For those of us who can remember, the late 1960’s was a time of massive change and excitement. The revolution was in progress and we were Feeling Groovy. There was no capacity for bland in music, fashion or the people. The hippy movement flourished and flower power burst into our lives. The new fabrics were bold, colourful and loud. The rule of the day was anything goes – fabulous was in! In those days, as a wannabe-groovy teenager, I was totally enthralled by the vibrancy and freedom of this bright new world. Now, as an older-but-totally-groovy quilter, my passion for these vibrant, busy fabr ..read more

Becoming an extreme quilter is not for the faint-hearted. It takes dedication, passion and sacrifice for a life full of creativity and immeasurable pleasure. Identifying the extreme quilter THE LIGHTS ARE ON BUT NOBODY’S HOME Thoughts of quilts invade their minds while they’re driving, sleeping, eating and showering. The extreme quilter will be in conversation with someone and not hear a word that’s said because they’re thinking of hexagons or fussy-cutting. QUILTS FOR EVERY OCCASION Enthusiastically they’ll welcome any opportunity to make another quilt. Beds, laps, children, pets, charities ..read more

The exquisite Berry Bliss Quilt is another delightful addition to our Curved Piecing Collection. An overlay of applique petals form a lattice over the sixteen curved blocks and is an enjoyable project — especially for those who love to cut and stitch by hand. Berry Bliss Quilt Stitching curves Many people are daunted by curved piecing, and yet, it is surprisingly easy. Yes, it’s a little more fiddly than sewing a straight seam, but it is achievable, rewarding and highly addictive. The Berry Bliss blocks can by stitched by hand or machine and the pattern has full instructions. Easy applique Th ..read more

Some quilts, like the Avalon Quilt, are the quiet achievers of the quilt world. These quilts seem to be in no rush to get finished and will patiently wait for their turn to shine. They don’t care that it’s taken four years or that you’ve made 16 other quilts in this time. Quilts like Avalon are worth the wait. Avalon Quilt The challenges Speedy quilts with lots of colour and a vast variety of fabric are always appealing, however, with this quilt, I challenged myself to use a strictly limited palette because I wanted to maintain the fresh, crisp look of the fabrics as they had first appealed to ..read more

It probably won’t come as a surprise that quilters love to sew. However, what may surprise you is how many quilters actually prefer stitching quilts by hand. What’s more — they love it. Now, before you reach for the smelling salts, nobody is suggesting we rid the world of sewing machines. Creating quilts with an extensive range of modern machines, gadgets and devices can be highly desirable and has great appeal for many, nonetheless, there are seven seriously excellent reasons for stitching quilts by hand. 1. Portability Hand piecing can be done just about anywhere at any time, and is only lim ..read more

Fall in love with the charming Be Mine Free Quilt Pattern. This timeless pattern of simple five-inch squares set on-point, is fat-quarter friendly and a great stash buster. Be Mine Free Quilt Pattern Fabric choices Your favourite bundle of fat quarters is perfect for this quilt, and you will need ten of them to make the quilt top. Of course, you can replace the fat quarters with 25 cm (1/4 yd) strips if you prefer. The sweet fabrics used in this quilt are Sugar, Milk & Flowers, designed by Elea Lutz for Penny Rose Fabrics. Sugar, Milk & Flowers designed by Elea Lutz for Penny Rose Fabr ..read more

Christmas is just around the corner and the delightful, Santa’s Christmas Cheer Wall Hanging is perfect for a last-minute project. Although the pattern is for a wall hanging, it could also make a fun cushion and would fit an 18-inch (45 cm) cushion insert. Applique Fusible webbing is used for the applique and a light box is ideal for tracing the pattern. However, if you don’t have a light box, simply tape the pattern over a window and use the natural daylight. The small pieces for the applique can be gathered from your stash. Use your imagination to see how you could fussy-cut the small pieces ..read more

Perfect quilts can be glorious, beautiful, resplendent and breathtaking. However, perfect quilts aren’t always what they seem to be. You may be surprised to know that all quilts can have imperfections, and at some stage, most quilts have given the quilt maker a certain amount of grief. Despite this, quilts continue to be made. Why? Because with experience, we learn to relish the challenges and the frustrations. We learn to accept it’s all part of the fun of making quilts. Sadly, the enjoyment of these challenges isn’t always apparent to new quilters. Innocent quilters can pressure themselves w ..read more

Our delightful Jungle Bums Quilt is the happiest quilt ever. Plump bottoms and cute faces make each one a joy to make.  We promise you won’t be able to make the Jungle Bums without giggling. These quirky Jungle Bums are blanket stitched by hand using fusible webbing applique. However, you could stitch them by machine if you prefer. Each block has a thin fold of fabric called a peeper sewn into the seams to enhance the design. Leftover fabrics are used in the first border. This project lends itself to the whim of the maker. You can use scraps from your stash or follow the requirements list. Le ..read more

Shadowplay Quilt Until now, in all the years I have been quilting, I can count on one hand how many solid (plain) fabrics I’ve used in a quilt. In fact, I can count on two fingers. My fear of using solids began soon after I made my first sampler quilt. Choosing fabrics for a first quilt can be highly challenging. For me, deciding on the fabric was nerve-racking. At that time, having no idea how to combine fabrics to create an exciting quilt led me to choose a few floral prints, as well as a solid burgundy fabric and a solid blue fabric. From here on used the solids in some of the blocks withou ..read more