Stitching News

Sporty Sue spent the most of her day making sandwiches... First was her Jelly Roll Sampler... sandwiched and put away before I took a picture! The second, also made with a Jelly Roll is the one in the photo... so Sue's got quite a lot of quilting time to find... and when she wasn't pinning sandwiches, she was fetching them... she's a very good personal shopper at lunch time! 

Helen purchased a Moda Marbles 'Brights' Jelly Roll... she needed a quilt in a hurry and that took care of a lot of cutting time... we rooted through books and decided on the Hidden Wells design... and what a great move that was! doesn't it look fabulous... very quick to make too.

We should all know by now that our Joan The Shop can't resist starting new projects... the sampler blocks have been moved over and she's half way through making a Poppy wall hanging... Wendy is to blame this time! Joan's hands can't work fast enough for how excited she is to be making this quilt!

Proud Parents

I hardly ever, almost never, rarer than rarely, post stuff about family on my quilting blog...
but this is different...
My Lilly worked really hard to get a
FIRST CLASS HONOURS DEGREE...
oh so proud!!!!

Michelle My Belle's Quilt

It's Tootetty-Tooting time... trumpets at the ready (I hope they're all polished and shiny...) Michelle My Belle finished her very own, real and proper, delicious quilt. After making her Railfence table runner beginner project, she jumped straight in with a larger quilt, what a beauty it is too with it's lovely warm colours and soft, snuggly feel... Michelle is very proud of her handy work... and rightly so. The quilt will soon be gifted... at least that WAS the plan as she left us! ha!

Stitching News

Brenda Barbara's spectacular table topper is almost finished. There's just a few more rows of stitching to be done on the outer border but, I think, only on one side. This photo really doesn't show you truly how beautiful this quilt is... hopefully the Toot Toot picture will do better.

Barbara BB was very excited as she arrived for her class... she had a birthday last week and, very much to her delight... she had been gifted a brand new sewing machine!! Beaming happily and proudly, Barbara quilted the zigzag pattern on her lovely Railfence table runner.

Di-Butterfly had a little struggle doing the final top stitching on her most beautiful tote bag... it's rather thick  with all those seams coming together, and the corners? Well now... there's a nifty trick to stitching those... Who says we have to stitch forwards anyway... that was a clue!

Stephanie Iceland almost flew through the door in her excitement to show us her finished quilt top... It's a WOW quilt isn't it... all batik fabrics (I'm guessing you know from where they were purchased? he he)
Stephanie sorted out her backing along with some wadding... plans are in place for a sandwich!

Stitching News

Joan The Shop is working her way through this book by Lynne Edwards 
and very much enjoying all the new things she is learning.
Folk are watching her blocks taking shape with a view to making a sampler quilt of their very own. Joan's inspiring us all!

My Wife, Beth spent her day free-motion quilting her lovely quilt.
She's meandering over it with a little heart every now and again.
She's going to quilt more detail inside the butterfly wings too, isn't it lovely!

Gail had attended the workshop with Jenny Barlaston on Monday and brought in her almost finished Foldy-Fun Christmas tree... An extremely posh sample it is too with all the embelishments stitched into place... Gail just needs to add the tree trunk... but I'm guessing you already saw that.

Stitching News

Hooooray... Giggly Gillian finished the Blooming Bargello quilt top and made a sandwich. The idea of the pattern was to start off with a pink left hand side and slowly pass through all the colour combinations, which was really complicated, to finish with a completely purple side on the right...
 it looks like we did it... I think!

The pattern for the following wall hangings is from a supplement leaflet that was in an old magazine and it's by Pat Sloan. It's quite a few years old and I eventually made it in  2009. Some of the Tuesday ladies saw my quilt hanging on the wall in my very own quilt shop and asked for a workshop about making it. There's just too much in the quilt to fit into a workshop so I helped them decide to make one each and all work together on Tuesdays... with me, supposedly, guiding them... they're a very switched on bunch though... take a looky where they're up to...

.

Aren't they fabulous!!! Once all four are finished I am hoping to have them all hanging on display so that you can come to see them... personally, I love to see the same quilt pattern made by different people, all hanging together... all the same, yet completely different!

