Tag: fabric

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December Fabric Focus

It may be cold outside but Spring will soon be on its way and the Daisy Garden collection is perfect for any project at this time of year. It’s bold floral print compliments the soft blues, yellows and greens, giving the fabrics a country cottage theme. The daisies sit alongside butterflies but have subtle hints of geometric patterns both in the panel and the rest of the fabrics.

There is so much you can do with a collection like this; at the moment Jon is working on a table runner using the panel. Sticking with the dining theme, you could cut out the individual squares and rectangles for place mats and coasters, perfect for dressing up the garden table for outdoor lunches in the warmer months.

If you are fairly new to patchwork and quilting, panels are a great place to start; cutting out individual pieces of the panel allows you to try out your new skills on a small and simple projects. Want to try something a bit bigger? You could keep the panel in one piece and turn it into a small quilt by adding borders. But if you are feeling really ambitious you could cut out and rearrange the individual pieces of the panel to make a much larger quilt or a table runner just like Jon!

Patchwork with panels is easy; if you are still unsure then why not join one of our beginners classes. If you want to follow the theme of Daisy Garden and create something homely you could join Geraldine for her sewing for beginner’s day in February where she can help you out with any small home furnishing project.

Interested in a classes but don’t know which ones to do? Come along to our exhibition on Saturday 10th January, 10am-4.30pm. Students from all our 2014 classes will be displaying their work; you can talk to the students about their experience and staff and will be on hand to discuss all the courses we have to offer this year. Light refreshments will be being served at the event thanks to O for Coffee. Of course you are welcome to stay for the whole day and enjoy lunch in O for Coffee and grab a bargain in our winter sale!

To see the full Daisy Garden collection click here.

Browse our full list of courses by clicking here.

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To The Moon and Back – Lewis & Irene @ Tudor Rose

Peering through a telescope, looking up to the sky and searching for the brightest star.

Let our cute constellations and dreamy galaxies take you … ‘To the Moon and Back’

An inspiring collection of fabrics from Lewis & Irene, featuring celestial delights such as moons, planets and rockets, along with co-ordinating mixers with stars and constellations. They also work well with Lewis & Irene’s Bumbleberries range.

You can also find two free patterns over on the Lewis & Irene website specifically designed for this collection. Try a foundation pieced black hole-esque quilt designed by Sally Ablett, or opt for the quicker 18″ cushion project.

https://www.lewisandirene.com/portfolio-items/to-the-moon-and-back-cosmic-cushion/

https://www.lewisandirene.com/portfolio-items/moon-back-quilt/

Find ‘To The Moon and Back‘ over on our website

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Not Christmas Already?!

Well no, but panels and fabrics are arriving thick and fast so that we can all be ready in time. Gifts
created and decorations made.
Today, I’m at the sewing machine making Christmas Stockings.
It’s a bit of a chore, however, to find inspiration when the sun in beating down and the temperature
is topping 26 degrees C. Not that I’m complaining about the sun at all, just finding it hard to think in
terms of Christmas and the Winter season.
What embellishment will enhance the stockings? Do I go for glitz and sparkle or something more
subtle? It is a Christmas stocking after all so maybe sequins and seed beads. The panel I’m using has
a Scandi feel to it so perhaps embroidery with a bit of glitzy DMC. Watch this space.
Jon has already been busy putting together an incredibly simple “folded” advent calendar. We are
all amazed by how quick and it easy it was to make and customers are loving the end result. Proving
popular already.
Who else has started getting ready for the festive season? Tell us about the projects you’ve got in
mind. My mum is making bags for her friends this Christmas, it was cushions last year, and already
has 2 completed. Only 5 more to go!
Delighted with the finished result. Only took a couple of hours, computer had to be worked at and
customers had to be looked after in between!
I’ll be in touch with my next sewing challenge….Joy
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March Fabric Focus

 

Sweet Tweet by Mitzi Powers for Benartex P651/09

 

Last month we featured Timsbury Lane and spoke about Spring being just around the corner, this week we have just a month until Easter and we have great projects and fabrics for the season! The fabrics we are Just Hatched from Quilting Treasures, and Baby Talk  and Sweet Tweet by Benartex.

