Work In Progress

Busy working on my Half Square Triangle quilt for next Autumn's class. Supposed to be clearing some WIP's from my desk but inevitably creating more. Just stopped this project to cut some pieces for a Flying Geese quilt that has suddenly urgently needed to be started! When the creative urge hits I have to go with it (except now I have to go to school to hear Readers). So many HST quilts in my head....so little time!

Friday Felting

I had such a lovely morning yesterday at Rachel's 3D Felting class. Look - how cute are they?!

You may remember that I attended a class she ran back in Sept with my daughter and made a lovely little mouse. Miss Plain Stitch has gone on to all manner of advanced felting makes, less so her mother!

With this in mind I signed up to do Rachel's class for PlainStitch yesterday. 3 glorious hours of uninterrupted creativity. It was a full fab fun class with everyone achieving more than they thought they'd be able to. Look at all of this felting loveliness!

For anyone who comes along to the Sewing Bee, I think I've succeeded in persuading Rachel (who likes to hide her considerable talents under a bushel!) to run a little Bee based class to show us how to make Xmas decorations. The felting technique is fantastic for quick and easy Christmassy decorations and gifts so the timing of the Bee on the 3rd should coincide perfectly for anyone starting to think of  getting those decorations up! I have definite plans for a twiggy christmassy decoration adored with mini toadstools! More details to follow here and on the Bee Blog.

Half Term Heather Ross Honeycomb Hexagon EPP Sewing, Finished!

Yay - a finish at last! I've been using the autumn evenings to finish hand quilting my Heather Ross Honeycomb Hexagons EPP ( English paper piecing) quilt ( try saying that fast after your customary Sunday evening Downton Abbey companion glass of Baileys!)

It's been a joy to quilt. The Heather Ross fabric is buttery soft and I used a Sew Simple 100% bamboo wadding which is my new total favourite wadding. The combination of the two is soo dreamy - I wish you could all have a scrunch of this lovely quilt. This quilt is 1 of 3 samples for an EPP class next May. The other two in contrast are still very crunchy and full of paper! I'm at the awkward, sewing on the border part of the other two quilts which means wrestling with a huge crunchy papery 'thing' each evening - but I can see the end in sight. I'm hoping to have a couple more quilt tops to show you soon.

In the meantime, just to mix things up a bit I am starting on another machine pieced Half Square Triangles quilt. Lots of trimming of edges going on below, very therapeutic. I hope you all had a restful and productive half term too! See all my local sewing friends at the Wendover Bee tomorrow, dx

Fabulous Farmers Wife!

It was the second class of my Farmers Wife Quiltalong last week. It was the first chance for us all to 'ooh and ahh' at each others colour choices bought to life in blocks.

It was fantastic - we literally spent an hour looking at each persons interpretation of that months blocks as we worked our way around the room. It was fabulous. 

The Farmers Wife Sampler Quilt is such a favourite of mine.

I made my first version  above and am well on the way to a second version, making up new blocks for my class to use as guides each month as we tackle 7 more blocks. This is this months selection, some fun, some fiddly and some fiendish!

This class is big and busy and bursting with inspiration. 

What makes it even more incredible is that most of these women only made their first faltering 12 inch 9 patch a year ago or less, yet now they are turning out such exquisite little FMW blocks that I want to hug everyone with glee! 

This class is full to the brim and will run through until next summer, but I am already getting busy with bookings for FMW2, the dates of which I have just released on the 2014 Class Page, starting next September on Tuesdays mornings at St Anne's Hall, so if you think you'd like to make this quilt next year do drop me a note and I'll save you a space. I can definitely guarantee you won't spend a more fun 2 hours a month!

Playroom Gets a Lamp Makeover

Now that the clocks have changed and it's dark at teatime my most discerning clients commissioned me for a playroom light makeover, 'coz watching Scooby-doo in the gloom isn't co-zeee!'

I've had this lovely fabric stashed for years, it makes a fantastic lampshade don't you think? The bases were on the reduced trolley at Homebase - cheap and chic?! So of course, one lampshade wasn't enough - look! One for each child. A sophisticated French floral, a manly red check and alphabets and apples for my littlest who loves both, equally!

Keep warm in the storm tonight folks - hopefully an opportunity to hole up and get some sewing done. x

Sewing, sewing, sewing, knitting?

Gracious October seems to be rushing past at a rate of knots. It's been very mild here in the UK, not quite quilty weather yet, but the nights are drawing in, we're told a storm is brewing and I can feel the urge to hibernate beginning!

