Finding Calm

Wow, how the world has changed since my last blog post! From excitement for the year ahead with new shows and projects to look forward to, to a feeling of loss, fear and confusion that, to be honest, I'm struggling to get my head around. How can this have happened so damn fast!? 

As a mainly online business, working from home or alone at my unit isn't really any different for me, but it breaks my heart to hear about other business owners fearing for their survival. Us sole trader entrepreneurs have taken that leap to follow our dreams and have worked so hard to make it work - to see it all come to an end through no fault of our own, is just killing me. Many of us don't have back up funds in the bank, let alone any profit as it is all ploughed back into the growth of the business.

Anyway, enough with the worry and stress I tell myself, there's nothing I can do about it other than keeping going as best as I can, support other businesses where I can, and to help my customers in the best possible way. I am very fortunate to be in an industry that can offer amazing help to people at this unsettling time, as we all know sewing and craft can bring great calm and relief in times of stress, and we have never needed it more. 

It has been said that us quilters have been preparing for this our entire crafting lives and this is the perfect time to hit the stash, so if you are looking for inspiration, I have a number of free patterns on the website, including the All Squared Up quilt, and my Curved EPP Flower Cushion for those lovers of hand sewing. Click here to see the collection.

So far I have found hand sewing to be my saviour, together with an engrossing audible book really helps to switch off the world for a while and just concentrate on one thing. Which is why I have a new EPP Diamond Cushion kit out, this one features lovely soft blues and greys from Makower's Bloom collection. The kit includes all the fabric you need for the front, pre-cut papers and full instructions. I am also offering 15% off all EPP Cushion kits to my Newsletter subscribers, so if you need a project you can lose yourself in, why not sign up now and treat yourself to some sewing sanity. Once you have subscribed and received the verification email, the discount code will be in the final Welcome email.

Linking up with Midweek Makers, Needle & Thread Thursday and Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?

I really wish you all the best of health, stay inside as much as possible and look after each other. xx

New Kits and my Next Big Show

Where has this month gone, where has this year gone come to that? I can't believe it's nearly Christmas again! It's been all go at Sewmotion HQ lately where I have taken delivery of the beautiful new collection of quilting cottons from Liberty of London, Summer House. I have the Purple and the Pink colourways, and started off with a making up a couple of strip sets (aka jelly rolls), aren't they pretty! You can see my whole collection of quilting fabric pre-cuts here.

I then decided to make up a new Diamond Star Cushion using a couple of these fabrics, and I especially love how the fussy-cut centre star has come out. I do love this cushion design, and with enough fabric to make one of three different layouts, this kit really does make a lovely hand sewing project. You can find out more about my cushion kits here.

My latest project in these fabrics is my All Squared Up quilt kit - this design has always been a firm favourite, and was originally designed as the next step in skill level after my Beginner's Quilt kits. However, it has proved popular with both beginners and the more experienced quilter as it shows off the fabrics so well, and these Summer House prints are no exception! 

I have hand-cut all the 2.5" strips in both the Liberty prints and the grey background, as well as the borders and binding, though you will still have some cutting to do to piece the blocks. The kit also comes with thread and full instructions. I have added my favourite pieced backing to this quilt - I do love a pieced backing, not only can you use the fabrics used on the front, but you also get two quilts in one! This backing set is also available on the website.

I am also busy preparing for my first Knitting & Stitching show which takes place at Harrogate's Convention Centre next week. The four-day event is huge and attracts all types of crafters as well as quilting, so it should be a really interesting show. You can find out more by clicking here.

Before all of that busyness however, we are celebrating my lovely Justin's 50th birthday with a weekend in Newcastle, which promises amazing food, sampling his favourite IPAs and a visit to the amazing Biscuit Factory gallery. 

