About Claire
Claire is a modern quilt designer and teacher, based in Stratford Upon Avon in the UK.
Claire has always had a love for sewing which was reignited when her children were born and needed a creative outlet for herself. It wasn’t long before quilts were the only thing she wanted to sew.
In 2020, during the pandemic, when Claire was stuck between never ending on-line lessons with her kids home-schooling, she designed her first quilt pattern, the Retro Metro Quilt. It was a way she could still channel her creativity when life wouldn’t allow much time behind the sewing machine. Since then, Claire has immersed herself into the quilt designing world and has had her work featured in Love Patchwork & Quilting magazine and justhands-on.tv videos.
Claire’s designs are Inspired by modern geometric designs and repeated patterns – – wherever she finds them – – including toilet tiles and the front covers of books. Claire is the designer behind Made Just Sew. Click her to see her bright, colourful designs.
Though not formally educated in art or teaching, Claire has excelled as a quilting teacher – – winning the Big Janome Skill Share in 2021. What makes her unique is her passion for quilting and a passion for sharing what she has learned.
Click here to watch Claire share her Walking Foot Quilting techniques in an episode of The Makers Studio.
Keep up to date and follow Claire’s quilt journey over on Instagram @madejustsew
Signature Technique
Quilting with a Walking Foot
Top Tips
- Pick your backing fabric first, then match your front colours to your backing. This works really well for those of us who love colourful printed fabrics for our backing.
- If you’ve struggled with quilting, use the walking foot. It makes quilting so much easier.
- Don’t be afraid to quilt straight lines across your patchwork. It gives your project enhanced depth and texture.
- Marking quilting lines with a hera marker provides a useful guide for your straight line quilting.
- Don’t worry about mistakes. We all do it! Remember, you can always unpick stitches and come at it fresh tomorrow.
- Use quilting gloves to help you guide your quilt under the walking foot. The sticky tips of the glove give you a little extra grip.
- If you want your quilting to stand out, choose good quality colour thread to contrast the top. Colour thread can look dominating when on the spool, less so when on your quilt.
Videos
Posts
Join us in the drive to cover the St. Mary’s Church bell tower in poppies
Cover St. Mary’s Church bell tower in poppies St. Mary’s Church in Wotton-under Edge are planning to cover the Bell Tower in poppies by the 11th of November to commemorate 100 years since the end of the First World War. All poppies are welcomed - Knitted, Crocheted, Felt and Fabric. Click here for details "Knitting a Remembrance Poppy" workshop available for FREE The justhands-on.tv team are very keen to support this project. So, we are making the full length workshop on “Knitting a Remembrance Poppy” by Rosee Woodland available for FREE for the next 8 months.
Kitty range of fabrics designed by Makower
There is a free download pattern for this range, and Valerie will be sharing a workshop with you all at the end of the month, but this great range of fabrics also looks good when used on another pattern from the Makower stable, that caught Valerie's eye; (and just had to make one!) designed by Lynne Goldsworthy originally to be used with the Into the Woods fabrics; It is a free download from Makower - just click here.
Charity Quilts for Momentum- Kingston upon thames
A selection of quilts - various shapes and sizes - made by Valerie and her quilting friends and students were delivered to Momentum in Kingston upon Thames this week. Valerie and her quilting network have been supporting this charity for several years through their quilt making and to learn more about the wonderful work done by Momentum - click here