems with the tension between the strips. I ripped the red fabric to make sure that they were really running down the grain. When I sewed the strips I sewed them all from the top, lining up the top edges, and I was pleasantly surprised that it all sewed up fine and lies flat - well there's one or two small bumps but only I know where they are.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihpWj9d6fJ2Hu04PFTXObUshyn_fSMkudgCW8DQTZ4y-e-RhQWt3nH2p65FjOW6lb97dI6WUQCRaqTTn9DQk8_MZkvVSHDoFuBT5ZcHLoutHI_RxmJF7hfVdoBnDawgOM_TPX5deMwAnLo/s1600/100_6853.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihpWj9d6fJ2Hu04PFTXObUshyn_fSMkudgCW8DQTZ4y-e-RhQWt3nH2p65FjOW6lb97dI6WUQCRaqTTn9DQk8_MZkvVSHDoFuBT5ZcHLoutHI_RxmJF7hfVdoBnDawgOM_TPX5deMwAnLo/s1600/100_6853.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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The back looks a bit like a flag, and though no football fan suspiciously reminds me of the Barcelona colours.<div>
As the top is so flat I decided to baste the wadding only to the back. Also because I don't want to put any uneccesary holes through the top. I then planned to place the top on top and do the rows of quilting stitches from the centre out.</div>
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Not even lunchtime and so much done.</div>
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Next step search through all the plastic bags in the wardrobe for the wadding. Nice piece of wool but my gut instinct is for a piece of cotton which will hold its shape. </div>
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More bags and more bags (even more flamenco fabric, think I'll have to stop acquiring it) and finally the realisation that I have no wadding. DISASTER</div>
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It's Good Friday, everything's closed, and tomorrow I'm off for the day to the coast.</div>
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I almost made the deadline. This week I'll buy the wadding and now I'm planning on having it finished in two weeks. That's the plan.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Rachel Wolstenholmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06197750503547877437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-567296617996386002.post-36452627383227996522013-03-25T22:50:00.000+01:002013-03-25T22:50:31.184+01:00Diary of a Revolution Sampler 4<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifO86wKL0oCPGdrJ6LyPV2jxim9rq9m-YaNzmr8F2wcJhsUzIUABTlE9jqA-OsVg1h6VqBejXWOlj-POpl83Ws3LhuxTW5lCx3_25-EP2UrgNNJG19wU31rTQR9pHfe-pyQtrUy5KLimH2/s1600/100_6806.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifO86wKL0oCPGdrJ6LyPV2jxim9rq9m-YaNzmr8F2wcJhsUzIUABTlE9jqA-OsVg1h6VqBejXWOlj-POpl83Ws3LhuxTW5lCx3_25-EP2UrgNNJG19wU31rTQR9pHfe-pyQtrUy5KLimH2/s1600/100_6806.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From the back the colours stand out more.</td></tr>
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Yesterday I managed to get to half way with the stitching. I couldn't put up the post because I had to stitch!</div>
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I'm still trying to meet my self imposed Easter deadline. To do this I've divided up the remaining stitching into daily amounts.</div>
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It's Monday, I've finished stitching and I've just begun Sunday's allotted rows.</div>
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I'm still optimistic that I'll manage it it.</div>
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Actually giving myself daily deadlines has been really useful and is definitely making me sit down and get on with it.</div>
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I think it's getting faster too. It's definitely quicker as I work out to the side edges of the piece because I don't have it rolled up in front of me.</div>
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I've also decided that I prefer twisted thread to embroidery strands. The embroidery strands tend to separate; I think because I start with such long lengths. My favourite threads are the pearl cotton, in various sizes, which I've dyed myself.</div>
