Updated Shop Information

My shop will be open 10am until 4pm on Thursday and Friday.
Appointments only on Saturday 24th.
Did you notice that you can have a virtual tour of my shop? 

This link had been available for years, I was very surprised to find that some people never tried it.

Please book a shopping appointment if you can. 
Appointments will have priority.
But ...
Should you just want to pop in, I think you could.
Please wait outside until the coast is clear though.

My loo is not available for you to use... just so that you are aware.
Leg crossing is allowed!!

Stitching News

 Thank you for the pictures once again ladies. I took some pictures with my perfect purple camera, which thought it had retired, ha ha ha

Another turtle sandwich, this belongs to Our Pam. We've seen this quilt made in a few different colourways now and, I have to say, they are all fab-u-lous!  The beautiful Moda Grunge background is perfect for a turtle pond.

This sandwich also belongs to Our Pam. She works on the 9-Patch units in between other projects... a great idea, it keeps a tiny-teeny-weeny bit of control of those scraps and gives a little break between the more "concentration needed" designs.

"concentration needed" designs... 

Like this one that Farmer Lynda is working on

There's a dinosaur... which wasn't easy at all... but then it wasn't tricky either! 

depended on which part Lynda was sewing when you asked her... 

She sent the photo with this 

"OMG, I did it!" ha ha ha

There are leaves that were also "tricky... not too tricky".

Great hoots of pleasure with each block finished!

We will watch the progress as it happens.

Fiona Too is now designing her very own projects. 

You can't beat a personalized gift and it's toot toot toot time 

A fabulous Unique and finished project

The back of the cushion perfectly co-ordinated and very clever indeedy...  the design carried through from the front with a fabulous hidden zip in the bush! toot toot toot

This was the last kit left in my very own shop for the Bugs quilt, called 'Buzzin' Around'

 I'm making it. A free pattern from the Andover fabric folk, how very kind, thank you very much.

I need a gifting quilt... watch this space, work has already started!

Cats On The Fence

I've had A LOT of fabric delivered during this last week or so. It all got ordered when the government gave me the grant payment. I went a bit mad, spent the lot on ordering threads and fabrics ready for the normal life to come back.

This range is Katie's Cats, a Makower collection. It's a lovely, bright and colourful range... I'm hoping you agree that it's very want-able-need-able! I decided to make a quilt knowing exactly the right design. Licketty-Split, I had cut just enough of each fabric and left my shop for a sewing spell in my Quilty Quarters. 

After a bit of paper and pencil calculating, I got it all beautifully pressed using Best Press (a highly recommended potion that I have just been introduced to) and all the strips were accurately cut. 6 strips of the larger cats and 10 of each of the other 5 fabrics. 

Strip sets, 10 of each... that's a lot of accurate stitching in straight lines!

A good firm pressing of all the seams to one side... 

and then cut into blocks ready for the Railfence design

which way would the blocks look best on my rails?

Hearty rails?

Stripe-y rails?

I actually liked the hearty rails better but...

The stripe-y rails won this time. I should have cut the heart fabric wider to have hearty rails, too late now! And it still looks great, even if I do say so myself! The Railfence design is a really easy one so I was done with the top quite quickly.

 The sandwich was made in my shop on tables pushed together... like in the good old days! See that join in the strips? That's me being thrifty! It won't be noticed in the grand scheme.

Quilting with bright and colourful thread. I used my walking foot for the stripy Railfence design then put the darning foot on, dropped those feed-dogs and free motioned quilted the rest with hearts and curly-whirly loops 

You should be able to see the quilting if you zoom in a bit.

The larger cats fabric had one big heart, all slightly different shaped hearts as I didn't want to be faffing with drawing them first!

Back to my shop to choose the binding, Pink with purple dots was perfect.

A rubbish photo but it's finished. toot toot toot  I've called it "Cats On The Fence"

How so? Cat fabric and a Railfence quilt design? Genius, ha ha ha

Measuring 49" x 70"  that's 1.25m x 1.80m

I'll try to take a better photo when I can find someone to hold the quilt up for me.

Needless to say, I had to write up the instructions for a few customers, very simple notes though. Pattern writing can be too wordy for me. I will be cutting kits next week for the ladies to make their very own Cat's On The Rails quilts. I hope they will share photos with us when the quilts are done.

Ugly Bird House Quilt

That's it then, apart from stitching the label on, the Ugly Birdhouse Quilt is finished. It's been finished for a while but I couldn't make it look good in any photos I took. Mainly because no-one could to hold it up for me, darn the Covid!
We are allowed to visit people in the garden from this week, even quilts need to visit people don't they, ha! A cunning plan was hatched by my very good self to go visiting and get good quilt pictures!! and to see my Lilly and her babies, of course, ooops!

My Lilly ordered sunshine so we could gather in her garden.

Of course she helped me take pictures of the quilt. 

There were two little helpers...
Both babies just had birthdays so we need a feet photo

It's a new tradition!! 

Not that little man wanted to stand still! 

Faye asked me to pick her up so she could look over the top,

Alas, I didn't have enough hands.

