Sue Jennings' Colourwash Quilts

As well as her amazing One Block Wonders, Sue’s Colourwash Quilts were also on display at the show, they too were quilts not to miss. As many quilters will tell you quilting projects generate a lot of scraps and Sue said she started to make colourwash quilts after watching technique videos online by the Canadian quilter, Terry Rowlands.

The quilts are perfect for using up lots of small scraps - which is the point in which I should stop reading (and looking) as this will only encourage me to save every last scrap, the challenge is though of course, where to store them and how to make them look as fantastic and as ‘put together’ as these by Sue.

Sue says she uses prints, solids, batiks, silk, wovens and in fact anything goes, and the only time she uses a ruler is to square up the blocks and the quilt, so everything can be rough cut, and any shape can be used.

This really isn’t what I wanted to hear!! But I agree and the lack of regularity makes the quilts more interesting and when Sue says it’s a joy to look at these quilts and remember which fabric was used in which quilt, I’m totally with her.

Her first colourwash quilt used all colours of scraps, and when it was done she wondered what was next. Let me tell you now, what came next was even more stunning, with her colour inspiration coming from artwork and photos, and you’ll see just what I mean.

ORIGINAL COLOURWASH, SUE JENNINGS

The inspiration for her Autumn quilt was the ‘wonderful fall colours’ she experienced while living for part of her childhood in Canada, and she thought ‘it would be a joy’ to recreate those using her scrap fabrics, and that resulted in another wonderful quilt.

AUTUMN COLOURWASH, SUE JENNINGS

WATERLILIES COLOURWASH, SUE JENNINGS

You’ll not be surprised to learn that Sue’s inspiration for the Waterlilies quilt was a photo of a Monet painting. It’s a vibrant but calming palette, and a fabulous quilt isn’t it?

SARIS COLOURWASH, SUE JENNINGS

The inspiration for the Saris quilt was photos of ‘beautiful bright Indian saris’ and Sue ‘particularly wanted to wash oranges, pinks and reds’ from her scraps. These are colours that I love together, though I veer more towards oranges and pinks with yellow, rather than reds - and this quilt does remind me of the colourful saris we saw women wear in India, particularly those when we visited a stepped well. The contrast against the natural elements was stunning, as is this quilt - and I think of all of Sue’s colourwash quilts, this is my favourite - which is yours?

Shared garden spaces and connections

* I was invited to the Gardeners’ World Live show and provided with a pair of tickets to the show, therefore all my posts will be marked as 'Ad’ though as usual my views and opinions are very much my own.

This garden, to give it it’s proper title - Family, Nature and Neighbours, had plenty to make me smile and plenty of inspiration too. It’s designed by David Blythe and won a Silver Merit award at the show and focuses on the connections we create with our families and neighbours through the garden spaces we share.

David based his design around the shared boundary, using the low dry stone wall filled with planting pockets and a fence with vertical herb planters, along with a wildlife highway.

I loved the idea of planting herbs in this way, though it’s not right for my current garden which is a shame.

The garden uses companion planting with pollinator friendly plants which helps to create a space where we can connect with nature using our senses - sight, sound, smell and taste are all covered in this small space, and it really does make for a beautiful border in every sense.

But it was the wildlife highway that made me smile; the hedgehog house and the hedgehog shaped hole in the base of the fence. I couldn’t help but chuckle though when I peered into the hedgehog house, which of course has its very own green roof!

The hedgehog wasn’t the only addition to make me smile, perhaps your garden already has lego figures in, or perhaps they’ll be something you’ll build into your plans for this year, who knows.

It’s great to be reminded of the connections we make with a space, and how we can share them - but most of all it’s great to be reminded that gardens are also places for fun.

* With thanks to Gardeners’ World for inviting me to Gardeners’ World Live, it was quite a show! I’ll be sharing more from my visit to this year’s show throughout the year - I hope you enjoy them as much as I did the show.

Treasures from another age at Coleton Fishacre

Following on from a look at the gardens in winter, today I’m sharing some of the items which caught my eye as we looked around the 1920s Arts and Crafts house, the country home of the D’Oyly Carte family and a must see for anyone interested in that era, and with a love for the elegance of Art Deco.

What I like about the house is that there’s always something new to see, our visit this time was before Christmas and the house was dressed for hosting a lavish party, with plenty of feathers used on the dining table and in between the branches of the Christmas trees.

At first it was the shape of this side table which caught my eye, and then I noticed the well-read books…

And my eye kept being caught as we moved through the house, what with the vanity sets, the tiles in the bathroom and the concoctions on the shelf below the mirror!

I even found a sewing kit, and a grand looking one at that. I couldn’t see what was in the containers, but I did approve of the glass alongside the gorgeous wooden box!

They really do evoke opulence and belong to a different age don’t they?

Then we headed downstairs to the ‘downstairs’ part of the house, which in this case is actually on the ground floor, but there were plenty of ‘downstairs’ items on display - note the blanc-mange recipe on the pudding basin, which of course would be upside down if you were actually using it as a bowl.

In the dining room I was met with the opulence of feathers and crystal - it looks like it was going to be a good party!

Moving into the library a couple more things caught my eye, including somewhere well used for all those telegrams and a nifty looking decoration on the tree made from a playing card - now that’s some inspiration isn’t it?

It’s often the little things you notice that makes these properties come to life, and it’s no different with the treasures on display during this visit to Coleton Fishacre.

And I really do need to work out how that tree decoration goes together….