The Stitch Gathering

Sunday was the second Edinburgh Stitch Gathering and I was happy to attend again.  I went to the first one last year and had a lovely time meeting new people and creating.  All the attendees signed up for two workshops that they would like to attend and were sent a printed tote bag to embellish as the ticket, along with the name of another attendee to give it to on the day.

My tote bag was going to Elaine, who I immediately googled and found that she collects Matroyshka dolls, and so this is what I did with my tote bag for Elaine:

front

back

I received a tote bag from Sally, who I also had the pleasure to meet at the first Stitch Gathering last year.  She made a really smart looking block for both the front and back of my tote, you can see it in the bottom left of this photo of all the things I made or were given at the Stitch Gathering!

We could also make a name tag for a secret person if we wanted to, and then we'd receive one too.  My name tag was made for me by Helen, and I made one for Kim.

Workshops

My morning class was all about paper piecing curved shapes with Fiona.  We were asked to bring along a list of tools as well as the printed off templates that were emailed to us.  The shape we were using is known as the apple core.  First we were given tips about basting stitches and knots and then asked to baste a few.

Then we started whip stitching them together with a few tips about direction and colour placement.  I got three stitched together during the class and am now all ready to get on with finishing this during some winter TV watching!

My results

After a delicious lunch my afternoon class was also handstitching and taught by Fiona.  This time we worked on some reverse applique to create a piece of work that could be hung on the wall.  We were shown some pinning and snipping tips.

I finished my work within the class time too!  That is my sewing spot above, with my workbasket all closed and put away!

Some results from the class

 Lunchtime

During lunch we also had a chance to look at all of the ticket tote bags.  The landscape one was my favourite.  It was awe-inspiring to see such a variety of creative takes on the one bag!

There was also a lucky dip, and a chance for anyone who wanted to show and tell us about something that they had made.  There were some very impressive works being shown!  I even got to see a Farmer's Wife quilt, made by Sheila.

It was really lovely to catch up with some people that I met last year, whom after meeting them I started to follow their Instagram feeds or read their blogs.  Claire, Jenny, Sheila and I have been in the Little Blogs Quilting Bee since we met last year, and so it was really fun to see them again!  I also met a few new ladies who were very friendly and nice to sit beside and stitch with for the day.  

There were other classes on offer too, so if you are interested in reading about them a few other attendees have also written blog posts about the day. There is a link-up on Jo's blog myBearpaw .

 The Goody Bag!

When we entered the building we handed over the ticket/tote bag and were given a goody bag full of pretty and useful things!  Here is what was in them:

FABRIC:  Five fat quarters from Robert Kaufman, two fat quarters from Blend fabrics, one fat quarter from Dashwood Studios, a scrap pack of Liberty from VeryBerry fabric and a piece of tana lawn and a tote bag from Liberty.
THREAD: perle cotton no.8 (and sequins) from myBearpaw, embroidery thread from DMC, two spools of thread from Coats and a spool from Aurifil.
TOOLS: Frixion pen from Pilot, scissors from Grove and Banks and oat biscuits from Nairns.
We also got a Love Patchwork and Quilting magazine, which I have already posted to a friend.


Jo at myBearpaw is giving one away, so do hop over to her blog if you are interested!

Ma Wee Hens Bunting Quilt

At last I have finished the quilt I started piecing at the Edinburgh Stitch Gathering.  Our workshop teacher was Fiona who blogs over at Poppy Makes and the pattern and technique she shared with us can be seen in her own work called the Sweetwater Quilt, if you click on this link you will see just how beautiful her quilt is.  Her quilt and pattern have even been published in Creative Quilting magazine!  Now mine is nowhere near as pretty as Fiona's but it does make me smile to look at it.