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

Fun at Harrogate and a new All Squared Up Quilt Kit

We had a great time at the Great Northern Quilt Show last weekend, it was so nice to meet many of my newsletter subscribers who had lovely things to say about their free monthly patterns. It's always nice to put faces to names of regular customers. Thank you for your kind words!
Below is a little video of my stand, if the quality is a little suspect, click on the settings symbol (the washer-type circle) at the bottom of video and you should be able to click on HD which should improve it. You can also turn up the sound though my little commentary seems a bit drowned out.



As you can see above, I have a new All Squared Up Quilt Kit, this one is in Riley Blake's gorgeous Happy Day fabrics, together with some Makower Spots. 

This popular quilt kit is great for beginners, and comes with all the fabric strips, borders, binding and thread you need to complete the top, plus of course full instructions. It is priced at £45.00 and there is also a fabric pack available for my pieced backing included in the instructions.

Don't forget this month's free Pre-Cut Party pattern is out, just subscribe to my Newsletter to get this strippy table runner PDF straight to your inbox, plus access to previous free patterns! There's also a code for 20% of the kit below.

I'm currently taking part in a great tag on Instagram, the #GreatBritishQuilter which runs all month. There are so many amazing quilters in the UK, why not pop along and say Hi!

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

EPP BOM Progress & Social Sewing at Stitchscape

As many of us quilters, sewists and crafters know, 'making' is extremely good for our health and wellbeing. As life becomes faster and more pressured, finding those quiet moments seem more precious than ever, even just an hour or so to sit quietly, clear the mind from outside troubles and concentrate on just one thing at hand, and what could be more perfect than patchwork and quilting?! I've mentioned in the past how I use English paper-piecing as my free therapy, and after a very busy month, I'm looking forward to getting on with my EPP Block of the Month project, planned for release in early 2018. I've actually been thinking of a name, possibly centred on the curvy nature of the piecing... Curvaceous maybe? Circular Motion... ooo, like Sewmotion... mmm, what do you think? Maybe I should ask again when you can see more of the quilt! 

I'm just starting to quilt some of the individual blocks now, the whole quilt is designed (hopefully) to be constructed using the quilt-as-you-go method so you should be able to do most of it by hand making it a great portable project. I will be writing continuous updates on this blog, but if you want to make sure you don't miss this BOM's release, why not sign up to my Newsletter. Not only do you get to hear about my latest news and product lines, but you also receive a free Pre-Cut Party pattern every month - September's is a gorgeous modern table runner using 2.5" strips, which will also be available as a kit.

I know I'm not alone in my craft-as-therapy thoughts, and one such lovely lady has used this idea to build a whole sewing community in Cheshire in the north-west of England. Diane's business, Stitchscape, is an amazing studio providing an 'escape place for stitchers'. This light and airy space is open 10-4pm every day except Wednesday and Sunday and is open to anyone wanting to either learn a new craft (you can see Diane's workshop schedule here) or those fed up with clearing their craft away every night, or having to sew alone. This social space provides an excellent opportunity to meet like-minded people who love to make, find help and inspiration from each other and to just sit, stitch and have a good chat! So if you're in the Warrington area, why not pop along, click here to find out more.

Recently Diane had an open day and purchased some of my kits to sell from her studio and she's just started a series of YouTube videos, each highlighting one of my kits - I'm overjoyed as you can imagine! As well as her very kind words about my patterns, Diane is also full of encouragement and motivation for those wanting to learn a new craft as well as those who prefer working from pre-cut kits where a lot of the hard work has been done for you. You can see her talk about my All Squared Up Sun Prints Quilt Kit below.

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

This month's free subscriber pattern

For July's free pattern for my Newsletter subscribers, I decided to go for a little foundation piecing... I know this technique is daunting to some, it took me a while to get my head around it, but with some nifty tools and tricks the technique I use with the simple Economy Block is a good introduction, and great to use with fat quarters. 

This lap quilt finishes at approx. 42" x 48" and features these gorgeous Confetti fabrics from Dashwood Studios - there's even a fussy-cut block in the centres! Unfortunately due to really crap dull 'summer' weather I haven't been able to take any decent shots of the whole quilt... hopefully tomorrow!

