Thursday, June 30, 2016

Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival



Oh, if you're an art quilter, wouldn't this make a beautiful art quilt??

I may have to give my artistic side a try....




If you're single and looking, you can check out the Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival - Europe's biggest single's festival - coming up in September.
http://www.matchmakerireland.com

Bébhinn played us the Lisdoonvarna song as we drove through town and I keep getting it stuck in my head!


Only one more day of Ireland scenery photos and then it's back to QUILTING stuff.  I think it's going to take me all summer to get Jane finished (hopefully not because I have some Christmas projects I want to do) but I still have a few HMQS photos to share too :)

Have a great day!!

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Ireland Scenery Photos


These may provide some quilt inspiration at some point.  After I get Dear Old Jane quilted :)








Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Some Pretty Quilts to Look At!



Here are some more quilts from the HMQS in Salt Lake - I still have a few more photos to share :)


Arsenic and Old Lace by Jackie Aguilar

She appliquéd this vintage table cloth, which arleady




Starburst
pieced and quilted by Inger Blood

Quilted on a home sewing machine machine, using rulers.




Kaboom!
pieced and quilted by Suzy Webster





Entropy
pieced and quilted by Pamela Kidd



Migration
pieced and quilted by Diane Wingo

Free motion quilted with the aid of rulers.


Sunflower Deco
pieced and quilted by Jan Hutchison

Her goal was to achieve as much texture as possible through the use of trapunto, free hand embroidery, and many types of thread.

2nd Place Wall Hanging




Monday, June 27, 2016

Look Who Is Visiting!!



We are lucky enough to have our daughter and granddaughter visiting for a few days!  Of course, we are having so much fun!

I decided that we didn't have enough baby toys so I went shopping Friday before they came and met some other grandparents in Target doing exactly the same thing!  It was funny.  In comparing notes, we found out that we were both expecting visits from 8 month old granddaughters!


Today we went upstairs to the HOT sewing room (because the AC has decided not to work properly), and Megan made her a soft ABC book.  It turned out really cute!

She enjoyed playing with the measuring tape and other fun things we found in the sewing room!



Who knew a measuring tape could be such fun??



I guess I did have some baby toys after all!!


Hope your day is going great :)

Sunday, June 26, 2016

Lace and Quilts and.... Bog Butter??


In the Gougane Barra Hotel, they had beautiful displays of antique lace and other examples of wonderful handwork.




This hand appliquéd quilt was hanging on a wall behind glass.

I've heard people say that Ireland from the sky looks like a patchwork quilt, so it was interesting to see that depicted in this painting.

While traveling we learned about the amazing preservation qualities of the bog.  I'm sure you can google it and find out all the many, very old things that have been found preserved in the bog.  I won't go into detail...
But my friend Phyllis sent me this photo (from CNN news) of a large lump of butter: "massive 2,000 year old lump of butter found in Irish bog".  It said it was a surprising and smelly discovery. I can only imagine!

Saturday, June 25, 2016

Christ Church Cathedral Dublin


I wanted to share some more pictures of the Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin.  For a quilter, it is a treasure trove of quilt designs!

This first picture is actually from the Long Room in the Library at Trinity College.  I just loved the old, fancy book cases full of old books.

"Located in the heart of the medieval city of Dublin, Christ Church Cathedral is one of the city's finest buildings.  Founded by the Hiberno-Norse, rebuilt by the Anglo-Normans and extensively restored in the 1870's, the present building is an intriguing blend of original 12th and 13th century material alongside exactingly recreated Victorian Gothic features."

OK- here is a little bit of history as you enjoy the photos and get inspired to design a quilt:


c.1030
Cathedral building begins under Dúnán, first bishop of Dublin and Sitriuc Silkenbeard, Norse King of Dublin.
(How would you like to have the last name of Silkenbeard? And King Silkenbeard, no less!)

c.1163
Augustinian canons regular introduced by Archbishop Lorcán Ua Tuathail, former abbot of Glendalough.


1170
Anglo-Normans gain control of Dublin, Cathedral rebuilding begins c.1186 in a Romanesque style.


Late 1350's
Archbishop John de St. Paul extends building forming a "long quire".


1487
Coronation of Lambert Simnel os Edward VI


(How many quilt blocks do you see in the photo above, this one and the one below?)



There are tile floors like this throughout the cathedral.


1562
Collapse of the south nave wall, west wall and roof


1742
The Choir of Christ Church take part in the first performance of Handel's Messiah!

1871
Seven year restoration of the cathedral by George Edmund Street, funded by Henry Roe.






1999
Augmentation of the bells to a ring of 19-
the largest in the world!
(We heard the bells ringing, they're fantastic!)







I look at this and I see half square triangles and quarter square triangles, pinwheel blocks......

This section is original medieval floor tiles.  There are 63 patterns in all, which the Victorians copied throughout the cathedral.



2000
Restoration of the cathedral crypt


I've been working on quilting Dear Jane all week!  I have a big section of the middle done.  I stitch in the ditch and stabilize a section, then quilt the blocks in that section, then repeat in another section, working from the middle outwards. I'm changing the thread quite a bit as I quilt each block individually.  It's taking a long time but I'm liking it so far and haven't had to pick out too much thankfully!  I hope that continues as I keep at it!  And, if I get tired I stop!  Because that's when I usually end up picking out - after quilting tired....

Hope you enjoy these pictures and have a great weekend!
Oh, I haven't forgotten the bog butter - I better post that picture tomorrow!