The Individual Workshops have come to an end, until next Spring/Summer, and we finished on a high note. On Sunday 4th July all current members of my quilt groups were invited to a Pot Luck Lunch. The original idea included sunning ourselves on the terrace but the weather had other plans. Nothing daunted we had a brilliant get together with a fine, (slightly dessert biased) lunch, lots of chatter and merriment and a show and tell which filled me with huge pride at everyone’s achievements. Have a look at the photos and see if you agree with me. A Pot Luck meal is great fun as each person attending brings a foody contribution with them: this means that no one person has the responsibility of feeding a crowd and the number of people bringing food directly meets the number of people there to eat it. This strikes me as a pretty perfect system. In addition, as each person needs to make only one dish, we tend to eat very well. It’s a form of temporary communal living! Thank you to everyone who dived in to do the washing up too. On the 4th we gathered at 12:30 and chatted in small groups until everyone had arrived then we settled to the serious business of eating lunch. It is always lovely to enjoy a meal with friends and this was a social gathering of lots of friends.   Sated, we all settled in one room for a ‘show and tell’ session featuring work from both the earlier twelve week sessions and the more recent Individual Workshops. First was a round of the ‘Beginners’ quilts and although they were all based on the same grid and methods which build one on another throughout the twelve sessions, each person puts her own personal stamp on her quilt by the colours and patterns of her chosen fabrics and the images selected for the later blocks as well as the way each is quilted.   I won’t say any more but will leave you to look through the photographs on the right and come to your own conclusions.     Following this were various pieces produced by the Intermediate Group who worked on Wholecloth at the beginning of their course then moved on to individual projects while running in parallel were their ‘Round Robin’ quilts where each had the same grid to work from, put together a pack of fabrics, made the initial block then handed the pack on to another member of the group who then added a block. When each pack had been to every member of the group, the whole was returned to its originator who assembled the quilt made of all her collegues’ blocks, layered, quilted and finished it and was the proud owner of a very special piece of work which contains lovely memories of all the people she has worked with. I have persuaded Elaine, who has finished her wholecloth bed quilt, to enter it into both the Great Northern Quilt Show in Harrogate and the Scottish Quilt Championships. I’d love to get everyone to put work into some of the national shows, so watch out! I also have plans to hold an exhibition on Anglesey of all our work so we need to get everything finished.   We finally moved on to looking at work from the Individual Workshop series which were all one day workshops covering a variety of topics. The Magic Bowls were fun and make lovely presents – they are easier to make than they appear and the results were lovely. Next came the Magic tile which always gives dramatic results and the quilt tops shown had everyone entranced – I suspect there were group members who wished they had joined that class.   There were similar comments about Silk Painting; it was an intense workshop and much enjoyed by all, with beautiful results and Elizabeth had her work framed which further enhanced it.   Machine Quilting is always a bit of a challenge and makes a very full day but everyone worked really well and produced lovely work as well as acquiring a very worthwhile skill. Debbie has continued working on her piece and has added some very interesting stitch patterns.         The Accurate Curved Piecing workshop is also very much about developing a transferable skill and contrasts strikingly both in working method and outcome with Free Cut Curves With Prairie Points which offers a much freer way of working and produces a very contemporary look. Each piece is again very individual and striking and I think Daphne has found a great way of working which really suits her while I suspect that Debbie will be next on my list for entering work into exhibitions – you have been warned Debbie… (and you aren’t alone!) Crumbs, now I’m making it sound like a threat, it isn’t but I suspect that without a little push, most people think that exhibiting work is something other people do and don’t have enough self belief to take the plunge. The final Individual Workshop was a contemporary interpretation of Reverse Applique which is spontaneous, challenging, fun and produces wonderful results. A lot of people in the group framed their work and this always makes each mounted piece a little more special. Again, these small pieces make great, very individual gifts and Rachel, who missed our party because she was at a wedding, took hers as a present for the bride and groom. It was also lovely to have Linda Paris from Shrewsbury at the Reverse Applique Workshop: she came up for the day with her husband, who spent his time on Anglesey playing golf: she settled in and became one of the gang. (Linda long arm quilts tops for people who can’t keep up with the quilting themselves or want to rush on to the next idea: she had been to Llandygai before as a speaker at a local quilt group meeting.) As a finale Julie, a guest staying at our holiday cottage and doing private workshops with me, and Freya, my daughter, showed some of the work they have been doing. Although Freya had made a quilt top when she was much younger this was her first attempt at quilting and she has done very well. Julie, in addition to work done with me, brought a lovely colour wash quilt she made for her daughter some years ago for her 18th birthday. It was much admired and had a story all of its own. At the end of our Show and Tell I felt it was time to put the kettle on for a well earned drink but there were other plans afoot. The beautiful sewing box made by Dawn and presented to me by her on behalf of her group left me very tearful and as Jean put it “Dawn’s the first person who’s ever managed to stop you talking!” Ok, Jean, I probably misquoted you but don’t sue because you’re quite right! I was so touched. Earlier in the evening the Intermediate Group gave me a lovely coral necklace which I have worn every day since and a few weeks ago the Evening Beginners gave me an Amazon Gift Voucher with which I bought two (and a bit ) books, textile related of course! I would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank to you all. It was lovely to see everyone who came to our Pot Luck Lunch and to everyone who couldn’t make it, there’ll be others. It has been a great privilege teaching you all. Although I haven’t mentioned everyone by name, I want to tell you how proud I am of what you have all achieved: you are very special people and I look forward to seeing you again in September when the twelve week sessions start again. Have a lovely break. love, Dorothy Dorothy Russell