If you would like this free pattern, just subscribe to the Newsletter - you'll get a pattern based on my love of pre-cuts every month, plus access to previous patterns, and it's all absolutely free! Click here to sign-up.

I've finally had some more grey fabric back in stock, so the backing pack for my All Squared Up quilt in Alison Glass's Sun Prints is back on the website - I luuurrve a pieced backing!

Now back to my summer passion project.. an EPP BOM to start next year... more coming soon... :)

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

A very happy customer

As you may have gathered by now, I'm a huge advocate of helping and encouraging new quilters to learn more about this wonderful craft, and also to get as addicted as I am! When I send out my Newsletters, I often get emails from subscribers telling me how much they love that month's free pattern, or asking questions about new kits, or even just asking for help, the latter of which I love to answer.

One such lovely subscriber is Ruth, though she claims she's a beginner, I think she's quickly got to the 'intermediate' stage by the look of her quilts lately, Ruth asked if I could put together a Snowballs Around the World kit in different fabrics, luckily I had a few of the Riley Blake Backyard Roses left that she was after. We talked about which fabrics to go for, then the borders and binding, and I sent off the kit... in no time at all, Ruth sent me this pic of her beautiful pieced quilt - isn't it lovely!

After that, Ruth has enjoyed working through the free patterns I have on the website, building her skills, which now include wavy quilting! And just look at the back of her All Squared Up quilt, this really made me smile.

Ruth explained in one of her emails that she doesn't have any clubs nearby to even learn the basics, and finds the Sewmotion tutorials so easy to follow, she's tried things she's never done before and is feeling pretty proud of herself, as she should! I love hearing feedback like this, quilting really does bring such joy and creativity into our lives, we are the lucky ones! Thank you Ruth for sharing your new-found love of this fantastic craft.

While I love teaching through online tutorials and email support, even I have to get out into the real world sometimes, and was over the moon when Hilary from High Street Quilting in Birtley asked me to run a workshop on my Flying Geese cushion. If you live around the Chester-le-Street area, why not treat yourself to a class?

Linking up with Sew Fresh Quilts and Midweek Makers

Basting a quilt on your bed

There seems to be a few videos floating around cyberspace at the moment showing different ways of layering and basting a quilt, one of which is this great method using long boards and a large table.

However, if you don't have a large enough table, and I don't, I thought I'd share the method I have used for years, well, forever actually, and its never let me down yet! I use my bed... admittedly I have a king size bed now, but even if your bed isn't big enough to hold your whole quilt at once, you can baste it in sections, click below for my full tutorial.

Did you notice the new All Squared Up quilt above? This version features Michael Miller's Sandpiper collection by Sarah Campbell - I can see myself wrapped up in it sitting on a pebbly beach looking out to sea. This easy quilt kit includes all the fabric strips you need to complete the top, plus borders, binding and thread, and of course full, easy-to-follow instructions. Click here to find out more. 

Are you looking for some summer sewing inspiration? Why not dig into this month's issue (48) of Love Patchwork & Quilting, full of bright and modern loveliness, great projects and beautiful fabrics, you could also try my Curved Hexy cushions for some relaxing English paper piecing.

Linking up with Let's Bee Social and Midweek Makers.

Tiling inspiration

As I may have mentioned, we've recently moved into a new house, well an old house really by today's standards, a 1930s semi complete with artex ceilings and wood chip wallpaper! Joy! We're slowly making progress on the wood chip - eucalyptus oil works wonders - but after a day of stripping I was really missing a bath. The house came with a large walk-in shower, which while nice, didn't come close to a long hot soak. So this week I'm very pleased to say we now have a bath! Yay! Originally we planned to try and fit it ourselves, however, one look at the pipework and weird boiler, we soon decided to get help. While they did all the complicated stuff, we thought we'd at least have a go at the tiling, I've done a bit before, though they were large tiles with a normal layout... this time, we went for the small 'metro' tiles in a brick formation... hey, I'm a quilter used to lining up seams and points, how hard can it be right?? Famous last words...

