Welcome to The Quilt Room blog. My name is Pam Lintott and I have been running The Quilt Room since 1981 which by my calculations is about 27 years ago! I am very lucky now to be working alongside my daughter Nicky and between us we will strive to keep you up to date with all that is new and exciting in the quilting world - and outside of it for that matter.
The quilt show at Sandown was held last week and as always it was a lovely show. The year seems to be going by so fast. All the quilts from our new book Layer Cake, Jelly Roll & Charm Quilts were on display.
Emma and Roger who organise the quilt shows always display the quilts so well but this time Emma was on holiday and 'the boys' were left in charge of displaying the quilts. When we saw that they had hung the quilts in front of the windows we were rather horrified as all you could see were the seams - all beautifully neat but not quite what you want to see. When we pointed it out they were brilliant and immediately took down all the display and re-did it - without a murmur (or not much of one). A bag of brownies the next day helped smooth things over!
The Championship quilt was a beautiful Baltimore quilt. Here is a picture and I am embarrassed that I cannot at the moment give the maker's name as I can't find my Catalogue. Please forgive me if you are reading this for not mentioning your name - it is an absolutely stunning quilt.
We just had to include a photo in this blog of the most industrious member of our Dear Jane club. Most people made a great number of blocks over the past few months but here is Mandy Wilkes with what she has accomplished. What an amazing achievement.
Our new workshop programme is now available and our Mystery Monday club is still continuing on the first Monday of every month. Instead of the Dear Jane club we are having a Seaside Block of the Month Club on the third Monday of every month. It is just for an hour - 10am-11am and is FREE. Come along - have a cup of coffee and it could be you standing next to your newly completed quilt in one of our future blogs.
Just a few more photos which I know you will love. This is Ursula having her coat taken off. Keith, the guy who came to shear my small flock,thought I was totally mad as I insisted on separating the wool from each different sheep and labelling it with the name of the sheep! It is going to be so amazing to knit a pair of gloves or a hat with wool from one of my own sheep and to know whose wool it is.
Ursula here is one of the sheep with lambs and she is very friendly. She eats quite happily from my hand and her lambs are equally friendly. One of the lambs looks as though she is going to have four horns which will look very impressive - occasionally they have as many as six horns.
Here I am looking like the proud mother with one of my Hebridean fleeces. This one is from the very greedy Vivienne and her fleece was one of the heaviest - definitely a pair of gloves AND a hat.
I am heading up to Dorking tomorrow morning to get ready for the quilt show at Sandown. The quilts from our new book will all be on display there. Come and say hello.
Our Summer Festival was a great success and I will post the names of the winners of our Quiz and Prize Draw as soon as possible. Nicky has a well deserved day off today so I can't get the information from her to tell you now. However, if you haven't been notified, I am afraid to tell you that you have not won - sorry. It was lovely to see so many people who came and everyone was so interested in the longarm quilting machine. I have to say it does look impressive and only JUST fits in to the new studio.
Nicky has been working away quilting all the winning quilts for the Jelly Roll Challenge and today I delivered them to the publishers David & Charles.
Here is Jane Trollopp of David & Charles receiving the quilts. She was just as excited as us to see how beautiful the quilts were. We really do think they are exceptional quilts and the book is going to be absolutely great. Gosh there are a lot of talented quilters out there. Look out for the book Jelly Roll Challenge which will be launched in October - the quilts are really exciting.
I absolutely promise that after these photos I won't put any more on the blog. You just have to put up with me for the moment as I have never had sheep before and they are so..... beautiful. They are just getting used to their new surroundings and keep heading up to the top of the field - yes up a very steep slope so if nothing else I shall be getting very fit. I'm told I should check them out twice a day so I head up the hill armed with two margarine tubs of sheep nuts. Apparently they are used to getting their treats from margarine tubs.... not spoiled sheep!
The very distinguished black sheep are the Hebridean - apparently favoured by Prince Charles whose interest in the breed has greatly increased their popularity. They don't seem quite so friendly as the Manx Loaghtan (I shall have to try and get that spelling right!).
I should tell you that tomorrow I am meeting the lovely people from Fowlescombe Farm (where our sheep come from) at the Devon County Show. They will be there exhibiting their award winning sheep and I might be allowed to help. I am really looking forward to it.
Last photo - this is Ursula and Tilly with their lambs. They are the only two I can name so far.
Anyway - you might think I'm not doing any work at all but I really am. I've got most of the quilts for the Jelly Roll Challenge here and am just finishing the binding on the last two. Nicky still has one more winner's quilt to quilt which has just arrived in from America and that is it. Phew!!!
The new Workshop Programme is just about finished and we're trying to get it out in time for our Summer Festival starting 3rd June although we might be being a bit optimistic there!
The past week has gone by in a whirl. I left Cornwall last Sunday night and spent the Monday and Tuesday clearing the last bits and pieces from our old warehouse and getting ready for the Malvern show. The delivery of Layer Cake, Jelly Roll & Charm Quilts arrived Tuesday afternoon which was cutting it a bit fine but at least they arrived! We then loaded the van and car and set off on Wednesday morning to set up.
The show as always was lovely - it always has such a good atmosphere and we had all the quilts from the book exhibited plus we had lots more on the stand. Here we are with Liz Lynch who we roped into helping out. Liz used to run the shop before she moved to Cornwall and she still comes up to teach. We had a great four days at the show and everyone seemed to love the book. Got back to Dorking late Sunday night and Nicky and I then decided to re-arrange the shop and didn't leave the shop until gone midnight - must be mad!
