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.
This week I've finally uploaded some lovely new fat quarter bundles into the Sewmotion shop. When I buy these ranges, I have all the best intentions of designing and making them into kits and pre-cuts, but then time runs away from me and I find them collecting dust on the shelves. So I thought it was about time to get them out into the real world and share them with my customers! As you can tell, I've fallen for Makower's ranges in a big way at the moment - those Christmas ranges are so cute!! You can click here to find out more and to see the whole collection of fat quarter bundles.
I've been making great progress on my latest curved EPP mammoth quilt. For my Rainbow Rings I turned to my stash for some colour inspiration, and using my favourite EPP method, designed these four concentric circle designs. Now the piecing is complete, I just have to appliqué them onto the grey background and quilt it - should keep me busy for a while!
I'm also developing some new cushion designs to make into kits, including this Overlapping Circles cushion in those gorgeous Blue Sky fabrics from Edyta Sitar.
I have so many new kits and patterns in the pipeline, all in preparation for August's Festival of Quilts. I have worked this amazing four-day quilt show (Europe's largest I think) for my old employers Doughty's for the last eight years, but this is the first one I'll be doing for myself, and I won't lie, I am starting to panic at the amount of work I need to do!! Not only have I lots of existing kits to make up, but my brain won't stop coming up with new ideas - really annoying!! Anyway, you'll find me buried in pre-cuts and kit boxes for the next two months, with some curved EPP thrown in for good measure :)
Linking up with Let's Bee Social, Midweek Makers and Needle & Thread Thursday.
Gosh, it seems such a long time since I last blogged, what a busy month! Even though it seems like an age ago now, we had a wonderful time in Kefalonia. We had been before, and it was still as wonderful and unspoilt as 13 years ago! As it was May and early in the season, the island's flowers were in full bloom and looked spectacular - why can't my garden look like this!!
We stayed in Skala in the south of the island, and being shattered and only there for a week, we decided not to hire a car, but to explore the local area on foot instead... which one day turned into a 10mile hike up into the hills. We were headed for Old Skala but I have a feeling we took a wrong turn and ended up going much further, but these things happen for a reason, and man, was it worth it, the views were amazing! It was quite hilly with loose rocky paths, so a little tricky at times, but I'm so glad we got 'lost' on this stunning island!
On our return, I just had time to release some new Purse Kits into the Sewmotion shop. These were actually meant for the following week's show, but proved really popular with my newsletter subscribers. These kits come with all the fabric, plus zip, you need to make this cute English paper-pieced purse, and are £10 each. You can find out more here.
And then of course, it was Quilts UK in Malvern. As I may have mentioned in the past, I used to live in Hereford, about an hour west of Malvern where I worked for Doughty's. When we do this show, we're very lucky to be able to stay with Mrs Doughty who not only knows how to cook a fantastic Hereford steak, but also makes a damn good gin! Thank you Ruth!
This was my second year doing this four-day quilt show for Sewmotion, and I think this one was hottest one yet! We were in the marquee, and once it gets to a certain temperature, customers don't fancy hanging around too long when they could be in a nice air conditioned hall, and who can blame them! And of course, there was a certain Royal Wedding to compete with too... don't they make a beautiful couple!! Anyway, we still met lots of lovely people, including many newsletter subscribers - its always nice to put a face to a name.
As those who were there know, I have added a third kit to my EPP Flower Cushion kit collection, this time using one of the bright and beautiful floral prints from Liberty's Cottage Garden collection together with a Makower spot. Click here to find out more about this kit, plus a link to my video tutorial series on how to make these cushions.
Linking up with Let's Bee Social, Midweek Makers and Needle & Thread Thursday.
