Spring 2003 Newsletter

 

 

NEW LQ COMMITTEE MEMBERS

 

Following is a list of the new Committee members who took over running London Quilters after the November AGM. Also included is a short description of what they do in real life!

 

Chairperson: Alys Robinson, Computer Game Designer

Deputy Chairperson: Tricia Revest, University Lecturer in Medicine and Dentistry with a special interest in I.T.

Treasurer: Janet Beck, Hansard (Parliamentary) Committee Reporter

Membership Secretary: Jean Nissan, retired Knitwear Designer

Newsletter: Linda Seward, Writer and Quilt Maker

Hospitality: Judy Roose, retired from Computer Sales and Consultancy

 

Your new Committee are here to help you, answer questions, introduce new ideas, etc. Please contact any member of the Committee if you have any problems, suggestions or questions.

 

Many thanks to the members of the outgoing Committee who did such a superb job running the London Quilters. 

 

LQ CHRISTMAS PARTY

 

The London Quilters celebrated Christmas with a pot luck supper, some games and a Yankee Swap. Many thanks to Nora Field and Carmen Redlar who devised our quizzes and games. We didn’t know we had clairvoyants amongst our membership, but we now know better! Everyone was talking about Nora Spring’s delicious Potato and Celeriac Salad, and I’ve managed to get the recipe for you:

 

1 medium-size celeriac 6-8 firm new potatoes 4 small spring onions handful red radishes 1/2 red, yellow or green pepper 1 red onion 1 stick celery (or any other crisp, colourful salad ingredients that might be to hand)   Boil the new potatoes in their skins until tender. Boil the celeriac for about an hour. Empty both into the sink to cool, then skin. Cut thin slices of celeriac and potato into your salad bowl. Cut up the spring onions, especially the green leaves. Slice the radishes, pepper and celery stick into thin strips. Finely cut the red onion. Add to the salad bowl. Make a French salad dressing in a small jug. Start with a teaspoonful of dry English mustard powder, sugar, salt, freshly ground pepper, tarragon and oregano. Add 4 tablespoons of hot water, 12 tablespoons of olive oil, and vinegar or lemon juice to taste. Mix well. Add dressing to the salad and mix well but gently. Allow to stand for at least half an hour and mix again before serving. Best eaten slightly warm.    CHAIR CHAT                         Dear LQ Members,    Many of you may remember when I first joined London Quilters--I had purple hair, and was working on a predominantly-purple medallion-style quilt. The hair colour has changed, but the purple quilt is still up on my design wall.  It is nearly finished; after years of searching, I have finally found all of the perfect fabrics to complete it.  I will bring the top in to show when it’s done--who knows how long it will take me to get around to quilting it!   Since then, I have branched out into art quilt making, and have also completed two queen-size bed quilts --sadly, I can’t bring those to show, as they are on other people’s beds! My husband wants to know when I am making one for us. Maybe this year, after I finish the small one I want to enter in the Festival of Quilts, and of course, the purple medallion.   I hope you all enjoy this year’s programme of lectures and workshops. Many of our own members will be speaking this year--after all, why should everyone else get to hear them, and not us? Alison Schwabe and Linda Kemshall will be teaching workshops. (More about those later.) Appropriately, our first speaker of the year, Linda Colsh, is a quilter I knew on-line years ago, when I didn't belong to any quilting groups. We both frequented Compuserve’s quilting forum, another member of which introduced me to London Quilters. I was very glad to finally meet her in person!

Happy quilting,

Alys Robinson

 

CHAIR CHALLENGE

  This month, I’m setting a challenge to help beat the post-holiday February grey-sky blues. It’s not a sewing challenge, no blocks need to be made. This challenge is to go out and seek quilting inspiration for the year to come. It could be anything: from a design, to an emotion or abstract idea, to a new combination of colours. I challenge each of you to go and see something you haven’t seen before, something you would not usually go to see. A museum exhibit, for example, either painting or other visual arts, or even the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum--London has plenty of free museums. You could visit an aquarium, or even just take out a library book (with pictures!) on a subject you’ve never paid attention to before. (Note: craft books don’t count!)   Some ideas to get you started:   *Speaking of the Natural History Museum, there’s an open-air exhibit of aerial photographs, called Earth From the Air, in front of the museum. I saw it in December, and it’s fantastic. You can check www.earthfromtheair.com for more information. *If you haven’t been there, Sir John Soane’s Museum in Lincoln’s Inn Fields (just around the corner from Holborn Tube) provides everything from ancient sculptural fragments to paintings. *Another of my favourites is Pollock’s Toy Museum on Charlotte Street, near Goodge St. tube--see how many times you say ' used to have one of those!' and try to resist buying a toy theatre. (After all, you could make a quilted one instead...)  

Adele Corcoran

11 September 1931-26 January 2003

 

