Monday 14 July 2014

The one for the Fat Quarterly Retreat 2014

I've been putting this off but here goes.

I'm going to the Fat Quarterly Retreat in London next Saturday.  It will be the first time I have ever been to any sort of quilters gathering and I'm unreasonably anxious. This is normal for me as trying anything new for the first time is or change of any sort is unsettling to me.

My name is Rosanne Derrett, I turned 50 last month and my mad day out is my treat for actually managing to hit that milestone.  I don't look it and most of the time I don't feel it.  I'm single, never married, no kids and normally live on my own.  At the moment everything is in a state of flux as I await being rehoused due to severe health problems. Up until recently, I had my beloved Shar Pei  Phoebe with me but sadly I've had to place her in rescue for rehoming.  Where I'm living has other dogs and children but its not the same.

I have been quilting since I was 15 (with considerable breaks) and I still have my first EPP hexagon tops in my possession. My other passions include cross stitch, F1, sailing and motocross so I'm not exactly conventional.  I love big complex projects and am not a fan of the 'quick' quilting movement as I feel it removes a lot of the pleasure involved with the process. 

Current quilting WIP is 'Midnight at the Oasis' by Jen Kingwell.  It's slow progress but I'm loving it despite the frustrations of learning and developing applique skills!  It's the second design of hers that I've done.  I completed Circle Game in April, taking 15 months from start to finish and now its in the huge pile awaiting finishing.

Style wise I don't fit into a particular camp - some are modern, some traditional but I have to work with fabric I love to get the best results.  I love strong bright colours and large scale pattern with Tula Pink and Jennifer Paganelli being favourite designers. I also love working with tiny scraps so I'm always on the hunt for scraps.

I'm currently part of the Little Blog Quilting Bee along with 11 other UK quilters all of whom are small bloggers.  I'm more than a bit backward in blogging about this and I need a serious kick in the butt at the moment to get it done.  November will be my month

I'm also part of the Modern Instabee on Instagram and we are now into month 3.  The hashtags to find the blocks so far are #moderninstabeeuk #ukhive1 and #moderninstabee2014.  There are currently 2 hives in the UK using Lindsay Conner's book' Modern Bee - 13 quilts to make with friends'.  There are more hives across the world and no two blocks, let alone quilts are ever the same.  I'm not queen bee till right at the end, next April on this hive.

That's about it for me.  I'll be the tall fat one with the walking stick and grey face when I totter through the door to Thomas' class on Saturday morning. Hair scraped back and glasses.  I'm actually quite shy and quiet when you first meet me but not for long.   You really can't miss me!