One of my Romsey cousins and her husband have been for a few days' holiday in N. Wales so she suggested meeting up on their way back, and they would take us out for lunch. Nowhere suitable is open in Builth on mid-week lunchtimes so I suggested we met in Hay-on-Wye. Here's a quick view across by the Cheesemarket and market square.
Here is the screen printing from Llywn Celyn - don't think it was the one I actually DID as I would have noticed there was a small square out of one corner, but I couldn't exactly argue the toss, so accepted it anyway - there are no faults in it anyway. I shall look out some appropriate border fabric and quilt it and make it up into a cushion.
We went to the Granary for lunch. I chose a smoked mackerel pate with rye toast (yummy) and Tam had some spicy mixed beans on toast topped with a poached egg. Sally & Ron had sarnies. It was lovely to catch up on their news and so good to see them again. They have kept in touch and visited ever since we've been in Builth, and Keith struggling with his health. Incidentally Rosie has one of Sally's mum's Christian names, so there is a special link.
When they set off homewards, Tam, Rosie and I went into Booths and shot straight up to the Craft Corner end to peruse the books. This time I concentrated on the Quilting books - though a couple of embroidery ones were tempting. I nearly bought one called Stitch 50 Cats, which has some lovely designs in it, but thought on a practical level, how many cats am I ever likely to want to stitch?!
So instead, making Welsh Quilts came home with me. The quilt with the Ohio Star centre on the top right on the top right would make up quickly (most of them would in fact) as it is less about the piecing, and more about the quilting with Welsh quilts. It is called Brecon Star and we live in the very top bit of Breconshire (Brycheiniog). If I ever get the time . . .
A lovely Pinwheel quilt (sorry about the flash). You can see more clearly here what I mean about the quilting is the important part.
A couple of pages showing the traditional Welsh quilting patterns. Somewhere in the book I read that it was the proximity of Welsh mining families in Pennsylvania who influenced the Amish quilt making and patterns. The Welsh strippy quilts are obviously very similar to the ones made in Durham (North-East Britain for followers overseas), the main difference being that in Durham the quilting patterns are confined to the margins of the quilting strips, but here in Wales, quilt patterns took no notice of the quilt top and designs went across the strips.
Anyway, a lovely from-me to-me treat and I felt I deserved it! Must stir my stumps now as Gabby is coming to lunch today, so I need to have a bit of a tidy-up and I want to go out for a walk now we have a dry morning.
I can’t see anything wrong or missing from the screen print. Remind me (as I should re-read the history of Llwyn Celyn on the Landmark Trust website) but is there a connection between holly and the farmstead? I note the holly leaves frame the print beautifully. I also love the intricacy of the quilting stitches and agree it is all about the quality of the quilting. I love the simplicity of the three solid colour pinwheel block you show. Anybody can piece a quilt especially if using jelly rolls or pre-cut fabrics and machine quilt but where is the fun in that. Btw I saw gz’s latest progress with her old shirt piecing and thought it looked fabulous. We are struggling by BB and on Monday S had a GP appt and is being referred back to neurology. I messaged my Parkinson’s buddy and she replied good luck with that! S has seen a neurologist once only and that was the private appointment in March 2022 that diagnosed he had PD. We made a private appt (wait time five months) as otherwise the wait time via the NHS would have been two years. GP has prescribed a sleeping pill and CBT but he is resisting both and whether he takes the sleeping pill or takes up the CBT is up to him. You can lead a horse to water …. The caring role gets me down sometimes and I keep being told to apply (by the GP on Monday and the Parkinson’s nurses several times) for attendance and carer’s allowances but I am resisting for the time being. Meanwhile I keep going down (related I am sure to the stress of caring) with minor injuries as I rush around and today I am seeing the nurse practitioner about suspected cellulitis in my hand and I am finally seeing a physio privately tomorrow about my chronic right knee and left ankle pain. I just cannot wait until we go on holiday in three weeks, I am sure we will return both feeling much much better. Hope you are looking after yourself. How is your toe nowadays? As we get older these soft tissue injuries seem to take forever to heal, if indeed they ever do. But our T is coming tomorrow to stay for the last time before he leaves next week to go travelling for four months and this afternoon an old friend is dropping in for a cuppa and slice of apple cake. Plus it is swimming day today and tomorrow is well-being cafe in the afternoon and film night in the church and we did a tip run yesterday afternoon. We got rid of an old office chair to the re-use shop, a 30-year-old falling to pieces VAX carpet cleaner (we only have bedroom carpets here and if they need cleaning I will employ someone to do it), the old Sky box and about a dozen handsets, a sack of old and chewed into holes by squirrel netting from the allotment and a crate of old shoes/boots/trainers/wellies. That felt good. On the way back from the tip we called into the birdy place and saw a nightjar sitting peacefully in a pine tree. One of the RSPB volunteers had his scope trained on the nightjar and linked it to his phone set up on a tripod and I downloaded from the Cloud my nightjar video footage from June 2015 filmed under a full moon and everyone stood around watching that too. These small spontaneous coming togethers with other folk keep me going. Have a lovely day with Gabby. Our K is coming down from Scotland at the end of October for my birthday. She is working incredibly hard nursing while researching her PhD, the nursing is 10 times as hard as the academic work she says and I can believe it. Sarah x
ReplyDeleteJust the bottom right corner out of shot where someone had cut it originally. The house name translates as Holly Grove. gz is doing so well with her quilt - I love the carefully planned design. I'm no good at planning like that! I need a helping hand.
