Innholdsfortegnelse for 49 i Today's Quilter

Don’t you just love this time of year? Longer days mean more hours of light and, in turn, extra time we can spend at our sewing machines... or seeking inspiration for our next projects. In fact it was from a trip to the seaside that this issue’s beautiful Harbour Houses project by Jo Avery was born, so we’re excited to start looking outside of our sewing rooms for new ideas, whether that be trips to the coast or checking out the work of our fellow quilters at local events. Who knows what we might find? And, speaking of new ideas, now is the perfect time to open your mind to new techniques, and create something truly remarkable in the process – like Linda Clements’ aptly named cover quilt, Summer Garden!…

BIRTHDAY HAT BLOCK Party party! Hat’s off to Sarah Ashford, designer of this festive block commemorating The Quilters’ Guild’s 40th anniversary. “Our new Birthday Hat Block pattern is a great way to share some birthday joy with this gorgeous party hat. Make your blocks as birthday cards, create your own birthday hat bunting or perhaps even create a special birthday quilt,” said Catherine Candlin, Brand Manager for The Guild. The Guild are asking for completed blocks to be sent to them for The Festival of Quilts so that they can add the finishing touches to their birthday décor. To purchase the pattern (£3.50) and to find out how to submit your finished project for display at the show, visit www.quilters guild.org.uk and search these hashtags on social media for more…

“Crazy patchwork is centuries old, but is still an enjoyably creative technique to learn and master...”– Lin Clements Crazy patchwork is easy to create using a stitch and flip technique and lends itself to highly individual work that’s great fun to do WHAT IS CRAZY PATCHWORK? Crazy patchwork has been popular since the late 1800s and is characterised by irregularly shaped patches sewn together in a random way. It is great fun to do and a wonderful technique to explore if you like to use up fabric scraps. It’s suitable for beginners as it uses a relaxed method, with very little measuring and piecing needed. A scrap approach is a good place to start as most quilters have fabrics left over from other projects, which can be collected together. It’s…

You will need ■ Pastel solid fabrics – five (5) 9in x 11in (for the houses) ■ Charcoal fabric – 7in x 11in (for the windows) ■ Scraps of fabric – five (5) pieces 2in x 5in (for the roofs) ■ Pale turquoise fabric – 16in x 18in (for the sky) ■ Fabric for the pavement – 1½in x 20in ■ Fabric for the water – 6in x 20in ■ Backing fabric – 20in square ■ Batting – 20in square ■ Five (5) tiny buttons (optional) Finished size ■ Approx. 16in square* Fabrics used ■ Kona Solids for the roofs and the foreground. Notes ■ Seam allowances are ¼in, unless otherwise noted. ■ Press seams open, unless otherwise instructed. * Trim to own size for frame. Cutting out 1 From…

Fi Bowman made her first quilt when she was 18 and has been playing with fabric, thread, dyes, paints and embroidery ever since. Initially self–taught, she discovered Bramble Patch in 1996 and proceeded to take workshops with every teacher she could over the next 16 years until, in 2012, they took pity on her and let her work for them! She now designs quilts, teaches patchwork and quilting, and makes her own textile work, too. www.fibowman.com @fibowman…

This year is a time of festivities for The Quilters’ Guild, who are celebrating their 40th anniversary, and one of the big events they have planned for 2019 is the launch of their new Block of the Month inspired by Red Manor House Coverlet (1840-1860) from The Quilters’ Guild Collection. The BoM designed by teacher, designer and Guild member Jenni Smith and Studio Manager Kay Walsh is being launched at The Festival of Quilts in Birmingham. It will run for a year from September 2019 and the total cost is £30, which includes monthly instructions, templates and video tutorials provided by Crafter’s Companion. Selecting a quilt from the collection was a daunting task with more than 800 to choose from, but Brand Manager Catherine Candlin told us that they’d always…

Jo Avery SEASCAPE ART Capture the beauty of your favourite coastal village with Jo Avery’s cleverly pieced scene and lots of hand-stitched details on page 57. Fi Bowman BACK TO NATURE Fall in love with Moda’s new Morris Garden fabric collection on page 62, and then use it to sew up Fi’s impactful frame quilt design. Linda Clements NEW TECHNIQUES Learn all about the art of crazy patchwork and how to get the look for yourself using Linda’s comprehensive, step-by-step guide on page 49.…

