Stitch Gathering 2017 GOODY BAG GIVEAWAY!!!

 

Yes it's that time again! I have kept aside two of the amazing goody bags from this year's event to giveaway!

You can enter one giveaway here on the blog and the other on Instagram!

But let's take a closer look at what you will be winning...

1. From Immediate Media we have a copy of Love Patchwork and Quilting AND Today's Quilter!
2. A bundle of Cori Dantini 'Makers' fabrics courtesy or Blend Fabrics (4 panels!!).
3. 2  balls of Perle Cotton number 8 thread by DMC.
4. A fat quarter of Cloud 9 Fabric.
5. A fat quarter of Dear Stella Fabric.
6. A fat quarter of Sarah Campbell's 'Our Yard' fabric from Micheal Miller.
7. A half metre piece of Joel Dewberry's 'Florabelle' from Free Spirit Fabric.
8. A 30cm (WOF) piece of 'Down by the River' from Lewis and Irene fabric.
9. A fab little Liberty Tana Lawn Scrap Pack from Duck Egg Threads.
10. A 30cm (WOF) piece of fabric from Dashwood Studio
11. A set of spools of all types of Aurifil thread - 7 different threads including 80wt!! Also booklets and shades cards and a cool Aurifil sticker for your sewing machine!
12. A packets of delicious Nairn's Oatcakes.
13. An Aurifil Tote Bag (not pictured).
14. A mini sewing kit from the Sewing Quarter.
15. A chalk lolly courtesy of myBearpaw :)

WOW! What a haul!

A huge thank you to all our Sponsors, both for the goody bags and for the Lucky Dip prizes. We are all so grateful for your support!!

So how do you win all this booty?

Simply leave a comment on this post:
I'd like to know, if you could have your dream teacher, from anywhere around the world come to teach at the Stitch Gathering in 2018 who would you choose?! If you can't think of anything just say hello :) Make sure you leave your email address if you are a 'no-reply' commenter.

That's all you need to do! If you want to increase your chances then head over to Instagram @mybearpaw and enter the giveaway there for the second bag too.

Giveaway will close Tuesday 17th October at midnight. International entries are welcome!
Good luck!

Festival of Quilts 2017 Report

The Festival of Quilts is a four day event and the largest quilt show in Europe with thousands of quilts to see, and way too much to buy! Plus you get to catch up with all your quilty friends! Basically it is four days of bliss and excitement, where you feel completely 'amongst your people'!

If you remember in my last post I was just finishing my Shangri La Farm Sherbert Quilt for the Aurifil stand. You can see it behind me in the shot above as I happily clutch my new Aurifil Thread Collection box 'Sherbert Dip' for the first time!

I spent some time on the Aurifil stand on Friday afternoon and gave a demo to the gathered crowd which was filmed by the lovely Jenni for Aurifil's Facebook page. You can view it here. Things didn't go completely to plan and there were a few electrical issues (!!) which just made it all the more fun and entertaining. 

The demo is for my Tendrils Technique which you can see on that lovely panel above, it's a clever and quick way to machine applique leaves and stems without any raw edges.

I had a couple of quilts in the exhibition, and here are the obligatory photos of me standing in front of them (taken by my helpful cousin Julie who I met for lunch with my sister on Saturday - quilting being quite a family affair for us!). This is my Almost Black quilt which was in the Modern Quilt category.

And here is Hot Water Microbes which I made with Tatyana Duffie for the two person category.

I think the quilts in the competition this year were the best ever, it was quite overwhelming. I took quite a few photos and shared some on Instagram, and could fill this whole post with incredible quilts, but I am just going to share two. 

My favourite in the Traditional category (which got 3rd prize, though IMHO it should have won!) is by Janette Chilver and is simply epic!

My favourite in the Modern category is 'The World is Your Oyster' by  my friend Tatyana, the quilting is just sublime and I love the colours and design. You can see some more detailed shots and read about this quilt in this post.

Apart from the competition quilts there were also the most amazing quilts and textile art at all the galleries, including some stunning quilts from Victoria Findlay Wolfe, who was there in the flesh - what a charming lady!

If you want to check out a lot more quilts from the whole festival try this excellent blogpost by Zephyre Skies.

On Thursday afternoon I taught an Academy classes for my Patchwork Portraits technique.

Gill was this class's over achiever by managing to create her daughter at her recent graduation, complete with gown and mortar board and tiny red heels!! Brilliant stuff Gill! And her daughter liked it too.

