teaching sewing confidence, tip by tip

Tuesday 8 April 2014

Heard The One About Me, The Glasgow Girls Club And The Timorous Beasties Quilt?


Last Tuesday around 6.15 pm I answered the phone at the Manhattan quilt store where I work to a woman with a Scottish accent.  She told me she had a quilt that needed finishing for an auction to be held in Manhattan on Tuesday, 8 April.  She continued speaking about the organisation she's involved with and asked if I knew anyone who could help her ... I heard my voice saying "I'll do it for you, how soon can you get it to me?"

How does that happen?  When a voice comes out of your mouth without you knowing anything about it!  I do remember thinking that this was meant to be especially as it was a New York/Scotland thing and of course, I'm in New York and my daughter, Flicky, is in Scotland so with an immediate connection, instinct just sort of took over.

By 6.45 pm the woman was standing in front of me at the store and this is probably a good point in the story to introduce her to you properly ... Amy, Amy Rew to give her her full name, and she is Global Lower Eastside Girls Club ambassador and founder of their partner group The Glasgow Girls Club.  The aim of these two groups is to:
provide a place where girls and young women 8-23 can grow, learn, have fun and develop confidence in themselves and their ability to make a difference in the world.  By delivering strong arts, literacy, science, health and leadership programs they provide girls with the vision to plan - and the tools to build - their future. Raising the next generation of environmental, entrepreneurial and ethical leaders.
Amy brought with her the blocks sewn by the girls at the Glasgow Girls Club back in March along with some incredible fabric donated by Timorous Beasties - Thistle Linen.  

Here's a pic from GGC's fb page of the girls with their finished blocks, you can see more photos of the quilting day here on facebook.


So for the last 7 days, I've worked into the night to turn these

 

into this


and adding a pieced backing and binding made from Robert Kaufman Essex Linen Ivory and Benartex Caryl Bryer Fallert - Essential Gradations Earthy Hues Earthy Spectrum so the back looks like this.


And here's where you can find the finished quilt for tonight only


then hopefully it'll be going to its new home and will have raised lots of money for the girls.

I  have so many more photos to share - firstly close up detail of the sections of the quilt incorporating the girls' blocks.  I'm hoping the girls get to see these and are incredibly proud of their part in making the quilt and can spot their own blocks here.


I've kept the pieces exactly as they were made by the girls - I've just added free motion lines around the raw edge appliques to hold them in place.

 

I've quilted either side of the ditch to support and strengthen the seams.


 This block had pencilled faces on the circles - I've traced over the faces with an archival pen so they're a permanent feature of the quilt now.


I love these crystals sewn on the thistle spikes - can you see them, it's tricky against the white background?

Here's some detail of my quilting - I've free motion quilted along the stems of the thistle leaves and outside the main thistle image - all stitching is in white so it doesn't detract from the girls' work (unfortunately that makes it difficult for you to see!).


You can see the thistle quilting better on the back of the quilt.


As always I've added my label


and another label to document the quilt's history as I fully support the Quilt Alliance's SOS (Save Our Stories) programme.


Finally, I've hand sewn the bindings.


Here's some rolled and draped shots


And some final full shots


 So now you heard all about it, me, the Glasgow Girls Club and the Timorous Beasties Quilt, do you love it as much as I do?  It's funny that I'm not having difficulty giving this one away - all the time I was working on it I knew it wasn't mine and it's going to such a good cause it's given me quite a different perspective on the quilt.  I'm excited to see how much money it raises.

If you can spare 1 min 24 seconds then check out this short trailer for the Club, you can see Amy with her fabulous pink bag and also images from the quilting session at the Club.  Maybe you or someone you know would like to get involved too either in New York or in Glasgow?  Please spread the word.

Have you ever answered the phone to something completely unexpected that changes the course of your week, year, life?  When these moments come we should just grab them, I did :D

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Disclaimer: This post is for informational purposes only, no payment or commission is received on click-throughs and opinions are my own.

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47 comments:

  1. Fabulous!!! This quilt is just so awesome - both in all its finished beauty and the story that it tells. Lovely work all around xx.

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  2. Love how this turned out, what a beautiful initiative!!

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  3. You have made a great job of this Chrissie and it is now a stunning quilt. I hope it raises lots of money for a very worthwhile cause. xx

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  4. Oh what a fantastic opportunity and I bet you were thrilled to be a part of it, especially given your Scottish connections. The quilt is fabulous, you've done a brilliant job and I am sure all the girls will be thrilled with it.

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  5. PS Just watched the trailer, did you see the bit with the lady with the baby on her lap making the block? How lovely to see it being made and how it's finished. What a great cause.

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  6. very very interesting. and very cool quilt. good on you for volunteering

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  7. The finished quilt is lovely and such fun! I'm sure the club will be thrilled and they'll be very pleased that it was you who answered the phone! Lynne.

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  8. What a fun a beautiful quilt! Some things are mean to be! How wonderful you were in the right place at the right time!!