QUILTING Kaffe Fassett’s Quilts in America Exhibition 16th March-3rd November, Bath Kaffe Fassett’s new collection is inspired by the museum’s collection of antique American quilts. See the website for details. American Museum & Gardens, Claverton Manor, Bath BA2 7BD www.americanmuseum.org Quilts UK 16th-19th May, Malvern Quilts from award-winning quilters and textile artists, stalls, demonstrations and workshops. Three Counties Showground, Severn Hall, Malvern WR13 6NW www.grosvenorshows.co.uk Ystrad Mynach Quilters’ Biennial Exhibition 23rd-26th May, Mid Glamorgan Traders, stalls, tombola, raffle for Wales Air Ambulance. Llancaiach Fawr Manor House, Gelligaer Road, Nelson, Treharris, Mid Glamorgan, CF46 6ER 10:00-16:00 / £2 Contact Janet Harry 01443 814528 Springfields Quilt Show 31st May-1st June, Lincolnshire Quilts from award-winning quilters and textile artists, stalls, demonstrations and workshops. Springfields Events Centre, Camel Gate, Spalding, Lincs PE12 6ET www.grosvenorshows.co.uk…

■ Fabrics are placed on the back (wrong side) of the template, but sewing is done from the front (right side), along the marked lines. ■ Reduce your stitch length to about 1.5 when sewing FPP, to make it easier to tear the paper away later. ■ Add the fabric pieces in the number order shown on the template. ■ Continue the stitching line a stitch or two past the beginning and end of the line, unless otherwise instructed. ■ Once a piece is added, trim the work to a ¼in seam allowance, making sure that the paper template and the relevant fabric pieces are folded out of the way. ■ Remove the paper in the reverse order, if possible.…

B.T. BATSFORD Bradley Thomas Batsford (1821-1904) opened a bookshop on London’s High Holborn in 1843, as a young man of 22. In later years he was joined by his three sons and together they built a thriving business, which included publishing their own books on the arts and sciences, an enterprise they began in 1874. The company remained independent until 1996 when they were bought by a now-defunct publishing group. Today, Batsford is an imprint of London-based book publisher Pavilion Books, who publish around 150 books a year under a range of imprints, including the renowned brands Collins & Brown, National Trust, Pitkin and Portico. BRIAN COOK Sir Brian Caldwell Cook Batsford (1910-1991) was one of B.T. Batsford’s illustrators. His distinctive style of artwork was seen in Batsford’s series of…

“I have a love of Japanese aesthetics and philosophy; therefore a Japanese-inspired quilt design has been on the horizon for some time. Spring blossoms are such an uplifting sight and a short-lived transient beauty that I have always found inspiring. Moonlit Cherry Blossom incorporates some of the aesthetic principles of Zen philosophy, which I believe gives it a true Japanese flavour. It is Fukinsei: the design is asymmetric, and the blocks irregular. Kanso: the shapes are simple. Koko: weathered – Moda’s “Grunge” was the perfect fit. Yugen: the twigs are subtle, not obvious. Datsuzoku: the quilt pattern is unconventional. Seijaku: it has areas of tranquillity and silence. Once designed on paper, I enjoyed choosing the appropriate piecing and stitching methods, FPP, appliqué and curved piecing to suit the individual areas…

When I add patches around a centre patch, I find that the pieces have to get bigger and bigger as I go round. Is there a way to keep the patches similar sizes? Try this… This tends to happen, but you can correct it in two main ways. First, when a patch has been sewn you can trim off areas of the crazy patchwork to reduce the area of a large patch and create more acute angles – just use your quilter’s ruler to select an area (Fig 3). You can do this as often as you like. Second, you can piece together two or three fabric pieces before you add them to the patchwork. It’s best to sew the pieces together using a 45-degree seam, to create an angled…

“I have been making tiny pieced streetscape scenes for a while now and it is one of my most popular workshops. These are made with improv piecing in bright colours and usually become pouches or fabric pots. I thought these pictorial patchwork scenes would make a lovely framed picture, but to make it a little easier to explain I took the improv element away and scaled up the size of the piecing. Softening the colour scheme with pastels makes it reminiscent of a harbour or seaside town. Of course, it is very abstract and wouldn’t stand up to architectural scrutiny! However, it does remind me of my local town of South Queensferry near Edinburgh, with its charming cobbled streets and painted terraced houses, all in the shadow of the mighty…

