Module 1 - Line Rail Fence

This was our first piece of homework. Following a brief demonstration of rotary cutting we were left to produce this block. The fabrics I have used are batik and hand dyed fabrics from South Africa that I had bought at the Festival of Quilts the previous month. Another example of standing at a stall, stroking fabrics until they had to come home with me. I know it is a sad thing to do and I do realise I shouldn't buy fabric if I have no idea what I am going to make with it but then again you never know when it might come in useful.

Module 1 - Line English paper piecing

Here we were asked to paperweave some coloured paper with a photo and then use this to create an english paper pieced block. What the tutor failed to tell me was the pieced block needed to be either an exact copy or in exact proportion to the paperweaving sample. How I wished I hadn't chopped everything up quite so small!!! The photo is one I took in the Kirstenbosch Gardens in Cape Town when I was on holiday there in 2006.

Module 1 - Line Art work

This was the very first art work we were required to do. Nothing too hard, a chance to play and get to chat to our neighbours. So 3 items one using flowing curved lines, another using asymetric shapes and layout and a third using straight lines. If this was City and Guilds then I could do it. It just seemed a long way away from some of the art quilts I had seen at the NEC in Birmingham the month before.

module 1 - Line

In many respects this was the most daunting module. It was the first piece of work we had to to do but none of us knew how we were to be assessed, what our tutor expected of us nor how good , bad or indifferent each of us was. But first, let me describe that first Saturday in September 2007. It got off to a really bad start. Despite having looked forward to starting the course for at least the previous two months and despite checking all the paperwork at least three times every day I still managed to get the start time wrong. I ended up racing down the road to the railway sation hoping that I would be able to catch the train and then a taxi at Skipton station and be barely 15 minutes late. But that would have been far too simple. The trains were not running and I had just missed the replacement bus. I nearly gave up at that point but my friend Christine talked some sense into me and I finally arrived about 90 minutes late. This didn't seem to matter as everything was in chaos at the college and I don't think
I missed anything at all. So the motto for this course is Don't panic and all deadlines are flexible!!

I must not break technology

OK so I thought a quick 10 minute break from sewing would be a good idea. I was just going to log on briefly to write a quick message about what I had been doing but Google and Blogger had other ideas. Why does technology ALWAYS make my life so much more complicated?????

I have finally won the battle with Google to remember that I do exist. I would appear to have a netbook with Alzheimers. So....

I was going to do some sewing each day however that resolution didn't last long. Blocked drains, son returning from Nottingham unexpectedly for the weekend and possible tenants for the house have all meant I keep getting diverted from patchwork. Ho hum.
I have started this week with the firm intention of doing at least an hour each day.

First of all I had better explain the purpose of the blog. I am studying City and Guilds Patchwork and Quilting at Craven College in Skipton, North Yorkshire and I wanted an opportunity to share what I am doing, the good and the bad, the highs and lows with others and to perhaps encourage other people to think about taking the course.

Once I have my first year work back from my tutor I will place that on the blog but for now I shall focus on what I am doing for the second year of the four year course. In this year we have to create 5 original items. These are a quilt, a wall hanging, a cushion, a box and a bag. So far I have created the wall hanging and am in the process of making the quilt. Both projects seem to have taken an age and my brain has already moved on to project number 3 which is to be a cushion but more about that in a later post. So look for pictures and resume of the wall hanging in my next post. Right now i need to get back to sewing my quilt.