New Project: plus an update

Hello again! Yes it's only been just over a week and here's another blog post. 

This might become a habit!

I've made really good progress with my Arctic Feathers and after selecting a range of threads to use am really enjoying quilting them.

 I like to use a range of threads with some projects - it adds a bit of variety. I've used a range of matt and silky threads that I alternate as I fancy.

So as I've got that one in hand I thought I'd find myself another project. 

 I found a quilt that really caught my eye on Instagram post from @karenlewistextiles. I contacted Karen who told me it was one of her patterns that was available from etsy. So I've bought it and the fabric!

So here's the quilt and below is the fabric I've bought. 

Karen used a variety of low volume background fabrics, but I've decided to use one.

I'm looking forward to seeing how different it looks in a different colourway

 A useful reminder to you all is about checking the scale images on printouts for FPP (Foundation Paper Piecing). 

I hope you can see the image where I've got the tape measure - it shows the 1 inch box is bigger than an inch. When I measured one side of the block it was 7 inches. 

When I looked at the pattern instructions I had previously printed the same image measured an inch and the same edge was 6.5 inches. 

I went back to print the pages again and realised it was set to print to 'fill the page' not 'actual size'.

 If I hadn't have double checked this I would have ended up having problems - and may not have had sufficient material.

So a little reminder - always check your templates.

 That's it for another week.

Take care .

Arctic Feathers...

I know, it's been a while. I promise I'm going to try to post once a week. Honest!

I thought I'd start off with a quick project I've started this weekend. I've made a couple of cushions for our living from the Elizabeth Hartman pattern - Arctic Feathers.

As with all of her patterns Elizabeth makes life very easy with her clear, easy to follow instructions. The biggest issue I had was selecting the material to use. I finally settled on some fat eighths I had of Carolyn Friedlander. I'd bought the fabric ages ago and loved them so much I didn't know where I'd use them. I think they look really fab with this design - I hope you agree.

Have you used any of Elizabeth Hartman patters? I've also made the huge Kittens quilt and even quilted it. I promise to show it on another post.

That's it for now - short but sweet I know. 

Festival of Quilts 2018

Festival of Quilts 2018 - wow. 

What a show!

I though you might like to see my purchases. There are A LOT, but my excuse is it was near my birthday (and a significant one at that) and well - it's Festival. You only get to see this stuff once a year.

Simply Solids have a great range of fabric and are also lovely.

After the Frida Kahlo exhibition I'd decided that I needed more color in my life - so here is the start of my quest!

 Another great patron of colour is Kaffe Fassett.

 So I splurged.

 I do love Moda's Zen Chic range. A great mixer.

And as  lover of cats I thought I'd give Catnip a go too.

 I LOVE Paint-Box Threads.

Their thread is beautiful to sew with and the colour ranges are fabulous.

Their thread collections are so well put together.

If you see them at any show do buy a pack to try them out. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

They also had some fabric scrap bags and again I couldn't resist.

 FoQ is a great opportunity to meet up with friends and to see what they've bought and then go and buy it too.

So a great find (via a friend) was mud rabbit.

Beautiful designs on a variety of fabrics. 

I'm looking forward to some slow stitching.

Block Craft  had a good size stand at Festival that was always busy - they must have been shattered when they got home.

They had a great range of stamps with good deals on kits too. They demonstrated all day and had good examples of how they could be used.

 As you all know - I've become a fan of Elizabath Hartman's patterns - great designs, well written and easy to follow. What more could you ask for. I thought I could try out the Arctic Feather pattern in my new found bright colours.

I'd previously seen the Bubble Pods pattern by Beth. They look like they'll make great pressies.

 I do love a gadget and Festival is a great place to see them in the flesh as it were. 

But a word or warning - the same product can vary in price by quite a bit - so keep an eye out.

And I just had to get a book from Kaleidoscope.

On the recommendation of a friend I purchased Stitched Sewing Organizers by Aneela Hoey.

It's a lovely book and I'm looking forward to starting a project or two from it.

So that's my purchases!

If you went to Festival what did you buy?

Frida Khalo - Making Her Self Up - Exhibition

Hello All,

On Saturday I had a lovely day out in London and saw a couple of exhibitions. 

It was very hot.

The first one was at the V and A, Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up.

It was a great exhibition. I'm really pleased we had early timed tickets as I'm sure every one took much longer in there than they had anticipated and then generally leads to it getting a bit tight.

Unfortunately we couldn't take photos, so you'll just have to take my word for how fab it was.

It was a great mix of her paintings and sketches and lots of everyday items such as lipstick and her sewing box. 

The last room had a lot of her own outfits. It was a real wow moment when you walked in. The colours were just as you would expect from the many paintings you had seen of her.

This beautiful sculpture was in the courtyard and we like everyone else wanted out photo taking there.

After a great lunch we then went to The Fashion and Textile Museum where there was an Orla Kiely: A Life in Pattern.

I could take photos in this exhibition, but they weren't great.

This one shows examples of her dresses on a large scale. They also had a huge wall of handbags and lots of examples of her dresses. It does make you realise that fashion collection always have at least one crazy piece that will get the attention of the press.

Being of a certain age it really reminded of the the 70s. 

I must say there were alot of very wearable pieces too.

 And finally, here's a view across the River Thames of an interesting sky line.

I hope you're all surviving the heat.

Elizabeth Hartman - Kittens

Hello all,

Long time no blog!

