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Newsy stuff!

I have exciting news for all my blog readers! Sometimes I don't get around to to announcing stuff here that's already been shared on social media, but this first bit of news is a big deal so I want to share it as much as possible!

I am one of the Aurifil 2018 Design Team!

This means I get to design one of the blocks in the Aurifil Block of the Month next year! Hooray! I absolutely love the theme and my mind is already buzzing with ideas. Which is a good job as I am up quite soon as my month is March!

And look at that crowd of awesome quilters! I can't quite believe I am included in such a group, I feel incredibly honoured.

The whole thing is hosted by quilting legend, Pat Sloan, who is just as warm, friendly and fun as she looks in her photos. Each Month Pat interviews the designer and participants have one month to make the block and enter at her website to be in the running to win a BOX of thread!  

You can read all about it on the Aurifil blog here. And I'll post more about it in the New Year when it starts so you can all join in if you like!

My second bit of news is that I have been nominated in two categories for the British Craft Awards!

Last year I won second and third prize in the Best Quilt Blog and Best Quilt Designer categories respectively, which was a huge thrill! I have been nominated for both categories again and if you'd like to vote for me please click here and choose the quilting category. Voting closes Sunday 17th December, so you have a bit of time yet. By voting you will also get the chance to win £600 of Amazon vouchers!

Thank you so much in advance if you do take the time to vote for me, I really appreciate your support!

Vintage Home BOM Quilt Along - Month 1

Hello and welcome to the first month of the new Today's Quilter BOM Quilt Along!!

I am so delighted with the reception to this new Block of the Month and to all the quilters who've already shown enthusiasm for joining in!

In case you feel you've missed something take a look at my launch post here.

Hopefully most of you have already got hold of issue 29 of Today's Quilter, either through your subscription or buy popping out to the newsagents or supermarket.

There's another gorgeous Lynne Goldsworthy quilt on the front cover this month!

I absolutely adore this cushion by one of our guest hosts, Kerry Green, and that vintage fabric would work so well in the BOM. Kerry will be taking our first guest post slot in 2 months time!

And breaking news! We have added another fabulous guest host to our list - the amazing Carolyn Forster! Yay!

Let's chat about the Block of the Month in the magazine.

Every month I have picked a subject from our homes to depict in patchwork, the first month being teapots. Mostly there will be patterns for two blocks every month and you need to make both blocks (not either or!), but the blocks will probably be different sizes. And importantly some months you will need to make more than one of the blocks!

For the first month you need to make one of each of the teapots shown. But some months one or other of the blocks will be smaller or much simpler and you will be asked to make 2 or even 4 of them (don't worry it will be equivalent to one full block in amount of work needed, you just won't be sewing them together!). This crucial information will be under 'Notes' in the magazine. Plus of course I will remind you here.

The last BOM I designed for the magazine was a classic 25 x 12in blocks with sashing, and though I am delighted with that outcome I wanted to try something a little different this time around.

With the blocks being different sizes and all having the same background the items will be distributed and almost 'floating' around the quilt, a bit like a very random medallion (you're going to have to trust me here, it all looks great in my head!).  I have a plan don't worry! But even though I have it all drawn up  I always need to leave room to change things around as I go, especially if things are not working properly or I have had a better idea. I am about halfway through making the blocks and hope to have them all finished in January.

Which brings me to fabric amounts. I have had lots of requests for this and so I'd like to share the amounts here. These are calculated estimates based on my plan, with some added amounts to give me (and you!) room for manoeuvre.

I have picked the Harvest Collection from Tilda alongside coordinating solids, plus Tilda Doll Fabric in Grey Sand for the background (I will use the same background throughout). I have to say that the doll fabric, though a lovely shade and really soft, isn't the easiest to work with - it frays and stretches more than craft cotton. But Tilda are kindly supplying all the fabric for the BOM and they don't have many solid fabrics. The Doll Fabric is also quite expensive so I would recommend you find a nice neutral shade (or any colour you like!) in a good quality craft cotton.

One of the reason I picked Tilda was because all the Tilda fabric works so well together. It isn't the easiest to get hold of and I hoped that even if you couldn't get the Harvest collection any of the other Tilda fabrics would work perfectly for the same effect.

Would you like to win a bundle of 20 FQ's from the Harvest collection?

Well Today's Quilter are having a giveaway! Check out their post here - you have till 7th December to enter!

But there is no reason you have to stick with Tilda. One of my students, Carol, has chosen this bundle of Joel Dewberry Florabelle, which will work equally well and give a fabulous retro feel to the blocks. Carol is using Kona Ivory as her background - great choices Carol!

Alongside the patterned fabric I am using a selection of coordinating solids, I have picked mine from Kona but any solids would work and I am sure a lot of you have some in your stash, plus you can add more as the months go along if you don't want to buy everything at once.

