Once Upon a Star!

During my break from blogging things changed dramatically here, I now have an actual job as a Community Development Worker! It is a job a love and builds on the teaching I have done in communities around the county.

It has meant a massive shift in how my family works, I no longer have the freedom to manage my time that I had as a freelance teacher. It has been a major adjustment for us all, but one we have all come through still smiling!

I have been teaching around the hours I work - 3 after school clubs and weekend classes!

My monthly sampler class has just had it's 6th class and we have a selection of gorgeous blocks. We now have the fun job of creating the quilt top and exploring machine quilting. Another round of this class will start in September - more info soon!

Foundation piecing star

I recently met a lovely new student who is coming for patchwork lessons. We will be making a quilt using different star patterns and techniques. It is going to be a fun adventure in piecing.

Part of a Christmas Star

I mentioned the idea to my Saturday class who all asked to give the course a go - and a new class was born!

HST Star

The Once Upon a Star patchwork course will start on Friday 17th April at 10am at GL11 Community Hub in Cam. There are 4 places left if you would like to come along. Just email me too book a place.

It is going to be a wonderful adventure in piecing techniques to create a gorgeous starry quilt!

A Birthday Quilt

The last 12/13 weeks have been consumed by my City and Guilds course and work.

In fact I haven't done any sewing for fun for an age... it will be worth it when I submit my work on Friday (fingers crossed).

I then have 2 weeks to pull together a quilt for Midi who chose a wonderful bundle of fabrics from M is for Make way back in August.

After some discussion and looking through mummy books Midi has decided on a porthole quilt, but he isn't sure of the shapes yet.

I learnt this technique at Fat Quarterly Retreat with the fabulous Lu Summers in July. It is great fun and fast so I should be able to get the quilt top done pretty quickly...

Now comes the problem - his birthday is 2.5 weeks away... yup, a VERY tight deadline...

Oh well, I will get going at the weekend when I get 5 minutes peace!

Making Medallion Progress

Last night for the first time in 2 weeks I was able to sit down and do some sewing!

It is kinda strange not having the time to sew when I spend my days teaching others to sew...

Last night it was so nice to go to my studio and shut the world outside for a little bit..

I posted a couple of weeks ago about trying something new. Last night I got back to work on it.

So we started with this:

And last night is turned into this:

Don't look too closely though - the star points aren't perfect but the seams match up in the middle of the block.

I am using 2 fabrics from the bundles by Katy Jones and Rita Hodges, but also adding to it from my lovely stash!

Now onto the next border - 80 small triangles!

The cutting is my job for this evening, but right now I have to get on with my City and Guilds coursework.

Gloucestershire Modern Quilt Guild - Update

I am so relieved it is Friday...

It has been my first week of a full teaching schedule.

5 classes in 4 locations over 3 days = lots of driving, unpacking, repacking and planning!

And NO sewing for me : (

But the week did start with a high - The very first meeting of the New Gloucestershire Modern Quilt Guild!

It was a small, modest affair with 3 of use discussing fabric shops, quilts and plans for the future.

I firmly believe the saying that from little acorns grow mighty oaks! Starting out small is perfect.

Sonia (Fabric and Flowers), Alison (Making Happiness) and I had a lovely evening chatting about all things fabric whilst munching some lovely biscuits!

We each had some quilting to show and tell. I love seeing other peoples work and gaining inspiration from the ideas. Sharing skills and creating new friendships is what it is all about!

Next month we will meet on Thursday 24th at Prema Arts in Uley. Come along at 7.45pm for some fabric gossip, stitching and new friendships!

FAL Q3: my 3 quilts!

How on earth has it got to setting the targets for Q3 of FAL?

This quarter I am going all out..... 3 massive quilts to finish..

Bookcase quilt from the Quilting Bee I organised. I love this quilt and so want it finished!

My dad is travelling back to Penang soon and I would love to have this quilt ready to follow him....

Then there is my Swoon quilt. This needs to be on my bed for the autumn!

So those are my 3 very ambitious projects that I want to try and finish in the next 3 months!

Fingers crossed they all get done!

Linking up with She Can Quilt, FAL Q3.

Let's Get Acquainted Blog Hop 2013

I can't believe this week is my week on the Blog Hop!

I have been focused on getting ready for Scout Camp that starts this afternoon, and it passed me by!

So..... me....

Well, I am lone mum to 3 wonderful and totally gorgeous boys:

We have lots of adventures together, including to the Olympics 2012, camping and tramping through lots of National Trust houses!

Apart from my 3 boys, fabric and quilts are my passion!

