Category Archives: Blog
Magic Tile Workshop May 2012.
Meanwhile, I’m nearly at the end of the current series of Individual Workshops. I can’t believe how quickly they go by.
This year I have taught Wholecloth, Machine Quilting, Magic Tile, Free-cut Curves and have only Notan left on Sunday 3rd June. Then we’ll get together for the Pot Luck Lunch on Sunday 10th.
I love teaching – it is so rewarding to see what everyone produces from an initial stimulus: always putting their own ‘stamp’ on their work.
The photos were taken at the Magic Tile workshop.
Dorothy
31st May 2012
Some of my Beginners with their Quilts. March 2012
These images show some of my Beginners on the last day of the Course, proudly holding their lovely quilts. Would you believe one of them has never done any machine sewing before – I’m not going to tell you who, and I can guarantee you can’t guess!
The church is next to the hall where my classes are held and it looks beautiful with all the daffodils in bloom. There are no images of the evening Beginners and their work yet, we’ll catch them at the Show and Tell at our Summer Pot Luck Lunch. By then there will be bed quilts made by the Intermadiate groups too. They’re all beautiful.
Dorothy
15th March 2012
Dot Russell Blog 23rd February 2012
The Opening of our Exhibition ‘Falling into Place’ at Canolfan Ucheldre, Holyhead. 2012.
- Canolfan Ucheldre, Millbank, Holyhead, Anglesey LL65 1TE
- 01407 763361
- Open Monday to Saturday 10am – 5pm. Sunday 2pm – 5pm
Smith Stirling Art Gallery
WHOLECLOTH QUILTING AT COED Y BERCLAS – ACCOMPANIED BY FIREWORKS
It was Dilys’s ‘significant’ birthday (and I’m not saying which one!) and her husband, Dave, gave her a quilting weekend at Coed y Berclas, with three friends, as a suprise present. They managed to keep the secret so well that Dilys had no idea where she was going or what she was doing until her train was arriving at Bangor – brilliant!
Take note all you husbands out there who are looking for a special present!
Their two day workshop was ‘Wholecloth’ and covered both designing and quilting. Sandy and Dot chose to do cushion covers while Dilys and Moira worked on cot sized quilts: in fact Moira will be making two (twins) – that’ll keep her out of mischief for a while! They did the design work on the first day and transfered it to fabric ready to begin quilting on the second. This involved a lot of work but they made it – and I got a reputation as a slave driver!
I can’t be too much of a slave driver though as they managed to pop down to the pub at the bottom of the hill for a meal and to watch the bonfire night fireworks. This year the Beaumaris Firework Display was cancelled (they’re extending the pier) but we had a splendid view of Bangor Fireworks which take place near the root of Bangor Pier and we didn’t even need to leave the house to watch them! Very impressive.
Sunday was spent hand quilting: this is always a little like magic as stitches give a three dimensional quality to the work and images drawn onto fabric come to life. Dilys, Sandy, Moira, Dot – your designs are all totally individual and they’re beautiful.
I really enjoyed the weekend – you were all great company and very hard workers!
Have you finished the quilts yet?
Dave, you get masses of ‘brownie points’.
Dorothy
20th Nov 2011
Over Bonfire weekend I enjoyed the company of four lovely quilters from Gloucestershire.
The Great Northern Quilt Show at Harrogate Show Ground
Last Friday saw a coach full of quilters from this area – North Wales – heading off to Yorkshire and the Great British Quilt Show at Harrogate Show Ground. This is a perennial favourite of mine: it was the first show I ever entered work into and I find it far more relaxing than the busier and more demanding Festival of Quilts – although I love them both!
‘Overleaf’ – Susie Corke – Overall Winner. and ‘Sweet Dreams’ – Anne Gosling – Sue Belton Award.
The work at Harrogate tends more towards a traditional approach and the amount on offer is easier to take in within a day. The exhibition area, however is very poorly lit and therefore rather unfair to some of those whose quilts are on show. This is a shame considering the amount of work which has gone into every piece of work.
We didn’t arrive in time to sign up for any of the mini workshops they run but I did meet a friend of mine who lives in Yorkshire. We started at primary school together in County Durham: Jen had a quilt exhibited for the first time this year.
