New Year... New Plans

January is a funny month, it seems to last forever, the weather’s dank, and no where near as exciting and colourful as December was. But I always like this month for its optimism, the start of a new year, a new beginning, and a time to make new plans. And for Sewmotion, this is no exception. Having had a decent rest over Christmas – apart from the growing to-do list in my head - I feel ready to really make something of Sewmotion this year.

I was so encouraged by the amount of Beginner’s Quilt Kits sold over the Christmas period, so I’m definitely going to work on more pre-cut kits this year, starting with a visit to Stitches, the trade show for the craft industry in February… so excited!! By the way, if you were one of those lovely people who bought a quilt kit, I now have the backing and waddings packs available to help you finish off your quilt.

I’ve also been working on a couple of hand sewing projects - I know I said I was going to work on my Millefiori quilt this Christmas, but these pesky hexagons just called to me! These pre-cut kits will include all the fabric, paper pieces, and instructions to make each cushion, and not only do they include my current favourite fabric, Robert Kaufman’s Grey Essex Yarn Dyed cotton linen, but they make great portable projects, perfect for any English paper piecing addicts!

 

I’m also pleased to announce that we are now stocking basic colours of Aurifil’s wonderful 50wt cottons. I can't recommend these threads enough, their superior fine quality makes them almost disappear in the most intricate piecing, and makes them ideal for complex quilting.

Currently we have Black, Navy,Grey, Silver, Ecru and White, on 1300m reels at £8.25 each. And don’t forget we still have FREE POSTAGE to the UK!

As well as new kits, there will also be more quilt patterns, helpful tutorials, and inspiration from across the quilting world. To keep up with everything, why not subscribe to our Newsletter, not only will you be the first to hear about our new products and services, but you will also receive special offers and giveaways, only available to our subscribers.

Other news from the quilting world;  

 

Lorna over at Sew Fresh Quilts has launched her new pattern Jungle Friends - for those who loved the panel I made for Lorna's Dog Gone Cute QAL, you will love these cute animal blocks, and her instructions are so easy to follow. That lion is adorable!

One of my current favourite shops is The Village Haberdashery in London. I was so happy to hear they have reached their target in their recent Crowding Funding venture, and can't wait to visit their new shop which promises to be amazing!!! 

Back to the present... they have just started stocking Free Fall, Tula's Pink first collection of extra wide (108") fabrics, and rather then cotton, they are on a gorgeous cotton sateen. Not only would these make beautiful backings, but just think how many cushions you could get out of half a metre! 

The wonderful people over at the Fat Quarter Shop are sharing their Top 10 Videos of 2015. For those who haven't yet discovered this fantastic website and Kimberly's great video tutorials, I suggest you take a look. Not only are these mini films so easy to follow, but the fabrics and quilts they create never fail to inspire.

Right, as I've given myself all this work, I best get on with it! I hope you have a lovely creative week, and thanks for visiting. As always, I love to read your comments, so please share below.

If you're looking for more quilty fun, why not pop over to Sew Fresh Quilt's Let's Bee Social and WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced and say hello.

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.