Welcome & "Capricho"

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.  I would love to have your comments if you have enjoyed reading my page.  The Comments button is at the foot of the page, please click on it to leave your comment, thanks.

This is my first time ever blogging, so rather exciting for me.  I have to thank my friend Anne for all the support she has given me to be able to do this.

I have been sewing for what seems forever, making clothes for myself and then my two children, designing wedding dresses.  Patchwork  came later when l moved to Spain from the UK.  Patchwork in all its various forms  has become my hobby for around 10 years.  I love the many different types of work from broderie perse, applique, EPP,  but piecing not so much.

This week l am going to tell you about the red quilt pictured above, its rather special, the name is Capricho. It has an intersting story of how it was made, let me tell you.

I belonged to a quilting forum for many years and made many friends there from all over the world. One such friend was Patti, we just clicked and have been internet friends for over 7 years.  Patti lives in Tennessee and one day we started talking about a quilt we had seen.  Later that day Patti rang me and said, "how about we make a quilt together". Although we had never met I jumped at the idea and so a very special journey began.  

Patti bought the main red fabric and a selection of fabrics for the quilt.  We exchanged many ideas, and fabrics were sent in both directions so we had a selection of the same fabrics to work with together. Patti's idea was for the centre of the quilt with Patchwork of the Crosses. 

My first parcel arrived with the first batch of fabric, some of it looking like Swiss Cheese, where she had fussy cut her Crosses.  Drawings, ideas passed between us and l set to work on 1/2" hexagons and 400 of them were made and l sewed them on to the carefully measured first strip  of the first round.

We were extremely wary that we might lose packages in the post, we did lose one, with fabric in it.  I thought it best to send one side at a time, so as one lot of diamond hexies were finished l sent it off, fingers crossed.  As soon as she said she had received it, off went the next package.  Eventually Patti had the first 4 sides. Then the next set of Origami hexies were made. I added some ribbon embroidery to some others.  Again sewn on to the base fabric and l sent them off to Patti one at a time. 

Eventually the whole quilt came together.

I could not tell you how many texts, photographs and drawings passed across the Atlantic to finally complete the quilt.  The following weeks had us searching for a name.  One day l was sitting in a cafe having coffee with some friends and l noticed the rather unusual name of the cafe, yes you guessed it was "Capricho".  Although I speak Spanish, l had never come across this word before, so l asked the owner what it meant in English.  It means, "On a Whim".  Immediately I texted Patti, what did she think of the name, could it be more ideal!  Probably not, so Capricho was born.

Little did we know what was to follow.  I had wanted to go to the Houston Quilt Show for ages so on the forum l told my plans.  Two ladies from Ireland wanted to go too.  One lady in Houston said we could go and stay with her, then Patti said, you cannot come to Houston without visiting me.  So a plan was made.  I flew to lreland from Spain and met up with Lesley and Florence for the first time. To break up the long journey, we all met up in Houston at a Hotel. 

 

We spent the night there before flying to Tennessee.  Patti was there to meet us with a banner welcoming the three of us, known as the ELF's  yes our initials Ellie, Lesley and Florence.

Meeting Patti for the first time was magic, so special, she drove us to her home where to see in person, for the first time the quilt we had made together.  Patti had purchased a long arm and became proficient very quickly.  She had quilted Capricho to perfection, even quilting our initials into the quilt design.

It had also been entered into its first quilt show whilst we were all there.  It was so special for me and Patti when our names were called to win 1st place.

Our time with Patti drew to an end and we had to go.  Patti could not come, so sadly we three went of to Houston.  The whole Houston Show over 4 days was unforgettable.

Since then our quilt has been entered into 13 Shows across America. Juried into 13  States.   It has won 7 x 1st prizes, 2 x 2nd prizes, and 1 Honourable Mention.  3 other shows saw us as semi-finalists.

Paducah

We are so  proud its done so well, especially in Paducah, its last show in the States where you can see it hanging in the picture above, it won 2nd place and Patti was there to see our quilt.

It was posted directly to me here in Spain.  I have entered into the NEC Birmingham Show in August and we will be driving over to the UK with our very precious package.

All l can say is watch this space!