RedBerry Quilters Workshop

Last Friday I had the great pleasure of working with the RedBerry Quilters. We had a marvellous day creating Sewmiriam Pikelets. These ladies are really talented and all came with fabric from their stashes that ranged from the softest of colour ways

to bold saturated brights...

Everyone made a wonderful start to what I know will become gorgeous quilts.

Let's have a closer look.

Carolyn worked on this beautiful baby quilt. I love these colours together and am equally in love with both the back  and the front of the blocks. 

Carol used fabrics from her stash to create these delightful Pikelets . Her use of a variety of low volume prints for the main fabric on the front of the blocks is a great variation to the pattern and is sure to be a stash buster! 

Ann is creating the most gentle quilt using soft pastel prints. My apologies for the shadows in these photos..... they don't do justice to how truly beautiful these blocks are 

Suzanne is stash busting in her Pikelets quilt, bringing a wide range of fabric pieces  together with this versatile small spot print as the focus fabric.

Julie decided to work way outside her comfort zone and use bright, saturated prints paired with a black on black focus fabric to create these stunning Pikelet sets. Well done Julie!

Congratulations to all the workshop attendees! As you can see by this sample of the workshop  blocks the RedBerry Quilters are a talented group of quilters . Everyone started off with a very different collection of fabrics but all worked with the same pattern to create unique and delightful blocks. I can't wait to see what these quilts look like when finished.

The generous RedBerry quilters make many quilts for their community and perhaps this pattern will be useful for quilt as you go community quilt projects in the future.

I hope that your week has also been filled with inspiration, and a moment or two of time for stitching.

 My mind  is now turned to this Saturday where I have my next workshop at Cottage Quiltworks.  Can't wait! 

Happy sewing, love Miriamx 

Pikelet Party

Today I am packing my bags in readiness for a Pikelet workshop tomorrow down in Berry with the RedBerry Quilters. It is all rather exciting! I have made a Pikelet Quilt in Japanese fabrics for Show and Tell.

This quilt as you go pattern is really so versatile. No two quilts are ever alike , and the back looks as good as the front.

So I have been airing my Pikelet quilts today in the wonderful Autumnal weather.

Yep - even the old 'ugly fabric stash' can have a makeover in this quilt pattern and be made to look gorgeous. 

It's a short blogpost this week , but with lots of Pikelet eye candy for you to enjoy. What's even better is that it's calorie free! If you like the look of these Pikelets and would like to learn how to make one of these quilts please contact me or Cottage Quiltworks and express your interest. 

Happy sewing, love Miriamx

Indulgence

It has been  a very busy time of late. There has  been a quilt show, workshops, work, family events ..... the list goes on. All these things have been wonderful, but right now I am feeling TIRED. Can you relate? So this week I thought I would make time to be indulgent.

For me that meant making time to sew something just for me. Not something for a workshop, or for a pattern, or for a present, something for fun! After all, isn't that why we started sewing in the first place ? It's easy to forget at times. Easy to push forward, but much harder to pull back! 

I started with some Color Brigade fabric from Jennifer Paganelli. I just love it's vibrancy, and those florals! Above is the Sewmiriam Handy Ziptop bag I made. 

Here is the other side

Then I pulled out some 'vintage' Jennifer Paganelli fabrics and added those to the mix, using my go to favourite log cabin block and made a few of those ( an Amy Butler found its way in too!) 

I am not sure where these are headed yet, but I think a gorgeous free range scrappy quilt is emerging. What do you think? I know its bright, bold and quirky, but there in lies its charm. This style is always a winner for me. 

Go on, indulge! 

Happy sewing, love Miriamx 

Sewmiriam Handy Ziptop Bag Workshop

Sometimes everything just works. The weather was perfect yesterday. The classroom was filled with sunshine and a wonderful group of ladies were gathered for a Sewmiriam workshop at Cottage Quiltworks. 

We had a great day of sewing and everyone was well on their way to making a Sewmiriam Ziptop Bag by the end of the day. There were some real treasures to be found in the fabric stashes too! Above are some of Maxine's gorgeous fabrics. I love the way she has put them together. 

Here is a wider shot. Maxine is stitching her quilt lines close together to create a textural quality to her bag. This bag is going to look amazing .

What always delights and amazes me is that we all start with the same pattern and the same instructions, and everyone ends up with a unique bag that reflects a little bit of themselves. Each bag has its own personality. I guess that's why this pattern is so popular. You can make several and no two need ever be the same. If they are for a gift, you can tailor make them to suit the recipients tastes and personality too. 

Nerida has a wonderful flair for combining colour as you can see below. How happy does this make you feel! 

Here is her finished bag...

Marissa is creating a bag with a gentle oriental feel, with accents of soft yellows and pale aquas. Your work is divine Marissa. 

Lay used her love of happy fabrics and spots to create this lovely bag below. Here is the front ..

And here is the back...

You would never know that Elizabeth had never sewn any patchwork before when you take a look at this beautiful bag she made yesterday in class. Drum roll please.... here is the front...

and equally as stunning the back...

And last, but certainly not least Pat brought in some delicate toile fabric to play with. We 'modernized' it for the front of the bag like so..

and left it as one piece for the back ...

A perfect way to finish this blogpost I think! One pattern - many interpretations - all beautiful . Well done ladies indeed! Thank you all for a great day . 

Happy sewing , love Miriamx