Great Northern Quilt Show, Harrogate

Lovely day out with my friends Chris and Sue.

I did an Autumn Landscape workshop with Sally Holman and a Hexagonal Twiddling session with Jennie Rayment.  Enjoyed them both very much.  Bit difficult to see without my armoury of illuminated magnifiers and daylight lamps but I worked slowly and will finish them at home where all my equipment is to hand.

Will post pictures when the projects are complete.

Below are my purchases.  I was very restrained as there were many stalls piled high with my sort of treasures.  Four Christmas fat quarters, Spice Trail elephant theme fabric bundle and a five fat quarter bundle of hand dyed fabrics.

Quilt Shopping

Looking for Osnaburg with no success I saw some ricrac in many colours so I bought some red, blue and green to have on hand.  I often see it used in projects and have never got round to getting any.

Here's an unusual fabric - it's a bit like jelly roll by the yard - lots of different design stripes across the width of the fabric.  I thought this might be good to use as sashing around my redwork squares.

Here's my first attempt at redwork.

Here's my second square - still needs the water soluble pen marks removing.

Lastly a nice piece of sewing themed fabric to add to stash - the camera flash has made it look much lighter than it really is - think darker blue!

Sew Creative - Fabric Shopping

I had a day trip to Norwich yesterday to return youngest son to uni.  For a bit of relaxation before starting out on our return journey we went off to Wroxham Barns for coffee and cake and that meant a visit to Sew Creative.

I bought some batik fat quarters which I thought might be good to use on projects in a new book - more on that in another post - and a bigger than one metre square piece of hand dyed.  I thought the hand dye would be good to back the Susan Briscoe Super Strip quilt, but on reflection I think it's too good to go on the back of something so it may become part of a Ricky Tims convergence quilt. 

If you're in the Norwich area and want to buy or look at top quality quilting fabric it's worth a visit - don't confuse it with the shop of the same name in Norwich city or you will be disappointed.  Wroxham is just a few miles out of Norwich and at the Barns complex there are various craft shops, restaurant, coffee shop, garden centre etc, etc.

Here's a link to the quilt shop http://www.sewcreativequilts.co.uk/ 

and you can see what else there is at Wroxham Barns here http://www.wroxham-barns.co.uk/norfolks-must-visit.phtml

Short Break in Norwich

Paul and I have just had a couple of days in Norwich.  We decided to stay over and start exploring the city - up to now we have not been able to stay long when dropping off or picking Jon up from uni and it hasn't been the weather for sight seeing really.  What a glorious day for wandering.  We headed towards Magdalen Street where there were three fabric shops - fabulous home furnishing one, a dressmaking one and another which sells sewing machines.  I'm taking measurements back to choose curtaining from Anglian Fabrics for our living room which is on the list for a makeover.  If you're interested in dressmaking you wouldn't be disappointed in Anglian Fashion Fabrics selection.  On the other hand, Sew Creative in Magdalen Street had a few bits and pieces and some machines - they also told me that Sew Creative at Wroxham Barns had closed - very disappointing.

We have lots more explore on future visits, it's a lovely place - lots of history, good shopping and places to eat.

 We walked around the cathdral and through the grounds then along the riverside.

HOWEVER despite the city Sew Creative telling us that Sew Creative Quilts had closed, we went to Wroxham Barns anyway and found Sew Creative very much alive and well in bigger and better premises and under new management.  If you're a quilter GO THERE.  It's not massive but it has a wonderful selection of quilt fabrics displayed in ranges so it's easy to pick and choose and know everything will be co-ordinated.  I bought a fat quarter pack and some yardage from the Phoebe range as I have some little girl quilts to make.  Their sample quilts felt soft and light so I asked for the same wadding they used so I can try it for myself.  Their web address is http://www.sewcreativequilts.co.uk/  and they are situated a few miles outside Norwich amongst several other crafty type shops, garden centre and childrens' play area.   Click here to find out what else is there.  Don't confuse it with the Sew Creative shop in the city - despite what their website says they do not have a selection of quilt fabrics - just some Christmas stuff and a few fat quarters on a shelf.

My Fabric House

My Fabric House is where I bought this selection of pink fabrics - a nice pack of fat 1/8ths for £8..99 and free postage.  They came very quickly with a small thank you of satin covered buttons.  I'd quite happily use them again if I see something I like.

10 Inch Squares

After visiting the Quilt Museum and Gallery in York we walked towards the minster and I popped into the Viking Loom - I came out with these two sets of 10" squares.  I thought they would be ideal to go with the pack of purse/eyeglass case snaps I bought at the museum.

Shopping in Brighton

This is a remnant I picked up at Ditto Fabrics - it's 100% cotton and brushed on one side.  Less than £2, I picked it up because I liked the colours and the weight.  I think it will eventually become a bag.  The shop was packed from top to bottom and front to back, all sorts of everything.  If you like working hard to search for fabric then this is a shop for you.

 

Beads, beautiful beads - from the Brighton Bead Shop

I thought these would be a nice embellishment for my Africa quilt which is pieced but awaiting quilting.

This little chap will be attached to my Gecko on the Wall quilt - awaiting hanging.  From the Brighton Bead Shop

And this larger gecko from Kissing Fish will be part of the hanging of the Gecko quilt.  We loved this shop - full of wonderful things from Indonesia.

Some little fishes I liked at the Brighton Bead Shop.

