DailyCraft TV

I was approached by the very nice man at Fons and Porter to review one of their DailyCraftTV classes  

There are a wide selection of classes available, and as an experience quilter I found it quite hard to decide which one I would get the most out of, so in the end I opted for something completely different!

well you would wouldn't you, given the chance!

What? oh yes, Hawaiian Style Quilting, 2 for 1 Hula with Stacy Michelle,

The presentation is about 40 minutes long, and once you get past (what felt to me) the hard sell for the patterns and fabrics, the class is very informative with some interesting tips on fusing particularly on large pieces of fabric.  All very detailed and precise.  There is a downloadable document that gives you all the instructions to carry out the technique, which are clear and easy to follow.  My only disappointment was that a pattern was not included so you can try the technique, even just on a small scale, if you have the materials to hand.  Not living in the USA, postage for patterns and supplies can be rather excessive, and something I try and avoid unless absolutely essential.  So to only be given the option of going through the presenters web site was the one thing that I felt let this class down for me.

Overall a good class, and had I paid $9.99 I may have felt just a little let down by the supporting document.
Thank you to Fons and Porter for allowing me to review one of their online classes.

A Finish and a FAL Report

I finished this quilt last weekend, but just didn't have the weather to get a good pic of it ...

so this morning with the sun shining I finally got it out there

This is my Overs and Unders quilt, a pattern from Scrap Basket Sensations by Kim Brackett

and I am thrilled with how it turned out! 

it has a few grubby finger prints on it, but that's ok, it will wash no problem!

so this was on my Qtr3 FAL list, so I'm hoping to have snuck this one i under the wire!

Speaking of which, I need to declare my finishes for the Quarter ..

so I declared I would finish 4 things 

#1 Siblings Together Quilt ...  I made progress this is now a completed top, but sadly not finished.

#2 Overs and Unders ....  Woohoooo! We have finished it!  Success!

#3  Table Runner  ...  Yep, another finish, blogged here

and I was teaching with it yesterday!

#4 Swoon Quilt ... nothing has happened with this, it still remains a top that requires quilting and finishing, so a Fail on the swoon front!

so that makes a 50% success rate!

not bad as I have been mega busy, teaching, quilting, making and harvesting

so I am going to link this up with Leanne for Qtr 3 FAL

and better start thinking about my Qtr 4.

(shocking we are that far through the year already!)

Saying Thank You

There's one thing about the online community, people are so generous, 

with their time, thoughtful comments, cheering on from the sides, and just being there when you need them 

and when friendship blossoms, extraordinary things happen

and to say thank you for some extraordinary help, and cheering and egging on, 

I needed to say Thank You ...

it all started with some egging on with these from Karen at Blueberry Park

Karen posted a picture of her doily prints on Twitter and I was quick off the mark to get the first prints

there were conversations about quilting, oh ... my mind was in a spin!

and so at Festival of Quilts I matched up some Kona Cornflower blue from Justine at Simply Solids

and managed to score some Aurifil 50 wt #2720 to match

and set to with the inspiration ...

I love doing this pattern really small ... again Aurifil 50 wt in #2024

and I am so pleased with how it turned out!

I didn't mark anything, just went for it freestyle in my usual 'just do it' way!

and I even managed my first attempt at the Sew Mama Sew concealed Zipper on the back!

(Thanks to Katy for the fab Pillow Tutorials that pushed me there!)

I am pleased to say that this little lovely made it to its new home,

I know it is loved, 

Thank You Helen! 

Big big Loves x

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 :)