Wanting to get the plumber back to finish the job before he forgot us, we were under a little pressure to get the tiling done, so I decided to start on my own - let's just put it this way, everything I could get wrong, I did wrong - I was so paranoid about getting the verticals lined up with every other row, I forgot to check the horizontals - you would think I'd know better! Then we'd picked the wrong spacers, way too big! When I realised I'd gone wonky, I tried to readjust, so we have a nice curve now! Justin helped finish tiling the second wall that night, then I went on to the grouting... into those huge spaces! Thank goodness I didn't go for the grey grout in the end. Having pulled and strained every muscle in my body, I left Justin to grout the second wall. I suppose with the white tiles and white grout, it doesn't look too bad.. but never again!

Anyway, why should I mention this in a quilting blog you may ask. Well, it seems that the brick-like design crept through the pain and into my subconscious and while I was struggling to come up with a design for some new directional prints, this one sprang to mind.

My original plan for these Coonawarra Red prints from Red Rooster Fabrics was another version of the All Squared Up quilt kit, but I thought the directional patterns may cause problems, so thought they would be better kept in one largish block. I then added some simple sashing between each one and laid them out in this brick pattern. I then worked out how to make sure the horizontal sashings all lined up and I think the effect works really well! This will of course soon be a quilt kit and is much larger than my other kits - I had so many people at recent shows ask for double or king size quilts! 

Today I've been sewing a meandering free motion design over the whole top, and hopefully I'll get the binding on tonight in front of the tele.

I've also uploaded these pretty Coonawarra Red fabrics into the Sewmotion shop to buy by the metre, as well as some additions to the lovely P&B Blenders collection. Why not go and have a mooch - while you're there, you could treat yourself in my Easter sale! Simply use the code Easter20 at checkout to get 20% off everything in store (offer ends at midnight on Monday 17th April).

I do hope you all have peaceful and creative Easter weekends, I have a feeling mine might involve painting the bathroom... Happy Easter to you all. xx

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

Pre-Cut Party Pattern and a New Kit

Doing these monthly free patterns certainly makes the year seem to fly by! April - sunshine and showers, and flying geese? This cushion is inspired by the ever useful fat quarter, though you can also use long quarters for this one. If you've been tempted by a gorgeous FQ bundle at a show, brought it home, then thought what on earth am I going to make with that?... then this is the project for you. Or of course, you could go for brights as I did - these Spectrum Solids from Makower are now available on the website.

The PDF pattern includes a quick and nifty way to make four geese blocks at once - it did make me smile to see Angela Walters using this same technique in her latest Midnight Quilter episode (total coincidence, promise!) If you've missed these YouTube shows for Craftsy you must watch them, totally hilarious, and definitely my kind of quilter!

Anyway, for your free pattern, simply subscribe to the Newsletter where you'll find the link for your free download, plus news on latest products, events and special offers.

Talking of new products, here is the latest version of my All Squared Up Quilt kit, this time featuring these glorious Sun Prints fabrics by Alison Glass for Andover Fabrics. I've paired these with a lovely dark rich grey that I think makes the fabrics shine so beautifully! 

The kit includes all the pre-cut 2.5" strips, border and binding strips you need to complete the quilt top, plus a reel of 50wt thread and full instructions. I have also put together a fabric pack to make the back pictured above. The layout and instructions are included in the kit anyway, so now you can also grab these fabrics, which include a grey blender from P&B Textiles' Bear Essentials collection and nine Sun Prints strips.

Fancy a 15% discount off this kit and backing? Subscribe to the Newsletter now for the code!

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

New Quilt Kits Coming Soon

I've dedicated this week to quilting, and getting some more quilts finished to make into kits, and boy do my shoulders ache! The new house sadly doesn't have a bath, but we're definitely now making that the priority job, oh, how I've missed a long soak... anyway, back to the quilting.

