UKminiswap quilt

Somehow I found myself signing up for another Instagram swap! I think it was late last year and of course the April deadline seemed so far away at the time...

This is the UKminiswap organised by Nina and to be honest I was very attracted by the reduced postal rates involved in having a partner in the same country as me.

I hadn't really though much about what I would make but then I started a Cathedral window sample during my last workshop back in January and put a photo of it on Instagram suggesting it could be for my partner. When I saw that she liked it I decide to go with it!

But then I was too busy to do anything with it until the last week, when I finally had a bit of a break.

This is a bit of an experiment with CW as usually I make my background all the same fabric. I did try different fabric backgrounds once before but I made them similar colours so that there wasn't such a contrast.

This has a real checkerboard of low and high volume fabrics, which you can see better from the back (and also you can see my mistake missing a dark square out!).

I used the machine to sew the rainbow windows down (so you get a nice pattern on the back) and then added some hand quilting in different coloured perles.

For an extra my partner will get one of these Japanese Origami bags made from a beautiful new organic fabric line from Windham called Forest Parade. I'll fill it with some goodies too. But I have plenty of time for this as I actually finished way ahead of the deadline for once!

I do like the way the dark 'flowers' between the windows pop out in this piece, it looks very different from my other Cathedral Windows.

And obviously I hope my partner likes it too!

If you are interested in  learning how to make Cathedral windows with me then check out the workshop I am teaching at Simply Solids on June 13th.

More Tour Dates!

Following on from my Feather's Quilt Workshop at The Village Haberdashery in March (I've just heard there has been a cancellation so there's still time to grab a place on this fun workshop!) I am really pleased to announce that I will be teaching Cathedral Windows at Simply Solids on Saturday June 13th!

Simply Solids have a new HQ just outside Huddersfield. I really hope some of my northern buddies can come and spend the day with me sewing and chatting. I will be teaching how to make the Jumbo Cathedral Window Quilt above or the smaller cushion version below (I recommend you start with the cushion if you are a beginner or not very confident). This technique can be done by machine or hand or a combination of the two.

I started the piece in the top photo at a recent workshop at myBearpaw, I think it might end up as my UKminiswap quilt.

I will also be giving a talk at Simply Solids on the Friday evening, 12th June. This will be a version of the talk I am taking to a few traditional quilting groups (including Richmond and Kew Quilters on Monday July 13th) 'Colour and Design in Modern Quilting' plus an edited version of my personal 'quilt story'. Again I would love to see some familiar face or meet some familiar names for the first time!
You can find out about both events here.

And one more very exciting weekend to add to my Tour Dates. I have been asked to teach at the Swedish Patchwork Association AGM (or similar)  in Stockholm in October!!! I will be teaching 2 half days and a full day. I am very honoured and excited about this. More info about this soon.

Going on Tour!

Are you in the London area? Would you like to come along to a workshop taught by yours truly at The Village Haberdashery??

I am going to be teaching my Feathers Quilt (as featured on the cover of Love Patchwork and Quilting earlier this year) at their shop in West Hampstead on Saturday 28th March 2015 and tickets are on sale here right now!

Above are some of the blocks made at my last Feathers workshop at myBearpaw HQ. I've already seen a few beautiful finished quilts made from these. It was one of the best workshops I've taught and all the students loved making the blocks.

So would you like to join me next year? There are only 6 places and I am hoping for a sell-out gig.
And if this works out well maybe I will be visiting a venue near you one day!