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You can now view us on your ipad:  information as follows from one of our viewers: FYI, I found a way to watch your video's on my IPAD. Iswifter.com is a free app for IPAD users....I use it to access Justhandsontv to watch your videos....works like a charm. I now have access everywhere I go! Awesome!

Well we all know you can watch and sew, and while the road cycle race was running I was busy sewing - made this simple quilt as a class sample for beginners with a lovely bundle of 1930's strips and squares: the binding is being checked by Kissy!

Cathy Miller, the Singing Quilter is in town and you can join her at the Thamside Quilters meeting on Friday 24th August at the Staines  Methodist Church, Thames Street, Stained Middx TW18 4SD.   The performance starts at 7.45pm and the door open at 7.15pm - tickets at the door are £5.

Fun was had by all at our Dunford House quilt retreat weekend; the house was full and there was lots of laughter as well as sewing.  Jennie as usual had us in stitches with her travel stories as well as getting down to her red swimsuit complete with embellishments and the pub quiz was won by the "Thanglers".  The  Dunford house staff did us proud - they looked after us superbly and the food was excellent - local produce well presented - and many of the bedrooms have undergone a upgrade and facelift with beautiful new soft furnishings.

Rice fields take on a whole new meaning when you see them like this: www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/howaboutthat/5965421/Paddy-art-farmers-create-colourful-rice-murals-in-Japan.html

Dave and Matt joined me at Creative Quilting so that we could share this shop with you later in the year:   here Dave finds his namesake! (the detail is from one of the Don't Look Now range of patterns that are sold at Creative Quilting) and Isa and I share a moment amongst the fabrics and I show you my finished scrap quilt (made in just 40 minutes and I'll show you how in August!)  

I am getting on with making the quilts (so far only tops) which are destined for Momemtum but as you can see there is quite a variety and am surprising myself at my inventiveness!!!     Momentum raises funds for children and their families directly affected by life-threatening disease in the Kingston and Surrey areas.  You can find out more about them and their work at www.moment-um.org

We are having another sewing day Sunday 1 July 11am - 3pm - sewing - we can
start some machine sewing if anyone wants to bring their machine - we'll
have hand sewing as well. It would be a good time to look at the design for
the Rose quilt and plot the colours from the recent fabric dye session and
see how they work?

Just checked the weather report and its going to be a great sewing weekend! Am off this evening for a 24hour sewing marathon organised by Creative Quilting (down at Hampton Court) and really looking forward to it – 5pm Fri-5pm Sat with supper and lunch organised too; sew for as long as you like – I suspect I shall give up around 10pm but we will see – 16 of us so should be fun.

Val:  This is such a clever idea - shared by a friend of mine - that I thought I would pass it on:   Freezer paper can be printed on as a sheet of normal printer paper.
Import the picture/template into a word document, reverse it and print onto the paper side of freezer paper.

Magic paper
The one rule to successful printing on magic paper is to attach it to a well used piece of freezer paper.
Iron onto A4 freezer paper, foundation (Vilene) and print any picture/text in the usual way.
Run it through the printer 5/6 times to reduce the shine.

Iron an A4 sheet of magic paper onto this freezer paper, just enough to hold it, then print template.

Exhausting but fun seems to be the way that shows go for me these days; this one started early with my first turn at judging – I really enjoyed it and it is amazing how different quilts are when you are asked to study them as opposed to just walking by and waiting for one to jump out at you.

By Jonathan Brown – Yorkshire Evening Post
Published on Wednesday 2 May 2012 06:30 A patchwork of people is piecing together craft mementos from a bygone era. Around 15 craft-loving volunteers have tasked themselves with stitching together 30 quilt squares, made in the 1930s, and finding out more about the women who signed them. The group came together after designer Jules Caton, from Ilkley, stumbled across the squares in a second hand shop in the Texan frontier town of Smithville last November.

Friday 20th April saw us spend the day with Sylvia Critcher and wander round the Hope Quilters Exhibition in Otford Kent; what a wonderful variety of quilts on display – everything from complete beginners to those with more advanced skills but all very enjoyable and so full of colour. Some really great scrap ideas that Sylvia has taught and as you would expect, lots of wonderful hand quilting examples on display.

Makers of King Tut thread (as well as other brands) Dr.Bob has the title of Chief Threadologist for the company and is a wealth of information.   They have various short videos running on their site and well worth a visit and a listen with your cup of coffee: www.superiorthreads.com/videos You'll find lots under 'Education' and videos The one I just watched was about doing the 'snap test' on older threads which is useful to know.