Julie's Quilt

I was pleased to receive an email from Julie the other day, with a photo of her newest project, some hand quilting in the Welsh style. Julie usually does her sewing on her machine at home, but when things get very quiet at her workplace, she is allowed to do some hand sewing. I am so pleased to see the centre medallion which was based on the lilac and cream quilt shown in an earlier post. Doesn't it look great?

Julie says that the quilting will probably have to be in the form of a sampler, as she needs items that are small enough to be quilted in a hoop. Isn't the stitching lovely? Julie kindly allowed me to share it with you. I am so pleased that Welsh quilting is getting more publicity - its so lovely to look at.

.....and here's the original quilt centre - wouldn't the quilter be pleased at all the attention her quilt is getting all these years later!

Ralli Quilt or Kantha

Here is a ralli quilt or kantha that I bought before the holidays. The other ralli qults that I have are pieced, but this one is, I guess, a whole cloth, in that it is made from one piece of fabric. It looks like a worn sari to me! It is in shades of orange and has printed borders.

The two sides are different lengths of cloth.

The cloth has been densely stitched to make a quilt. There are also patches here and there to make good some holes in the cloth.

Here you can see the quilting stitch, a simple running stitch. This makes an interesting surface texture. Two years ago I heard an interesting lecture on kanthas, but I am not very knowledgable about them.....but it is interesting to see a quilting tradition from another part of the world.

Tom and Lily's Wedding - Islington Town Hall

The big day finally arrived - Mike and I got up early and took the train into London. After arriving far too early, we went to a coffee shop to pass the time - when we arrived at the Town Hall, everyone was gathering!

The wedding took place in the meeting chamber of the town hall; I could see why the couple chose this room over the others available as it was a lovely space. The ceremony proved to be touching and emotional.

Signing the register....friend Tom was in charge of the music while Will was best man...

Mie came from Tokyo to be the bride's maid. Lily's parents and relatives were also there....

Outside the hall where rose petals were thrown - difficult to get a good photo but Mike was pleased with this one!

Tom and Lily with Tom's parents Pippa and Chris. Mrs Iwata wore a lovely kimono, I will try to find out more and share photos later. We then took taxis down to the Savoy on the Strand where lunch was served. After the cake was cut, we repaired to a very fancy bar...

Tom's sister Sophie flew in from Singapore with partner Paul - here she is, signing the lucky cat doll. There were two to sign, one for Tom and one for Lily. If this is the pink one, I think it is Lily's!

All in all, a fantastic day that went exceedingly well. Best wishes to Tom and Lily in their new life together.

Red and White/Strippy Welsh Quilt

Here is another quilt that I bought before Christmas. This one is a Welsh quilt - a red and white Irish Chain on one side and a strippy on the other side. The overall size is a good double (will have to go and measure it when I have the time!)

The patchwork side is very colourful. White and red fabrics were very cheap and made a good contrast; the turkey red was colourfast and did not fade.

The patchwork is handsewn, although there is some smachine stitching to be seen on the strippy side of the quilt. This picture shows the central coin, a giant daisy with surrounding circles and twists.

The quilting is rather simple and there is only a very thin filling. On the back, some of the fabric is "dimity" a light ribbed cotton that was popular for womens dresses, childrens clothes, undies and nightware. It has a ribbed appearance and can be seen on the fabric to the left here.

The other side of the quilt is a strippy, you can see that it is remnants and striped cottons.

Another photo of the back and also the quilting.

The edge is worn in many places but in this area, you can see that the fabric (more dimity, here) is nicely hand stitched.

The information that I have is that the quilt was made in Aberdare and is at least 100 years old. It came from an elderly lady, 86 years old, called Bet Lovely. Her mother was Margaret Mackie, who helped make the quilt when she was young. It is unusual to know the  maker of a quilt - these quilts were quite often made by professional quilters who are now anonymous.

Red and white quilts are eyecatching, but were generally utilitarian quilts made from inexpensive fabrics. As they were made to be used, it is not surprising that the ones that have survived this long are often very worn, A testament to their strength and how well they wore!

Red Cross Army Blanket

Here is an item that I bought in November on that well known auction site. It is a blanket with a story and was sold to me as a Red Cross Army Blanket.

The blanket is very worn and has many holes. It is made of knitted bands where the colours change every 6 or 7 inches. It looks as if these bands are made of odds and ends of knitting wool. The bands are joined together with a herringbone stitch and then a tape is stitched onto the back over the join. The best feature of the blanket is the large red cross which makes it very graphic in appearance.

The blanket is wery worn and has many holes - and there are darns and patches as well.

Here you can see the stitching that joins the bands together. There is a red binding also, although this is coming off. The blanket obviously had a special significance for the family, to be kept so long, and the seller put this on the item:

"Hi this is an odd one. 4 ft x 4ft approx wool knit blanket. This is more to do with war memorabilia but a small story, this was carried off a hospital ship during the second world war by my grandfather who had been injured in service. The blanket is wool and was made by nuns at the time. Its quite heavy and has a few holes in it but still has a use somewhere. Incidentally, my grandfather died of his injuries."

I have been in touch with Maxine M (also on the BQSG committee with me) and when I asked if I could donate the blanket to the Red Cross Quilt Study Group I am pleased to say she said yes. The group has  at least two exhibitions coming up in 2013 and I am hoping that the red cross on this blanket might be of use in those. Another member of the group lives here in Woodbridge so it will not be difficult to hand over.

Christmas Bellringing in Ipswich 2012

Its become an annual occasion here - to try and get all the bells in Ipswich ringing near noon on the last Saturday before Christmas. Ipswich is an essentially Mediaeval town, and has many old churches, some of them redundant and some put to other uses nowadays. Its a popular event and always has a good turnout. Our district meetings don't always attract good numbers, but this Christmas ringing always attracts ringers that we don't see at other times of the year.

 Pettistree ringers usually take charge of one tower each year - this year it was St Lawrence, "Wolsey's Bells" - I ring here most Wednesday lunchtimes. They're a heavy five - not easy to ring for the uninitiated!

But, we made a good job of it - here's Mike, and Kate concentrating on the striking...

There were also some ringers from Tattingstone, outside Ipswich...

Also ringing were St Mary-le-Tower (12 bells) St Margaret (8 bells) and St Mary at Quay, St Clements, St Nicholas and St Matthews (all sixes). Plus St Stephen, which is only a 3 bell tower.

Afterwards, we went back to St Margaret's for mince pies and tea. The churchyard has many "no camping" signs. Earlier in the year, there was an encampment of homeless men living there. The church and the authorities got them rehomed and under cover but it was a problem that needed sorting. The problem of homelessness is a growing one and the Ipswich churches have a special program for Christmas and New Year to accommodate an extra 12 people in addition to the usual shelters.

New Book - Hawaiian Quilts

This is not a new book! but it is new to me....

Published in 2004, it is "Hawaiian Quilts - Tradition and Transition" by Reiko Brandon and Loretta Woodard, published by Kokusai Art, Tokyo. The book resulted from an exhibition of quilts at the Honolulu Academy of Arts in 1989.

The book has lovely photograghs - a full size photo of each quilt plus a detail of the quilt.

The photos are lovely, and there is much information about various quilters from Hawaii - very informative. I think it is a good addition to my library, which is a bit sparse on Hawaiian quilts....