Many London Quilters will be sad to hear of the death of Adele Corcoran last month after a brave fight with cancer. A founder member of Dulwich Quilters, Adele was born in Pennsylvania, but lived in Dulwich for 40 years. She published two books on quilting, and was an active member of the Quilters’ Guild. She was a loyal and wonderful friend to many people and will be greatly missed. WORKSHOPS Alison Schwabe: Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th May.  Topic: 'Hot Quilts from Cold Scraps' Sew it, don’t throw it ! A scrap quilt workshop. Guarantee your place in Quilters Paradise! Empty your scrap bags! Reach deep into your stash! Traditional and contemporary quilters are invited to rediscover the appeal of this early form of recycling as they learn how principles of design and colour apply to scrap quilts. For no matter how you work, these principles are exactly the same, and you can sew a silk purse from a sow’s ear! You choose the way you will work in this workshop, so your preparation is to make sure you are fully familiar with either traditional, ruler/rotary cut geometric piecing (Straightliners)  or the template-free rotary cut, a.k.a. ‘Improvisational’, piecing (Arty Fartys). All levels welcome -  good basic machine sewing skills essential in your chosen work method. So, if you can’t throw it, come and sew it, your way.  I look forward to meeting you there.  In the meantime, if you want to know more about me and my work, visit www.alisonschwabe.com   Laura Kemshall: Sunday 19th October. Topic: "Images on Fabric". This workshop will teach techniques for putting images onto fabric, including screen printing, photo transfer, and more.        QUILTERS’ GUILD NEWS   There are now over 60 of you who want to receive the email Bulletin updates.  If you know of anyone else who might be interested please forward this e-mail to them so that they can contact me to be added to our list. We will not disclose e-mail addresses to any other organisation and no attachments will be sent.   This bulletin is to let you know about the latest website update, which was uploaded last weekend, and upcoming events.  You will have had details of the Members’ Day in your recent Our Patch. QG members from any region are welcome to attend and we hope that as many of you as possible will take part in the Oriental Themed challenges and Show and Tell. In addition we would like to display some interesting Kimonos on our stands around the room.  I have 7 to date, but we have space for a few more.  So if you are coming and have a Kimono you could bring, please let me know. Details of both the Members’ Day and Spring Regional Day are on the website now along with quilting events going well into 2003.    Many of you who have registered an interest in the Guild show in Birmingham next August will now have had details of the categories, sizes and prizes. Further details can be obtained via a link on our site events page to the Twisted Thread site. We hope that Region 1 will be well represented.   Lastly if you know of any good shows or events we could put on the website or of any good links that would be interesting to quilters please let me know. We do not carry any advertising or endorsements for any other site or organisation but simply list sites for information.   Best wishes, Cathy Corbishley Michel, e-mail: qgrl@yahoo.com Members representative - Region 1 website  www.qgr1.freeserve.co.uk http://www.qgrl.freeserve.co.uk  

QUILT 2002

 

In the previous Newsletter, I invited comments on the subject of reasons for excluding quilts from shows. Following is a reply from Hannelore Braunsberg:   In the London Quilters' Newsletter you invite comments on the judges' limitations of quilts selected for the shows. Here are mine:   Firstly, this is the first mention I have heard of any such "exclusions". They should have been made known before inviting submission of quilts so that some makers could have saved the bother and cost of applying if their quilts did not fit the rules.   Secondly, I do not understand what Annette (Morgan) means by not selecting quilts which involved employing "another maker's techniques". This would exclude almost all quilts --there are few techniques that have not been used by others!   I also deplore the use of such arbitrary "rules" for exclusion, but I suppose the judges have a right to accept or reject on whatever basis they choose. Having said that, I very much enjoyed seeing the many lovely quilts and I felt the judges had chosen well, though I agree with you on the winning quilt.  

Many thanks, Hannelore, for your comments. If anyone else would like to contribute to the discussion, please e-mail me at: l.seward@virgin.net

TRAVELS WITH A NEEDLE

A Talk by Alison Schwabe

 

The talk I will give to the London Quilters in May is a survey of my own quilt making and how it has become part of a body of needlework which extends over more than 20 years. My textile works have always been inspired by landscape. Early creative embroideries were inspired by patterns and textures to be found within the landscape, often incorporating pebbles, twigs and shells. By the late 80’s, I had found quilt making.  Although I took a few traditional classes, which were invaluable for what I learned about construction, I soon moved toward creating non-traditional wall pieces inspired by man-made patterns painted, chipped or carved from cave walls, rocks and artifacts found on all continents.  More works include a number of quilts inspired by fire and water and the roles these elements play shaping the natural landscape.   Various events  in some parts of my life have prompted my present quest to produce work closer to the frugal and thrifty origins of the craft, while maintaining my personal visions within each piece and whole body of work. Recent preparation of workshops on scrap quilts has drawn my attention to an earlier love: triangles. Those intriguing geometric building blocks have always suggested to me, and others, such geomorphic concepts as peaks, valleys,  mountains, deltas, synclines and anticlines and scree slopes.   Come to Alison’s talk on May 19th!    SHOP CLOSURES Due to a declining economy and the advent of internet shopping, the following shops have been forced to close: Quilt Basics, Patchwork House, Contented Cat. Quilt Basics will continue to do the major shows, as will Contented Cat who will also run a mail-order service. Creative Quilting has moved down the road from its former location to 32 Bridge Street.      STITCH 2003 SITE                         NOW ONLINE

 

Stitch 2003 will appeal to anyone with a love of needlecraft. This year, the event remains predominantly cross-stitch focused, but there is plenty to please needle-workers of other persuasions! Over 20,000 visitors enjoyed the show last year; with plenty of shopping and wondrous exhibits of top cross stitch. You can book your tickets now at : http://www.twistedthread.com/stitch2003   EXHIBITIONS   Stitch 2003 - Olympia, London , 27-30 March Festival of Quilts - NEC Birmingham                         21-24 August The Knitting & Stitching Show - Alexandra                           Palace, London,  9-12 October The Knitting & Stitching Show - RDS, Dublin                                   30 October - 2 November The Knitting & Stitching Show - International                                    Halls, Harrogate, 20-23 November Society of Women Artists Annual Show: Member Cynthia Lewis will show 2 sculptures at the Westminster Gallery, Westminster Central Hall, open from 7-18th March, free admission.   INTERNET INFORMATION   The London Quilters web site address is: http://members.lycos.co.uk/London_Quilters/lq1.htm. It is run and maintained by Tricia Revest, whose e-mail is:  p.a.revest@qmul.ac.uk