Sew to Speak

Things around here have been rather busy of late. Is it really a month since I last posted anything? Where does the time go?! Well, actually, I know where my evenings and weekends have gone recently... stitching pieces to go in The Wednesday Group's very first exhibition, which is on now until Sunday (25th).

The Wednesday Group are: Kathleen, Anni, Grace, Ann, Judy, Lindsay, Alison, Lois and yours truly.

It's been great fun planning it all over the last six months or so. The exhibition's a culmination of lots of hard work and bucket loads of laughter, discussions, get-togethers and, of course...cake! We even made it into one of our local newspapers on Monday.

Here's a sneaky peek at some of the pieces on show in our exhibition. The first three are some of my pieces...

'She Saw Life as an Adventure'

'Sewing was her Passion'

'She Liked to Keep the Little Things'

There are two rooms bursting with all of the things we've made. This is one of them, with 'Plaster Woman' (as we've come to call her) keeping an eye on things!

Alison always creates thought-provoking pieces. I find this one, all about military losses in recent overseas conflicts, particularly poignant.

For the first nine months of the group's existence, we set ourselves the challenge of creating postcard-sized pieces on particular themes. Here are all of our favourites, put together for all to see for the very first time.

Another group challenge was to create a piece based on vintage pianola rolls that Lois gave us all for Christmas. We've all come up with completely different ideas and it's been really exciting to see everyone's finished creations. This is Anni's. She had a pianola roll featuring a foxtrot to work with!

One of Kathleen's colourful and whimsical creations.

A vintage-inspired piece by Grace, based on an old postcard she found.

Judy's hand-stitching looks like a pen and ink drawing.

Lindsay's pianola roll was called 'Scarf Dance', which was just the ticket for her as she's also a bit of a whizz at belly-dancing!

This has been a mere taster of what's on show and there's oodles more to see! If you're intrigued and want to know more about The Wednesday Group, or our exhibition, pop over to the group's blog here. Oh, and do come and see us at the Weavers Gallery in Ledbury if you're in the area!

An Inspiring Day

Little Treasure has been keeping me very busy lately and continues to grow and change before our eyes. Even though I've really had to cut back on the things I can do (like blogging and stitching!), I wouldn't change a thing. She's such a joy and makes me smile all day long! However, the weekend before last I did have a day of indulgence...having left Mr Treasure in charge all things baby-related, I headed off to the NEC with Mum to the Festival of Quilts. What an inspiring day it was..and so much to see!

I thought I'd share a few of my favourite quilts, so here they are (in no particular order!)...

Double Delight, Pauline Law (South Africa)

It's a knitted quilt! Brilliant! I was really drawn to the colours. Having looked through all the photos I took at the Festival, I've realised that I'm drawn to all things colourful, like a moth to a flame!

21st Century Victoria, Dana Leigh Brenan (London)

A modern interpretation of the crazy quilting technique that the Victorians were so fond of.

Becky's Dresses, Rosalind Gregory (Taunton)

Smocked dresses were hand appliqued on to this quilt. I thought this was a really clever and lovely idea. What a wonderful way of keeping treasured children's clothes.

Dorothy, Yvonne Fish (Southampton)

I'm a magpie when it comes to vintage ephemera, so this quilt really appealed. It was based on the life of one woman and featured all sorts of photos, tickets and concert posters.

Moeders Mooiste (Mothers Most Beautiful), Hanneke Kwakkenbos-Schilt (The Netherlands)

This quilt incorporated all sorts of design elements, including embroidered panels, which I thought was a really clever idea. However, it was the gorgeous fabrics used in the patchwork parts of the design that I was particularly drawn to.

Heat, Vibrance and Colour, Impressions of South Africa, Joan Squibb (Ipswich)

Another colourful quilt that caught my eye. I love the gorgeous Kaffe Fassett fabrics that have been used.

4 Seasons, Ineke Berlyn (Bromsgrove)

This is a detail from one of the panels that made up Ineke Berlyn's quilt based on the four seasons. I was rather taken with the little bird that was hiding in amongst the lines of stitching.

A Taste of Africa, Irene Sutterluti (Austria)

The colours and patterns in this quilt were absolutely stunning.

A Taste of Africa, Irene Sutterluti (Austria)

I was really drawn into this quilt and couldn't help getting up close so I could have a really good look at all of the hand-printed designs on it.

