Sponge Bob and Square Pants!

Caroline's Post

The Wedding Quilt

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Started Planning and Sewing Blocks:- March 2007

Finished Wedding Quilt top:- 24th June 2007

Finished Quilt:- September 2007

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Note:- 9th July 2007 - I have been to the hospital to see the Consultant. He is operating on my Left Hand taking out a Bone also Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (too much sewing!). Believe it or not on Friday 13th. Asks me are you superstitious? Is the Pope Catholic? thinks me.

Will be in a cast for 4 weeks, then a plastic cast for a further 6 weeks.

With great determination I manage to finish machine quilting and quilt edges! forgot how difficult this can be, but the challenge was worth it.

First week of September I finished the Wedding Quilt, ready for the Big Day. September 15th 2007

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I started planning Daughter No. 1's Wedding Quilt while trying to finish machine quilting Nemo! She was brought up with Sunbonnet Sue and Calico Joe on most of my quilts. I have always been crazy for these characters and have numerous patterns and books. Looking through my books I found an idea for a wedding block. (Having got rid of my Art Deco Book, with the pattern in it, stupid!) I searched for a similar one. Good Luck came with "Sunbonnet Sue is Alive and Well", on the back of the book was just what I was looking for.

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The problem I found the most hard was trying to buy fabric that I don't normally work with as I love Bright Fabric.

Having settled on 12 fat quarters I thought would be OK for her, I sneaked some bright yellow in!

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The Bondaweb and cutting plus fusing on 8 oblongs and 16 small oblongs took me forever! Sewing with the DMC No 8 threads was the most satisfying thing I found (Relaxing Heaven).

Daughter No. 1 has decided she will on no account see any stage of the quilt being made. The Best bit that makes me laugh was when I finished the top of the Quilt and I was ironing the edges. She came through to my workroom backwards, asking for paper scissors shouting "I don't want to see it"

It reminded me of someone backing out of a room after an audience with the Queen!

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My mate Jane took to Midsomer Quilting for a trip to buy backing and maybe a few fat quarters if any money was left over. To my delight I searched and found some fabric for £3.00 a metre, with five and a half metres left on the roll it was plenty for backing. Oh! what a joy! That cost me £15.00 so after choosing some already delicious fat quarters, I went off to find some more.

A Quilter in a fabric shop is like a child in a sweetie shop.

Now I just need a sunny day for drying the backing fabric.

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Son-in-law has named the characters 'Sponge Bob and Square Pants' so that will go on the label when finished.

Machine Quilted in YLI. Variegated thread named 'The Red Hat Club', very apt for the Quilter being over 50.

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Emma & Ade Note ......... I hope you both enjoy the story and the Quilt. It has been a joy and Challenge to make and brought me hours of fun! Love Ma. September 2007

Midsummers Day 2007

This is Caroline's Post.

We all met up for our annual garden Midsummer Madness get together. Last year it poured down with rain and we sat under the gazebo with umbrellas up. What a laugh that was!

Time came around for our get-together in the garden again. We could not believe our eyes! Raining again but harder this time so we moved inside for our Bun and Tea fight. You'd think we would have had better weather in June but no, someone up there is having a laugh!

What fun we had, stuffing our faces talking of men, eyes, hips, hands etc. Honest, we are like walking nightmares!

It came round to our Midsummer Madness parcel surprises - Santa's Secret really- Nobody wanted to swap. Sharon's was the best - A packet of Rich Tea Biscuits - How original for a group of Mad Quilters! Hoots all round. Everyone enjoyed themseves and we are looking forward to next year

Quilt Exhibition at Radstock Museum, Somerset

Yesterday I went, with husband and a friend to the Midsomer Quilting Exhibition at the Industrial Museum in Radstock. There are 213 exhibits listed in the catalogue, we didn't expect such a large number. The lady on the welcome desk told us proudly that Quilts UK only had 15 more quilts on display.

Had I known that there was so much to see I would have made a visit with quilting friends, I might still do that because the exhibition continues to the end of November, as I don't feel I have paid each quilt the attention it deserves.

I have to say that there was no one particular quilt which blew me away, nothing which made me want to rush home and emulate it, but I left feeling that more people, probably all woman, are enjoying this form of creativity. There were a lot of people in the gallery, and what I love most about these exhibitions is the feeling of kinship one has to fellow visitors, you can talk to anyone and find common ground.