Jane brought along a piece of fabric to match her blouse (the exact same fabric!) and managed to create a pretty accurate portrait of herself!

Love the glasses! If only Jane had a lime green spotty hat...

Julia finished her 'Ascot lady' at home and kindly sent me a photo. 

Love her matching accessories Julia!

On Friday I taught another Academy class for my 3D improv Dresden Plates.

Sue was the star pupil this session, managing to almost finish during the 3 hour class (this one just needs it's centre).

Some of the other students finished at home and sent me photos. This is by Elizabeth Ann who won one of the FOQ tickets on my Instagram giveaway!

This one is by Rhonda, she got the 3D effect spot on, love it!

And Ruth made a beautiful version and then made a 'wonder cushion' with the scraps. I hadn't encountered these before but now really want to make one for my wonder clips too!!

Thanks so much to all my lovely students, you were all a pleasure to teach!

I had one more quilt on show at FOQ and it was keeping really good company! Here is the first photo I've shared of my Tendrils quilt which is on the cover of the latest Today's Quilter (expect a post about this in a few days!), with Karen Lewis's gorgeous 'Outback Wife' quilt from Love Patchwork and Quilting to the left and Lynne Goldsworthy's stunning log cabin from a recent TQ supplement above!

It's a Thread House triple whammy!!

I was very prudent with my cash and bought just one pattern and one packet of needles (too busy chatting to shop!). The pattern was for this Bubble Pod by the very talented Beth Studley. I had been admiring it for the last couple of years, wondering if I could make one on my own. But this year I took the plunge and bought it. I made it as soon as I got home on Monday (I needed some fun sewing to ease myself back to work). It is an excellent pattern which I wouldn't hesitate to recommend!

I am delighted with it and am using it for my stash of Aurifil 80wt!

Hawaiian Applique Cushions

As I am sure you all know by now, I do love a bit of applique. So when Alice, the editor of Love Patchwork and Quilting, asked me to do my interpretation of Hawaiian Applique I jumped at the chance.

And look it made the cover of issue 50! There are some fantastic projects in this issue and as it is a special birthday number they have a fantastic 50% off subscription offer!

I made two different cushions, both with bold solid colour combinations. As this issue is so jam-packed the template for the orange and green version is available from their blog here.

19^th century missionaries brought the art of patchwork to Hawaii, and the native woman made it their own with applique designs based on the flora and fauna of the Island, as well as more spiritual symbolism of gods, legends and emotions. Hawaiian women still gather in quilting circles to work on these intricate designs all based around folded patterns. 

My designs are a simplified, modern interpretation of Hawaiian applique, but I do use the traditional techniques. If you want to know more about Hawaiian Applique and try out some traditional patterns then I would recommend the Poakalani books.

There is a long lead time for the magazine projects so I was actually stitching one of these when I was at QuiltCon. It was one of the first projects I used the new Aurifil 80wt threads with and they worked like a dream.

They are very relaxing and meditative to do but be warned, they are laborious, I reckon they took at least 10 hours each to complete!

Feathers Quilt for Siblings Together

I finally had some time to finish a quilt this weekend! This is a version of my Feathers Quilt that I've made during the last three years that I've been teaching this workshop.

The pattern was in Love Patchwork and Quilting issue 9 (and it made the cover!), and has been one of my most popular quilts. Every time I've taught it I've made a couple of blocks and now I have enough to make another quilt.

I know I will have people asking me if they can still get this pattern and all I can say at this stage is, yes, if you hang on till July (all will be revealed in a couple of months).



I've decided to donate the quilt to Siblings Together (more on this below) which meant it took the pressure off me as far as quilting was concerned and I could have a little fun with it.

So I've been trying a little 'doodle quilting'. Basically it's a kind of greatest hits of my previous FMQ patterns! I've just ranged from motif to motif, doing anything I please, with loops and spirals to travel between.

It's a great way to loosen up and try some new variations and it also means you get less bored!

It was a bit of a warm up for me as well as this is the first full sized quilt I've made this year. I'm about to make quite a few more over the next couple of months so this was really helpful.

This took me about four hours to quilt in three sessions, using my trusty Pfaff QE 4.0 domestic machine and of course some gorgeous variegated pink Aurifil 50wt thread.

The thread shade is number 4660 and it is quite dark in places against the light background (a Carolyn Friedlander print from 'Doe').

