Playing with patches of colour

Playing with patches of colour is a great way to spend time, quite a long time sometimes!  It doesn't matter whether its bits of gorgeous fabric or squares of glazed ceramic.  I mix and match, and mutter 'Yesss!' at one colour combo and then 'Eeek, No!' at another.  

Tiny ceramic tiles.  Available to order from www.catherinedanielceramics.com

And one thing generally leads to another, so that the little ceramic tiles then become patches on a ceramic quilt bowl.

Ceramic patchwork bowl from www.catherinedanielceramics.com

A while ago now,  I started playing about with these beautiful vintage fabrics below.

Vintage 30's and 40's fabrics

And during that little play I mused upon how lovely they would look as the basis for a range of traditional quilt block patterns.

The 'Right Hand of Friendship' block used in our Homewares collection

And then, as usual, one thing led to another and the new homewares collection was born.

Available from www.cathydaniel.co.uk

And when they ask, you say, "It may look like I'm just playing about but there's serious stuff going on here!"

Playing around with stuff is where it all starts - but then you all know that because I bet you all do it too?

x Cathy

Schoolhouse Block

An adaptation of the 'Little Red Schoolhouse' block - not done this one before and I actually found it quite tricky.

Little Blue Schoolhouse ?

Had to make a template and everything!  No 'winging it' on this one!

Making the template gave me the idea of making a little hanging house

Wanted to make the houses all kind of merge into each other, and quite like the higgledy-piggledy look of the finished pattern.

Now available from:  www.catherinedanielceramics.com

Added a kind of brick-wall effect as a border, along with the usual little ceramic button.

Brickwall detail around border

 And, of course, a little bit of sewing up was needed, as always.  I put my potter's mark above the doorway of each house - it's an overlapping C and D - not very inventive really!

Enjoyed using this block and will definitely make more in different colour combos.  May even put 'Home Sweet Home' or similar, in the border?  Might make a nice house-warming gift, maybe?

This must be a result of having houses on the brain at the moment.  We've sold ours and have yet to find another and I have looked at so many online, they are all merging together - a bit like this pattern!!

We haven't moved for 15 years - any tips welcome!

x Cathy

1718 Coverlet Ceramics in Pictures

I took the 1718 ceramics to the Quilt Museum last week whilst they were setting up the exhibition and I got to see behind the scenes.  The actual Coverlet was not yet up but I did see the reproduction, made by members of the Quilters Guild, and even that was just stunning.

I shall return in a few weeks to see the exhibition in full swing.  Here are the last pictures of the pieces which are now on sale at York.

The Fleur de Lys corner block.

 

 

 

What IS that shape top left??  A crab?  A spider?

 

The motifs and silk fabrics used suggest that EH was from a well-to-do family

The border above was done with my forky-spoony thing.  

I shall miss working on these, but I do have a backlog of 'normal' quilt bowls to catch up on, and my pre-Christmas stocks have run dangerously low!  Added to which, my kiln may soon be in the back of a furniture lorry headed to some as yet unknown destination!!  

Oh, well.  Too much certainty is not good for a person!  More of all that to come, probably ... possibly .... maybe ..... who knows!

Have a great week.

x Cathy