Margaret's Biography

My first memory of beautiful printed fabric was on trips to Libertys in George Street in the 1970's with Aunt Agnes. As her only niece, and having no children of her own, I was lavished with dresses, skirts and pinafores lovingly stitched on the Singer machine handed down from my grandmother. In the 1980's, amid a flurry of weddings followed by christenings, I re-visited Libertys to purchase Tana lawn, creating cot quilts in the only block I knew - log cabin.

my first quilt made after Jo's Peekaboo day class earlier this year


Years passed working as a scenic artist and prop maker in Theatre and Exhibition design, however, an opportunity arose whilst also lecturing part-time in Technical Theatre at Edinburgh College to join the charity Hatwalk in 2004. Over the next 7 years Hatwalk promoted Millinery through workshops in schools culminating in producing my own collections for the annual Fashion Show whilst raising funds for Teenage Cancer Trust.

quilt made in Jo's Modern Sampler Quilt evening course in the spring

Part-time City and Guilds courses taken between 2011 and 2013 developed skills in machine embroidery, hand-made felt, creative sketchbooks and experimental hand embroidery. By chance, I discovered the wonderful quilt exhibition at Jo's previous shop in Church Hill last summer, and promptly signed up for a course. I am now delighted to be part of the Edinburgh Quilt Guild amongst such a wealth of inspiration and skill!

Margaret

Granny Square - First Completed Bee Quilt!

I'm very pleased to be sharing my completed Granny Squares Quilt which was made with the help of the 'Layer Cakes' - you know who you are (I hope!!)!

This is our EMQG's first completed Bee Block quilt, so well done everyone!

I really love it even though I have given it away! And Barbara (who works in the shop for those of you that don't know her) was delighted with her 50th birthday present, she even cried - so that's a result!!

I would love to be able to tell her who made some of the blocks as she does know lots of you personally. I know which blocks the following quilters made: Lucy, Pauline, Helen, Sheena, but not sure about the other 5. Could you send me an email or just leave a comment below please?
This has nothing to do with seam sizes, I am not trying to track you down, I promise!!

I can't wait to see the other beautiful quilts to come out of our Bees!

written by Jo

Bee Block Examples

For those of you still making last month's blocks here are some examples to help you:

 Helen

 Janice

Here are the samples for this month's Bee Blocks. See separate posts for more info

 Margaret

Katie

Katie's Bee Block and Biography

Hi my name is Katie. I am a long time lover of cutting up material and making things. I started sewing and quilting as a child and along with cutting my mum's favourite silk blouse to make roses for my denim jacket made several hand sewn quilts. Work and three children then came along and I did a lot less crafting and much more playing and washing clothes rather than making anything.  As my children are getting older I am finding slightly more time to be creative and they are starting to enjoy making things with me. I still really enjoy hand sewing but recently bought a new machine that is great and gives me lots more options. I am really enjoying being part of the Edinburgh Modern Quilt group and seeing the huge variety of styles and techniques used. 

My favourite quilt is the one shown. It is our picnic rug and we have been able to use it loads this summer which has been great.

The block I have chosen this month is the 12" Courthouse Steps Block. This is the website I used:

http://quilting.about.com/od/blockofthemonth/ss/Template-Free-Courthouse-Steps-Quilt-Block-and-Quilt-Pattern.htm

Block Centre 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" 

 2 x 2" x 3 1/2"

4 x 2" x 6 1/2" 

4 x 2" x 9 1/2"

2 x 2" x 12 1/2" 

It feels really exciting to see what different blocks are made and hopefully they will not take too long to make as I know some of us are also making our bits for the Stitch Gathering. The blocks can be made of any colour, but if possible all the stripes should contain the same colour. Here are the examples I made as shown at the meeting.

Helen's Bee Block and Biography

Hi, I am Helen and I have been a member of the Edinburgh Quilt Guild since it was founded earlier this year.

I started quilting in 2011 after stumbling across an open day at Jo’s shop in Morningside where she was launching her craft classes. I immediately enrolled for the beginner patchwork class and entered the shop raffle, the excitement of booking the class was too much for me and I gave Jo the incorrect e-mail address and phone number! When I won the first prize in the raffle Jo managed to track me down and sent me a nice letter through the post informing me I had won the prize of a voucher for a class. 

Needless to say since then I have been hooked, enjoying making quilts and other sewing projects and of course building my fabric stash. Below is photo of the last quilt that I completed, following a Jelly Roll Quilt workshop at myBearpaw which was taught by Fiona Calvert. The other photo is of me with my niece and nephew helping to show the quilt.

The block I have chosen for my bee block is a Whirligig Block which Jo kindly presented to the group because I could not attend that evening.

Whirligig Quilt Block

1. Cut 2 rectangles of plain fabric 5" by 4.5"
2. Cut 1 rectangle of pattern fabric 1, 5" by 4.5"
3. Cut 1 rectangle of pattern fabric 2, 5" by 4.5"
4. Stack the 4 rectangles horizontally on cutting board.
5. Line up the centre line of the fabric (ie 2.5") with a vertical line on cutting mat
6. With a ruler and rotary cutter cut the fabric diagonally 1/2" either side of the centre line. 
   Sew together and trim to give a centre block of 8.25" by 8.25".
7. Cut a strip of plain fabric 1.5" wide. Sew to top and bottom of block then to the right and left sides. 
8. Cut a strip of pattern fabric 2" wide. Sew to top and bottom of block then to the right and left sides. 
9. Do not trim to size, I will do this.

Links to tutorials:

627handworks.com/finished-quilts

http://teaginnydesigns.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/template-free-trim-free-whirligig.html

http://turtlehillquilter.blogspot.co.uk/2010/01/charmed-whirlgigs-tutorial.html

Fabric:

• 2 different patterned fabrics to form spokes of whirligig (fabric to include a one fabric which is either blue/green/turquoise)

• Outer border to be different patterned fabric
• Plain fabric to be neutral colour in a light shade