DeleteYes, appts. with Neurology aren't quickly offered. Keith had one for November, at the time of his death. Keith tried CBT oil but it wasn't one of the very strong ones, and I don't think made any difference to his MSA. Please put in for attendance and carer's allowance - if nothing else it puts you on the radar for help further down the line. Caring is so stressful and I'm sorry that you are having minor injuries - mind you, Cellulitis can be very nasty. Tam has had it whilst travelling in Europe a couple of times, and was glad to get home and be nearer proper treatment - other than, on one occasion, a bag of ice cubes clasped to a very swollen leg on a rabidly hot day. Hope that the Physio offered you help for your knee and ankle pain.
You will miss T I am sure. Not too long now before K comes down to visit. She will be glad of a break by the sound of things. I don't see much of Danny now that he is back in Carms and they are a fair drive away, and he has to ferry Emma around and little "I" too, including taking her to school and back which is in the next village a good bit on.
How wonderful to see that Nightjar. They are apparently to be found in the Brecon Beacon and have started to favour recently cleared pine plantations to nest in, where there has been replanting and young conifers.
Enjoy your holiday anyway. I have to wait a bit longer for mine, and some organizing of bank accounts first as I am changing from one to another to simplify things and because my bank is closing and it would then be Merthyr Tydfil to visit a branch! Blardy ridiculous.
A lovely quilting book, the history of quilting is fascinating and I admire those who have the patience to hand quilt large bed sized pieces.
ReplyDeleteThe lunch sounds nice, it's great that you're out and about and having some treats with good company.
Alison in Wales x
I will settle down and read it properly now I'm on my own again. I have been spoilt having Tam and Rosie here. The trip to and lunch out in Hay was lovely, and it was great to see my cousin and her husband again.
DeleteI have Hay-on-Wye visiting jealousy! Oh to go round the bookshops again as we did many times - doubt I will ever again.
ReplyDelete|Glad you had a nice meet up and found a good book
You are welcome to come and stay and then I could take you for a Wonderful Indulgence in Hay!!
DeleteI always think of Welsh quilts as being wholecloth not pieced. Years, nay decades, ago I took a class in Welsh quilting led by the tiniest, most frail of elderly ladies who was expert in the skill and history of Welsh wholecloth quilts. What she didn't know wasn't worth knowing. She remembered the days when professional quilters roamed the Welsh countryside going from farm to farm and village to village charging 6d per quilt to quilt the layers for busy housewives. All in the days when quilts would be stuffed with old blankets or sheep fleece gathered from the hedgerows. I wish I could find my notes that I took on that day! Alas, they are long gone.
ReplyDeleteIndeed many of them were wholecloth. There is always a wonderful display of quilts in Lampeter (next to Calico Kate's amazing patchwork shop) and most of those are wholecloth. I must visit again . . . How lucky you were to take that Welsh quilting class. Gosh, 6d to quilt a quilt - and yet it is weeks of work (even longer with me doing it!) That seems so cheap. I wonder if your quilting lady was one of the ones who benefitted from the Rural Industries Bureau scheme of the 1920s and 30s? I suspect she learned at home though - lucky lady. I've had a couple of old quilts stuffed with sheep fleece and another with a blanket - gosh, a struggle to quilt through that, especially if the top was flannel too.
DeleteThe quilting is wonderful and so complex. I've thought of making a simple patchwork quilt with ties between squares instead of top stitches. I have one like this that my grandmother made as part of her truseau, from scraps of wool. Sadly it's in terrible condition but I keep it as a heirloom. I've been collecting woolen scraps for a few years now to make one similar.
ReplyDeleteI've made several smaller quilts with ties, or even buttons, to hold it together, and that works well. Good that you have the heirloom quilt made by your grandmother. Quilt making is very therapeutic and certainly will keep me busy and distracted during the winter months (and days like this when it is set to pour with rain all day!)
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