Summerhouse and Lundby dolls houses
Yesterday it was dry enough to open my dolls house boxes that arrived last week - two Lundby dolls houses, the Gothenburg and the wider Stockholm, the first one spotted by my quilting friend Tracy at...
View ArticleVillage fete and a sashiko workshop in Perth
Here's a few photos from last week. As it was our village fete in Kettins, I took some quilts along to see if people were interested in the idea of having a monthly quilt group in the village. We had...
View ArticleSummerhouse roof and painting
The drier weather means we have been able to get some more summerhouse details finished. Glyn added the roof ridge and the onigawara tiles yesterday.  Some details of finishing off by adding the trim...
View ArticleSaturday is World Textile Day Scotland
I'm getting things ready for World Textile Day at Bridge of Allan, Stirling, this week and we have some great new fabrics for you, plus a few rather exceptional kimono/karinui (untailored kimono...
View ArticleRhona's Fanoe quilt
Rhona Thomson, one of my former Loch Lomond sashiko students and now attending the same City and Guilds patchwork diploma course as me, brought her version of my Fanoe quilt along to our Sunday class....
View ArticleEarth Diary Project in China
Christine Porter, author of numerous quilt books and a very well known quilter, asked me if I would be able to go to China to teach machine patchwork and quilting on a project run by her former student...
View Article'Dryslwyn Dreams' - finished
Quilting in the ditch and the 'knife edge' finish was all done on Monday and the quilt is off for photography at the moment. I'll have more news about the magazine that will be featuring the pattern...
View ArticleA weekend off (more or less)
After getting my quilt sent for the deadline this week, I had a bit of time off over the weekend. On Saturday, we went to the transport extravaganza at Glamis Castle. Lots of Series 1 Land Rovers....
View ArticleTeaching in China next week
 On Sunday, I start my trip to China for 10 days, flying to Guiyang in Guizhou Province via Beijing, where I will meet Angel Yao, the organiser for the Earth Diary Project's patchwork classes near...
View ArticleOn my way to Guizhou Province, China
I'm on my way to China, taking a few minutes to post some photos while I'm in the departure lounge at Schiphol airport. After double double checking the variations in the baggage size and weight...
View ArticleChina - part 1
I arrived back from my trip to Guizhou Province, China, yesterday, so now I can access Blogger again (not possible from China), I will start adding photos from my trip. I flew with China Southern from...
View ArticleChina - part 2
On my first morning in Kaili, we met local embroidery tutor and traditional textile collector Mrs Zhang, who came with us on a trip into the countryside to visit some villages. We followed a road up...
View ArticleChina - part 3 - visiting some Miao villages
After lunch, we drove to another Miao village. The village 'square' is above. All the villages have these areas for communal events, festivals etc. apparently.There were quite a lot of new houses, or...
View ArticleChina - part 4 - the second Miao village
We walked over the bridge and into the village. It was early afternoon and seemed pretty quiet, apart from the rumble of cement mixers on a few new builds. There were still a lot of traditional...
View ArticleChina - part 5 - more from the second Miao village
Many of the houses in the village were traditional wooden buildings.We went to see another embroiderer that Mrs Zhang introduced as her sister. These are some of the panels she was working on.Once...
View ArticleChina - part 6 - promoting Miao culture
When we came back to Kaili city after visiting several Miao villages, we hoped to drop off some of my quilts for the crafts exhibition that was taking place near our hotel, but we arrived too late....
View ArticleChina - part 7 - 2015 China (Guizhou) International Folk Crafts Fair
The following morning, we set up a stand with some of my quilts at The 8th China Kaili Original Ecological Cultural Tourism Festival and 2015 China (Guizhou) International Folk Crafts Fair. At this...
View ArticleChina - part 8 - textile heaven 1
I didn't buy any vintage Miao garments at the exhibition but I got this beautiful old Ge Yi Miao jacket from Mrs Zhang. I think the scrolling patterns were called 'dazi'. They have couched outlines...
View ArticleChina - part 9 - textile heaven 2
More pieces from Mrs Zhang's collection. I am not sure if this is Miao, but I love the colour scheme - very restrained.Several rooms in Mrs Zhang's large apartment were basically store rooms for her...
View ArticleChina - part 10 - arriving in Pintang
We drove through thunderstorms to get to Pintang city, where I would be teaching the Maonan women's group for four days of patchwork lessons, introducing them to the Singer sewing machines. Most of...
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