Fun with Kathleen Laurel-Sage
Had a really lovely day yesterday being the 'student' in the Wonky Houses class that was held at Creative Quilting (Bridge Road E.Molesey) ; Front and back and FINISHED!!!!!! We all had a great time and Kathleen is a really fun teacher who loves sharing her skills; we will be inviting her to share her soldering skills at a Justhands-on.tv retreat soon - so keep in touch!
New Subscription Web Pages
Some of you have noticed that when we send you an email about subscribing to the website, sometimes the webpage you go to looks a little bit different to what you expect to see at justhands-on.tv.
The reason behind this is that we are using a new subscription system for fixed term subscriptions (ie 1,3,6 and 12 month packages) to make it easier for you to subscribe.
Bold Geometrics from Love Patchwork & Quilting
Love this pattern designed by Emily Dennis and in issue Thirty Eight of this magazine; plan to raid my stash but how much easier it will be to make with my Tri-Recs ruler!!!
Festival of Quilts 2016
For the first time since it started I was not on duty and took the opportunity to wander round snapping pics of quilts, catching up with people (sometimes literally bumping into them!) and shopping - what a great day. Here are a few quilts that caught my attention (other than those in the winning gallery of course! which we have posted on our Facebook page - click here) An entry from Kate Crossley (do you remember her stunning clock from a previous year?) A detail of the winning quilt's stitching - amazing; however in the early years this would have been done by hand - no other comment other than to say rather than taking weeks that would have taken years.
What’s it like on a Justhands-on.tv Retreat
Have you ever wondered what's it like on one of our retreats? Well now you can hear from some of the people who attend these fabulous sewing weekends. Why do they go? What do they get from them and why do they keep coming.... Click here for more details of our upcoming retreats in March April and October 2017
Filming with Sylvia Critcher
What a great day we had with Sylvia learning about her new book and seeing all the wonderful samples she made for it. The book claims to have 10 projects in it, but the quilt alone has 9 patterns and then there is the winter table runner which I just fell in love with - full of snowflake patterns so great value for money - keep watching for the workshops!
The Wordsmith by Janet Clare
Follow-up hospital appointments mean lots of waiting around so this time I took something 'nice' along to read; well how understated is that - this book is fabulous; Janet combines delightful little stories about her life and the inspiration for her memory quilt, with her line-drawings which makes this book very readable and memorable; THEN you get projects too! I've already mentioned the Memory quilt, but there is also the Alphabet quilt and then taking those letters there is the poetry quilt: hers reads Warm Sighing; quiet settled but she gives you tips on how to translate your phrase into a quilt too - just brilliant!
National Patchwork Championship’s – Sandown Catchup
Took the opportunity to wander round the exhibition - see lovely quilts and catch up with lots of our contributors. Gail Lawther had her own exhibition of work on display - what a talented girl she is - and she has designed a new range of patterns - Enchanted Garden - which are now in the shop Nancy of Lina Patchwork was there too - and we picked up a new pattern from her - Daisy Chain tablerunner, which would make a great little summer project.
Cutwork Poppy Workshop
Well I think I have found a new addiction thanks to Kathleen Laurel-Sage! Look what I made with her on Saturday - it was so much fun and so easy: I have always loved cutwork but add this to my love of the sewing machine - well say no more....Have my very own soldering iron on it's way and more kits to make!
Crazy quilt at Lady Sew & Sew
I was thrilled to see that my quilt is on display at Lady Sew & Sew as part of their Henley Arts Trail participation - obviously fabrics used are from their shelves! We were there over the weekend and also got to see quilts by Linda Seward and to meet Nel Watmore, who had a special exhibition on too.
Sewing Retreat at Denham Bucks
A weekend away sewing with like minded people and no responsibilities - what a great idea that is! Pictures by Matt Bigwood 15 ladies joined Valerie and Maggie at the Denham De Vere Hotel and you can see they were hard at work. They all worked on their own projects but there was inspiration in the form of quilts on the wall and a small shop of goodies provided by Creative Quilting.
Fine Cell Work exhibition
We spent a whole day filming this small but great exhibition that is being hosted by Lady Sew & Sew at Henley on Thames. Founded by Lady Anne Tree in 1997, Fine Cell Work trains men and women in prison to do high-quality, paid needlework in the long hours spent in their cells. Last night we were fortunate enough to meet up with and interview Tracy Chevalier who is a leading author and patron of Fine Cell work - indeed she commissioned a quilt entitled the Sleep Quilt which was made by 60 men and women from 9 different prisons - and this is on display in the exhibition.
A note from Juliet about Apple iPads and phones
Do you use an iPad or iPhone? Have you installed the latest update in the last few weeks of March? Well iOS 9.3.has a bug in it which has affected not only our website, but many other video websites too. When you try and watch a video, it may tell you that your privacy settings are stopping you from viewing the video.
Simply E-Z wth Jennie Rayment
Spent the day working with Jennie - I was the quilt slave! - and she the presenter working on a series of 'how to use' videos for the E-Z company/Simplicity. Had a very full and productive day and if you want to learn more about why we are looking through the cut-out heart - you'll need to keep watching!
Terial Magic Spray
So what's all the magic about? This product has been flying off our shelves so I decided to have a look and see why. Terial Magic is a spray on fabric stabilizer that washes out of your garment, quilt or art after it's finished; - it stablizes the fabric so that you can use it a little bit like paper - so cutting out shapes such as feathers or petals to create designs with your fabric scraps becomes very easy - how about giving this idea a try (pic taken from issue 41 of Homemaker); Terial Magic Spray: - has been created to prevent the fabric from fraying for 3D textile art - Stabilizes fabric ready for embroidery - even stretchy fabrics and then just washes out.
Stripey with Jennie Rayment
Another fantastic filming day with Jennie; Here is the delightful quilt that she is going to share with us and which will be run as a series - probably two rows a month (still to work out the details!) . The quilt is made from a selection of 36 x Fat 1/4m's which we will be able to offer you AND there is enough fabric left over to create the backing and do the binding - so excellent value; PLUS we will be offering you the opportunity of trying a new 80/20 wadding (well new to us and we love it!) We hope to have the Promo film up soon so keep watching!!