New Block of the Month Project

After months of hard work, we are nearly finished with our seaside BOM quilt.  I'll be posting pictures very soon.  So, what is next?

We've decided to make The Local by Carolyn Friedlander. I love her patterns and her fabrics.  If you are looking to buy some of her prints, I have some in my shop www.stitchmelane.com

This will be a good learning project for all skill levels.  It has a mix of traditional piecing, foundation piecing and applique.  If you would like to join us, please get in touch.

Deck the Halls Sewing Class and Kit

Come and join us for a Festive sewing class.  We’ll teach you everything you need to know to make a personalized Christmas stocking or Santa Clause Sack.  

Date and Time:            Dec 9^th 6:30-9:00pm

Location:                     Elderdale Community Centre, Breightmet, BL2 5JF.  The building can be hard to find.  It is across from Number 20 Yewdale Gardens. You can’t quite see the building from the road.  It is behind the row of bungalows.  We’ll have a sign up so you can find us.

Cost:                            £20

Supplies:                     You can either bring your own fabrics or buy one our kits at a 15% discount.  See supply list below.

Supply list for Santa Sack:             You will need .5 metres or outer fabric

                                                         .75 metres of lining fabric

        Fat quarter of the middle fabric

        Small amount of fabric for your letters

        One metre of pompom trim

        One metre of ribbon or cotton webbing

Supply list for Stocking:                 One fat quarter of outer fabric

                                                        One fat quarter of lining fabric

                                                        Cuff fabric (8 x 20 inches)

                                                        Small amount of fabric for your letters

                                                        ½ a metre of pompom trim

                                                        Button, bell and ribbon.

We’ll have lots of ribbon, trim and fabric for sale as well.  You can have a rummage through our buttons and bells box, so no need to buy them.

You can also just buy the kit or have us make one for you.  Kits are £15 for sack and £8.50 for stocking.  We'll make one for you for £25 or £17

MakeFest Update

Wow what a day!  Thank you to everyone who came by our stall at Makefest.  We were rushed off our feet.  A special 'thanks' to Adriana, Liz, Susan and Nichola for volunteering!  I could not have managed without you.  The event was amazing.  The only down side is that we didn't have time to look around the other booths!  Maybe next year.

We have over 200 hexagons made by people of all ages and in several different languages.  There are also pictures of puppy dogs and bunny rabbits which will also be used as part of the quilt design.  I'm playing around with them to design on a pattern, and am leaning towards flowers. The other side will have all of the "writings" on it.  Can't wait to read them.

I had the pleasure of meeting the lovely Women of Westhoughton last night.  They have made some for our project.  Thanks!

Museum of Science and Industry MakeFest 2015

This year we will be part of #MakeFest2015 at the Museum of Science and Industry.  We will be teaching people how to do traditional English Paper Piecing and making a community quilt.  Would you like to volunteer to help out on the stall?  Just get in touch.  Here's an overview of our project.

Here's a video link for paper piecing hexagons video

Quilting circles in a virtual world. 

 Overview

We’ll be promoting our new social enterprise, Breightmet Long Arm Quilting Studio, and working on a social media quilt project.  We’ll be teaching how to do English Paper Piecing (hexagons) and having people write a secret message on the underneath side of the paper which will be revealed when the quilt top is complete. The theme of this project is "comfort".  I’ve chosen this topic because quilts are comforting, something to snuggle up under when we are cold or ill or relaxing on a lazy Sunday morning. When the quilt is complete, and the paper is removed, I will tweet the positive messages daily and do regular Facebook and blog posts as the quilt progresses. People can join in the “virtual quilt-a-long” or visit our studios and work on the project with us.  I'll also use the text as my quilt design using on our long arm quilting machine.

Workshop

We will be teaching visitors how to make a quilt using traditional English Paper Piecing.  Visitors can make-and-take a small sample of patchwork with them which can be finished at home and can join in our virtual quilt project. 

People have been using this technique for centuries.  It is simple and effective. All ages are welcome and no experience is required.  It’s also good fun.

Sun Printing: Experiment One

I've been wanting to try this for ages: Sun Printing.  It's pretty straight forward, you paint over your fabric and place what ever objects you want to make an outline of on top, which blocks the sun from exposing the pigment.  First, I covered some cardboard with bin bags (need a water proof surface to put your fabric on) and chose some flower cuttings to print.

Here's my diy plates... easy peasy

 

 

Here's a couple of pictures with the plants scattered on the fabric..... I also wanted to try adding some text.  I used plain copy paper but I was too thin.  I think I need something that won't soak up the paint.

 

 

In the bottom picture, I have shifted the bleeding hearts to see if it was ready...  The areas with the most details were where the plants were pressed firmly against the cloth.   I'm pleased with the results but will alter the way I use the plants in the future.  Here are some close up pictures.  The whitest areas are where the plants were flat.

 

Will be doing some more of these in the future, weather permitting...LOL

 

Block of the Month Update

We've been busy making new blocks for our sea side quilt-a-long.  I'm planning to scan in the applique templates so you can join in.  Here are our last two blocks:

Light house

Beach Huts

Allotment Textile Art Collaboration with Susan Syddall

I spent yesterday with textile artist Susan Syddall experimenting with new image making techniques and fabric dyeing as part of a brainstorming exercise for an upcoming exhibition: Allotment.  The project is a mixture of independent and community art work.  We will be visiting various allotments in Bolton to collect stories about planting, growing, brewing up and all things in between.  It will also be an opportunity for our studios to get involved in the project and try something new.

We had a go dyeing fabric with eucalyptus bark...

 

And image transfer on to fabric....

 

But we spent most of our time brainstorming and eating biscuits.