Quilty pleasures

As the Kaffe Fassett Quilts exhibition was so lovely and as I took soooooo many photographs, I thought I'd make them into a quick video. I was very keen to show how the quilts had been hung (as if they had been flung into the air like a pack of cards) and the clever juxtaposition of colours.

The exhibition is a delight and thoroughly inspirational. I'd seen Kaffe Fassett fabrics, of course, and I'd seen his books but there's no substitute to seeing his designs made up as he intended them to look. It's a master class of colour and pattern combination. I've tended to err on the side of simplicity in the quilts I have made so far - I think I may be more daring in future.

One thing I would love to do though is to make a whole cloth quilt in some sunshiny yellow fabric like some of the traditional Welsh quilts that are hung on the walls. These are all hand-stitched and how cheerful they must have looked on cold grey Welsh days. These Welsh Quilts often have a story attached - one made as a thank you to a farmer who gave the quilter some butter when it was on ration, others made for weddings.

The exhibition is at the Welsh Quilt Centre in Lampeter until November. It's right next door to the Calico Kate shop which conveniently sells Kaffe Fassett fabrics (and every possible other thing the keen sewist could desire!)

Inspiration

We've just reached the end of the two week Easter school holidays. In some ways time has flown, in others it has meandered along in an aimless sort of way.

I'm still struggling with my inner demons, as I said before. I've had two successive dental abscesses which haven't helped. A first one, simple and common enough, which took a short break and then turned into a bit of an emergency. I didn't really realise what a pickle I was in, which was probably a good thing. I had exemplary NHS dental care though and am on the road to recovery, thanks to antibiotics and enough painkillers to euthanase a hippopotamus.

In the middle of it all we managed a trip (all of us as a family - how rare!) to Lampeter to see the exhibition of Kaffe Fassett quilts at the Welsh Quilt Centre. Well worth the trip, so inspirational and full of vivid, happy, soul-lifting colour. The exhibition is on until November 2nd.

I also managed to recover enough for a trip to Lawrenny with lovely Jo, her noisy boys and R9 (H11 being over at a friend's house). The sun shone in quite a spring like way for a change. We did the walk from the boat yard to Garron Pill and back round via the village.

 Of course we ended up at the Quayside tearoom and found a sheltered spot for cakes and Elderflower spritzer in the sun.

Meanwhile, back on the farm, lambing has been happening and has mostly been going well. The ewes seem to be producing colossal lambs this year (we've got a new ram). These are great big things on stilts. This one (number nine to be born) can easily suckle whilst lying down. I don't think the ewes are as amused by this as we are! Lambs with such long legs seem to get them tucked up during the birthing process, so there have been a few needing a bit of a pull. We're more than half way through now though.

Back to school tomorrow, with all the extra little things that brings. The day is already packed with orthodontist visits, sheepy things and guides -  somehow I've got to fit in the cleaning, and maybe something (anything) to progress my little business - really it needs to be a 48-hour day!