Latest News......

Or rather an update on the last couple of months!

 

Time just seems to fly by sometimes and quite often it may seem like not a lot is going on because I'm not posting updates on all the various social media platforms every day; but things are happening every day. Sometimes they just aren't very exciting or I'm just too busy to write a blog post. If you want to keep up to date with regular updates the best place to find out about them is twitter.

So just WHAT has been going on since my last post?

 

Well..........there have been two great quilt shows at Quilts UK in Malvern and the National Quilt Ch'ships at Sandown.

 

I have my first proper quilt pattern available. Been meaning to blog about this for AGES!!

Planning on designing a series of patterns using pre-cuts.

This first one, called Jigsaw Stars, uses a Hoffman Bali Cracker but of course it can also be made with a Layer Cake.

 

 

Which reminds me I really must put this on the website!

 

Whilst I love the latest Hoffman pre-cut collection made from the #1895 fabrics, I kind of missed having Bali prints so I've ordered some Timeless Treasures Tonga Treats to fill the gap.

The 5" charm squares arrived a couple of weeks ago together with some of the 10" squares.

 

 

Tonga Treats have 20 difference fabrics in each pack, but have two of each fabric. I'm playing with a charm pack at the moment; HSTs a go go!

 

 

2 1/2" strip packs should be due for delivery shortly, all in the same colours.

 

I think that will do for one post! If you are very lucky I just may do another post tomorrow about the yummy fabrics I have on order....

 

 

 

 

Bali Pops are Coming.........

Yes! Exciting news! The 6th Bali pre-cut collection is on its way and is due for delivery on Wednesday. This is all the more exciting due to the hiccups and problems I have had getting these in stock, but that's for me to moan and grumble about to myself :-)

 

This sixth collection is made up of Hoffman's wonderful #1895 pattern so they are mainly marble type prints but this means they are easier to mix and match.

 

 

And they will also be great for landscapes or applique.

 

As before they will be available as Pops (2 1/2" strips), Crackers (10" squares) and Snaps (5" squares).

 

My first pattern using pre-cuts should be available at Quilts UK in a couple of weeks............assuming I have finished quilting the quilt by then! Actually the quilt is almost quilted so I just need to add the binding..............oh and sew in all those ends!!!

 

New on the website is Essential Gradations from Benartex. These fabrics are really yummy!

 

 

So lots of exciting things coming up..........

 

Playing with Bali Pops

Ok I confess!

 

I now have an addiction to working with pre-cuts!

I also now have a pile of five quilts that need quilting..........

 

I've been practising my machine quilting skills by finishing off a quilt top that I made when I had the shop.........which was three years ago this summer! Where has the time gone?
The quilt was going to be a beginner's quilt kit that was going to contain everything a newcomer to quilting would need to put the quilt together and quilt it. And I think now that I've finished it........well nearly......just a few more ends to sew in and add the binding..........that I think that's what I will do still. I'll have to get some new fabrics in for it as I made it with fabrics from the Satinesque collection from Robert Kaufman and I have a feeling this is no longer available, but any tonal prints will be fine for it.

 

 

I actually used my free motion foot to quilt this spiral design, which was a bit silly as it would have been easier to use my walking foot. But on the other hand it did improve my control of working with the free motion foot.

But I digress!

I had quite a few Bali Pops left over from the 5th collection and wanted to get these sold as the delivery of the new 6th collection is imminent. I also seemed to have quite a few of the Macaron Bali Pops.

So I plucked up the courage and cracked open a packet. It's actually a lovely colour pack this one, felt like I was in the Caribbean when I was stitching it.
And this is the result; a simple nine patch quilt but I'm really pleased with it!

 

Now to get on with some quilting.....................

The downside of being creative!

I love being creative. I love walking around and being inspired by my surroundings; seeing design possibilites wherever I go.
Because I am surrounded by all this creativity, I sometimes wonder how dull life would be without it and so I wouldn't want to ever be without it.

