Patchwork, Tunisian Crochet, stacking Bowties Plus more

Yes its been quite a while since I have had the opportunity to catch up with my blog.  Also I struggle with the format of Blogger and once I have published my post, it moves my photographs around.  Sooooo frustrating.  Any tips would be appreciated.

My classes commenced end of April, starting patchwork for beginnrs at Wellington Sewing Center


Here are some of the quilt tops.

I ran two Classes of Tunisian Crochet, introducing tactile stitches to crocheters at Wellington Sewing Center.
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A Quilt as you Go class:

Louise and Prue showed off their completed Kaleidoscope quilts from Last years class.

Some of the ladies who attend my Wednesday night class made Stacking Bowtie cushions.

There are still more cushions under construction.  I do have another class for this technique coming up Sunday 5th August at Wellington Sewing Center.

We were lucky enough to test drive Sue Schreuder's E-Spinner made by Ashford.  It did look easy when Sue was using it.  Soooo on my "Want" list.

My Effort - lets just call this artistic!

And finally -an Overnight or Weekender bag class coming up.  Will fit in the aircraft "overhead" locker provided it does not wight more than 7kg.  Its fully lined with an internal pocket.
For more details, please visit Wellington Sewing Center website or contact Jo@sewingdirect.co.nz

Thats all for now.  Thank you for taking the time to read my post.  Until next time,
Happy stitching

Shirls

Beginners quilt completed. The New Janome Purple tipped Machine Needles

With all the flu illnesses floating around at the moment, our class was very low on numbers on Saturday.  I just love seeing finished "first" quilts.  Helen finished her quilt and now has quilt number two under production.  Rather than putting piano key blocks around the border, she has used up all her 2 1/2" squares.

I spoke with a woman today who was looking to buy a new sewing machine.  Her family home had been burgled and all their computer gear including portable drives containing years of photographs, ALL her sewing machines and accessories like embroidery disks were stolen.  Sometimes we need to be reminded to back up our files and photos, and document serial numbers. 
My powerhouse Janome Horizon is having its first annual service.  It's been thrashed so I'm using this time to back up all my class notes, quilt and family photographs.

Glen introduced me to Janome's new Purple Tip sewing machine needles which have just been released in New Zealand.

Here's some more info on them.

They are specifically designed to effectively prevent skipped stitches when you are sewing with stretch fabrics; multiple layers of fabric e.g. quilts; and when sewing across bulky seams e.g. at a hemline.

I have been asked if these are ball point needles?  Yes, it has a ball point tip but also have a COBRA HEAD which opens up the fibres of the fabric allowing the needle to pierce thick layers, tightly woven fabrics or “difficult” stretch fabrics with ease.  The needle actually goes between the fibres.

My verdict:  FANTASTIC.  I quilted a queen size quilt in the weekend with the acufeed foot with full speed and free motioned a babies quilt. The needle just flew through the fabric but what impressed me was how it stitched through thick seam layers easily.  They are a little bit more expensive than the other needles.  They retail in NZ for $11.00
Happy stitching everyone.


Shirls