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It's getting very exciting as I can see the end in sight.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGLkLZpLR5ul0k4Mr7DHRBykwRIDEk-uSM25gl2hRacJBv9IANIqgmIsT793E8Pfz4Cm7KKeFuYEqJArm7j-nU2QfeAmEpdjMY8vWIntkRJD0FenPCjIvFyZMl3H1gkViLS3LiShdqHmiQ/s1600/100_6805.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGLkLZpLR5ul0k4Mr7DHRBykwRIDEk-uSM25gl2hRacJBv9IANIqgmIsT793E8Pfz4Cm7KKeFuYEqJArm7j-nU2QfeAmEpdjMY8vWIntkRJD0FenPCjIvFyZMl3H1gkViLS3LiShdqHmiQ/s1600/100_6805.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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Rachel Wolstenholmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06197750503547877437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-567296617996386002.post-46667388923079832352013-03-10T20:56:00.003+01:002013-03-10T20:56:35.379+01:00Diary of a Revolution Sampler 3<div style="text-align: justify;">
Well two weeks into this project and it's coming along slowly. The piece is monopolising my work table and yesterday my sewing machine came back from being repaired. I know if I take the piece off the table it will never be finished so the project I was sewing when the machine stopped is the carrot for me to get the Revolution Sampler finished. I'm aiming for Easter- wishful thinking? Perhaps.</div>
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The sampler idea has changed. I realised that the spacing of 1cm between each row of stitching was too narrow for embroidery stitches. Also as the piece doesn't bend it would have been really hard work embroidering it; the needle can only go one way, either up or down. It's impossible to push it down and bring it up in one movement.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3rs3NBqqkeDmLhIl8f155nuyEvGxHMsKl4JaupTkdLz5JP9JY6EH4Zy0JthhlDsF-727oZsymNQOY4gEmuXoPi3S6fpfpc58rYUer_KHFl1ZgbyoQH3Hbc79KFutUw3h0xYoCANIpQWbR/s1600/100_6657.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3rs3NBqqkeDmLhIl8f155nuyEvGxHMsKl4JaupTkdLz5JP9JY6EH4Zy0JthhlDsF-727oZsymNQOY4gEmuXoPi3S6fpfpc58rYUer_KHFl1ZgbyoQH3Hbc79KFutUw3h0xYoCANIpQWbR/s1600/100_6657.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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I first sewed the outlines of the lettering across the middle and worked out how best to handle everything when sewing. I tried rolling the ends onto a tube, but the tube was too heavy. I've tried rolling the work underneath but I've finally settled on having it rolled on top in front of me. The pictures explain it better.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9levxV0zTCJe8EXW_g55mFRc0KWNxpp9mSk8FvzMI5J0jZI7DLXZYFkQNpwLSEelXhA6YOzzvJppaMh2lYmQUCaNqLHwFr2Wahf3nDqSBrCvqoMsTa1KyBFQ7BN5vfkVGLJxXYMx1Iod1/s1600/100_6661.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9levxV0zTCJe8EXW_g55mFRc0KWNxpp9mSk8FvzMI5J0jZI7DLXZYFkQNpwLSEelXhA6YOzzvJppaMh2lYmQUCaNqLHwFr2Wahf3nDqSBrCvqoMsTa1KyBFQ7BN5vfkVGLJxXYMx1Iod1/s1600/100_6661.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZnF2XOVWVtu9C2POt2VnY_6If_-FiKaED4MqUNE7JHKlK75bsqL7ceEJKlvVl2YVQHk_qL93Pd4D12-Ywc27BQ-GUgSBJmpF_jePaq24Q-BdDScBrdPWkJeVoAm371BQnORn9PaSxDOxy/s1600/100_6652.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZnF2XOVWVtu9C2POt2VnY_6If_-FiKaED4MqUNE7JHKlK75bsqL7ceEJKlvVl2YVQHk_qL93Pd4D12-Ywc27BQ-GUgSBJmpF_jePaq24Q-BdDScBrdPWkJeVoAm371BQnORn9PaSxDOxy/s1600/100_6652.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZnF2XOVWVtu9C2POt2VnY_6If_-FiKaED4MqUNE7JHKlK75bsqL7ceEJKlvVl2YVQHk_qL93Pd4D12-Ywc27BQ-GUgSBJmpF_jePaq24Q-BdDScBrdPWkJeVoAm371BQnORn9PaSxDOxy/s1600/100_6652.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first two rows.</td></tr>
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So yesterday I started on the 99 rows of stitching which represent the slogan 'We are the 99%'.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJbdyNKu4xZo-h7EFNU-zf-mQP32KR6QUy29X2-IdbkwB1sC-LRUMSEJgPvS5aGsIvpC_hp0tpG8vVX9E05N7V-7AIjzFltxE0zcDo5xXUDXZaoc031NJYiDr32-v1e9qJaA0w70S3ZDnd/s1600/100_6667.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJbdyNKu4xZo-h7EFNU-zf-mQP32KR6QUy29X2-IdbkwB1sC-LRUMSEJgPvS5aGsIvpC_hp0tpG8vVX9E05N7V-7AIjzFltxE0zcDo5xXUDXZaoc031NJYiDr32-v1e9qJaA0w70S3ZDnd/s1600/100_6667.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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I managed to do ten and I was very pleased with myself. I very luckily inherited a quiting ruler in centimetres from my aunt who lived in The Netherlands. I never thought I would use it and here it's saved me. Eyeballing the lines is impossible so I draw each one with pencil, stitch and then rub out the pencil which is visible. At the moment they are all parallel even though some of them looked a bit like they were widening at the end. I checked and rechecked with the ruler and everything lined up. Finally my daughter took one look at them and said 'They're fine it's just that some are on yellow and the others are on white and that's what's making them look different.'</div>