Princess Jackie is piecing with a Jelly Roll, it's another pattern from the 'Layer Cake, Jelly Roll and Charm Pack' book, though there's a free pattern also on www.Quiltville.com called Pineapple Blossom. It's actually a pattern availabubble on the t'interweb under many different names these days.
Did you spot Jackie's new mobile phone support?

Stitching News

Just Edna popped in to show us that she finished her Stack-n-Whack Kaleidoscope quilt... Toot toot toot toot Just Edna... you did a superb job!!

Click on the picture to see Edna's quilting... each block took one hour just to tie the ends off
WOW... that takes patience.... but so well worth the effort.
This beauty will be gifted tomorrow.

Whilst Edna was visiting and shopping she rooted around in her very own quilted bag and pulled out these two stunning cross stitch pieces... aren't the lovely? Wasn't Edna that stitched them though... twas her Hubby!! Apparently he's colour blind so cross-stitch in silhouette fits the bill perfectly ... of course Edna chose the designs, smart lady eh.

PM Pam has been busy of late... this kiddy play mat style of quilt only needs it's binding and a label and Pam will be ready to gift it and start something else... or finish something else... what ever she fancies actually.

Foldy Fun Workshop

Another fabulous workshop taught by Jenny Barlaston... She's so good with these rather fiddly projects! Take a look what the ladies made today...

There's another Foldy Fun Workshop coming up in the Autumn... if you'd like to make one of these charming trees you will need to book your space... more details can be found by clicking on the workshop tab at the top of my blog.

Continuing with the theme "Is it too early to start...?"
Jenny's next workshop, with Hexagons this time, is on Saturday 6th July...
Want to play?

Annbacan has embellished her Suffolk puff tree... made at the workshop on Saturday, a quilt in a day? Ann used red shiny bling and a little embroidery on her unique tree pot... just  the ends of the binding to finish and this seasonal project will be ready and waiting for when it all starts!

Quilty Quarters

I do like to piece my quilt backings... not a fan of extra wide fabric at all, there's way more fun to be had in playing with other designs. A double sided quilt makes me twice as happy... I had quite a bit of Lovely Lyn's 'different' fabric left over from making the top but not enough to use only that... So I played that favourite game of mine... Rooting!!
There's nothing quite like rootetty-rooting in my little stash of fabrics, on a mission to find something perfect. Who would have thought that I would find a lovely turquoisey blue with a chocolate brown pattern on it? Then I found a piece of Civil War fabric that brought all the colours together... absolutely no idea where that came from.
The back still isn't big enough... yet, I'm working on that... First thing is to border these large Hexagons with chocolate-brown, striped fabric... the same one I used as a coping strip on the quilt top. Then I have some half rectangle triangles to use up, I made them when I cut for the Hexagons... the pattern for those is in the book, 'Layer Cake, Jelly Rolls and Charm Packs'... such a lot of lovely patterns in that book.

Stitching News

Merrily is making a quilt for an America fan, because he is British there will be British in there too. Lots of blocks have been made with perfect fabrics, collected over t'internet like yellow cabs, black taxis and both flags... and they will form the border of what you see here...
The statue of Liberty

Barbie was a very happy chicken... not only because she had remembered her glasses, which made cutting and sewing so much easier...but because she finished her beautiful quilt top.
I'm guessing we will be making a sandwich next time... if there's enough space that is... it's turned out to be quite a large quilt

My Mum Gwynneth  finished quilting her table topper... isn't it fabulous... see how she used left over strips to make an amazing border... just the crusts to trim off and binding to be stitched on and we'll be tooting!

Too Early To Start?

Suffolk Puff Trees with Jenny Barlaston. 

What a fabulous workshop!

Art Gallery Fabrics... Feel The Difference

New Sue recently discovered the beauty of Art Gallery fabrics... I have to tell you... they are gorrrrrrrg-e-ous, so silky and soft with absolutely beautiful designs and colours... it says "Feel The Difference" on the selvage edge, and you most certainly can. I have a few shelves full by now and they are so very 'stroke-abubble'... oh I've seen people do it! ha ha ha 

The fabrics are fantastic for dress making too... they hang beautifully!

Toot Toot Toot... New Sue finished a fabulous bag.
What a perfect feature for any cruise outfit!
That's where you will see this bag on it's first outing... How very stylish eh!

