Silly Me, Only Trying To Help.

Merrily was 'merrily' hand stitching her project... 
It's a tiny bag from a Japanese project book. 
It has tiny applique detail... that's the bit Merrily was stitching... 

I was looking over her shoulder, and I thought,

"What a lovely neat job, but it must be very tricky to get tiny stitches with such a large needle..." 

I mentioned my thought to Merrily... and she said 

"I probably wouldn't be able to sew with a smaller needle than this one"... 

At which point she turned to me to continue the conversation.

In doing so, she pulled the project from under the magnifying lens, which  I had been looking through!!! 

What a twit I am, the needle was very tiny!

I always try to help... 

Sometimes, just sometimes, I look rather daft! ha ha ha

Stitching News

Gail finished all of the quilting and tied off all the ends so it was binding time... stitched by machine on the front and hand stitching for the back, the traditional way. Most of us enjoy hand stitching the binding, but we can please our very own selves how we do it.

Christabelle is doing a lot of quilting on this beautiful and fabulously bright project... It takes a lot of patience to tie off all of those threads but sometimes we just have to do it, to get the fantastic results we desire, if we desire them that is.

New Sue started a new project. It's a Two Block quilt from one of her many Jelly Roll books. She experimented with a few different methods to achieve the same end result and chose her favourite way... now to repeat this block a few times.

Princess Jackie is delighted to have finished her Table Runner, just the top. As you know she prefers applique! The little units are only 2 inches each so she's had to use her 'noggin' to get them spot on... it worked, so it's sandwich time.

Stitching News

Enid is designing her very own table topper... She had an amazing selection of leftover fabrics that were cut up into squares to make the background. The flowers have been Fussy Cut from a beautiful Batik fabric she had too... All fabrics were originally purchased from my very own shop... so I feel I have helped a lot, ha!

Farmer Lynda purchased a new book last week. She chose the first project she wanted to make and once the fabrics had been chosen (from my very own shop) she couldn't wait to get started. Lots of progress has been made... she was sewing and pressing until well after midnight without even noticing the time!

All Day Di is having a baby... it's not her very own self that's having a baby, but it's a close enough kind of baby... the excitement is high! This baby will have more quilts than you can dream about. Baby is probably only the size of a lemon and these two quilts are almost ready!

Fiona Too had been gifted this selection of fabrics and she's decided to make a Quilt-As-You-Go project. With a straight setting, the blocks will be joined with sashing, apartment-ly. They will look woven... very clever... Inspired by Kate's quilt I posted about a few weeks ago.

Lynda's Strippy Tote Workshop

I think it's fair to say, I know it really, that everyone enjoyed a fabulous workshop with Lynda... 

The first half hour was a bit manic, as it always with everyone arriving jolly and chatty, if not a little frazzled and unpacking all their sewing paraphernalia, you know... we take less for a two week holiday!!! 

There was such a lovely calm atmosphere... even though the classroom sounded like a bit like a sweatshop once everyone was stripping at the very same time!!! 

Here are the fruits of the day, there are handles too and they will be stitched on at home, there was no-one prepared to do a little racing/ rushing to get them stitched on just for my photos for my very own blog!!! I only have my my very  own shop to make my blog more interesting for you, ha ha ha

This one belongs to Miss Lynda, she made it to inspire!

Stitching News

Just Edna doesn't shy away from a little bit of tricky piecing... she actually embraces the challenge. There are many ways to piece a Hunters Star block and we have covered a few in workshops in the past. Edna is making hers with the assistance of a Die Cutting machine. Each block, when completed, was exactly the right size! But there's a lot of fabric that could be wasted, I say 'could' because 'we' never waste!!

Norma is still enjoying making her blocks. A sampler quilt is a great way to learn lots about cutting accurately, or not. Pressing gently, or not. Piecing accurately, or not. Using pins, or not... and sewing straight lines, or not, bless her!

Jean Bean would like you all to know that she's getting ahead for Sewing Prevention Season 2020. She stitched the binding on her new Festive Table Runner and started the hand stitching, so it will be finished in good time. Have you seen the film, Pinocchio?

