CQ winter school retreat

Amid the many participants in Alice Fox's class (rusting) and Philippa Naylor's class (machine quilting), five of us "on the retreat" were doing our own thing(s): Jean had one quilt under the needle and was designing another; Sheila was quilting and designing too; Karen worked on her cat portrait and journal quilts; Sally-Ann's box of "shadowy" fabrics were gradually interwoven into a two-panel piece.

My tables - we had two tables each, in the large room - were by the window -

...with a green view towards Pendle Hill -

Room to spread out and get an overview of the "maps" -

Two more are finished, and most of the set now have one or more labels added - labels salvaged from clothes over the years. I'm adding them face down, so the writing and the colours used are in reverse. How does this fit the "map" concept ... hmm, not sure, but I liked doing it! (and they can be unpicked if I change my mind).

In between making decisions about the maps, I mindlessly stitched down strips onto a piece that was pinned together earlier, probably about a year ago. And found myself starting another such, but this time big enough to be a journal quilt for my High Horizons series - 

Another form of distraction was stitching and gluing bits of cloth into some little books -

That wicked-looking dressmaker's wheel, as well as an antique bodkin, were part of the selection of tools Sally-Ann brought along for redistribution. Inspired by my book about Sian Bowen's Nova Zembla project, in which she used piercing a lot, I started puncturing the paper ... and will be doing more of that ... In fact that's the major thing I'm taking forward from this weekend - to investigate little holes in paper....

More distractions - photography in the grounds -

deliquescing hydrangeas in the garden

end-stage hostas planted in urns

misty vistas

Of course mealtimes, teatimes, and bartimes provided distraction too. All in all, another delightful CQ weekend at Alston Hall!