These glisten like swarovski crystal, the photo doesn't do them justice, very tiny and I couldn't resist.

This is brightly coloured cotton muslin - bought at New Fabric Flair, 51 Gardner Street - in the North Laines shopping area - no website.  This shop is even more packed than Ditto Fabrics - you have to squeeze past piles of all sorts and other customers, to get to the back of the shop - only to find it is a dead end and you need to retrace your steps to escape.  Not a great experience, I don't need fabric that badly, but I understand that some folks do and there was no shortage of them in there buying lots and lots and lots and lots................

Some other shops in North Laines which I think deserve a mention......

Sensations Gorgeous jewellry which looks a million dollars (well it floats my boat anyway) but doesn't break the bank.  I think it looks a hundred times better in real life than in the photos on the web site.

Two Feathers This is a shop selling Native North American Indian crafts, jewellry and many other things.  I liked a lot of the jewellry in here, particularly the ear rings.  Tim and I could not see anything with a price ticket on and I presumed if I had to ask the price then I probably couldn't afford it.  I really don't like it when there isn't a price ticket in sight.  Looking at the web site after arriving home, some of the pieces I admired were well within my purse range so no price tickets lost sales - never mind, I didn't really need any new jewellry. 

Eco Logic Cool  This is the place to go if you need something really unusual - we fixed ourselves up with a present for an upcoming 18th.  We'll definitely go there again when we are looking for something for the person with everything.  I loved the gorgeous rainbow mosaic mirrors.

There's no doubt about it, we had a great time.  While I was wandering and browsing beads, fabrics, art and the like, Paul and Tim found plenty of other "man" type shops to forage in.

Blue Stars Fabric Shopping Trip

Two weeks on Sunday is my last quilt workshop of 2009. The tutor will be Barbara Slee, the last workshop she will be doing for us as she is retiring from travel teaching. The quilt is "Judy's Stars", a Trudie Hughes pattern from her book called Template Free Quiltmaking.

I bought white background fabric - not plain white, it has a very faint white on white pattern. For the main fabric, a dark blue, and the accent fabric, a medium floral blue/white. I chose blue as it is a colour I haven't used in any of my quilts so far, so it was time to try it. It will be a 41" x 54" quilt.

Scarborough Sewing Centre (quilt shop) was busy and I met Heather from York, who I know from the UK Sewing List. You know when you see someone and it takes a few minutes to put the name to the face - I think it's an age thingy. It was nice to have a quick catch up as we haven't seen each other for ages. I think the last time was a trip to Bombay Silk Stores and Saki Babas in Bradford when Dorothy hosted our Yorkshire Ladies meeting and led the way to the fabric stores in her car. I've just found a photo, taken by Paul, after we'd been to the shops. Can't believe it is nearly four years ago - January 2006. One good thing about the photo - it shows how much weight I've lost since then. I'm still burning a lot of calories carrying heavy bags of fabric out of quilt shops.......ha ha!

Update on baby quilts - the french fold binding is already prepared for both quilts. They are waiting on machine quilting. I'm needing some time to decide how to do them - now that I'm no longer just a stitch in the ditcher, it's not straightforward any more!

Quilt Shopping

One of my most favourite places to go is the quilt shop in Scarborough and with the first Hutton Buscel "Quilts for All" workshop of 2009 coming up next Saturday, I must have more fabric.........

Circles and Triangles is the name of the next quilt and this is what it looks like now. It's been washed, and awaiting pressing. I hope it won't be too long before I'm posting a photo of the finished item. All from Freedom Fabrics Fired Earth range.








All the fabrics at Scarborough are £4.30 per metre, but for the next 3-4 weeks there is a 10% sale off everything. Quilting fabric for £3.87 a metre!!!

Well it would have been rude not to buy more in honour of the sale, so I picked up another 2 metres of immensely wide "Warm and White" batting and a 50 foot roll of freezer paper.

I was also treated to this great craft tote bag by my wonderful husband. Half price with a further 10% off made it just under £13.50. It has 4 large and 2 medium plastic trays inside and lots of zipped and velcroed pockets and pouches around the outside. It's going to be fantastic for my workshops as everything I need, bar long rulers and the sewing machine, will fit into it.















And here's Benji who has been sitting so patiently whilst I've sewed and blogged. It's time he had a cuddle. Click on his name to visit his blog.

Surprise Fabric Shopping Trip

The only thing that beats a fabric shopping trip is SURPRISE Fabric Shopping Trip. I was expecting Jenny yesterday afternoon for a quick practice on the sewing machine before next weekend's quilt workshop. She rang to say she hadn't any suitable fabric for the 'Japanese Bag' which is the workshop project, and did I fancy a trip out to buy some? Do I need asking if I want go to a fabric shop? Just put me in the car and go!!
We don't have a picture of the Japanese Bag so don't know what to expect - with that in mind I needed to keep my options open and get a varied selection, rather than just three fat quarters - any excuse!! Scarborough Sewing Shop doesn't do fat quarters - only fat halves, so you actually get the equivalent of two fat quarters. I came away with 18 fat quarters for just over £19 which makes my quilting more affordable than other places I have bought from. Choosing colours/patterns which go together is not my strong point, but I think what I bought looks OK. Jenny has a much better eye for colour. It took nearly an hour to make my choices and it was only limited to an hour because we had to leave when it closed at 4pm. Very enjoyable trip out - Thanks Jen!