My Christmas Project

I started working for myself over a year ago now, and while I’m loving every minute of it, I still can’t get used to when the holidays come round. With Christmas just over a week away I know many people are counting down the days until they ‘break up’ – obviously not everyone is lucky enough to have the week off, I used to work in publishing AND retail! Never again! And this may well be the reason why I feel guilty giving myself time off, am I an awful boss??

I know my body seems to be slowing down and not stressing as much as it usually does, so after a year of learning everything I know (up to now) about blogging, social media, designing and writing patterns, writing tutorials, designing a website and doing some actual quilting, I think I deserve a few days off…

Of course, when I say ‘off’, what I actually mean is finding something to do in front of the Christmas films on the TV! At this year’s Festival of Quilts, my treat to myself was Willyne Hammerstein’s wonderful Millefiori Quilts 2 book, which I bought along with the papers I need for the first project, from Lina’s Patchwork.  This young and growing business produces paper pieces in every shape you can imagine for English Paper Piecing. The paper is a slightly heavier weight so you can get those nice sharp points in your shapes. I was lucky enough to pick up the book and the papers set in one go, but since then it has sat on my shelf begging to be opened and tried - this is the plan for the next couple of weeks. 

I am using glue rather than thread basting, it's so much quicker, and I have checked that the glue does unstick! I’m also so glad to be finally using my Essex Linen from Robert Kaufman, so yummy, and what else to use with it but my Kona Solids… I still think it a little weird, if not magical, that I just happened to buy this Aurifil set in exactly the same colours as my Konas, how bizarre is that!?! These 50wt threads are absolutely perfect for English paper piecing. Will I ever get sick of these colours, I don’t think so!

During the last year I have met lots of lovely people both in person and online, and many have helped my on-going quilt and social media education, for which I am forever grateful. I did have big ideas of creating a lovely little stop-motion gif thing for my festive message, but sadly I think my efforts need a little work so I’ll leave you with the last pic in the stream… have a happy Christmas and a wonderfully crafty New Year. xx

Small Business Saturday Offer

How on earth did December come around so quickly!?! I guess I’ve been so busy lately concentrating on Stockton Sparkles Christmas Market, that I didn’t have time to think about what came after that! But then, before you know it, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are upon you, and suddenly it’s nearly Christmas.

I have to admit, I share many crafters’ and makers’ opinions on these two American phenomenons and feel I would be demeaning my handmade crafted items by offering discounts just to follow the crowd. I spend many hours designing and making, usually one-off items, that I think are worth the money I ask, I’ve often have very tight margins anyway due to the time it takes to make them. So I don’t think offering money off on big marketing days to people who think they’re getting a bargain would really show my handmade items the love their deserve.

However, having said that I do support another American invention, Small Business Saturday, which is happening this weekend.

This event is very different from those other two in that it is held to promote small businesses like Sewmotion and to encourage people to shop with us rather than with large multi-nationals on the high street. Thanks to E-shopping this event is larger than ever and is promoted on every social media platform imaginable. Of course, there are also bricks and mortar shops all over the UK taking part, to find shops local to you visit Small Business Saturday’s great search facility on their website.

To show my appreciation to you lovely people who do shop with us small businesses, Sewmotion is offering a 10% discount on everything across all three of our outlets – sewmotion; Folksy & Etsy. 

 

This offer will run from Saturday 5^th December to Monday 7^th December (midnight). Just enter the discount code SmallBizSat10 at the checkout. I have some different items in each shop, so it’s worth looking at all three. 

If you would like to take advantage of this offer to order one of my cushions in colours of your choice, contact me here.

 

There is also still FREE UK POSTAGE by 2^nd class Royal Mail – the last postage date for this service to be safe for Christmas, is Saturday 19^th December. If you wish to pay for 1^st class postage, the last date before Christmas is Monday 21^st (as recommended by Royal Mail).

On another note, I would just like to thank everyone who braved the weather last weekend and showed their support for Stockton Sparkles – I met some lovely people, many as addicted to quilting and fabric as I am, and others on the verge… with a little help from me of course! As requested I will be working on more pre-cut quilt kits and patterns in the New Year, I can’t wait to spread some quilting love.

Looking for some quilting inspiration and fun? Why not pop over to Sew Fresh Quilt’s Let's Bee Social and say hello to some very talented people.