In fact I was worried it was way too dark and standing out too much while I was quilting it, but my husband gave me the thumbs up so I pushed on through and now I like it. I also think it will be fun to follow the meandering lines and pick out all the different motifs for whichever young person ends up with it. I'm hoping it will be stimulating but meditational at the same time!

It's backed with an old duvet cover, and I've used a neutral thread in my bobbin rather than the same as my top thread.

We are having the most incredible weather in Scotland at the moment, with day after day of clear blue skies. So I just had to drag the new quilt around Shangri la Farm for a bit of a photo shoot.

We also have a lovely new garden bench, situated behind the Gothic Arbour which faces on to the pond.

As I mentioned this quilt is going to the Siblings Together charity and is the first of three or four quilts I am planning to finish before this summer's camps.

If you don't know about this charity and the wonderful work they do to bring children in care together with their siblings for summer camps every year, then please read about it here.

They need around 100 quilts a year and so are always looking for donations.

Can you help? A charity quilt is a great way to practice your FMQ, or try out some new designs. Letting yourself loose on a whole quilt worth of practice can really push on your FMQ skills. I think people are often put off doing FMQ as they don't want to ruin a beautiful top they have just finished. But if you can put something together out of scraps or orphan blocks then you can take the pressure off yourself and just go for it. Your quilting will really benefit!

And you have the pleasure of knowing that you are making a huge difference to a disadvantaged child's life by making something homemade and precious just for them.

For those of you local to me - are am hoping to organise free transport for a huge box of quilts sometime in the summer (once I've confirmed deadlines with ST), and will be happy to include any quilts provided. Maybe you'd like to donate one but are put off by the cost of postage? If so get in touch and we will try to coordinate a Scottish Siblings Together Quilt Drive.

OR do you make regular car journeys from Scotland (or North of England) to London? Or know someone reliable who does? Maybe you could help too!

Improv Jugs Quilt

I have a new quilt to share! 

I have to admit that it is the end of March and I have not yet made a quilt this year! I don't know what the hell I have been doing - I don't seem to have stopped working - but it is not quilt making!

But I made this quilt last November for issue 46 of Love Patchwork and Quilting, and I was delighted to see it included on the cover in the inset photo :)

The starting point for this quilt was this gorgeous bundle of fabric from Dashwood Studio that arrived last Autumn. This is Paper Meadow by Jilly P mixed in with coordinating Twist shades. 

Also I decided I hadn't completely finished with the jugs motif after my Crockery Cupboard Quilt. 

The jugs in that quilt had all been the same size but I realised that I could have a little play around with the shape and make improv versions.

I do love making these little improv squares, it's just pure fun for me. Then I just added spouts and handles. The quilt features easy handles and more challenging handles!

I quilted it with this spiral flower pattern that I had used previously on a Granny Square quilt. It's such a fun pattern that I could happily use it on every quilt I make! And of course I used Aurifil 50wt thread throughout, with a pale aqua shade for the quilting. 

In case anyone is wondering I do all my quilting using my trusty Pfaff Quilt Expression 4.0 domestic machine. Here's an FMQ action shot... 

It is always hard photographing quilts in the winter, but I did manage to get a reasonably bright day to take the one below. 

I absolute love this styled photo of the quilt above a breakfast bar that's in the magazine. My mum had those vegetable pyrex dishes and seeing them in the photo made me feel really nostalgic for my childhood.

Who else had those pyrex dishes back in the 70's? I bet I am not the only one!!

Square Cogs Quilt

Issue 39 of Love Patchwork and Quilting magazine comes out today and I have a quilt featured!

This is my Square Cogs quilt made with Joel Dewberry's gorgeous Wander fabric (the same line I used for my Crockery Cupboard quilt).

Absolutely love this modern sampler quilt by Karen Lewis on the cover! And Karen has an even better quilt inside (IMHO), along with so many others by the likes of Reene Witchard and Lou Orth.

I designed this quilt at the beginning of the year, I was playing around with HSTs and started to interlock them around a square. I really liked this effect, very simple but a bit clever too. 

I'd been looking for something to do with all the lovely Wander fabric I'd been sent by the manufacturer, so I divided it up into light and dark and added some coordinating Kona solids for extra contrast.

The background is Kona White, which gives it a nice crisp look.

I wanted a fun overall FMQ pattern and so chose this echo circle with spikes around. The spikes match the cogs and the circles soften all those straight edges. It's quilted in Aurifil 50 in a pale pink.

This is a quick and satisfying quilt to make. The overall effect can really pack some punch depending on the fabrics you choose. I hope I see some other versions out there soon!