Holiday Season

A week or so ago I was approached by a representative of ECT Travel to see if I would consider mentioning their quilting tours on my blog.
Before I go any further I must say I have not been offered any remuneration or favours other than a mention of my blog on their own social media sites. That said I am not in a position to offer any opinion on their tours, I have never experienced one.

I had however heard of the company and I have in the past heard of the quilt shows that are held in the Alsace area of France. Indeed I believe it was that very area's show that inspired our very own Loch Lomond Quilt Show.
When I heard that ECT are themselves affiliated to the Quilters' Guild of the British Isles then I thought the company must surely be worth a browse, so why don't you have a look too. Personally I have been to big quilt shows in this country and in far away places like Sydney as part of my own planned holidays but not as part of an organised tour but I do imagine there is an appetite for organised trips to specialised venues and some of ECT's venues look mouth watering.......what follows is their own words and pictures, so please enjoy.

Nestled deep in the enchanting French countryside, the region of Alsace is situated close to the border of Germany and Switzerland. It is here in mid-September, for 4 days only, that you will find 36 unique and quirky exhibition sites dotted amongst the villages of Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, Sainte-Croix-aux-Mines, Liepvre and Rombach-Le-Franc.

As the cradle of the Amish movement, Alsace has been a hub for quilting and textile artists for over 300 years. In 1993 the European Patchwork Meeting was devised to celebrate the talents of traditional and modern patchworkers and quilters. With a huge range of activities such as workshops, conferences, specialist stalls and exhibitions, it is no surprise that over 22,000 international visitors flock to the event every year.

Working together with the Quilter’s Guild, ECT Travel have put together a fantastic 3 night package that gives textile enthusiasts the chance to explore the art trail at their own pace, whilst all the hassle of arranging their transport and accommodation has been taken care of.

Staying in the town of Colmar, where on Friday and Saturday evenings the buildings are illuminated by an award winning light show, guests will have free time to explore after being transferred back to their hotel from the event by executive coach.

For more information on this amazing tour or to book, please visit ECT’s website or contact Sofia by email on sofia@ecttravel.com.

Fruity

Excitement levels are building Chez Bluepatch as our Disney holiday approaches.........I showed you a few things that I had made for Ava already but have one more project that I haven't shared and this one is courtesy of Ali at veryberryhandmade. It's a very nice art wrap, well, Ali's is, mine is a wee bit wobbly and I left out the ties as I thought the chubby five year old fingers might cope better with snaps, (and I am putting Kam snaps on everything that doesn't move at the moment). Anyway, thought I'd produce this on the flight, might keep her amused for half an hour or so..............

Meanwhile, I am now all up to date on the Bellaskillbuilder BOM that I am doing from the fatquartershop blog. This month we had to do seven Pineapple blocks, three in one size and four a little larger. There was a recommended ruler to purchase to help trim as you went along but I wanted to make a start and I am also a bit mean and thought I was unlikely to be making more Pineapples in my near future. I'd only ever foundation pieced this block before so had a bit of a look online to see if I could pick up some tips and found some help from this blog - once I got going I found I could use tape to mark my wide ruler at the point for trimming each round of the pineapple and this worked fine for me. Although my blocks look quite accurate they are actually quite wonky here and there but I am really quite pleased with them. Remember I am using old shirts for this project although in these Pineapples the peach is new solid from stash, the white is all shirt fabric.

All Change

Well, it's almost exactly a year since I retired from my classes, how quickly those twelve months have flown by.
As so many of you know, while I taught class, I introduced my lovely ladies to the wonders of Aurifil thread and became a small time retailer of said thread.........
I so wanted to continue selling and wanted to try online sales so after much research found a platform and opened up a small online presence - I have enjoyed moderate sales this way whilst continuing with my real life customers that I see in my day to day quilting life here in Ayrshire.

