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Great Northern Quilt Show 2011

I had a lovely time at the quilt show in Harrogate on Sunday (and even saw Katy from I'm a ginger monkey but didn't say hello...sorry about that and "Hello, Katy, lovely to meet you!") but before I tell you about it I'll just make a couple of mentions...

Judith at Rags to Bags is holding a giveaway for River Fabrics and you could win ten fat quarters of Momo Freebird and what's more you get to choose which two bundles of five you would like (choose from brown, green or blue/orange colourways) so please pop over and leave a comment by Friday 9th September - good luck!

I'm a few days late but Rebecca has posted her weekly update on her Tumbling Blocks Challenge - she's had a tough week (one of her beloved Teacup Yorkies has gone missing) so she hasn't quite hit her target for this week but if you could pop over and encourage her I know she'll appreciate it.

Right, back to the quilt show!  I'm assuming that this notice...


...means I'm not allowed to show photos on my blog but Ferret has written a blog post about her work in the show and Susan Briscoe has a few blog posts about the show which include her quilts which were exhibited there and some quilts that were entered by people she knows.

Happily all that doesn't stop me taking and showing photos of my own quilt.  I found it difficult to decide which category to enter this into and I ended up putting it in the small wall hanging (up to 60"x60" which seems large for a 'small hanging'!) as it was that or the bed quilt category which I didn't really feel it belonged to either...unfortunately there wasn't a category for 'bright quilts that I made because I felt like it and didn't give a thought about what I'm going to do with it or which category it would belong to' but you can't have everything, can you?!!

Without further ado (drum roll please!) I present to you 'Going in circles'

The colours are a little dull in this photo (lighting not great) the colour is better here in my Flickr stream

I will confess to being a bit disappointed when I saw it as I'd spent an hour blocking it (and 48 hours keeping the dogs off it while it dried!) before I rolled and posted it and it was perfectly flat and even when I sent it and the first thing I spotted was the (ok, slight) wave on the edge.  However I soon got a grip of myself (well, it took about 45 minutes if I'm perfectly honest!) and was happy with how it looked.  You can just see the label on the lower left hand side of the quilt - I kid you not, this description took hours to write and involved a lengthy phone call to my dad (who's very good with words) to ensure it read well!


The quilt measures 56"x56".  The circles were appliqued by hand (needle turn) and the blocks were joined by machine.  I added trapunto to the circles to make them puffy (I wanted a textured look that made you want to touch the quilt and used Polydown wadding for the same reason) and then hand quilted spirals to add more texture and movement.  The spirals were quilted using brightly coloured Coats cotton (the type I use for piecing) as I wanted to see the texture of the quilting from a distance and then see the colours when I was closer to the quilt.

Some of the spirals took at least two hours to complete but I love them!

This quilt also inspired a workshop - I taught the techniques needed and they made a version of this cushion, unfortunately I don't have any photos of what they made but they were lovely!

Say hello to Panda!

It was lovely to see my quilt hanging up there - I got a bit bashful while I was stood near it and so didn't hang around!  I didn't hear any nice comments about it but neither did I hear any nasty ones and I'm already thinking about entering next year.  (Although I wasn't given an application form when I collected my quilt so maybe that's a not-so-subtle message?!)

I think that's quite enough for now (congratulations for making it this far - one day I will manage to write a short post!) so I'll leave the photos of my goodies and impressions of the show (going to be difficult without photos!) for another day.  I can't leave you without a photo of Archie, though...I love the way he arranges his legs when he's asleep and frequently looks like he's got more than two front paws...


Alfie has been to stay today and livened up breakfast by pouncing on Archie at every opportunity - this was taken during a rest period!

Archie spends most of his time on this bed (except in winter when it's far too cold out there!) and Alfie decided to see what the attraction was - I don't think he found it!  You can just see Archie's back on the bottom right of the photo - he was stretched out on the floor...

And then there's what I did before I sat down to write this post

Answers on a postcard!
Hope everyone is having a lovely day!

Edited to add: Melissa at Happy Quilting is having an Aurifil giveaway - you have until 8th September to enter, good luck!

Comments

  1. Going in circles sure is impressive, the time that must've taken you! The sneak peak at the end is yummy... I've spotted a lot of city weekend, which I LOVE, and I think thats some Tula Pink too? I'm looking forward to seeing what this becomes :-)

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  2. Going In Circles is stunning!!! Your hand quilting is perfect!!! Wow, your stitches seriously are perfect!!

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  3. I loved seeing your quilt in the flesh :) I went on Friday, sorry we missed eachother. I think you can download application forms, or give them a call and they'll send you one out :)

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  4. Helen! New to blogging, clearly not new to quilting - that quilt is lurverly! Even more so in Flickr! If I lived nearer, I would have been to that show and stuck a rosette on it myself :)
    x

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  5. I think Going round in circles is a winner.

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  6. Great quilt. You have every right to feel proud about having it in the show! Well done you!

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  7. oh I love your circles quilt ... you should be proud and I'd have been a bit miffed if it was all wavy after all that careful packing too!

    loving Archie's paws :)

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  8. Going in Circles really is fabulous!
    Are your City Weekend charms destined to be Drunkard's Path blocks?
    Archie looks so cute sleeping like that!

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  9. Oooh, is this the quilt I'm always drooling over on Flickr? It is, isn't it? I do love it. Like REALLY love it. A lot.

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  10. I love the use of black and White fabrics mixed in with coloured ones. Great quilt.

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  11. Loved it on Flickr and yes the photo is better there but you need to have one of it 'in show' Well done Helen you are far braver than me - I have only entered my work in our local village show! Look forward to next year's entry!

    Great close-up pics which are great for seeing that beautiful stitching.

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  12. Very impressive quilt, love the quilting, well done you again!

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  13. Love your quilt. Perfect appliqué and hand stitching. I'd give it a prize. You should be incredibly proud!

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  14. Your show quilt is amazing! I don't know how you've the patience to do all that hand quilting! If I was standing looking at your quilt I would say 'Look how neat all those little stitches are, and isn't that puffiness just perfect for this quilt design?' V.well done H, be proud! Jxo

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  15. Love your Going In Circles quilt! and that hand quilting is perfect!

    I hand quilted for 27 years but no longer...carpal tunnel took that away! arrggg

    I run a longarm now but it was a large learning curve!

    It always makes me smile to see hand quilting at its finest as this is today!

    How do we sign up to follow you?

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  16. I love your quilt...and the category that you didn't enter it in. (the quilt you made just because.). More quilters should be freed to do likewise.

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  17. This is a lovely quilt. Needle turn circles - wow! Love the circular quilting and the little black and white squares and the multi-coloured border.

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  18. Hmmm. I think all these black and white circles are just hommage to your spotty ears, Archie. No wonder bloggers want to squish them. Tell Helen she's lucky I dont know where this quilt lives...it might just vanish..it is so nice.

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  19. Beautiful circles -- they are so striking on the colour backgrounds. The spiral quilting is fabulous -- perfect for your quilt!

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  20. Hey! I went to the quilt show and met my sis-in-law there (she lives in Cumbria and I in Lincolnshire). We had a great day chatting and browsing. We saw your quilt and thought it was just lovely. I agree with your comments on the fabric front!!!

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  21. I love your circles quilt! It's gorgeous, and the hand quilting is perfect for it! Nice job.

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  22. Beautiful quilt. You did a great job. Love the trapunto technique too - really effective.

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