Classes and Workshops

I just wanted to let everyone know that I have places left in my class on

Tuesday mornings from 10.30 - 12.30

which begin on 4 September. 

It's going to be a Mixture Class.  

This means that it can be for the complete beginner who can make a little quilt with squares and in the process learn all the skills needed for making a patchwork quilt from beginning to end. 

Or for the slightly more experienced quilter, an applique quilt,

using either hand or machine applique techniques.

I am also offering  a Bag Workshop on Saturday 6 October from 10-4pm.

There will also be a Free Motion Workshop on Saturday 20 October

from 10-4pm.

So check out the Classes and Workshop pages for more details and contact me if interested.

Bye for now.

Sandra 

The Festival of Quilts 2012

I have returned home from the Festival of Quilts after having a wonderful time with friends yet again.  I was exhausted but very happy.

I saw some gorgeous quilts and some amazing quilting.  I hope my photographs do them justice.

'Autumn Blues' by Alexandra Nikulina
Russia

'Sun-turn' ("Kolovorot")
by Loskutnye Zabavy Patchwork Studio
led by A. Nikulina
Russia

'A Square, a Stripe, a Triangle'
by Loskutnye Zabavy Patchwork Studio
led by A. Nikulina
Russia

I seem to be a big fan of Russian quilts and this was true last year as well when I liked Marina Maminova's work.

When I saw this next quilt, I said to my sister that it was like the swoon quilt made by Camille Roskelley whose blog I follow. 

'Swooning' by Kay Bell

Well it is.  Kay was apparently part of the online sew along group with quilts made from Camille's pattern.  The quilting here is hand guided freemotion on a longarm and is amazing!

Hand guided freemotion quilting

This next quilt won 3rd Prize in the Group Quilts Category. 

'Scandinavian Journey'
pieced by Jo Colwill of Cowslip Workshops
and quilted by Sandy Chandler of The Quilting Company

I loved the neutral palette, stars and again the quilting was great.

Another onlooker placed her hand in front of the quilt to show how small the background grid quilting was on the quilt. 

I love the circles on the spine of the feather.

I got some lovely Aurifil threads from the New Threads Quilt Shop and as Aurifil is my favourite thread, I also bought a thread shade card.  I have used the card already to match thread for a baby panel that I bought at the show. 

They had an amazing selection of Aurifil thread.

'Greek Fossils'
by Ferret

 As always, Ferret's quilt was amazing!!!  Hand guided longarming and trapunto.  It won 3rd Prize in the Traditional Quilts section. 

'Flower of 13115 Pieces & Peace'
by Hiromi Yokota

This quilt was made by hand of 1cm hexagon pieces.  Each individual hexagon was hand quilted.  Amazing!!!

Well those were some of my favourites from the show.  I hope you enjoyed them.

 

And finally, on the way home from the airport, this is the wonderful sunset that we drove into.  What a lovely way to finish off our trip.

 

 

Bye for now.

Sandra

 

My Latest Birmingham Bag

As I'm off to The Festival of Quilts in Birmingham this week with my friends I have designed and made myself a new bag.  We make new ones each year and it has become a lovely tradition. 

This year I wanted something smaller which would only carry my essentials.  At the International Quilt Festival of Ireland in June, I bought some lovely linen fabrics from Village Fabrics.  I wanted to use these for my bag, so here it is.

I used the lettered fabric on the flap, the plain on the front and back and the red for the gusset, piping and strap.  Inside I used some of my favourite French General Fabric.

I put lots of pockets on the inside for my phone, notebook, business cards etc..  So now that it's made, I can concentrate on looking forward to our trip, seeing lots of amazing things and meeting lots of friends.  The craic is always great.

 
So if you ever get the chance to go the The Festival or you are still thinking about it, I would highly recommend it to everyone.  It's the biggest show in the UK and well worth the visit.

Must go now as it's getting late.
Bye for now.
Sandra

Quilting On My Frame

I have been working very hard this week trying to quilt on my Gracie Frame.  It's difficult trying to decide what designs to use and as my applique quilt is only the sixth one that I have put on the frame, it was a steep learning curve.  I decided that the worst thing that could happen was that I would have to unpick some stitches so I jumped right in.     

I quilted in the ditch around the border using a ruler to stabilise the quilt.  I also wanted to quilt around the applique pieces for the same reason.  It was sooo difficult!  But although I was very disheartened at the beginning, I realised that if I didn't try, then I wouldn't learn how to do it.  As a result, I did get better at it as I rolled the quilt.   

I used a purple air erasable marker to mark out the lines on the cream fabric of the flying geese on the top and bottom border.  But by the time I got around to doing the two sides, I only marked the place that I wanted the teardrop shape.  The marker didn't show up well on the green fabric so I just winged it.  As a result, they aren't always centred properly but I don't mind. 

Accepting the fact that the quilting space available is quite narrow vertically is just something that I came to terms with.  From side to side it is great and very flowing compared to working with my ordinary machine.  But because I was working around my applique pieces I had a lot of stops and starts.  I got used to this quite quickly though.  The only thing was that my hands actually got sore from working the clamps so much. 

I am pleased with the result and I learned an awful lot of things.  Now I just have to bind and label my quilt. 
 

It's getting quite late now so I'll have to go. 

Bye for now.
Sandra