It was difficult to give distance to view some of the quilts, and even more tricky to get photos of whole quilts, so these three details are just to give some idea of what there was to see. I loved the vintage quilts in their faded splendour, the original inspiration for my love of quilting, there are lots of fun pieces, one reminded me of a Beryl Cook painting, another favourite was a beach hut scene. The one we all remarked upon was the hanging which stated "Well behaved women seldom make history"

Radstock Museum itself is well worth perusal, it is about the coal mining history of the area, with a mock-up underground mine and many details of the sites of coal mines in Somerset.

There is a nice little shop selling books about local history, and a small, but yesterday very well used, tea room.

"sewing day"

Today we had another of our fab "sewing" days - not all of us actually sew - well I don't anyway! Ann and Sandra were missed and Jane phoned to wish us well and to let us know how she is getting on - I am happy to report that she sounded in good spirits and was looking forward to lunch and rest after physio.

I love having everyone at my house for my turn as much as I love going to the homes of the others -we eat, drink loads of coffee and laugh.

We've been working on baby quilts and now have 14 nearly ready to go! They are beautiful. Angela took some photos of them today and I'm sure they'll turn out well.

I'm trying very hard to sew every day. At the moment I love working with wool felt (after long Google sessions I have found an English web source) and primitive embroidery. Being an American, I adore Halloween and have made this little applique for myself - it's a freebie pattern from http://www.primitiveblessings.com/pages/mainpg.php, a prim website. The more I look at these prim sites, the more inspired I become and am even working on designs of my own!

Angela very kindly took a photo for me - thanks Angela. The little triangle shapes are meant to be "candy corn," something my children and I still crave after 15 years!!

Just for Jane

This message is for Jane who is in hospital - with new hip!! Caroline arrived this morning by taxi-thought it was an all day sew-in!!! Here now are Angela, Sandra, Trish , Ann, and Imogen. Sharon to follow, Jonathan permitting! We all send love and will be thinking of you as we scoff coffee and walnut shortbread-recipe to follow soon!Over to Trish---

When we know where you'll be, we'll come to terrorise you, hopefully with Caroline with photos of the wedding. That's if she ever gets over today's abortive attempt.

Now it's Anne ...... We are on standby with the Marigolds!!! Glad you've had it done.

Sandra .... Lots of love, I'm good at shopping... forget the marigolds.

Angela .... We are off tomorrow, see you at the end of the week, love........


Imogen....Night night sleep tight or good morning from the CLOUDS/PRIX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rhubarb Cake

We grow rhubarb on our allotment.

Many years ago a Dutch quilting friend, Irene, gave me a recipe for a rhubarb cake, which she used to serve at her quilt meetings, having found it again a while ago I made it for the friends I have made here. Everyone liked it so much I thought I would share the recipe with you. I don't have a picture of the cake, so I have included a picture of rhubarb instead! Before we eat in future I will have to get out the camera.

What has never occurred to me before I set out to copy this recipe, is that it is in imperial weights. I'm sure you can adjust it to whichever method you are happy with, as it's the idea that counts.

Rhubarb Crumble Cake

14 oz trimmed rhubarb

7 oz butter

10 oz SR flour

3 oz pale muscovado sugar

4 oz caster sugar

11/2 oz chopped hazelnuts

1 orange

2 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the nutty crumble topping:- Sift 4 oz flour into a bowl - add 3 oz butter, rub in roughly, stir in muscovado and nuts, set aside.

Cake mixture:- Slice rhubarb into 1-inch chunks and finely grate the rind of orange over it.

Put remaining 4oz butter, softened but not runny, caster sugar, remaining flour, spice, eggs and two tablespoons of the orange juice into a bowl and beat together.

Spoon cake mixture into a greased and lined 8 - 9 inch loose bottomed or spring clip cake pan. Scatter over rhubarb and orange, then cover the fruit with the crumble mixture.

Bake at 180c, Gas mark 4 for about one and a quarter hours. Cool slowly - don't turn out until completely cold - try to wait until the next day before eating.

You can make this with frozen rhubarb.

Quilt Show Birmingham

Finally, after waiting three long years, I made it to the quilt show in Bham. My sister Michelle, over from Boston, went with me. We looked at many mad and fantastic works - nice to see so many done by machine these days - in fact my sis thinks I should buy a long arm quilter! She's not really into quilts and sewing but was a very good sport about the whole thing - didn't grumble once in 6 hours! My love of all things primitive or with hearts on it made her decide that I must be Amish - my husband agrees and simply says "that explains it."

While there I got very close to Kaffe and Janet Bolton (actually telling her "I love your work" she smiled at me kindly).

I was very good and spent hardly a penny, we were there after all to see the quilts, AND I didn't even go near the book stalls!!!!

Before going on the train , we sat down for a coffee. Two women from Cornwall joined us. They are part of a group of 4 who meet at each others homes. They USED to belong to a formal group BUT....