Many of you will have noticed that I have a soft spot where the Sandown Quilt show is concerned. It was the first show I ever went to, entered or won at and it is my local show. Of course I love it. This year is going to be really special for me, I've got a demonstration space there, and I am going to be bringing my longarm along. This means that people will get to see that I really do move the machine about by hand. It's not the flashiest set up, but it's what I can fit in my house and it does the job.
When I was at Quiltfest in Wales earlier this year I quilted lots of A4 pieces which I called Ferret Bites. They were very popular, so I will be doing the same at Sandown. They are a chance for you to buy a little quilt to use as you see fit. I know some ladies were going to make a bag with them and some were just going to put them on the wall. I think they might make good covers for folders too, but I haven't had time to try it yet.
I've also made up a few (and yes I do mean few) whole cloth blanks, or bare bones. The pictures today are of one of these I have started to fill in. The blanks come with a large design stitched on them with a thread that matches the background fabric, so they are really hard to photograph. The idea is you can then play with the fun part at home on your machine, adding colour and texture. I had thought it might be a good way for students to learn the feel of the bigger designs and one came up with the idea of couching a thread over all the outlines. I think that would be great, not only would it look good but it gives you the feel for the pattern. Perfect. I was worried they may not be perfect enough as I just stitched them freehand as the mood took me. However my students saw that as an active advantage, it shows it can look good without being perfect and they felt it gave them more leeway when adding their stitching. Works for me as a plan. If they prove popular I will make more and I will consider running classes where we fill them in. It was just one of those ideas you have when you really should be getting up in the morning, but so far it seems to have been well received.
Many of you will have noticed that I have a soft spot where the Sandown Quilt show is concerned. It was the first show I ever went to, entered or won at and it is my local show. Of course I love it. This year is going to be really special for me, I've got a demonstration space there, and I am going to be bringing my longarm along. This means that people will get to see that I really do move the machine about by hand. It's not the flashiest set up, but it's what I can fit in my house and it does the job.
When I was at Quiltfest in Wales earlier this year I quilted lots of A4 pieces which I called Ferret Bites. They were very popular, so I will be doing the same at Sandown. They are a chance for you to buy a little quilt to use as you see fit. I know some ladies were going to make a bag with them and some were just going to put them on the wall. I think they might make good covers for folders too, but I haven't had time to try it yet.
I've also made up a few (and yes I do mean few) whole cloth blanks, or bare bones. The pictures today are of one of these I have started to fill in. The blanks come with a large design stitched on them with a thread that matches the background fabric, so they are really hard to photograph. The idea is you can then play with the fun part at home on your machine, adding colour and texture. I had thought it might be a good way for students to learn the feel of the bigger designs and one came up with the idea of couching a thread over all the outlines. I think that would be great, not only would it look good but it gives you the feel for the pattern. Perfect. I was worried they may not be perfect enough as I just stitched them freehand as the mood took me. However my students saw that as an active advantage, it shows it can look good without being perfect and they felt it gave them more leeway when adding their stitching. Works for me as a plan. If they prove popular I will make more and I will consider running classes where we fill them in. It was just one of those ideas you have when you really should be getting up in the morning, but so far it seems to have been well received. 
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