a little more quilting ....

so I've been busy with customer quilts 

both these were made by the same lady

and it was a challenging shape to load ...

but the sweetener was the magazine the pattern came from ...

from 2006! 

and I did a little of my own quilting too!

but for now, this is all I can show you :)

Housekeeping!

If you know me well, you know I'm not known for my housekeeping,

lets face it, I'd rather sew!

But the situation was getting a little out of control ...

don't you think?

but I managed to achieve a happy medium

but there was the other side of the studio too!

and I had a little motivation, with a visitor expected ...

so a reasonable level was achieved with the frame being accessible and usable ...

and then this happened!

I sold my second frame, and its gone to live in the Valleys

so it was time for a little more housekeeping, and a bit of a change round

that's better, lots of working space, and a few more UFO's unearthed - Ooops!

but I ended up with an awkward pile of pin cushions and pouches from swaps and gifts that needed to be prettied in one place

so I sort of followed this tutorial here from the Stitchin' Chicken ...

I say sort of, I got the gist of it, and then did my own thing 

and made it my own size ...

it turned out exactly how I envisioned ... phew!

and was well worth the half hour to make :) 

so now, I have a full on mojo attack!

Running!

Well, making table runners at least!

So I've been working on a simple project that is suitable for beginners, 

in preparation for teaching this as a class at StitchCraft Studio, Grantham 

I asked my lovely friend Katy of I'm a Ginger Monkey if I could use her book as the basis for the class, 

and I was thrilled when she agreed!

If you don't have this book, it's a great compendium of blocks and small makes, ideal for the beginner, 

I'm more than happy to recommend it! 

I chose fabrics from Art Gallery Fabrics

made a few blocks

remade one

made a few more

and before long a runner was in the making

and of course I had the perfect match for the quilting too!

I quilted in the ditch on this runner, I wanted the blocks to pop and don't want to intimidate my beginners with any fancy schmancy quilting ...

so, if you are a beginner quilter, been watching from the sidelines thinking you'd like to give it a go, but don't know where to start, I will be teaching this as a beginners class, along with all the basics of cutting, 1/4" seam and the difference between borders, sashing, and half square triangle!

StitchCraft Studio 

Saturday 5th, 12 & 19 October 2013

11th, 18 & 25 January 2014

22, 29 March & 5 April 2014

Autumn? No thank you

As a farewell to August I'm pleased to see, in true British style, the weather will

treat us to a late Indian summer for the first week of September!

So that means it time to recap on what August produced from the QP Studio

Brit Bee Blocks finished, 2 quilts and a runner (I know I haven't blogged about it yet) and a bountiful harvest from the allotment. 

add to that 5 customer quilts, it was a busy month! 

Linking this up with Lynne's Fresh Sewing Day, 

time to go check in with everyone else's progress :) 

I'll be back with a finish tomorrow :) 

Indie!

So whilst at fat quarterly retreat, a lovely friend said to me, can you do something with these? 

well, it would have been rude not to! 

I didn't like to say Hell, Yes!

so during my 2 weeks off work, I took this pile of lovliness and started something for me!

as you do!

divided them into lights and dark's ...

and before long, there wasn't a lot left of that lovely stack of fat quarters...

and in no time at all there were a pile of blocks ready for the off!

of course this was happening in between customer quilting!

before I could load it up on the frame for a little bit of special treatment with this Aurifil Poly thread, just the perfect match!

as you know, I do love to piece with Aurifil Mako 50 wt cotton, and was pleasantly surprised at how well the polyester thread behaved too!

Don't get me wrong, I still love Superior Rainbows for the beautiful high sheen and the way the light catches it, but this thread caught me off guard a little :) 

because I know you want to see how it was quilted!

so the first week I pieced it, went to Festival of Quilts, 

and the second week I quilted and bound it!

nothing like a quick make to satisfying the need for a finish 

but only this week, did the sun go in so I could get a few shots in the garden

(no I'm not complaining about the wonderful summer we've had, I don't want it to end just yet)

and because this is made with Art Gallery Fabrics, it really feels fabulous!

I love this quilt, its definitely a grower, and its currently residing on my bed!

and those scraps?

I may have started something new!

I bought a new ruler at Festival, and I wanted to play!

so, Indie

62 x 82 (I think!)

Indie by Art Gallery Fabrics (top) 

backing - Belle by Amy Butler 

Binding - Oval Elements by Art Gallery Fabrics 

Thread - Aurifil

a bit more quilting ...

I've been busy over the summer quilting away for customers ...

This one was pretty big to say the least!

and this one was just so pretty!

there have been others, but I can't show you because they've come under the heading of 'secret stuff', and I know how frustrating that is when you're reading a blog and they say that ... 

but honestly ... they'll be worth the wait!  

I promise!

Tap tap tap ..... helooooooooo

gosh, I almost had to wipe the dust off the blog its been so long!

so lets catch up ... lots happened, missed the end of the month round up ... again!

I was really busy trying to get all my ducks in a row for the Fat Quarterly retreat ,

which I'm sure you've read plenty about it already.

But here's how it was for me 

I managed to get everything done in time, right to the wire as usual, 

including 2 big custom quilts... 

Katy's Retro Flowers Brit Bee Quilt ... Which also has now won a prize!

And Di's Leaf Quilt

Plus 2 more charity quilts for Pea Room Quilters

my sample swap pouches got made

and the secret thingy got quilted and bound ...

and I may have been stitching down the binding on the train!

speaking of which  ...

My Roomie and I had a ball from the minute we left ... heading out here 

because I wanted to see the quilt I'd quilted for Tiina at Tikki Patchwork hanging in the window ..

there may have been a little fabric slip into my bag!  Whoops!

the rest of the weekend turned into a blur once the retreat started, a combination of exhaustion and long days resulted in an early night after the quilt market on Saturday night, but only after I bagged a few bits ...

oh, and a new addition to the family!  Thrifty, skillfully handmade by Katy, has come to live in the wilds of Lincolnshire 

as you can see, he's only wee, but oh my what presence he has! 

He currently guards my thread stash!

I only managed a few photo's of my class's, but failed completely on the fmq class, so I can offer you a vision of doodling ... I think by Leanne of Littlest Housemartin, judging by the nails!

It was fabulous to meet up with old friends, meet new friends I only knew by their on line presence, and make new friends too ... and once again it was over so soon

Hope to see you next year!

And then it as a bit of a mad rush with more customer quilts, and I may have turned that Simply Style Layer Cake I got from Justine at Simply Solids into something new!

and you might just have seen it at Festival of Quilts too !

I had a blast at festival, 2 days of bumping into friends, bloggers ... and hanging out with some lovely, lovely ladies too!

I haven't managed to download my pictures from my camera yet, so I'll leave you with Sarah Fielke's quilt that was just jaw dropping!

so there you have it, I'm still here, tired, busy quilting away on customer quilts, as well as fitting in a little trip out, or two, and some sewing for me!  

I'll try not to leave it quite so long, til next time!