When the lovely people at Aurifil asked me if I'd like some of their brand new 8 weight thread to have a play with, I jumped at the chance.  I've been an advocate of Aurifil for many years, and as well as having 4 of my own collections I have loved experimenting with the different colours, thread weights and techniques.  So I was really excited when I heard that they had released an 8 weight thread!  Hand quilting is one of my favourite techniques and the thicker weight of the 8 weight thread lends itself perfectly to hand quilting. As it happened I had some of Suzy Quilt ..read more

  I'm so thrilled to have recently qualified as a Wellness Coach, and I believe there's so much overlap between looking after our wellness and slowing down and working on some quilting or hand stitching. Taking time out to stitch for ourselves is so important for our mental health and wellbeing.   So when the opportunity arose to collaborate with Aurifil thread to produce a thread collection, I jumped at the chance.  I have curated a collection that is bright, colourful and reminiscent of Spring, to bring joy to your stitching!  This collection is perfect ..read more

  Writing a book is on many people's bucket lists.  So when I was invited by C and T publishing to write a book aimed at beginner quilters, who are on their creative journey (after all that mask making in lockdown) it really was a dream come true.  What an honour and a pleasure it was to combine all the things I love; patchwork, quilting, writing and photography.  Jump into Patchwork and Quilting quickly came to life in my mind, and it wasn't long before it was starting to come together on the page.  Just a few short months later, and it is finally here!  ..read more

Whether this is your first time with FPP or you're a seasoned pro, I'd like to share some of my top tips for perfect piecing and accurate blocks every time. I hope you'll find them useful and that it sets you on the path to FPP confidence! 1. Get the Pens Out One of the joys of quilting is putting together colours and fabrics. Curating fabrics can bring us such joy. With FPP it's important to remember that because you're working on the underside of your paper pattern, everything is back to front. And given that this method is a little counter intuitive anyway, it can be very easy to get y ..read more

When Jemima Flendt of Tied With A Ribbon asked me if I'd like a copy of her brand new book Quilt It, Crochet It, I jumped at the chance.  Being a quilter, I knew that I wanted to make one of the projects, and I just loved this cute Log Cabin Potholder.  I decided to use some of the fabric from my Sew With Me collection with Home Bargains, it was the perfect project!   The pot holder came together in no time at all, and with clear step instructions, diagrams and photos I was able to easily work out what to do.   What do you think?? I was so pleased with ..read more

In case you didn't hear the news already, I have my own sewing range, exclusive to Home Bargains!   It's called Sarah Ashford - Sew With Me  and I'm so excited to get everyone sewing and quilting!  Part of this range includes a gorgeous bundle of pastel 5" pre-cut squares. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to share how to make a really simple but striking quilt block, known as the Disappearing 9 Patch.  It's so easy when you know how!   First of all, stitch the squares into a simple 9 patch.  Now don't be alarmed, we are going to cut it up!&n ..read more

I do love February, when pretty hearts start appearing in my social feeds!  In fact I love hearts so much, I even included one on the cover quilt of my beginners quilting book Jump Into Patchwork and Quilting.   I wanted to share a tutorial with you on how to make a 6" (finished) heart, using regular piecing.  It's so easy when you know how, and soon you'll be adding love hearts to all your projects and quilts!   You will Need:  Heart fabric  Background fabric  Cutting:  Heart fabric - (2) 6 1/2" x 3 1/2" rectangles  Background fab ..read more

  This post may contain affiliate links.  You can read my full disclosure privacy policy here.  I'm having so much fun with a style I've dubbed 'Structure and Improv.' The concept behind it is that you take a series of different sized traditional quilt blocks, and then you piece them all together using improv piecing. You can read all about the 'structure' part of this mini quilt in Part 1 of this blog post here.    Here they are, my traditional quilt blocks, patiently waiting to be stitched together.   And now I've finally got around to piecing them ..read more

This post may contain affiliate links.  You can read my full disclosure privacy policy here. If you're anything like me, even if you've just started on your sewing and quilting journey, you already have more fabric and notions than you know what to do with, and storing them in an organised way can be somewhat of a challenge.   Well I just love a stylish but practical storage solution, so I thought I'd share some of my top tips for how I organise my sewing space! Fabrics - 1/2 metre or more: I love the idea of having my own personal quilting shop, so I have wrapped al ..read more

One of my favourite patterns of all time is called the Wee Braw Bag, and it's designed by my friend Laura of @sweetcinnamonroses.  I have made many Wee Braw Bags over the years, including for my mum, who loves to use it to put all her bits and bobs in when she's going on holiday.   This year, disaster struck.  My mum went on holiday to Greece and her suitcase, containing the Wee Braw Bag got lost!  3 months later and it still had not turned up, so she asked me to make her another one for Christmas.  Luckily, I had been sent some gorgeous fabric by British designe ..read more