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  9. What a fabulous quilt! It is just plain old wonderful. As always, I'm terribly jealous of your cityscape backdrop for photographs. :D

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    1. Thanks Pat, I love that I was able to get involved and it was on a week when I could make the time. I love my view too but Monday was overcast and grey, not the best conditions for taking the photos but I thought it was appropriate that it reminded me of back home and, therefore, Glasgow! :D

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  10. That is beautiful. You did a fantastic job of putting it together. The quilting is amazing:)

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  11. An outstanding quilt with a wonderful story. Great photos of all the details.

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  12. Brilliant quilt Chrissie, what a great collaboration all round I am sure it will raise a great deal of money!
    I love the Timorous Beasties textiles, their rugs and wallpaper are on my when I win the lottery list :)

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    1. I hadn't seen Timorous Beasties before and I'm such a fan now. I saw that they also have these thistles as cushions available at John Lewis, I just love them. I was hoping there might be some scraps left over after I made the quilt but it wasn't to be, I used every last inch in it. Never mind, maybe when I win the lottery too, oh I forgot, I'm not allowed to do it anymore! :D

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  13. Wow! What a treasure that quilt is. Is it Kizmet that brings two people like you together to create something so beautiful?

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    1. You're so right Alycia, Amy said it was serendipitous :D

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  14. This is a very awesome quilt in many ways-I really enjoyed reading about this and all the lovely photos. I don't usually like the modern quilts but I really love this one-would be interesting to know how much it brings at auction.
    good for you for just "going with it" we all need to do this more often-and it is so rewarding in the end
    Kathy I am visiting from lets bee social

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  15. Visiting from Let's Bee Social! This is fabulous both in the story and in the finished product! Fantastic quilting!

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  16. This is amazing!! It sounds like something I would say yes to, as well. :)

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  17. I think this qualifies as a miracle. While the initial work is amazingly creative, turning it into a finished product in that period of time is, well, miraculous in my book. I'm giving you a virtual standing ovation.

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  18. what an amazing quilt and quilting! I love that thistle fabric too.

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  19. I'm glad that voice popped out, it was definitely meant to be. The girls did an awesome job on their blocks, and you did a great job putting it together and quilting it. I hope it makes a lot of money too.

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  20. What a beautiful quilt Chrissie and you are such a wonderful, wonderful person to do all this!! Thanks for sharing.
    Freemotion by the River Linky Party Tuesday

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  21. It's no mouse of a quilt. Beautiful work in finishing it so quickly. I hope it raised a large sum at auction.

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  22. Hi Chrissie! This is fantastic, beautiful, exciting, interesting and fun! x Teje

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  23. Beautiful quilt and a great story. Thank you for sharing. :)

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  24. You did a wonderful job putting this together. I hope the auction does well.

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  25. It all came together beautifully ... love the quilting pattern on the back and what a lovely story. I'll check out that video :)

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  26. Soooo beautiful!!! Love de fabrics and the quilting! Gorgeous quilt!

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  27. That is fabulous, Chrissie. What a wonderful thing to do for them. Love that thistle fabric too. Yum!

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  28. I love your use of colour and the thistle linen too. So modern and fresh. Just a great story too.

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  29. You are amazing! The idea is beautiful the finished item is beautiful. I am quite frankly gobsmacked that you would put so much time & effort into something for people you'd not met and didn't even know about a short time ago. Like I said, amazing.

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  30. Wow, lovely quilt, and sweet story. Thank you for sharing.

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  31. Oh, you are a doll. I am glad you got that call. What an amazing finish! And for such a great cause! You have a big quilter's heart!

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  32. The quilt turned out really well and what a story! Love your pics as usual! Well done!

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  33. That story is one for the record book and the resulting quilt turned out so fabulous! You never know what new opportunities will come your way.

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  34. I feel like I have a lot to say about this but really, it will all be summed up with "FABULOUS!"

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  35. Fantastic story and YAY YOU for saying yes to such a wonderful cause! Thank you so much for linking up to SEWjo Saturday!

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  36. Amazing! You must be so proud to be part of this creation.

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  37. Chrissie, you did those girl's blocks very very very proud! What a beautiful quilt! Your answering that phone and having the I'll do it fall out of your mouth was meant to be!!

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  38. Lovely quilt! Thanks for sharing at Submarine Sunday!

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  39. I love how you heard yourself saying that! Quilters are so ready to help out in a bind! You did a great job on the quilt. I appreciate the thought and care you put into it for such a worthy cause!

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  40. Gorgeous! Thanks for joining us at Inspire Us Thursday!

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  41. I'm so grateful for all the close up pics...what a wonderful experience and amazing story!

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  42. I need to explore Glasgow Girls. Love Timorous Beasties and all their designs. I was thinking about "The Glasgow Girls" based on the group campaigning for asylum seekers who became known as the Glasgow Girls.

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Chris Dodsley


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