A Taste of Africa, Irene Sutterluti (Austria)

More gorgeous patterns and colours from Irene Sutterluti's quilt.

Spoon Fed Love, Maria Thomas (Kenilworth)

This was one of my favourite quilts. I loved all of the different textures and techniques that were used. It had a lovely vintagey feel too.

Spoon Fed Love, Maria Thomas (Kenilworth)

According to the show catalogue, recycled fabric and paper ephemera were used to create this quilt, which is all about the maker's task of feeding her family being a token of her love.

Spoon Fed Love, Maria Thomas (Kenilworth)

Printing, buttons, applique and stitching - brilliant!

Botticelli Quilt, Nikki Parmenter (Poynton)

This quilt was exquisite. It was based on Botticelli's 'Birth of Venus' and 'Primavera' and even had 3D elements to it.

Stash Findings, Jenny Hubbard (Newark)

Vintage heaven! I loved all the bits and pieces that made up this quilt and spent ages looking at it.

Stash Findings, Jenny Hubbard (Newark)

The Suffolk Puff flowers were really eye-catching.

In amongst the competition quilts were exhibition galleries featuring the work of various textile artists and groups. My favourite was Jennifer Hollingdale's collection - 'Re-make, Re-use'. She uses all sorts of old materials in her work including labels, packaging, household linens and wallpaper. I could have easily brought all of her pieces home with me...unfortunately, the budget wouldn't stretch to one of her big pieces of work so I treated myself to one of her small printed pictures instead!

Brunswick Street (on the theme of 'Community'), Kirsten Duncan (Australia)

I really enjoyed looking at the creations of the Twelve by Twelve group. They're an internet-based quilt art collaboration group who set themselves the challenge of creating 12 x 12 inch-sized quilts on chosen themes. The results were really diverse and it was interesting to see how everyone had interpreted the same theme in completely different ways.

The Indulgent Delights of Spring (unfiortunately, I can't find the listing for this one in the show catalogue, so I'm not sure who the maker is)

Oh what glorious colours!

Endurance 1 - The Ship and the James Card and Endurance 2 - Shackleton and His Men, Cathy Corbishley-Michel (London)

I thought this was a really striking quilt. According to the show catalogue the images have been cyanotype printed on to fabric and then machine quilted. Such a great effect!

Hexagons and Stars, Lucie Summers and Jenny Spencer (Worlington)

I really liked the colours and the different screen-printed fabrics that were used in this quilt, as well as the fact that it was made by a mother and daughter team.

Festival, Susie Corke (Kettering)

Gorgeous vintage fabrics.

Retrospective, Louisa Lawson (London)

This quilt was hand sewn and hand quilted...what a task! The fabrics that have been used represent a cross-section of the fabrics in the maker's stash since she started quilting in the early 1990s. What a great way to keep lots of pieces of fabrics that are (no doubt) steeped in memories.

There were so many fabulous quilts at this year's Festival, it's been a job choosing just a few to show here. After so much inspiration in one day, my fingers are itching to raid my fabric stash and get creating something myself!

Chocs Away and Pip Pip!

A few weekends ago, the Treasure Family paid a visit to the Royal International Air Tattoo at Fairford...and what a fabulous day out we had! Mr Treasure likes all the modern aircraft, whereas I harbour a love of old aeroplanes, in particular those from the Second World War. The air displays throughout the day were really impressive...and really loud! The highlights for me were the Battle of Britain flights and the Red Arrows (above).

Hoorah for the red, white and blue! The Red Arrows' display was really breathtaking...they twisted and turned to what looked to be within a few inches of each other.

Little Treasure made a new friend!

There was so much to look at, we nearly missed the bit that ended up being the highlight of my day...the 1940s village. It was like stepping back in time!

Stepping through the air raid shelter lead to the refreshments tent...

...complete with all sorts of props to add to the atmosphere.

I always think there's something rather lovely about bunting and there was certainly a good show of it in here!

All this talk of the 1940s reminds me that I've just watched the last in the series of Tenko. It's been showing on the 'Yesterday' channel on TV and having been too little to watch it the first time around, I've really enjoying seeing it over the last few weeks! What a brilliant drama series it was...has anyone else seen it?