Over the hills and far away

It’s not often I get to hear where our Ovarian Cancer quilts go.

Mostly, we send them out into the blue, with love and the hope that they are doing some good and spreading some happiness.  Today, the blue spoke back!

Remember this lovely, one of our best ovarian cancer quilts, back in December 2018? It was a joy to work on and an outstanding result. Go Teal it on the Mountain has found its new forever home. Click on this link and scroll down to near the bottom of the comments, from Debra. Somewhere in Perth, WA, GTOM is bringing happiness to its new family.

This is why we do it, people. The next Nude Lunch fundraiser will be in early September next year, and as we have for the past several years, we’ll create another quilt. I haven’t yet decided which silly name to go with yet, but I will soon. We’ll kick off mid-April or early May, depending on whether I feel the design needs a bit of extra time.

So, a big thank you to Debra for letting me know, and another thank you to all the wonderful contributors.

Love your work 🙂

Go Teal it on the Mountain #18: the saw-tooth mountain

This is Montserrat, in Catalunya, north of Spain.

Between 1985 and 2004, I flew over this mountain every time I went to visit my father. My mother died in 1984 and after her death my father went to live in Catalunya, northern Spain, an area now striving for independence from Spain. The rest of the world knows it as Catalonia, but the locals call it Catalunya, and as a near-local, so do I. My father returned to the UK this year aged 95, no longer able to be independent, but for 23 years, that mountain was the gateway to my father’s home, and seeing it from the plane was the signal that I was nearly there.

It’s an unusual formation, and without making a much larger block it’s hard to do the mountain justice, but if you’re interested, take a look at what Wikipedia has to say about it.

Montserrat means ‘saw-tooth mountain’ in Català (Catalan), and the name suits it. I’m a little sad that I’ll never see it again in real life; Pa no longer lives there and I’m no longer able to make the long flight back to Europe because of my back. This is the perfect opportunity to say goodbye to it.

Adéu, muntanya  🙂

Go Teal it on the Mountain #13

Another squishy delight in the mail this morning!

These two beauties are from Kathy, who has embellished them with embroidery. Now I have another Delectable Mountain to add to the mix, hurray! Plus, look at the moon and stars in that top block. Soooo beautiful 🙂 (You might have to click on the image to see the gold embroidered stars at top left.)

I have enough now to give you some idea of what has come in.  More to come in the next couple of weeks, and if anyone else would like to contribute, there’s still a little time and space. Let me know in the comments or send me an email.

Because of the theme, and because I need to start quilting the individual blocks before I have them all and can arrange them, I’m changing my usual quilting design. On previous quilts, I’ve done freehand parallel wavy lines, arranged in a basketweave pattern. This time, I shall quilt freehand mountain peaks. I’ll start with a line bottom left to top centre and down to bottom right, and then infill inside and outside that line, with lines approximately an inch or so apart. No rulers or marking; I shall eyeball it and let the lines flow organically. Bit like Nature, really…

I have three F2F blocks to make, and then it’ll be time to get cracking. The backing and batting are on hand, I just need to clear the decks a bit and start my production line.

Let the Mountain-climbing commence!

Go Teal it on the Mountain #11

And another! They’re coming thick and fast now…

This wonderful block is from Cathy, who has never made a quilt block before, but is giving us something totally ravishing! I love this desert mountain/pyramid, with a camel train passing below, under a gorgeous orange harvest moon. It’s all Midnight at the Oasis, isn’t it? I’m so delighted with this block, which brings a fresh and funky vibe to contrast beautifully with all the austere elegance we have so far. A little fun is an important highlight in a quilt like this, so if there’s anyone else out there wondering what to make, do consider something different and fun, or use some unexpected fabrics.

Cathy’s original block was irregularly shaped, as I’d offered to trim it out to the size and layout I needed. There’s actually a bit more cream below the camels, and a bit more on either side in case I want to adjust the positioning later on, when it’s quilted, but I’m giving you the main highlights of the design 🙂 I had to take off the very tip of the mountain in order to keep the camels, but I find them indispensable!

I’m blown away by the ambition, creativity and quality of work from the contributors who haven’t made quilt blocks before. Ladies, you rock!

And we’ll be happy to have you along again for the next quilt – assuming you enjoyed yourselves, of course 🙂

Go Teal it on the Mountain #10

And here’s yesterday’s squishy delight!

