EDIT: You can now buy this pattern as a PDF here or as a Paper Pattern here. As an idealistic architectural student - many (many) moons ago - I fell in love with the Arts & Crafts movement. Established at the end of the C19th, the V&A describes it as "a movement born of...a concern for the effects of industrialisation: on design, on traditional skills and on the lives of ordinary people. In response, it established a new set of principles for living and working. It advocated

I promised you a detailed post on preparing for and exhibiting at the Festival of Quilts and here it is. I'll apologise in advance if it's not the most riveting read and contains an impossible number of bullet points, but there will be pictures. Essentially, it's the post I wanted to read - and couldn't find - when I was preparing my stand. Now I'm not saying there isn't information out there: Folksy has some great blog posts on craft fairs, which cover what to expect and wha

Are you going? Although I've attended the Festival as a visitor, this year will be my first as an exhibitor and I'm really looking forward to seeing you at the NEC, Birmingham on 10-13th August on Stand C7. I thought it would be fun to record the journey here (let's hope I'm still laughing in August...) and have already started making endless lists and planning stand layouts. Given that I'll be exhibiting in a snug 2 x 2 metre space my aim is to showcase as many of my designs

You may remember me piecing some little Christmas trees last year, for my festive version of Homely Joys. My test block has spent the last twelve months sitting on top of my works-in-progress trolley (which is *ahem* rather overloaded) whispering "go on...make me into something..." and I've finally taken the hint. The vertical design of the block is perfect for the side of a Christmas Stocking and - more importantly - a stocking is an achievable project in the manic run-up to

I'm slightly overexcited to tell you that I've written a tutorial for the Moda Bakeshop. It's for a quilt that I've called 'Speedwell' - you can find it here - because it goes together so quickly. So quickly, in fact, that since it was posted on Friday, a lovely lady called Jennifer has already made one. Which was a bit thrilling. The Bakeshop is a wonderful resource for quilters and quilt-shop owners. All the patterns use their popular pre-cuts and are ABSOLUTELY FREE. Which

Have you ever joined a sew-a-long? I'm always keen and have sewn along with Flickr and Instagram groups - both photo-sharing sites - which allow you to see what your fellow quilters are making: learning and being inspired as you go... My first foray into the world of online quilting was almost exactly four years ago when I joined the Swoon-along on Flickr to make Camille Roskelley's wonderful - and wildly popular - 'Swoon' quilt. Me and 1,500 other people. Really. I went on

Have you signed up for our seasonal newsletter? I'll be sending them out four times a year - in February, May, August & November - to let you know about our newest patterns, workshop dates and lovely things to buy, along with a special subscribers discount coupon... ...just think of it as a postcard from Shropshire. I'll be busy writing the Spring Newsletter very soon, but in the meantime you'll find me at my sewing machine (most likely with a snoring dog at my feet), Nicol

Welcome to CakeStand Quilts, my name is Nicola Dodd and it's lovely to meet you. I became smitten with quilting about five years ago. At the time I didn't know anyone who quilted, so I started learning how from books, YouTube and the blogs of fellow quilters worldwide. I am so very grateful to the wonderful people who have generously shared their knowledge, I wouldn't be writing this now without them. As I have a background in Conservation Architecture and Garden Design - I d