I had always wanted to learn how to make a patchwork quilt so last year my Sister-in-law and I enrolled in a class at a lovely shop not far from us, We had four lessons, one a week, and was taught how to cut out the fabrics with a rotary cutter which I had never used before and to piece the patchworks together on a sewing machine. The type of quilt we were making was like a giant chequer board but with rectangles instead of squares. The rectangles were alternated into one patterned piece and one plain piece. All the plain pieces were of the one background colour which either co-ordinated or contrasted to your patterned pieces. We picked the ...  Read the complete review

Patchwork is a fascinating hobby, it can be a very inexpensive hobby or on the other hand you can go to the other extreme and make it a very expensive hobby. I prefer to stay somewhere in the middle using new and recycled pieces of fabric working side by side to create plenty of interest. If you are turning out a few drawers then that can be the ideal time to recycle some fabric, I know that many articles of cotton clothing have ended up being cut down and reused for patching. But I feel that it is good to incorporate different types of fabric in a piece of work, fine woollen material works well beside cotton fibres and in general if the fabric looks good and ...  Read the complete review

Patchwork and quilting might have been, in the past, a way of using scraps and reusing old items of clothing to make useful items, but today, this has become a very popular craft. The fascination with taking a few pieces of fabric, cutting them up, and resewing them into blocks and patterns has become very popular, with several magazines available, all containing patterns and ideas for your next project; and a network of local quilting groups, where you can share your time and ability with other like-minded individuals. Competition is high, and prizes are too at some of the quilting competitions, with worldwide interest, especially from the USA. The resulting ...  Read the complete review

Some people walk into their local newsagents and look up at the top shelf whilst pretending to scratch their heads. Some people leave the house before dawn, opening the fridge door furtively to retrieve their collections of wriggling bait. Some people inject, some people people smoke. I collect fabric. Not from people's washing lines - I am not that bad. Not yet. From my favourite web site - well one of them anyway. www.sunflowerfabrics.com From fabric shops in town, anywhere I can get that rush. I feel it in between my fingers and stroke the surface. At the moment it has to be ...  Read the complete review