Block of the Month 1 ‘Hope Stars’

 The COVID-19 virus has had devastating physical effects but also has the necessary lockdown has taken mental tolls.  The committee have been trying to find ways to keep the group together and provide some interest for those who feel isolated.  In the summer we had an outdoor meeting, and one indoor meeting, all socially distanced, of course.  Now we are in lockdown 2, we have had our lovely Christmas ornament swap.  Twenty people took part in this, and it was heart warming to see the efforts put into these little gifts.  Now we are running our Block of the Month, called ‘Hope Stars’.  There are six instalments of this, and each month you will get instructions for one 12” block and two 6.5” blocks.  Here are the first two, Swamp Angel and Friendship Stars. 

I’m using a blue and yellow palette, which is perfect for star blocks! We hope you will all enjoy it! 

Some people haven’t received the instructions for the blocks, so here they are. 

Sorry the quality isn’t better.  My computer skills failed me!  If you tap on each image, you can make it bigger and still keep it legible.  At least you have the measurements.  I’ll try harder for next month’s blocks, which will be here in the new year. 

Christmas is on its way!

 Thank you to everyone who took part in the Christmas Ornament Swap.  It was great fun to make something sparkly and festive, and even nicer to receive a gift in the post!  

Here are a few of the swaps. 

What a lovely selection! 

Christmas tree decoration swap

 We had planned another socially distanced get together for November, but it wasn’t to be.  We need to keep in lockdown to contain the Corona virus.  However, we aren’t disheartened, and have plan B in the wings (and plan C!). Plan B is a Christmas decoration swap, where people make a decoration and then send it to a swap buddy!  Perfect. 

I’m definitely up for it and here I am gathering supplies to make my creation.  If you would like to join in, check your inbox, or your spam folder for the instructions, or if all else fails, comment on this post and I’ll contact you.  We are very inclusive in Piecemakers.  

In other news, plan C is a BOM called Hope Stars which will launch at the beginning of December.  A fun project, so look out for it!  Happy sewing. 

Social distancing in October

 Since our usual hall was now open Covid secure for socially distanced get togethers, we decided to test the water.  There was a small but significant number of members who missed their monthly quilty fix, so we invited members to a meeting.  The invite specified no speaker, no raffle, no refreshments but bring your show and tell.  There were seven of us, and we had a lovely time!  

I took some Linus rummage, and everyone had a chance for a bargain. 

Then the fun began!  The hall was quite echoey with such a small number of people, but sometimes fewer people can be even nicer than lots of people, and this was the case. 

Lesley had used a jelly roll to make two quilts.  It’s from a Pam and Nicky Lintott pattern.  Both versions look great. 

This is another jelly roll quilt made from an ombré jelly roll.  This pattern is perfect for this kind of fabric.  

Janet had had fun with this cute deer cushion.  It is beautifully quilted. 

This cherry blossom quilt had foundation pieced large flowers and appliqued small ones.  Janet quilted it with rulers in an apple core design.  

What a useful pocketed bag!  I love the different fabrics in the same colour way! 

A clever motif for a bag. 

A clever motif for a cushion! 

Ann has been attending some virtual workshops and retreats, and made several small quilts.  This is my favourite one - you can’t go wrong with lime green! 

We then had more quilty chat, EPP, sewing machines, walking feet etc and then a demonstration of the Accuquilt cutter.  We felt quite energised when we left and are planning another meeting in November.  Why not join us? 

August get together

We are still living through the Covid-19 pandemic, but while that may be putting obstacles in our paths in terms of meetings, we're not to be beaten! We approached the Walcote Hall committee to see if we could use the hall car park and grounds for a socially distanced get together, and they kindly agreed. So the instructions were to bring your own chair and show and tell, no refreshments and no toilets. Fun times!

It was a blisteringly hot day, but those who cried off missed a great afternoon, as we set up in the shade of a large hedge and had the benefit of a lovely breeze.  It felt a lot cooler than it had in my garden, and since there were eleven of us in total, much more fun!  

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Julie brought some of her gorgeous fabrics for those who were feeling a bit deprived, and I brought some Linus rummage.  I took away £24.19, and Julie took slightly less fabric and some damsons which had fallen on the grass, enough to make some jam.  

 

I brought my completed see a row.  I only made three rows, but managed to use up some orphan blocks and other strips to make an attractive Linus quilt. 

 

Ann put some squares together to make this very striking quilt.  I don't think I've ever seen squares in this X arrangement before.  Clever. 

She also made these mug rugs.  There is space for a mug, plus a biscuit.  Delicious! 

Ann A had found these rosettes made from Laura Ashley fabric and appliquéd them onto backgrounds.  She assembled the quilt using quilt as you go. 

She has done an online workshop doing drunkard's path trees and Y seam houses.  They make a great cushion. 

Paula has been busy making Linus quilts.  We had been given some sets of fabrics, and she has put them together beautifully. 

This is the same pattern, but the different fabric values make it look quite different. 

This more of a scrap quilt, from a pattern in 'Today's Quilter'.  Stunning. 

And finally a bag made from a Monkey Buttons pattern.  A portent of the season to come. 

Di had this cushion pattern as a present, so she made another one!  Twice as nice. 

Here is a compartmented bag. 

This is a playmat, which is actually in delicate pinks and white, although the camera hasn't done it justice. 

This quilt uses lots of those small pictures which often come in a strip.  Di has cleverly made them into four patches, and then alternated them with a rectangular block.  What a good idea. 

