New Year, New Month, Free Pattern!

Ok, this year is already going too fast for my liking!! Happy New Year everyone, even if it's already the 9th January, I hope you had a wonderful break surrounded by love and happiness, be it with friends and family, or some quiet sewing time to yourself.

We had a lovely quiet Christmas with my mum, then went to our best friends in Germany for New Year which was so much fun. Now I'm back full of more ideas than ever and great plans for 2020.

2020 has already started with a bang thanks to the final airing of Sewing Quarter. As I may have mentioned, this great sewing TV Channel had to close at the end of 2019, which really was very sad for everyone involved. However, they had some airtime to fill at the beginning of January and gave us guest designers the chance to film solo shows to let viewers know how to keep in touch with us and learn more about our businesses. We weren't too sure when these shows were to be aired, but when I suddenly started getting Newsletter subscribers and orders online, I knew my show had to be on, what's more they were on a loop, so every few hours this would happen again, so funny! I really enjoyed doing my shows at SQ and I'm so glad so many viewers have decided to carry on following me and Sewmotion, so if you are one of them, thank you very much!

On my SQ show, I demoed my latest cushion kit, the Overlapping Circles and Flower cushion in Liberty Pinks. Having watched my YouTube tutorial on my EPP Curved Flower cushion, customers have been asking for one on the overlapping circles, so I'm really pleased I got the chance to record this one - if you have purchased this kit in the past and need a little extra help - maybe you learn better from following a demo rather than reading instructions - then you can view this recording on Sewing Quarter's YouTube channel

I have also been working on this month's Free Pattern to send out to my Newsletter subscribers, a little late again, but I really do plan to get on top of these this year and not leave them til the last minute, honest! This month I fancied some hand sewing, but instead of EPP, I have returned to the first patchwork technique I learnt, American hand piecing, which involves sewing a tiny running stitch along a drawn line. I had forgotten how much I love this method and plan to do more of it! This wall hanging (or table runner, it's up to you) was inspired by my love of Orla Kiely's graphics, and is a kinda homage to her Stem design. Subscribe to the Newsletter now to receive your own free copy straight to your inbox.

Wishing you all a warm and creative week, linking up with Midweek Makers and Needle & Thread Thursday

My latest free pattern - Strippy Circles Table Runner

Well, I think we're finally settled into our new home and my new workshop. There are obviously things we'd like to do to the house, but nothing's urgent, although the boiler does make some very loud bangs now and again! We've also had fun with some very cute mice who decided to bed down in a house plant my in-laws were looking after during the move, they got the shock of their lives when they were moved into our kitchen and given a good water - the mice that is, not the in-laws... Thankfully we've moved them into the warmth and safety of the garage now.

After a mad month, I am now back on track with my free Newsletter patterns - if you are new to Sewmotion, I send out a free pattern every month to my subscribers, generally based on the use of fabric pre-cuts, but to be honest, it is anything that inspires me at the time! You can find out more and sign up here.

This month, I have returned to the jelly roll strip to make up this very easy and fast table runner project, in which I have used strips from my Royal Blue strip set, an Edyta Sitar favourite.

I have also being frantic trying to get my projects done for my next shows on Sewing Quarter, this Monday (7th Oct), which include this improv-ish Strong Ties quilt. You can catch these shows on Sewing Quarter channel in the UK on Freeview 73, Sky 687, and worldwide online and on their YouTube channel.

Wishing you all a happy and creative week, linking up with Midweek Makers and Needle & Thread Thursday

It's been all go!!

Well, it has been a while since my last blog, but I do have a very good excuse... we have moved house!! What's more I have also moved Sewmotion into a nearby unit - though it's only 4mins walk away, so not too far :)

We have moved to the beautiful seaside town of Marske-by-the-Sea on the Northeast coast. We have lived near the sea before in nearby Redcar, but 10 years on I think we're now more likely to appreciate being so close to the beach for long evening walks and strolls to nearby Saltburn. This was the first move (and we've done a few) when we have used a removal firm, and my word, what a difference that made! 

Mind you, we still moved all my fabric and 'stuff' the week before into my new workshop - so exciting. As you can see, I've just about got all the fabric off the floor and onto shelves, I just need some more shelving for the kits and stash, hopefully a trip to Ikea this weekend should sort that out, and then I can get back to doing some sewing...

