In the mail: Parquet-top for Mayan families

During the fall I taught a sort of traditionally oriented patchwork class based on old parquet patterns. The class was initiated by a pattern book that my husband gave me as a present a few years ago, and had been ‘in the making’ since then. But as the Germans say, “Gut Ding will Weile haben” (good things may take a while), the class was fun, the students were pleased, and the outcomes were interesting.

Only last week one of the participants, who had only been quilting for a little over a year when she took part in the class, proudly showed me her result. And right she is to be proud of what she has achieved.

Because the class had been in close proximity to the exhibit in Alsace I myself had only produced samples of the various patterns that were on the agenda, and hadn’t finished a complete quilt. However, I decided that I would use a little packet of assorted Oakshott fabrics in combination with my stash to work a top for Bonnie Bucknam’s charity project. She has already made one hundred quilts for the children in an orphanage in Guatemala and is now making more quilts to give to Mayan families in the area. I had finished the top before Christmas, but waited to send it off until the Christmas rush is over. It’s in the mail now, and I do hope it will arrive at Bonnie’s safe and sound:

After that top, I made a little quilt for the German Guild’s challenge “Checkered Fish” which will be showing at the British Guild’s AGM in Nottingham (UK) in April.

My way of dealing with the fabrics that were called "checkered fish"
by the German Guild, detail of unfinished quilt

A week after the AGM, a slightly abbreviated version of the parquet class will be held in Newcastle for region 15. Please contact me and I will gladly supply you with a contact address for more information in case you are interested. Before that, a full weekend parquet-workshop is scheduled in (almost) northern Germany in March, on the weekend of March 22-24, in Alfeld (between Göttingen and Hannover, roughly speaking). Several spots are still available, and I could easily do bilingual teaching German/English. In case you are interested, please contact me and I will get you in touch with Mary, who organizes it all.