What is Quilting?

Since starting my online fabric shop Fine City Quilting one of the questions I'm often asked is;

 What is Quilting?

You may have seen a quilted jacket or call the duvet you sleep under a quilt -  so what is quilting?

Well quilting is the process of sewing together layers of fabric in order to make a thicker, warmer layer. 

Three layers are usually used and often referred to as a quilt sandwich:

1) The Quilt top (the pretty patchwork layer you can see)

This layer can be as simple as a single piece of cloth (a whole cloth quilt) or hundreds of pieces sewn together.

2) The Wadding

Wadding can be made of a variety of warm materials making up this padding layer - cotton, cotton mixes, bamboo, polyester or wool.  At www.finecityquilting.co.uk we stock cotton and bamboo (which is excellent for allergies).

3)  The Backing

Plain solids such as these Sew Simple Solids are perfect for an economical quilt backing, but plain doesn't mean boring.  With the current trend for solids on the patchwork top layer, you may prefer to contrast and use a fun print on the backing of your quilt...

  Tip: using a print on the background may help to disguise any quilting mistakes, whereas a                 solid as backing could really show off your skills!

Once the 3 layers are basted (temporarily fixed together) either with a basting stitch that will be later removed or safety pins or an adhesive spray, the quilt sandwich can be quilted by machine or by hand.

Hand quilting with a needle and thread (make sure you're using a Quilting Needle, they're sharp) is sewing a running stitch through the three layers to secure them together.  This can be achieved with a stab stitch or rocking stitch.

Hand quilting as seen above is distinctive and can definitely make an item more personal.  It is a contemplative task which is slow and rewarding.

Machine quilting provides faster results but can be fraught if things don't go to plan.  Unpicking is harder.  Straight lines and gentle curves can be achieved with a walking foot like the section of a wall hanging below.

For anything that requires more curves, you'll need a Free-motion Quilting Foot, also known as a Darning Foot or Hopping Foot.   With this many effects can be achieved like the examples below.

International Women's Day

International Women's Day is here again, time to hear some idiot say

'When is International Men's Day then, eh?' (November 19th incidentally), joking aside this is an opportunity for Women's rights to be examined, brought under the spotlight and for people to remember that the battle for equality still continues.

This time last year I made a wall hanging to raise awareness.  Last year's theme was 'Push for Progress'.

Over the next few months the theme weighed on my mind.  What had pushed for progress?  Certainly not politicians or industry, the Equal Pay Act is 9 years older than me and I'm nearly 40 and yet there is still a gender pay gap.  For me the answer is in the way you're reading this now - the Internet.

What else has given people ways to meet, ways to rebel, ways to protest whilst remaining anonymous.  The phrase keyboard warrior is often used and that fascinated me.  

In the wake of  #metoo this was a way for Women to stand together...to say 'that also happened to me and I was sad and internalised it but now I see how many others it's happened to I'm angry and I want change'.

Gradually the idea of my quilt was born.  I entered it into the Festival of Quilts 2018 at the NEC in Birmingham.

I was proud that people stopped to read what it was about, why I'd made it.  I stood in front and my husband took a photo of life imitating art.

Since that day I've started my own business Fine City Quilting and a sewing group for parents and carers called Sew Tired.  I remember many years ago writing my dissertation on 'The Rise of Entrepreneurial Women', and discussing the many issues that have contributed to the rise such as childcare,  the glass ceiling and gender pay gap.  In 2019 the theme for today is #BalanceForBetter, so lets make 2019 the year we keep an eye out for discrimination, speak out when we see it but also celebrate achievements.

Sew Tired

No not a complaint but a new group for parents or carers in Norwich!

This week sees the first session of Sew Tired, a group that will meet fortnightly in Norwich with the aim of giving parents or carers (with or without their children) a chance to be creative in a friendly and welcoming atmosphere.

We've all been there....it's ANOTHER early morning with your baby (whatever age that baby might be!), the start of a new day.  Your creative juices are flowing...'Nap time' you say to yourself, 'I will make something/get started on that drawing/finish that scarf/cut out that pattern...but nap time doesn't always happen and in all honesty when it does there's often (horrifically often) housework to be done.  Then nap time is over.  

'Tonight'..you think to yourself, 'tonight, I will get a tray prepared so as soon as they've gone to bed I can get one with what I've been really hoping to achieve'.  But guess what?  You're exhausted and food needs to be prepared, eaten and quite frankly there's probably something awful on TV that is all you can face.

Before you know it, the hobbies that make you YOU are feeling like they're falling by the wayside.

Obviously there is joy in every precious day spent with your baby and it whizzes by before you know it, but whilst you're looking after them, making a small amount of time to keep yourself happy is equally important.  

People often discuss whether the transition from 2 to 3 children is the most stressful but quite obviously its 0 to 1 (or 2 or 3 - hats off to the Mum's of multiple pregnancies!).

If sewing or being creative in any way is your bag then maintaining that can be a very healthy choice.

This first session will include some English Paper Piecing, one of my favourite patchwork methods.  Hopefully I can convert some of the attendees!

If you're a Norwich parent and fancy getting involved search for group Sew tired 💤

or email me for more details - venue has car parking a plenty and baby change facilities  It's £5 per session and coffee and cake is provided to fuel us 😊

By the way if you're admiring my rather super logo - check out the very talented Sally Franks, she worked fantastically with the brief given!

