Excuses... Good Excuses?

Well, just as I got into the flow of remembering to take quilty photos daily and blogging about them for you more regularly.... Today, I fail!
Yesterday was Friday Quilt Club.
A quiet day was expected in my shop, with it being half term for the kiddos... a week when parents seem to work extra hard with sitting on children and grandparents have grandchild minding duties... that and a couple of regular ladies (they regularly come to Friday Quilt Club... not the other regular! ha) were poorly and unable to come to play...  the day was all set to be quiet and calm.
I got out my duster and polish good and early to tinker and move a little dust, before Quilt Club ladies arrived...
Silly me!
The shop was quite busy from early doors.... fabric parcels arrived with the jolly delivery guys... one complaining about the weight of the boxes of fabric!
My phone was red hot ringing all day, for one reason and another. I had fun conversations like... how to do something quilty... tricky when I can't see the project. A wholesaler checking I meant to order two 27m rolls of Hobbs Heirloom 80/20 at 120" wide not 96" wide... "Yes, 120" and "Yes, I want two rolls."
Woooooosh... the day was done!
No time for thinking about other things, other than "oh heck... is that more fabric?"
Anyway, enough good excuses...
"There are no pictures"... that's all I was trying to tell you.
As I said, new fabrics have been delivered... I haven't found places for them all yet but I'm working on it. Not all new fabrics were Christmas-sy, there are some beautiful 'basics'... some folk call them tone-on-tone but that sounds a little flat for how gorgeous the designs are... very good additions to the already fabulous selection of beauties already availabubble in My Very Own Quilt Shop... did you know I had a little quilt shop?

Stitching News

Brenda Barbara moved on to her new project. She'd started the cutting at home so during her stitching fun day she made up quite a few blocks and was very pleased with herself. These are very easy blocks to make and don't need a special ruler at all, though there is one out there telling you that you do

Josie purchased these purple fabrics last week... she's also been playing at home and brought in her Half Square Triangles already chopped up! By the end of her afternoon, all these blocks and more were ready to be stitched together. The pattern for this quilt can be found by clicking here

Sheila spent the whole, whole day stitching... in confusion.... She had attended the workshop recently, with Dawn Cameron-Dick, but finished her day thoroughly confused... as did lot's of others! It's been tricky sorting ladies with their Feathered Stars, what with the template being the wrong size and the triangle making method... I think, by now, I know how to make them... well... after correcting so many! So, I was able to help Sheila... she went home happy but left the pattern with me... as she has 
"No Intention of ever making another!" ha ha ha

Stephanie Iceland popped in to my very own quilt shop... she had a very smart bag to show to us and was wearing a rather dashing purple coat to complete the combo. Fabulous and finished... I think she deserves a Toot toot toot!

Princess Jackie's Appliqué

Princess Jackie finished her flowers, woooohoooo! All the embroidery bits are finished too... this top is ready to be sandwiched for quilting. Jackie always does the most beautiful appliqué and this time is no exception. The rich blue background fabric is 100% cotton... from my very own quilt shop, as is the flower stem fabric... did I mention that I have a lovely little quilt shop? maybe I did....

All of the other fabrics are silk... (Internet Silk, have you heard of it?) I know the quilt top looks lovely in my photograph but, in real life, standing right next to it.... I cannot begin to tell you how gorgeous the flowers are. The silk fabric catches the light in a fabulous way... oh I'm gushing, gushing and more gushing... I don't know the right words to describe how lovely these flowers are... When the quilt is finished, I'll try to take a few closer pictures for you, there's a lot of tiny detail to drool over too!

Polish Your Trumpets!

It's Tooting time!

Let's start with Gail's Jacob's Ladder quilt... toot toot toot!
A relatively easy block to make with stunning results. Gail stitched lots of borders on this beauty... We auditioned lots of fabrics looking for the right one but... the quilt wanted them all. Did you know quilts can talk? Gail's grandson, Jacob, will love it!