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Every tenth row I've left a blank line and these are for the lines of quilting stitches.</div>
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Today it's been pouring with rain which should have been a godsend to sit down and stitch all day. But what do you do in Granada when it's raining? Either you go for chocolate and churros for breakfast or you go out and have tapas. We did the latter which isn't exactly conducive to then sitting down and stitching straight rows. However I did get a bit more done this evening and I'm planning on working away on it bit by bit during the week.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj6Cbje1XGAzkqrTcgJVbnqn7hs_sGehFVDDY3pSpjVVp7VIrrlQUjPv7XQWdw061VentH3gpNJoaiTnQMZnVGF0Vht0oc5W4AMA7ThDOot_yGQwhxzasyVYaHjRDia54KFFLDTbO2pQiK/s1600/100_6679.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj6Cbje1XGAzkqrTcgJVbnqn7hs_sGehFVDDY3pSpjVVp7VIrrlQUjPv7XQWdw061VentH3gpNJoaiTnQMZnVGF0Vht0oc5W4AMA7ThDOot_yGQwhxzasyVYaHjRDia54KFFLDTbO2pQiK/s1600/100_6679.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Close up of this weekend's work.</td></tr>
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That Easter deadline seems a bit ambitious.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYThogcESm6jKu4Io33HyW8VAaRzXssseO-YX5EYoyNsW_SXz2ynmJM9fxPiVLE9F2q5VXLm_WeGGs_B0qXDA4r-3Kwd-zWqsyvEShH505pb7B5KhOAd7kr-bGj_uLGj3vc7y-AYXQEIzP/s1600/100_6681.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYThogcESm6jKu4Io33HyW8VAaRzXssseO-YX5EYoyNsW_SXz2ynmJM9fxPiVLE9F2q5VXLm_WeGGs_B0qXDA4r-3Kwd-zWqsyvEShH505pb7B5KhOAd7kr-bGj_uLGj3vc7y-AYXQEIzP/s1600/100_6681.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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P.S. A quite funny thing happened with the first post of this diary.</div>
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I posted a picture of the collage onto my facebook page</div>
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<a href="http://www.facebook.com/PomegranateQuilts?ref=hl">http://www.facebook.com/PomegranateQuilts</a></div>
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where it was shared by a friend on his great page and website</div>
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<a href="http://www.facebook.com/SpherePoint.Blog">http://www.facebook.com/SpherePoint.Blog</a></div>
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and then onto another revolution and democracy page.</div>
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Facebook tell me that 1,881 people saw this post!!!! </div>
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Now I don't think any of them were quilters as I don't think any of them looked at the blog, but still......</div>
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Rachel Wolstenholmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06197750503547877437noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-567296617996386002.post-27948546464894759432013-02-24T20:50:00.003+01:002013-03-10T20:57:01.122+01:00Diary of a Revolution Sampler 2<h2>
Day 2</h2>
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Well I'm now wondering what on earth I've started. </div>
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The day began really well. The piece is an oversized embroidery sample with 99 vertical rows of embroidery, in lots of colours, representing the slogan 'We are the 99%'. I've not decided yet whether to include the 100th row.</div>
