Sewing Quarter - my first appearance...

...is on Saturday!

The Sewing Quarter is a shopping channel focusing completely on sewing (dressmaking and patchwork mainly) which launched in January. I've been 'promised' since the beginning but my distance from the studio (in Birmingham) and trying to sort out projects and kits has meant it's taken this long to get me on!

I went for a screen test in March and this screen shot is from that and from a VT they put together to promote the show, you can watch it on my facebook page here.

The programme starts at 8.00am on Saturday morning when I will be demonstrating Cathedral Window. They've put together a kit to make this cushion which includes lovely Tilda Circus fabric.

I've just finished making all these samples this week, along with step samples for the programme.

I'll also be showing this larger block version of Cathedral Window. The kit for this one includes this gorgeous Kaffe Fassett 'Sunshine' selection.

This is a small quilt, measuring around 38in square and is based on the Jumbo Cathedral Window I designed previously (but these blocks are a bit smaller).

At 10am I will be doing a second demonstration for my Improv House block using Dashwood Studio's Paper Meadow fabric.

 This one is based on my Homebody Quilt from Love Patchwork and Quilting a couple of years back. Again it is just a small quilt at 40inches.

I had fun with one of my favourite FMQ designs, spiral flowers.

This kit also contains enough fabric to make this cute 14in wall hanging!

So what are you doing on Saturday morning? Fancy learning some new techniques? Maybe buy a kit?! Or just watch to see how I do!!??

If you can't see it then or are overseas you can watch the whole thing on the Sewing Quarter's YouTube channel later in the day.

Wish me luck!!

Stitch Gathering Words Quilt #1

At the Stitch Gathering 2015 we sent attendees fabric and asked them to embellish it with their favourite word. This would then be their ticket. We asked for words to be positive and life affirming.

You can read more about the ticket words project inception here.

Our amazing retreaters brought along fabulous works of art using so many different techniques! They were all displayed on the day.

Prior to last year's event I made two quilt tops from the words and basted them. At Stitch Gathering 2016 we had a group hand quilting session in the afternoon and the quilting was started!

Of course it was only started at the event, and I had planned to machine quilt the remainder of the tops at home (as hand quilting is a bit of a no-no to me these days - with my dodgy hand!). But then my lovely assistant Lynsey, offered to hand quilt the WHOLE of one of the quilts!!

Lynsey handed the quilt back to me just before Christmas and I finally bound it a few days ago.

So now it needs to be donated to somewhere suitable - like a hospice or other institution where it can inspire and spread love through stitches. I have had a few suggestions already which I will be chasing up (in case they can't take it for some reason like space or sterility) and I hope to compile a shortlist which can then be voted on by everyone that had a hand in making it.

But I would love a few more suggestions, bearing in mind there will be another quilt coming along! If you have any ideas, please email me. Anywhere in the UK would be fine.

And what about that other quilt? Well the totally amazing and generous Lynsey is now hand quilting that too!! Talk about a quilt hero!! 

And speaking of quilt heroes, I happen to know another one! 

At last year's Stitch Gathering the ticket project was to make your 'dream house' block. At the end of the event four people took away 20 blocks each to make into quilts for Siblings Together. The amazing Sheila (@budsmam on IG) finished this quilt a few weeks back - thank you so much Sheila!

 Lynsey also took away 20 blocks to finish a quilt, however as she is doing all this heroic hand quilting she doesn't think she can also finish the house quilt. So, would anybody like to volunteer themselves to finish a quilt? The blocks are complete, they need sewing together (perhaps with sashing like the quilt below, but not necessarily) and then basting, quilting (anyway you like - it's a great way to practice FMQ) and binding. 

If you feel like being a quilt hero too then please let me know in an email - hello@mybearpaw.co.uk

One more thing - our store won runner up in the Best Independent Store, Scotland, in the British Sewing  Awards yesterday! Thank you to everyone who voted for us! We will display our badge with pride!!

Improv House Block Tutorial

Who wants to try some nice gentle improv??!!

Hopefully you're all shouting "me, me, me!" with your hands in the air!

Regular readers will know all about the Stitch Gathering retreat that I organise every year in Edinburgh and the fabric ticket project that goes along with it. Over the last three years we have sent out a fabric ticket to embellish, a blank tote bag to embellish and swap, and a blank piece of fabric (plus badge) to create a favourite word with.

This year my husband and partner, Jonathan, designed (under close supervision) this Stitch Gathering text fabric (printed by Spoonflower). We sent all our SG attendees a piece of this and instructions to make their 'Dream House' into a patchwork block using the fabric, and bring it along to the event to be displayed. At the end of the day we will be inviting kind people to take blocks away to make into quilts for Siblings Together.

So with this in mind I thought it might be helpful to post a tutorial for making an improv house block.

This is improv so I won't be giving you a cutting list, but you should begin by planning your fabrics.

Think about what you would like to use for the house (I am using the Stitch Gathering fabric), the background, foreground, roof, windows, door and even chimney. Try to get a good contrast between different areas.

Now make a rough sketch of the house you would like to create. This is going to be a simple house with two windows and a door. I have made a whole quilt out of an even simpler house (more of a shed really) and have made much more complicated houses with a 3D perspective and extra stories, so be as cautious or ambitious as you like!

