What to watch in June 2013 here at Justhands-on.tv
We start the month off with re-visiting the Sunbury Millenium Embroidery at Sunbury on Thames; this is such an inspirational piece of work – not only visually but because it enlisted the help of the whole village in the making of it and then on fundraising for the housing of it; it is now in a purpose built building in the walled garden within the village.
Lots of free stuff to watch
We have a wide variety of videos that are free to registered viewers dotted through the interviews, tips, techniques and workshops on the site. BUT you can access them all now through a new page 'What's New' which is located on far rh side of the green menu bar when you hover over 'videos'. or click here One of our most popular workshops has been the 40 minute scrap quilt - why not take a look.
How do you do an applique flower with 4 layers?
This was a question posed to us by Sandra: and here is my answer: The easiest way to do this layered flower is to put the first piece down - i.e. the largest, and sew all the way round; turn the work over and trim away the excess fabric (i.e. the background fabric) from beneath the flower leaving approx 1/4" (if you watch the tip for the grandmother's fan you will see what I mean;)click here:
then add the second, smaller flower, turn the work over and again trim away the excess fabric; and you then repeat for each of the layers - that way you keep the fabric from being very bulky and it is easier to quilt through - even by hand.
Embroidery (but not as I know it)
I don't know whether to feel inspired or depressed but they are VERY good. Hand embroidery by Cayce Zavaglia. Interestingly she thinks of these embroidered portraits as paintings - what do you think?
https://www.caycezavaglia.com/
What are you up to this weekend?
I see that Sarah Soward (of Pauline's Patchwork in Poundbury Dorset) is busy giving a Bargello quilt workshop; Quilts UK is being held at the Three Counties Showground in Malvern and I am off to join Jennie (Rayment) and Wendy (Gardiner) at their Sewing Getaway in Dunford House, Midhurst. I am joining a class with Jenni Stuart-Anderson and she is going to help us all make Raggy Bags and Eco Rugs; I have LOTS of scraps so am hoping she will be able to show me how to make good use of them.
What you can watch during May 2013
Well we have 5 Friday’s in this month so lots to enjoy and we start off with Part two of the visit we made to the Great Northern Quilt Show in Harrogate back in 2012; this time we are enjoying meeting some of the traders and catching up with what they have to offer as well as a very enjoyable interview with Susan Briscoe who is well known for her Japanese quilts.
Filming in Ledbury
We had a brilliant day filming the Living in the Middle exhibition at the Weavers Gallery in Ledbury - it runs until Sunday 12th May - more details on the events page; Lots of brilliant textile art by well known artists - amongst them Lesley Brankin, Edwina Mackinnon, Amanda Wright (the event organiser) and Hilary Beattie. the town is lovely too as you can see.
Couldn’t Resist this Carousel
Carousel is the name of the pattern of the quilt that is featured on the cover of our Book of the Month for April - Simply Fat Quarters by the Sew Emma Creative Team - and I just had to make it. The girls have used Fat 1/4's but I rummaged into my scraps and used left-over strips but with a consistant background fabric: Plan to now have a go with all the blocks from the same fabric (they don't take long!)
Cosy and warm
Well we all need a warm coat don't we! This is one I made for my neighbour's little companion and not only is the fabric fleecy but she has warm cotton wadding too! (and luckily I had the old cast-off coat as a pattern!)
Quick quilt – perfect for the Hampden Park Alzheimers Appeal
Here are two versions of the ultra quick and easy quilt that I've made for the appeal; both are now finished (quilted, bound and signed) and ready to be sent off. I was surprised by how addictive and pleasing it is to make quilts so quickly! If you want to have a go yourself the how-to will be up on the website on 5th April and the quilts are needed by end of May.
Decolourant, upcycling and a little bit of crazy
We had another superb filming day last Thursday (despite the rain!) and we were joined by Dee Paramour on behalf of Mulberry Silks who did a series of workshops using two new(ish) products called Decolourant and Decolourant Plus; these are products that take the colour out of fabric without distressing it and without any nasty noxious fumes. https://www.mulberrysilks.co.uk We were also visited by Steve Weekes who runs the upcycling company in Wiltshire called Texworks and she showed us to make turn a shrunked jumper into a wonderful, warm hat (which I should have bought 'cos I love it!) for more information about her and her workshops/vintage shop go to https://www.texworks.co.uk and as well as layering, quilting and binding Your First Sampler Quilt there was a bit of crazy - in patchwork form of course.
Not considered to be art!!!
Amanda Richardson creates pictures by using fused applique as a technique having first dyed her fabrics. She was featured recently on the BBC programme 'Show me the Monet' and her work was not considered to be art and therefore not eligible to be hung at the Mall Galleries -the judges felt it was craft Here is an example of her work and here is the link to her website What do you think!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What to watch in March 2013
This will be a busy month as there are 5 Friday’s so lots to see and be inspired by: Inspiration from the Embroiderer's Guild We start the month off with enjoying a quilt made by members of the Embroiderer’s Guild entitled ‘Flight of the Bumblebee’ with Jo Bostock Workshops to Enjoy and a workshop with another Jo - Jo Gourlay – sharing with us how to create a delightful cushion for the house and/or garden using recycled fabrics and being inspired by the fabric itself. This is a great project for the younger sewers to try as well as it uses fused applique and some simple embroidery stitches.
What do you do when the Rugby is on?
Having taught all day on Saturday up at Bee Crafty I was desperate to get to my own sewing machine and the Rugby 6-Nations is a perfect opportunity in my house for me not to be missed! I took a few moments in the afternoon to make these two quilt tops for the Alzheimers' Charity fundraiser - check out our blog about it ; Hampden Park and you can download the patterns FOR FREE.
Oscar Night for the Royal School of Needlework
Royal School of Needlework hand embroiders the 2013 Red Carpet Green
Dress worn at last night’s Oscar ceremony by British actress Naomie Harris A team of 22 embroiderers at the Royal School of Needlework (RSN) have added a unique sustainable twist to this year’s Red Carpet Green Dress
worn by Skyfall’s Naomie Harris. Using a selection of vintage gold threads,
beads and sequins, the world’s experts in hand embroidery have helped to
create a stunning and sustainable red carpet dress.
Saturday Log Cabin at Bee Crafty
Had a really lovely day sharing how to make Log Cabin blocks the 'quilt in a day' method with ladies in a class up at Bee Crafty in Huntingdon; the number of blocks varied from 9 to 24. Great day and we all dashed home to beat the snow! PS: Madelaine has now finished hers and it's ready for quilting: