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Vintage Circus Sew-along: month 5
Welcome to the last month of our Vintage Circus sewalong! Before we wave you goodbye, Richla, from Got Kwilts, and I are sharing our...

Nicola
Nov 15, 2023


Vintage Circus Sew-along: month 4
Welcome to month four of the Vintage Circus sewalong! Richla, from Got Kwilts, and I are putting our hands together for the final pair of...

Nicola
Oct 17, 2023


Vintage Circus Sew-along: month 3
Welcome to month three of the Vintage Circus sewalong! This month Richla, from Got Kwilts, and I are welcoming you into the BIG Top......

Nicola
Sep 26, 2023


Vintage Circus Sew-along: month 2
Welcome to month two of the Vintage Circus sewalong! Richla, from Got Kwilts, and I are topping up our popcorn before we tackle this...

Nicola
Sep 2, 2023


Vintage Circus Sew-along: month 1
Welcome to the Vintage Circus sewalong! Richla, from Got Kwilts, and I are looking forward to your company for the next five months as we...

Nicola
Aug 2, 2023


Block of the Month progress report...
This week I sent out the February Midsummer Sampler block of the month parcels. We are now over halfway through our programme, so I...

Nicola
Feb 11, 2020


Making plans...
I'm busy planning for this year's Festival of Quilts so in my Spring Newsletter I asked my lovely subscribers for their thoughts on quilt...

Nicola
Mar 31, 2019


The Sailing By Sampler...
Welcome to a new Petit Four tutorial: my finishing instructions for the Sailing By Sampler quilt. As before, the tutorial is for those of...

Nicola
Jan 17, 2019


Introducing the Sailing By Sampler blocks...
I am so happy to be to introducing a new series of Petit Four blocks to you, inspired by wonderful memories of seaside holidays. When I...

Nicola
Jan 16, 2019


Spellbound sew-along: week 10
It's the final week of our summer sew-along and for those of you looking for the border and finishing instructions, you can find them...

Nicola
Aug 1, 2018


Spellbound Sew-along: week 9
Cobweb The Garden Spider builds her delicate web - often over twelve inches in diameter - every single day and although we may be squeamish about it’s builder, no one can deny the beauty of her work. You can find the block here . EDIT: Although the sew-along has finished, you can still use the weekly posts as a guide and sew with a group of friends. You can find the Spellbound Sampler pattern book here and on Amazon, or the PDF Pattern Bundle here . CUTTING... Follow step

Nicola
Jul 26, 2018


Spellbound sew-along: week 8
Wise Owl Is there anything quite as eerily atmospheric as the call of an owl? But the t’wit t’woo of the Tawny is, in fact, a duet...

Nicola
Jul 19, 2018


Spellbound sew-along: week 7
The Raven The subject of Edgar Allen Poe’s Gothic poem and revered, often feared, in folklore, the Raven is one of our most intelligent, long-lived and loyal birds, mating for life. Young Ravens leave their parents in Autumn to find new territory and a mate of their own. Our abandoned garden will be perfect. This week we will be using a new technique: bias strip applique, which is a simple and effective way of adding fine detail to our blocks. In this case, the Raven's leg

Nicola
Jul 11, 2018


Spellbound sew-along: week 6
Moonlit Bat No Gothic garden would be complete without a resident Bat, circling through the darkening trees at dusk before retreating to the Gatehouse attic to wait out the winter. You can find the block here . We will be using techniques that we've explored in previous blocks - snowballed corners , dresden fans and simple embroidery - but this block does differ in one respect: it's constructed asymmetrically to accommodate the wings, so some of the units will look slight

Nicola
Jul 4, 2018


Spellbound Sew-along: week 5
Merveille du Jour When I started drafting a bat block for the Spellbound Sampler - we’ll be meeting him next week - I realised what wonderful wings I could make with traditional dresden fans. And then, of course, I tried to think what else I could use them for: birds’ wings and cobwebs, yes, but surely not butterflies or moths? Although most British butterflies and moths are hibernating or migrating by the end of October, there is whole family of moths who emerge in the dy

Nicola
Jun 28, 2018


Spellbound Sew-along: week 4
Toadstools Beloved of childrens’ book authors, the Toadstool has long been imagined as the home of various pixies, fairies and elves. The...

Nicola
Jun 21, 2018


Spellbound Sew-along: week 3
Moon & Star Our enchanted garden is lit by a waning crescent moon. Far away from the constant glow of streetlights, moonlight makes the...

Nicola
Jun 14, 2018


Spellbound Sew-along: week 2
Pumpkin A familiar symbol of autumn abundance, the Pumpkin is an essential part of Thanksgiving feasts in Canada and the United States. The seeds were taken back to Europe by explorers and by the end of the C17th it had found it's way into our fairy-tales, as Cinderella's magical carriage. The pumpkin block from my first sampler EDIT: Although the sew-along has finished, you can still use the weekly posts as a guide and sew with a group of friends. You can find the Spe

Nicola
Jun 7, 2018


Spellbound Sew-along: week 1
Gothic Gatehouse When designing the blocks for the Spellbound sampler I pictured an abandoned garden at dusk in late Autumn. As nature...

Nicola
May 30, 2018


Spellbound Sew-along: preparing your fabric
EDIT: Although the sew-along has finished, you can still use the weekly posts as a guide and sew with a group of friends. You can find...

Nicola
May 22, 2018
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