You can see how I have used broken lines to make strips in the drawing above, this is how we will be constructing the block.

Now because this is improv I am going to try and encourage you to put your rulers to one side for now and try cutting freehand with your cutter. This may seem daunting at first but like anything the more you do the easier it will get. Try to relax and enjoy 'playing' with your fabric.

Let's start by cutting our background strips. The first strip I cut will be the top bit of sky and I've cut this at roughly 1.5 inches wide x 13-14 inches. This block will end up as 12.5 inches square so allow a little more so you have spare for trimming.

At the same time I've cut a wider strip for the roof and pieces to go either side of the house. You could leave cutting these extra strips until you need them if you like.

Cut a small rectangle for your chimney. Cut your first strip in half or perhaps a third/two thirds and sew your chimney in between.

Cut a strip for your roof, it should be roughly the same width as your second background strip. Cut this background strip in half and put one half either side of the roof. Overlap your roof a few inches with one of the background pieces as above.

Now get out your ruler (you will need it sometimes but only when I say so!) and place it diagonally so that it runs from corner to corner of the overlapping fabric. Cut through both layers.

Discard the two spare triangles. Repeat with the other side of the roof strips as a mirror image. Sew the two background pieces either side of the roof along the matching angles.

Now you can use your ruler again to trim both of your finished strips before sewing them together.

Let's move on to the house now and we'll start with the windows. It's fun to fussy cut the windows from fabric with figures. I'm using this Tiger Lily fabric by Heather Ross. The little girls are of course climbing trees but I'm hoping it will look like they've got fantastic woodland-inspired murals on their bedroom walls (and really I don't need to think too deeply about this - it's just a patchwork house!).

I've cut rough squares for windows and have cut strips to go between and either side, and long thin strips to go at the top and bottom from the SG fabric.

Sandwich your windows between the house fabric strips. At this point check to see how wide your house strip is - is it wider than your roof (like mine - oops!)?

If so 'take it in' a bit. One of my windows is a bit wider than the other so I have sewn some new seams (and then trimmed away the excess seam, rather than unpicking) and trimmed the outer strips too.

When you are happy that it will fit under the roof with an overhang you can sew the strips at the top and the bottom, and start working on the door.

Cut out a rectangle for the door and strips to go either side. Because I want a sloping foreground I have cut my strips accordingly (so as not to waste fabric one side and to have enough the other). I have had to piece together some of the house fabric as supplies were a bit short!

Once you've sandwiched your door and sewn the two storeys of your house together you can get your ruler back out and trim the sides. Now find those background strips you cut at the beginning (they're probably on the floor by now), or you might just be cutting them for the first time now. Remember they will need to 'slope' just like the bottom of your house.

Sew them either side then use your ruler to trim the top. Sew your roof on to your house.

Use your ruler again to cut your angled 'slope' from the bottom of the block.

Put you foreground fabric underneath your block, positioning it at the bottom of your block (make sure you leave enough to make the block the right size) and trim along the slope line.

Sew your foreground on to the house.

Before we finish - do you like my rotary cutter? It is an ergonomic cutter from Fiskars and I love it. It has 4 different positions and is much better for your wrist, doesn't take so much effort, and actually doesn't cost much more than the usual versions. Edinburgh peeps can buy them from my shop!

Lastly trim your whole block down to the required size. I like to use my 12.5 inch square ruler for this and just cut all around the outside edge.

And there we go - a wonky, improv house block of your own creation! I hope that wasn't too scary but was instead freeing and fun.

If you want a little more house block inspiration check out this blog post about another quilt made out of house blocks from 2011!

Or if you are relatively local to my studio then why not come along to my next House Quilt workshop in August?

And if this whole improv thing is not for you then there are a lot of house block patterns available on the internet, just search 'house block patterns'. Or feel free to share your favourite pattern or tutorial here!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Happy house building!

Homebody Quilt

Issue 25 of Love Patchwork and Quilting magazine goes on sale today and here is my offering this month!

It is made with an improv house block and the magazine has called it the 'Homebody Quilt' which I like and am keeping.

I made it completely from a Fat Quarter bundle of Denyse Schmidt's Franklin line and some Kona Snow for sashing. I love how bright and cheery it looks and especially the lime greens, oranges and fuschias.
We have some Fat Quarter and Fat Eighth bundles of Franklin here on our website. They don't contain quite as many fabrics as I used her, but you would get a similar effect.

I used Dashwood Flurry in orange for the back along with a strip of left over scraps.

It is FMQ'd with a trailing daisy and leaf pattern which I find a nice easy pattern to do.

This was a lovely project to make as it was basically just playing with fabric. I much prefer a relaxed improv approach, where you just cut, piece and trim by eye, rather than something that needs accuracy. And I think this will be a great 'ease-in' to improv for those who find it a little daunting.

Along with the full size quilt I made two mini quilts to go along with it.

One just a slightly scaled up block which was hand quilted (with DMC perle cotton 8),

and this applique and embroidery one which I just love!
It also allowed me to multi-task and use the same 'HOME' templates for my Stitch Gathering ticket word!!

Here's a shot from this month's magazine of the mini quilt. This would make a fab New Home gift!

My magazine arrived on Monday and I put this shot of the page on to Instagram, and Denyse Schmidt shared it! She is my all-time favourite fabric designer so that made me extra happy :)