At last, all
25 blocks have been stitched together!
Six members of the group met up at the Quilter’s Trading Post on 1st
March, armed with pins, tape measures and sewing machines, ready to put the
blocks together.
The Quilter’s
Trading Post is an Aladdin’s cave of quilting fabrics, notions and pure
inspiration for the creative quilter!
Inside the Quilter’s Trading Post
Formerly a
primary school, it has been successfully converted into retail and workshop
space, as well as the machine room, where two long arm quilting machines are
permanently busy with a substantial waiting list. This is where patchwork is quilted using
computerised patterns co-ordinated by the experts!
Proprietor of
the Quilter’s Trading Post, Emma Ablett, kindly provided a room for us to sew,
as well as a very welcome cuppa. We
browsed the extensive shelves of fabrics, looking for a suitable colour for the
sashing. (What a treat!) Once we had
made our selection, Felicity sliced this up into the requisite strips and added
all the horizontal pieces. Other members
of the group double checked the blocks and added a few stitches here and there
to secure them.
Jenny, Helen,
Kath and Felicity hard at work!
The day raced
by and we left, with Helen and I each taking half of the quilt home with them,
to add the vertical sashing. This sounds
simple, but every block and sashing strip needs to be re-measured to be certain
that it is exactly the right size; otherwise the lines won’t be level. I then put the two pieces together and added
the border. This was a contrasting colour,
which I am not divulging, so that you have a surprise when the quilt is unveiled! I returned to the Quilter’s Trading Post on 8th
March and left our pieced quilt top in Pam’s capable hands to be quilted
professionally. I can’t wait for the
phone to ring to tell me it is ready to collect!!
