Thursday 28 April 2016

I couldn't Help It....

I used the last holiday, Easter Bank Holiday weekend, to do all the preparation for a workshop I will be attending on May 8th with SPQ and Jan Hassard.
I have been looking at those strip sets like predator watching it's prey!!!
As you can see in my picture... I didn't resist for long enough.... I've cut them up... darn it!
But I love what's going on....
I've packed it all up to sew the triangles together on our retreat... that and a car load of other projects!



Wednesday 27 April 2016

Information To Note

As the Bank Holiday weekend draws nearer, I wanted to remind you that My Patchwork and Quilting shop will be closed from, and on, Saturday 30 April until it re-opens on Thursday 5th May... 
I'm truly sorry for any inconvenience my closing might cause... But you see, a girl's gotta sew!!!! 
A large group of us is going on another Sewing retreat...
Oh what fun we will have.... 

Sunday 24 April 2016

Stitching News

Morning Josie added the lovely yellow inner border before stitching on this fabulous striped fabric... who would have thought that a half inch strip could look so good!! Me... I almost always need a little inner border What a cute kiddy quilt Josie made!!! 

Oooooh lookie, Loulou chose the same pattern, it's one of Kid's Quilts.
With softer shades yet similar colours for fabrics, they look s0 different...
Loulou's quilt will have three borders, inner burnt orange and middle blue-ish...
wait til you see the main border!!!!

Di Butterfly also chose an inner border, off-white-ish... which works perfectly to tie the main border to the Hexagon colours, which were from a free strip roll, not a Moda Jelly Roll, with a magazine subscription last year.

Margaret, even though she has two quilt sandwiches pinned and ready to be quilted and her Noah quilt ready and waiting to be sandwiched... decided to make cushions!!! Oh my word... her imagination is going off in top gear while the quilted stitching is laps behind... ever happen to you???

Barbie was very please t have come to the border adding part! She's against the clock with this project. Barbie's perfectly purple inner border was carefully chosen and stitched on before the neutral main border... see she's measuring the border through the centre of her quilt, top marks Barbie!

After enjoying making and finishing her beginner cushion...  As we never know how quickly this addiction is going to bite, we just know that it does! Barbara's already moved on to spot of  pattern designing!! 

Peggy made a little quilt sandwich, rather licketty-split, her shadow quilting was soon completed... before long the In The Ditch border stitching was done too. See that red inner border! just light up all of the other colours doesn't it.

New Sue came for Sandwich Saturday to get this beautiful sampler top pinned and ready for quilting. The design for which is still being thunk through.... but we can be quite sure and know it will be fabulous

My Mum Gwynneth grabbed a sandwich opportunity ... this is her third commissioned quilt. The lady was so pleased with the first two Mum made that this one was ordered too. The young fellow chose his own fabrics... the guy has talent eh!

Wednesday 20 April 2016

Stitching News?

One solitary photograph!! But what a picture it is...
Princess Jackie's fabulous and finished, cuter than cute, little appliqued cushion.
She's so 
blasé about her designs you know, we LOVE them.
Toot toot toot Jackie, another triumph!

I know that May, for me, will be very busy, we have two Bank Holiday weekends due, I have a few weekend things planned, treats galore!! and real life has to go on at the very same time... tricky but I can sleep a bit in June, ha ha ha
But blooming-heck...
April is a bit of an unexpected whirlwind!!!
My little quilt shop and it's classes are on fire!!! don't panic!!... not really, all that cotton going up in smoke?... no not a real fire... just the other kind of fire... hot, colourful and strangely exciting.
There's such a wonderful and busy atmosphere in the air... It has to be the sunshine and the longer days... I have no other explanation. It's a good job the days are getting longer otherwise it wouldn't all get done.
It's the week of Uttoxeter Quilt Show, or rather Uttoxeter Quilt and Stitch Village,  so lots of ladies have been putting their final stitches in place ready for project delivery today,
Yes, today!... Wednesday.
It's Quilt hanging day...
I have no clue how I got roped into doing it again this year, but I did. So, I am off to Uttoxeter to unpack and hang your quilts... not alone obviously, we will be in little teams.
I hope you've remembered about the show?... Uttoxeter Quilt and Stitch Village

My little and rather wonderful quilt shop will not be there with a stall but it will be open and inspiring as normal.. it's approximately 12 -15 minutes drive from Uttoxeter Racecourse to where I am in Cheadle so... pop over to visit with me if you like. Even if it's at the end of the day... You see, I would love to see you and hear all you have to say about the show. I can't go to the show until Sunday... when I will be taking all the quilts down again, with my little Team.

Have a great weekend won't you... I think we are expecting snow! ha ha ha

Sunday 17 April 2016

Stitching News

This is one of the commissioned quilts that My Mum Gwynneth made
It's still a fabulous finish so we can give out a toot toot toot fanfare.
Made with the Nautical fabrics from Makower.