I, of course, ‘needed’ more fabric and a few ‘bits and pieces’ and had a lot of fun looking round the stalls until I was satisfied. I have gone for rather subdued browns/blues for the beginners quilt samples this year, very unusual for me but it’s good to ring the changes from time to time.
For my own work, I think it’s time to push the boundaries and become more experimental but I’m keeping all my ideas to myself for now.
Dorothy
My New Tutorial Page
Thank you for all the positive responses to my first mini tutorial. I have plans for the next two so keep an eye out for them.
Cwilt Cymru – Spirit of the Celts
You might also like to look at the Bonnie McCaffery website to look at a video referencing Spirit of the Celts. Images of ‘Spirit of the Celts’ (in which I have work) appear in part two of Bonnie’s podcasts.
We also appear in Luana Rubin’s equilter video Scroll down to ‘Celtic Fringe’.
‘Spirit of the Celts’ will be touring for the next two years.
Enjoy!
Dorothy
Festival of Quilts at the NEC August 2011
Beginners Quilting Workshops September 2011
Although it seems no time since I was teaching Individual Workshops, it is nearly time for my Beginners/Intermediate Groups to start again in September. I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone again. If you think you’d like to join one of the Beginner groups, email me or give me a call – there’s still a little time.
The Pot Luck Lunch this year was great fun – this is the only time when we can all get together and see everyone elses work, as well as enjoying a social event. This year the weather was on our side too; instead of last year’s downpour, I considered handing out sun lotion.
Some of the work we were looking at came from the Beginner and Intermediate Courses and some had been produced during the Individual Workshop sessions which were held between Easter and 3rd July 2011.
These are images from Machine Quilting, Silk Painting and New York Beauty.
In January 2012, members of all my groups will have an Exhibition called ‘Falling into Place’ at Ucheldre in Holyhead. www.ucheldre.org. It’s a lovely gallery and well worth visiting – especially while our exhibition is there, of course!
Dorothy
One Big Day – in the summer of 2011.
Intermediate Course which starts in September is also full.
I’m taking names for the Beginners Course which also starts in September.
Dorothy
On the day of the Royal Wedding, Anglesey organised a special celebration of its own, ‘One Big Day’ held at the island’s Showground.
There were huge screens to broadcast the wedding, a fair, stalls and a host of TV crews. I was there with Elaine, Maria, Tina and Daf (my husband) demonstrating Patchwork and Quilting and we had a good view of one of the screens.
A good day was had by all, we met lots of interested people, enjoyed working together and got a lot of quilting done between us.
My Individual Workshops are about to commence – Wholecloth starts on Sunday 15th and I’m really looking forward to it – I have missed the buzz of teaching although I have been very busy preparing for the workshops, catching up on Journal Quilts for the Contemporary Quilt Group, and occupied with our holiday cottage.
Three of the workshops are full and there are only a couple of places possible on Silk Painting and Fabric Bowls.
The Totally Textiles – Textiliau yn Llwyr – The Opening
Totally Textiles Exhibition at the Anglesey Gallery. Oriel Ynys Môn Tecstiliau yn Llwyr
Scottish Trophies 2010 and Quilts at Oriel Ynys Mon.
Busy September…
Summer of Success
Beginners and Intermediate Courses. The first Beginners workshop is on either Wednesday 8th September (18:30 – 21:30) or Thursday 9th September (10:00 – 16:00). The first Intermediate workshop is either Wednesday 15th September (18:30 – 21:30) or Thursday 16th September (10:00 – 16:00).
But before we all get totally consumed in new beginner quilts and landscapes, I want to boast about a few successes for members of my groups. I’m very proud of all of them.
Dawn Williams lovely Beginners and Magic Tile quilts won 1st and 2nd prizes in Holyhead Show. Well done! A very well deserved win.
Lynne Walters sent me a photo of the quilt she has made for her three year old grandson following the Machine Quilting workshop. It looks lovely and I’m sure he’ll love it for years to come.
