Do *You* want to see the coverlet? Please Comment!

Update: Sat, 7 Sept 2013.
Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to comment on this post. I have been touched by everything you've said. The original coverlet has really got under our skin. We yearn to see and know more about it. I know there are thousands of you who are interested in this quilt; so many of you have joined my BOM Group or emailed me about it. If you have any interest in this quilt, please leave a comment on this post.

The Power of Love:

the ‘Fine Marriage Coverlet’ has been FOUND

 

This quilt will not be forgotten to time, this quilt will not be lost to our legacy and heritage. We looked for it, we called out for it…and it answered us.

We Did It!

The ‘fine marriage coverlet’ wanted to be found, it wanted to be remembered and it wanted to be loved. There’s no other way I can explain my journey which started by looking at its image 12 years ago to now. There’s no other way I can explain the interest, enthusiasm and devotion shown by thousands of quilters all over the world for this coverlet and it’s, as yet unknown, maker. Every step of this journey has been infused with love. I have certainly grown to love this quilt and I know many of you are in love with it too.

I always knew it was a significant quilt, yet I couldn’t understand why no one had looked for it, to the best of my knowledge, before me. How could that be? No matter what I did, I couldn’t forget about it. And I know many of you were thinking about it too. Together we revived interest in finding this quilt and together we did it.

WOW! Talk about the power of Quilters!

What I can tell you: the quilt is privately owned through purchase and the current owner is in the UK. The current owner wishes to remain anonymous.

If you have been privately seeking this quilt, thank you for your efforts, please stop now. We have a contact in the UK who has the most up to date and accurate information regarding this quilt and is currently researching the quilt and if she finds any extra history on it, she will post updates of such progress here on this blog.

 

What now?

I will be printing and binding all my posts on this quilt and having them passed onto the current owner so that this chapter in the quilt’s story is documented.

So if there’s anything you want to say to the current owner, please say so in the comment section of this post.

It will be printed and passed on. I am appealing to the current owner to release images of the quilt for us all to enjoy and /or to exhibit the quilt publicly. Of course, we can only ask, the final decision belongs to the owner and we must graciously respect that decision, whatever it may be.

The quilt is privately owned and we cannot know if we will ever have another opportunity to ask to see it. If you have any interest in this quilt, please comment.

The time to make your heartfelt plea is now.

I’m so happy to share this significant progress with you all and I’m looking forward to reading your comments.

WOW: 7 Reasons to Book Before You Go

 

WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays

I've in the middle of one of those weeks. I haven't got anything useful done and am swamped with so many WOWs and To Do's that I decided I would share a little stopover my DH and I endured during a short trip we took out of state over the weekend.

Now, I should start these photos by mentioning that I am the kind of woman who wants everything booked before I go anywhere. My DH? Not so much. In fact, never. And this is precisely what can happen when you don't book before you go...

 

Four luxury beds...but how will madam choose?

Let's decide over tea

 

 

or maybe after a shower

we can share the 1x towel

 

 

be sure to put the sink plug back on it's purpose built mantle

we wouldnt want it to go missing...

 

Like all the tissues in the bolted down tissue holder above it have

 

 

VIP Sink Plug!

 

Then we can take in the artwork

whilst keeping an eye on the piggybacked electrical sockets

 

 

Before calling Good Taste Magazine...

Did you bring a phone line with you?

 

What's Your WOW ?

 



WOW: Cutting Out Shirts

WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays

What a week it's been! So many of us excited and eager to know more about the marriage coverlet since my announcement over in my Group earlier in the week. I know it's hard, really hard, but we just have to hold on a little longer. I hope to have something more to share with you all very soon.

 

My solution today is to keep busy, so instead of starting on Love Entwined as I was planning to, I'm back to working on my shirts. The pattern's done, the fabric's selected, today is a day for cutting out shirts.

I've made a start

 and I've fallen in love with each fabric print all over again
 

 

and now it's just a matter of time and a production line...

 

What's Your WOW ?

 

 

WOW: Fabric Time

 WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays

 

Finally, it's fabric time. No, not Love Entwined Fabric time, shirt fabric time! These are all fabrics from my stash. It feels good to be putting them to use! All up I'm making 5 shirts. I am in love with this bold fabric of roses on a black background. Ordinarily I don't like wearing black, but with the bold colours shining through, I'll make an exception. This fabric was actually selected to be a table runner for my large table a few years ago. All I had to do add some ribbon along the edges and I would have been done. I'm so glad I didn't, I know I'll get more wear from it as a shirt.

 

This is my 'monkey print' shirt.

My DDs kindly pointed out that it looked like I was wearing monkey faces when up this way

 

So I'll be wearing it THIS way (below),

where it now looks like a pattern and not a distracting set of eyes!

Again, black is a little unusual for me, but I love the olive and yellow

 

 

Green is my favourite colour and although I haven't made it yet, this is my new favourite shirt!

I might even make 2x straight away (if I have enough for sleeves), otherwise the second one will have to have either brown or olive inset sleeves which I'm yet to find in my stash

 

Pink and Green: how pretty is this fabric?

It's so vibrant and fresh, I can't wait to wear it on those hot, long days

 

This is a spray of flowers on navy blue, I selected it because it's just so practical

It doesn't show up great on screen, but I has great reds, green variations and beige's mixed in which makes it so versatile in my wardrobe.

 

Well, I've got plenty to be getting on with today! Wednesdays are turning into my sewing days, hopefully I'll keep up this habit for the rest of the year.

What's Your WOW ?
 

 

Thinking about a Quilting Bee

Quilt Designer Seeks Like Minded Melbourne Quilters for Love Entwined Sewing Bee

Weekly? Fortnightly? Monthly?

