From Beginner to Gallery

Posted by on 23 May 2018 | 3 Comments

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The first time I met Barbara was in my Getting Started With Quiltart class at academyofquilting.com. She had decided to join my workshop to break away from traditional quilting and I have to say, she's had a remarkable journey since. I caught up with Barbara again recently so decided this week we'll take a look at what's under her needle. But first, let's see where she began on her journey.

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Do you ever get stuck for a quilting idea?

Posted by Ruth on 15 May 2018 | 1 Comments

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Do you ever get stuck for an idea to quilt a background or border? Usually, you just need a little quilting to hold the layers together, or reduce some bulkiness. Simply following the fabric lines or design often works very well.

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King Protea - new flower applique

Posted by Ruth on 8 May 2018 | 1 Comments

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applique tipsCongratulations go to Sue for suggesting the King Protea flower block. Our pattern will be coming your way.

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A Machine Quilting Unlimited Feature

Posted by on 6 May 2018 | 0 Comments

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Did you see the May/June 2018 Machine Quilting Unlimited magazine?

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A New Flower to Create

Posted by Ruth on 1 May 2018 | 9 Comments

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Last week I posted a blog for a Flower Block competition - what a lot of fun I had collecting your suggestions in both email and blog comments. I've made a selection and begun work on the new flower - but I won't tell you what it is just yet! Perhaps you can guess from my fabrics...

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Win a Flower Block pattern!

Posted by on 25 April 2018 | 12 Comments

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Do you know of a different flower I haven't made? Click through to my 2nd Flower block Competition and let me know a flower you cannot find on our BOW pages  and if I decide to add it to my collection, you'll receive a FREE copy of the pattern.

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Teaching Young and Old

Posted by Ruth on 25 April 2018 | 4 Comments

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It's school break so what better time is there to spend with your grandchildren or children ...and of course teaching any craft is fun especially for me as I have a real passion to see others, both young and old, learn and achieve new things. So knowing my granddaughter Amy would be spending some valuable time with me this break, I decided not to wait till next April to release the next animal block but rather get her involved in creativity.

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It's been a while since I did this

Posted by Ruth on 17 April 2018 | 0 Comments

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It's been rather a long time since I did any traditional patchwork and before this morning had not planned on doing any in the very near future. In fact, it wasn't until I started thinking about what I should put under my needle this week that an idea for a traditional patchwork border hit my mind as I looked at the Penguin block I made this month. One thing led to another as you can see by the end of this blog post.

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Applique Tips for Fusible Applique

Posted by Ruth on 10 April 2018 | 0 Comments

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April is World Autism Awareness Month. In New Zealand, autism affects one person in every 100. That's around 40,000 of us! And every year during April, I put out a new animal block to add to the collection of animals drawn by my son who is autistic. 

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Bouncing Off The Walls

Posted by Ruth on 4 April 2018 | 2 Comments

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For the longest time now I've been thinking about making a music quilt. I'm particularly fond of music which probably stems from learning to play the piano at an early age. I did make a small art quilt a few years back that did include musical notes...

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