Hiatus Over, We are back.

After  a prolonged absence we hope to have our blog running again.
So watch this space

Stepping Stones Workshop
with Sue on the 13th October

Here we are, a select few enjoying ourselves making our Stepping Stones quilts.  With Sue's excellant
instructions we were soon cutting our squares out and machining away.

 Here we are showing off  our almost finished quilts. The difference in style and colour makes a good  display.

Bag Tombola

On November 10th we'll be holding our annual coffee morning and quilt display in Wetherby Town Hall from 10am to 12.30pm. This year as well as the usual refreshments, home baked cakes, gifts and quilting supplies we'll be having a bag tombola. Our members are donating bags that they've made to raise funds for our adopted charity which this year is the RNLI. 

I've been searching around for some free bag patterns and tutorials and have found loads!! Here are just a few:

First the pattern and applique template for the pear bag above is free from Hobbycraft. Try searching their Ideas Library for more.

Moda Bake Shop is a fantastic source of free patterns based mainly on jelly rolls, charm packs etc and has a long list of beautiful bag patterns - all free!

This is one of my favourites - the Charmed Gift Bag which is just perfect for a small child. I've made several in the past and they are very quick and easy and use small amounts of fabric.

Here's another quick and easy shopping bag, made from old curtains or sheets, from the Morsbag site. You can download the pattern and watch an animation which explains how to make it - very clever!

We're not only looking for shopping bags. How about making small bags for a phone, ipad or Kindle, or a toiletries or make-up bag? The DIY Bag Lover site has links to bags made in all shapes and sizes, including ones made from recycled jeans.

Some time ago I published a tutorial for zipped bags on my blog:

I use this version  for storing my small quilting rulers but it could be a pencil case or gadget bag. With a little alteration it makes lovely boxy bags like these:

Lastly, one of the best sites to search for quilting and sewing inspiration is Pinterest where members can 'pin' photos of their favourite things and the photo has a link to the original website where it was found. This morning I came across a host of pictures of gorgeous bags on the Travel Handmade ideas board - those should keep anyone in bags for a long, long time!

Let us know if you have a favourite free bag pattern which we could share.

Happy Stitching!

Hazel x

Free Classes Online

Have you discovered Craftsy yet? It's a great place to find video classes including this new FREE class with Elizabeth Hartman called 'Creative Quilt Backs' and the Craftsy Block of the Month, also free. Elizabeth also has an 'Inspired Modern Quilts' class running costing £25 which is a typical price forCraftsy courses. If you sign up for Craftsy you will often be offered classes at half price which for me have proved irresistible!

I find the classes incredibly good value (an important consideration for Yorkshire folk) with very easy to access to the videos at any time on the internet, class discussions and notes to print too. There are 22 classes listed on the Quilting page such as  Sewing Machine Basics, Scrap Quilting, Cloth Dyeing and Thread Art. For those interested in other crafts there is a wide variety of sewing, knitting, crochet, papercrafts etc too

Recently Craftsy launched a pattern market place with quilters from around the world offering patterns for free download or for a very reasonable price. If you fancy publishing a pattern this may be a good way to offer it for sale.

Let us know if you have taken any Craftsy classes and what you thought of them. Also if you have found any similar online classes tell us so we can share the fun!

Happy Stitching!

Hazel

What a Mess

What a Mess

What does your Sewing space look like?  I' m not sure what project I'm suppose to be  working on at the moment. Somewhere there should be a bed,  it's a good thing we not expecting visitors.

 I'm sure I  only tidied it up last week.

Last Friday was the final class of "Embellished Landscapes" with Hazel - I was sad!  These classes have been such fun and I've learnt so much:  a completely different way of doing applique and lots of different uses of colour & embellishments. 

The fun part is when you peel off the freezer paper to see what you've achieved!  We all enjoyed seeing each other's work and progress with lots of exchange hints, ideas, fabric, bits & bobs.  Adding embellishments can get to be addictive - so when do you stop adding bits of this and that!

I'm already into my second "artwork" using "Dream Landscapes" by Rose Hughes and have a third planned and enlarged (by Hazel).  In fact I might sign up to do this course again when Hazel offers it!

Many thanks to Hazel for her inspiring teaching and advice and to my classmates for being there!

Jean

Cathedral Windows Workshop

Glenda Smith visited us today to teach us her method of making Cathedral Windows patchwork completely by machine and we had a wonderful day! Glenda is an encouraging and patient teacher and worked hard to make sure everyone was successful. She brought several examples of the cushions, pincushions and a bag to inspire us including the cushion above and these:

Everyone was very busy all day:

By the end of the day we were well on the way to finishing our 12 inch panel:

Here are a few close-ups to show the range of different colours we chose:

Some of us struggled at first with the invisible appliqué stitch on the folded frames. QuiltSue gave a cheer when she finished her first one!

Doesn't she look pleased with herself?!

All in all it was a lovely day with plenty of fun and laughter and a real sense of achievement.

Thank you Glenda!