Last Sunday I was also on Sewing Quarter again - I had to be ultra organised to get these quilts prepped before moving! This was also the first time I have worked with presenter Natasha, who was very lovely indeed. In my first show I made the Stonehenge quilt using gorgeous Anna Maria Horner fabrics - this quilt was a joy to make, once you have labelled all the cut pieces, the blocks come together really quickly, and even better, there were very few seams to match up. In my second show, I demoed Lynne Goldsworthy's Patriotic Log Cabin quilt, as featured in the current issue of Today's Quilter. This was another quilt that came together really quickly thanks to good sized pieces and liberal labelling. If you missed these shows, or would like to see them again, you can catch them on Sewing Quarter's YouTube channel here - the Stonehenge quilt is in the second hour, and the log cabin in the fourth.

Right, I'm off to unpack some more boxes... wishing you all a lovely and creative week, linking up with Midweek Makers and Needle & Thread Thursday.

The Festival of Quilts 2019

Well, the Festival of Quilts is over for another year, and I can't believe it swept by so fast! One minute we were heading down the motorway hoping my pallet had been delivered to the right stand and that I'd made enough stock, and then before we knew it, it was Sunday and we were pulling our weary bodies together ready for packdown! 

Having worked quite a few Festivals, this was only my second with Sewmotion, and I have to say, it was my favourite so far. There seemed to be such a friendly smiley atmosphere in the room, with so many people coming up to the stand just to say hello. Much of this was down to my appearances on Sewing Quarter of course, but also the many friends and customers I have made over the last year.
Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart.

I was also quite pleased with how my stand came together - after so many shows, I think I may have cracked it :) I love the cute stand I bought from Daisy Moon Designs on Etsy to display my pre-cut EPP papers, which were a firm favourite.

We were also often joined by Sewing Quarter's John Scott, who I have to say, provided a true masterclass in genuine hospitality. He seemed to be constantly smiling throughout the whole four days, presenting live shows when he wasn't giving out free hugs and selfies, I don't know how he did it! You can also see my Justin photo-bombing above, I couldn't do any of this without his love and support, he's also now a master at packing walnut shells and knows his fat quarters from his jelly rolls!

Having said that it was my favourite Festival so far, I am also very annoyed with myself! Yet again, another year has gone and going from others visitors' posts on IG and FB, I seemed to have missed half the quilts on show, including the Modern category. It goes to show how much brain work and emotion go into running a stand at these events, that I forgot to make time to see the quilts and actually do any shopping! Some did catch my eye on the way in and out which you can see below, I particularly liked the Mind the Gap London underground map which reminded me of my hometown. 

From the top: Cum Et Iris by Sandra Ruano Navarro; Slightly Blue Christmas by Joanna Holomiej; Moving On and Byzantium both by Liz Jones; and Mind the Gap by Cecilia Slinn.

We're off to a much needed week in the sun, wishing you a happy and creative week, linking up with Midweek Makers and Needle & Thread Thursday.

Wonky Hexies Free Pattern

Did you know my Newsletter subscribers receive a free PDF pattern every month? So far this year, we have been enjoying my block-of-the-month Mystery quilt which came to an end in June. So we are now returning to my beloved pre-cuts and stash-busting patterns, starting with a variation on a theme... 

My Wonky Squares Wall Hanging pattern proved very popular, especially when I made it on Sewing Quarter, so I started to wonder which other shapes would work - and of course, I had to have a go with the good ol' hexy! I also returned to my partially-seamed hexies, a tutorial for which can be seen here. Add in the freezer paper technique used for the wonky blocks, and hey presto, I have a new pattern.

Now, I have to admit, I think there is a little too much white/negative space in the wall hanging for me - you may love the space to create beautiful free motion quilting designs, or maybe embroidered motifs. If it's not for you, then you can simply decrease the size of the sashings and borders as below, just taking an 1" off the width of the strips makes such a difference.

As the wonky blocks finish at a 9" square, there are so many possible layouts - I have had a play with a few below... 

In this one I have bordered the 9" blocks with blue strips to add a little more interest, then added white sashings and borders.

Who says the wall hanging has to be square, or this would make a gorgeous table runner. Add light blue sashings and inner border and then a wider white border.