The back... with feet, lots of quilts have feet!

Toot toot toot Nangie, it's a fabulous and finished Ugly fabric quilt. 

Guess who wants to keep it?

I'll hang it in my shop for a while first, now that it's done, I love it!

Gail's Gifting Quilt

I know what it looks like... Yes, I know we are in Lockdown.
Gail happened to be in town doing her weekly food shop and saw my car on my shop front, which doesn't happen often as I almost always walk there. I must have had a premonition eh!!!  Anyway, Gail called me to ask whether she was able to show me this fabulous quilt as it was soon to be on it's way to be gifted.

Outside and wearing our masks we did a rapid photo shoot. 

It looks like 'normal behaviour' from the good old days before early on last March!! 

Isn't this just adore-a-bubble. All of these fabrics were purchased from my very own shop, woop woop.

Gail says she's never done a pieced backing before but now that she's had a dabble, she will do it again. Minnie will love this quilt, no doubt about it. Toot toot toot Gail, a Fabulous and finished fanfare is well deserved. 

On a side note... did we ever see Gail's large purple quilt finished, hmmmm I'll just leave that one resting!! ha ha ha

I Think I'll Stick To Quilts!

I've had this pattern for a while. I purchased several of the Jennifer Jangles patterns at the same time, remember the Turtles? That's how long I have been wanting to make this toy. I am not used to toy making! That's why it's taken me so long. As I STILL have plenty of the turquoise stash I decided to make a trial dog with it... before I move onto my 'good stuff'!

I got all the bits cut out easily enough. I followed the pattern very carefully. 2 thousand pins in each foot for the pad... that's tricky pinning!

Lots of body parts all ready for stuffing... 

not a job I enjoyed but had to be done!

I forgot to take 'meanwhile photos' after all the stuffing... I didn't have the correct ingredients for the eyes so I improvised.  That snout was a blooming nightmare to do. I sent the picture to Lilly, she asked whether it was a pig, ha ha ha

He/she doesn't sit up very well, no idea what's gong on in the neck department!

Legs and shoes are great though aren't they!

Lozzocking by a chair with the unruly ears, they are supposed to be stitched in place but I'd had enough by that point...

It didn't matter where I tried to take a picture, it's still turquoise, still lopsided, still doesn't sit up!!! But those legs and shoes are still fabulous! I'm not making another yet a while, I'm quite rubbish at toy making... all those hours, ha! I have a different plan for the turquoise uglies again now. there's a clue in the side bar of this blog... if you want one.

Stitching News

Once again, thank you for taking the time to send me your pictures ladies, and Lynda.

Let's start with a toot toot toot fanfare for an absolutely fabulous and finished turtle pond quilt. Made by Our very own Farmer Lynda. It's finished (not sure about a label?) in very good time for a birthday gifting present for a special little lady. Lot's of google-y eyes (the turtles' eyes)!! Lynda has really enjoyed making this quilt, she completely loves applique-ing actually. It's a Jennifer Jangles Pattern

Our Pam won't tell me what she is up to. She purchased several of the bolt ends I posted pictures of last week with the addition of a metre of her most favourite fabric, Moda Grunge. Next thing I knew, there was a ping on my phone with a photo of a block.  It was a practice block, not this one. This block is number 2, made after Pam's first practice block... which was ever so slightly 'different'! I believe there are now 6 perfect blocks.

Our Beano is playing with Flying Geese. They are all being made with left over fabrics from her Top Secret project that I haven't shown you pictures of yet, because it is "Top Secret"!!

The Flying Geese 'are what they are'... regularly uttered words from Beano! 

The geese were never meant to be perfect, as in the mathemistic quilty world way... (my blog, my words!!!) so long as the Geese fly nicely together they are perfectly perfect!

The mathemisms... I can't wait to see these Geese, all different dimensions, and quite teeny-tiny, doing their very important job of holding the countryside together! Yes, that is A Clue!!!!

The Ugly Duckling Quilted

It's all quilted. I used my darning foot and quilted Free Motion around all the birds, hearts, houses and flowers, everything really. The beauty of a quilt made with no importance is that the quilting can be done 'Stress Free'. Any wobbly bits or artsy-fartsy bits can be left as they land... Quite liberating... You should try it.
I used a variegated green thread, Rainbows from Superior Thread, it stitched a treat. They changed the name now, to Fantastico. I didn't tie of my threads, nor did I thread them through, shocking, ha! I just secured them and trimmed off the excess...What a rebel!

I quilted little bugs and flight lines in all the spaces, that sounds good eh? Just loop-de-loops really. All trimmed up and waiting for the binding, which is now stitched on and I'm getting on with the hand stitching to the back.

Free motion straight-ish lines... 

stitching around the hearts Liberated-ly!

Long Free Motion Straight lines are good practice for sewing speed and stitch length so I did those first, you know, to get me in the 'groove' and it worked!

My watering can needed a bit of extra quilting because it had started to poof a bit too much and I didn't really want a poooofy watering can! The Birdhouses did the same so I added more to them too.

I'll be posting for a fabulous and finished fanfare, very soon!!