Post Comment Love 17 - 19 July

Hello there, welcome to this week’s #PoCoLo - a relaxed, friendly linky which I co-host with Suzanne, where you can link any blog post published in the last week. We know you’ll find some great posts to read, and maybe some new-to-you blogs too, so do pop over and visit some of the posts linked, comment and share some of that love.

Please don’t link up posts which are older as they may be removed, and if you see older posts are linked then please don’t feel that it’s necessary to comment on those. If you were here last week it was great to have you along, if you’re new here we’re pleased you’ve joined us.

Ah well, the dream that it’s ‘coming home’ is over for another tournament. We went to our local pub to watch the England game against Argentina last night, and it obviously wasn’t the result that everyone hoped for. Nevertheless our team have done us proud and can hold their heads up high, and it’s probably best I don’t pass comment on the behaviour of our opponents last night, both during and after the game.

Anyway in slightly more cheery news, my first tomato has ripened - and I’m looking forward to the rest catching up!

Have a good week, and come on Spain!

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Some more quilts from the exhibition galleries

In this last post from the quilts I loved at the 2025 Festival of Quilts I’m sharing quilts displayed in a couple of the exhibition galleries, and they’re just as good as any of the others I’ve shared. I can’t quite believe that I’m getting ready to go along to the show again at the end of this month, where did that year go?

Anyway, let’s start in the Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) Haven Gallery, an exhibition which explores in quilt form the ‘universal need for a safe space—a place to rest, heal, or regroup’. The pieces on display ‘posed questions about nurturing loved ones, providing refuge for those in need, and expressing each artist’s personal interpretation of what a haven represents.’

DAYTIME DREAMING, KAREN SUNDAY SPENCER

There’s many interpretations to the theme, and the quilt title helps to understand what the maker had in mind, and that itself makes the quilts so much more powerful.

PUT YOUR FEET UP AND TAKE IT EASY, CINDY RICHARD

SAND AND SEA, PATTY KENNEDY-ZAFRED

The quilting techniques on show also vary, and it’s the more colourful ones that naturally caught my eye.

A BOY AND HIS IMAGINATION, DEB CASHATT

GREEN SPACE, EUNHEE LEE

But it was this final one from this gallery that took my breath away. As we walked past it we at first thought it was a painting, and therefore an odd inclusion at the show - it was a long day, we’d walked many steps by this point and had been wowed by many, many quilts.

ONCE LOVED, ALISON KING

But this one deserved another look.

ONCE LOVED, ALISON KING

It wasn’t a painting at all, but probably the most detailed quilting I’ve ever seen. And so amazing, just look at the attention to detail of the green staining on the corner of the once loved building.

ONCE LOVED, ALISON KING

They are all amazing, but that last one was just mind blowingingly so!

Having recovered from that amazing-ness, there was a final gallery on our list of things to see, and the next two pictures are from the Pat Pauly collection entitled ‘Pieces and Resistance’. The quilts showcase her decades of expertise in art quilting and textile design, her quilts are said to ‘bridge the worlds of painting and fabric art’ and you can totally see that when you look at the images below.

PAT PAULY

The gallery blurb said that from a distance her quilts often resemble paintings, but closer inspection reveals their complexity as intricate textile compositions. I can totally get that, and I love the explosion of colour.

PAT PAULY

Given the colour ways of these quilts, it’ll be no surprise to many of you that these were among my favourites from the whole show. The 2025 show was my first time at the Festival of Quilts, and I’m gearing up to go again at the end of the month so over the next year I’ll continue to share the quilts that catch my eye. I’m once again going to the show with my SIL and we already have a workshop booked, but knowing what’s ahead of me this time I know I need to pace myself, take a power supply for my phone and be better at giving myself clues on the quilt name and maker!

And I fully expect to be wowed and wowed again at this year’s show.

My sari dressing gown

Back in March when I shared my non-quilty sewing plans for this year, number 7 on the list was ‘wearables’ and I also shared a picture of the already cut out summer weight dressing gown, using a sari I’d bought from eBay.

Well it is done, who knew it’d make it out of my craft room so quickly?!

Our new house is super well insulated, and every summer we’ve been here when it’s warm I think to myself “I need a lightweight dressing gown” and this year - we’ve been here three years now - I finally have one.

And it’s glorious, I’m so pleased with it - let me talk you through it.

THE IMAGE FROM THE MARCH POST

I bought both the pattern and the sari on eBay, the pattern had the tie belt pattern piece missing but as I’d also bought the men’s version of the same pattern I used that one. As you can see the pattern was well worn, but it had the instructions and the pattern pieces themselves weren’t damaged.

As I said in March, I needed to get brave and start sewing. And those warm summer days spurred me on.

I’d already decided to make use of the sari’s pattern on the bottom of the dressing gown, and the bands around the neck and sleeves. This determined the length and I’d class the length as ‘pretty much decent’ if you know what I mean.

When I started to sew it came together pretty quickly. In my first sewing session I made the patch pocket, even though I was a bit thrown by the band instructions so may have improvised a bit, and then attached it to the front. The shoulder seams were sewn together and the prep work for the decorative band that runs down each front piece and across the neck were done, and it was pinned in place.

It was starting to take shape.

Next up, and on another day I attached the decorative band, and inserted the sleeves - and stopped to admire my progress.

Only briefly though as I decided to press on, and sew the side seams and the sleeves together - now it really was a garment.

The sleeve bands went on much more easily than the band on the pocket had, but I think I was getting the hang of what the instructions meant by then too. The tie belt was sewn, turned through and pressed and the hem was hemmed.

It was almost done. All bar the loops for the tie belt, and one to hang it on the back of the door. I searched my ribbon stash, but an emerald green was the closest I could get to the beautiful teal sari. And it wasn’t right at all.

Which meant I’d have to make my own loops, or otherwise I’d never be entirely happy with it.

And so I did, choosing a contrasting piece of material for the hanging loop, and the plain teal for the belt loops.

They were probably the most fiddly part of the garment, but definitely worth the effort.

Now there’s just the small matter of doing it all again and making MOH a summer dressing gown - I’ve got the pattern, and I’ve bought a sari which he’s approved, but first I think I might try my hand to a sundress - watch this space!