Finally, my favourite, which I think I will just have to make into a quilt when I get a minute! I have added the layout below so you can see the white strips that offset the blocks to create this circle. 

You can obviously also play around with the colours - what about using all black and whites for a monotone quilt? Maybe different tones of the same colour? If you would like to receive this free pattern, subscribe to the Newsletter today - these patterns are free to my subscribers for a month before going on general sale.

On to something completely different - Sewing Quarter have been holding their Christmas In July event and I appeared last Thursday to make my EPP Snowflake cushion and a gorgeous Scandi quilt by Lynne Goldsworthy - you can watch these shows and catch up on my past appearances here.

Wishing you all a happy, sunny and creative week! Linking up with Midweek Makers and Needle & Thread Thursday

Valuable Lessons Learnt Making the Lisbon Tiles Quilt

For my latest appearance on Sewing Quarter, I was asked to make the gorgeous Lisbon Tiles quilt by Jo Avery of My Bear Paw, which was featured in a recent Today's Quilter. As you can see below, Jo made her quilt in rich red and yellow scraps from her stash. 

I was asked to make the quilt in pretty floral prints from Moda, so I sorted out the colours according to the brief, the yellows and greens were like for like in the quilt which was fine, however, the pinks and blues were to replace the reds in the original quilt, which is where my quilt went in a different direction.

Once I had cut all the fabric pieces, I got stuck into a few hours of foundation paper-piecing, surrounded by the usual mess, am I alone in this? With all the trimming and different pieces, I soon find myself getting very untidy! Anyway, as Jo suggested, I made a few blocks at a time - the whole quilt is actually made of just one block, four of which make the star. As I made each block I laid them out on the floor beside me, and soon realised this was going to be even more scrappy that Jo's. 

Even though I tried to go for some pattern and had the red stars in the centre and four corners, with the blue stars filling the rest, I still think something was lost in having so many very similar prints close to each other, in some cases the star is lost completely. I realised that this came down to fabric values...

Fabric values, along with hues and saturation, are all interlinked in colour theory, and come in very handy with planning a quilt design. Hue is what people mean when they say 'colour' - red is a different hue than blue. Value refers to the lightness or darkness of the hue, so you could have reds of the same hue, but one is of a lighter value than the other. Whereas saturation is the intensity of the colour and is related to the hue and value. Fully saturated colours appear brighter and clearer, while less saturated colours are milky or greyer. A fully saturated yellow has a much lighter value than a fully saturated red. 

So if we apply this theory to my quilt, you can see that there is one red hue that stands out more than any other as it is the most saturated, while the other reds used to make up the star design are less saturated and very similar in value to the neighbouring yellows, making the overall star design less distinct.

When preparing for the Sewing Quarter show, I decided to make up another block using identical red and yellow prints for the four blocks to make up a full star to show how being less scrappy would give you a whole different look. As you can see above, I used the same strong red and yellow prints for the star shape, but still went scrappy for the smaller pieces. While I prefer this layout, I also still love the scrappy version I made for the show, and of course, just had to quilt it in wavy lines!

If you would like to watch the Sewing Quarter show with the riotous John Scott, you can catch it here on their YouTube channel. 

Wishing you all a happy and creative week, linking up with Let's Bee Social, Midweek Makers, Oh Scrap! and Needle & Thread Thursday 

The Grand Reveal of the mystery quilt

When I came up with the idea of running a block-of-the-month mystery quilt for my Newsletter subscribers, it was primarily to give me a chance to get ahead with my free monthly patterns... of course this hasn't happened, and with month five upon us, I have still to write up the rest of the year's free patterns which was the plan. Ah well, forwarding planning was never my strong point!

However, I have found that my subscribers are loving the monthly blocks, with just enough to do each month to keep up, I've had some really lovely feedback. Up until now this has been a mystery quilt and this week I revealed the final layout, which you can see below. 

I have already had one customer send me pics of her own version which she made with the luscious greys and purples in one of my specially curated fabric bundles. Her quilt is beautiful, I'll be sharing more quilts next week once subscribers have had a chance to read the latest newsletter.

