Sunday 24 May 2015

Slow, slow, stitch,stitch slow

Just to start this 'slow down and enjoy the peace' moment - here is a something to make you smile:


Ben fell asleep in the car on the way back from the shops so John just carried him in a laid him down on the sofa.  He spent a whole hour in one position before he turned over to begin his wake-up sequence. (About ten minutes - no interruptions please).

When our school refurbishment was in the design stage about four years ago, the architect was happily talking about his thoughts for our dining space.  Baked Potato and Pasta Station, Hot Meals, Sandwiches, Grab and Go.  The Head looked over to me and, with one voice, we said NO! No "Grab and Go"  We had both been lamenting the lack of table manners - the students simply didn't know how to use a knife and fork.  They didn't sit and chat with their friends.  They simply pushed their food into their mouths as quick as they could and left. Cue 'The Slow Food Movement'  Cook with love not speed, all sit down and eat together. Socialise and enjoy the food. Now the dining hall is a-buzz with laughter and conversation.  I love it.

So it has been with sewing, most of my life.  I know a lot of the time I like things to be done quickly but I strongly believe that you should enjoy the process as well as the product.  At our Thursday night class we have been following this with our stitching.  I wasn't sure whether everybody would like to make things that took quite a time to finish.  Everyone is free to bring whatever they want but a lot of the ladies are sewing things by hand.  First it was the Angel Wall Hanging and at the moment we are making a Durham Quilt.

I've picked some very simple designs and some more challenging ones for the nine-patch quilt as you go project.
Rose in A Ring above on a soft grey green fabric(and below on the wrong side on a floral design which picks up the front colour even though it's not that obvious from the photo)
 I call this one Dresden Plate - not sure if this is the right name.
This block has different elements but the main shape - the melon shape - is part of the Weardale Chain
 And the shape below is the Weardale Wheel.
You can't have a Durham Quilt without feathers, although I do find them fiddly they are quite beautiful when done.  I know I call it cross hatching but purists call the design square diamonds.
I wanted to introduce the ladies to the delights of quilting without overwhelming them with a Wholecloth design.  These blocks will be trimmed to 18" and sewn together using a nifty method shown to me by Hilary.  I'm working on the next block today - this one will have "scissors" and some roses.

It is half term and I have tomorrow at home(bank holiday), back to work on Tuesday then off Wednesday and Thursday and sadly back to work on Friday. I had intended to have the whole week but it just hasn't worked out that way.

I have a list of things I want to achieve over the week so I'll take lots of pics and I'll be back....



1 comment:

  1. Hi Brendie - sorry I missed you (and cakes) on Thursday but I did get to Hilary's on Saturday and have started preparing the backing for my original first-ever quilt top. Your Durham Quilt pics are good - they show off the stitching really well, and the Pics of Ben are heartwarmingly cute. Hope you have a good bank holiday and time off too! See you Thursday if I ever get through my mountainous pile of ironing! K xxx

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