Pre-Cut Paper Excitement and a New Cushion Kit

I have recently acquired a new toy, and I'm so excited!! A friend and fellow EPP addict was telling me about how her wonderful husband and boys had treated her to a Brother Scan N Cut machine for her birthday. Ooo, I asked, what does that do? Well, she said, as well as appliqué shapes and card making designs, she was also hoping she could scan and cut out all the templates for my Curve Motion Medallion BOM she's currently enjoying. WOW I said, really?! This I needed to know more about. So once home I started googling this amazing machine, and low and behold, Create & Craft were running a special on the latest version. I took this as a sign!

So this is my new baby, and so far, it's been amazing! Having watched numerous YouTube tutorials, I've got my head around the Canvas online app where you can download and manipulate your own designs, before sending them to the Scan N Cut via wifi, then it will draw certain lines before cutting out others. This means I can draw the necessary guidelines on each shape first, before they are all cut with the press of a button!! How great is that!

I've also found a slight heavier paper to use, a 120gsm, which should help get sharper points when glue basting. So, from now on, all my EPP kits will have pre-cut papers included, no more fiddly cutting out before you can get down to some sewing. Looks like I have even more work to do before Festival of Quilts now! haha!

In other news... I have now uploaded this new Overlapping Circles Cushion into the Sewmotion shop - this version is made in Edyta Sitar's lovely Blue Sky fabrics, and looks so soft and pretty against the light grey Essex Linen. You can learn more about this and all my cushion kits here.

I'm off to the garden for some EPP in the sun - have a great week everyone.

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

New Disappearing Courthouse Steps Quilt Kit

As you may know, I run a Pre-Cut Party every month where I offer my Newsletter Subscribers a free PDF pattern straight to their inbox, based on my love of pre-cuts. Often the pattern is just to inspire them to get cutting into their stash of beloved pre-cuts, and other times the pattern is to accompany a new kit release. June's pattern was another play with the ever-versatile jelly roll strip to make this striking yet simple Disappearing Courthouse Steps Quilt - you can grab your own copy by subscribing here.

I received the quilt back from my lovely local longarmer, North Star Quilting, who did a wonderful job echoing the blocks' direction with parallel lines in each quarter. I added the binding and then of course chose the dullest day of the week to photograph the quilt! This kit includes all the squares, strips and background fabric in Riley Blake's Heart & Soul fabrics you need to complete the top, plus binding, thread and full instructions, and is now available here in the Sewmotion Shop.

Meanwhile, outside of my Sewmotion bubble, my old bosses, Doughty's are holding one of their fantastic fabric roadshows at my local quilt group at the end of the month, so if you're in the North Yorkshire or Teesside area, why not pop along for some fabric shopping therapy!

Wishing you all a happy sewing week!
Linking up with:
Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication
Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

New Jelly Roll sets and Rainbow Rings progress

In more preparations for this year's Festival of Quilts in August, I've been creating some gorgeous new fabric strip sets, and have even managed to upload them into the Sewmotion online shop! I am feeling pretty productive this week haha!

These collections are all from Makower and include Sky Blue and Sequoia, both designed by Edyta Sitar, Sundance by Beth Studley and finally Makower's brand new collection, Bloom, which I have to say is my new favourite - those teeny weeny florals are so cute!

These sets contain forty 2.5" strips, four in each of the ten fabrics included in each set.  I think these are my favourite pre-cut as they are so versatile, if you need inspiration, why not check out my Pre-Cut Party PDF patterns. What's more, if you subscribe to the Sewmotion Newsletter, you can get 10% off these sets over the next week.

Meanwhile, when not cutting I've been working hard on my Rainbow Rings quilt, my latest mammoth curved EPP, hand appliqué and quilting project, and it's coming along nicely - although this weather isn't the best to be sat under a full size quilt! Now I've hand sewn the four rings onto the dark grey background, I'm now hand quilting around each of the segments using an Aurifil 12wt cotton.

Wishing everyone and happy sewing week!

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

June's free pattern

Life's getting a little frantic here at the minute, the mammoth cut has began in preparation for August's Festival of Quilts. Though I'm telling myself I've still got two months, I know that's going to fly by and I really need to get my finger out! As well as getting fat quarter bundles, jelly rolls and maybe some charm packs cut, I need to figure out how many kits I can get out of my fabric stock, what extras I need and how many I actually need to take to a four-day show, and that's all before I can then let the printers know how many patterns I need! Friends tell me I'll be fine and to make a list... I have lists of lists!! haha!

And of course, it doesn't help when my brain is coming up with new ideas for kits all the time! And then I've also got 'normal' work including commissions for magazines, and of course my free monthly pattern to my Newsletter Subscribers. 

For June I've returned to the jelly roll strip to create this Disappearing Courthouse Steps quilt - I love building blocks only to cut them up and rearrange them don't you! I have made this quilt using the Heart & Soul fabrics from Riley Blake, and once it's quilted and bound, I plan to release it as a kit. Though I also think this design would look great in Ombre fabrics! If you would like this free pattern subscribe to the Newsletter here.

This week one of the many projects on the go has been a new Hoop Art kit using the cute Kitty fabrics, I particularly love the flower print in this collection - so many fussy cutting possibilities!

And talking of magazine work, I've also got to make a couple of cushions in this gorgeous Dashwood Studio fabrics, so cute!!! 

So I best get on! Wishing you all a happy creative week.