“The work of Arts and Crafts designer William Morris often has a dark, rich and sometimes heavy feel, but this new Morris Garden collection from Moda also has plenty of lovely paler prints I wanted to feature for a lighter, contrasting effect. Simplified garden–themed appliqué on a creamy plain background also helps to balance the densely patterned prints. If you’d like to make the quilt with the fabrics shown, a pack containing all the fabrics (total of 11.1m from the Morris Garden collection) to make the top and binding is available from Bramble Patch (www.bramblepatchonline.com) for £175.”…

Prepare early! Those words echo in my head all the time, like being scared not to hand your homework in on time at school or – even worse – misplacing it. Every day I wake up focused and, if not teaching, thinking that I will do loads of sewing, but it’s funny how other things just seem to creep in and divert my attention – like sorting someone’s border, helping to batt up a quilt, finishing a magazine article or preparing for teaching. I love my teaching, though, and try never to be complacent. Suddenly March is half gone and everything is beginning to wake up ready for the summer season. Around this time I get really panicky that I won’t have enough kits and fabrics prepared for the quilting…

“This quilt is inspired by a vintage version that I own. I opted to call it a Pin Cushion Quilt as when researching the name, as is often the case, the design went by different names. Some of these seemed to have very little to do with the design. ‘Trey’s Quilt’, for example, must have been named either for the recipient or the maker. Pin Cushion and Cushion Quilt came up too and as they were so similar, and not to be confused with some of the other names, that is what I went with. And, if hand-piecing the whole quilt is something that seems one challenge too far, then I think one block made into a pin cushion would be rather fun. Or, stretch to stitching four blocks, add…

You will need ■ Background fabric –one (1) Fat Eighth ■ Light fabric – one (1) Fat Eighth ■ Medium fabric – one (1) Fat Eighth ■ Centre fabric – 3in square ■ Templates – see Templates section Block size ■ 12in finished (16in with frames) Notes ■ Fabric quantities are based on the turquoise block, left. For fabric for the frames, see issue 42 or www.todaysquilter.com ■ This block of the month is hand-pieced. For detailed instructions of this technique, see issue 42 or the tutorial on www.todaysquilter.com Cutting out 1 From the background fabric, cut four (4) pieces using template D and four (4) with template D reversed (DR). 2 From light fabric, cut four (4) pieces using template CR and four (4) with template BR. 3 From…

THE FABRIC FIELD DAY We’re in agreement here at Today’s Quilter that you can never have too many floral prints in your fabric stash, which could explain why we are so taken by Kelly Ventura’s exquisite new range for Windham Fabrics, Field Day. Inspired by the great outdoors, it boasts a pretty selection of ditsy blooms and playful repeats in a dreamy palette of grassy greens, romantic pinks and lavender shades, that are so evocative of the French flower markets and the fields of Provence. We feel a Continental quilt coming on... See Kelly Ventura’s new Field Day collection for Windham Fabrics in full at www.windhamfabrics.com THE BOOK VINTAGE QUILTS & FRIENDSHIP You may know Lisa Kerr and Louise Lott as the oh-so talented duo behind Max & Louise Pattern…

Family heirlooms Like Carolyn Forster in Floral Flourish (issue 47 of Today’s Quilter), I have many embroidered tablecloths and tray cloths. Mine have all been inherited from my mother, auntie and grandma. Most had been well used – we always had a tablecloth on for every meal – so I felt the damaged ones could be cut up to preserve the beautiful embroidery. With a friend, both of us lovers of English Pieced Patchwork, we decided they deserved to be handmade into a hand-pieced and hand-quilted quilt. We then had the excitement of being first-time exhibitors at the NEC last summer. It’s so nice to see other people are also prolonging the work of our predecessors. I am very fortunate to still have more vintage cloths, so I would be…

Linda Clements is a leading technical quilting expert, editor and writer who, for 25 years, has worked on many craft titles for David & Charles and other leading craft publishers. Among the many quilters who have trusted Linda to ensure their books are both accurate and reader friendly, are Lynne Edwards MBE, Susan Briscoe, Pam & Nicky Lintott, Pauline Ineson, Mandy Shaw and Lynette Anderson. Linda’s own book, The Quilter’s Bible, is the must-have guide to patchwork, quilting and appliqué. See this project demonstrated live on air on 27th May 2019. ■ Live on Freeview 73, Sky channel 687 ■ Online at www.sewingquarter.com ■ Missed the demonstration? Catch up on www.youtube.com/sewingquarter…