I think two of my hens seem pretty happy to look at it too!  I got a bundle of chicken fabric odds and ends in an ebay auction ages ago, when I first started keeping a few backyard hens, and now at last I had a use for them.  (I keep a blog/diary about my hens too, if you are interested)

It is lap quilt size and made out of 2.5" strips of chicken themed fabrics and some solid grey fabric.  I quilted 1cm away from each triangle edge and am thinking about doing some hand quilting in the grey spaces, probably stitching the outlines of chickens!

The back - don't look too closely as I had to do a bit of patching due to
not buying quite enough backing fabric - oops

It is now Autumn here which means Scotland is becoming even more beautiful.  But the one thing that doesn't become more beautiful in Autumn are hens.  Every Autumn hens loose their feathers and grow new ones.  This moulting process makes them appear very scraggy and pitiful and it is certainly not a good time for posing in front of quilts for the world to see!

The Stitch Gathering - Part Two

Yesterday I wrote about the Modern Quilt Exhibition in Edinburgh and The Stitch Gathering event (click on the link and see some videos and photos of the day).
Today I want to share the two classes I took and the Goody bag we received.

Morning Workshop

My morning class was with the talented and organiser-extraordinaire Jo Avery to learn how to hand sew a cathedral window pin cushion.  It was lovely to see the variety of fabrics people had chosen!  Some people started on the embroidery panel whilst others started on the fabric folding and ironing.  It was so nice to be in a room full of women of all ages, chatting as though they'd been friends for years - and all of us hand sewing.  I live in a rural part of Scotland and have no sewing friends nearby so this was a real treat for me, and I loved taking it all in.  The classroom was spread out really well with lots of irons and ironing boards and a stunning view of Edinburgh castle and the city.
I didn't finish my pin cushion on the day, but I got as far as stitching a few of the curved fabric lips and Jo came around to make sure everybody was confident with the final steps so that we could finish at home.

 

And here it is, all finished.

I had never used this kind of embroidery thread before = perle 8 and learnt a tip from Jo about choosing needles with a rounded eye.  She always uses Milward #4 sharps for a successful result.

Lunch

We stopped for a delicious lunch of sandwiches, mini rolls, wraps, fruit and baked tasty treats.  Then some people took part in a Show and Tell.  It was lovely to see the handiwork of some of the ladies I had met that morning.  Seeing a person's creative work really helps you get to know them.  Sally (not a blogger) showed us some stunning hand stitching and Lynz spoke about a wonderful round-robin quilt.  I had heard of these Round Robin ideas before so was thrilled to actually see one in real life.  There was one young lady, Emily who showed her first ever WIP quilt - Beautiful english paper piecing hexagon flowers.
After the show and tell there was a Lucky Dip - I rummaged around the bottom of the mystery bin to score a roll of green washi tape.  Then we had a Fat Quarter swap - we brought along a fabric 1/4 and placed it onto a table.  Then upon the "ready set SWAP" call we grabbed one to take home.  Here's a pic.

Afternoon Workshop

The afternoon session was longer to include a tea and coffee break.  I went to Fiona Calvert's Quilt making with a Jelly roll class.  (click on the link to see her lovely example of the quilt we were starting)  She recently had her beginner-friendly pattern published in a magazine - I even met a friendly lady named Jane who works on this magazine in this class!  

I took along some chicken-themed fabric that I had collected that didn't have a project, but after seeing the amazing choices I wish I had chosen something new.  Catherine made hers out of some lovely green Kaffe Fassett fabrics, and JB chose a rainbow of plain strips by Robert Kaufmann.  I'll be keeping an eye on their blogs to see them when they're finished.

The beginnings of my quilt - pattern by Fiona Calvert

Fiona did a great job teaching us about sewing bias cut triangles together and there seemed to be two of her, she was so busy getting around to all of us with patient help and assistance.

The Goody Bag

Now this was just surprising!  The sponsors of Stitch Gathering were so generous - we were given a HUGE bag of goodies - and some brands I have never used before - so it is going to be fun to try new things.