If you would like to learn more about this quilt and get free instructions for the past five months (now you know what it looks like) then sign up to the Newsletter now. This free patten will only be available until the end of June. As a bonus in July I will be sharing quilting tips and even a pieced backing pattern.

My latest Sewing Quarter adventure once again saw me on screen with John Scott where I demoed this stunning FPP quilt by Linda Clements. I do love foundation paper-piecing even if it is a little time consuming, and this project certainly put my skills to the test. 128 blocks!! 

I also showed how to make my very own Wonky Squares Wall Hanging, which did look amazing in those beautiful batiks! If you missed the show or would like to see it again, you can catch it on Sewing Quarter's YouTube page here. I also have my Wonky Squares pattern available on the Sewmotion website, both printed and as a digital download.

Wishing you all a happy, sunny and creative week, linking up with Let's Bee Social, Midweek Makers and Needle & Thread Thursday

Quilts UK and Sewing Quarter

I am back from this year's Quilts UK in Malvern. This four-day show is set in the beautiful Worcestershire countryside in Malvern and is the second largest quilt show in the UK after the Festival of Quilts. My week started with a four-hour drive on my tod across the country, this is the furthest I had driven on my own ever, so I was pretty pleased with myself when I finally got there!  Then I had to set up the stand, I was really close to my old employers, Doughty's - most of the time they were laughing at me, but they did help when it was needed. 

Doing Quilts UK also means I get to return to Hereford where I stay with Ruth, Mrs Doughty, over the show. It's always lovely to catch up and we have a good old chat, she also knew the short cuts on the way back to Malvern the following morning. On Friday, I had help on the stand from the lovely Sarah, another former Doughty worker who just comes for a laugh, and then Justin arrived Friday night, so thankfully I didn't have to drive home!

I had a lot of fun meeting so many familiar faces, including many fellow Sewing Quarter presenters. I also had some lovely viewers come up to tell me how much they enjoy my shows, which was really sweet of them, it's great to know the nerves don't show and my demos make sense haha! 

Now I'm back home, I feel pretty shattered, it's weird, it's like I'm jet lagged, hopefully a few days off next week will sort me out. Before then however, I'm back on Sewing Quarter on Bank Holiday Monday where I will be demoing this foundation-pieced Garden Paths quilt by Linda Clements, and then my own Wonky Squares wall hanging using jelly roll strips and some quick and easy cutting.

Wishing you all a happy and creative week, linking up with Midweek Makers and Needle & Thread Thursday

Month Four of the Mystery Quilt

Where is this year going!?!? I can't believe it's May and nearly time for Quilts UK at Malvern.  As you can imagine, I've being extremely busy cutting, folding and making up kits for this upcoming 4-day show - I'm also working on some new kits which will have their debut at the show.

Inbetween all this I have been on Sewing Quarter again, this time demoing a lovely summery quilt from the Big Book of Lap Quilts. This was a joy to make and the large flying geese blocks came together so quickly. In contrast, my second project was Lynne Edwards' Cathedral Windows table runner, which featured both machine and hand sewing, so it was nice to get back to some hand work.

You can catch these shows on Sewing Quarter's YouTube channel here, and you can see links to all my past SQ shows here.

The beginning of another month can only mean one thing, it's time for the next instalment of my block-of-the-month mystery quilt. This Birds of a Feather quilt is free to my Newsletter subscribers, and features half-square triangles, a little foundation piecing and some simple patchwork. If you would like to join us you can sign up here, and you will receive the latest Newsletter with links to previous months so you can catch up with the BOM.

Last week saw the release of a new EPP Flower Cushion kit, this time in this cute Red House Liberty print. This kit is a great introduction to curved English paper-piecing as the pieces are quite large and not too fiddly. And of course, you also have my four-part youTube tutorial to help you on your way. You can find out more about this new EPP kit here.

Wishing you all a fun and creative week, linking up with Let's Bee Social, Midweek Makers and Needle & Thread Thursday

Sewing Quarter Medallion Fun

A couple of week's ago I was sent the brief for my next appearance on the Sewing Quarter - the UK's first TV Channel dedicated to sewing and quilting. As well as being available on Freeview (73) and Sky (687) you can also watch the shows live on their website and then, the best bit, they then upload most of the shows up onto their YouTube channel to be watched as many times as you like, which I think is very handy if you buy a kit or pattern and need a reminder on how to make it.

