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Gill from Berkshire is the lucky winner of our 2018 competition in conjunction with the wonderful Janome to win a sewing machine. She was also lucky enough to get upgraded to the latest model MC9450QCP. Here's Gill with her new friend just delivered. Keep an eye on the blog and we'll have more photos and details once she has unpacked it.

It seems like only yesterday that we were telling you that Valerie's 40 minute quilt video had taken the internet by storm and has been viewed over ONE MILLION times on You Tube. Well would you believe it, our very own Queen of Scrap has only gone and topped the TWO MILLION mark recently!! She is now truly an internet sensation.

A really fun time was had by these lovely ladies working with Jennie Rayment and Paula Doyle - Some of Jennie's class projects can be seen in the foreground fiddled and twiddled - and Paula's group worked on Easy Stack. If you give it a go, we promise the results will be amazing!

For those of you who have been following or joining in with the poppy project in Wotton, the knitted and crocheted poppies were put in place on St Mary's Church this week - in torrential rain!! Do watch this video to see how the endeavours of those in their community and from round the world have helped to create over 10,000 poppies to commemorate the lives of the 114 Wotton men who didn't return from the First World War.

A friend found this amazing fabric which she kindly gave me and this was the first of a whole range of postcard quilts that I have been inspired to make.     This particular quilt was donated to the Star and Garter Home, Richmond and was raffled at their summer fete. The Royal Star & Garter Charity have provided an outstanding quality of nursing and therapeutic care to ex-Service men and women.

The weekend of 13-14 October these three joined forces to teach at the Justhands-on.tv retreat at Denham Grove.  30 ladies spent two days sewing - jelly rolls with Sarah; Layer cake quilts with Pauline and Valerie's class worked on projects of their own choosing; They all had so much fun that a repeat event has been  planned for 2019! There is a choice of sewing one of these two wonderful jelly roll quilts with Sarah - skill level challenging   or one of these two with Pauline - skill level beginner - again from jelly rolls.

The annual open Quilt Show was held over the August Bank Holiday weekend this year in the beautiful RHS associate Gardens. Despite the change in weather, many quilters wrapped up and went to see the 44 amazing quilts hung around the gardens.

The quilts were split into two categories – one was entirely open and the other had the theme of “The Sea”.

This certainly ticks all the boxes - recycling something that has been in the family and much loved to create a snuggle quilt; it meant stablizing the fabric first; marking the fabric with sewing lines; cutting accurately with a rotary cutter and then sewing neatly - much concentration needed.     The first block of what will be a very unique quilt,  and that has some challenges ahead for Steve, our Chief Executive.

Oakshott Fabrics’ Open Days are not-to-be-missed events, so save the dates for their upcoming ones! Saturday 8th December 10am – 4pm Sunday 9th December 10am – 1pm Whether for Christmas gifts, fabrics to replenish your stash, or ‘because you’re worth it’ treats, their Open Days are a must. For two days only, their warehouse will be transformed into a Pop Up Shop brimming with alluring displays of their signature ‘shot’ cottons.

We thought you might like to listen to this from Womens Hour on Wednesday 15 Aug 2018 on BBC Radio 4. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bf4cjw They had a 'Listener Week' where listeners are invited to write in to suggest topics of discussion. If you listen from 32.00 minutes you'll hear a lovely discussion about quilting and quilting groups. A quilter from Dundee- Penelope Wild, who attends a monthly group in her area had written in and suggested quilting as a topic.

Valerie and our Director Steve Barton, took a working visit to this year's Festival of Quilts and Steve couldn't help but steal some time to admire the amazing array of quilts and take some pictures to share with you. This was Valerie's personal favourite - 'Metropolis' by Lesley Brankin - a delightful and talented textile artist whose work we have featured on the site .

For those of you following the wonderful plan to cover the tower of St Mary’s Church in Wotton-under-Edge with poppies, here's the latest update: Plans to cover the tower received a boost when a structural engineer proposed plans for hanging thousands of flowers. The proposed system uses scaffolding for suspending nets covered in fabric, wool and plastic poppies on the tower.

One lady in our community, Em Bayly from Florida has asked us to share her story with you. A few years ago I made my first queen-sized quilt to give to my son on his 50th birthday. He had just gotten out of the hospital following a difficult time in his life. I composed the following comments on a scratch pad to use on his card attached to the quilt.

Whether you're watching it or avoiding it, you can't fail to have noticed that the 2018 Football World Cup is on at the moment. But, have you seen the BBC's trailers and opening sequence to its programmes? It is in fact a one-minute 'embroidered' animation made from over 600 individual stitched frames. Who'd have thought football could be so interesting!

What a lovely surprise this exhibition was;  a mixture of music, flowers and quilts, raising money for the RNLI and held in St Mary Magdalene Church and Hall, Church Lane, New Milton BH25 6QL. Don't you just love the car!   There was a concert on Friday 29th by Nova Foresta Classical Players and Saturday included "The Friday Girls" You can see more and keep an eye on future exhibitions by checking out their webpage - Rectory Quilters Events