My photo
Burgess Hill, West Sussex, United Kingdom
I love patchwork and quilting; I love learning new techniques and perfecting the old ones, but most of all I enjoy passing on what I have learnt to others. The most important thing is that we all have loads of fun!

Find out what's going on in my Patchwork and Quilting world.
Showing posts with label Patchwork Fabric. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Patchwork Fabric. Show all posts

Thursday, 26 August 2010

Christmas is Coming

Well it's only 4 months away - as at yesterday.
For once I'm ahead of the game and have completed my samples for this year's Christmas Patchwork Workshops where we'll be making a Christmas Star Table Runner and matching Placemats.
Well, when I say completed I mean I've done the patchwork bit, but they don't have any backing or quilting yet.
I used fabrics from the FruitCake collection by Moda.
And I'm planning to use the same block to create a Sofa-Throw, but I'll probably try different fabrics for that one.

Thursday, 18 March 2010

Non-stop classes

Another string of busy days.
Starting last Monday - I went out to Sandhurst (near Tenterden in Kent) to do a 1 day workshop on Foundation Piecing. I was very well looked after by the ladies there, who even provided a sit-down lunch - very civilised!
Tuesday I had a couple of 'catch-up' sessions with people who had missed classes earlier in the year because of the snow.
Wednesday was another busy but fun Stitch and Chat afternoon at Newick. Alistair came along to help with the refreshments. Even so I still find it hard to get round and say hello to everyone and see what they're working on.
Thursday - day off!
Friday - Applique class - we were making the fabric flowers that were in my last posting.
Saturday I had my real beginners here all day for Part 2 of the Introduction to P&Q, teaching them to do rotary cutting for the first time, after working with templates and paper piecing in the first lesson.
On Sunday afternoon I went to Ditchling to help out at a charity event in aid of Computer Aid International. We had about 15 people sitting round the table making simple patchwork blocks using fusible Vilene to applique hearts and flowers. These will be made up into a 'community quilt' which will be auctioned in aid of the charity.
This Monday was Foundation Piecing Block of the Month - a catch-up session with one student, followed by a full class.
Tuesday I had a lovely day out with my Mum! This was in lieu of Mother's Day. I usually find that I have something happening on Mother's Day, so it has now become a tradition that I take Mum out a few days afterwards, instead of on the day itself. (it also means that restaurants aren't fully booked and we're not fighting for a table with all the other mothers!) It was a lovely sunny day - we started off visiting a 'special place' in Cudham and then took a drive out to Westerham and found a little Italian restaurant for lunch. Then back to Mum's house for a cup of tea and some sewing - I showed her how to make the fabric flowers which we had done at the Applique class last Friday.
Wednesday afternoon was the Beginners Block of the Month; they were also being introduced to rotary cutting and made really good progress.
Today (Thursday) I have people here for the Sew-a-Row-a-Month quilt.
Tomorrow I have two ladies here for part 16 of a 15 part course! They had both got a bit behind with their blocks and borders each month and so had asked for an extra session to help them get it finished.

And somewhere in amongst all that a couple of fabric deliveries arrived - with a definite 'Spring' feel to them:
Verna and Cottage Garden.

Sunday, 14 February 2010

Out to dinner

Having spent most of the day yesterday sorting out all the new fabrics - Boutique, Blush and Eden from Moda - we drove up to Wallington in the evening for dinner with our friends Karen and Ian. We haven't seen them for ages, so there was lots of catching up to do, and I'm afraid quite a bit of alcohol was consumed!
We're sitting eating our breakfast just now; not allowed to post pictures of our hosts in their dressing gowns, so here's pictures of Tiggy and Pickles instead.

Wednesday, 3 February 2010

Back to teaching

Finally recovered from a tiring weekend.
Straight back into it, with New Fabrics arriving on Monday afternoon.

Tuesday afternoon was Stitch and Chat at Partridge Green.
This morning I was choosing Moda Christmas fabrics for delivery in June and this afternoon I was back to teaching - Free Motion Machine Quilting.
This evening I have been playing around with some new metallic threads that I picked up at the weekend - mixed results. The Mettler metallic threads worked fine, with just a slight tension adjustment. However, I'm having real trouble with the Madeira Jewel (Holographic) threads. They give a great effect on the front of the work, but the tension is just not right on the back, especially when going round tight corners.
I'll experiment further, maybe trying a different bobbin thread; I'm loathe to resort to adjusting my bobbin tension, in case I mess things up for regular sewing.