Bursts of cloud and colour

I’ve still a few more quilts to share from last year’s Festival of Quilts show, but the good news is I’ve got my ticket to go along to this year’s show at the end of July. The ticket’s booked, my workshop is booked - all I need to do before I set off is not forget my SIL and sort out some parking.

But that means over the next few weeks I’ll be loading up the final few categories that I haven’t shared yet - and there’s some biggies in that list, but let’s start with the modern quilts. There’s a lot I like about this category, notably the colour and freshness of the quilts and while there were many in this category as usual I’m sharing a few of my favourites.

SUNSET AT ASHINOKO, SUET-FERN LEE

The first two have a cloud theme, but are completely different - and no just the colours used, but I like both. I like the variety of fabrics used above, but the cohesiveness of the colour scheme below, in fact I’d have been happy to have produced anything as good as either of these.

NEBULAE, CAROLINA ONETO

This one I like the composition and the form, and while the colours work together I can’t help but wonder about this design using brighter colours - maybe it’d be too much, maybe not. Either way, the amount of work in this quilt is astonishing and to be admired.

STREAMLINE 2, AITCHBEE

I love the cheeriness of this next quilt, and it’s name - it’s easy for all of us to visualise a concrete garden, but how many of us would view one quite this pretty? The flower shapes remind me of daffodils, and perhaps that’s why I think the colours chosen work so well, but maybe that’s just me.

THE CONCRETE GARDEN, JULIE TOMLIN

This final quilt in this post is my favourite from this category - and after spending some time at the Museum of Fine Arts in Angers last week I’m not surprised as there was a sculpture with similar colourings that I loved there too.

But it’s not just the colours, it’s the cross hatched quilting and the striped binding that set off the whitespace perfectly. And the colours, the colours really make this one pop don’t they?

IMAGINATION FACTORY, PAULA STEEL

So modern quilts, are they for you or do you prefer something more traditional?

A perfect pre-holiday pouch

Before I went away I had what seemed like an ever growing list of things I wanted to do before I went, which at times got revised down so it was shorter, and then again to include just the essentials. But one of the things that stayed on the list was completing my new pouch, and spoiler I did it - I was thankful that there was a sewing group morning the day before we travelled so if I needed to I could devote those three hours to finishing it. I didn’t need the three hours in the end, but I did finish it the day before I went. Phew.

This pouch was in the Day 14 box of my Advent Calendar last year, and after moving a pile of projects in my craft room I rediscovered it, so I thought why not get it done.

The instructions were good, but I hit a small stumbling point early on. The kit was supposed to have four pieces of fabric, but I had only three - I knew this when I opened it in December, and well let’s be honest, I knew I’d have some fabric that I could substitute for the missing piece.

What I didn’t realise until my focus was on making this pouch was that I’d pulled a piece from my stash that worked, and used that earlier in the year to practice some quilting on with one of the variegated cottons I’d bought.

It was perfect, and just what I wanted - although it was about an inch smaller than the other pieces. Problem solved, my pouch would be an inch smaller. And so I followed the instructions (which were clearly written) and all was well until I got to the line which said: ‘quilt as desired’.

In my head that turned out to be hand quilt this with tiny chain stitches in three different coloured cottons, and follow the wavy design. I shared this picture in my This May post, so you’ll be pleased to know that progress happened, and the pouch actually got made!

And yes, I then did decide to hand embellish the substitute side as well, clearly I’m a glutton for punishment.

But they do look good!

The kit also came with a navy zip, but as you can see I opted for an orange one from my stash instead, I think it helps tie both sides together - and it’s far more interesting than navy!

It’s the first time I’ve added a tag on the side, and that worked well - the fabric is fussy cut from remnants from the lining fabric. I even added a custom sized internal pocket with three individual spaces to hold smaller items, which were just the size I needed them to be.

I’m really pleased with how this new-shape-to-me-pouch worked out, and I can see that I’ll be making some more. I love the finish the zip tabs give the pouch, and the boxy bottom means it stands up too.

So that’s another pouch to my repertoire, and a pretty and practical one at that.

The Cascade Circuit

In this last in the series of posts from Scampston Hall in North Yorkshire join me for a walk around the parkland, and the Cascade Circuit, which is about a mile and takes in the wooded gardens and lakes around the Hall, with plenty of vistas along the way.

The parkland was redesigned by Capability Brown following a request from the 5th Baronet in 1771 replacing an earlier eighteenth century garden. Capability Brown continued to visit over the years to monitor the progress as his plans were brought into fruition.

He designed the landscapes to be both practical and elegant, and the expansive lakes were made to appear as if they were a river running through the landscape. Similarly by using a ha ha and avoiding fences’ the parkland also appears to be indefinite. The house wasn’t open when we visited but it’s said that the views from the windows are spectacular and even today you can clearly see how he created vistas across the landscape, frame carefully by trees and other natural features.

Which is amazing really, as given how long ago the parkland was designed and how much nature tends to grow, as I’m discovering with my own garden after returning from holiday!

The views from the Palladian Bridge were spectacular; the bridge itself stands at the end of three linked lakes in the park it was designed by Capability Brown in the style of the renaissance architect Palladio and makes a great statement as well as acting as a dam for an existing stream.

It looked like it might rain as we set out along the side of the lake towards the Cascade, but thankfully it held off.

We couldn’t resist a peek into the Old Ice House which dates from 1759 and has recently been restored. The building’s walls are multi-layered which kept the ice from the lake insulated, it was then crushed and moved to a deep shaft beneath the Hall for use in the kitchen.

We crossed the bridge, pausing mid way to enjoy the replacement Cascade; the original was destroyed with the dam further upstream burst in the 1950s. And it was quite a view.

At this point we headed through a field of sheep watching carefully where we walked - hence no photos! - and back towards the Hall. After a snack and a cup of tea in the cafe (well worth a stop) we were soon heading back to our hotel and wondering at how we’d managed to book somewhere so close to this fabulous garden completely unknowingly!

But we’re ever so glad we did.