Annbacan is working her way through her Annie Downs pattern. Every little detail is so cute. Sometimes Ann makes up a unit then decides it's not quite right so starts it again... There may well be a second quilt made with the orphan units, at very least they will be stitched in the backing.

I took delivery of these Peter Rabbit fabrics last week... definitely not the norm for my very own shop but I have a couple of customers that pestered just enough for me to give in! ha... They are budget base cotton but extremely cute.

A Place For Everything

Everyone had a good day on Saturday. It's the best fun, sewing in the company of like minded folk.

There are lots of components and new skills needed to making the A Place For Everything case. Right from the cutting out of all the pieces it can be tricky... That's what we think, it's all pretty simple, once you know how... just for a fear of doing it wrong really... everyone managed to make good progress, with the help of Our Carol. 

We have a few ladies who have already attended a couple of workshops and a few that just started out on Saturday... whatever speed you want to work at, Carol accommodates.

Here are pictures of progress, it's interesting to see all the different fabric and colour choices too.

Chef Chris sent the menu for Sunday Funday Sewday 26th January...

Beef Chilli, served with Rice and Sour Cream
followed by
Orange and Cardamon Sponge with Custard.

Have you booked?

Checking In...

Wow.... what a start...
Happy New Year....
My shop opened up on Monday, just as I said it would.
Customers have missed it being open, which is wonderful.
They are so relieved to be back, especially those who come to class to enjoy time for their very own selves, happily busying away on their stitchy projects.

The delivery man already arrived with huge and heavy boxes of fabrics, bright and inspiring contents they are too!! More is on it's way!

Sunday Funday Sewday, at Checkley Village Hall, bookings for 26th January 9:30 - 4:30pm are open so you need to get your very own self organised if you want to join us for that.
I'll post the menu as soon as chef sends it to me.

British Stitch Village.... Uttoxeter Quilt Show to us, is advertising that it's time for your quilt show entries to be sorted. I do hope you will enter something this year.
My shop will be organising the Quilt Angels again for 2020 and we will be having a demonstration table with inspiration for using up your scraps, left over and 'ugly' fabrics.

Boom... we're off... looks like 2020 has given you all new batteries!!!
Pictures will be taken, soon!

Stitching News

Festive panels for stockings and advent calendars, are always available in my very own shop... all year long! Fabric companies produce them every year as they are very popular. They can be made up lick-etty-split, you don't have to be a brilliant stitcher to make them as they are easy and can even be sewn by hand ... 

Or ... You can take your very own time making them, with beautiful and plentiful stitching and quilting, lovely embroidery and embellishments and even over the top twinkles, sequins and general blinging... if that's your thing, it's all allowed. 

In an effort to encourage you to get started with Christmas prep, ready for Sewing Prevention Season 2020 (Ouch!!... how very dare I???) I will keep them displayed in my shop for January and I will have wadding pieces cut just the right size for you!

Our Christabelle made a beautifully quilted Christmas Stocking, before Christmas of course (I'm trying to catch up!) She quilted lots of the printed design lines and around the snowmen and presents... they pooofed up lovely! Hanging loop ready and waiting... this will be an Heirloom in the future. It's Fabulous and finished, so you know what that means...Toot toot toot Chris. 

This is Rose's latest Kiddo gifting project. The design is a Pattern Mash-Up. Rose took inspiration from her pattern collection and the black Labrador that lives in the same house as the arriving baby, then she chose to use elements from a few of her patterns. I'm pretty sure this one is for a little girl baby, it's cute eh?

 Secret sewing can be tricky, trying to hide evidence from nosy folk at home can be difficult. Quilt-As-You-Go blocks are great and once you have them all made, they are quilted!... and you will feel like you are on the home straight... but joining them all together can take much longer than you expect, especially if you want it all accurate. Kate had a last minute panic with this quilt. She started it in very good time to get it finished for gifting... but you know how life takes over!...All housework and general chores were put on one side for the marathon to the finishing line and she won. Gifted just in the nick of time... toot toot toot Kate, a fabulous and finished triumph.

Sewing Prevention Season.

We are almost on the other side.... 

My shop is still in pause mode (not open) until Monday 6th.