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With the help of two books: Magic Crazy Patchwork by J.Marsha Michler (a fantastic book if you want to know everything there is to know to create crazy quilts.) and a very old embroidery book Erica On Embroidery by Erica Wilson which was published in 1975 and belonged to my granny - I managed to find 85 stitches and variations.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNlGS1Yc-9fQcztOtx29KKGZxGUFmGiC7cG5z6i0D3Y9cvR46FLJTxjwp4gSMd5LvTnixJBjzHjL59lCNKBJunNYhXtuC4cDtQ0puOdxmO5iPJEkrgazrm5oEPavSrnAEoHIQCmJ3MNiep/s1600/100_6509.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNlGS1Yc-9fQcztOtx29KKGZxGUFmGiC7cG5z6i0D3Y9cvR46FLJTxjwp4gSMd5LvTnixJBjzHjL59lCNKBJunNYhXtuC4cDtQ0puOdxmO5iPJEkrgazrm5oEPavSrnAEoHIQCmJ3MNiep/s1600/100_6509.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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So, I now have a plan for the embroidery. Every 10th line there will be a row of quilting stitches - represented by the yellow line on the photo.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOdM-mlM3I3IRkpiaTzHjFgM0BKV4qxG7vN5Lm1yQBrev_j9lC4rLRpXWWA7BHKaPuUKCRxhu_zRq7pkUtjR-vF_eRYaICmpngFeQEpg0fi1ba-CydGrdPecB5x_OPkB2-N2nHGKBKBIwM/s1600/100_6511.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOdM-mlM3I3IRkpiaTzHjFgM0BKV4qxG7vN5Lm1yQBrev_j9lC4rLRpXWWA7BHKaPuUKCRxhu_zRq7pkUtjR-vF_eRYaICmpngFeQEpg0fi1ba-CydGrdPecB5x_OPkB2-N2nHGKBKBIwM/s1600/100_6511.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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The piece measures approximately 1 metre wide which means a line of stitching every 1cm. Now the problems are beginning. This may be too close and the stitching will shred the paper or it may be fine and hold everything together seeing as the bondaweb seems to have come unstuck during the night around all the sides. This could have been due to me moving the piece around a lot last night because I was so thrilled with it!</div>
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So this afternoon I started to outline two of the letters which I marked with tacking stitches last night. It takes a lot longer to stitch than fabric because you can't bend it but it can be done. However as I sat there I began to do some maths: 100 rows of stitching even if I manage one a day that's three months. That's when I stopped calculating and began to seriously wonder if I've gone mad. It's not like I have nothing else to do, for starters there's a pile of quilt tops waiting to be quilted and oh yes I have to go to work tomorrow.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjky01k-_ez65RbsEONDTgPJYlMIaUSQjNhvJf32dmFg2sdPnZQQP89SQ0xLm_d7ECx-3ZgdZSSVvjdqwSar3v9hyphenhyphenTDoqZSEp5biaDw8ujyVRoyMhpXpcXReu7boATQaqpyNXKulyChWy1w/s1600/100_6523.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjky01k-_ez65RbsEONDTgPJYlMIaUSQjNhvJf32dmFg2sdPnZQQP89SQ0xLm_d7ECx-3ZgdZSSVvjdqwSar3v9hyphenhyphenTDoqZSEp5biaDw8ujyVRoyMhpXpcXReu7boATQaqpyNXKulyChWy1w/s1600/100_6523.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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Well I'm not giving in yet and the first two letters, split stitch and rather large outline/stem stitch, don't look bad at all.</div>
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Rachel Wolstenholmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06197750503547877437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-567296617996386002.post-40665874334148656802013-02-23T23:14:00.001+01:002013-02-23T23:14:27.416+01:00Diary of a Revolution Sampler<h2>
Day 1</h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1RDNLzuR_utwtL2CORCmDqx0GilAoFJ_EfinZCtp9i_fC-dGvLaGqik3lAC3MJY42vJE5UTCrAHPgnhWMgpiFJu9Rpn-XbCvGXoIRIQA0-tSh6I2pndX6e7LE2R1gTQJBDMnLKC9Vcc8B/s1600/100_6481.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1RDNLzuR_utwtL2CORCmDqx0GilAoFJ_EfinZCtp9i_fC-dGvLaGqik3lAC3MJY42vJE5UTCrAHPgnhWMgpiFJu9Rpn-XbCvGXoIRIQA0-tSh6I2pndX6e7LE2R1gTQJBDMnLKC9Vcc8B/s1600/100_6481.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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A blank canvas , well actually a blank piece of muslin covered with fusible web.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKifj7-8LIxMW52hbE6B83Q3Dr2XmSwehaTt9KYgCF2-8WzW09VW_bL8A3GM0-ttkBgEsICrBn60vacfXFy2b2YOx38S_sgJrThduAKOOSkRxeaFK3ix9BpfAGp0au1sA5Rz55bWECtOdq/s1600/100_6482.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKifj7-8LIxMW52hbE6B83Q3Dr2XmSwehaTt9KYgCF2-8WzW09VW_bL8A3GM0-ttkBgEsICrBn60vacfXFy2b2YOx38S_sgJrThduAKOOSkRxeaFK3ix9BpfAGp0au1sA5Rz55bWECtOdq/s1600/100_6482.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
