Today’s Quilter – September 2019

33

Delightful daisies

L

ifehasn’tstoodstillfor

a momentthismonth–

followingthewonderful

MandyPattulloexhibition,

MaggieBonanomiarrivedfrom

Missouriwithherdelightful

suitcaseof woolquilts.She

broughtsomewonderfulkits

forthestudentstomake,which

wasa lovely,generoustouch.We

havebuiltupa popularsewing

groupwholoveworkingwithwool,someof whichis

upcycled,somefoundlocallyandsomethatwesell

fromthewonderfulBlackberryPrimitivesintheUSA.

Thewoolis pre-orderedandhand-dyed,andthe

lovely,subtlecolourslookalmostgoodenoughtoeat.

Woolhappenstocomeapa r tmuchbet teri f it is tor n

ratherthancut,whichseemeda terriblethingtodo

initially,butI thinkthateveryone,includingmyself,

learnedthata smallsnipthena quickripactually

worksreallywell.It justseemslikesucha drastic

thingtodoandis a methodwhichis veryalientoquilt

makers.Maggieusesfreezerpapertocutoutallher

appliquéshapesandthensewsthemdownwitha whip

stitchtosecurethem.I justlovetheold,earlysettler

lookthatherquiltshave,andit wasa delighttolook

throughphotographsof Maggie’shouse,whichfeatures

lotsof oldoriginalfurnituredatingbackto 1840 and a

wonderful quilt she made called Settlers Pride.

Daisy,Daisy...

I wantedtomakethisissueallaboutdaisies,flowers

thatI lovesomuch,andI thoughtit wasfittingseeing

asthistimeof theyearis themostperfecttimetosee

thedaisiesflowerandgrow.Thatis,whentherain

isn’t beating down, which it has been doing a little

toomuchlately.Thankfully,thewaterbuttshavefilled

andthegardenis muchhappiernowthatit’shada

drink.AtJanetBolton’srecentbooklaunchforher

delightfulchildren’sstory,Downin theWoods, Janet

broughta scrumptiousselectionof workwithher– a

lovelycollectionof sheep,flowersandboats,andbest

of all,a lovelypiececalledDaisyDaisywhichI thought

wassoappropriateforthisarticle.Somanyof usfind

inspirationfromflowersandinterpretthemindierent

ways.Janetstudiedat theRoyalCollegeandGoldsmiths

andherworkis absolutelyoutstanding– somanythink

thatcopyingit willbeeasyuntiltheytry,onlytofind

that‘lessis best’is a verydicultthingtoemulate.

I metJanetwhenfirstapplyingtogotoa Country

LivingclassinLondon.Whentheclasswasfull,I

decidedtoinvitehertoCowslipandshehasbeen

coming here for 25 years. We are lucky to have a list of

Join us at http://www.todaysquilter.com

-DQHW%ROWRQ 

ULJKW ZLëKHU

intricate textile piece, Daisy Daisy

J C

Countryside

Quilting