Gina Kent won 1st prize with a quilted pillow and 2nd prize with her Beginners quilt at Beddgelert Horticultural and Craft Show. She also won the cup for gaining most points in the Craft section. It’s a pity we’ll lose Gina to Scotland soon but we wish her well. There are shows up there too if she isn’t too busy with building work.
Jean Raynor won 4th prize in the Llangefni Eisteddfod with her Beginners quilt. Isn’t this great!
Then to cap it all off, Elaine Thomas’s lovely blue and white quilt took 1st place for Wholecloth Quilting and won ‘My First Bed Quilt’ at The Great British Quilt Show in Harrogate. Elaine could hardly believe it but no-one who saw the quilt at our Summer Party on 4th July will be surprised. It is now moving on to The Scottish Championships in Edinburgh where the theme this year is ‘Blue and White Delight’ which couldn’t be more appropriate so keep your fingers crossed for her.
I’m looking forward to seeing all my old friends and meeting lots of new ones, so roll up your sleeves, clean your machines and get ready for some fun (and hard work!?)
Dorothy Russell
It’s getting very close to the start of the …AND THEN THERE WAS THE PARTY !!!
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
Contemporary Quilt Group – Journal Quilts
This year, for the first time, I committed to joining others in the Contemporary Quilt Group – part of the Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles – making Journal Quilts; one small quilt a month. This year the stated size is 7 inches wide and 10 inches high. I decided to use my own emotions as the inspiration for each quilt, basing each piece on the way I feel on the day I begin working on it.
The first four images were posted, as required, on the Group’s Yahoo site by 30th April and I have already completed May’s offering.
These little quilts are fun to make and can be experimental as there’s not a huge commitment of time given to each one. It is, never the less, a good idea not to leave each piece to the end of its month or I’d have to work on twelve ways to depict ‘stress’!
So far there has been some variety in my emotional state, thus the first one, January, represents a day on which ‘I Woke Up Angry’, for no known reason: in fact it was this which gave me the whole emotion based approach to my 2010 Journal Quilt series.
February’s piece is entitled ‘Today was a Good Day’ which says it all and the colours and shapes represent a very positive and mellow mood.
March brought ‘Cheerful’, a complex little silk painting enhanced with machine quilting beading and one green ‘blob’, also decorated with beads, denoting the fact that, in this kind of mood, even when things don’t go according to plan, it’s ok.
For April’s quilt I took a selection of small offcuts from one of the workshops I’m currently teaching and arranged them on fine calico. I machine quilted the layers together then used fabric crayons to colour the background. The quilt is called ‘Loving my Workshops’ and I really am. I love teaching and I’ve got a wonderful group of students.
All of my journal quilts will have top and bottom layers fringed all round and the wadding will be visible at the edges. I have coloured the edges of some of the quilts so far but do not wish to be restricted to applying colour where I don’t feel it helps to portray the emotion I’m working with.
I’ll add the rest of the months in groups of four as I submit them to the Contemporary Quilt Yahoo group site.
Dot Russell 5th May 2010 Silk Painting Workshop
These images are from the Silk Painting Workshop held on Sunday 25th April 2010 at Talgai Hall, Llandygai nr Bangor; one of the Individual Workshops I am teaching at present. The day was great fun as you can see, but there was often silence in the room because of the level of concentration and lunch was a brief break as everyone wanted to get to the next stage. You can judge the results for yourself.
Scroll down through the images.
Beginner and Intermediate Courses start again in early September.
Dot Russell 27th April 2010
The white lines left by the gutta (resist) are a gift to quilters and I look forward to seeing how these paintings look layered and quilted. I gather further silk paintings are already being planned – once you find out how fascinating the results of silk painting are, it’s hard to resist doing another and another and another. You get the picture!
The next twelve session Liberty of London Quilt Competition
Quilts 1700-2010 Exhibition at the V&A. My visit to the Press Preview
First day of the Copperfield Sale
Daf and I didn’t turn up the minute the doors opened but we weren’t far behind the earliest birds. It was, as ever, a lively meeting of the quilt ‘clans’ as they gathered for this annual ceremony – no cabers tossed but bolts of fabric flying everywhere, as Mary’s team efficiently measured, cut, folded and priced metre after metre. Queues formed in the orderly fashion expected of quilters and people helped each other find ‘just the right design/colour’ (thank you Carol!). It was like being among friends – actually, come to think about it, I really was among friends!