 

The only problem is you can't switch it off.

 

That's not really a problem, apart from when it keeps you awake at night and you have to get up early to play with that idea. You can't rest until you do.

 

And that is my problem today

 

Last night before I went to bed I was scrolling through pinterest on my phone (I know...........fatal), when I came upon this lovely little quilt. I didn't actually twig last night that it was so tiny, but my mind starting whirring about it and then wondering about whether it could be made from precuts.
Of course it can be made from precuts; I meant if it could be made economically using precuts. If you scroll further down that blog post you can see that the lady in question is possibly using layer cakes to make the quilt. I think if I tried it, I would make it larger.

And so here I am, at 7am on a bank holiday morning..........needing to try this out!

But then there was also this quilt too..............which would be a great project for a bali pop...........

 

 

Oh dear...........

Hmmm despite saying I would try and blog more, it's been two months since I last wrote a post. I think the main reason is that quite often I just don't have the time to sit down and write something; once my working day starts there is mail order to catch up on and then editing for the magazine.............and then the day is gone!
So I think I might become an early morning blogger. I tend to get up quite early, usually thanks to the cat. And this seems to be the quiet time for me to sit down and think about 'stuff'. I often post to my personal blog at this time so my new resolution is to try and do the same for this blog!

 

I have a shipment that is ready to come over from the States but I want to bulk it out a bit with maybe some new waddings. Just trying to decide which one! I already stock Hobbs Heirloom and Polydown and was thinking of stocking something to compliment these. Do you have a favourite?

 

Unfortunately I have just had an order cancelled for some fabrics (that I've been using a lot recently).........because I didn't order them from the official European distributor. Nice to see a free market economy working there? So I guess I will have to re-order them from the official source.............

The next post might just have something interesting to say, including an update on my machine quilting skills!

 

Happy quilting

 

 

Sorry!

Despite the show still being on, we have made the decision not to risk travelling up to Nantwich for the second one day fabric sale tomorrow.
Obviously it was a difficult decision to make as we don't like to let customers down, but sometimes you have to put yourself and your safety first. And whilst the worst of the snow has now fallen and we would have been able to get to the venue, there is more due in the south east late tomorrow and we might not have been able to get home again!
Plus my parents drive the van, they live in a village on a hill and are in their 70s...............

Once we get the van unloaded I'll try and get the sale fabrics back up on the website for another week.

It's work...............but not as I know it!

I am lucky that I love what I do; I love running my business and I love working for the magazine. You make your own stresses but it's all more of a way of life than work. I live, breathe and dream quilts, fabrics, designing. It's difficult to switch off. I'm sure a lot of you are the same, such is the life of a quilter!

 

The sale on the website continues until next Saturday 12 January. There are lots of fabrics and panels left to choose from. It's then on to the One Day Fabric Sale at Farnham Maltings in Farnham, Surrey on Sunday 13 January and the following week the last sale event this year, the One Day Fabric Sale in Nantwich, Cheshire.

And then the quilt shows proper start the week after that at the South of England Showground in Ardingly, West Sussex.

 

Of course all these sale fabrics mean there is space on the shelves for new fabrics, which leads me to one of my favourite pastimes...........browsing for new ones!
I've just ordered the cutest animal alphabet collection from Henry Glass Fabrics called Alphabet Soup. The panel is a 36" x 44" repeat which means it's cot quilt size.

 

I’ve also just ordered some wonderful ombres from the Graduations collections from Benartex.

I’m seriously tempted by the Eternal Ombres from Lecien. They are beautifully subtle colours. The only thing holding me back is as I don’t have any other taupes etc, I don’t have anything else in stock that goes with them……….which kind of sounds like I need to start ordering some………

But then comes the hard part of ordering fabrics wholesale……..the waiting…..as some of these fabrics aren’t due for delivery for many……many months yet!

 

For some reason Blogger isn't allowing me to add images from my pc today, hence the links to pages instead :-(