I started quilting 17 years ago when I was an undergraduate student in Leicester. During my time at school I only took one sewing lesson - I was much more focused on maths and physics. But during my first year of a degree in Physics with Astrophysics and was visiting a friend when I saw a quilt design in a magazine, that moment changed my life!

When I got home I bought a cheap sewing machine and started making a king size quilt - I cut out all the shapes with a pair of scissors! It took an age to complete, but I was bitten by the bug!!

The rest as they say is history!

Since then, through lives ups and downs I have always had a fabric stash, a sewing machine or 16 and now a passion for sharing my fascination with as many people as possible through teaching!

I had always hand quilted my quilts, which takes time. But at the beginning of last year I needed to make a quilt super fast, so I taught myself Free Motion Quilting. Now I am obsessed with the texture and design FMQ can give you. The way it changes the quilt!

My focus moving forward is to complete a City and Guilds in Machine Embroidery Level 3 through distance learning. I am hoping it will feed my addiction to surface design and texture!

If you want to see more of the quilts I have made, have a look here.

Don't forget to check out all of the fabulous other quilters on the Hop today:

Karen @ Karen, {Novice} Quilter

Anne @ PlayCrafts

Rachel @ Let's Begin Sewing...

Jan @ Sew And Sow Farm

Anna @ Quilting Along The Grain

Cath @ Wombat Quilts

Sarah @ {no} hats in the house
Christen @ Love by Hand
Julie @ 627handworks

Thanks for stopping by!

Ps I am very sorry I haven't been able to post the winner of the give away on my blog. It will be on Monday when I get home from Scout camp!

WiP Wednesday: Gifts Galore

It is Wednesday - Yay!

And I have time to share my WiP in this week...

It is all about gifts in various stages of development!

These lovely fabrics are going to be made into pouches for the Fat Quarter Retreat Sample Swap!

I am going to be using my paper piecing letters from last week to make pouches.

All of them will look different, but the same!

Finally I have a pile of quilt as you go gifts that need finishing this week!

I love a tight deadline and a challenge!

Linking up with WiP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced.

Blogiversary - 1 year!

I can hardly believe that it has been one year since I changed my focus to teaching and quilting!

It has been an amazing year!

It has been filled with wonderful quilts, projects and learning!

I have taught some wonderful workshops and courses.

It has been amazing fun!

There are so many things to look forward to in year 2..... my first pattern for beginners will be available in a week, I am starting a City and Guilds Level 3 Machine Embroidery and I have a packed teaching schedule!

To celebrate I am running my first give away. It is a pack of essential quilters tools:

60" square of wadding, Clover Patchwork pins, Machine quilting needles and a Hera Marker.

They all the most useful tools I use!

To enter the giveaway simply follow the blog and leave me a comment telling me you have below!

It's that easy! 

The giveaway will close on Sunday 7th July at 12pm BST. It is open everyone, including International readers!

Taking time out!

Last night my lovely friend Liz and I were treated to an evening of music and books at The Yellow Lighted Bookshop - it was a wonderful combination, believe me!

The wonderful Bookshop Band were performing.

I had missed them when they visited last year, so was desperate to go this time around. Luckily Liz fancied going too!

It was an hour of sublime music all based around books, which the band explained before they started singing. The Yellow Lighted Bookshop is a gorgeous and perfectly formed shop, crammed with wonderful books and staff. To see it filled with musical instruments was amazing!

This is my favourite song of the evening, although it was hard to choose, because it was written after the band performed last year. I suspect the 'strange man' is my lovely friend and Yellow Lighted Bookshop owner Hereward, which made me giggle! There is even a lovely lady there too!

I love The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, by Rachel Joyce, so this was brilliant too!

They are just starting out on a UK tour, so if you spy they are close to you - GO!

Working with Oilcloth

Just over a year ago I made a momentous decision to change my direction, I closed my business Funky Diva Designs and set off on the path of teaching and quilting.

I can't believe it is only a year! The journey has been so much fun and I have met so many interesting people.

Yesterday I taught my first session at the New Brewery Arts Centre in Cirencester. It is one of the biggest arts centres in the area and a lovely setting to teach in.

The workshop was all about sewing with and using oilcloth to make a bag. 

Oilcloth tends to scare people because it is so stiff and the once it is sewn it is marked permanently. But it is very useful for making bags. It's wipe clean and waterproof so perfect for making durable bags.

Yesterday was the first time I had taught how to sew with oilcloth and so it took more planning and thought than my other classes. If you visit my blog often you will know that I believe in planning teaching sessions so that I can give my learners the best possible experience. Planning also allows me to relax knowing I have thought every aspect of the class through - behind my relaxed teaching style is a plan!

