Wrap up Warmly

 A toasty-warm quilt made from our Hop tu Naa fabrics, and backed with fleece.

New Books

We get very excited when new books arrive. Here's a selection of some of the most recent ones.

The Great British Sewing Bees' "The Modern Wardrobe" is a hefty tome, with step-by-step instructions, illustrations, tips and techniques. There's full sized pattern sheets (sizes 8-22) and 28 projects.

"Sew Cute Baby Animals" is gorgeous, 17 paper-pieces blocks to make into quilts, bags, burp cloths etc.

Kerry Lord's "How to crochet animals - Ocean" is just lovely, full of sea life and tentacled creatures.

"Year-Round Gnomes" - 8 mythological creatures to add a touch of whimsy to your home. (My favourite it the Easter Bunny gnome.)

Last, but definitely not least, is "280 Japanese Lace Stitches". This is a must for chart-loving, lace-loving knitters!

Round the World and Back Again

Christine Quayle has been enjoying her retirement, and has used the world map panel to make this fantastic wall hanging. Her great-nephew was delighted with the result, as were three other great great-nephews and great-nieces.

She is planning on locking herself in the attic, and won't come out until the next three are done!

Our next mini batch of bolts have arrived. These Japanese fabrics are gorgeous. As well as the five bolts, we have charm packs. The charm packs have forty 5x5" squares from a large range of Japanese cottons.

  

  

 

The Pirates Are Coming!

Run for the hills! The Pirates have arrived!

Four new bolts of fabric from Makower, all with a pirate theme. They are great for patchwork and quilting, for dressmaking, or even curtains for a child's bedroom.

 

 

Makower Landscapes

These luscious fabrics are from Makower's Landscape collection. They are stunning. Over the next few months we will be buying more fabrics from this range.

 

 

 

Mannin Quilters' Autumn Sale

 

It's Mannin Quilters' Autumn Sale today! It is being held in Port Erin Methodist Church, and it finishes at 2pm.

Head along for some fantastic handmade goodies.

Hop-tu-Naa Approaches

  

Hop-tu-Naa is approaching.

Some of these crafty bits could be Manx-ified, with pumpkins magically morphed into moots.

Tying A Quilt

 

Tying can be a very simple way to to quilt. This quilt was made four years ago, and has been used each night in winter. It was tied using DMC embroidery cotton, at the corner of each white square. The sides of the squares are 15cm long. 

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To make your own tied quilt, iron the top of the quilt, and the backing, and make the quilt sandwich. This can be done with an iron-on batting, or by pinning, or tacking the layers together. 

Many threads and wools can be used for tying. Choose a strong one that fits in well with your quilt, My preference is to use DMC embroidery cotton. It comes in a large range of colours, and it's strong.

The type of batting will inform your decision as to how close you need to tie the quilt. A loose batting will require more, and a firmer one will require less.  A good rule of thumb is to have your ties about 10cm apart, but with some battings, this can be increased quite a bit.  Take a moment and plan out where you want to place your ties.

I can't stress how important it is to have a good, sharp needle. My muscles ached until I started using a sharp needle. The eye of the needle should be large enough to fit the thread through, but small enough not to leave a hole in the quilt. The sharper the needle, the easier it is to push it through the layers of fabric and batting. If it is proving difficult, grab a pair of pliers, and use the pliers to pull the needle through.

Insert your needle into the quilt and pull it all the way through. Move over a few mm, and bring it back through to the top of the quilt. You can then tie it, or you can go back into the first hole, and come out the second. Then tie the thread.  Snip the thread, leaving the ends about 1-1.5cm long.  Move to the next area you wish to tie.

There are several ways to tie the knots. All three in the image below will work. My favourite is the Surgeon's Knot. The extra twists make it feel more secure.