Turning 20 Again with Hearts
Look what Jasmine made at our Dunford House 2014 weekend getaway (and finished with her wonderful long arm quilting at home) look forward to you joining us again in 2015.
What size do you need to cut with the rotary cutter?
The rotary cutter means that you dont have to use templates and here are some simple rules that you can apply throughout your patchwork: On the Flying geese fast no-waste method you just need to add 1 1/4" to the finished size you need for the larger square so for 4" you need 5 1/4" and then 7/8 to the size of the smaller square - so again you are right at 2 7/8 and if you want to enjoy the video on this click here: The other magic numbers for rotary cutting are as follows:
For a plain square you add 1/2" so 4" finished becomes 4 1/2" For a half-square triangle we now add 1" - so cut 5", - and once sewn trim back to be an accurate 4 1/2" before sewing
and for quarter-square triangles we add 1 1/4" (as per the flying geese) and pay attention to the seam allowance we sew!
Do you love Butterflies?
I do and certainly can't resist fabric that has them on; not so keen on moths however. Still follow this link and you will see them in a whole new light: North Carolina-based artist Yumi Okita creates beautiful textile sculptures of moths, butterflies, and other insects with various textiles and embroidery techniques. The pieces are quite large, measuring nearly a foot wide and contain other flourishes including painting, feathers, and artificial fur.
Site Upgrade Coming Soon
From around 28th July, you will notice some changes to the shape of the video screen as we have been busy converting all the videos to a format that is more user friendly, especially for those on iPads and tablets: you should notice that the video screens are bigger and slightly higher up the page When you notice the change has happened, iPad and tablet users won't have to use Puffin, but you can use your regular browsers if you prefer, (eg Safari on iPad, Internet on Android tablets) as you would for other websites you visit.
Update 18th July 2014
Workshops & Techniques New today, we revisit a workshop with [...]
Great filming day with Kate Findlay
We had a great day with Kate and as you can see we worked on some Halloween projects for children to make; they will be up on the site Sept/Oct so keep watching
Look what I bought!!!
Popped along to the Oakshott warehouse sale yesterday; came back with lots of wonderful inspiration not to mention fabrics! There is the brown colour wrap and then an icecream colour collection of half metres of Impressions topped off with a touch of Italy! If you missed out, go to their website and get on their newsletter mailing list! https://www.oakshottfabrics.com/
4th July 2014
Happy 4th July to all our American cousins. If you [...]
Quilt Retreat weekend at Midhurst, W.Sussex
House is full! Teachers this weekend are Jennie Rayment, Valerie Nesbitt and Sarah Soward (from Pauline's Patchwork); we know we are going to have a great time - lots of sewing, good company and good food. Sorry you missed it?! - well why not join us next year; the dates are 12-15 June 2015 and for a booking form just click here.
National Patchwork Championships at Sandown 2014
Had a great time with lots of visitors and both Jennie and I enjoyed meeting so many of our viewers - thanks for taking the time to stop by. Also bumped into many of our contributors, but a couple of new people we will be following: first Shirley Bloomfield who is an embroiderer with a new bok out Beyond the Applique Garden, which we will be featuring on the site as well as a delightful tablerunner - so keep an eye on the shop: and Nancy Adamek, who is passionate about paper piecing (!); lovely work and a new supplier to the patchwork world: here is an idea from her stand (it's just 7" across) and if you want to know more, and/or order paper pieces just visit her website: www.linapatchwork.com (we love to support home grown industries)
What rotary cutting equipment should you buy?
This is such a personal choice it's difficult to answer however there are a few things to think about that might help: Are you left handed? If so be sure that the rotary cutter works for you - most work both both right and left handed people but not all. What about the ruler? Well this should be a companion piece to your board - make sure that the ruler works across your board in both directions (i.e.
Tumbling Blocks quilt get’s adopted
Jo's lovely handmade Tumbling blocks quilt was adopted by the newest addition to their household - good choice Ziggy! If you want to know how to make this lovely quilt, you can enjoy the video with Valerie.
Handpiecing Tumbling Blocks or if you would rather work this by Machine, you can join Jennie:
Tumbling Blocks with Jennie Rayment
Update 20th June 2014
A list of quick reminders for you: Midsummer Mystery Quilt [...]
Embroidery with Lorna Bateman
Lorna joined Valerie and the film team to share with us her love of embroidery, embellishing and pinweaving; so we have some great films to share with you soon. And here they are surrounded by some of Lorna's beautiful work.