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
Quilt Now Readers’ Makes Competition Winner – Issue 65
Quilt Now magazine love to see what their readers have been making. This months Star Make winner for Issue 65, was Alison.She renamed Sarah Ashford’s quilt from issue 61 to Hearts and Kisses and made a colourful wedding gift for her niece. The hearts and kisses are pieced with characterful fabric designed by her friend and designer Amanda Jane Ogden!! Congratulations Alison, and enjoy your year's subscription with justhands-on.tv
Book of the Month September 2019 : Nicki Trench Color Block Knits
This month, our Book of the Month is coming specially from the publishers. This is why you can find the details here in the Blog and not in our usual Shop. This is the new book from Nicki Trench - Colour Block Knits. It is bursting full of 35 beautiful projects with Nicki Trench's vibrant knitting patterns. We have it at a special price of £10 for the book and you will get free P&P in the UK.
Subscriber Giveaway for September 2019 – Rose Trellis cushion pattern from Sylvia Critcher
Sorry the competition is now closed. The pattern is available in the Shop