My last few weeks have been crammed full of sewing nevertheless. I have so much sewing going on at the moment that it's only natural that last week I should be seduced by Wool Week and bought myself the wool to knit a wonderful snood from a free pattern at John Lewis by Rowan.

I can't find the pattern posted online anywhere ( maybe Ravelry?) but its very similar to this one here  on the Rowan site.

You could pick up the pattern for free in John Lewis stores last week so I expect they'll still have them in the week-after-wool-week! I'm planning to knit my snood in this wool, which the nice lady in John Lewis had used for hers and it looks so toasty warm - I can't wait, although quite when I will get around to knitting it I don't know! A friend suggested if it turns cold I can just stuff the balls of wool down the front of my coat! he he. Even better is that Rowan wool is on offer on the Ocado shopping site which means it comes with your groceries and it hardly feels like you 'bought it' at all! Yay - free crafting!

Last weekend we had our termly Sewing Retreat at the lovely Buckland Hall. We all so look forward to this lovely indulgent day of sewing and good food and chat.  This weekend we powered through bunting, cross stitch, gigantic quilt-back making, glove knitting and Christmas crafting - it was a lovely day. I made a start on my Wintery Classic Patchwork Throw above. For anyone who couldn't make it this time - get the next date in your diary early - we will be back at Buckland on Saturday 8th February 2014.

Aside from knitting, at the moment I have too many projects on the go. I need to concentrate on getting some of them progressed and off of my workbench!

I never work on only one project, but there's a limit where it starts to stress me out and I think I'm there! I need some finishes, so watch the blog for some Ta Dah show and tells hopefully over the next few weeks!

Half Square Triangles (HST's)

Because i'm a sewing magpie, and I always want to be on to the next thing, and I can't resist bright colours - I just couldn't resist the urge to start cutting into this little fabric pile that I assembled a few weeks ago. It's a flash of fabulous colour in the rainy gloom. Bright vivid solid colours, paired with 'low-volume' backgrounds in soft greys. My plan is a half square triangle sampler quilt for a workshop class next year.

Fast and easy ways to make HST's on the sewing machine, then lots and lots of ideas of how to turn them into amazing patchwork patterns. I plan this class will be similar format to the Log Cabin workshop, 3 hands on classes over 3 months to allow work to take shape. I'm loving this project - check in to the blog again and see as the versatility of the HST gets explored!

More lampshades!

I am addicted - do you like my latest lampshade offering? This little corner in my kitchen is a recent addition carved out to allow me to perch in the corner as family life swirls around me, and sew a few stitches here and there, with the radio on and my feet up on my lovely e bay cross stitch footstool.

It's a very DIY corner, made up of an Ikea chair, homemade quilts and cushions ( the fairisle one used to be a favourite cardie that grew a hole), an old footstool from ebay, a cheep ikea lampstand and now a homemade lampshade. It's my favourite corner of the house - a haven!

Don't forget, if you're local and you'd like to make a lampshade to light a little corner of your house, join us on the 19th November to learn how to.

Patchwork Lampshade Joy

You know that I love patchwork right? Any sort of opportunity to pair together some lovely fabrics and I'll take it. Why use one fabric when you can use 10? Well I'm just a little bit obsessed with making lampshades at the moment, and of course they have to be patchwork!

I started off with just one, but they keep multiplying like autumn mushrooms around here at the moment. I'm just off to make a big one for my floor lamp behind my sewing chair.

If you'd like to learn how to make a completely bespoke fabric covered drum lampshade with me sign up for my class in November 19th, 10am til 12pm at St Anne's Hall. You can make your lampshade patchwork, or just use one favourite fabric, you can finally have a shade that matches your favourite quilt, let alone your curtains, cushions etc - perfection! Trust me, as the nights draw in, that lampshade will cheer you up no end too! xx

Long Hot Summer..........

I'm back at the computer screen after a lovely long hot lazy summer hanging out with my kids and family. It's been wonderful. I've done ooodles of sewing and have so much to show you over the next few posts but wanted to pop back in quickly today to remind everyone local that the Sewing Bee is back next Tuesday at 9.30am at St Annes Hall in Wendover. Will be lovely to catch up with everyone and see what else you've been sewing this summer. I'll be showing off my Hexi Honeycomb Quilt which I'm itching to get on and start quilting when my backing fabric comes into stock, it's a shot of summer to keep me going through the winter as I hand quilt it in readiness for an English Paper Piecing class next year. Enjoy the last blast of this summer sun today, you'll be reaching for a warm quilt tomorrow if the weather forecast is right!

Briar Rose Honeycomb Quilt In Progress

I'm obsessed!

Its official.

I can't stop sewing paper pieced hexagons.