Emma has sent me two beautiful Mountain blocks, despite being incredibly busy with her new baby Clark. I think you can see from the fabrics in block 2 that Emma is a new mum and has Christmas on her mind a little… 🙂  These are such gorgeous happy fabrics – I’m especially in love with that dark teal ‘constellations’ print. Emma is a novice quilter but has splashed out bravely to create two lovely and unique mountain blocks for this quilt, and I’m delighted and grateful!

I’m also very grateful for the gift of two fun fat quarters, one a cute Christmas print and the other featuring another of Emma’s interests, knitting. Those sheep are such fun! Thanks for everything, Emma 🙂

I know there are some others in progress on the way, and I’ll be posting about those when they arrive.

These are blocks 17 and 18, so we’re approaching the two-thirds mark.

Go Teal it on the Mountain #9

And here’s one from the UK.

Margaret has made a block featuring her favourite fell peak, Catbells (aka Cat Bells). It’s a 451m/1480ft mini-mountain in Cumbria that gives amazing views over the Lake District, in the north of England. I love how she’s chosen fabrics to represent the mountain’s reflection in Derwent Water, and the upper part in cream looks like swirling clouds.

As you can see, Margaret has embroidered the peak’s name and height in feet, such a lovely detail. Another thing I really like is that this block is also a ‘portrait’ of a real mountain rather than an imaginary one.

This is the 12th block of the 30 required to complete the quilt.

Go Teal it on the Mountain #8

Another lovely block has arrived.

This one is from Joanne in the US. I love the fabrics, and the contrast between the curve and the spiky mountains. It’s is block No. 11 out of the 30 we need.

I now have blocks from Lynn, Sue, Lynda, Jean, Esther and Joanne. Still to come are those from Carla, Cathy, Robin, Gun, Emma, Tracey, Kathy, Nanette, Jenny and Margaret; if any of you cannot manage a block just now, this is a good time to tell me so I can make a few more myself 🙂

Once a few more are in, I’ll be able to start thinking about a layout!

Go Teal it on the Mountain #7

It’s Delectable!

And in case you think I’m being a bit fancy-schmantzy, this is an interpretation of the classic Delectable Mountain quilt block, and a beauty. It comes to me from Esther in the Netherlands, and I just love her fabric choices, especially that perfect background with the tiny stylised floating clouds.

We’re up to 10 blocks now. If you’ve promised a block but haven’t yet got round to it, I do encourage you to maybe make a start… Christmas will be on us all too soon, and there are always other, important things to be done and made in the lead-up. I have a tight deadline for this quilt and I don’t want to rush it and spoil it after everyone’s hard work. If you think you’re no longer able to make a block, do let me know now, so I can make more myself. And if you can’t remember if you’ve offered to make one, just email me and I’ll confirm the list.

What an amazing range of Mountains we’re making, between us!

Go Teal it on the Mountain #6

And another couple of beauties in for this quilt.

Squishy season is definitely upon us. There’s a couple more en route, and rather than go out to the mailbox only every couple of days (I get very little mail otherwise), I’m now excitedly checking it every day.

These two are from Lynda in the US, who’s made a couple of really distinctive and beautiful blocks. You can’t see it so well in the photo, but the moon in block 2 has shadowy ‘craters’ in the fabric design – such a clever choice!

We now have 9 blocks on the design wall. Still a good few required, but we’re almost 30% done!

Go Teal it on the Mountain #5

Two more in the mailbox today 🙂

Right about now, the postie is rolling his eyes and thinking: “She’s off again, it’ll be envelopes from all over for a couple of months now”. He’d be right, but hey, it’s a nice change from bills and flyers.

This first one is from Jean in California. She tells me it’s inspired by trekking in the Sierra Nevada:

“I wanted this block to mimic how a mountain range looks in the fading light of day. How the foreground hills have deeper color and the farther, distant mountains are taller, more rugged and their color is more muted, almost blending away into the sky.”

I think she’s achieved her desired result pretty well, don’t you?

The next two are from Sue in Washington state. Sue always has the most beautiful fabrics and perfect piecing. The block is called Hill and Valley. Perfect choice!

I know there are more on the way; once I have a few more I’ll be able to see whether there are ‘holes’ in the layout calling for darker or lighter blocks, or a focal point, etc. When I get some more, I’ll post a photo showing them all on the design wall so you can see them collectively. I also still have to make the teal ‘ribbon’ block, and I have a few mountain ideas I’d still like to try out.

But if there’s anyone out there who’s said they’d make a block or two, and who fancies giving a Delectable Mountain block a go, let me know, as I’d really like to have one in the quilt. If none of you makes it, I’ll do it myself. Or maybe we’ll have two 🙂

Back to the embroidery frame, I have an SAL coming up!