Finally, exhausted by shopping, we could flop onto a welcoming sofa with a cuppa supplied by the lovely Twiggy and nibble guiltily on a biscuit. Amazingly this was enough to revive some sufficiently to go looking for that last little bargain. Three more days to go then Mary and her team can close the door and collapse quietly on those same sofas and be glad that next week will be a little quieter.
See the Video on You Tube
Dot Russell 3rd March 2010
Preview at the V&A ‘Quilts 1700 – 2010’ Exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum
I have been invited to a preview of the much publicised Quilt Exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, ‘Quilts 1700 – 2010’. I’m really looking forward to seeing how they portray the history of British quilts. The work has been selected from the V&A’s own collection and pieces range from spectacular bed hangings and a silk coverlet from the 1700s to contemporary textile related work by some well known artists. As they seem to be selecting people such as Tracey Emins, normally recognised as coming to textiles from a fine art background, I wonder if they have looked any deeper and discovered some of the superb work created by artists who come to fine art from a textiles background.
The Quilt Exhibition will be open to the public from 20th March to 4th July 2010 in Room 39 and the North Court in the V&A.
It’s great that we’ll have access to part of the Victoria and Albert Museum’s collection which is not usually on show and it’s really good for quilting/quilters that the V&A are giving us and our work such widespread publicity in this Quilt Exhibition. Get your tickets booked!
Dot Russell 25th Febuary 2010
Cwilt Cymru and Moelfre Quilters
I enjoyed my day demonstrating at Quiltfest. Y Caban, Plas Newydd, was in a delightful location set on a hillside above the centre of Llangollen and the ‘Breakthrough’ exhibition contained superb and thoughtful work, created in responses to the set theme, made by some of the best contemporary quilters in the UK.
The day was enhanced for me by meeting all but one of a new contemporary group – ‘Cwilt Cymru’ – of which I am a member. We hale from various parts of Wales and being able to get together for a ‘business lunch’ at The Cornmill, Llangollen was a real treat. Working alongside similar groups from Northern Ireland and Scotland we form ‘Celtic Fringe’ and are producing work which will be exhibited first at Festival of Quilts 2011, then touring to various venues throughout the British Isles.
Yesterday I gave a talk to a new group – ‘Moelfre Quilters’ – I already know/teach some of them but I’m quite sure they’ll extend the same warm welcome to other speakers/new members. They have a website, so If you live in the area or are visiting, take a look at their ‘calendar’ and pop in to meet them.
See you next week at the ‘Copperfield’ sale.
Dot Russell 25th Febuary 2010
Dates are now organised for most of my Individual Workshops
Take a look at the Workshops and Courses
page then if you’re interested in anything, give me a call or send me an email
.
Copperfield annual sale at Valley
Wednesday 3rd to Saturday 6th March 2010
It’s a little later than usual this year. I’m not sure how much there’ll be left by Saturday. In case you’re not aware of this event, the Copperfield sale is one of the local highlights in the Anglesey quilters’ year. Pop along to Four Mile Bridge, Valley for a cuppa, a biscuit, a chat with fellow quilters and lots of bargains.
Dot Russell Website Blog 5th Febuary 2010
Individual Workshops
There’s still a little snow on the mountains of Snowdonia but the snow and ice we had on Anglesey is now long gone and I for one don’t mind if it doesn’t return until another winter comes round. We usually only have meaningful ‘white stuff’ about once every three years here, which suits me very well, although I love looking over at the snow capped mountains. I had to cancel one of my Beginners sessions so I’ve added a replacement day to the end of the course, on Thursday 18th March.
When my current courses finish, in late March, I’m going to run a series of Individual Workshops, each one running independently. Have a look at the Workshops and Courses page for more information.
The Individual Workshops are not only open to my current students but to anyone who’d like to do them, so if you’d like to join any of them please let me know and if you’re not sure of the ability level required, email me or ring up for a chat: it’s always good to talk to new people.
Dot Russell Website Blog 23rd January 2010