2015 - a photo recap

In no particular order I thought that for my last post for 2015, I would repost some of the projects covered in Sewmiriam blogposts this year. It has been a pleasure sharing my love of patchwork and quilting, design, colour and teaching with you  all. To all the wonderful ladies who came to my workshops I thank you. To all the inspiring Fairholme Quilters who have encouraged and supported me I thank you. To all my quilting friends at Cottage Quiltworks I thank you. To all of you who read my blog thank you so much! 

                 

Happy New Year and happy sewing, love Miriamx

The Night Before Christmas

Thank you to all my readers for making 2015 so special. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I hope you have been inspired and that you will venture with me into 2016. To an infinity of stitches and beyond!

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas.

Happy sewing, love Miriam x

The Week before Christmas.....

 Just  a short post today with some of my  favourite Christmas dolls and a bird to get you in the festive spirit.

Wishing you and your loved ones a magical Christmas.

Happy sewing,  love Miriamx 

Generosity of Spirit

The festive season approaches with high velocity. This got me thinking about what really is important. Not the achievement of all the jobs on the 'to do ' list, nor the lavish present buying, but what is often forgotten - generosity of spirit.

I am sure a lot of people think that the more they spend - the more generous they are. When you meet someone who has a kind word, helps without asking or seeking acknowledgement, offers assistance to a stranger, listens with interest, smiles with genuine warmth, you know that the world is made just that bit better. 

I wish you a wonderful Festive Season. May it be filled with a generosity of spirit that brings you true joy. And .. a few reflective moments of stitching of course! 

Happy sewing, love Miriam x 

Fairholme Raffle Quilt

The Fairholme Raffle Quilt is finished, and she is a beauty!

The talented ladies of Fairholme Quilters have been busy all year making the blocks. The quilt measures 60 X 80 inches and is made from cotton fabrics with long arm quilting expertly done by Jo- Ann Phillps. The quilt is hand and machine pieced and was  designed by Miriam Jones (me!) and Janice Freelander. It is a stunning French quilt and a credit to all those who have worked on this project. Special thanks to Janice Freelander and Jill O'Conner. 

All money raised from the sale of raffle tickets  will be going to Studio Artes . Studio Artes is a local program that offers creative programs for those with disabilities. Truly inspiring and life changing programs. You  can find out more about Studio Artes here. The raffle will be drawn on April 10th at the Fairholme Quilters Quilt Show at Thornleigh Community Centre. Save that weekend in your 2016 diaries. I know - 2016 is filling up fast already ! 

To launch the raffle quilt, tickets will be available on Saturday 5th December at Hornsby Shopping Mall , as part of the Studio Artes Ride- a -Day Fundraising event . We can be found between the fountain and the mall entrance (David Jones side) The quilt will be on show from 10.30 . Tickets are $2 each or 3 for $5 .  I would love to see you there! Who knows- you may buy the winning ticket!! 

Happy sewing, love Miriam x

Thanksgiving Flower Block - free pattern.

We don't celebrate the Thanksgiving Holiday in Australia. The idea of family and friends gathering together and being thankful really appeals to me. Wouldn't it be wonderful if in every country around the world people could unite in a day of thanksgiving - a universal day of thanksgiving. What a wonderful world that would be.

Over the last few weeks I have had the opportunity to play with pentagons. Here is a Thanksgiving Flower block design I came up with. If you would like to make one like it , this is how I made mine. 

The block is 12 inches square. ( cut background fabric 12 1/2 inches square at least)  The pentagons are done by paper piecing using 1 1/4 inch pentagon papers. You need 15 for this design. Choose a variety of prints that appeal to you and start to audition them until you have the look  you like best. Cover your pentagons.

 I joined the pentagon flower petals into a circle first and them cut a piece of fabric to fit the circular space created ( yellow fabric as shown above) . Make sure your circle is cut larger than the space, so that all raw edges are covered by the pentagon circle.

 Then I used a small flower shape created from one scrap of fabric and made a fabric circle for the centre.

Press all hexagon pieces so that the shapes will be retained when the paper pieces are removed. Carefully remove paper pieces.

 Place all your fabric shapes  carefully onto the block so that they look like the picture.  Pin/ tack in place onto the background fabric . I pressed a line in  my background in half vertically, to help with centering the flower and pot. Needle turn appliqué shapes into position.