Anyway, back to the brief - this time I was asked to make Lynne Goldsworthy's Rainbow Medallion quilt that had been featured in a recent Today's Quilter. I have to say, I have never made so many half-square triangles in such a short time in my life! Thankfully it was using the paper template method, my fave and by far the quickest - you can see my tutorial on this method along with free templates here. The one thing that worries me about Medallion quilts is that you really need to be careful that each round you add to the quilt is squared up nicely and that you're not going askew. I needn't have worried though, this Medallion is mostly made up of 2" HSTs and squares, so matching the seams was a joy and kept me nicely squared up.

My second project was this cute Beside the Seaside cushion, a little out of my comfort zone as I don't do a lot of embroidery, though I wish I had more time to! I think this is the best bit about working for Sewing Quarter, not only do I get to work on other people's patterns, but I also get the chance to try different techniques and styles that I wouldn't normally have time to in my work for Sewmotion.

If you would like to catch up on these shows, or rewatch them, you can see them here on Sewing Quarter's YouTube channel, the Medallion quilt is in the second hour, with the cushion in the fourth.

Wishing you all a sunny and creative week, linking up with Let's Bee Social, Midweek Makers and Needle & Thread Thursday

Quilting for Beginners Workshop

There are some great workshops coming up at TeesCreatives in Middlesbrough, including how to Make Your Own Jeans, and Design and Make a Cushion. I am also running Quilting for Beginners, a series of five 2.5hr workshops aimed at those totally new to patchwork and quilting, or those who need a refresher in the techniques. I will show you how to make four different quilt blocks using a variety of hand and machine piecing techniques, and then how to make them up into a wall hanging or a set of cushions.

TeesCreatives provides sewing machines and all the tools you need for each workshop so all you need to bring is fabric and enthusiasm. The on-site Sewmotion pop-up shop will be open an hour before the class to purchase your materials where you'll also get 10% off as you are attending a class. You can find out more about this workshop here and see TC's list of workshops here

Meanwhile, back at Sewmotion, I've been buried in half-square triangles making up a gorgeous Medallion quilt for my next appearance on Sewing Quarter TV Channel next Tuesday (26th March). You can watch me demo this and a lovely embroidered cushion at 9am and 11am on Freeview channel 73, Sky 687, online and on YouTube.

Wishing you all a creative and peaceful week, linking up with Let's Bee Social, Midweek Makers and Needle & Thread Thursday.

Block Two of my Newsletter Mystery Quilt

It's time for the second block in my Birds of a Feather mystery quilt - for those who missed last month's blog and don't know about my Newsletter, every month I offer my Newsletter subscribers a free pattern, usually based on my love of Pre-Cuts. This year, I'm trying something a little different and running a five-month block-of-the-month mystery quilt called Birds of a Feather.

This machine-pieced quilt finishes at approx 62" square and features half-square triangles, a little foundation piecing and some simple patchwork. If you would like to join in the fun, you can sign up here to the Newsletter and receive this month's block as well as a link to block one.

I had a great time with John Scott on Monday's show at Sewing Quarter, inbetween the giggles and silliness, I managed to demo a lovely hand pieced Hexy bag and a beautiful Riley Blake quilt - if you missed the show or would like to see the demos again, you can catch it on Sewing Quarter's YouTube channel - I'm on in the second and fourth hours.

Wishing you all a happy and creative week, linking up with Let's Bee Social, Midweek Makers and Needle & Thread Thursday

EPP Inspiration and Sewing Quarter Catchup

Recently I received a lovely email from a subscriber to tell me how her quilt group had been inspired by my curved English paper-pieced projects in Love Patchwork & Quilting, and British Patchwork & Quilting magazine. So much so that they held a special EPP sewing day to make up my two projects - how chuffed am I?!

As you can see, these ladies have a great eye for colour and design, both cushion layouts looking amazing! Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful creations ladies, and I'm so glad I could be your inspiration!

Talking of curved EPP, I had a great time at my second appearance on craft TV channel, Sewing Quarter last week, where I demoed the beautiful Artic Feather quilt by Elizabeth Hartman as well as my Curve Appeal cushions. If you missed the show or would like to watch these techniques again, you can catch them on Sewing Quarter's YouTube channel here - the Feather quilt is in the second hour and my cushions are in the fourth hour.

