Blog

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.

I do so love it when the younger generation get involved and their contributions and of such a high standard too. Quilt for Mrs Brodie: Children at Kingswood Primary School in Gloucestershire won the Village Fabrics Award for Under-16 Group Entry at the Quilts UK show in Malvern during May with a quilt made for their former headteacher. Mrs Carol Brodie retired from her role as headteacher in December after 26 years at the school, but the gift of the quilt made by the children came as a complete surprise to her.

Lots of our contributors were found this weekend at the National Patchwork Championships at the Sandown Racecourse, Esher Surrey  – Mandy Shaw (whose pinkeeper workshop went up this month) , Sue from Daisy Chain, Claire from Hannah’s Room, The Stitch Witch (Lynette Harris who has given us a great tip about using the twin needle when stitching  bias stained glass patchwork),Pauline’s Patchwork, Hilary of The Silk Route (contribution coming soon), Maggie Davies, Sylvia Critcher, Helen Deighan, with her multicoloured outfit:   Dawn Cameron-Dick (who has done the brilliant lecture on threads and needles for us as well as the Invisible Machine Applique technique; her new Pocket Tutor book is now available) , Colouricious – the list goes on!

Val:  Popped along to see the graduate showcase and it was really amazing;  what a great reflection of the quality of work that can be achieved under excellent tutillage and in the Foundation Degree course the results are so very diverse without any compromise on quality. For more details of all courses visit www.royal-needlework.org.uk /learn www.royal-needlework.org.uk /learn

My first quilt/wall hanging by Lyn Waudby My son David was getting married, and I decided to make something special to commemorate the wedding. The wedding was to take place in Disney World Florida followed by a celebration meal and last but not least watching the Magic Kingdom firework display lighting up The Castle. As this is Kerry's favourite Disney location I thought this might be a good place to start.

Val:   Filming days can be very stressful - early mornings are not my thing - so Paul and Dave of Bizview.tv put together these shots to share with you some of the shots that weren't used from one of our outings - we hope you enjoy - it has been entitled 'Stressbuster': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biPnf43UZ5c

Val:  We do like to hear that you are enjoying the ideas that we have to offer:  Thank you so much for your very prompt reply to my email. I loved the video and I fully intend to try it. I am enjoying Justonhandstv very much.It's nice to have a British Quilt show which is such good value and the projects are very do-able!
Maureen
Muir of Ord
Highlands

Raising awareness of this dreadful affliction that affects not only the patient but also their families Ann Hill has put together a display at the Hampden Park Stadium, Glasgow; there are 65 quilts in total and all the quilts have a story inspired by the stories of the families for whom the quilt was made and the exhibition runs until August 2011.

Val:  We have a truely lovely day on Friday filming;  we had stayed overnight at a small delightful hotel Hilltop Hotel close to Brands Hatch racecourse https://www.hilltophotel.co.uk/aboutus.htm and then we were up bright and early to do some filming.   We spent the day with Sylvia Critcher, Hilary from The Silk Route, Kim Shaw, Carolyn Forster, Sue from The Daisy Chain and Lee Brown so we have lots of great workshops for you to enjoy.