Which brings me to amounts:
Background fabric (based on a usual 112cm width of bolt) - 5 metres
Pattern fabric - 15 Fat Quarters (of a yard or metre)
Solid fabric - 6 Fat Quarters (ditto)

The Tilda Harvest collection can be bought in a 20 FQ bundle (which I am using), this will give you more variety and you will have fabric left. Or you can buy 5 FQ bundles in which case just buy 3 of these. Likewise you might be better with 12 fat eighths of solid fabric to give you variety.

We are constantly trying to get more stock of the Harvest FQ bundles and are now buying yardage and making some up ourselves, so keep an eye on our shop/website.  Or try one of our other guest hosts Sarah Edgar Pretty Fabric and Trims.  Plus the Sewing Space has stock in their shop in Hythe, Kent.

Every month I am also going to give you some tips for tackling the blocks...

MONTH 1 BLOCK TIPS

The two teapot blocks this month are not the easiest to start with, but I wanted to 'sell' the whole thing with a superstar block and something you don't see a lot of. The trickiest bit in the block above is the curved piecing of the handle. Just use plenty of pins, as instructed in the pattern. If you are really struggling you could try hand piecing this part, or if you really hate curved piecing you could even applique the handle.

There is a little FPP but it is just for the spout and so shouldn't give you any trouble even if you are new to FPP (check out an online guide to FPP if you are).

The second block also has an FPP spout but the handle is just straightforward piecing. However there are more curves! And these are a little tighter so take your time and use those pins. Or try hand piecing, one of our other guest hosts, Lucy Brennan, has a great hand piecing tutorial on her blog.

If you haven't machine pieced curves before then practice on some scrap fabric before using the block fabric. And one more tip, if you are still having trouble getting the two curve pieces to fit together try starting from the centre of the curve. Fold over both pieces to find a centre point and start there (locking or reversing your stitch), when you have sewn to the end, flip over and sew the other way. I find this really helpful for tricky curves!

One last thing to mention, as well as the patterns every month there is also some added extras to this feature in the magazine. First off you get a short 'article', or as I like to call it 'chat', where I talk about the items featured and share some of my inspiration through photos of teapots (or whatever) that I own or love. The photos are then dotted about through the pages.

Plus we also have a 'Vintage Shop of the Month' section. I 'visit' Vintage Shops around the country and also a related 'Find' from said shop! Yes this is going to be a lot of work for me...

The first month features the charming Pepper Pot in Wellington, Somerset. I visited this on a recent trip to teach with the South West MQG. But a lot of the other months may mention Scottish shops...

So do you know any great local vintage shops? If so please share their details with me! Thanks :)

Also please feel free to email me with any queries about the BOM. Make sure you add an email address to comments if you are a no-reply commenter (this means no email address is attached to the account you are commenting from) so I can reply easily. Otherwise look out for replies below.

I am so looking forward to seeing your versions of my blocks! If you are sharing them on social media please make sure to use the hashtag #TQVintageHomeQAL and tag me in your comments too @mybearpaw so I don't miss them!

Fabric Storage Pot Tutorial

Welcome to a new tutorial! 

I will be showing you how to make a simple fabric storage pot from a prepared piece of quilted patchwork or applique. These are a great way to use up small sample pieces or to try out time-consuming techniques on something small.

First of all I want to say a huge thank you to the incredibly talented Mandy Munroe who designed the original pot that I based this on. Mandy and I both contributed items to a bag magazine around 5 years ago and I loved Mandy's pot so much that I have been making versions of it ever since and have taught it in my studio countless times.

You will need:

1. Your prepared piece of quilted patchwork, this needs to be 17½" wide x your desired height.The piece I used for the tall pot here measures 6½" . I good size to start with would be 4" or anything between these two sizes.

2. A piece of lining measuring 17½" wide x half an inch more than your prepared piece, so this piece is 17½" wide x 7" high (so if you used a 4" main piece your lining would be 4½" high).

3. Two circles measuring 6" in diameter, one for the bottom and one for the lining.

4. A CD wadding sandwich! This is an old CD with a circle of wadding (batting) glued to either side. The wadding circle is a little bigger than the CD rather than the exact same size. I place my CD on to a double layer of wadding scraps and cut roughly around using my rotary cutter.

Let's take a closer look at the prepared quilted piece that I made a few weeks back and posted about here.

I hand sewed this applique design then basted it to a piece of wadding (no backing necessary) and then hand quilted it using Aurifil 12wt thread in a number of colours. Previously I have made scrappy strip versions and machine quilted them in lines. I teach a Flying geese version and we machine quilt around the triangles. So basically any fabric (could be 'wholecloth') that you baste to wadding (you can even get away with just a good press to adhere the wadding until quilting is finished) and then either hand or machine quilt to secure.