Material I've been collecting for almost a year connected to demonstrations and protests here in Granada and Spain during 2012.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjghoi-IK5dv31VVSVMfHjVhD-aGna_zANYXi9Y1R4j_NIiOY0Jd2HLe9FEPvLPYY9eWdLWjwMC027yR7UoQW_l4MlT-6hoykVGct9gSxuHlFHO3Ws2uwWwDvO7uJa95ks3wtPy_pqtRh6j/s1600/100_6485.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjghoi-IK5dv31VVSVMfHjVhD-aGna_zANYXi9Y1R4j_NIiOY0Jd2HLe9FEPvLPYY9eWdLWjwMC027yR7UoQW_l4MlT-6hoykVGct9gSxuHlFHO3Ws2uwWwDvO7uJa95ks3wtPy_pqtRh6j/s1600/100_6485.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
Lettering to be embroidered across the sampler drawn onto opaque paper - actually the paper I pulled off the fusible web.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_fPFgl3c4NErB1NYbCeKP1R1IZ45kAV9esq11cxpibZ9E1RczOQNZzGkE6eRb8aUqjO_7-B-A7OgkDoezPUeeMbRSy9-buBtuiV_aV1FbjvCRcDeqcJqkriZqoJe6TbcHpIr8rW31MYNJ/s1600/100_6488.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_fPFgl3c4NErB1NYbCeKP1R1IZ45kAV9esq11cxpibZ9E1RczOQNZzGkE6eRb8aUqjO_7-B-A7OgkDoezPUeeMbRSy9-buBtuiV_aV1FbjvCRcDeqcJqkriZqoJe6TbcHpIr8rW31MYNJ/s1600/100_6488.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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A quick look at the tangled threads in my embroidery box to see what exactly I have. I was pleasantly surprised!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi9stN6Zsp4OxI-EdkddDahsQ5IFO3378H0M5J3MCp_kThQJUpgbuk8_hbG2M8ubvtcOaCxzderVym4S7n7mTM62148j9dtMXteunTOdIojlnNCOlnXfUaK6DJvFBLDC4Px0ze7ZZ1-f33/s1600/100_6494.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi9stN6Zsp4OxI-EdkddDahsQ5IFO3378H0M5J3MCp_kThQJUpgbuk8_hbG2M8ubvtcOaCxzderVym4S7n7mTM62148j9dtMXteunTOdIojlnNCOlnXfUaK6DJvFBLDC4Px0ze7ZZ1-f33/s1600/100_6494.JPG" height="200" width="150" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi186lzG0OiM8MIQhyphenhyphenfIpho30VqlXqfD60w4gPvAMFdbE_e0L3AA2jhnjMHq29WLpkjhz5kGrJSMuApMy-KfEdtfoCerql7Ico8f59fuucZMrLFoTJzFV0pLpON7bDQfty6ApJJXV64nUc8/s1600/100_6495.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi186lzG0OiM8MIQhyphenhyphenfIpho30VqlXqfD60w4gPvAMFdbE_e0L3AA2jhnjMHq29WLpkjhz5kGrJSMuApMy-KfEdtfoCerql7Ico8f59fuucZMrLFoTJzFV0pLpON7bDQfty6ApJJXV64nUc8/s1600/100_6495.JPG" height="200" style="cursor: move;" width="150" /></a>Fixing the posters and newspaper cuttings to the fusible web was a bit like doing a jigsaw backwards.<br />
First draw a line under the image.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRAERS1G4TYhbuxzla-pqyeulS0FQ1ivhiHyyvt8VjWi83wd-X2KxzB-9zfTw-FrBVWMvIkwcwRRXHTBDOo0CtFt-5GqVCo3cFepPz0H1VQkcwwToMJrTMxW64h4Jkdiea8dGhQcFv2M9a/s1600/100_6496.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRAERS1G4TYhbuxzla-pqyeulS0FQ1ivhiHyyvt8VjWi83wd-X2KxzB-9zfTw-FrBVWMvIkwcwRRXHTBDOo0CtFt-5GqVCo3cFepPz0H1VQkcwwToMJrTMxW64h4Jkdiea8dGhQcFv2M9a/s1600/100_6496.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a><br />
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Then cut out the paper from underneath and finally iron with a piece of muslin between the iron and the paper.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSncMaDfoPGtxZNvSOH9_gMIKKcm2AraYcLPMRqKYOIpOunLFP91HJL2b-9U-uEbEWYOjWVJCi0oZEA0vwiulNtJ9dVVM0PYCfatCHpDLtWZVV9iwClDcv0SQl58fuXYEByz5uRsSbQpOf/s1600/100_6499.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSncMaDfoPGtxZNvSOH9_gMIKKcm2AraYcLPMRqKYOIpOunLFP91HJL2b-9U-uEbEWYOjWVJCi0oZEA0vwiulNtJ9dVVM0PYCfatCHpDLtWZVV9iwClDcv0SQl58fuXYEByz5uRsSbQpOf/s1600/100_6499.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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Everything stuck down.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNEKuRgmHTxJbUcBZ17vJJWCnh0FzOZCGWAQuqfbSASj-2zX8PWVSfMhx7l9X7fufU3oknZ2vRilqmAHgJo17RSXjtSDdsZLCuRsWQ0yetsA7LmZWymOeJ6xixGKP500uxh8g3r6WpSq5A/s1600/100_6501.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNEKuRgmHTxJbUcBZ17vJJWCnh0FzOZCGWAQuqfbSASj-2zX8PWVSfMhx7l9X7fufU3oknZ2vRilqmAHgJo17RSXjtSDdsZLCuRsWQ0yetsA7LmZWymOeJ6xixGKP500uxh8g3r6WpSq5A/s1600/100_6501.JPG" height="200" width="150" /></a></div>
