Bolt End Club July 2015

Here's July's Bolt End Club, unfortunately again no info on the fabrics.

Previous Bolt End Clubs:
March 2014
May 2014

July 2014

September 2014

November 2014

January 2015

March 2015

May 2015

Bolt End Club May 2015

We're running a bit behind schedule now! My last post was in April, how embarrassing.

These are the May Bolt End Club fat quarters, unfortunately there's no info on the designers/producers this time.

Previous Bolt End Clubs:
March 2014
May 2014

July 2014

September 2014

November 2014

January 2015

March 2015

Bolt End Club March 2015

I'm running a bit behind with putting this up again! Where does time go?

I love the turquoise and black fabric on top in this bundle, it is from the Marrakech line by Lewis & Irene.

The red and cream fabric is Marmalade by Bonnie and Camille for Moda.

The fruity fabric is Funky Fruit Scatter by the Henley Studio.

Previous Bolt End Clubs:
March 2014
May 2014

July 2014

September 2014

November 2014

January 2015

Catnap Fat Quarter Bundle

Recently I joined the Massdrop Catnap fat quarter bundle drop, because I couldn't resist the fabrics in it! There was a choice between a "cool" bundle and a "warm" bundle, and I had a hard time choosing, but went for the warm bundle in the end.

Cute, isn't it? Here's a close up of a few of my favourites.

Bolt End Club January 2015

Here's my January Bolt End Club pack. Loving the wavy fabric!

Most of these fabrics are from the wrong end of the bolt! The only one I can tell you anything about it the stripy fabric, and it is from Robert Kaufman.

Previous Bolt End Clubs:
March 2014
May 2014

July 2014

September 2014

November 2014

Bolt End Club November 2014

This one's a bit late. I haven't been blogging much, I have no real excuse, time just seems to slip away.

This is my November Bolt End Club selection. I like the geometric fabrics a lot.

Previous Bolt End Clubs:
March 2014
May 2014

July 2014

September 2014

Sizzix Big Shot

As I mentioned in my post about my quilt I went to the NEC a week or so ago. While there I got an early Christmas present from my mum, a Sizzix Big Shot.

The Sizzix Big Shot is a die cutting machine. You can buy dies for all sorts of things, such as dies for cutting and embossing paper, dies for cutting card for folding boxes, and, my favourite, dies for cutting fabric. There's loads of different dies to choose from, but I chose two to start off with. One is a clamshell shape and the other  a 2.5" square. I've started cutting some fabric, but haven't made anything yet, but I'm excited to have a go soon!

Massdrop Wonder Clips

For those of you who don't use Massdrop and especially those of you living outside of the USA, there's a great deal on Wonder Clips at the moment. You can get a pack of 50 Wonder Clips on there at the moment for about half the price you'll get them at a UK retailer (including the shipping cost).

They also have loads of other great deals going on all the time if you like fabrics and crafty stuff.

If you're going to buy something from there, do me a favour and purchase through this link:

https://www.massdrop.com/r/UEWPBD

It's very selfish of me, but for every five people who join through the above link I get a goodie box!

Bolt End Club September 2014

It's been a little while since I posted here. Oops! Anyway here's this months Bolt End Club.

From left to right:
Marbles by Moda
Henley Flowers Dottie by Makower
Simply Style by Vanessa Christenson for Moda
Unknown
Unknown

Very pretty aren't they? Such lovely autumnal colours.

Previous Bolt End Clubs:
March 2014
May 2014

July 2014

Festival of Quilts: The Haul

Today I spent the entire day at the Festival of Quilts at the NEC. I did three workshops which I'll show you later, because I know what you really want to see is the stash.

That's six fat quarters, two packs of Moda charm squares, five new packs of needles (cross stitch, embroidery, sewing and quilting), some basic sewing threads, some embroidery threads, a new rotary cutter and cutting mat, a little square ruler, a bobbin box, a packet of batting (a freebie for joining the Warm Company's mailing list!) and a subscription to Love Patchwork & Quilting (£3 for three months plus the current issue for free and a totebag). I was very tempted by a die cutter, but thought I'd leave that for another time.

Here's some of the best bits.

These embroidery cottons were actually a freebie with one of the workshops!

All the colours in the charm squares! I love this photo!

Bolt End Club July 2014

Here's my goodies from this month's Bolt End Club!

Love the three on the right (especially the tiny purple flowers) but I'm not so sure about the two on the left.

According to the selvage we have from left to right:

Daisies and Dots by Robert Kaufman
Vintage Rose Scatter from The Henley Studio collection by Makower
Ditzy Daisy from The Henley Studio collection by Makower
Unknown
Katherine by Nancy Gere from Windham Fabrics (this one feels absolutely lovely, by the way!).