New Sue finished her wedding gift quilt...
Made with a Jelly Roll and Sue's precision piecing skills. See the quilting... thank goodness for a good walking foot!... a simple design that looks sooooo good, 

You can see the quilting looks great on the back too. Those blocks Sue used for the back each have a wedding/marriage theme like 'Steps To The Alter'. Another fabulous and finished quilt by New Sue ready and waiting for a toot toot toot

Princess Jackie finished her fabulous Feathered Star quilt, toot toot toot
 Jackie decided to make hers as a wall hanging. What a stunning feature on any wall! I bet she looks at it every day with a smile of satisfaction... I know I would.

Giggly Gillian found herself totally 'hooked' on her Cathedral Window project.
She's a keen gardener so was very happy that I had booked a couple of rainy days for Bank Holiday weekend... see, she stitched and stitched, mostly by hand, and finished her little cushion front... Beautiful eh?

Quilty Quarters

I thought you might like to see what I did with my two days off. 
Not finished by any means but I've enjoyed every minute... 
Made from one Moda Jelly Roll, sewn into strip sets of 3. 
Then all cut up again with my new 60 degree triangle ruler...
 and my new hand that doesn't go numb half way through the job!

Stitching News

Sue, one who loves to wander round my very own quilt shop soaking up the lovely atmosphere and looking at the wonderful works being created in the classroom, always leaves with a bundle of fabric and a head full of inspiration... This is the completed top of her kiddy play mat (quilt) made with one of our handy little pre-cut 6" square packs.

Damm Julie was getting very creative... she started the day joining hexagons by machine, it's easy enough to do and needs great accuracy. They were to be the backing on her Fairy quilt... by mid-day, Julie had decided to use two strips of Hexagons with squares of fabric either side... it will look lovely! 

Di Butterfly finished sashing her quilt centre. Lovely. There's going to be one more border, you can just about see the striped fabric there in the left corner. Di's going to put the four blue fabrics as corner stones too. The little labels can come off now but they were very necessary for her during the piecing process

Jeannette Dilly sandwiched and quilted her centre block. This woven design caught the attention of lots of people judging be my 'In Box'. The quilt Dilly is making is going to be amazing... it has a few of us taxing our brains as we are making it up as we go... exciting!

Toot toot toot, Brenda Barbara finished her two heart cushions...
 made with the Twister Template... for the tutorial 'how to' click here
It's very satisfying to make cushions with zips you know, Ask Brenda!

Dotty treated herself to a new bag pattern and made it up from upholstery fabric...
She says every time she makes a bag, people ask her what pattern she used, so she decided to make a tell tale label to attach to her bag... clever huh!
 It looks every so complex though.

Dotty has always enjoyed making bags... this one has a lot of foldy-fun involved. It's a strange shape not looking too practical really but we decided it would be good to keep an umbrella in the bottom... but you might not be able to get it out!

My Mum Gwynneth finished the Makower Advent panel... taaa daaa She quilted round individual baubles and socks with metallic gold thread to give them a little definition. We have the panels in my very own quilt shop, should you fancy making one for your very own family... Oooooher, it's getting closer to sewing prevention season... oh joy !

This is Dotty's appliqué Witch, remember I was telling you about it last week...
I said it was beautiful but the witch was not beautiful... now you can see what I mean...

Sporty Sue spent her Friday Quilt Club day making June... the very last month of the twelve needed to complete her quilted calendar... such a smarty pants, I've been making my months for two years and still have 5 months to go!

Little Annette came to play. She had quilted all the panels to make a tote bag... like the one she made at Sue's workshop a while ago... a little too long ago to remember it all so she needed a little help to put it together. Between us all, we cracked it... just handles to make now.

Lot's of catch up in this post. I ordered a lot of rain showers and not too much sunshine for this Bank Holiday weekend... I apologise if that spoils your very own plans... but I WANT TO SEW!!

Free Form Appliqué Workshop

We learned how to make a quilt from a photograph. It's ever so easy really and the results are rather stunning. For this workshop we provided a kit for everyone to make the same picture...

