Home/Tutors/Helen Butcher

Helen Butcher

Cubitz quilt Helen Butcher quilting workshop

About Helen

Helen can’t remember a time when she wasn’t making something. As a young child her greatest joy was the ‘useful box’ which lived in the cupboard under the stairs and was the repository for empty egg boxes, cereal packets and yogurt pots, all fantastic stuff to feed a creative mind.

When Helen was seven her Grandmother taught her to sew and opened her mind to a whole new avenue of creative expression.  Helen designed and made her first full size cross-stitch sampler before she was nine, and made various garments for dolls and bears and eventually herself, creating patterns by the simple method of lying on the floor and drawing round herself, much to the amusement of her Mother & Grandmother – both accomplished dressmakers.

Helen worked in graphics, and then advertising, for ten years, until she and her partner had the opportunity to quit the London rat-race and move to Yorkshire to run the family’s marina business.  During this time, Helen taught herself patchwork, quilting, beading, origami, marquetry, doll making and canvas work. She discovered that, not only does she love crafting and the challenge of learning something new, she also had a hitherto undiscovered competitive streak deep inside which prompted her to hone these new skills to the point where she regularly won awards in the handicrafts section of shows.

Fifteen years later, Helen decided to combine her experience of running a business with her enduring passion for crafting to start LITTLE PATCH POCKETS.  Helen creates patchwork designs and writes patterns so you can make your own unique, lovely things.  She also offers kits, classes and workshops where she teaches her designs.

Helen loves using three dimensional illusions in her work.  According to Helen, “I love to create an illusion of three dimensions and many of my designs are based on this concept. I do occasionally use curved lines, but since my mind seems to work in straight lines I find lots of inspiration in architecture, engineering and even mathematical concepts. I like accurate piecing and often create my own foundation paper pieced blocks in order to achieve the precision I enjoy.”

Helen is an avid follower of the Modern Quilt Movement as well as a great believer that quilts are for using: “for your three-year-old to drag down the garden, for the dog to sleep on and to go in the washing machine.”

Click here to see Helen (Butcher) and Helen Howes share a heart-warming story about their much missed quilting friend, Kate Percival.

www.littlepatchpockets.co.uk

Signature Technique

Modern Quilting

Helen’s Top Tips

  • Colour choice is key to 3D work. Always select three shades of the same colour, or light, medium and dark tones of the same colour.
  • Auditioning fabrics is one of the most useful skills any patchwork artist can develop. A quilt needs contrast of tone, however subtle, to accentuate the design.
  • Never use a fabric with a low thread count or a loose weave, however good the colour. Thinner fabrics do not handle well, will fray quickly and will not wear well in the finished quilt. It is worth investing in good fabrics.
  • Many of the fabrics at the cheaper end of the market cover up this deficiency with excessive amounts of surface ink and stiffening treatments – the secret is to turn to the back and check.
  • Always look for a fabric that is likely to shrink only minimally. Some shrinkage is to be expected, especially when combining fabrics from different manufacturers. Look on this as part of the charm of a washed quilt. However, cheap fabric with an open, loose weave will shrink hugely when washed, ruining your work.

Videos

  • Details
  • Details
  • Details
  • Details
  • Details
  • Details
  • Details
  • Details
  • Details
  • Details
  • Details
  • Details

Books and Patterns

No products were found matching your selection.

Posts

BBC Radio Berks

Val: If you missed me being interviewed on my local radio station don't despair there is a 'listen again' option through the computer and the link is www.bbc.co.uk/i/p00kvf2w/ You can hear all about my passion for sewing/quilting/patchwork (which won't surprise any of you) but you might not have known some of the other stuff I get to talk about!

Comments Off on BBC Radio Berks

News update October 2011

Val: Wow this month seems to be rushing by - I suppose that’s what happens if you take a few days off; we had a lovely few days in France and the weather was superb. This Saturday, 22nd, you will find me at the Second Southampton Quilting & Textile Art Fair being held in aid of The Society of St.James (which is a Southampton Charity) and The Goedgedacht Project (a South African charity) at the King Edward VI School in Southampton (SO15 5UQ)– it runs from 10am-3pm and as well as traders there are displays - with the theme of ‘Africa’- and demonstrations; so do come along and say hello.

Comments Off on News update October 2011
2020-02-25T19:14:07+00:00
Go to Top