Mark Francis

 We were slightly concerned that people wouldn’t come to our September meeting, as it was only a couple of days after Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth ll had died.  In the event the attendance was very good and at lunchtime we had a minute’s silence in respect. This month’s competition was patchwork or quilted wearables, and we had an interesting set of entries. 

There was everything from coats, waistcoats, dresses, skirts, hats and knickers!  The winner was the gorgeous hexagon coat which was made by Paula.  The next competition will be a children’s quilt, so get sewing! 

Our speaker was Mark Francis, from ‘Sewing Bee’ fame.  He was a very amusing speaker, who brought some of his favourite ‘Sewing Bee’ garments, plus a behind the scenes view and extra gossip about Esmeralda and Patrick! 

Mark reassured us that he has had the same experience as lots of us in buying fabric from the internet and finding it not quite what you had thought.  This fabric looked a completely different colour and quality, although it looks fine to me. 

This garment was a challenge to make a garment from a tablecloth.  I think it’s pretty successful. 

Here is a very attractive track suit top.  

And here is a made to measure challenge to make a tea dress.  Great fabric. 

The bad news is that Kathleen Laurel Sage has had to cancel her talk for the next meeting.  She (and we) hope she can rebook in the future.  We will look to find another speaker.  See you in November. 

Update

 I can’t believe I have been so lax as to fail to post our Rocheberie activities for so long!  (Tough year for me, but that’s no excuse!)  We’ll, here is a round up of the last three meetings! 

In March we had a jeans bag competition, which went down very well.  As you can see, we had plenty of entries, and we decided the winner by giving everyone a slip to vote for their favourite.  Hard decision. 

Our speaker at the March meeting was Michelle Moody, who did us proud. The most popular speakers are the ones who bring plenty of quilts, and Michelle did not disappoint! 

Our May meeting was a Dresden Place competition.  Several people told me that they had never made a DP before, so it certainly inspired some people to develop their skills. 

As ever, there was a lovely selection of different ideas.  Our speaker was Carolyn Gibbs, who brought plenty of quilts with her, including several of her antique quilts. 

Heather and I were kept very busy as quilt-holder-uppers, and I forgot to take a photo, but here she is at Lutterworth Piecemakers with one of her antique quilts.  This one dates from about 1820.  

Our July meeting had a scrappy quilt competition. Lots of entries for this!  

It was very close, but the winner was the one with the beach huts on it, in the photo above.  The maker kindly donated it to Linus, which is so generous! Our speaker was Ami James, who told us how quilting had provided solace for her during some tricky times in her life.  We can certainly all relate to that! 

Here is Ami with her partner and their pop up shop. 

The next meeting will be a talk by Mark Francis, of Sewing Bee fame, and the competition is for patchwork or quilted wearables.  And before you ask, a bag is not a ‘wearable’! See you on Saturday.