 

 

All of these fabrics are in bright fun colours such as yellows, purples, greens and blues. As you would expect the Just Hatched collection consists of Easter eggs, fluffy chicks and a few Easter bunnies for good measure. Baby Talk carries on the yellow chick theme but with a baby pink background. Sweet Tweet adds some Spring time birds to our Easter collection, the blue and yellow birds are decorated with intricate floral patterns to create a bold design.

Baby Talk 2481 by Benartex

So what projects can we suggest for Easter? As always there are loads of options. We think a wall hanging would be great fun to decorate a Child’s bedroom. For the dining room you could make a fun Easter table runner, try this table runner pattern that allows you to incorporate lots of different fabrics and colours. For the Easter egg hunt, you could make our simple Shopper bag pattern in the Just Hatched fabrics that can be used to collect all the Easter eggs.

 

All of these projects are easy to do but if you need some help or you have something a bit more challenging in mind then you can join Chris Hinchliff and Kate Frankland for their Quilt Escape class on Tuesday.

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May Fabric Focus

Over the past few weeks we have focused on some adorable animal prints, but we feel it is time for a change so today we are showcasing the ‘A New Leaf’ collection from Mitzi Powers for Benartex. It has a beautiful watercolour style with some strong prints to make it stand out from the crowd.

A New Leaf is a particularly big range with six fabrics in total. The cream backed fabric stands out in the collection with its watercolour floral print in oranges. It works beautifully with the two darker fabrics in the range; a multi-coloured pebble pattern on a navy blue background and a batik style floral print on a sea blue background. Finally the collection is tied together with three bold fabrics with repeating patterns. Two with retro swirls, one red and one green, and a light green fabric with a circular floral pattern.

Overall, an eye catching collection that will create some stunning projects. Because you have seven different fabrics to work with, a sampler quilt would be a great project. They’s be perfect for Bev Mayo’s Crazy Circles workshop in November too!

As always, patchwork projects aren’t limited to quilts. We think the ‘A New Leaf’ collection would look great as a bag. Our Spiced bag pattern has recently been made up in the ‘A New Leaf’ fabrics, but you could also try our Henrietta Hobo Bag pattern if you wanted a more unique style.

 

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April Fabric Focus

Welcome back to our monthly Featured Fabrics! Last month we showed you the adorable Timeless Treasures Mini Safari collection, this month we are sticking with the nature theme with a bold explosion of floral prints. The Paradise collection from In the Beginning Fabrics takes you through a jungle of bright colours with a retro feel.

We have three fabrics in this collection; a herringbone tile in grey, a sharp explosion in burnt orange, and swirling green vines on black. They are stunning to look at, but what will you do with them? As always the possibilities are endless; with so much going on in the range you will make quick work of colour matching them to other fabrics in your stash, from there your next project won’t be far away.

You could make Henrietta’s Hobo Bag. It requires 3 different fabrics so the whole Paradise collection can be showcased in your new bag. Imagine this bag in those lovely cheerful fabrics!!

 

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February Fabric Focus

It may be cold outside but Spring will soon be on its way and the Daisy Garden collection is perfect for any project at this time of year. It’s bold floral print compliments the soft blues, yellows and greens, giving the fabrics a country cottage theme. The daisies sit alongside butterflies but have subtle hints of geometric patterns both in the panel and the rest of the fabrics.

There is so much you can do with a collection like this; at the moment Jon is working on a table runner using the panel. Sticking with the dining theme, you could cut out the individual squares and rectangles for place mats and coasters, perfect for dressing up the garden table for outdoor lunches in the warmer months.

If you are fairly new to patchwork and quilting, panels are a great place to start; cutting out individual pieces of the panel allows you to try out your new skills on a small and simple projects. Want to try something a bit bigger? You could keep the panel in one piece and turn it into a small quilt by adding borders. But if you are feeling really ambitious you could cut out and rearrange the individual pieces of the panel to make a much larger quilt or a table runner just like Jon!

Browse our full list of courses by clicking here.

For full details on the exhibition and future events like our Facebook page.