Got up early this morning (Monday) and arrived back in Cornwall just in time to get the phone call to say that our new arrivals were being delivered in an hour. Well - I haven't told you about them but we now are the proud owners of 12 rare breed sheep plus 4 lambs. They are Manx Loachtan and Hebridean which give lovely natural brown and black wool. They all have names - although how I am going to tell them apart I'm not sure. It is going to be a steep learning curve but they look gorgeous in the field and I know I am going to love them.
I've still got the 8 guinea fowl, 6 chickens, 8 baby chicks, 3 dogs and .... oh yes... 1 husband!
The bluebells were glorious in Surrey a couple of weeks ago when we were moving to the new studio and as they are slightly later in Cornwall I have managed to have a double helping this year! As walking through bluebell woods is just about one of my favourite pastimes I am feeling extremely uplifted.
I am heading up to Dorking tomorrow so Nicky and I then have to find everything we need to set up our stand for Malvern. As everything is now in a different place it will be a miracle if we find everything so if you see us with a couple of orange boxes and nothing else you will know what has happened!
The quilts from the Layer Cake, Jelly Roll & Charm Quilts book were collected on Friday as they are being exhibited at the Malvern show where we will be launching the book and Nicky and I now have the panic of whether the books are actually going to arrive before we leave for the show. Delivery is promised for 'some time on Tuesday' and we are leaving first thing on Wednesday! What would life be like if we didn't have these little panics!
Looking forward to seeing everyone at Malvern - do come and say hello and have a look at the new book. We are very pleased with it - yes we do have one copy and if the delivery doesn't arrive on Tuesday it might have rarity value!!
We are delighted to announce the 12 winners of our Jelly Roll Challenge. Thank you to everyone who took the time to enter the competition. We had great fun going through all the entries and it never ceases to amaze us how many great quilters there are out there! We really were so impressed with all the quilting talent but here are the ones that we really fell in love with and we can't wait for you to see them all featured in our new book.
The winners who came 1st, 2nd and 3rd will be announced at a later date...just to keep you in suspense just that little bit longer!!
In alphabetical order the twelve quilters that have been chosen are:
Karen Al-Ghabban
Helen Allison
Pamela Boatright
Marion Brown
Angela Davies
Paula Diggle
Annie Harris
Jenny Hutchinson
Laura Paulu
Joanne Ridley
Shelagh Roberts
Sarah Soward
~ All our worries about the move are finally over as we are now safely installed in our new 'studio' - it is far too grand to be called a warehouse! Nicky can now sleep at night as the longarm quilting machine safely made its way through Dorking on a low loader and is now up and running in its new location. To find us, we are opposite Sainsburys in the High Street and down the little passageway beside Bookends. There was originally an old single storey building there and we have had it completely renovated with another floor added. Below you can see the transformation. The builders really have done an amazing job and we're so happy with it.
We are hoping to have an open day soon so watch this space.
~ JELLY ROLL CHALLENGE ~ We are now busy quilting all the winning quilts and they really are great - there are some very clever people out there! We will be posting the names of the twelve winners in the next week or so and the announcement of the first, second and third prize winners will be made on publication of the Jelly Roll Challenge book in October.
On a final note I just have to put a picture up to show that sometimes we do get a break. We spent ten days in Eleuthera in The Bahamas with all the extended family - eleven of us. We stayed in a lovely house overlooking the ocean so plenty of fish to cook on the BBQ at night and plenty of sun. Looking outside at the rain right now it seems a very long time ago.
Now this wasn't the image with which I had planned to start this post. It was meant to be a picture of Nicky and I at the publishers sitting with the editors surrounded by the variations of the quilts we have made from the winning entries for Jelly Roll Challenge. Yes - it has been an extremely busy time but the quilts have now been judged and the twelve winners chosen. Nicky and I have made variations of all the quilts to check that the patterns work.... and they do. They are brilliant - it is all so exciting and you are all so clever.
Now the reason you have a picture of these beautiful eggs is twofold but firstly you have to appreciate the eggs. Look at the variety of colours - white, brown and the beautiful green ones...... and then just look at the size of that one in the front! My chickens are being especially productive at the moment - they obviously like the warmer weather.
Now, going back to the photo that we didn't take. Firstly, it was all so exciting that we have to admit that we totally forgot even though we had taken two cameras with us. Secondly, even if we had remembered, it might have given too much away. The publishers however will be contacting all the winners within the next few weeks and asking you all to send in your quilts for Nicky and I to quilt. The top three winners won't be announced until nearer the publication of the book. So in the meantime, please admire my eggs!
Remember when they looked like this .....
Look what beauties they have grown into. For those who have not followed their progress - these are my guinea fowl and I have reared them to deal with the tick problem in our valley. Apparently on the east coast of the United States they are well known as being kept for tick control but it is not so common over here.
I had this vision of them wandering about the valley eating all the ticks in sight but so far they have kept very close to the chickens and and have not strayed far from the house.
Not quite what I had in mind but it is early days and they may become more adventurous. The chickens seem fine with them although the cockeral is keeping an eye of them - I think he fears the competition. In fact the cockeral keeps me in my place and I certainly have to watch my back when he is around - he can get a bit aggressive.
Nicky and I are immersed in the Jelly Roll Challenge. Together with the other judges, we have narrowed the field and are busy testing the patterns of the possible winners. It is SO..... exciting. The book is going to be great - full of your quilts - there is so much talent out there. I believe the winners will be notified some time in April so not long to wait now.
I'm off to plant my broad beans and snap peas now. It is a beautiful day with the sun shining - spring is certainly in the air.
