Happy World Quilting Day 2018! We have been very busy behind the scenes producing our first studio quilt pattern. Introducing Morris Mouse. A dapper young chap, inspired by Liberty's Cottage Garden range. He loves relaxing amongst the cosmos flowers and bluebells, which surround his cosy thatched cottage. How is he made? Morris is a foundation pieced sewing pattern. This means that you sew through the paper templates on your sewing machine and then remove the paper afterwards. It's a technique that allows you to make very accurate lines and we love it! When can I buy him? Morris is making his debut on Sewing Quarter TV on Sunday March 25th at 10am. He will also be available on our website...
Earlier this week I attended the funeral of my Great Auntie Margaret - a lovely celebration of her 96 years on this earth. Margaret was my grandpa's sister and she is the one person in the family I am compared to the most. I had lots of good parties with her over the years and loved going to her house to visit her and Uncle Cyril. We would eat cakes, listen to stories and hear her play the organ or laugh infectiously. In recent years she would be sat in her lounge with toy meerkats, other fun ornaments and a garden full of gnomes - watching Big Brother on the I pad or learning about something new across the world. ...
Hi, it's Kay here. Last week we wrote all about our love of two-way sequins. Jenni has been wearing her lovely skirt and we have had three more people running up similar versions in the studio. I went for the royal blue fabric which turns to black and wanted a simple jacket to sew up, with as few seams as possible to allow it to hang well. I chose New Look 6305 and bought some stretch black that feels like PU for the facing and cuffs. I cut out with the rotary cutter and used the stretch stitch, size 70 needle and polyester thread as we mentioned last time. The jacket has 2 bust darts, no centre back seam and...
So I have been quilting now for 10 years, though by no means prolifically. On average I have stitched 2 or 3 each year for close family and friends. However looking back at 2015, all of the projects I have been involved with have been communal. I realised this is the reason why I love this particular craft so much. Quilts can grow from a single idea, shared with like-minded people. For me, much of their charm comes from the multiple personalities that piece them; individual styles collaborating to make something unique. The quilts I have helped to make have celebrated births and marriages: they have been sent to siblings separated in the care system: they have raised money...
Recently I spent a day at Aurifil HQ in Milan, invited by the very lovely Brad Mitchell who is the UK sales manager and, as it turns out, grew up just down the road from me in West Yorkshire. During my day in Saronno I learnt about the history of the company, saw the production process at the factory and planned my first collaboration with them at the Craft, Hobby and Stitch show in the UK next February (yippee). I love Aurifil thread like so many other people out there and bought my first batch from Lisa and Justine at Simply Solids who have a really good supply here in England. I not only use it for quilting but also...