Having more or less sold out of my All Squared Up kits (I have one left in the American Patch fabrics) I'm working on replacements, and couldn't resist these Sun Prints by Alison Glass with this sumptuous grey from Makower, it seems to make them shine doesn't it!?

I seem to be addicted to this wavy line quilting, it may take a while, but it really is so easy, and so effective, and going from my experience at recent shows, it really sells the quilt. And of course, I couldn't resist a pieced backing...

You know when you love the back as much as the front?! You can see the instructions for this backing here in my free tutorial for this All Squared Up quilt.

For new quilt kit ideas, I've turned to my quilt patterns for inspiration, and decided to make a slightly larger version of my Snowballs in Spring pattern using this gorgeous Papillon range from Makower along with a couple of their blenders.

This one is now basted to ready to quilt, my job for today. I hope you're all having a creative and productive week, if you have more time for quilty chat and inspiration, why not pop along to these linky parties and say Hi:
Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts, Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication and Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation.

New Show Dates & Works in Progress

Well I think spring might be here, though they were talking about snow this week so who knows! What I do know is that the cute little garden at our new house is full of buds - I have little idea of what most of the plants are or what they'll do, but that's all part of the fun! I did plant some spring daffs and tulips so there's some colour for now at least.

So with spring comes more quilt shows, yay! I've just booked Sewmotion into the Stitching, Sewing & Hobbycrafts Show at the Harrogate International Centre on 11th - 13th of May. This is a new venue for this show, but with impressive events at Birmingham's NEC and London's Excel, I'm sure this one will be as successful - and it's also nice to have some more creative events happening up here in the north! For more on this show and to buy tickets, click here.

A week after this, the 18th - 21st May, we'll be at Quilts UK in the beautiful town of Malvern. I've worked this four-day event before for Doughty's, but this time I'll be there with Sewmotion! For more details and tickets, click here. 

I've then got a little rest until we're at the National Quilt Championships at Sandown Racecourse on 23rd - 25th June - for more info and tickets, click here. 

As you can see, I'm going to be very busy in the next few weeks...! As well as cutting and folding pre-cuts, I'll be working on some new kits and patterns to add to my collection, including this funky take on my All Squared Up quilt kit, this time in Alison Glass's Sun Prints collection, with a lovely rich grey, and don't forget, I know have a gorgeous fat quarter bundle of these fabulous prints in the shop.

Then there's a bright and summery new Hexy Cushion Kit to finish...

...and of course, more free patterns for my Newsletter subscribers - April's pattern will be this funky flying geese cushion - to get this free pattern and more, why not sign-up? It's absolutely free, you get a pattern based on my love of pre-cuts every month, with access to previous months' patterns, and you also get to hear about my latest news, events and products with special discount offers! To subscribe, click below.

So, I best get on with some sewing/cutting/folding eek!!! If you're looking for more quilty chat and inspiration, why not visit these fab linky parties!

Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts

Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication

Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation
Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Finished or Not Friday at Busy Hands Quilts

All Squared Up Quilt - Pieced Backing Instructions

One of my most popular sales last weekend at the Great Northern Quilt Show was my All Squared Up Quilt Kit in Japanese prints, so much so I've had to reorder some of the fabrics! It was also great to see people as interested in my pieced backing as they were in the front. So I thought this week I would include instructions for the backing - if you are one of the lovely people who bought this kit from me, and would like to purchase the fabrics for the back, contact me here and I'll send you the details.

Whenever I have a quilt around 60" wide, rather than joining two widths of the same fabric for the backing, I tend to use just one length with a pieced panel to make up the extra in width. So in this quilt I echoed the block used in the front, just on a larger scale - these squares are 6½”.

You will need:
• 60” x WOF (width of fabric) of main backing fabric (I have used the Red Geometric print).
• Three fat quarters in co-ordinating prints (I used a fat quarter of the Cream Geometric print, the Red Flower and the Cream Owls).

