Sewing with Sarah Fielke in Toowoomba

I've just had a little time off and treated myself to a 2 day workshop with Sarah Fielke in Toowoomba. This is me on the front steps of Vacy Hall holding my 'Spring' mini quilt.

Precious Time hosted the event for approx 20 people and did a terrific job. Sarah was delightful and patient and also very generous with her knowledge.

We were treated to a showcase of Sarah's quilts on Friday evening including a sneek preview of two quilts to be included in her new book.

Sarah demonstrating her needleturn technique on the centre panel of 'Whirligig' which is the gorgeous quilt on the cover of her most recent book

 'Quilting from little things....'

Several ladies were making this quilt.

Setting out some of freeform blocks inspired by

'The Burbs' 

from Material Obsession

Some of the other great work being produced at the workshop

Pat with her centre for 'Looking Back' Material Obsession Two 

Same centre panel in a different colourway

'Stars in Your Eyes' block 


and

'The Night Garden'

both from   'Quilting from little things....'

Another 'Whirligig' centre panel ready to applique. 

We all loved seeing how the different colour combinations came together

Only 112 leaves to go Ros  .....










For me the excitement of a workshop like this is learning something new, meeting new people and most of all being inspired to try new things.

I learnt a great new way to needle turn points and how to quilt using No 8 perle cotton and a hoop....yes that is right......
I have been hand quilting and enjoying it! I also got to see all those spectacular quilts up close and get a little insight into Sarah's life.

I HAD to include this picture

 

Having arrived home from Toowoomba I set about making this silk blouse for my sister-in-law. To be honest I almost freaked when she presented me with this job. I was only too aware of how fluid silk is to work with and the challenges it presents. 

I still can't believe it turned out so well. Butterick pattern B4856 using fabric from Sckafs, Level 1, Indooroopilly Shoppingtown

 Finally here is my wonderful husband 

on the verandah of Vacy Hall

Kids love to sew

There has been a whole whirlwind of fun happening here in the Sewing Lounge.

So much so that I have forgotten to photograph half of the wonderful creations. 


Interest in sewing is definitely alive in the 7 - 15 yr age group and bursting to get out . All that youthful enthusiasm and creative optimism is a wonderful thing to behold.

Making linen cushions & pencil cases

This brightly pieced cushion had the words 'Best Grandma Ever' on the other side surrounded by lots of fancy machine stitches. 

What a beautiful gift. I bet there was a Grandma with tears in her eyes on Christmas Day.

This is my wonderful photographer who picked up the camera and snapped lots of photos of her group.

 





She made lots of owls for her friends for Christmas and they all looked as gorgeous as the one here.

Miss 7 has been sewing after school once a week for a year. Towards the end of the year we decided to make a simple sun dress using McCalls pattern M5613 . The finished dress looked terrific. 

While making it she learnt about cutting out, making pleats, adding a facing, overlocking edges & making buttonholes.  I believe a cooperative effort like this has much to offer a young beginner because they can see what is possible with practice and perserverance.

These girls travelled a long way for their classes and look pretty happy with their finished projects. 

On the left is a Melly & Me 'Sunshine Bag' and on the right another 'Owlivia'

 Bryn is another wonderful student who has been coming to classes regularly. She made this terrific vest for her uncle for Christmas using Simplicity pattern 2346

Making self cover buttons together

Even my lovely neices did some sewing while they were here on holidays







It was with great sadness that I held my last class at Thread & Ginger in late December. Natalie & Caryn have closed the shop and I wish them all the very best in their future ventures. I will be forever grateful to them for the opportunities they gave me and for the inspirational environment they created.
Victoria Point will be a poorer place with the loss of their business.
I will be holding extra classes at Urban Sewing Lounge this year (see classes page) and was delighted that many of the ladies from Victoria Point are going to travel here to continue classes.

Big Bold & Beautiful

This simple but very beautiful gift is

from my youngest student and inspires todays 

big bright post.

This was my favourite entry in the 'Quilts across Qld'  exhibition at the Ekka (Royal Queensland Show)
 I love the traditional red centres combined with the scrappy & not quite perfect log cabin blocks
Quilters name unknown - sorry - no catalogues available at the time

 




































Made by Maxine in one of my classes and called 'Square Dance' this lovely quilt was made using the Moda Charisma fabric range that was available in 2008.

Another beauty is this quilt made by Fay in class. After the pattern appeared in a magazine, Fay bought the template & kit from Material Obsession in Sydney and tackled the inset piecing. I'm sure you'll agree that the end result is visually stunning.

First Prize - I have a lovely yr 8 student who comes to classes every school holidays. She worked away quietly on this quilt in the Easter break; piecing together a random mix of squares, 4 patches & rectangles which she then quilted with a diagonal grid.  As you can see the finished quilt is a real credit to her. Congratulations Bryn!

I had a wonderful day recently with two friends who booked a class together. Recently arrived from the UK Vanessa stitched up a very creative back panel for her satchel bag while Natasha made 2 new cushions for her lounge. (sorry no pictures but they did look fabulous)

What have the younger sewers been up to?

Tayla is a very talented young artist who is just learning to sew. She set out this design herself and is delighted with the result. We will be working on a denim satchel bag next and I can't wait to see what she achieves.



 


 This is Meg's cute alien. We used the Melly & Me pattern 'Acute' and enlarged the pattern to 141% to make it easier for Meg to sew.  She has given him a lovely charming personality. 

