Recently I’ve been working with batik fabrics. But I'll tell you a little secret… I might have been known in the past to say I wasn't keen on them.  Well let me tell you, I've been working with a lot more batik fabrics this past week, and I think it's safe to say that I LOVE what I've made! I thought I'd make the most of glorious sunshine today and nip into the garden to get a few pictures. The cat decided he needed to be ‘helpful’! He clearly knows how handsome he is and figured he should be the main focus for the camera! Why I used Batik Fabrics for Quilting So you might wonder, if I’m ..read more

Wow Spring has definitely arrived! Life is bursting out all around! There are flower buds on my Hydrangea and even the Wisteria is showing signs of life! Here in the UK the clocks went forward this weekend which is always the sign that we are heading for brighter and longer days! And so it is apt that today I am announcing a fabulous FREE quiltalong that I am involved with. Back to Nature Quiltalong  Designers that specialise in foundation paper piecing were asked to design a 6" block around the theme 'Back to Nature'.  Isn't is wonderful how there were no double ups! Can you guess ..read more

As I sit down to write this post I realise that I’ve already wiped my dry wipe annual wall calendar clean to start planning for 2024! And so I’m sat here wondering what I have achieved! So let’s take a look in my diary instead and see what happened in 2023 shall we!?   Quilt Hive Membership The Quilt Hive membership had 13 new classes added to it in 2023. Our membership has grown by 53%. Members have various reasons for joining and each get different things out of being a member. You can check out what being a member means to some of our members in the image below. In July I ran a free ..read more

I’ve been feeling a little zapped of energy this week, but thankfully I had the perfect project to work on. A project full of colour and creativity to restore my energy levels! That project is my first sample for the classes I’ll be teaching on the cruise in May. When thinking up the design for my project I wanted it to be something that could be a reminder of our cruising adventure. And so I came up with the idea of the sunset view as seen through a porthole window. Now I know that most cabins on a cruise liner will have large windows or even balconies, but you’ve got to admit that boats are ..read more

Exciting times here at TCN HQ. When I first started chatting with Ange about teaching on the cruise next year, my mind started whirring about what skills I would teach and what design would that would be for. Sometimes it’s the skills that come first and sometimes it’s the design. In this case it kind of all came at once really! Inspiration for my Cruise Quilt Project When I think about holidays I think about slowing down. Slowing the busy pace of life down in order to appreciate all the things I miss whilst living this busy thing called life. I love nature, I love fabulous views and I love th ..read more

We quilters do love sewing for the holidays don’t we? Gifts for special friends and family, and decorations for your home. I’ve posted a couple of blog posts about my Christmas themed tutorials and patterns in the past. But this time I wanted to also include the free tutorials I have that might make a good stocking filler for your friends and family. Scroll down for those. This one is always a popular choice! Make each of your family members a Snow globe mug rug / coaster. You could even add their name to it! It’s foundation paper pieced, perfect for using all your Christmas novelty print fabr ..read more

Well this is exciting news! In 2024 I’ll be teaching whilst cruising! It’s like a sewing retreat on steroids! The most luxurious quilting retreat you are ever likely to take! Sewing Retreat on a Cruise! We’ll be setting sail from Fort Lauderdale in Florida on May 2nd 2024 aboard the sumptuous Apex ship from Celebrity Cruises, and making our way across the Atlantic to Europe. Along the way we’ll be stopping off at: Ponta Delgada, The Azores Cork, Ireland Portland, UK Bruges, Belgium Southampton, UK There’s even an optional bolt on tour of London at the end. Sam Hunter will be your e ..read more

I'm so excited to tell you about the new series of classes that is coming to the Quilt Hive Membership. If you aren't yet a member, then you might want to be! Now, let me tell you about how the idea evolved... Whilst walking around Festival of Quilts I was telling my lovely friend Sonia about a couple of technique classes that I wanted to add to the Quilt Hive membership. One was about sewing In-set shapes both: circles; and organic shapes. I think I had recently added or recorded the lesson on in-set circles to the Geometree BOM course so it had been on my mind for a while. And the other, Tra ..read more

If you’ve followed along for a while now you will know that I am a ‘messy maker’. Since my childhood days I have been known for never putting things away. Particularly in the craft room I tend to drop and leave items that have been used. I know, it’s terrible, I am hanging my head in shame. So every now and then I have to have a massive tidy up blitz in the sewing studio! It’s normally if I have a crafty friend coming over for a sew day. In this instance it was because the lovely Rona from The Traveling Quilter was coming over to interview me as part of her tour of England and Scotland. I kne ..read more

Got some super fun news to share with you today.  This is for ANYONE with an interest in Free Motion Quilting.  You might have never tried, you might dabble, or you might even have a long arm.  I was recently invited to teach at an online FREE summit on free motion quilting. You're going to want to sign up for this free event! Join us at the FREE Free Motion Quilting Summit This event will help you expand your current free motion designs repertoire! The event is being hosted by the lovely Mary from Mary Go Round Quilts. Mary has brought together a fantastic group of quilting te ..read more