This is Maria's Quilt.  Not only did Maria make it, but it is named after her!  It featured in a book, and she just had to make it. . It is absolutely magnificent.  Hopefully she'll bring it along to a proper Piecemakers' meeting so more people can see it. 

This get together was so successful that we are certainly planning one for September, and I hope more people will be able to come. At the moment, the situation about indoor meetings is very unclear, so keep looking in your inbox for Notr information. 

June updates.

The committee recently met (on Zoom!) to discuss future meetings and plans.  Nothing is certain as yet, except more uncertainty to come!  When will the hall reopen?  When will gatherings be allowed? Will speakers come? Will members come?  What shall we do?  Taking everything into consideration, we have decided to cancel the July, August and September meetings, and the Katharine Guerrier and Moira Neal workshops.  We know this will cause disappointment, but not come as a surprise.  Some people have paid fees, and these will be refunded at the next meeting.  If anyone needs their money sooner, please contact Ann Aspley and she will arrange it.  We are hoping that our October and November meetings might take place in some form, but will make these decisions nearer the time.

In happier news, Ann has sent a cheque for £250 to East Midlands Dog Rescue in Huncote, which was our recent charity.  Well done to June for running such a popular raffle! 

We are looking forward to seeing your ‘Things to be grateful for’ quiltlets.  These will provide an interesting set of glimpses into lockdown. Here is a sneak preview of mine.

And here is the back.  As you can see, I just bagged it and then topstitched around the edge.

Meanwhile, keep alert, and keep sewing! 

Piecemakers in May

There is no need for me to remind people that we are in the middle of a pandemic at the moment, and social distancing is the order of the day. Although there has been a slight easing of the lockdown, it doesn't look like we will be getting together in the near future.
But there is always a silver lining in every cloud.  While we have all been in lockdown, we have had time to appreciate the important things in life, things we are all grateful for.  So, the committee has decided to ask all members to make a small quiltlet to show the things that you are personally thankful for.  This might be friends, family, your house, garden, chocolate, your dog, the Internet or whatever you like.  The piece, which will not be joined into a quilt but form part of a collection, should measure about 6" and be either pieced, stitched, stamped or dyed, and should have your name on the back.

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They can be finished by binding, by bagging it, or by zigzagging.  These are just examples of the possible techniques.  Please join in this project - it will be something positive to focus on. 

I have been spending quite a bit of time sorting out my sewing room.  I have quite a collection of wadding off cuts, which I knew would come in handy one day!  Sometimes I have joined them together to make bigger pieces, although this has rarely been successful, as even if the pieces look square, the results are usually very irregularly shaped! 

So I have learned that it is necessary to square the off cuts first. 

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This piece looks pretty straight, and ready to join to another. 

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But, you can see there was a small but significant piece which had to be cut off to make it straight. 

Now it can be easily zigzagged to another piece to make a nice flat result! 

I found it even better to cut strips into pieces of the same length and join those.  I like to use my 12.5" ruler as the strips are a handy size.  The resultant wadding pieces can be used for quilts, bags, placemats or anything.  It's just like having free wadding!  Give it a go! 

April news

Well, I hope everyone is in good health and making the best of this lockdown time!  I said I would post a free pattern each month, but then decided, why invent the wheel, when so many sites are offering free patterns during this crisis.
Some people know that Bonnie Hunter over at www.quiltville.com usually does a free mystery pattern every year.  She is providing a new one called Unity at the moment.  It uses three colours plus neutrals and is very scrappy. Her version is in blue, red and aqua, but obviously you can use whatever colours you fancy.

The temecula quilt co are also doing a stay at home sampler which you can access through their website or Facebook.  

My quilting beehive have a marvellous mystery pattern.

 Www.quiltedmemoriesllc.com have a haunted cottage BOM.

The Quilt Room have a free sew a row. 

Www.spencerogg.com have several free bag patterns. The doorstep care pod is particularly appealing.  (Scroll down to the bottom of the page for the pattern) 

If you fancy any of the projects but don’t have the supplies (Heaven forbid!) just remember that lots of shops are trying to save their businesses by continuing to supply to online customers.  

I recently received an order from Empress Mills, although it did take a little longer than usual.  

Other businesses still operating are the Scarborough Sewing Centre (great prices!), the Fabric Guild, Frumble Fabrics, and the Bramble Patch.  Try and support them if you can.  

Many thanks to Nik for giving me most of this information. 

As to meetings, the immediate future is still unclear.  It’s looking unlikely that our May meeting will go ahead, but I’ll keep this blog up to date so check back.  

Happy sewing! 

Future meetings

Unfortunately we have decided to cancel the next two meetings.  This means there will be no meetings in April or May, plus the Stuart Hillard workshop and the coach to Malvern are also cancelled.  At the moment we are hoping the June birthday celebration meeting will go ahead, but we will have to decide that nearer the time.
In the meanwhile, I thought I would share a simple quilt pattern which you can make from your stash.  It’s a Jenny Doan pattern called ‘Falling Charms’ and you can watch her show you how to make it in detail on YouTube.

Here it is.  You need some coloured 5” squares and background fabric cut into 2.5” strips. I used all kinds of novelty fabric squares, but it would look lovely with a colour theme. 

Cut a 2.5” strip into a 5” and a 7” piece. 

Join the 5” piece to one side of the 5” square and then the 7” piece alongside it. 

Make another, rotate it 180 degrees and join them together.  Make more, join in rows etc.  

It will probably make your brain ache working out how to put it together (it did mine!) but you can do it!