About Sallieann
The first thing Sallieann ever made was a cotton bikini top from her mums cast off work when she was 9!
After leaving school Sallieann flitted from “number” based jobs in insurance, banking, and tax (she wasn’t bad with numbers!). She married in the 80s and had two boys in the 90s. Then, the big change in her life came in 2000 when we moved to the USA for a three-year period so that her hubby could work on a military base.
It was there in New Bern, North Carolina that Sallieann found her very first Patchwork and Quilting Store. She walked in and was totally bowled over and knew this is what she needed in her life! She started with classes, mentoring from the incredible Shelly May of the “Raspberry Rabbits,” then some teaching, and by the time she left the USA, Sallieann was a prize-winning exhibitor!
When Sallieann and family moved back to the UK, she taught private Patchwork & Quilting, classes, as well as little gigs here and there for John Lewis and the American Museum in Bath. By 2016, she was designing for magazines, exhibiting more widely and started to work with Denman WI College teaching residential courses.
In 2018, Sallieann joined Sewing Quarter TV. One of the things that she loved about the Sewing Quarter was the genuine sense of community with the channel and feedback on the fan page, adding: “when people posted pictures of what they made following one of my shows, or what they made from my pattern, I can’t help but do a ‘Happy dance’!!”
Sallieann enjoys traditional quilting techniques and has won several quilt show awards both in the UK and USA.
Signature Technique
Felted wool appliqué on a sewing machine using speciality threads
Top Tips
- Run dental floss through your machine to get wool fluff out.
- To get a “touchy feely” vintage effect dip and tea dye the piece then tumble dry.
- Unpick seams with a Wahl trimmer. Works like a charm!
Videos
Patterns
Posts
Tote-it-all Bag in production
Just to say a big thank you for the tote bag workshop. I saw it yesterday afternoon and am now the proud owner of six new shopping bags. They were a great way of using up some very odd jelly rolls I bought on line and which had some very odd novelty prints in them. However made up as bags they look great!
Do I have to use cotton fabrics in my quilt?
We tend to use cotton fabrics in quilts as they are easier to use and wash and we have a huge range of wonderful fabrics now being commercially designed and produced just for us. But you can of course use any fabric you like; try to determine what the fabric is, as this will make it easier for you to understand how it will behave not only while you are sewing it, but also when the quilt/project is finished.
What to Watch in January 2013
Inspiration We start off with lots more inspiration from the Hope Quilters’ Exhibition with Sylvia Critcher acting as our guide. Workshops to enjoy The workshops this month include a really quick JR bag – that’s Jennie Rayment but it could be Jelly Roll; a really quick Stripey Quilts from Valerie and how to machine quilt it very simply; and Valerie shows you how to create a Tumbling Blocks quilt by hand - the display quilt is stunning.