• One fat quarter of the solid you used on the front – in my case Cream.

Cutting instructions:

1) The cutting and construction of these three blocks is exactly the same as those on the front of the quilt, just with larger dimensions. So from each of the patterned fat quarters, cut the following:

* two 6½” x 18½” rectangles   

* two 6½” squares

Then from the Solid (cream) fat quarter, cut:

* three 6½” squares

* two 18½” x 3½” strips 

Piecing instructions:

2) For each block, sew the centre three squares together, with a cream one in the middle. Press seams towards the patterned fabric.

3) Sew a rectangle to either side of your centre strip to complete the block – again press seams towards the patterned fabric.

4) Sew these three blocks into one long panel, then add a solid (cream) 18½” x 3½” strip to the top and bottom.

5) Lay out your 60” of main fabric onto your cutting table, and trim off the selvedge with your ruler. Unfold the fabric so you’re only cutting through one layer, and use you quilter’s ruler to measure and cut off a 15” strip DOWN THE LENGTH of the fabric (not across the width). This will give you two panels to sew onto either side of your pieced blocks. Press seams toward the main fabric.

6) You are now ready to baste your quilt sandwich. To ensure your backing is straight and lined up with the front, fold your backing in half and place a pin at the centre mark of the top and bottom edges. Unfold, and fold again the other way, placing a pin at the centre mark of these two side edges.  Do the same with your quilt top.

7) Now find somewhere clean and flat, lay out your backing fabric, face down, and tape to the surface to keep flat. Lay and smooth out your wadding on top of this, and then finally place the quilt on top, face up, lining up those pins along each edge of the top and backing. Baste with curved safety pins and quilt.

A note on quilting: You could simply sew some stitch-in-the-ditch down and across each of your main seams. Or, if you’re feeling adventurous you could try some free-motion quilting over the entire top.

I chose to use my walking foot and stitch wavy lines across the top. To do this, start at the middle of one edge of the quilt and roughly following the centre seam, sew a gentle wavy line down the middle of the quilt. When you get to the opposite edge, break thread and pull the quilt back through the machine to start the next line to the right of first one.
Carry on working in this direction so you only ever have half the quilt rolled up under the machine. Try not to echo the previous line to avoid it looking too uniform, instead mirror the pattern in places, or go wide and come back and fill in later. If you go a little too wild, you will have the next line of blocks’ seams to guide you back to a ‘straighter’ wave.

I do love this style of quilting - it looks so fresh and modern!! For this kit and more, plus plenty of pre-cuts to inspire you for your next project, visit my shop at sewmotion.com

For more inspiration why not subscribe to my Newsletter for a free pattern every month, plus subscriber only offers and updates on my latest products and events.

 

Check out these Linky Parties for more fun and quilty goodness;

Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts

Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication

Folksy Friday - All Squared Up

Having spent the last week measuring, cutting and packing quilting pre-cuts, including some mini charm squares, in preparation for the Harrogate Quilt Show, I'm now seeing squares in my sleep! So what else could I choose for this week's Folksy Friday....

1. Little Square Studs – Arc Creative Jewellery - £11

2. Granny Square Blanket – The Sheep Pen - £35

3. Contemporary Silver Square Pendant – Black Kiku - £65

4. Vintage Rose Quilting Pre-Cut Charm Squares - Sewmotion - £10

5. Red Squared Bowl – Potstop - £18.95

6. 10 x Multi-Coloured Squares – Treasures In Measures - £1.20

7. Square Notebook – Kate Bowles Books - £22 

8. Men’s Pocket Square – CatkinJane - £15

9. Square Wych Elm Bowl Eastfield Design £35

These beautiful items are made by some of the talented makers and crafters on Folksy, the online marketplace for British modern craft. If you like what you see, please go and explore their shops - you may just find that unique gift you won't find anywhere else.