 

There’s no doubt about it, groups are the best place to make a quilt. I know a lot of quilters are meeting in person to make Love Entwined each month and I think that’s a great idea.

A lot of you have asked me what I think about Quilting Shops holding Quilting Bees and Classes based on the pattern Love Entwined.

What do I think about it? I think it’s a great idea!

I didn’t realise how high the demand was for applique technique classes until I launched this pattern and now that I know, I think it’s important to sew alongside other people to learn as you do. It’s the best way to improve your skills. As for Quilt Shops that want to charge a fee for a sewing session, I don’t have an opinion about it – if you want to pay to join in on a session, then that’s something for you to decide.

As long as the shop doesn’t claim that it’s collecting money on ‘my behalf’ (which it isn’t) and as long as my patterns are not copied, shared or distributed, then I’m fine with it. Actually, it might be useful for some quilters to have lessons and expertise and materials all available in one place.

Personally, I have liked working away at home on my patterns as I have been so busy and generally disorganised. However with Love Entwined, it really is a “group” quilt and I would like to make it in a group setting. I am now thinking about the possibility of a local Quilting Bee to meet with other quilters as I make and progress on the blocks each month.

I’ve been looking at venues nearby and they are surprisingly expensive, on top of that, I have to factor in public liability insurance, so I am weighing up my options.

I’m not interested in a paying class; I’m interested in meeting with fellow quilters making Love Entwined weekly, fortnightly or monthly to sew together as a friendship group. Any ‘fees’ collected would be to cover the hiring fee on the hall or room only.

Do you have any ideas?

Are you in Melbourne?

Would you be interested? 

This is what I did today, instead of the housework

I sewed a fabric lining into my daily morning walk sweater

 

And this is my pattern design wall. You can't see it in the photograph, but that there is the pattern for Love Entwined. I pinned a picture of Love Entwined to this wall the very moment I started designing the pattern and I decide I wouldn't take it down until the 'fine marriage covelet' was found. It's a good luck charm.

Love Entwined: Part 3 is Launched

This month the elements surrounding the centre take position: the east and south circle of hearts, the north and south polka dot crosses.

 

 

 

This is where we're up to, quilt wise:

 

I don't know about you, but there's something in this month that makes my heart flutter. You can definitely tell it's a marriage coverlet that's taking shape, and the positioning of these elements reminds us how much love, care and consideration was put into the design.

I love this circle of hand drawn hearts, it's beautiful. I recommend reverse applique for this block, the symbols and details are too rich to ignore and really add to the quilt's detail.

Of course, I should know by now that with so many of you making Love Entwined, there'll be a style shown over in the group to suit everyone and I can't wait to see how you make it up.

Of course, now that my fabric has arrived, I'll be starting my own Love Entwined tutorials right here on my blog very soon. If you haven't started yet: it's not too late. Usually, each part is available for free during the month of it's release and then it's removed. However I have left the previous parts to this BOM up over in my Group so that as many newcomers as possible can start for free.

The response to Love Entwined has been overwhelming and I'm happy to welcome a few more quilters before I take down the previous blocks.

 

If you do create a tutorial on your own working method please consider adding it to the Love Entwined Page at the top of this blog. It has an ongoing linky so that whoever is making this quilt can share what they are doing: this way all blog posts can easily be found in one place.

 

With so many of us making this quilt, it's always interesting to see other quilters' workmanship and ideas, so feel free to share even if you are doing things a little differently.

 

Can't wait to see what you do this month...

'Love Entwined 1790 Marriage Coverlet’ is a Free 18 Month Historic BOM
Each ‘block’ of the month is released monthly, on the 15th of each month. All ‘blocks’ are available for free during the month of their release. Any missed ‘blocks’ may be purchased.

All ‘blocks’ are available for download via my Yahoo BOM Group only

WOW: Finishing The Shirt Pattern

WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays

 

Last week I traced my shirt pattern, this week I am serious about getting my pattern finished by lunchtime which is in a few hours. I am setting out later today with my DH on business, we're driving up to NSW, so I'm working to a tight schedule.

 

 

Actually I find pattern making quite rewarding, especially since I know the next stage will be selecting fabrics to make my shirts from. And I know I'll get so much wear from them as I'll like them so much. I'm working in the kitchen as the light is best here at this time of day

 

I'm making this pattern on Cane-ite which I purchased at Bunnings for about $10 (can't remember exactly) it's a great surface to pattern on as you can pin the board as you go.

I've already traced my original shirt and now I'm working on the collar,

cutting out the pieces which I'll set aside until I'm ready to select and cut my fabrics.

 

Making my own shirts isn't something I thought I'd ever do at this stage in my life, but now that I'm making them to suit my own taste given that I can't purchase what I want, it's a skill I'm pleased to have. Sewing is so often dismissed as 'women's work' or a skill that belongs to craft projects. I think I'm still part of a generation where a lot of women had enough skill to sew garments and home accessories such as curtains and cushions without too much difficulty.

 

 

Nowadays I'm taken aback at how lacking these skills are. Most young women I meet don't know how to sew the simplest things. They just don't see it as a necessary skill. Last week I was dismayed to see (at a craft demonstration no less) a method for joining fabric lengths together which consisted of simply sewing both sides together with a french seam. No instruction was given on how to match fabrics, grains or prints so that you can create a visually continuous length when using print fabrics.

 

As quilters, most of us will have significant sewing experience; but I think sewing is a useful and lifetime skill for everyone, it's a shame it's generally so undervalued. What do you think?

 

What's Your WOW ?