I was going to start my blog saying that there are no dolls in today's post but technically that isn't true, so I will start by saying that there are none of MY dolls in this post as today, although I have taken some photos of one of my own dolls, I will save those for another day. Today I thought I'd share some photos of a patchwork exhibition that is taking place locally. I only heard about it on Friday when I visited my favourite haberdashers, so although it runs until the 12th February, I thought I'd pop along today with my friend to see what was being displayed. I had no idea if items would be for sale or whether it was a large exhibition, in fact all I knew was that it was being held in the Mayor's residence in Torre del Mar.
When I got there one of the ladies from the haberdashers was there as she is exhibiting a couple of her quilts. I have known her for many years, she's a sweet lady who I call a friend, although we only chat when I go to get sewing supplies. Her name is Puri, which I think is short for
Purificación and she comes from the north of Spain but has lived in this area for many years. She is very talented with a needle and thread and she knits beautifully as well.
Well the exhibition wasn't in a very big room but it was quite full of some lovely things which I thought I'd share here. I hope you'll enjoy all the photos.
Below Puri stands in front of one of the two patchwork quilts she was showing. This one took her 9 months to make (bear in mind she also works full time in the haberdashers!) and every single stitch is done by hand, no sewing machine involved!!!
This is Puri's second quilt on display, a beautiful mix of purples and lilacs. We were counting the number of squares in this one and we came up with 3,150 squares. This one is also stitched completely by hand and took her two years to complete!!! She also told us that she worked on this one in July and August.....a couple of incredibly HOT months here in Spain to be working on a heavy and large quilt!!!
There were some beautiful quilts on display and below are photos of almost all of them....I'm sure I missed some!!
I really loved how this one had the patterns placed asymmetrically.
Several people had Tilda dolls on display too...as well as some pretty cushions...
I loved these simple house designs, very effective!
These appliqued tee shirts and canvas shoes really did appeal to me. I love this little girls face, the balloons, all painted on and then the added fabrics for her outfit! This tee shirt had matching canvas shoes and I can't believe that I didn't photograph them!
I think this tee shirt below is also very affective. The elegant lady in her lace blouse are all hand painted onto the tee shirt, whilst her fancy hat is appliqued with ribbons and lace.
The tee shirt below was my favourite of the three displayed. The 'almost' profile of a curly haired child just hints at her sweetness....and then the pretty sundress and knickers are made using added fabric. This gave me soooo many ideas!
And these matching canvas shoes, isn't it really cute how the eyelets for the laces also form the back of the child's sundress, whilst the tongues form the child's bloomers!!! The applied roses in her hair also add a really unique touch to these shoes!
I think this quilt, below, would make my eyes go funny if it were on my wall or bed!!
This long narrow wall panel of quilted cubes was very good, as is the 'tidy' hanging next to it. My friend Jan who I went with said she fancied making one of these for herself, maybe for her glasses and tv remote controls, so they'd all be close to hand!
A couple of pretty patchwork bags and some more Tilda dolls...
I like this nautical wall hanging, it would fit in very well with my decor here at the coast!
Very attractive black and white colour scheme on this quilt being used as a table cover...
Some Christmas themed items. The large Tilda doll in white is so nicely done...
A closer look at the white Tilda...Lovely outfit!
Pretty butterflies and flowers...
Some more long legged Tildas lounging against some attractive cushions...
This wall hanging or single bed quilt below is made using fabric panels that reminded me a lot of Mary Engelbreit fabric...
This nice one was partially hidden by the door frame but you can see how lovely it is all the same...
A lovely one for a small child's cot ...
Obviously a cat lover made this cute one!
Love this elderly lady depicted in applique in this quilt!
A small Christmas design of this cute girl holding her Christmas wreath...
I particularly loved the soft pastel colours and the simplicity of this quilt. At first glance I thought the squares were edged in lace, however on closer inspection I realised that squares are sewn together with the seam allowance on the right side, then the seam allowances are all snipped almost to the seam, so creating this really lovely 'frilly' effect. I am going to attempt to do something like this myself I think!!
Nice symmetrical design shown below:
Some more Tildas and a small Nativity scene as well as some babies bibs and Christmas baubles all made from fabric...
Loved this one, how gorgeous are these street scenes!
This one really appealed to me as each square is done differently it would seem. I would think that it would work really well for real 'scraps' of fabric!
Puri and some of the other exhibitors...
Another prettily designed quilt that I suspect is now owned by a lucky child!
Gorgeous peacock cushion cover...
Another one designed for a child I think, very cute!
I really like the colours of this alphabet quilt. Notice that two extra 'characters' in the Spanish alphabet, the double L 'll' and the enya, an N with a little 'caterpillar' over it's head!! Sorry, I don't have them on my English keyboard!
A super snow scene, you don't get much of those around here so someone has a great imagination! ;) And a tall fabric cat, he's about 20 plus inches tall, a duck and some owls, are all joined by a lovely sewing machine cover...
A very cute shoulder bag made to look like a little house!
This ladies wool jacket was beautifully appliqued with houses and trees, I'm sure if you turned up anywhere wearing this, you would certainly get a lot of people asking about it! Unique!
I've heard of chicken in a basket, but pigs and sheep? How cute are these little critters in their nest of straw!
A very attractive apron, which gave me and my friend loads of ideas for the fabrics in our stashes!
Finally, and coincidentally, two weeks ago I spotted this book in the local 'English' shop. Entitled 'Pretty in Patchwork, doll quilts' and written by Cathy Gaubert, I decided to buy it, if only for the fact that I love anything to do with dolls but I do also love craft books. So it was great that so soon afterwards I should hear about and visit a quilt exhibition! Must be a sign!!!
Well I hope you've enjoyed seeing these lovely works of fabric art as much as I have enjoyed sharing them with you.
I hope you all have a great week ahead and for those of you in the places affected by extreme weather of the cold kind, I hope that you perhaps have a nice quilt of your own to snuggle under to keep safe and warm!!