Batsford’s range of hardback titles for textile lovers are highly coveted. Their quality illustrations, beautiful photography and tactile covers connect with creative audiences and have pride of place on the bookshelf. Here’s a snapshot of their 2018 and 2019 titles. www.pavilionbooks.com Textile Landscape: Painting with cloth in mixed media Cas Holmes £22.95 Bojagi: Design and techniques in Korean textile art Sara Cook £25.00 The exhibition Batsford: 175 Years of a Bloomsbury Publisher is showing at Holborn Library, 32-38 Theobalds Rd, London WC1X 8PA until 28th June.…

Angela Attwood discovered her love of sewing as a teenager. After working as an Art Director in advertising for over 20 years, Angela has recently made her passion for sewing into a profession. As a designer, she is heavily influenced by architecture and nature, appreciating a painterly-style textile as well as a perfectly pieced geometric quilt design. To get in touch with Angela about her classes, you can email her at: angelaattwood@sky.com angieattwood.co.uk AngelaAttwoodTextiles @angie_attwood…

Linda Clements is a leading technical quilting expert, editor and writer who, for 25 years, has worked on many fabric and craft titles for F&W Media and other leading craft publishers. Among the many quilters who have trusted Linda to ensure their books are both accurate and reader friendly, are Lynne Edwards MBE, Susan Briscoe, Pam & Nicky Lintott, Pauline Ineson, Mandy Shaw and Lynette Anderson. Linda’s own book, The Quilter’s Bible, is the must-have guide to patchwork, quilting and appliqué, and includes everything she has learnt working with the industry’s best designers. For Today’s Quilter, Linda is working with the team to select practical and creative techniques. She will then go in depth, exploring the methods, taking them from the basic premise to their full technical and creative potential.…

Jo Avery has been quilting for the over 25 years and writing her craft blog for 10 years. She runs her own fabric shop, myBearpaw, in Edinburgh and online, as well as teaching a range of workshops. Jo also organises the Stitch Gathering, an annual Modern Quilt Retreat, is one half of The Thread House, and a regular guest designer at Sewing Quarter. www.mybearpaw.com bearpawcraftclasses @mybearpaw…

Making strip-pieced units Stitch strips together with a scant ¼in seam into a strip panel. Press, being careful not to distort the seams. Trim up the end so it’s square and perpendicular to the seam. Use a ruler and rotary cutter to cut the panel into segments of the required width (Fig A). Making Half-square Triangle (HST) units eight at a time Align two squares right sides together. On the lighter fabric square, mark a line diagonally in each direction. Stitch a scant ¼in from these lines on both sides. Cut apart through the centre both horizontally and vertically, then cut apart on the lines. Press the seam towards the darker fabric and trim and square up units if necessary (Fig B). Making Half-square Triangle (HST) units two at a…

You will need ■ One (1) Layer Cake* ■ Cream fabric – 4yds ■ Border fabric – 1¼yds ■ Backing fabric – 4¼yds ■ Batting – 76in x 82in ■ Binding fabric – 20in ■ Templates – see Templates section ■ Template plastic (optional) Finished size ■ Approx. 65½in x 75½in Notes *Instead of a Layer Cake, fabric choices include: Four (4) Charm square packets OR from your stash, forty-two (42) 10in squares OR forty-two (42) sets of 5in squares. ■ It is a good idea to make two templates for each shape, one to include the SA and one as the finished size. ■ WS = wrong side. ■ SA = seam allowance. Cutting out 1 From the Layer Cake, subcut each 10in square into four (4) 5in squares.…

Carolyn Forster has been sewing, making patchwork and quilting for well over 20 years, and teaching for many of those years. You can find her quilts in a range of books published by Landauer Publishing (USA), and Search Press (UK). She blogs at www.carolynforster.co.uk or you can follow her stitching inspiration on Instagram. To get in touch with Carolyn about her classes and talks, you can email her at: carolynforster@hotmail.co.uk www.carolynforster.co.uk Carolyn Forster Quiltingonthego…

“The block this month has its origins in the 1930s from the design studio of Ruby Short McKim. She suggests yellows and golds as you would for a sunbeam, but any of your favourite colour combinations play well with this design. This wonderful block has so many possibilities for fabric placement, as you can see from my three versions. One fun version would be to have B and C in the background fabric, so the remaining CR and BR rotate like propeller blades. In the centre square you can take advantage and use a little fussy cutting to show off a special motif as the focal point. Hopefully you are seeing how versatile hand-piecing is. Although I write instructions for the order that you stitch the parts of the block…