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Now tack through all the lettering.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOBR3k7bjjYR4oSwElrTzpXst9MtOb7rpjfQ1ZMzfag9U8mHO5otkG50PqM9aA8DRwqfr7w7fzQdvpSs2FRaT1p1lTQAwxbLXjhNvKNSgpgv74kuUzsMsOEmVXPoIhRHQIL4XLNjtrSU81/s1600/100_6504.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOBR3k7bjjYR4oSwElrTzpXst9MtOb7rpjfQ1ZMzfag9U8mHO5otkG50PqM9aA8DRwqfr7w7fzQdvpSs2FRaT1p1lTQAwxbLXjhNvKNSgpgv74kuUzsMsOEmVXPoIhRHQIL4XLNjtrSU81/s1600/100_6504.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a>And finally, for today, rip off all the paper.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqOhtajXaVtzs80W90J6JggmKpGm8pyoQcWkGGuzjYEMx9I-zvkBJamBNckiWj1YWoHLsFYrYnI6HapJSUtRCxLjizMU6Wg925b_2LuVDPFYY0KAO3UVAbYHa-YHcS8vJNdzTlcDZI5SQI/s1600/100_6507.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqOhtajXaVtzs80W90J6JggmKpGm8pyoQcWkGGuzjYEMx9I-zvkBJamBNckiWj1YWoHLsFYrYnI6HapJSUtRCxLjizMU6Wg925b_2LuVDPFYY0KAO3UVAbYHa-YHcS8vJNdzTlcDZI5SQI/s1600/100_6507.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
It makes more sense on the back.<br />
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To be continued.....</div>
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<br />Rachel Wolstenholmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06197750503547877437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-567296617996386002.post-34048142860210823282013-02-10T12:24:00.007+01:002013-02-10T22:51:03.086+01:00Designing with Pavements I<h3>
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<h3>
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</div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-weight: normal;"> This
is the first post in a short series 'Designing with Pavements'. In
January 2007 we arrived in Granada, Spain to live. One of the first
things which caught my eye as a quilter were the pavements.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: normal;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUaa_T7gc72rIYhRP1t1dXRzTLygq_CtMfoJ7q7WkY5U23LXTmOHjOh80L-weH3wovTmr1bksryi9iC4REMqO7yW7dxRNWqznDd9ZWD5VifDItAqfo1H8EPjEBu_8MA_5e9sY9AZudTHNe/s1600/100_6077.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUaa_T7gc72rIYhRP1t1dXRzTLygq_CtMfoJ7q7WkY5U23LXTmOHjOh80L-weH3wovTmr1bksryi9iC4REMqO7yW7dxRNWqznDd9ZWD5VifDItAqfo1H8EPjEBu_8MA_5e9sY9AZudTHNe/s1600/100_6077.JPG" height="200" width="150" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxrURKyvJVVxxw5sHrycd8SnNlyo3IHdwWzAzXJiu-h2H9c5iIdXa2k3b0H8VxZIyiJWChgCQO8vStn4xYKgQI6JrBxui1-4TnoA5bTL1z9MVdydoUVULBaBZkhxaCvILDKQVi6ZSKljq3/s1600/100_6079.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxrURKyvJVVxxw5sHrycd8SnNlyo3IHdwWzAzXJiu-h2H9c5iIdXa2k3b0H8VxZIyiJWChgCQO8vStn4xYKgQI6JrBxui1-4TnoA5bTL1z9MVdydoUVULBaBZkhxaCvILDKQVi6ZSKljq3/s1600/100_6079.JPG" height="200" width="150" /></a> Many
of Granada's pavements are made of cream and terracotta paving slabs
with geometric designs on them. They are often arranged in a
checkerboard design. The more basic ones consist of rows of dots or
lines forming rectangles but the more complicated form pathways of
octagons and stars beneath your feet.<br />
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I'm
not sure why the pavements are so decorated. Most of the old streets
in the Albayzín, Granada's old quarter, are laid with white and grey
pebbles arranged in complex designs with swirls and flowers –
another treasure trove of ideas for quilting designs, embroidery and
Kantha. Perhaps this heritage has created the paving slabs and no
doubt it all goes back to Islamic designs and their creators who
lived here for centuries. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
So
I took inspiration from what I was walking on. To date I haven't made
a quilt from any of them but the series is planned to show you how I
explored the designs and what I came up with. Perhaps they'll inspire
you to create something too.</div>
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<br /></div>
</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: normal;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
STARS
AND OCTAGONS</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: normal;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
As
you can see from the photo these blocks make a stunning pavement.
