Blue and white Dutch heritage fabric

When I saw the course for this China Blue Star quilt advertised at Cowslip Workshops in Launceston, Cornwall I knew that I had to go.

I’ve always loved delft designs and knew that the stunning blue and white traditional Dutch heritage fabrics would bring me so much joy.

Petra Prins, fresh from Holland had not only designed the quilt, but had researched and reproduced the classic Dutch cottons. We were so fortunate that Petra herself led the course.

This was my first experience of fussy cutting. This technique was further enhanced by cleverly using a mirror to find the perfect star pattern. Exploring the fabric through a diamond view finder, with the reflection of the star in the mirror became quite addictive. Petra showed us how to find the repeat in the fabric and how to cut the very same diamond six times over in order to create a six pointed star.

 I did find however, that one huge disappointment with fussy cutting is that it wastes such a lot of fabric. The overall effect is very impressive, but my aunt and I (who accompanied me on the course) ended up having to share fabric in order to find enough ‘repeats’ in order to make each of our pieces work.

These diamonds were then sewn together to make the star using English paper piecing. Tiny stitches joined the diamonds together. Before with English paper piecing I have always tacked the fabric to each shape. This time however, encouraged by Petra, we were encouraged to glue the pieces to the cut papers. This technique definitely saved a lot of time during the process. However, I did find when piecing the quilt together the papers were quite stubborn to remove. As a result by joining stitches were tugged a little and have become more evident than I would ideally like. I think that next time I will stick to good old fashioned tacking!

Over the course of the day at Cowslip I managed to completed 5 stars. I have to confess it was then well over a year before I returned to the project again.

At the beginning of 2019 my new years resolution was to attempt to finish any unfinished projects – my Dutch heritage quilt high up on the list.

And so I set to it. Slowly, I managed to finish the 28 stars and to cut the corresponding blue hexagons. I then began to piece the quilt together and to edge it with the wonderful border fabric.

This, in itself was a huge achievement. Addicted to hand quilting I decided that this project duly deserved some more fine hand sewing.

Currently, I am still quilting this China Blue piece. Beautiful tiny stitches around the Dutch design not only adds much texture and emphasis to the piece, but also adds to the stability of the joined pieces.

This project is indeed a labour of love – but I do hope to finish it one day soon. This quilt very firmly is not for sale, it will adorn the walls of our forever home – when we find it!

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For me inspiration comes from so many different sources. The stunning Sussex countryside, the beautiful Makower fabric ranges I stock and the will to make a success of my business

However, the greatest inspiration that I gain is from the women all around me. I am so fortunate to be surrounded by many strong and passionate women who have gained such fulfilment from their own careers and family lives. In many cases this ‘completeness’ has been accomplished through following ones own vision. As the saying goes, ‘If you do what you love, you will never work a day in your life.’

Jo Cowill, of Cowslip Workshops in Launceston, Cornwall, is one such woman. Jo, an old family friend, has accomplished such much in the world of patchwork – she truly is an inspiration. Now internationally renowned, Jo started designing her own quilts thirty years ago from her dining room table. Since then Cowslip has become a quilters haven. A destination for patchwork pilgrims from all across the world. Cowslip has a magical allure – its charm draws people back again and again. Steven, Jo’s husband, once said to me that they had no real need to travel as the world now came to them.

As Jo and Steven’s farm neighbours the land that used to belong to my own great-grandparents I feel such a strong connection to them and to Cowslip. We share the same Cornish determination. In 2014 my husband and I held our wedding reception at Cowslip, its stunning views delighting all of our guests. To me it felt as if we had come home.

Jo is living proof that ones own dream can become a reality. I hope that one day I can open my own patchwork haven, here in the Sussex countryside, that will bring joy and inspiration to all those that visit.

To view the Cowslip website please click on the link below

www.cowslipworkshops.co.uk

The saying goes, ‘a stitch in time, saves nine’ – but I would like to take a moment to reflect upon the thought of how one single stitch can capture a moment in time, forever.

For centuries now women have sat and sewn. This task – be it for pleasure or work – has provided the opportunity to be still, to reflect and to ponder.

One of my most treasured possessions is a cross stitch sampler that an ancestor of mine completed in 1842 aged nine. I like to wonder what she sat there and thought about as she stitched the delicate design.

I believe that as we sew our thoughts and dreams become an intrinsic part of that piece. It is as if each stitch can tell a story. Within that movement, that simple act of stitching, a thought, an idea, a dream, is captured indefinitely.

The night that I received a phone call telling me that my beloved dad had died very unexpectantly and very suddenly I was sewing. A few weeks later I returned to the same quilt and found the needle poised in exactly the position I had left it as I went to answer the phone. Within that one stitch my life had changed forever. The stitch before represented my happy life before that fateful night, and the one after embodied my huge loss.

Although it was painful I managed to carry on and finish the quilt. That piece carries with it such a story and such a pivotal moment in my time. If the quilt could speak it would tell of the tears I shed and the endless memories that made me smile.

That one stitch encapsulating a moment in time …