Every spare moment I get I figure I can whip stitch up a quick hex.

On the edge of the cricket outfield, waiting outside baseball practise, with a cup of tea when watching my chickens, when I really should be getting tea....

As a result this quilt is coming together at speed. Which is just as well as I have about 10 other paper pieced projects, that I want to make a start on for my class next year, just swirling around in my head. And you know how dangerous that is? I'm heading for an MPO breakdown (Multiple Project Overload). You've been warned. There may be tears and serious sewing hand cramp! 

Briar Rose Honeycomb Quilt Plan

 I am feeling so super lucky. I am the proud owner of a preview fat quarter bundle of Heather Ross's much anticipated Briar Rose collection! AGGHHH! It's too exciting. You can tell how exciting it is as I couldn't even wait to take nice pics of the fabric outside - this shot is 5 seconds before I started chopping into it!

I've been ruminating on the perfect project for this lovely fabric ever since I saw the preview info. It's no surprise to anyone who follows this blog that I love Heather Ross almost as much as I love hexagons and english paper piecing. It's the perfect summer project as the pieces can be sewn anywhere. Given that I spend most of my summer sitting on the boundary at a cricket match or sitting watching my kids thunder past on horseback I figured this was for me! I make up the pieces in advance. I don't baste. I iron on freezer paper and then use basting glue to secure the backs. This makes a super durable template that will survive the rigours of my handbag for weeks on end. My plan is to run an English paper piecing class next summer so this is a great try out of my planned pattern.

I've been flexing my maths brain for this project, drafting a hexagon then subdividing it up into smaller bits to make fractured hexagons. I've no real plan of how far my fabric will go so this project will be an organic one. Given how many of these babies I cracked through in one thrilling cricket match last night I'm thinking i'll have this whizzed up in no time! Check back for pics of my work in progress!

Building a Wonky Log Cabin out of Scraps

Ok, this is the last log cabin for a while I promise! The last of my class samples for the autumn log cabin extravaganza is finished and is now residing on the very large pile for backing and basting. I then intend to spend the long summer hols in a deckchair hand quilting my way through them in time for the end of Sept. 

I'm so loving the little dog in a jacket!

This wonky log cabin was so much fun to make. Its completely made up of strip scraps ( usually surplus ends of binding that I toss into an overflowing bag in my sewing cupboard!). The middles are made up of some of my most precious Heather Ross prints that this post recently reminded me of! I really want to eek them out so pairing them with scraps is a great way to make a quilt out of nothing really!

I remember the first time i saw a 'liberated' quilt. The great Gwen Marston is a the queen of the genre and when I first read her book it blew my mind! Its looks so complicated! But it's so easy! Throw away your ruler and stop measuring stuff? Yes please! Wonky log cabin remains one of my favourites to make. I'm really excited about teaching this method in my class - it always busts open the creativity and allows people to play with their fabric rather than worry and measure and feel that patchwork can be hard. Teaching this method lets me sing from the rooftops ' look how much fun it is!' When did you last play like a kid with something? Its good for the soul!



Peggy and Vic Oliver my chickens either love this or they want me to seriously examine my sanity. I'm not yet fluent enough in chicken to decipher which message they were loudly conveying here!



More Log Cabins!

Gosh, where did the last month go? I have mostly spent it running round and round in circles! Log cabin circles that is! I have been making the samples for my Log Cabin Class that starts in the autumn. I LOVE log cabin, and three quilts in sucession down i'm STILL loving it! Thats pretty good advertisment for the versatility of this great block wouldn't you say!?! Heres my latest offerings;

I'm calling this baby quilt, 'Small Bear in a Big Log Cabin'. Can you see the cute bears in the middle?

And I'm calling this Picture Frames Log Cabin Variation, 'Gaucho Kate' as it's inspired by and destined eventually for a Little Girl who just LOVES playing with ponies, big and small.

Join us on Tuesday 11th at 9am for our second Wendover Sewing Bee

Cottage Garden ClamShell Quilt

Phew, its been a busy few weeks. My classes are back in full swing. I have a fantastic class of new to patchwork ladies on a Tuesday morning who have thrown themselves into this new area for them and are already making fantastic blocks for their first quilt! I just LOVE teaching Simple Sampler - whats better than sharing the love!? Then on a Friday morning I get to teach my Modern Applique Quilt for the first time which was both scary and exhilarating as it's a quilt I designed and it's very close to my heart and it's the first time I'm seeing it reinterpreted by others. I really held my breath and hoped that everyone would love it as much as me. This week was the second class and it was FAB! We had such a lovely morning, very relaxing, lots of laughs and some totally amazing blocks emerging. I hope that I can try and remember to take some pictures next week and share them with you.

