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Most quilters I know have a travelling project, something they can take with them on holiday, or on a long journey, or for the really obsessive, to do in waiting rooms on visits to the doctors or dentists. I have just finished one of these projects which I started on a trip to see my Grate Frend Beatriz to work on a project we are doing together. So this piece has nothing to do with anything. It was just a way of having some stitching to do on the train. It’s finished. It has nothing to do with Laura Ashley, or identity formation, or place, or anything. It is just pretty fabric.
I think I dyed the purple-y fabric myself. I certainly intended to paint the wavy quilting, but in the end, I didn’t think it needed it:
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The lovely pale rose buttons on this quilt were a present from Beatriz which she gave me on the visit and which fitted perfectly with the colour scheme. The fact that they were a gift means that I now can’t sell the piece or even give it away. I find the whole area of gift theory really fascinating. The other buttons were out of a bargain bin in a wool shop in Bristol, although they were still pricey. The woman behind the counter said, ‘Oh, you’ve had a good rummage, haven’t you?’ This struck me as a bit redundant; isn’t that what bargain bins are for? Anyway, I have taken to putting a dab of glue behind big beads and buttons so that they don’t move about when you stitch them on, and this is what I did with these.
This is a detail of the applique :
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Both of these fabrics were purchased. I love hand dyes, but I don’t like doing it, so I am always willing to pay someone to do it for me. The perle thread, which is always a joy to work, with is from Winifred Cottage, and it is what makes this piece work, I think.
A few people have commented recently that it’s interesting to see the pieces ‘in the flesh’ because you don’t get much sense of size from the blog. For the record, this one is about twenty two inches by about twelve inches. It’s also a faced quilt. I quite like taking the patchwork right to the edge of small pieces. I think it looks more arty than putting a binding on it.
So that’s my travelling piece finished. I will need to start another one sooner rather than later.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view. Image may be NSFW.
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