Love me a sew along

💗  I do love me a sew along, I've said it before and I'll say it again, whilst the internet has undoubtedly brought many ills to the world it has also brought groups together who have a shared love.

The first time I got involved was The Splendid Sampler and personally it's that BEING PART OF SOMETHING BIGGER that really touched me.  I had two babies under two but being a determined sausage I managed to (most days) get them napping at the same time. Of course I took joy in my babies and every change that they were going through and still do, but I found the satisfaction of getting my weekly block completed gave a little nod to my own self worth.
I would share my blocks on the website and then gradually a Facebook group was set up and I would share in that medium.  Here were other quilters who didn't know that one of my sons had cut a first tooth and the other was starting to talk.  Here my small achievements or funny stories of misread instructions were taken just for my own and not linked to my progeny.

Fast forward a few years and I find myself in the throes of another sew along....enter the #fussycuttingsewalong
Now I was not on instagram for the first but having read about it on it's creators website https://naomialice.co.uk I sure as heck was getting involved for the second!

Last time hexagons took centre stage but this time small diamonds making up six point stars are the focus of learning and showcasing different methods of fussy cutting.  Below you can see a few of mine so far:

These are shoddy workmanship indeed compared to some of the crackers to be found over on Instagram.  I implore you to follow the #fussycuttingsewalong to really appreciate what can be done.

I took the opportunity to ask Naomi how much love has been put in and come out of the fussy cutting sew along and quite rightly she questioned 'how do I measure it?'

Obviously I took the opportunity to suggest on a lovely new cutting mat from www.finecityquilting.co.uk

It's clear that this sew along is a real success and due to the effort put in by it's creator and participants, as with every sew along there are skills to learn and friends to be made - get involved!!

How do you make Beeswax Wraps?

CALLING ALL ECO SUPERHEROES!!!

WHO WANTS TO HELP SAVE THE PLANET ONE FOOD WRAP AT A TIME? 

All of you. Brilliant.  Lets get going then...

You'll need - Fabric (approx 1 Fat Quarter), Beeswax, string, pegs or buy a kit from the gifts and kits section at  ↴

 https://www.finecityquilting.co.uk/gifts--kits-5-c.asp

also you'll need some sort of spreading device, I used an old paintbrush.

1.  Preheat your oven to 180F (160F fan) and get a baking tray ready.

2.  Tie some string up as close to the oven as possible and get some little pegs ready.

2.  Cut your fabric with pinking shears for pretty edges. Now a quick note about fabric choice...I'm not saying pre-wash but you need to make sure its a quality cotton that is colour fast, cut a few different sizes - think about what you want to use it for.

3. Line your tray with grease proof paper or foil and pop your fabric in, sprinkle beeswax lightly over it.

4. Pop it in and check after a few minutes.  When it's ready the cloth will look soaking wet, use your paintbrush or spreader to ensure all the fabric is covered.  Carefully remove the tray from the oven and peg up to dry.  You will get hot wax on your fingers at this point unless you wear gloves.

5. Enjoy being a smug eco sandwich wrapper.  

** Your beeswax wrap will last about 3 months - some careful people manage to make them last 6-12months!  You can clean them with water and gentle soap.  

To wrap around food, fold as you would cling film and hold you hand around the wrap, it will soften the wax and you can mould it over the top of a bowl or around an item.

When your wrap is tired and old it can be added to a compost bin, it will biodegrade. If you have a fire or bbq you can wrap it round wood for a decent fire starter**

Keeping up with the Kashubians

Firstly apologies to anyone of Kashub descent for that shocking title but it was too tempting to resist!

Without further ado let me just show you why we're talking about this ethnic group from North/Central Poland....

YES - a fabulous folk print, I'm getting obsessed with folk prints.  They're having a fashion moment and this is one you DON'T see everywhere.

This 100% cotton print and will shortly be available for sale on my website www.finecityquilting.co.uk and is inspired by the rich embroidery patterns of the Kashubian people.  Etsy is awash with beautiful Kashubian inspired embroidery and if you want to go back to the source to get some inspiration, I found this site really useful:  http://originalhandicraft.org/en/kashubian-embroidery-symbolism-and-history/

I'm thinking these patterns would look awesome quilted on a whole cloth quilt too...

The Beast from the East

Having ventured to Copenhagen in February half term I thought we were hardy to this cold....but no!  We didn't count on the Beast from the East and being in the East of England (Norwich) we really got hit by it!

A few weeks ago I felt that nothing I was sewing was coming from the heart.  I started reading about improvised quilts and felt like 'Yes!  This is what I should be doing!'....it wasn't easy.

Olly and I had been missing skiing and wishing we'd booked to go and gradually the blocks and different sized half square triangles were forming something like a mountain scene.

For once instead of feeling like it 'had' to develop into a quilt I decided to have a go at a wall hanging.  I feel I should let you know that at this point I felt that I was making the best of a bad job but I guess that's part of finding yourself as an artist is to let yourself make these mistakes and grow with them.

Starting to quilt this wall hanging was a relief, with my complete lack of FMQ skills I decided to just jump on in and give it a go...I wanted swirling wind/mist round the mountains....I got this!!

Do you know what though...I finished it and then took it out to play in the snow!