 Rose has been busy making stuffies and an alien too

Siena's Plattie Platypus
all dressed up and ready to swim away

Meet Ella's 'Big Fat Bunny' 

He ate so much toy fill that we struggled to sew him closed

Ella had seen the shoe stuffers I had on display and used a similar shape to

make her bunny a big carrot 

'Baby Bunny' pattern is available from Funky Friends Factory 

Well my readers farewell for now. I am still working on part 2 of the Sewing in Free Motion Tutorial so keep checking back.


Cheers Linda

Free Motion Sewing Tutorial - Part 1

 I believe that everyone can learn to sew in free motion

  
So time to turn your dreams into reality.

Sewing in Free Motion can be used to;

• decorate a quilt
• sew around the edges of applique
• create a picture on fabric.

I teach this to pre-teens who believe in their ability to do anything with a sewing machine. They don't hesitate to give it a go and will happily doodle away until they are happy with the results..

To start you need to:

• Have the correct set up
• Believe in yourself & take in a few tips
• Dedicate some regular time to practice

Lets talk about the correct set up

 1. Lower or cover the feed dogs

Your machine should have one of these options


 This is a feet dog cover plate being slid into position. It will sit directly over the feed dogs so that they have no influence on fabric movement.






This is a machine with a slide lever that lowers & raises the feed dogs.
Check your machine manual. They can be in different locations at the back and even under the accessory tray of your machine.     

2. Fit a free motion presser foot to your machine

     (not usually supplied with your machine)

Here is a selection of free motion presser feet
You must use a foot that is designed to fit your machine correctly.

When fitting the foot to your machine ensure that the lever at the top sits above the needle bar. 

This will ensure that every time the needle comes up the foot comes up, and every time the needle goes down the foot goes down. Your stitches will be formed correctly and you will be able to move the fabric smoothly.

3. Fit a suitable needle in the machine

  I prefer to use Schmetz Embroidery needle 90/14 because it is designed to handle thread passing through at high speed without skipping stitches or fraying the thread.  Set your machine to needle down if you can.

 More information about needle types

4. Fit a quilting table attachment to your machine if you have one

Again this is not essential but it sure helps!

The table gives you a large level area on which to work.

They are sold by the folk who sell sewing machines and you need to buy one designed to fit your machine. Lots of people buy these and rarely use them, so ask around, perhaps you can borrow one while you are learning.

4. Find out how to adjust your machine upper thread tension

 The tension dial on your machine is designed to increase or decrease the amount of drag on the thread coming off your spool of cotton. A higher number provides more drag and a lower number less drag. Most machines have tension set between 3 - 5 for regular sewing of 2 layers of regular thickness fabric.

 Please make a note of what your tension dial is set on before you move it! That way you can return it to where it was after you are finished playing.

 This is a picture of a different style of tension dial. It does the same job

 I am telling you this because adjusting your tension will help you to achieve a well formed stitch i.e. one that is not looping on the bottom or pulling on the bottom

Also too tight a tension may result in repeated thread breakage especially when working on a single layer of fabric with stabiliser on the back. I use a tension of about 1.0 for this on my machine.


Now that we have covered the set up I will give you time to get organised before my next tutorial.
Part 2 - Believe in yourself - start sewing in free motion
Bye for now....Linda

Sew much fun!

Lots of sewing happening here during the school holidays

 And also at Thread & Ginger Patchwork during the holidays

 Just goes to show that too much sewing is never enough
One day I had a class where the youngest was 7 yrs and the oldest 73 yrs. I think we had about 4 generations covered and the lovely thing was that everyone shared an instant bond - their enjoyment of sewing & fabric.

One of my young sewers (7 yrs)
piecing together a snake

I love the concentration

  This is her snake baby beside my 'Slithery Sally'
The pattern is available from Funky Friends Factory and is called Silly Scrap Snake

 Hang on .......its another snake....old blue eyes this time.
I think they're breeding in the basket of fabric scraps

Isn't this little quilt gorgeous. 

Miss E aged 7 yrs worked on this after school once a week for a whole term. When she said that she wanted to make this quilt I was worried about whether she would see it through to the end. So I simplified the elements as much as possible and she showed remarkable determination to follow it through to the finish. Congratulations.

A few more happy faces with their beautiful creative efforts


Lots more photos to come so keep checking the blog.
Bye for now & happy sewing. Linda

Saviours of the Lost Arts Workshop

Last Sunday Pauline from Funky Friends Factory and Kylie from Voodoo Rabbit held a soft toy making workshop here as part of the Brisbane City Council 'Saviours of the Lost Arts' Program. 

Having fun adding the toy fill to Plattie the platypus

Finished and  just  so gorgeous. Wouldn't you love one of these?




   

See more of Paulines soft toy patterns at Funky Friends Factory 

and buy the fabric kits and patterns from Voodoo Rabbit

My after school sewing kids saw this photo and were jumping up and down with excitement at the prospect of making one themselves. So I will be teaching Plattie, Baby Rabbit & Silly Scrap Snake  in my school holiday classes.

Isn't this protea beautiful.

I had one just like it in my wedding bouquet in 1989. Seems an unusual choice but I was married in the tropics on a very hot & humid 36 degree summers afternoon (believe me nothing else would have survived)
Thanks Nat & Caryn for a lovely bunch of birthday flowers.

Until next time..............Keep warm  and keep sewing..........Linda