Congratulations - you now have your own Thanksgiving flower block.

Want a variation?

 You can easily change your leaf pentagons into buds . Make a simple petal shape out of fabric and appliqué onto your pentagon like this... How neat is that ? I love it when there are creative options, discovered purely by play and a little extra thought. 

Happy Thanksgiving to you all,

Happy sewing  too! Love Miriamx 

Hall of Fame - Part 4

Lots of sewing has been going on behind the scenes of Sewmiriam Workshops!

There has been some amazing work completed recently. Here are just a few examples for you to enjoy. I cannot tell you how thrilled and humbled I am to see your completed projects using Sewmiriam patterns. 

The Quilt Express workshop was a wonderful experience to teach, but even more wonderful to see completed quilts. Sue B has been busy indeed and treated us all last weekend with a Show and Tell of her version of this quilt shown above.  WOW!!!!! Sue B is a talented quilter indeed. I love the colour and fabric choices she has used to make this one of a kind quilt. The back is equally as stunning....

How lovely to make a quilt using quilt as you go , so that once your done - your quilt is done! Fully reversible too which is a nice bonus . 

Marg K has been busy completing her tote bag. Clever fabric choices and sewing has resulted in this lovely bag. 

The professional fully lined zip pocket done so well by Marg in class is a winner! Here is a sneak peak inside ..

Spied on Instagram - Cardygirl has made another Sewmiriam Ziptop bag. This one is gorgeous too.. 

Trisha is still working on her bag from last weekend's workshop,

but her front panel is so wonderful I just had to share it here with you ...

Well, that's a wrap for this week. 

Happy sewing, love Miriamx

Sewmiriam Tote Bags and Whopper Shoppers

Today was busy indeed with a Sewmiriam Workshop teaching my Whopper Shopper and Tote Bag at Cottage Quiltworks. With a star cast of attendees, much progress was made on everyone's bags. These bags are larger than the Handy Ziptop, and therefore aren't finished in a day.

Here are some of the gorgeous panels made today

Trish created this truly beautiful bag front panel. Her colourway is soft with a few strong accents to really make this whimsical central print shine.

Marg used a  wonderful fabric for her focus print, cleverly combining it with a winning Alexander Henry striped/ polka dot print. A match made in heaven Marg!

Jill took this vibrant Cotton and Steel fabric for her central panel and added bold  prints for accent.

I love this fresh modern look.

  

                             

Sandy chose a French theme and created this wonderful front panel for her Whopper Shopper. I love those polka dots! 

Helen is making a beautiful bag featuring this  fun pineapple print, brought to life with a modern gray
spotty print and pink panels.

One of the highlights of today, was that everyone made a zippered, fully lined pocket. This pocket makes a truly professional finish to any bag. Every time I make this pocket I feel very clever! 

Trish made a perfect pocket first time around!

                             

Sandy did too..

                                

I always think that if you make a fabulous pocket like this you should put a surprise fabric inside, like Trish  did. How cool is this pocket!!

Thank you ladies for an awesome day. I all hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Your bags are going to look amazing, and all will have perfect pockets too!

Happy sewing, love Miriamx 

Sewmiriam, Cardygirl and friends.

Another busy week, and another successful workshop, thanks to Cardygirl and her talented friends.

The workshop resulted in everyone completing the outer shell of a Sewmiriam Handy Ziptop Bag. 

There was a buzz in the air at Cottage Quiltworks amidst  the hum of machines, much laughter, and perhaps a bit of fabric acquisition. The results speak for themselves. 

Let's take a closer look. Heather decided on a retro look. How stunning are these fabric combinations.

Alison, a.k.a Cardygirl, put together a Liberty inspired bag. The focus fabric really pops!

Jean, a.k.a Misslinen, made this beautiful sewing themed bag...

Christie mixed whimsical prints to wonderful effect...

Janette chose a French theme, always a winner. This bag has already been claimed by a birthday girl!

Chris went for vibrant reds .Wow!

Debbie and Tiffany looked to Tula Pink for inspiration. Debbie made this dramatic print really shine in her bag

Tiffany has a great sense of colour and made this for her bag front...

And this for the back ( or maybe the other way around - both are spectacular)

And of course - you need to see the bag bases. How clever do they look!

Thank you ladies for a wonderful day. It was a delight to meet you all.

Happy Sewing, love Miriamx