2013 – the year of? Well we hope it will be inspiration and today we start off with lots more from the Hope Quilters’ exhibition and the work of Sylvia Critcher’s students – what a prolific bunch they are! And so varied – from Stacked Crazy to Baltimore.
And Jennie shares with us a really quick (and clever) Tote –it-all bag made from 2 ½” strips of fabrics.
Did you get a chance to sit down over the holidays? And did you get a chance to enjoy some of the gentle films we had for you – for instance the ‘Stressbuster’ (lots of twittering) or the Outtakes (lots of laughter) or Val’s personal favourite ‘The Shipping Forecast’ – a very British concept .
All still up on the Home Page for you to enjoy.
We did include some ideas and projects for you to work on though: the Split 9 Patch using up scraps and ‘Thangles’
and the Twisted Setting to add that jaunty angle
and , of course, blocks 5 & 6 of Your First Sampler Quilt. Don’t panic if you haven’t been able to keep pace – the films will stay up on the site for a while and of course blocks 7 &8will go up duringthis month.
Also later this month you can enjoy meeting Valentina Brunn, who is a textile artist who enjoys using postage stamps; she considers these to be little works of art and so uses them as the starting point/focus of her larger works of art.
And she shows us how to make a little painted landscape using Bondaweb, threads and embellishments.
Valerie has a fantastically simple and FAST quilt that was made with striped fabric and then quilted using wavy lines – the whole quilt can be made in an afternoon!
Hand patchwork isn’t something that Jennie or Valerie do (too many quilts to make and not enough time!) BUT it is very portable and towards the end of the month Valerie shows you how to create a Tumbling Blocks quilt, sewn by hand (but not over papers) using the simple diamond template and a running stitch.
(BTW: if you enjoy handwork you do realise that Your First Sampler Quilt can be stitched by hand and there are workshop notes to help you).
Superstar – a medallion quilt – is coming soon and is our new Block of the Month programme.
Designed by Jennie Rayment with a few alternatives this stunning Medallion quilt starts off with a Medallion Centre of Lone Star (Blazing Star to some); and continues with borders of seminole patchwork, half and quarter square triangles; twiddling trumpets; Delectable Mountains then corners of Pineapples. You can get a feel for the quilt now through the promo film; we plan to start the quilt later in February and a kit is being put together.
The Book of the Month for January 2013 is the latest publication from Christine Porter – this time in conjunction with Dara Williamson – and is called “Cuddle Me Quick”.
https://justhands-on.tv/product-category/shop/books/
There are 11 Baby quilt designs in a mixture of traditional pieced quilts and whimsical appliqué designs. Chris and Dara also include some quilting basics,as well as detailed quilting suggestions (with photos) for each quilt.
Free p&p in the UK for the month of January £17.99
Our January giveaway is for subscribed members; we have a couple of really lovely patterns from the range designed by Kids Quits; Valerie met the owners and designers from New Zealand at the Festival of Quilts back in August.
https://justhands-on.tv/community/competition/
Both are Single Bed size quilts and there is one design for the boys and another for the girls in the giveway and all you need to do is send us an email to
With the title Kids (and add Boys or Girls) to be in with a chance to win. The closing date is 31st January.
On the shopping pages you will find another couple of designs – Bugsy and Alphabet Jungle; these are both cot size quilts (approx 42×55).
https://justhands-on.tv/product-category/shop/patterns/
If you aren’t a subscribed member it is really easy to become one; just follow any of the links throughout the site which will take you to the monthly payment managed by Paypal. If you prefer to purchase a 3month, 6 month or 1year subscription then this one-off payment is also managed by paypal :
https://justhands-on.tv/product-category/shop/subscription/
You can pay by cheque if you want – just contact us through the website.
The Simplicity Deluxe Felting Machine prize giveway has been won by Wendy Hewins – lucky girl. Sorry to all the others of you who entered but were unlucky.
If you would like to have a weekend away playing with a needlefelting machine, why not join Myfanwy Hart at Dunford House in Surrey June 14-16; You can use one of our machines or bring your own and just £50 will secure your place. For fuller details click here:
Do you have a New Year’s Resolution? Valerie plans to complete more quilts and be more focused in her purchasing of fabric at shows! The first show will be the South of England Showground event run by Grosvenor Shows 25-27th January – more information on the Events Page
https://justhands-on.tv/community//events
(and did you know that you can advertise your event for free with us?) – so stop by the Creative Quilting stand and check out how she’s doing!
Happy New Year and Happy Sewing
Valerie & Jennie