Now the ladies have all the skills they need to choose their very own pictures to turn into lovely quilted works of art.
Thank you Sheila, for a great workshop, once again.

Stitching News

Rose announced that she had finished the quilting and proudly held up her quilt. A beautiful and traditional design that never fails to please. While Rose has been making this Log Cabin quilt, lots of people have decided that they also want to make one. Time for Rose to trim the crusts off... 
Yes! but NO... she started something new!

Giggly Gillian enjoys hand stitching. In one of her magazines there was a cushion made with Cathedral Windows. She purchased the fabric to make one for her very own self... but, after studying the magazine instructions, we decided that there was a much better technic that used less fabric! I demonstrated it... and Gillian got started!

Shirley Lerly has been bitten with the Dresden Plate Cushion bug...
Aren't they lovely, fresh and summery!
I have discovered a very simple way to put a zip in to a cushion back, and, after completing her first, I think Lerly agreed as there will be 4 in this set.

New Sue also proudly announced that her quilting was now finished. Beautiful!

Sue's making this as a wedding gift using a Jelly Roll. The idea came from a book called 'Seamingly Scrappy' .. a great book with lovely ideas, evidently! 

Time For More Tooting

Giggly Gillian is back from her travels. What a great way to get back to 'normal life'... finishing your quilt and enjoying the whole quilty world raising their shiny trumpets to give a loud toot toot toot for your fabulous and finished project... 
A beautiful quilt it is too.

Not only a beautiful front but a fabulous backing to boot. All finished of an extremely posh border and binding treatment. Gillian plans to keep this quilt, all for her very own self, and who could blame her!

Toot toot toot time for Gail too. She's been working on this quilt after a lady requested it as a commission! How very fabulous for someone to ask you to make a gorgeous and very special quilt because they have seen your lovely work?

Another beautiful backing was made. Gail used up all of her left over Pin-Wheel blocks, lovely eh? You can see the quilting too...
 I shall toot toot toot again for this lovely backing Gail. Love it!

 I think we make the backs of quilts look really good. When the sales guys call on me, in my very own shop, to entice me to purchase their fabrics and doo-dads, they always show me the 'extra wide backing' fabric. Why would I purchase it though?... We have as much fun making up lovely backings as we do the tops of our quilts, it would crush some of our creativity, I'm sure! I love pieced backing! Do you?

Fabulous And Finished

Morning Judith finished her Square Dance quilt... Beautiful and bright. I should tell you that it was Judith's very own hubby who chose the fabrics! Yes... and he has an eye for happy things me thinks. One Square Dance workshop and all fabrics needed were gifted to Judith for her birthday... 
what a great gift eh!

Fabulous and finally finished!! toot tot toot
This wall hanging had been pushed to one side for a short while but Morning Judith decided to finish all of her PhD's (Projects Half Done) before starting anything else... but she will be starting something else on Saturday!!! keep that between ourselves though eh...

Christabelle finished her lovely little wall hanging... toot toot toot
It's the result of the Simon Henry workshop last Wednesday.
Notice that she turned her Trapunto flower into a Trapunto-ed starfish shape... clever lady as it suits the fabric choices perfectly... Finished and fabulously fabulous

I forgive you if you are having trouble keeping up with all of Christabelle's tooting moments... she's in top gear, full steam ahead mode... this might look like the cushion she made last week, but it is another one! this time a slightly different lay out of the 5 Minute blocks.. totally toot-abubble! Both cushions have been made for gifting.

Friday Quilt Club

Friday Quilt Club is a little different from our other classroom days, with hours from 10am to 3pm.  You don't have to be a member to come but you do have to book in advance. It's a very relaxed day of stitching, usually working on your own project and we can help, should you need assistance. 

You won't believe the subjects of conversation that crop up... jam and bread making, vet bills, weather... of course, we are mostly British... so we discuss the weather! Then there's the subject that I must call 'the joys of ageing'... what a hoot that always turns out to be! 