(Last week it rained all week, hence the damp look and it was really
difficult, nigh impossible, to find a cream tile with no chewing gum
stuck to it!) Turning the photograph visually makes it no longer a
pavement. This trick is valid for lots of ideas when you start with
something real – a building, a tree, a landscape. Turn the image
and you forget what it is and begin to see shapes and lines and
design possibilities.</div>
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<br />
My
first block was a straightforward copy of the pavement. Looking at
the piece I think I pieced each piece separately though it would be
very easy to sew long strips of fabric together and then cut out the
wedges to sew onto the stars. Or as many of you will have already
realised this is the traditional Spiderweb Block which is very often
foundation pieced.</div>
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To
make my small sample even sweeter I added tiny silver beads to the
centres of the stars. On a less whimisical note I also tried out some
fly stitches which I think would be an excellent way of decorating
and quilting at the same time.</div>
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Going
back and looking at the pavement, what is really striking are the
lines defining the forms. In the pieced block these lines have given
way to the forms which are now the predominant design feature.<br />
So,
with the second piece I went back to the lines and stitched them onto
one single piece of cloth. I stitched from the back and put No.5
perle cotton into the bobbin of my machine. I love this couched
effect with the thread. I think this little piece is beautiful in its
simplicity. I also changed the octagons into circles.</div>
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</div>
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But
how to make an entire quilt? Again I went back to the pavement and
its checkerboard layout. The final piece is a classic four patch –
2 lights and 2 darks. The darks are heavily stitched and one of them
is also pieced. I've kept both the octagon and the circle and pieced
the circle into one of the white squares. Looking at the back of the
pieced block you can see the patterns made by the quilting stitches.</div>
</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: normal;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
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</div>
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</div>
I
was well aware of my limitations as a machine quilter; the only way I
could achieve this amount of stitching was on small panels which
would then need to be joined to form a quilt. Perhaps this is why I
stopped. My sketch book from the time has lots of photocopies of
different shadings which I cut up and played around with but there
are no notes for my thought processes, or for what I intended to do
on the two white squares.<br />
<br /></div>
</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: normal;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
I
know I'm not alone. Every quilter has a box, a cupboard, a drawer, a
bag of unfinished blocks and ideas. Some really are unfinished quilts
but other pieces of fabric are the beginnings of ideas which were
only half explored, or maybe hardly explored at all. Don't forget
about them, maybe it's time to bring them out into the light and
share them.<br />
<br /></div>
</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: normal;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
I'm
revisiting all my pavement experiments and I can feel the cogs in my
brain beginning to turn. Strangely when I went out to find the
original paving to photograph for this post I found the same tiles
outside the door of where I now work. I don't think I'd noticed it
until I looked. So keep your eyes open for what's around you –
quilting ideas might be,quite literally, under your feet.</div>
</span></span></h3>
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<h2>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span>
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<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</h2>
</div>
Rachel Wolstenholmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06197750503547877437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-567296617996386002.post-39133032498219916772013-01-06T19:03:00.001+01:002013-01-09T11:26:23.965+01:00Needle, thread, we're off!<br />
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<h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%;"> I've
just spent Christmas with my family and I've spent it quilting –
two activities which aren't usually synonomous. For most of us
quilting entails closeting ourselves away and for those of you who
use the dining-room table, Christmas is one of the few weeks when you
gracefully concede that its original use is for dining.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> No,
I've spent the holidays with everyone else; me, my needle, my thread,
my little scissors and my quilt. Eight days later I have almost
finished quilting a single-bed sized quilt.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> I
have finally nailed it and got the stitching right. I'm thrilled
with the results, and even more pleased that I achieved this during a
