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
Old Rag Rugs:
Some tips from Jean Stewart who just loves this sort of work: The doormat she is holding has been in use for over 20 years and was made when she first arrived in the Highlands with tartan offcuts from Lochcarron Weavers. Below is a fleece rug that is still a work-in-progress; Jean finds that if she makes a diagonal cut the fabric pulls through more easily and if she raises a crease then she is able to do a row quicker; but remember to pull it flat before raising the next one!
A Happy Customer
Hi, Just wanted to say a huge thank you for this website. A Godsend to someone like me who is unable to go to workshops now and misses them very much. I especially liked the video about the needles and threads. Most welcome information, but I am working my way through them all and they have given me new incentive to start sewing again.
Inspired by Justhands-on.tv
I thought you might like to see the Scottie Dog Handbag I made for my niece using the pattern from Mandy Shaw. I also used the very small Scottie dog to decorate a head band. The final set of photos are of the Christmas banner I made after being inspired by Mandy Shaw's Christmas decorations. Regards Sandra Parker