Never Stop Learning

I am a great believer in the adage that you should never stop learning. Not only do new experiences keep your brain working, but it also helps build confidence and provides a great feeling of wellbeing, which can only make you happy, right!?

So having spent far too much time lately staring at the Mac screen or cutting up fabric for kits, I decided to take a whole day to myself to learn something new. I actually ended up trying a couple of new things – foundation piecing using freezer paper, and sewing curves!

Inspired by Jo Avery’s New York Beauty pattern in last month’s Today’s Quilter, I thought it was time to try these curves I’ve been seeing all over Instagram. I then remembered that one of the classes I have on Craftsy was Playing with Curves with Ann Petersen - a class by a very talented lady who takes you through everything slowly and methodically – highly recommended. 

Anyway, I thought I’d just refresh my memory on foundation piecing, and found that Ann's method uses freezer paper and that she doesn’t actually sew through the paper at all… this I had to see!

 

I got stuck in and soon found my rhythm, so much so that I forgot to take any photos of my process! Next time… I think I do prefer this method and it was a joy to just peel back the papers at the end rather than all that ripping. I will do a tutorial on this method for a future project, but for now, why not pop over to Craftsy and have a browse through their classes, they really are worth every penny!

Back to the block... so once the pieced arcs were complete, next came the curves, and they weren’t actually as bad as I thought… I have made some Drunkards Path blocks before, and these were just the same. A few pins and a very slow pace at the machine, and they came out ok. Phew!

 

Unfortunately I only have fat quarters of these bluey greens, my mum who claims she ‘doesn’t do colour’ bought them for me, and I think she did pretty well! So I think this may be a cushion, and I will try my hardest to not lose it in a box and to actually get it quilted!

So do you feel inspired to learn something new? Why not have a look through my free tutorials and see if something catches your eye? 
Even better, you could subscribe to my Newsletter to recieve a free pattern based on pre-cuts, every month straight to your inbox? Click below to subscribe.

For even more inspiration, pop along and visit these great Linky parties;

Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts

Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication

Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation 
Building Blocks Tuesday at Quilter In The Closet 

Sunday Stash #13 & Today's Quilter

Having just finished a big project, I thought it was about time I had a tidy of my messy stash... you know how it is, you get these flashes of inspiration or emergency gifts to make, and you end up pulling fabric and not putting it back... or maybe that's just me!

There are two issues with tidying a stash - 1) you scare yourself silly when you realise how much you have, and 2) ideas for new projects and patterns bombard you from all angles - I'm exhausted!

I did come across some gems though - at Christmas I treated myself to some fat quarters of Mini Pearl Bracelets by Lizzie House, I know it's a strange colour range, but I quite like it and can see maybe some four-pointed stars on a white background... I only have 6 FQs so this one will need some thinking about. These came from The Village Haberdashery who I've just noticed have a brand spanking new website, very nice indeed!

My other recent purchase were these gorgeous teals and orange from Doughty's Je Ne Sais Quoi range - I do love this whole collection, not only are they quality cottons, but they're a whole 65" wide and come in cute ditsy designs. I am planning some new patterns with these babies, and maybe a new kit or two... 

I also wanted to share some great Sewmotion news, we've been featured in this month's Today's Quilter magazine. I'm pretty sure I've raved about this mag before. Aimed at the modern quilter inspired by traditional fabrics, patterns and techniques, this monthly mag features great patterns - which tend to be at least eight pages long - a breakdown of new techniques harking back to the history of quilting, and to top all that, the truly inspiration Lynne Edwards runs a virtual workshop in which she breaks down the basics of quilting - superb for beginners! Lynne also features in this month's pullout in which she talks about her amazing life, her beautiful collection of quilts, and her love of teaching.

There is also a well researched round-up of quilting news and events - the piece on Sewmotion is spot on and very lovely (gush!), as well as features on world class quilters who provide even more inspiration - this month there's a great article on pre-cut queens the Lintotts. So I suggest you get to the shops asap, sit back with a cuppa and get inspired!

This week I'm linking up with Molli Sparkles' Sunday Stash - come and say hello.