holiday time when I usually hardly get anything done.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
I'll
be honest, I can't machine quilt. I have machined lines of stitching
through quilts but they have always been straight or with just a
slight curve. Unfortunately back at the end of 2011 the pile of
finished tops was becoming a bit too big, so I bought a pair of
quilting gloves and vowed I would practice machine quilting almost
everyday. The 'almost' was my downfall. I think I practised twice.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
Luckily
that Christmas I bemoaned my predicament to two experienced quilters
who politely heard me out and then said "But you don't have to
machine quilt if you don't want to." And there it was, permission to
ignore the gloves, the impossible task of fitting all that wadding
and fabric through a tiny space, the tangled threads, the back ache and the frustration – I was free.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
I
am still confounded as to why I needed this 'permission'. Why as a
mature adult and an experienced piecer did I feel that I had to be
able to machine quilt?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgDhPkhC-WyPM9rO8oyGQHs4d-ACVu9bchXjiRYf9PWIWOuc3xF87pnAFpGaaW3-wQOmnFIvX2uO6yAFPYw-a7zh-cohLYhV7ZoEwJEVwiVsEmpWCevfxUkoyLMuAXn-47IwmU6iioAG8Z/s1600/100_5514.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgDhPkhC-WyPM9rO8oyGQHs4d-ACVu9bchXjiRYf9PWIWOuc3xF87pnAFpGaaW3-wQOmnFIvX2uO6yAFPYw-a7zh-cohLYhV7ZoEwJEVwiVsEmpWCevfxUkoyLMuAXn-47IwmU6iioAG8Z/s320/100_5514.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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Once
you decide to go the route of big stitch quilting, similar quilts and
even tied quilts begin to quietly pop up in articles and books. You
just have to keep an eye out for them. Really there are lots of
people doing them. There among the quilts with beautiful tiny
hand-quilting are those whose stitches are larger and a little bit
more flamboyant.</div>
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</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
This
is what I'm doing – no frame, no hoop, just the quilt in your lap.
I've even given up on marking the lines. All of us intuitively know a
quarter of an inch space and the seam lines in the piecing are the
grid to base your design on. You can change colours and threads as
you wish. On this recent quilt I've been using number 5 pearl cotton and
a huge needle. You quickly find a rhythm and the needle dictates the
size of the stitches if you allow it to. I will admit that after the
first day the side of my thumb was excrutiatingly painful.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT5ybzJ59Ogp7ErToSZ6T2bNZet9MehKIG-KNR0hsHDpgPGjSknWLURrokFuxE3c28ntqTn0eirrscW8OHi5E2OaqF8EVgjnl2Lt0vZ4xQJHv8a7NDQRUyUt1vnYOzoGOQSf2XShqQxLlA/s1600/lap.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT5ybzJ59Ogp7ErToSZ6T2bNZet9MehKIG-KNR0hsHDpgPGjSknWLURrokFuxE3c28ntqTn0eirrscW8OHi5E2OaqF8EVgjnl2Lt0vZ4xQJHv8a7NDQRUyUt1vnYOzoGOQSf2XShqQxLlA/s320/lap.png" height="220" width="320" /></a></div>
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One
of the nicest things about quilting this way is the contact with your
material. I've been wondering why we choose quilt making over other
forms of creativity and expression and I've decided that it must be
the fabrics. However, we normally select fabrics quite quickly, take
them home and put them into the stash, cut them up and piece them.
After the initial choosing we very much take them for granted and
keep them at arm's length.</div>
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</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
Sitting
over the course of a week, methodically stitching through the squares
of fabric I have made emotional connections with all those small
squares: there's a fine corduroy which is soft and the needle glides
through, there's a black print through which I have to tug the needle
and it still gets stuck, and there's a row of squares with a pink
and turquoise print which make me smile everytime I sew through it.</div>
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At
the end of each day I fold the quilt and the golden lines of
stitching amongst the basting are more numerous, and there's a deep
sense of achieving something beautiful. It hasn't taken that long to
quilt, eight days, and I haven't been stitching all the time. But
these eight days I have also spent with everyone else, not on my own.
Big stitch quilting takes a little bit of initial courage. It's a
step into the dark. I often take out the first few lines of stitching, but every quilt is getting better and more surprisingly being
stitched more. The first quilt was a lesson in minimalism whereas
this quilt has lines running all over the place, and there's the added
bonus of a wholecloth quilt on the back.</div>
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</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
So
in the spirit of a New Year raise a glass to big stitch quilting –
but remember to put your glass down a long way away from your quilt.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Rachel Wolstenholmehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06197750503547877437noreply@blogger.com2