Thistle Quilters

A couple of month's ago Irene, who joined us permanently after being an active member in her previous group Thistle Quilters in Edinburgh Scotland, came to me with a suggestion from her friends of "twinning" our group Vinuela Sew&Sews with their group Thistle Quilters. The idea would then be to maybe work on a challenge in the future between the two groups. I think this will be an exciting venture for us as a group and look forward to seeing what develops.

Thistle Quilters have recently held an exhibition of work resulting from a group challenge amongst themselves, and very generously allowed Irene to bring the exhibition pieces to Spain so that we could show them in our exhibition in October 2010. Read below about the group and how the fourteen members who took part in the challenge arrived at the decisions for making their individual pieces.

Thistle Quilters

Formed in 1981 in Edinburgh, Scotland, Thistle Quilters has a membership of approximately 50 women who meet monthly to share their common interest in patchwork and quilting.
Lectures and workshops are led by their own members as well as visiting experts. At the Christmas meeting in 2009 the group were issued a challenge.

The Challenge - "the past prompts the present".

A Thistle Quilters’ Challenge tackling the ‘thorny’ issue of balancing traditional and contemporary approaches to quilt making, the past prompts the present

Taking an old quilting magazine (preferably at least twenty years old), participants were to look through for inspiration. They could find a technique, a colour combination, a quilt title, or a phrase in an article that inspired them to make a new piece.

Frieda Oxenham – Fluttering through Time

Use of a computer to design quilts – cutting edge twenty years ago, and still a useful technique.

Alison Murray - Tumbling Blocks

Appears on almost every sampler quilt from the 1980’s. I usually avoid hand work, so even this small piece was a challenge.

Catriona Sterling - Appliqué Fish

Appliqué is a well established technique. But twenty years ago would anybody have had raw edges to their appliqué?

Christine Ireland - Teeny - built 1974

Christine was inspired by the magazine article about a quilt exchange which Thistle Quilters took part in 1989, before she was a member of the group. The article was written by Janet Rae and mentions Angela Chisholm who are both still members of Thistle Quilters.

Frea Webster - Japanese Fans

Vintage indigo dyed fabrics from Japan (quite difficult to work with) are combined with the very traditional Japanese stitching known as 'Sashiko'.

Frea Webster - Log Cabin

This was actually started more than twenty years ago. Some of the fabric designs are typical of that time but the colour scheme is just as popular today.

Georgina Chapman - Machine quilted wholecloth

1980 - Shock! Horror! A machine quilted Wholecloth Quilt - with trapunto!

Gillian Sandilands - Broderie Perse

Inspired by an article on ‘Broderie Perse’, Chapter 4 of ‘Quilts of the British Isles’ by Janet Rae, 1987. The technique of cutting printed flowers and trees from fabric and applying them to another fabric, called Broderie Perse or Cretonne Appliqué, began in the 17th Century.

Janet Rae - Weldon's Magazine

Computer printed silk using a composite scan of an early 1900’s Weldon’s magazines. Silk and satin patchwork machine quilted over a layer of sheer grey fabric.

Helen Allan – Back to our Roots – a hand-quilting sampler

Inspired after reading three books on hand-quilting which were passed on from another member of the group.

Liz Murray - Grannies Hankies

“Grannie’s Hankies”

Mary Wilson - Blue Traditional Patchwork

Traditional patchwork combined with contemporary quilting

Moira Robertson - Amish Inspired

Amish inspired – a timeless class in the world of patchwork and quilting.

Sharon Gray - American Civil War Log Cabin

American Civil War fabrics used to make ‘Log Cabin’ blocks that have been re-cut to form modern ‘Freedom Blocks’