If you want to make the pot without quilting then I suggest you use iron on interfacing to back your main fabric.

You will see from these two photos that I started with slightly larger amounts of fabric and wadding and then trimmed to the exact width of 17½" once quilting was finished,

Method:

First of all lay the long edge of your lining on top of the long edge of your main quilted piece, right sides together (RST) and lining it up to what will be the top edge of your pot. Pin if you wish. Sew a quarter inch seam.

We will use a quarter inch seam throughout so if I don't mention that again just assume!

Fold this over, RST, so that your shorter egdes line up, and pin, making sure the seams (that you just sewed) meet

Sew to make a tube. Press seams open.

Fold over so that you seams are at one end and fold again so that the first fold meets your sewn seam line. Press to give 'quarter of the tube' guide lines.

Fold both of your circles into four and press to give you quarter circle guideline

Make a mark on the wrong side of one of the circles (the one that will be inside the pot) at one of the fold lines (in the seam allowance). Make another mark half way between the next quarter along, basically giving you a third of the circle that you will use as an opening

Begin by pinning the unmarked circle to the base of the tube, RST, matching up the fold guidelines on the circle and the tube. Place four pins at those folds to start with, then add an extra pin or two between each quarter.

If you have one press the 'needle down' button on your sewing machine.

Carefully and slowly sew around the base of the pot, easing as you go and making sure you keep both raw edges together the whole way around.

Repeat with the marked circle, matching and pinning to the other end of the tube and sewing around as before BUT this time leave the third of the circle between the two marks open. Reverse or lock stitch at either end of this seam.

Now 'birth' your pot by pulling through the opening and turning the right side out.

Pop in you CD sandwich and nestle it into the bottom of the pot.

Fold under the edges at the opening to match the seam and pin closed.

At this point you can hand stitch this closed using a neat slip stitch or ladder stitch.

But if you are in a hurry or just lazy (like me!) take it to your machine and sew a neat top stitch, close to the edge, to close the gap.

Push the lining inside the pot. You will have a nice edging around the top of the pot, caused by the extra half an inch of lining.

The final touch is to top stitch just below this edge on the right side of your pot.

I like to increase my stitch length to 3.5 for this.

Oooh just look at those pretty Aurifil 12wt threads all in a line!

And that is it finished!

You can also fold over the top of the pot to give a slightly different look (one that doesn't really work with this pot as it hides the applique design, but might work with another design).

These are a lovely 'quick and easy' make, perfect for a gift or a gift holder. I like to fill them with sewing supplies or toiletries (depending on the recipient)

They are also so useful in the sewing room! I fill them with thread spools, tools and also selvedges that I collect for one of my students. And of course they work as a thread catcher too - something I have never actually used myself as I like to think of my whole body and all my clothes as a thread catcher ;)

They are also a great swap item and we will be swapping them at our The Thread House Retreat in January 2018!

I do hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Please credit me if you use it and link back to this post if possible. Also go and say a huge thank you to Mandy for her fab original idea!

Vintage Home BOM Quilt Along!

So this has been an exciting week for launches!  And it hasn't finished yet as amazingly enough I am about to launch my first ever Quilt Along!!

You all know that my Today's Quilter 'A month in the country' BOM has just finished, which means that a new Block of the Month will be starting in the magazine next month, and guess who's designing it?

Yes it's me again! This time I thought it would be a lovely idea to host a QAL alongside it. Today's Quilter have given me permission to show you one of the first blocks (the teapot above) and tell you all about it now, a few weeks ahead of the first issue, so you can get yourself organised and maybe buy a subscription to the mag (read on for a special offer!).

Let me tell you a little bit about the new block of the month and share another wee sneak peek...

...It's called the Vintage Home BOM and every month the blocks will feature items from around the home, with a bit of a vintage or retro twist. We're starting off with a little crockery but will move all around the house during the year.

There's actually some other fun elements to the feature but I want to keep a few things a surprise for now :)

Post edited to include all monthly posts published:
Month 1 post

I'll be using fabrics from Tilda's Harvest collection throughout and the same background for each block (I am using Tilda Doll fabric in Grey Sand), but I'd love to see the blocks made in different fabrics!

So about this Quilt Along - as I said I've never hosted one before and so you'll have to bear with me!

I'd like to keep this nice and relaxed and informal. Every month I'll be posting about that issue's blocks and offering a helpful hand for those sewing along with a little more info and tips to help you make the blocks successfully.

I've asked some of my favourite bloggers to write a guest post during the year. They'll be making a block too (or maybe more than one) and sharing it on their blog. There'll also be lots of sharing on Instagram where we'll be using the hashtag #TQVintageHomeQAL

The lovely guest hosts will be:

Kerry of Very Kerry Berry
Lucy of Charm About You
Florence of Flossie Teacakes
Sarah Edgar of Pretty Fabrics and Trims
and the team at Today's Quilter will also join in for a month! Rumour has it that legendary editor Jen Fox-Proverbs may be dusting off her sewing machine especially!! ;)

So how about joining me?? Do you get Today's Quilter already? If so all you need to do is start sewing along next month! For those of you that don't already have a subscription then this is certainly the time to start!!