It was a great workshop with 10 lovely ladies all keen and excited to learn how to sew. I provided all of the materials and machines so they only had to come along and have fun!

We started with the bag outer and I had 3 designs which started with the basic and went to curves - differentiating the options for learners helps them to be control of their learning! The morning was spent cutting out the design using templates and then sewing the pieces together along with interfacing.

By 12pm our brains had started shutting down so we took an early lunch before attacking a zippered internal pocket. They look amazing but are actually pretty easy!

The last hour of the afternoon looked very much like the Great British Sewing Bee with every frantically trying to get the bags put together - the atmosphere changed from relaxed to tension of the highest order! 

It was great fun and as you can see the bags turned out great!

They all came from the same template, but the choice of oilcloth and the personalisation of the handles and base width changed the bags completely!

These three gorgeous ladies added webbing to make longer straps and they looked perfect! It's something I need to take next time I teach the class...

All in all it was a wonderful day spent with some amazing people. Fingers crossed for more sunshine so they can use their bags all summer with joy!

Adult Classes and Parties

Ever wanted to learn how to sew but not being able to attend a convenient class?

Or just been given a sewing machine by a well meaning relative, but you don't know how to use it?

Fancy having a hen party with a difference?

I will be teaching private sewing lessons in the New Year for individuals and groups in a location of your choice!

You choose the time, you organise the place and I will bring my gorgeous Janome sewing machines, and everything you need to learn how to sew!

Workshops Available:

• Getting to know your sewing machine
• Conquering zips
• Bag making
• Patchwork and quilting
• Hen party sewing

At the moment I am able offer these workshops to groups in Gloucestershire, Bath and Swindon areas.

Costs

For a group of up to 4 people it is £30.00 an hour, plus materials and 40p per mile over 20miles from Tetbury. Each extra person is £10 an hour.

The minimum booking is 3 hours.

If you are interested please contact me and we can organise how to get you sewing!

Childrens Classes and Parties

At the moment I run an after school club in Tetbury on a Tuesday evening for children aged 8 to 11.

As you can see we have a lot of fun and girls create gorgeous items on the sewing machines!

The girls have worked for 6 weeks on making a patchwork cushion and rightly proud of their work!

In the new year I will be offering sewing birthday parties for children aged 8 to 16.

I will travel to a location of your choice, bringing with me sewing machines, materials and everything needed to make one of the following items:

• Tote Bag
• Pencil case and purse
• Simple Clutch

Each party lasts 3 hours and is packed full of fun, new skills and gossip!

If you would like to book a sewing party in Gloucestershire, drop me an email for more information!

The plan!

 

It is half term week here in Gloucestershire - and most of the UK - so that means kids at home and little teaching.

I only have 2 days teaching booked in this week. Yesterday on Gloucester was a complete shambles. I turned up with all my kit and the hall was being used as a dumping ground whilst another room in the building was being carpeted. I picked my way through the crap and managed to organise a small space to welcome new learners into, but there were kids running around, music from the painters blaring and just chaos... not my idea of a safe learning environment. So we completed paperwork, set ground rules and chatted about the course objectives.

The good thing about it was that my lovely ladies were relaxed and chatted. Turns out my course gives them a reason to get out of their nighties and do something. It will be a great course with lots of giggles!

So apart from that and a couple of private lesson tomorrow this week is quiet... until I think about the planning...

Next week I start 2 new courses.

Monday is in a drop in centre for people with mental health issues. I have met them and they are a lovely bunch, but it is going to be very different. It has taken some thought to devise projects that fit their ideas - which were numerous and exciting - into lessons that are safe for all concerned. No iron, no rotary cutters and no stress...

I think I have got there, just the SOW and lesson plans to write now!

Tuesday is Gloucester again with my lovely ladies and Wednesday is Tewkesbury with my group of mum who are funny and put up with my jokes! Thursday is private lessons here.

Friday is another new group.  Another day centre, but this time working with women recently released from prison. We are going to be making patchwork and using that process to build relationships and confidence. The planning for this one has a different direction again. These learners will be inconsistent in attendance and actually staying in the class. They also have a tendency to try and remove items... a sewing machine is visible under a coat, other smaller items will need to be monitored, especially rotary cutters... so it presents another challenge.

Add to this Cubs and Beaver Scouts and you get a heady mix of ages, challenges and fun!

Would I go back to the made Christmas rush and craft fairs of last year?

No.... absolutely not. My days are varied (the paperwork stinks!) and I am challenged everyday.... might need intravenous coffee though!