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Thursday 29 March 2018

Part 2 of my Curved EPP Tutorial - the Piecing - & an Easter Sale

Well, it's the Thursday before the Easter weekend and the sun is shining... fingers crossed it will continue to do so, I really fancy getting out into the countryside this weekend. That said, this is England, and no doubt the rain will appear at some point, which means another weekend of staying indoors with some sewing on the go... shame... ;)

I am working on so many EPP projects at the moment, including a long list of magazine commissions which I can't show off quite yet. However, I can share the second instalment of my series of YouTube videos on curved English paper-piecing and how to make this beautiful cushion. 


Part 2 shows you how to hand-piece your shapes together using a flat back stitch, before gently removing the papers. If you missed Part 1 covering fussy-cutting and blue-basting, click here to see last week's post.


If you're feeling inspired to get sewing, then why not have a browse in the Sewmotion shop's Easter Sale?!


Linking up with Let's Bee Social, Midweek Makers and Needle & Thread Thursday

Thursday 22 March 2018

My Curved EPP Movie Tutorials

I've been planning to make some how-to videos for a while now, but just haven't had the time to sit and learn something new. But with my obsession with curved EPP threatening to take over my life, I thought it was about time I showed the world what all the fuss was about, so I sat down and learnt how to use iMovie and made my first series of short tutorials. And what better place to start than with this gorgeous fussy-cut EPP Flower Cushion.



There will be four tutorials in all, the first one below starts with fussy-cutting each of these simple shapes, and then glue-basting them using a Sewline glue pen. I know there are traditionalists out there who prefer to thread baste, but you really can't get nice smooth curves around your shapes without using glue, and believe me, once you have pieced your shapes and removed the papers, you would never know glue was ever there!

So if you would like to get stuck into this lovely hand sewing project and have some beautiful fabric to hand that's crying out to be fussy-cut, let's begin by downloading your free paper templates by clicking here. Then click below for the first instalment - enjoy!



Join me next week for the second instalment in which I show you how to hand piece your shapes using a flat back stitch, until then, have a great creative week everyone!

Linking up with;
Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts
Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication
Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Thursday 15 March 2018

Fabric joy and new projects

I am so lucky to be surrounded by beautiful fabrics and amazing colour every day. My workroom (spare bedroom) is also south facing so I get bright daylight flowing in, and even sunshine some days! This week I finally made time to photograph and upload some gorgeous new fat quarter bundles into the Sewmotion Shop... there's some 1930s feedsack prints, a little Riley Blake and Michael Miller and of course some Alison Glass. Each bundle has a different number of fat quarters and is individually priced, click here to see my whole collection.


For those subscribers who started my Curve Motion Medallion BOM in January, their third instalment has been sent out this week and features this cute chubby Dresden Plate block.



If you're a fan of English paper-piecing and would like to join us for 16 months of hand sewing joy, click here to find out more. I also got the chance last week to photograph the full quilt in some 'nearly northern sunshine', I find it hard to capture the grey background in all it's gorgeous glory, but I think I'm getting there!


Meanwhile, I've also been working on a couple of new projects, one of which is this Curved EPP cushion which I'm planning to be a free tutorial on the website, and in video!! I have learnt so much this week and can't wait to share it with you.



Linking up with Let's Bee Social, Midweek Makers and Needle & Thread Thursday

Thursday 8 March 2018

Being a Mindful Woman

Wow, what a month to be a woman, and a quilting one at that! Not only do we have Mother's Day this weekend in the UK, International Woman's Day today, but it's also National Quilt Month in the US - what more reason do we need to take some time out from the busy and more often than not, stressful day-to-day and treat ourselves to some 'me-time'. 


I for one really struggle with this, even though I don't have kids and have a wonderful husband who cooks EVERY night (I know, so lucky) I use these as reasons to work on the business harder than I should. While we took the conscious decision not to have children, I often feel I need to find another way to make my mark on the world, which is why Sewmotion is so important to me.


I'm lucky enough to absolutely love my work - the idea of designing, sewing and then sharing online is my dream job come true! I also believe sewing is the best therapy in the world and I know without it I would be a complete mess (especially at the moment, peri-menopause is a bitch!) Which is why, as you may have noticed, many of my recent patterns and kits have involved hand sewing in an effort to make myself sit down quietly and be mindful of just one thing for a while. 

While I do have the added pressure of the sewing being work, with deadlines and consequent patterns/kits to make up, I still find so much enjoyment and satisfaction in what I make, and I think this feeling of achievement and mindfulness is something we all need more of in our lives, we all need to slow down a little, not always, just now and again, and enjoy the slow and creative side of life.


I do hope you wonderful mums out there have a wonderful Mother's Day and all you fantastic, amazing, awe-inspiring women treat yourselves to a little you-time this weekend.

Linking up with Let's Bee Social, Midweek Makers, and Needle & Thread Thursday.



Thursday 1 March 2018

Harrogate Spring Quilt Festival, 2018

As I sit and write this, the snow is falling yet again as the UK comes to its usual standstill during a wintery deluge. I'm only glad we're not doing Harrogate Quilt show this weekend! We had a great time at this bi-annual show last weekend, and the stand looked more colourful than ever. This was also my first chance to show off my Curve Motion Medallion quilt in real life, and it attracted some lovely comments, so thank you! For more on this glorious hand sewing block-of-the-month project, click here.





Another quilt which attracted a lot of attention was my new Mosaic Garden quilt kit, mainly due to Bryony's amazing long arm quilting (North Star Quilting), I know I mentioned this last week, I just couldn't resist showing it off again! The kit is now available in the Sewmotion Shop, priced at £68, though if you sign up and receive today's Newsletter, you can get 15% off! Click here to subscribe today



I love to wander through the collection of quilts on display  at these shows and always find something that sparks my imagination. The overall feeling of this exhibition was a wonderful abundance of colour! Greta and Mike Fitchett's work caught my eye with it's strong lines and graphic illustrations, Greta's work is inspired by architectural pattern found on her travels around the world and I thought her Reflection Quilts were so clever and striking in their use of colour.


Birmingham Post Office Tower, and Cologne Cathedral, Greta Fitchett
Designer and engineering illustrator Mike's pieces are inspired by vintage travel posters, a style I love myself, and it was great to see similar designs in quilt form. Coming from a graphics background, Mike's use of bold colour and simple shapes really appealed to me.


Heart of the Alps, and What a Shambles, Mike Fitchett
Another wonderful display of colour was to be found in "Interchange Appliqué Quilts' by Gillian Travis. These beautiful pieces are made using an innovative appliqué technique with batiks which are fused together. I'm a big fan of repetitive pattern and found these designs so happily satisfying!


Clockwise from top left: Circles 2, Notan Leaves 2, Turkish Carpets , Hawaiian Interchange, Circles 1 - Gillian Travis
These quilts are on a travelling exhibition with Grosvenor Shows, so if you get the chance to visit an event, go and explore this explosion of awesome colour!

I was so happy to meet a fellow UKQU member, Vendulka Battais, owner of Oliven quilt shop and queen of the Cathedral window! As well as demoing and teaching her stunning painting technique, Vendulka also had some of her beautiful quilts on display.


Cathedral Windows, Vendulka Battais, Oliven

Linking up with Midweek Makers and Needle & Thread Thursday