I'm now off to my first quilt show of the year, in the pretty North Yorkshire town of Harrogate. As well as my fabric pre-cuts and patterns, I'll have a huge collection of quilt, cushion and EPP kits, so why not pop along? 
Friday 22nd - Sunday 24th February
10am - 4.30pm (4pm on Sunday)
Great Yorkshire Showground
Hall 2
Harrogate, North Yorkshire
HG2 8NZ

I hope to see you there, if not, wishing you all a safe and creative week ahead. Linking up with Let's Bee Social, Midweek Makers and Needle & Thread Thursday

My TV Debut on Sewing Quarter

Last Thursday started very early indeed with a 4.30am alarm call! Having stayed in a hotel the night before, I made my way in darkness to the Sewing Quarter studios where I met the very lovely Victoria Peat, the presenter for the day. After a short talk with her and the producer to discuss the shows' running orders, I made myself a cuppa and enjoyed Vic's first hour, trying to ignore my mounting nerves!

As it happens, I had very little to be nervous about. Victoria took very good care of me, kept me talking while I explained the techniques to my curved EPP Sun Spell Wall Hanging and then my on-point Table Runner. Apart from losing my machine foot and then a ruler mid show, I think I kept it together ok, though I think I'll tone down the giggling next time!

If you missed the shows or would like to see them again, they are now on Sewing Qaurter's YouTube channel (I guess for eternity (eek!) which you can see here - I'm on in the second and fourth hours.

I'm booked on again next month, so this may become a regular outing for me, meanwhile I'm currently working on a new pattern for SQ using some gorgeous Tilda fabrics - more on that soon...

Wishing you all a very happy and creative week, and linking up with Let's Bee Social, Midweek Makers and Needle & Thread Thursday.

A Late Happy New Year and a TV debut!

I can't believe we're into the second week of January already, so much for trying to ease up my busy schedule in 2019! Anyway, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a peaceful New Year. We spent ours travelling the length of the country visiting family, I think we did over 1,000 miles in the end, and went through who knows how many counties - Justin does like to count them off and will even take the odd detour to add an extra one to the list!

I came home to not only a pile of orders, which was very nice, but also to a box of fabric goodies for preparation of two projects that I will be demonstrating on the Sewing Quarter TV channel later this week! I'm pretty nervous but also excited, on making my TV debut! 



I have already had the chance to make up a sample quilt using Lynne Goldsworthy's Maiden Voyage pattern. Being my first project for SQ I was a little daunted that it featured curves, bias edges, matching points and setting-in the inner circle - talk about jumping in the deep end! But I was overjoyed to find that it all came together really easily, even the inner circle! It's been so long since I've followed someone else's pattern and I really enjoyed it. This quilt was featured on the show on the 31st December, and you can see it again on their YouTube channel here - it's on at 2hours in.

I will be on at 9am and 11am on Thursday 10th January and will be demonstrating two of my own designs, my Sun Spell mini quilt which features, of course, curved English paper-piecing, while the second will be my Picture This Table Runner using HSTs and on-point blocks. Kits will be available for both on the show and Sewing Quarter's website.

I'm also overjoyed to have my Stars & Flowers block-of-the-month quilt featured in British Patchwork & Quilting magazine. This pretty quilt is made up of 10 different blocks featuring my fave curved EPP as well as more traditional machine piecing. I made my version in Liberty's Cottage Garden fabrics, and I'm offering 10% off the 7pc fabric bundle in peach and blues on the website, just use the code P&QBOM10 at checkout.

During the Christmas period, I received a lovely email from a customer, Alison who sent me a pic of her Stag Christmas Wall Hanging - isn't it beautiful?! That stunning quilting really makes the stars shine! She also went on to say;

 "I’m really pleased I ordered the kit, working full time, having the pieces ready cut so I could start sewing straight away really made a difference for me".

Thank you so much for sharing Alison! What do you love about kits? Do you like having everything prepared to save you precious sewing time? Do you like the fact you're not left with lots of leftovers to add to the mounting stash? I would love to know your thoughts!

Wishing you all a lovely creative week, and linking up with Let's Bee Social, Midweek Makers and Needle & Thread Thursday