by Sheena Aitken | Aug 16, 2024 | Inspirations, New posts
20 days until Festival of Quilts 2025 I can’t believe that it is under 3 weeks until Festival of Quilts 2025 opens. Are you going? I will be going again (as usual!) but I am doing things a little bit differently this year. I will actually be...
by Sheena Aitken | Feb 6, 2024 | Quilting Holidays, Perfect patchwork, Quilting techniques
Come to the wonderful Lickey Hills with Green Man Quilts! They were once a Royal Hunting reserve belonging to the Manor of Bromsgrove. The Hills now form a country park just outside Birmingham, and is a great place for a day out. According to...
by Sheena Aitken | Oct 26, 2023 | Talks
We often talk about going through hell and high water to deliver on our promises. I hadn’t expected it to be quite so literal! This is my car. It is old. It is basic. It is reliable and it rarely lets me down. It’s not fancy, it’s often a bit...
by Sheena Aitken | Sep 30, 2023 | Quilting techniques
.At Festival of Quilts in August I went to have a look at the “Play Area” for the Grace Long Arm Quilting machines and frames. The stands were a collaboration between JB Sewing Machine Co (based in the UK) and The Grace Company, who came over from Utah....
by Sheena Aitken | Nov 14, 2022 | Perfect patchwork
There is little that I love more than getting a notification that one of my past students has signed up for one of my quilting freebies. It is all about sharing the love! There are lots of reasons why students become past students, sometimes it is a temporary...
by Sheena Aitken | Sep 13, 2022 | Improv, Student work
Oh My Golly Gosh!! Such excitement coming up! Come and join me at Thirkelow Cottage and Studio – Arts and Crafts Courses for a quilting get-away, where I will be teaching my fabulous Modern Improv Sampler wall hanging. Over three days, learn the skills to design...
by Sheena Aitken | Dec 23, 2021 | Improv, Perfect patchwork, Quilt Pattern Ideas, Quilting techniques, Tips and Stitches
In Patchwork and quilting a big thing is made about accuracy. Your seam allowance must be a precise quarter inch wide; your blocks must be trimmed to very precise sizes; you must ensure that you cut all of your fabric to precisely the right size, with precisely...
by Sheena Aitken | Oct 28, 2021 | Inspirations, Quilt Pattern Ideas, Work in progress
……… 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1 – Blast Off! Just like sending a space rocket up, launching a pattern is an absolute eon of effort for a few seconds of glory! I published my very first “proper” pattern...
by Sheena Aitken | Aug 5, 2021 | Inspirations, Quilting techniques
When I started taking classes with Judith Wilson, the very first quilt I made had a pieced back – I just needed a few extra inches across the width of the quilt, and so I added a strip of fabric, and then added a crosswise strip to add balance. ...
by katr3yn01 | Jun 6, 2021 | Dyeing, Inspirations, Work in progress
Ice dyeing is one of the easiest ways to dye your own fabrics. It works well with pieces up to a metre or so. Do make sure that you use cotton though – any polyester in the content will not dye. Put at its simplest, you soda soak your (well washed)...