Inside there was a bottle of Highland Spring water and 3 individually wrapped oat cakes from Nairn's - both of which I was very glad to have by 11am.  The bag itself was from Liberty and inside was a fat quarter of Liberty Lawn too - I got a floral blue one (seen below, top left) and I love it.

There was also a Frixon pen from Pilot that goes invisible when you iron it - and would you believe that if you want the pen lines back you just pop it into the freezer!  A box of ten threads from sewing machines direct, a spool of aurifil thread, an amazing thread snipper that hangs on a lanyard - this has already come in handy!  And a little fabric pack with perfectly cut out paper hexagons from webfabrics - and the owner of this shop Dolores came all the way over from America to join in the classes.

This group of goodies were from Coats Crafts.  Inside their tote bag was an Opti zip bow brooch, some red quilting thread, two bright fat quarters, some Anchor embroidery floss and Milward between needles and a pen!  This was so generous - the bag just kept going and going with goodies.

 In this photo you can see the water and the two remaining biscuits.  There was also a lovely empty button tin, some liberty scraps from Very Berry fabrics.  I recently read about Ali and her perfectly cut hexagons and papers kits so have purchased some - I shall share soon - but it was really quick service and although there were 70 hexagons in the little kit, NONE were repeats!  Amazing.  The thread and button collection at the back, left of the photo are from The Button Company and we received a bundle of bright fat quarters from Jo's shop Avery Homestore.  There was also a pamphlet reminding us of a place where you can have your patchwork quilted for you  OR they can teach you how to use a long-arm quilting machine and you can do it yourself!  After my last quilting dramas I will definitely be using Beechwood Quilting services in Stirling.

All the goodies!

Oh, and of course the Journey

Whilst we were all making our tickets and nametags there was a flickr group where we could share our creations.  On one of the discussion boards I was able to offer a lift to anyone attending from my area and the lovely Claire took me up on my offer!  We both come from different areas and so met up at a central spot in Perth then drove down together to Edinburgh.  Lucky for me Claire was very familiar with the beautiful residential streets of Edinburgh and we got there on time for all the good fun to start.

Claire and I went halves in petrol but she also very kindly gave me a sweet thank you gift for taking her.  I've never bought a charm pack before, so I am looking forward to lots of pattern researching and idea gathering.

A handmade sewing-themed card and
a pack of pretty 5" coordinating fabric squares!

Of course it was a pleasure and a joy to have company on the journey and to get to know a fellow stitcher.  Plus, it meant I had someone friendly to walk into the building with and to chat with - just in case I felt nervous or shy.

 Thank you to Jo and her wonderful team of teachers and helpers, and to the Sponsors for such generous goodies.

I had a great day out and met some very friendly and creative people.  Thanks to all who attended and made it such a warm and positive day!

The Stitch Gathering - Part One

Yesterday was a big day that I had been looking forward to for quite a while. The Modern Quilt Exhibition in Edinburgh was one of hundreds of events held all over the city of Edinburgh during August, as part of an annual International Arts and Culture Festival.  Many people from all around the world have visited the Modern Quilt exhibition throughout the month at Avery Homestore and yesterday we got to meet many of the fabric artists over bubbly and canapes and to hear the winners of the the People's Choice as voted by the many visitors to the Edinburgh Festival.

Self embellished fabric tickets, one created by each attendee
 - they will be made into a quilt to be auctioned for charity in the future.

This quilt was voted as number one favourite by the visitors to the exhibition and it truly is stunning.  It was made by Katy from The Littlest Thistle as part of a block swap.  It is striking yet thoughtful and just beautiful.

Two other personal favourites

Here are some detailed snaps of a lovely Hexie quilt that I have often admired online and got to see up close and in person for the first time.  It is by Sheila at bluepatch quilter and I find it very inspiring. 

It was the bold, vibrant colours that drew me to this next quilt, a tumbling logs quilt.  I could happily stare and wonder at this quilt for hours.  It is by Jo at myBearpaw and is more dramatic than words can express.

