Blog

Val: If you missed me being interviewed on my local radio station don't despair there is a 'listen again' option through the computer and the link is www.bbc.co.uk/i/p00kvf2w/ You can hear all about my passion for sewing/quilting/patchwork (which won't surprise any of you) but you might not have known some of the other stuff I get to talk about!

Val: Wow this month seems to be rushing by - I suppose that’s what happens if you take a few days off; we had a lovely few days in France and the weather was superb. This Saturday, 22nd, you will find me at the Second Southampton Quilting & Textile Art Fair being held in aid of The Society of St.James (which is a Southampton Charity) and The Goedgedacht Project (a South African charity) at the King Edward VI School in Southampton (SO15 5UQ)– it runs from 10am-3pm and as well as traders there are displays - with the theme of ‘Africa’- and demonstrations; so do come along and say hello.

Val: What a super day we all had filming at Hever Castle (in Kent)  yesterday – Country Life at the Castle it is being billed as and for the first time in 20 years it is so much more than just a quilt show; obviously for me the quilts were the star of the show (all from the Quilters Guild members of Region 2) (as well as the shopping) but there was lots of other stuff on display and to enjoy – plants from the estate; a basket weaver, dog trainer, a man who forged stuff from wrought iron, weaver, spinners, felters, - PLUS the wonderful grounds of the castle to enjoy.

Val: This is one of those dates in history that everyone knows where they were - just like the day President Kennedy was shot and Princess Diana lost here life. I can remember not only where I was back in 2001 when the dreadful news came through but also where I was last year - I was in Canada - and since I was over in North America the TV was saturated with coverage of the events of rememberance;   how much more so will they be this year?  I was very moved by those events of rememberance but also fascinated to learn of the way quilters have dealt with this tragedy and the significance and value  that has been granted to them by the government and the American people; The America's 9-11 Memorial Quilts project was initiated by Jeannie Ammermann to honor victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

Val;    Some of you may have heard that Bizview.tv as a company is no longer trading but I have to tell you that the boys are alive and well;   Justhands-on.tv will continue to have close links with Dave & Matt (and the cameras) as well as Paul, so for us its business as usual. We have lots of wonderful plans including visiting the Festival of Quilts on Sunday 14th August with the cameras;    the event at Hever Castle in September and Jennie and I will be together later in August to film the new Block of the Month programme (which is coming along well in my sewing room!)

Jennie and I had a wonderful day filming on Tuesday – all seven parts of our new block of the month programme and I have now given the quilt a name (!) – Rosebud Fayre - which is also the name of the range of fabrics that we used; designed by Gail Kessler for Andover and distributed in the UK by Makower, these fabrics have been mixed with some of the Makower Itsy Bitsy range.

Val: Finally got to downloading some of the pics from our journey at the Festival of Quilts and couldn't resist this one - parked at home it not only took up most of the driveway but also gently grazed the lower branches of my neighbours trees,  and  I needed steps to get into the back too!!! (Isa says that if I get to drive next year we might get one with a tail lift!)
  Dates for next year's Festival of Quilts are 16-19 August 2012

Val: Thankyou Derek for getting back to us with this:
"Its not my fault its the computer - it made me do it !" (ROFL) that's what I say about my sewing machine! I have just finished watching the video on Free Motion Embroidery and wanted to say thank you to Jennie for the video I have tried Free Motion Quilting on my Janome with disastrous results - I could never get the needle to perform a nice smooth curve or a straight, straight line.

Val:   Dave, Matt and I had a wonderful day on last Sunday (14th) filming at the Festival and here are just some of the items we got on film: The Lace Collection from the Prague Patchwork Meeting who represent the most prestigious platform for quilters from all over the Czech Republic. This was the first time that the complete collection had been on show outside the Czech Republic.

Val:  Just a reminder that the final part of this sampler block was uploaded at the beginning of July;   if you are taking part you do need to download any remaining instructions this weekend as the BOM tab will be removed during our facelift.   This is no longer available as a part-work but the pattern can be purchased in the shopping pages.

Val: Jennie and I are busy working on a new medallion style block of the month with georgeous fabrics selected from the Rosebud Fayre designed by Andover Fabrics and distributed in the UK by Makower (the Henley Studio) and kindly donated by them.
We will be filming the various stages at the end of August so that you will be able to see step-by-step how the quilt is made.

Val: My friend Valerie and I decided that we neededa day out and what better excuse that to visit a quilt shop.   Pauline and Sarah (Pauline's Patchwork) moved from Brewers Quay in Weymouth into their new shop in Poundbury back in January.   I managed to find directions from GOoglemaps but interestingly enough Poundbury is not marked on the recent traditional maps - it can be found on the western edge of Dorchester (Dorset) and is actually more of a development (and work in progress judging by all the diggers still there) than a village.   A number of small artisan shops surround Pauline's and there are several really lovely places to eat.

A team of 4, headed up by husband Stuart, joined in the fundraising golf day at Richmond Golf course to raise money for Momentum. Here is a pic of the four (the front view isn’t pretty!)   the day was a huge success and raised more than £5,000 for the charity. For more information you can go to their site www.moment-um.org  

Our weekend get together at Dunford House in Midhurst was, if I say it myself, a great success.   There was a great deal of laughter and not only during the quiz and Jennie's talk which included various layers of clothing being taken off (!)but there was also  a lot of quilting and patchwork done;   Jennie's class got to grips with the 3D effect and inset Y seam and Sarah's class beavoured away making jelly roll quilts like they were going out of fashion - and several were layered quilted and bound!!!  and my group got to grips  with UFO's.