Sunday 8 February 2015

Marmalade wars

This morning (Sunday) is so cold. Next door's roof is covered in frost and there is a thick white foggy stillness to everything. Mike brought me toast and tea in bed as a treat with my marmalade on the side. I said only a nice person could have made marmalade as good as this, in my usual self deprecating way. He said his was just as good. You see, dear reader, we have totally different tastes in marmalade so each year we both make a batch- he prefers thick and dark with large peel chunks and I love a lighter, brighter, fresher marmalade with fine cut peel. On these differences are marriages founded. Oh bother, now I've got sticky hands and toast crumbs in the bed. Might have to get up soon and face the day.

I made myself a promise that I would finish off one or two WIPs before I started anything new this year. I had 6 blocks for this Japanese +x lap quilt done from the class at Patchfinders in Cheadle with the lovely Lucy Brennan (Charm About You) from last October. I had enjoyed the class and most of the blocks were already cut out so I'm not sure why it hung around so long. This week I spent 3 full days sewing up a storm to finish the other 19 blocks and assembling the top. The fabric is Juggling Summer by Zen Chic for Moda- quite different from anything else I have done but I'm loving it.


The quilt as it is measures 65 x 65". I have been contemplating adding a narrow dark border before binding. I thought that if I just added binding to it that I would lose a bit of all the outside blocks. I contacted Lucy for her opinion and she reminded me there was a ¼" seam allowance. Whatever was I thinking of(or not)?
So I am just going to add the binding now. Lucy also reminded me about black wadding (batting) so that if there is any bearding of fibres it will not show when quilted.
 Lucy quilted hers by hand with lovely large stitches. I love the look but hand quilting is not my thing so I would appreciate some ideas for machine quilting.







The quilt is destined to be a winter quilt for the conservatory. The room is quite warm enough when the sun is out as it is south facing but can be cooler early or later in the day.

Lastly, a film review. Whatever next? I went with my lovely friends Celia and Judith to our local cinema and arts centre, Chapter, in Cardiff to see "Testament of Youth". The film is based on the book by Vera Brittain and is the true story of her years during the first world war. This film is the most moving account of love, loss, hopelessness and the waste of life during this abominable war that I have ever seen. Superb acting especially by Alicia Vikander, a young Swedish actress. I can only say that if you get the chance to see it you must. A full review can be seen here by Tim Robey, film critic with the Telegraph paper.



Have a wonderful Sunday. I hope to get out and about later to enjoy the cold.

Catherine

I've linked up with Kelly of My Quilt Infatuation. (the badge is in the right hand column)









12 comments:

  1. Your quilt is looking fantastic. I love the way the green and orange solids are picked up in the patterned fabrics. Sounds like your day got off to a nice start even if you don't agree about marmalade:-)

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  2. I love this quilt Catherine. It's very Modern looking. I also like how the orange and white +s pop a bit. For quilting I'm seeing straight lines . Can't really describe it in words, sorry.

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  3. Your quilt looks wonderful - those pluses really pop! And thanks for the recommendation on the film. I'll look out for it :)

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  4. Your quilt looks gorgeous :) I should get the binding finished on my first quilt on Wednesday. I thought my first quilt (a lap quilt) would be a quick and simple project but it's turned into a bit of a marathon!

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  5. Love your quilt and your blog looks very interesting . I can't seem to find a place to follow your blog .

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  6. Tea, toast and marmalade in bed on a chilly morning.....sounds heaven! Your quilt is impressive. The piecing is amazing. There are a couple of wonderful war movies out at the present....this one sounds like a must see.

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  7. It looks fantastic! So glad you enjoyed the class. I would happily have a jar of either marmalade ;)

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  8. Breakfast in bed! How lovely! I'm not the biggest marmalade fan though, can't do peel!
    Your quilt is fabulous, as always :)

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  9. Love the colours you've chosen for the quilt.

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  10. Your quilt will be lovely once it's finished. If you haven't already started quilting it, I think it would be lovely done in a wide cross-hatch.

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  11. Must look out for this film, it interested me when I saw it advertised : )

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  12. The socks are beautiful. Cant believe they are your first pair. I want to learn to knit socks so bad. I really want to learn to do the two pair at so I don't end up with a bunch of socks that I didn't finish the second pair but I am afraid that the two at once will confuse me so much I will never get one sock finished. Great job. They are beautiful.

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