Previous Bolt End Clubs:
March 2014
May 2014

My craft area

My crafting area has been a bombsite since we moved in, but now I'm slowly improving it. Over the weekend I put together a Billy bookshelf from Ikea and started filling it up. There's still more to do, but it's getting there.

Yes, there are still quite a few boxes and a couple of extraneous sewing machines to get rid of, but it looks so much better. It's a pity I didn't take a before photo to compare it to. 

I had fun organising all my threads and books. 

And made some room for my Lego.

Good isn't it? Just... Just don't look over there...

Heh... Like I said, there's still more work to do!

Bolt End Club - May 2014

Here's my fabrics from this month's Bolt End Club.

I especially like the hexagons and the black and white stripes. I already now what I'm going to do with the stripes on the left thought!

Reloved chair

A little while ago I needed an extra chair to have round our dining table, on a whim we popped into a little charity shop just down the road from us. They had this chair and were selling it for £2. I couldn't say no to that! The style of the chair was very cute, but I thought it needed some updating. We took a trip down to Wilkinsons and I bought some sandpaper, paintbrushes and two tester pots of Dulux 'Purple Pout' (everybody knows how much I like purple, right?). I used some fabric left over from the Hillarys Blinds Country Craft Competition and a couple of hours later we have this:

Much better, don't you think? I'm looking forward to using it, as it's now my chair to use at my desk where I do all my sewing.

Madeira raffle prize

Last week my raffle prize from Madeira which I won at the NEC finally came! The week before I received a box from Madeira, only to find out it was filled with leaflets!

It's a pretty wooden box filled with machine embroidery threads.

I love the variegated colours! I'm excited to try these out.

Embroidery hoop stand

Previously I mentioned I visited the Embroiderers' Guild and saw Mr X-Stitch. At the guild meeting they also had a sale table. At the table there were all sorts of things that people didn't want any more, and amongst them was this hoop stand. You only paid as much as you wanted to/thought the item was worth and when I saw the hoop stand I didn't think I'd be able to afford it as I don't think they are particularly cheap. One of the ladies at the guild said they didn't expect anyone to pay over £5 for anything, but I thought that that would be very cheap for this and gladly put in £10 to take this home with me!

Mr. X-Stitch at the Embroiderer's Guild

Recently my mum and I have been going to the Birmingham Embroiderer's Guild meetings. They have a social every first Saturday of the month and a meeting every second Monday. Last Monday Jamie Chalmers AKA Mr X-Stitch as the special guest speaker. He did a talk called The Cutting and Stitching Edge about contemporary embroidery as art. 

Afterwards we had an opportunity to buy his book Push Stitchery and have a chat. I let him know I'd had some of my things featured in the Sprite Stitch Best Bits column on his website and he signed the book for me! He was very nice and funny and if I get a chance I'd certainly like to hear him speak again!

New sewing machine: Brother Innov-is 35

I mentioned previously that I had been thinking about getting a new sewing machine. Well, after the free motion machine embroidery workshops that I did, I knew I had to get a machine capable of it. I got the Brother Innov-is 35 because I had had a go with it, and my mother's Innov-is 20LE and felt really comfortable with them. There was also a special offer on to get a free quilting kit, which includes the extension table and several presser feet, which just sweetened the deal.

I have really enjoyed using the machine so far. It is so much quieter and vibrates less than the machine I've had previously as it is computerised. I love the automatic needle threader, the needle up/down button and the range of stitches available.

Check out the video above to see the box opening and come back to see what I make with it!

MCM Birmingham Comic Con

As well as the Hobbycrafts, Sewing & Stitch shows at the NEC the MCM Birmingham Comic Con was on. I went along with Michael on Sunday. We were good and didn't really buy much. We had a nice time looking at everything though.

I did get Oddworld Adventures 2 on the Game Boy and Crash Bandicoot XS on the Game Boy Advance.

Michael also bought me a massage as after the two shows my shoulders were so tight. It was lovely!

Hobbycrafts, Sewing & Stitch - The Goodies

Over the last weekend the Hobbycrafts, Sewing for Pleasure and Fashion Embroidery & Stitch shows were on at the NEC. I went along with my mum on Saturday and had a great time with some workshops and shopping!


Here are my goodies:

I've been wanting to try some goldwork for ages, and when I saw someone selling kits at the show I couldn't resist!

Fabrics! Lots of fabrics. I don't remember from which seller I got these, but they were a good price and lovely!

Some lovely Madeira machine embroidery threads! I'm going to have good fun with these once I get my new sewing machine.

And some basics. A new embroidery hoop, a proper pair of scissors (only for fabric!!) and some Thread Heaven to try.

Did anybody else go to the show? What goodies did you get?

I'll be posting about some workshops I did as well soon, so check back!