I sort of gave myself a year of trying the online thing but have reluctantly decided to cancel my subscription to the shop and here are the two main reasons - I think my online Aurifil customers know their colours, are perhaps regular neutral users, I rarely sell "colours", so tricky to choose unless you know your particular shade, do you agree?
and the second reason? I just can't keep the P&P to rock bottom on 1 large spool. In its wisdom the UK Post Office has designated this one small product as a small parcel and basically it costs the same as a shoe box full, so frustrating.....

So to my lovely online customers I am truly sorry, but I will still be stocking Aurifil - and will do my best to accommodate your thread wishes, all you need to do is email me, or DM me on Instagram and I'll do my best for you.

For everyone else that knows me I shall turn up like a bad penny at any quilty event in Ayrshire that you can think of..............wouldn't want you running out of your favourite thread.

Catch Up

I did mean to come back and update you on my sewing projects but my blogging has fallen way behind my quilting, so here goes.

In March I looked forward to Month 2 of the Bella Skill Builder BOM that I started in February - it is being featured each month on the Fat Quarter's Blog, The Jolly Jabber. So March featured an Orange peel block that didn't fill me with enthusiasm - applique isn't my favourite but I got stuck in. I had a look at the YouTube tutorial and did consider the interfacing technique but I have used it before and am not too good at producing a result where the interfacing is completely invisible so I resorted to machine applique because I am very familiar with my machine stitches and have used the applique stitches many times. Here are my results -

and together, with February's blocks,

When I started this BOM, using old shirts and some solids I had in mind that I might used the odd patterned shirt but as I see the blocks grow I absolutely love the look of the solids together - I have never before made a quilt just using plain fabric, maybe it's after making a couple of very scrappy projects, but I am fast becoming a convert.

I was obviously in the mood for patchwork last month because I made a few blocks for Siblings Together - those of you previously in my classes will recall making quilts last year for this worthy cause. Perhaps you'd like to join in again this year? Nicky has asked for a different couple of blocks this year and instead of raking through my scraps I used some larger leftovers and made these co-ordinating blocks.

We have quite a special family holiday coming up and so I thought some holiday stitching might be the order of the day, or month...........

Matching backpacks for Grandma and Ava,

The big one, mine, was made from old jeans with lining and pocket from a horded Kaffe shot cotton - after an inner argument along the lines of "you've had it for two years, use it!!"

The little one, was made from two of Ava's daddy's old shirts. Merida was stitched out on my Janome embroidery machine from a purchased pattern.

The backpack pattern is a very old one that I have had for years, by Bethany Reynolds.

The small person also had a holiday purse crafted for her holiday pennies.........

And there is just one more item that has been made but it needs a few extras added before I can show it off here...............

Other holiday planning usually involves a little EPP for me and this year I have decided to do a small Lucy Boston project. A couple of years ago a book of Lucy Boston's quilts arrived in the post from an old friend, a totally unexpected gift. She had been visiting the Manor at Hemingford Grey in Cambridgeshire and thought of me.

I have been aware that one of the quilts in the book has become a very popular EPP project on the internet but noted that my friend had mentioned another as her "favourite" so I thought it might be an idea to go forward with that and try making a panel of LB keyboard patchwork, mostly made up of octagons.

I was really pleased to source octagonal templates and freezer papers from Pelenna Patchworks and they do little charm packs in shapes too. Great service as well.

Wasn't too sure about the orange, as I hadn't really chosen my main fabrics. Then one day when I was tidying my room............the fabrics just called to me! 

I got this lovely Cotton & Steel fabric from Helen in a recent destash - perfect!!

And to go with it? A lovely black Paisley -shirt!!

Since taking this photo I have stitched all the fabric onto the papers but have yet to make my mind up on the colour for the background squares, the tiny little squares that will peek through from behind. Leaning towards green. Of course!!

As I am about to begin a new EPP project, I am relieved to report that I have finished an old one, at least the EPP bit.

I think this has been a long time in the making, I wonder what it will end up as........................?

In a recent visit to friends in Edinburgh I had to snap their hall floor, don't know why I've never done it before. Maybe a quilt of the future?

Enjoy your week.