Stitching News

We had a really good Sunday Sewday yesterday, no-one was cold! phew, thank goodness for open windows, it was a hot and humid day.
There were some beautiful projects being worked on. Some getting to the large stage, luckily there are lots of tables at Checkley for spreading out on. We even had one floral sandwich made.
Everything has been put back in place now and the next Checkley Sunday Funday will be on 30th July. We won't be meeting in August with us going on our pilgrimage to the Festival Of Quilts on Sunday 6th August It is time now to get your payment to me, if you have booked a seat.

Work continues on my scrappy flower quilt. What a wonderful mess I am making in the freshly tidied up Quilty Quarters, that was a thankless few hours, ha! Working with a stash of small bits just can not be done successfully without a big (beautiful) mess! Blocks are 14inch finished so with giant applique it grows fast. The pattern I'm using is called "Grow Free, Wildflowers" by Rachaeldaisy Designs. 

It's a downloadable pattern, so no need to wait for delivery. Be careful if you go to look and maybe order the pattern, there are a lot of other lovely patterns on the site! Don't say I didn't warn you. xx

Stitching News

Saturday Sewday was super busy. There was a lot going on in the classroom. Projects from previous weeks of sewing were coming together so I was kept busy, I had to dig deep in my memory for some piecing skills, you will see that soon when I get a photo of Cheryl's New York Beauty, who knew we could remember so much? Unfortunately for my blog, there was not much time for photo taking. But, most definitely a good busy for my shop, I had lots of happy customers too. A wonderful day really.

I did manage one photo. Deb is very happy with her new quilt top. It's taken a while to make but that's good really. Some of us decorate a room to suit a beautiful quilt. Deb sold up her home and moved house to find the right bedroom for this lovely project!! The pattern is from a Tilda book. It's quilting time now though. Backing has been chosen and stitched together in readiness for that task. I suspect it will be going to Amanda in Stone this time.

With my new shop timetable now in full swing, there is a 'Sewing Saturday' almost every weekend. They are perfect for us weekday working girls and just the ticket for any loneliness at the weekend. Not everyone dreams of more spare time, but more stitching time is always welcomed isn't it.

You will need to book if you want to come, 7/8 people per day is the maximum, unless you want a table outside, ha! No, I am not going to extend my shop, it's rented!

Stitching News

On Friday I pushed the classroom tables together for sandwich making.
First in to make a sandwich was Princess Jackie. I tried photos from may angles but no matter which way, none of them show the beautiful work to it's maximum. You're going to have to see this quit in person. 

oh my goodness, the detail!
It's all in the book apparently, with just a few little Jackie tweaks!

The flowers are very small and each one has been stitched with blanket stitch, a tiny blanket stitch. Thank goodness Jackie has a Juki DX 7, with the wonderful hover/lift foot facility, otherwise it would be 'one stitch, lift the presser foot lever, one stitch, lift the  presser foot lever , one stitch, lift the  presser foot lever. The Juki DX7 is happy to do the lift the  presser foot lever bit for you!!

One closer picture, I hope you zoom in to see more detail. Beautiful hand stitched embellishment, just lovely, lovely, lovely, don't you think? So there is now a flower sandwich to be quilted. Light quilting will be perfect for this beauty, Jackie doesn't want any distraction from the applique.

And, while the tables were together, I sandwiched my floral retreat quilt, ha ha ha. It's from a different league, obviously! A much larger flower or two with huge blanket stitching, which got larger as time was running out, PMS it's called, Pleasing My Self!

I was hoping to start quilting it this weekend but there's too much fabric all over Quilty Quarters, I'll show you why later, or tomorrow.

I told you, huge blanket stitching.

Artsy-fartsy quilt angles?

Lots of thread colour changes, which used to drive me nuts but now, I'm happy to do that. This new me, who had a holiday, is quite chilled. Actually I'm boiling, but that's our beautiful weather, and I am not complaining about a spot of sunshine!

Next weekend we have Checkley Sunday Funday Sewday, that's 25th June. 9.30am - 3.30pm. £20 in advance or £25 on the day, so you need to be booking and paying, if you haven't already.

If you are going on the pilgrimage to the Festival Of Quilts with us on Sunday 6th of August, it's time to be paying for your return coach with entrance ticket. £35.00 that needs to be Cash or bank transfer please, not many weeks to go for that really.

That's probably enough waffling for one day.

Stitching News

Everyone seemed happy to be back in class. There was a lot to catch up on. I've been thoroughly investigated on all things to do with our 'retreat', especially the food. Would we go again? YES! but we can't as the folk who run the retreat are about to retire. The old me would have said that was absolutely un-accept -a-bubble but this new me (the one that went on holiday) says it's understand-a-bubble. Retirement is looking good to me, not any time soon, I have a lot of stock to deal with first, ha!

Jean Bean had to start again with her Wonky Stars. Not only has she lost the original, she had forgotten how to make them as well. It's never a problem to repeat the "how tos" so Beano was soon back on track. She is getting quite brave with some of her star 'wonks'. In the middle of the photo is Hairy McClary, the thread Pig, what an awful thing it is, but Beano would be lost without him.

Christabelle had sorted out all those thread ends, tied them off and threaded them through, properly. There looked to be about two million! Only a third of the quilting to go now so this quilt will be ready for gifting quite soon. 

Our Pam wanted to do a little mindless stitching. All of the energy had run out of her accuracy tank with over 40 Churn Dash blocks. Pam does enjoy a little scrappy bitty block making. She has quite a collection of them made up. Goodness only knows when Pam's 'Quilting To Do' list will stop growing!!