Commissioned quilt number 2 made by my Gwynneth, in beautiful fabrics from various manufacturers... This design is very popular and not too tricky to make, which is just as well because when the lady came to collect her quilts, she loved them and ordered one more!
Margaret has finished her Noah's Ark quilt top. It needs to be sandwiched but we can't do that until she finishes with the pins that are in the other two sandwiches... this lady is evidently addicted to stitching!!
This cushion was finished in two sessions... that's good going!
Margaret is one of the lucky beginners who took to rotary cutting like a natural so was soon stitching up a storm. Toot toot toot for your fabulous and finished cushion Margaret.
The back of Margaret's cushion... Beautiful Art Gallery fabrics.... 
Complete with a zip installed with my super easy method. 
Wooohooo... a toot toot toot fanfare is needed for a another fabulous finish.
Barbara was thrilled (her words and I agree) with her beginner cushion. 
She was very impressed with the zip installation method too.
Barbara enjoyed  her beginner project so much that project number two has been chosen already. 
Jenny Barlaston popped in to make a lap quilt sandwich... this is a beautiful quilt has been made with a Charm pack from Basic Grey and extra background fabric... Moda's Grunge fabric was a perfect fit. I'm guessing that Jenny will be quilting all day today (Sunday)

Tuesday 12 April 2016

Stitching News

Barbara Bew has a fabulous and finished quilt ready for a fanfare, toot toot toot-etty-toot. Beautiful Batik fabrics and a perfectly co-ordinating thread for all of the straight line quilting... you might expect this quilt to be a bit firm with all those lines but I can promise you... it is scrumptiously soft and cuddle-abubble
Lady Judith is back with her shiny new knee...
She lied to us though, sorry to tell you but... after saying she wouldn't make such a large quilt again on completing her last project... she's at it again!!
Carol is working with my new in stock Tilda fabric... it looks great with that Moda William Morris green. She's beef flicking through the block book and has come up with a plan to make a lovely bed runner. Carol wanted a challenge, she's very keen to learn more about piecing... she's very good at it too.

Sunday 10 April 2016

Stitching News

Jenny Barlaston made up this Super Strippy Square bag using the sunniest of colours from my Batik Beauties selection... it's going to be gifted! Boy what a lovely gift to receive. Toot toot toot Jenny, a fabulous finish.

Farmer Lynda has finished all of her blocks, The design is Dutchman's Puzzle. Lynda used this method for making her geese, very clever it is too. Each block has been quilted already so now that the layout has been decided, Lynda's learning how to join them, appartment-ly!  
My Mum Gwynneth is quilting the last of the commissioned quilts. This particular one has stirred interest with my customers with it's subtle colours... There are lot's of thread ends to be tied off and threaded through... It has to be dome 'properly' for commissioned work, ha ha ha
There's been a lot more news, of course there has... we've had a fun and fruitful week... photo opportunities a plenty actually... just no photos to share... Wooooops!

Saturday 9 April 2016

Super Stylish Cushions Workshop

Super stylish cushions with Our Sheila as chief teacher... 
The ladies enjoyed this very clever 'quilt-as-you-go' method... 
Super easy and very forgiving!  See for your very own self...






This fabulous workshop will be repeated soon.
I'll let you know when... when I know!!

Wednesday 6 April 2016

Stitching News, With Tooting

This fabulous and finished quilt is Princess Jackie's, our first prize winning quilter... and it's well deserving of a toot-e-licious toot-etty-tooting fanfare. Just as well it is finished now because the baby came!!! What a beautiful design Jackie conjured up... 
This is the back, as we have come to expect,
 it's just as lovely and really shows off all of Jackie's quilting
Toot toot tootin again now, for Carol this time... She has her very own fabulous and finished quilt to share with us... finished on her very own, brand new Juki!!
This quilt was made using two Charm Packs
And all the leftover bits were used on the back with this lovely, lush green...
this was purchased from one of the Temptation Trolleys!!
I love what the ladies do on the quilt backs...
Annbacan was making a quilt sandwich with this Advent Calendar and as she did so we had hail, snow and rain and it was howling a hooley-looley windy outside... the customer service is wonderful in my very own shop... we even provide weather to suit your projects!!! Toot toot toot Annbacan.
Princess Jackie started a new project... her own design again
You can see it's going to be lovely already.
Jackie will tie all those ends off while watching the TV later
Fruity Rose is making a quilt from Love Patchwork and Quilting magazine...
what a very confusing pattern it is too...
but we sorted it, out in the end... at least I think we did 
Gail has been having fun making these sampler blocks.
10 done and two more to go.
Gail's using a Jelly Roll book pattern but cutting her very own 2 1/2" strips
What beautiful fabric choices!!!
My Batik Beauty just needs the borders quilting now... boy is it looking toot-able!! I had to move it to one side.... just for a day or two, I've been secret sewing again... It's looking fabulous but alas... it's just not share-a-bubble, sorry.

Tomorrow evening (Thursday 7th April) it an SPQ night... Staffordshire Patchworkers and Quilters here's the link to another new website they started it looks good and is quite up to date!

Saturday 2 April 2016

Beginner Workshop




I missed taking a picture of one lady's cushion but they all had a great day... lots learned... they told me so!

Friday 1 April 2016

Sandwich Thursday?

Yup... we pushed the tables together... On a Thursday!!! and made good use of them. My Mum Gwynneth had two tops ready to be sandwiched...
Made with Makower's Nautical fabric range...
This is a customer commission quilt...
Did you know that we can make quilts for you?
Customer commission quilt number two.
I confess, this is an absolutely rubbish picture...
 The beautiful, 
blue-ish-green-ish-blues and pastel-pinks look washed out!
I'll take a better picture soon.
Boom!!!...
It took me most of the day because I played shop with customers all day at the very same time... Sandwiched with Hobbs Heirloom 80% cotton / 20% poly. blend wadding, I sell it you know, 120" wide, that's 3 metres wide from the roll, very handy indeed when your quilt is huuuuge! ha ha ha.... Now then... how to quilt it?
The same design as the Moda pattern suggests? It looks easy enough...