This is actually Sue's second fabulous bag made with Art Gallery fabric... a third will probably be made by now too, fabrics were already purchased, from you know where? Angie's Patchwork & Quilting Shop... I hope you noticed the background of this photo... Batik, so beautiful, great colours... stunning in quilts... also fabulous for making bags!

Did I tell you how much I love My Very Own Shop? I know this sounds like my very own advert but believe me... I just wanted you to know how fabulous my fabrics are!!! he he he... Yesterday the new season Christmas fabrics started to arrive from Free Spirit and Rowan, Moda and Makower... how very exciting!

Fun Stitching Day

25 of us had a most lovely day stitching little quilts for the Linus project.
Heather, the Linus Lady, had done all the hard work by providing a complete, pre-cut kit for each of us so all we had to do was stitch the various pieces of fabric together, following a small diagram, which produced the quilt top... just like that! Next job was to make a sandwich... using 501 spray... which was a first for many of us... then quilt with a simple design and bind the whole thing with what ever method we could.
Lots of quilts were finished and those that weren't quite, went home with their quilter to have a few more minutes of stitching done to them... they can be donated in a week or so.

A few of us with a small selection of the quilts we made

What a fantastic way to spend a day... stitching quilts in great company for a great cause, lovely cakes, biscuits, tea and coffee... chatting and laughing and a superb re-cycling raffle as well!!!

This day will be repeated in the Autumn!!

Thank You Heather xx

Stitching News

Rose had finished all the choosing of beautiful fabrics and has everything stuck in place with Heat & Bond Light (There are lots of 'Sticky Stuffs' availabubble and I do try to keep a good assortment in stock... we all seem to have our favourite) Rose spent the day stitching round all the appliqué shapes...
 and there are lots of shapes!

Giggly Gillian finished the Bargello, what a relief!
Can you see how it starts off all pinky on the left side and is completely purple-y on the left... at least that bit worked out. Borders are being added in a random fashion... which feels very liberated after all that strict stitching and unpicking. This pattern was really tricky to follow!

We all loved it when we discovered the Faux Piped Binding tutorial on line but it is tricky to get everything level and looking as perfect as we really want it to be, especially on the corners. Yesterday we 'invented' another way of achieving the same result, it's so much easier! Of course I do realise that this method might already have been invented but we didn't know!

New Sue also has all her appliqué shapes stuck down. She chose to use Steam-A-Seam 2 Light. Sue spent some time stitching the edges with blanket stitch... Thank goodness for blanket stitch, we love it!
She made a sandwich with it in the afternoon so I'm guessing the quilting elves might be needed soon.

Lovely Lyn finished one of her Breakfast Table place mats with Faux Piped Binding. She made two so her and hubby can enjoy a very posh breakfast together. For the second mat Lyn decided to try our newly invented method... we will wait to hear Lyn's review because she most definitely doesn't want to 'Feux' ever gain! ha ha ha

Stitching News

Chris-tabelle has made a few quilts by now, already she's noticed the gathering of scraps, the multiplying of scraps and the need to take charge of the scraps, before they start to control her... Pot Holders!

Annbacan saw folk make Bargello quilts using Batik Jelly Rolls recently, feeling very tempted she eventually purchased one for her very own self...
but Ann didn't want a Bargello design. Look what we invented!!

PM Pam arrived with a pile of new fabrics and hastily set up her work area... before the end of the day she had produced this kiddy play mat/quilt top. It will be gifted to an animal-ly family, I believe we call them farmers though Pam might have said they were veterinarians?...
 After only one sleep, I forgot!

Chris-tabelle finished her Kiddie play mat with plenty of time to spare. Baby should be arriving in two weeks time... but we know those plans can change don't we... no worries, Chris is well prepared.
Toot toot toot for finishing a beautiful, bright masterpiece Christ-tabelle!

Quilty Quarters

I finished making the border blocks but I needed a coping strip to make them fit, an antique striped chocolate brown fabric was perfect... I've had it in my stash for about 11 years!... you know, this quilt is growing on me, each time I look at it I like it a little bit more. There's still lots of the 'different' fabric left, I could use it on the back and probably will. 15 minute stitching later this evening should see the top complete as there's just the bottom border to be stitched on... after that I will play with the backing... might even make more blocks... then again...