Joan The Shop continues to work on her Snowman Collector blocks. She's decided to add a little wadding under lots of the appliquéd pieces now... Joan had started off putting wadding only under the white snow bits...

This is block number 12, it was made a little out of sequence because Joan wanted the last pattern in the set of 12 as it had the instructions for sewing the blocks together with the sashing squares... aren't they cute blocks!

Chatty Cathy came to play. She usually goes to Caverswall Quilters on Wednesdays but we took over the hall last Wednesday for the Simon Henry workshop... no problem for Cathy, she knew exactly what to do and booked a Friday Quilt Club day instead. We helped her sort out a few little hic-cups with her Lone Star segments... she went home all inspired to continue!

We had Dotty join us too, she's making a beautiful Witch appliqué... not that we could call her witch beautiful! I will get a picture next time.
My Mum Gwynneth finished her little Christmas Stocking bunting so she'll start making one of our new Advent Calendar panels next, at the same time quilting for Linus and making her diamond quilt... busy eh!

It was Malvern Quilt Show this weekend, did you go?
My very own shop was ever so quiet. I had time to think and ponder, sort and move. There are lot's of new fabrics due in this coming week... I noticed that all my trolleys are full, all of my shelves are space free (that means FULL) so I took up my pen and reduced a lot of fabrics, mostly Christmas fabrics really... but they have to go... more new festive stuff is on it's way and I need the shelves to display them on!

Stitching News

Jeannette Dilly, Daughter In Law... 
(Jeanette Milly is Mother In Law... seems some were getting confused with the only difference between the two ladies being one 'N'!) wanted to make a large quilt for gifting with only a small amount of time. She chose a great fabric with large and quite beautiful flowers, which were fussy cut to get those gorgeous blooming larger blocks. The top was finished lickety-split and Jeannette sent it away to be professionally quilted for fear that she would run out of time.

Here's a closer look... beautiful fabrics and lovely computer quilting done at Quilter's Trading Post, who very kindly squeezed the quilt in to their very busy schedule. Jeannette's very pleased with the quilt...
 It's fabulous and finished ready for gifting with days to spare! Toot toot toot...

Jenny Barlaston received a lovely gift of a Charm Pack . Not wanting to leave it in a drawer while decissions were made for it's use, she decided that she would make one of our 'Tote Bag From A Charm Pack' totes. She says if you love a Charm Pack so much as to not want to cut it up or to make a quilt with it... make the tote...
then you can love your Charm Pack fabrics every day!

Jeanette Milly continues to make up 18" blocks with her sewing machine.
She says there's no real planning for colour placement, she picks the fabrics from her pile, randomly... it's working well eh! Jeanette only needs 12 blocks for this project.

Sheila has been commissioned to make another banner. This will be the centre and, quite honestly... and you probably won't believe me, this is the easy bit!
You should, and will, see what Sheila is having to do next...
That lady has a bucket full of patience.

Jeannette Dilly is delighted with the way the quilting is showing up on the back of her block. Each large Feathered Star block is going to be quilted then joined together with sashing... which makes it much easier to quilt around all those fabulous little triangles

She's changing thread colour for each section, red, white or blue which,
although a lot of people don't like the faff of doing that... is making all the difference, well worth the effort... so say I, it's my very own opinion.. remember that we always encourage PMS! (Pleasing My Self!)

We have a new lady, Louise. She took to rotary cutting just like she was born to do it! Here she's pinning her sandwich together with Jenny's help... ready for quilting, which she started and will continue at home... once her Brother walking foot arrives!

As I mentioned above, we almost always encourage PMS... which is a great because Josie pleases her very own self all the time... it's wonderful to be so relaxed about the end results... Josie only just realised that both of her quilts will be about 60" square when finished, they didn't look that big in the picture! ha ha ha ha

This, Josie's Cat Quilt... has Broderie Anglais for one of the borders just because she has loads and thought it would be perfect... Josie is working on both quilts at the very same time and she's adding lovely little details as she sews.