UK Quilters
I have been sent some wonderful Makower Sea Breeze fabric to review. It really is a lovely fabric with which to work. I was sent 14 10inch squares. Before receiving them I had planned to re-cover a deck chair, possibly in stripes of fabric. On receiving them I realised they were Far to interesting and…
A good thing about belonging to a patchwork and quilting group, apart from the social element of spending time with like minded people, is that you end up doing things you wouldn’t otherwise do. Of course it depends on the group. I joined the Beartown Patchwork & Quilters group about three years ago and it…
This one is a little long, for that I apologise but felt I wanted to share the following. I work two days a week in a very high pressured business, on top of my editor work for British Patchwork and Quilting. They have been trying an idea to see if it helps with managing the…
Now, as I have spent more time quilting, and as I have learned how to do it better, I find I want to make less and less of a statement with it. It’s really important to quilt your quilt, as it’s not complete without this joining-of-layers and adding-of-texture… Many of my recent quilts are simply…
Sometimes we look at a quilt pattern and wonder if we will ever be ready to try some of the more complex designs. If the answer is yes, then we wonder where to start! In my last product review of the wonderful Woodland Makower UK fabric my blog featured an easy Stack and Slash pattern.…
Now, I was asked to make a quilt from a pack of Oakshott Fabrics Starshott, which is a slightly odd, subtle coloured selection.. I wanted something simple, and improvised, of course, and trimmable, without doubt.. So, here’s the thing – three pieces 6 by 7 inches, on the mat Right Sides Up, and with two…
Making a quilt is not just about cutting up perfectly decent fabric into tiny bits and then sewing it back together again – despite what our other half may think – there is a lot more to it. The first thing we need is either a pattern or an idea. Then we need to find…
I have been fascinated by the story of the American Underground Railway since reading Colson Whitehead’s book ‘The Underground Railway’, in which he tells of a young slave, Cora, and her treacherous journey North to freedom. Whilst fiction, Whitehead gives us lots of information about the ‘safe’ houses used by the herioine, and the roads…
Cables are a popular choice of quilting design for borders and come in various widths and styles. Where would you start to plan a cable border for your latest quilt? Stencils are widely available, but they are often not the correct size for your borders- so unless you were incredibly organised, and designed your quilt…
Loving something with its “warts and all” is loving it in spite of any obvious blemishes or scars. Sometimes you make or receive a quilt that isn’t quite perfect, or even a long way off perfect, but it can still be loved, warts and all. I consider myself an average quilter – I can, if…
One of my most favourite quilts that I have made, because of who received it. A woman I had never met but had heard a lot about. My friend Katie was personally driving a 7.5 Ton lorry with her friend Jill, as part of an Aid Convoy to Kosovo, with a charity called Hope and…
4 years faithful service. Thankfully not my sewing machine, but a severely scored cutting mat with a vertical great big open hole. RIP my 60 x 45cm (24 x 18″) OLFA green rotary cutting mat. So sorry you cracked under the strain, but I suppose our break up was somewhat inevitable, given our passion for…
Judith Clarke
Ruth Garner
Helen Kent
Helen Howes
Carol Lightburn
Chris Franses
Sue Burford
Carolyn Gibbs
Corinne Curtis
Teresa Barrow