 

Quilty Quarters

Today is my first, official 'I don't go to work on Mondays' day off. Needles to say (see what I did there?) as I have had a lovely, long, week off, I will have to go to my shop to prep, check and clean my shop ready for a full classroom tomorrow. I might even make a sandwich. I did make a backing in preparation.

That huge piece of blue floral fabric wasn't quite large enough on it's own but it was in my 'Get This Lot Used Up' pile. Luckily, that pink was also on that pile so it got chopped up too.

That set me off on a tidy up, big decision, journey in Quilty Quarters. I've been collecting fabrics since 1998, when I first started to learn about quilting. You can imagine how much fun I've had, I bet. But my tastes have changed. I still like the fabrics and I remember the wonderful shopping trips to buy them all with many lovely friends (or maybe enablers!) that I've met. But if I'm going to retire, they need to be used up, the fabrics not the friends!

I spent the morning cleaning all the nooks and crannies. Then a few hours deciding which fabrics to give away. Some smaller pieces and a few a bit larger that I will never use. They are in a large bag to be given to an unsuspecting victim!

I then culled my crumbs. They are little bits and funny shapes, into a container. Our Pam was happy to say yes when I asked her whether she would like this pile for her crumb piecing. But the pile grew very much after I took the picture! She has committed now though, so to Pam they will go.

I was left with these bits which I will use up making...

The big 14" blocks for in between my quirky flowers.

It's like giant crumbs and mile-a-minute piecing and I'm hoping not to have many scraps left when they are all done. Don't be worrying about me though, I will then start chopping into my bigger fabric pieces, YES, there are plenty more!

I sent a picture to my brother yesterday, to show him what I worked on recently. 

He sent this back. I told him to be careful what he wished for. Silly lad should know better! I have many more of those ugly, wonky star fabrics set on one side ready to work on at our next Checkley Sunday Funday.

Home, Refreshed & Rested

What an absolute luxury this holiday from work malarky is!
I will definitely be doing it again.
We, that's myself and 3 chums, went away for 4 nights, which is 5 days of sewing, almost, as we went out exploring a bit too. Rude not to when you are informed of two nearby quilt shops, ha! It was a wonderful location with great retreat facilities, good food and quirky accommodation. The Old Bakehouse, in North Norfolk, very close to Holt, which we loved and wish to return to.

We did loads of sewing, with the all giggles and chatter too, of course.

I worked mostly on this. It's been called the "we didn't go on the retreat' quilt, with our original retreat getting cancelled on us in March. All the flowers needed applique stitching so I didn't have any decisions to make, apart from thread colour and stitch size, very easy. I just got on with it. So it will need a new name as we did, eventually, go on the retreat, ha.

Norma finished her quilt top too. How different they look don't they? Pam had already finished her quilt top before we went retreating so she was making Churndash blocks, 40 in all! You will one day see all 3 of our floral quilts together. I hope! 
Di (Lady Lidl) was also applique stitching flower blocks but not the same pattern, much more intricate and fiddley.

I'm still on holiday from work, so more stitching will be achieved, hopefully. There's an awfully long 'chores list' to be tackled, now that I have a bit of time. 

My shop is now operating with it's new timetable. You can/should be able to see that on the top right hand side of this page.

The next Checkley Sunday Sewday will be 25th June so I'm taking names and monies for that from Tuesday next week.

You can book and pay for your seat and entrance ticket for the Festival Of Quilts Pilgrimage on Sunday 6th August. Picking up in Leek, Cheadle and Uttoxeter en-route.

Right, back to that chores list!

Stitching News

It looks like I might have forgotten to mention that 37 bolts of fabric were delivered last Thursday, 37! For goodness sakes! It's also evident that I forgot to tell you that 37 bolts of fabric were delivered on Friday, yes another, completely different 37! That's a total of 74 bolts. I thought I should mention this so that when/if you enter my shop you won't think it's very neglected and untidy, but it is untidy!
I have ticked them all off as delivered and I have started to cut and wrap the Fat Quarters. For the next few days (possibly weeks) I will be faffing with the shelving trying to find space for them all.
Some things never seem to change do they, I'm aware I sound like a stuck record (that's an old saying eh!)
Right, back to stitching news, ooooooh we have stitching news!

Princess Jackie has finished her Flower Show quilt top. Usually in my classroom when people hold up a project, we hear a chorus of 'wows', 'ooooohs' and 'ahhhhhs' Jackie held up her beautifully top and there was silence, absolute silence. We all looked at each other for a while, then Our Pam chimed in with 

"Sometimes there are no words Angie" and she is quite right.

  The pattern is from this book 

Jackie's working on a pieced backing for it now.

Christabelle is stitching in the ditch of her Hidden Wells gifting quilt. She declared that theres about a third to go, it's phoooofing up lovely. Chris is another quilter who saves all the end tying off for doing at home, like it's a treat, ha!

Do you remember me mentioning that strange things have happened to Our Beano. She's been producing and finishing quilts this year. She starts sewing before 2pm and all that. Having continuously declared that she doesn't want to work with scraps, for over 11 years, just look what she's up to??? I'm sure it isn't the same Beano!

Lady Lidl also has the flower show book. The flower tracings are so titchy-small and detailed (as you can see in the first photo of Jackie's) We had the brilliant idea of enlarging the applique patterns, aren't we smart!! They are still very small even at 40% larger. Di's blocks are almost all stuck in place and the applique stitching will be her retreat sewing.

This is another block in progress from my Quilty Quarters.

Big, chunky tracing and the applique will be easy-peasy!

Please remember that my shop will be closed for the whole of next week.