Then on top of all of that we had our first Wendover Sewing Bee on Tuesday. It was like throwing a party and hoping that lots of people come! I needed have worried, we were packed! Who knew there were so many talented people in this area. We had embroiderers, lace makers, cross stitchers and lots of quilters! Some of us were complete beginners, lots of us were trying a new craft for the first time. Most of all we all enjoyed sharing our work and skills with each other. It was busy, buzzy and just a joy to be involved with! If you're at all local to Wendover in Bucks and you'd like to join us, drop in on the 11th June 9-11 at the St Annes Hall on Aylesbury Road - we'd love to meet you! Watch this space for news of a separate blog space where we can record the goings on of the Wendover Sewing Bee.

Anyway, after all of the sewing high drama of the last two weeks I have turned to a new project to bring some calm! I have been collecting these fabrics for months, inspired by the vintage vibe of my Farmers Wife Quilt. A few months ago a very kind man offered me some of his late wife's sewing notions as he wanted them to go to a home where they would be used. One of the items was a lovely set of metal scallop templates.

Quilty serendipity meant that the perfect project was born! I've been sort of obsessed by this pattern since i saw the amazing quilted bed drapes that were in the V&A Quilt exhibition back in 2010 and have done hours of research into how to go about constructing this scallop pattern. There are lots of pov's from making it on a foundation backing, to pining on cork boards. They kind of all seemed like a lot of work! Given that I pride myself on Simple Modern Sewing (!) I decided that there must be another way, anyone else tried this pattern? Anyway, I am experimenting at the moment.....will let you know how it goes!

Crunchy Apple Jumper

It's been so lovely getting back to teaching my classes. I've had a bit of an enforced absence of a few months after my ankle op, but my new crop of classes have begun again in earnest, and it's so much fun! Thank you to all of my students for being so enthusiastic and such fun to teach, lucky me!

Last night my dear MakeClub convened and we had a lovely evening of sewing and chat. After two busy weeks I felt like a bit of simple sewing! This is a fun sweatshirt for my littlest. The jumper is from Jules Olivers new range for Mothercare which, incidentally, is all just lovely - I am very sad my smallest one is in the last size they do. But I snapped up this jumper as we do love a plain item that can be embellished at home! My little person LOVES a crunchy apple so she drew me out one and with a bit of Vilene and simple Perle cotton running stitch last night I had made her a bespoke jumper in a MakeClub hour! Much fun, and v relaxing. Anyway, the sun is shining so I'm off to get my deckchair out and do some homework sewing for my Modern Applique class - such hard work! Enjoy the sun if it's shining near you x

Building Log Cabins.....

..........I made fabric ones and a wooden one this Easter, the best kind of fun.

Watch this space over the next few months for more log cabins ( fabric only!) as I work on samples for my Log Cabin Class in the Autumn. I love log cabins, easy to put together but complex to the eye, there is no other patchwork block that can offer so much design variety from one humble block. It's definitely one to have in your repertoire, oh and it's so much fun to piece, super quick, a real change from my FarmersWife quilt I made last!

Wendover Sewing Bee

Sewing Bee : a small informal social gathering based around the activity of making or mending things,

involving a needle and thread.

I'm really excited to let you all know about a new local group that I am hosting called the Wendover Sewing Bee. It's going to be a drop in, once a month gathering of people who love to MAKE! As you'll all know by now, I really do LOVE to sew! But best of all I love to share the love!

The Sewing Bee is an institution that has stood the test of time for a reason, it's all that is best about being creative. The chance to share, learn, chat, be inspired, and helped. Many of my most precious friendships have come about through the special bonds of sharing the inspirations, triumphs, uncertainties and failures.

Sewing is an inherently social activity, we all have busy lives and it's hard to make time. We hope that the Sewing Bee can be a little productive two hour window in your month when you can devote time to something you love to do, guilt free, without having to look at the dishwasher begging to be filled or emptied!

I really hope that, if you are local to Wendover in Buckinghamshire and you fancy it, you'll pop along and hang out with us for a Tuesday morning. If you're new to sewing, coming back to it, or just want to share your project, or hey -  just want to use one of our nice big tables to hem your curtains!

We will be at the St Anne's Hall, on Aylesbury Road in Wendover ( opposite the doctors surgery) on the 7th May from 9 til 11am. Just arrive with your project, we're very friendly, there's lots of tea and Rachel who is legendary amongst my class pupils for her lovely cakes will be on hand with an enticing tuppaware to keep morale high! Keep Calm and Stitch On!