I hope you have all managed to have a little fun? Even though sewing is the most fun and you have no doubt, not stitched anything at all for many days... I certainly have not! 

Every year I think Next Year will surely be much better... It never actually gets better. I've decided to plan ahead for next year... I'm planning on having my worst Sewing Prevention Season EVER!!! (with fingers crossed that this extremely negative approach will work, ha ha ha)

 This fun and cute little Santa Pot, complete with winter plant, was a gift to me and fit perfectly on this ancient Foundation Paper Pieced Table Topper. I failed to notice that the pot is meant to live outside and when I added a spot of water, it ran straight through the big hole in the bottom! He's outside fending for his very own self now, Table Topper washed and sorted!!

In the Art To Heart book, Windsome Baby  Available in my very own shop!... There are lots of lovely things, including lovely cubes.
Last year, before March actually... when Faye was still a little baby and going to have her first birthday, I had the urge and decided to make the cubes.
I got as far as tracing the letters and cutting out the 'Sticky Stuff'', (I used Steam A Seam 2 Light) All letters and animal bits (the cubes in the book have animals with 3D detail) were placed in a folder as 'good prep'.
Fast forward almost a whole year and Faye is now a toddler, soon to be 2 and another baby is coming, I thought I had better get on with it. Just before Sewing Prevention Season, after the Bauble quilt was finished and gifted, I cracked on. Snatching every spare moment for prep and kitting up because, luckily, we had a Sunday Funday Sewday on December 1st and another little and rather luxurious sewing retreat at Alison House on the 8th- 10th, so much progress was made.
Fabulous and Finished, just in the nick of time... and already gifted...
I did make a more simple version of the lovely cubes... no animals with 3D bits and with different letters and the cubes are a bit smaller size, as I used a pre-cut Angie's Safari Life Six Pack Available in my very own shop!!! ... My cubes are not really like the originals at all, but the seed of the idea was most definitely from the book.

Moda fabrics from the Safari Life collection...
Yes, I have them in stock.

Festive Baubles, Gifted!

I Loved making this project!!! 

It's Felicity from Kate Spain I ordered the pattern from here

I read through all the instructions. Made quite a lot of changes to almost every bit!!! 

That's because I needed to save fabric. I had 3.20m of my chosen background and the pattern requires about 4.25 yards. Lots of the construction is done by pinning a square to each corner, sew through a diagonal line then chop the remaining triangle shapes off. I mathemised, A LOT, and planned and in the end I saved a whole metre of fabric.

I cut and 'kitted up' ready for our full week September retreat, at the quite wonderful, Alison House Hotel in Cromford. Each Bauble was filed into in a little paper folder with all the fabrics precisely cut and ready to sew... I was amazed at my very own self!! It made the blocks so much easier to work on during our fun retreat week. 

I returned home with all of the Baubles finished and most of the connector blocks done (they were more tricky than I had anticipated) so I continued sewing for quite a few long evenings and a few Sunday afternoons. Several weeks later... I sandwiched!

This picture, of sandwich time, shows the fabrics and colours up quite well. Lots of snatched evening minutes were needed against the ticking clock for the quilting. I wanted to gift the quilt on the 1st of December, Lilly always 'Festivates' her home on the 1st. Not much point receiving a Christmas Quilt on the 25th when you pack it all up a few days later ready for the back to work thing. Anyway, I succeeded!

I have now gifted the quilt... To my Lilly and her little family. She absolutely loves it.... I had forgotten to take a finished picture so she did it for me.

The colours are much more vibrant in real life, the lighting isn't doing a great job... It's quite a large quilt actually, making it very tricky to photograph.

You know how I love to have a co-ordinating back. It was soooo hard to use that amazing, large print, it's been a favourite of mine for a very long time... but use it I did. I think it's a perfect compliment to those Festive Baubles.

I knew from the start that it was going to be risky using a lot of White On White fabric for my background... There's a tiny toddler in the house for goodness sake!

Needless to say, at this point, it has been on the family sofa for 4 weeks so far... there are lots spillages on it already, little rough bits where breakfast Weetabix 'happened' and buttery toast pieces have landed and dried...

But you know what? 

It is being used and loved... 

Let the wearing out commence!! ha ha ha