 









However most of the day was spent participating in two workshops at:

The Stitch Gathering

When a group of women arrive from all over Scotland on an early Sunday morning, they of course need a cup of tea (or coffee) and a sit down.  We soon got to chatting with newly met people before we handed in our self-embellished fabric tickets (displayed altogether in the photo at the top of this post).
Then we had to find the person for whom we had created a nametag.  I made a nametag for Lorna Pascall - and it brought a little tear to her eye when she saw how personal it was, reminding her of a wonderful day she had had climbing the mountain Beinn a'Chlachair, which I had appliqued onto her nametag.  And this is the nametag that she made for me: I truly LOVE IT!!!!  A number of people throughout the day commented on just how beautiful it was.

My actual name

the detailed back - and the lanyard was a tape measure - so sweet.

Here are some close-up photos all of the embellished tickets displayed together.  It is beautiful to see such a variety of creative ideas all together - what an artistic collection of women!  I wonder which block you are most drawn towards?

 

This post has many photographs already, so I shall write another post about the lovely ladies I met, the workshops and the heaving goody bag that we received!
The next installment can be found here.

Crafty-Ness

At the end of August I am going to a Stitch Gathering in Edinburgh.  A choice of two out of a possible 6 workshops were available, and I am fortunate to be enrolled in both of my first choices! I love it when that happens.  On the day we will be getting a goodie bag, coffee breaks and lunch all provided.  Sounds like a lot of fun to me.
We were sent a fabric ticket to create a colourful patchwork block, and assigned a person to create a name-tag for, which I have posted about previously.
I recently received the supplies list and so have enjoyed a little online shopping for the few bits and pieces that I didn't already have.

Three new things

In preparation for spending a day in patchworker's heaven, here are a few things that I have been making:

I had previously made a large ironing board that sits next to my desk along with a large cutting mat.  So this week I have made a mini board using a piece of hard board from the back of an unused picture frame.

This mini ironing board is the same size as my mini cutting mat and fits perfectly into my sewing machine travelling bag!

I also made a padded, drawstring bag for all my sharp tools to be safely carried within.

And the last thing that I NEEDED was a ring pin-cushion.  I got the idea from a Amy's Crafty Shenanigans blog and then googled for a tutorial, and found one here.  I first made the red one and it turned out as pointy as a gnome's hat, so I decided to make another one but this time with a curved top.  I thought more carefully about my fabric choice and used a fabric design that says "make some quilts" on one side and "take it easy" on the other.

I am really looking forward to doing the two workshops that I signed up for, and looking forward to meeting like-minded creative women.  I will let you know how it goes.

A Gathering of Stitchers

In August I am attending a Stitching day in Edinburgh.  I haven't done anything like this before, and am looking forward to meeting so many ladies who are skilled at patchwork, quilting and hand-stitching.
There were only 65 available places at £95 each, which is a lot of money for me.  I really hope I get to choose the workshops that will be most useful to me and I'll be able to learn a new skill or two.  (I have a link on the right hand side bar if you are interested to know more)

We were sent a square of fabric with a printed medallion in the centre that reads Edinburgh 2013 The Stitch Gathering.  We are to embellish the fabric in any way we like and hand it in as our ticket on the day.  They are planning to create a quilt out of everybody's square and use it as a charity fundraiser, which is a nice idea.

Here's mine: I used the word gathering as my jump-off point, and chose a fabric that matched the colours of the centre circle.  I gathered a strip on the machine, then needle-turned the edges down.

We've been asked to post them onto a flickr group, but I'll wait until there are some others there before I post mine.

We have also been asked to stitch a name tag for another person going to the Stitch Gathering.  Again we are asked to post them on flickr but without the name so as to keep it secret.

I've hand appliqued a loose representation of Beinn a'Chlachair, which is a hill / mountain in Scotland.  I will now embroider the lady's name upon it and attach a brooch fixing on the back.
It's fun to think of somebody out there busy trying to think of making a personal name tag for me!
August seems like a long time away, but hopefully it will soon fly by.