So, I thought I'd start off gently (for my benefit really) and talk about a quilt I've started.

It's 'The Kittens' by Elizabeth Hartman.

I'm not generally very good at following patterns, but this one has been a dream. 

It really is very easy to follow. Very clear cutting and piecing instructions. 

I'm really happy with the results.

I've got quite a few more to make but you can really get a wriggle on once you've got the pieces cut.

You may have noticed in the first photo that shows my lovely new sewing machine - a

 new Janome Memory Craft 6700 P.

It's really nice.

The big throat makes it a real dream to use.

That's all for now.  

I'll be back soon.

If you want to see what I'm up to more regularly please follow me on Instragram as 'sarahtextileart'

Welcome

Hello everyone

So here's my new home - with a new title.

I hope you'll find lots of interesting new posts.

I'll be back very soon.

xx

Hello all,

Apologies to you for the gap between posts.  I've been a little preoccupied with getting our bathroom sorted. It's amazing how you can have work done in one room of the house and the rest of the house turns into absolute chaos. And why has everything started to break, microwave, washing machine, kettle... 

Anyway - as I keep being reminded it has to get worse before it gets better!

Our little kittens are growing fast - they are quite leggy now and still very fast. I'll try to get a photo of them. It will have to be when they're asleep.

On the sewing front I'm still working on my NYB swap. I'm making progress but the deadline is a little nearer than I'd like.

Tomorrow I hope to be able to make some more progress with the NYB without my little helpers.

An exciting development has also been happening. I've been teaching at Coles in Nottingham. They have a really well laid out spacious first floor room for classes.  It has a lift so anyone with mobility issues or a heavy bit of kit can access classes. I've had a really lovely couple of Thursdays covering for a friend who was off on a course and I met some really lovely ladies. I hope to be asked back again in the future.

Take care all.

Oh - I almost forgot to explain the photo! I managed to get interviewed inn one and wrote an article for the following edition of Region  Quilters Guild magazine Cobwebs. I hope those of you who receive it enjoyed reading them.

Stamping and printing with me at Quilteez

Hello all,

For those of you who I met at the Market Bosworth Quilt Show in June you'll know that I was hoping to sort out a class to teach stamping and printing - well we've got there. The class will be on Saturday 18th November in Ratby organised by Quilteez.

I hope those of you who expressed an interest will be able to come - I'm really excited about meeting you all.

In addition, this Saturday 9th September I'll be demonstrating at the Region 10 Area Day in Gotham. Here are some details for you:

Venue - Gotham Memorial Hall - it has lots of parking

10 - 4

Faith lunch

Speaker: Gail Lawther

Me demonstrating

Sales - Quilteez 

I'll also be bringing along my quilt 'Postcodes' that was exhibited at Festival of Quilts in the 'In the Spotlight' exhibition. And I'll have some samples made during the process.

Hope to see you soon.

Festival of Quilts 2017

Hello. Well, I survived 4 days at Festival of Quilts.

I had a great time, met lots of lovely people and am really inspired to crack on.

I was particularly excited this year as I'd been selected to represent Region 10 of the Quilters Guild in the 'In the Spotlight' exhibition. The theme was 'No place like home'. I decided to use the postcodes of all the places I'd lived.

Although I was really pleased with my quilt, I was a little nervous about it being exhibited and how it would look next to the others.

I must say I was very impressed with how it was displayed.

 Also exhibiting in the same gallery representing Region 14 was my friend Sarah Humphreys. She chose to use house numbers to illustrate the theme of 'No place like home'. Another really great example of a modern quilt and as ever amazing machine quilting.

 As well as participating in the 'In the Spotlight' exhibition Sarah Humphreys also managed to make another amazing quilt that she entered into the Modern category and won third prize.

 Rachel Care entered her work into the Art Quilt category. The attention to detail was breathtaking in the piece. 

Hilary Jackson entered a beautiful quilt into the Modern category. I love the continuation of the design in the negative space.

 My photographs really don't do any of the quilts justice as they were taken on my phone. They do show their impact, but not the detail.

I feel very fortunate that these artists are my friends and that they inspire me to push myself further with my work. Thank you xx

Where does the time go! It's August already.

Not much sewing done as Millie and Pebbles provide all the entertainment at the mo.

Yesterday I received my catalogue and show guide for FoQ 2017.

Getting the catalogue early means I can find my friends competition quilts and also read about all the specialist galleries.

I'm looking forward to seeing all my textile friends during the 4 days I'm there.

Have fun

 Hello all,

Apologies for yet another delay in posting on my blog - but as you can see I've been a little distracted with Pebbles (Silver tabby) and Millie (brown tabby). 

They arrived last week and they've wrecked my sewing room but are absolutely hilarious. So no sewing done for a few days.

Flo is unsure about her new energetic friends and we hope to get the together very soon. She does know they have arrived and has enjoyed sniffing where they have been. 

But I would like to let you know that I have a quilt being exhibited at the Festival of Quilts - I'm in the 'In the Spotlight' exhibition. If you follow the link there's a photo of my work in progress on the webpage. It's the first photo - grey improv pieced. 

I'm very excited about seeing it on display as I haven't been able to take a decent photo of it.

I'll be there for all 4 days so hope to bump into you during that time. 

I'll be stewarding on the 'In the Spotlight' on Thursday 11 - 12 and Sunday 11.30 to 12 so feel free to pop along to say hi. 

I hope it looks OK now I've told you all about it.