I have a special subscription offer for our QAL!

Just click on that link above to save 50% on an annual subscription with Today's Quilter. Your subscription deal includes 13 issues for £38.94 by Direct Debit. Free gift with every issue and Free UK Home delivery. *

Unfortunately I've left it a little late to launch this so you will miss the first issue (sorry! I only just thought of it!). You will be able to find this issue (number 29) in the shop or order a copy online (hard copy or digital) and then your subscription should start for issue 2 of the BOM (depending when you order your subscription). Of course you could just buy a copy in the shops every month if you prefer.

Watch out for the first QAL post in around 3 weeks time. If you don't want to sew along with me then I hope you'll still be here, cheering on from the side lines!

 *SAVE 50% offer available to UK Direct Debit orders only. After your first 13 issues your payments will continue at £46.72 saving 40%. Your subscription will start with the next available issue. Offer ends 31st December 2017

Stitch Gathering 2017 Goody Bag Giveaway - RESULT!

Thank you so much to everyone who entered this giveaway! I'm so sorry you can't all win a prize.

The winner is ....

Number 21 Archie The Wonder Dog!!

Archie the wonder dog11 October 2017 at 18:51

I'd like my lovely friend Beryl Frank of Knot, partly because she's fab and partly because she might take me with her ;o) If I have to pick a famous teacher, I'd go for Lynne ;o)

ReplyDelete

Congratulations to Helen!!

Commiserations to everyone else. Did you enter the Instagram giveaway? Maybe you won there instead!!

Post Stitch Gathering Blend Fabrics Competition!

The Stitch Gathering may be over but the fun hasn't stopped yet!

For the first time ever we are hosting a competition involving some of the fabric in your goody bag! And if you didn't attend the Stitch Gathering this year then don't worry, there is still a way for you to become involved...

The lovely folks at Blend Fabrics have always been a very generous sponsor of our event, sending their beautiful Cori Dantini fabric for the goody bag every year!

They know (as any regular readers of this blog will know) that I LOVE Cori Dantini's fabric and have made so many things with it over the years.

This year Blend sent these four pieces of Cori's 'The Makers' fabric for each goody bag. And together we thought it would be fun to have a little competition using this fabric.

All you need to do is make something amazing from your Cori Dantini fabric! You don't need to use only this fabric (you can add other fabrics to your make) but the majority of the project must include fabric by Cori Dantini (feel free to add fabrics from her other collections!).

You can make whatever you like! I have made bags and pillows and quilts from Cori's fabric, but really the sky's the limit.

 In fact to get you inspired here is a selection of my past projects...

How about a little EPP? Cori's delightful designs are perfect for fussy cutting.

This is the first thing I did with her original line 'Beauty is You'. It is still one of my favourite cushions.

I liked it so much I made another with her next line 'The Sweet Life'.

A few years back when The Makers first came out I made this workshop bag to take to QuiltCon (and I still teach a class in this).

And a tote bag for all my swap buttons/badges/pins (it has denim on the other side).

I used Cori's 'Made for Adventure' panels for more tote bags and used them for a tutorial here.

I even made a quilt with her 'The Adventurers' line for Today's Quilter.

Of course you lot will probably think up something totally amazing that will surpass anything seen here!  It doesn't need to be anything huge, I am of course wondering about making another zippy pouch! Or what about a sewing notion?

My two Thread House partners in crime, Lynne Goldsworthy and Karen Lewis have very kindly agreed to help me judge the entries and find a winner! We are going to be looking out for creativity, originality and beauty.

And what do you win?

All this booty!

More Cori Dantini fabric - fat quarters and a large panel, 4 DMC variegated Perle Cotton 8 threads, 3 Aurifil 80wt threads, AND that large zippy pouch, handmade by your's truly as a class sample for my applique workshop at the Stitch Gathering itself (it has a lovely improv, matchstick quilted back too!).

Didn't come to the Stitch Gathering this year? Well you won't have got the lovely free fabric to use, but if you have (or can obtain) some Cori Dantini fabric (perhaps from a previous SG?), then you can also enter!

So how do you enter?

Post a photo of your finished piece on Instagram or as part of a blog post by December 31st 2017 using the hashtag #SGBlendFabricsCompetition.
If you are using Instagram please also mention @blendfabrics, @coridantini and @mybearpaw in your comment. We'd all love to see progress shots too so please use the hashtag throughout.

I will host a linky party on my blog in early January and announce the winner then!

Good luck everyone!!