Prime time television has been taken over by sewing competitions (I don’t actually know if the show ‘The Great British Sewing Bee’ is any good as I haven’t seen it) but the point is it seems they have discovered our secret.

I was sent a photo of my 12 year old niece, Tilly  in the UK with her new sewing machine. Along with my sister-in-law & my sister-in-laws sister, she has been busy beavering away making IPad covers & other gorgeous things . . . it makes me shiver with pride & warms the cockles of my heart. . . love that beautiful girl x o x 0 x

Anyhoo . . . we already know how wonderful it is to sew so with all this in mind I have been busy sorting out next terms sewing classes  for Sew-Along with my totally obsessed sewing chum, Jemima and we have got some real treats!

LONE STAR QUILT CLASS

monday mornings or tuesday evenings

We are kicking off the term with our Lone Star quilt that I blogged about last time. A great class for those up to a bit more of a challenge.

to book contact jemima here

QUILTING FOR BEGINNERS CLASS

monday mornings or tuesday evenings – running along side the Lone Star Quilt class

We have made plenty of these quilts in class & every single one of them has been stunning. If you are new to patchwork then our class to teach you a classic disappearing nine patch is perfect to to learn all the basic skills of cutting, stitching & piecing

to book contact jemima here

ROUND CUSHION STACK

monday mornings or tuesday evenings

We are forever being asked to repeat this class so here it is. A totally fun & enjoyable class to make these two delightful cushions. We will have kits to order for this class to save you the hassle of fabric shopping. If you just want to learn the basics of cushion making then we will also be teaching this too

to book contact jemima here

CRAZY FOR BAGS

monday mornings or tuesday evenings

We love a good bag & we love a good bag class even more! We have a catalogue of bags to choose from but new to this class is our very elegant clutch bag, hobby bags to keep all those unfinished projects looking tidy  & a HUGE HUGE bag to carry your cutting mat & equipment to class – one to save your fingers & shoulders!

to book contact jemima here

DOMESTIC GODDESS SATURDAY

It seems to me that despite the age of equality women still do most of the housework, so we would like you to look totally gorgeous in the process! We are still working on the samples so the photos are still to come – lunch & treats are also included in this class! . . . . more info to follow

Class bookings are done through Jemima at tiedwitharibbon@gmail.com . . . cos she is much better at it then me! . . . classes book quickly!

See you in class

x Claire

I saw a wonky Lone Star quilt on Pintrest that sparked my imagination so, any excuse to head to the fabric shop I went with a colour scheme in mind & got to work. Of course I came out of the shop with totally different colours then I had in mind but you get that . . .

My intention was to make it in bright oranges & pinks but I fell in love with these very femine delicate colours.

It was a fabulous challenge as all the angles in the diamonds are cut on the bias so it all gets quite stretchy when you sew it together – it required delicate hands & lots of pinning! Using vintage linens & some Liberty Lawn only added to the drama!

Quilting it was another challenge (although I have to confess I didn’t quilt it) but deciding how to quilt it was tricky! But on the advise of my very talented quilter it has come up a dream.

so, there it is . . . finished in all its girly loveliness.

x Claire

booking are now open & places are filling fast. Booking can be made with Jemima here

Summer Dresses & Tops

. . . sounds tricky but its really quite simple & the shirred top is a great project that you will whizz through in one class!

Quilting Skills & Funky Felt Cushions

all dates, costs & details can be found here

Hope to see you next year

x x Claire

It was one of the best weeks ever & I got to share it with a truly wonderful group of ladies & I can’t wait to do it again!

I knew that it was going to be a very productive weekend but I was amazed at how productive it was,  with some ladies completing two quilt tops. It was great to see lots of different projects being done & peoples UFO piles being worked through.

We kicked off the weekend with a ‘mystery project’ – if the truth be known, it was a mystery to us as well until a few weeks ago when I got my backside in gear. So we raided Jemima’s stash of felt & kitted up some cute little strawberry pin cushions. The idea behind it was to have a quick little project that everyone could hand sew, chat & get to know each other & it was great to see that even though it wasn’t compulsory, everyone was keen to give it a go & they all looked delicious!

Apart from the assortment of lovelies being sewn, Jemima ran a Log Cabin workshop Saturday morning, while I ran around making sure everyone else was coping. Now we all know that a log cabin is not that tricky but it does takes time, patience & a degree of skill. There were some beauties put together over the weekend & all in stunning colour combinations. Lindy’s Kaffe Log Cabin was gorgeous & it was great to see how the use of more subtle colours could produce a such a stunning quilt like the one that Nicola did. Pamela’s use of bright pinks & reds set against the dark grey linen was simply stunning & well done to Lisette & Margaret who had never tackled a machine pieced quilt before – they were fab!

I have to admire the dedication of some girls as despite the weekend being a ‘retreat’ they worked their buns off. We had ladies who starting sewing at five in the morning – (in their pyjamas) & they were still going well into the night! (thankfully they had changed out of their pj’s) There were a few ladies who hadn’t done much sewing before but being surrounded by so much inspiration they were encouraged to produce some results to be very proud of.

Aside from all the business of sewing it was wonderful to stay somewhere comfortable & homely & to be so well looked after. Peter & Delveen at the Avalon Homestead in Toodyay certainly knew how to spoil us with delicious home cooked meals & desserts . . . it’s amazing how much nicer food is if you haven’t had to cook it yourself! Jemima once again proved what a domestic goddess she is with her home baked goodies and they went down a treat with the limitless supply of coffee!

What did I get sewn? . . . . well not a lot. I was more then happy helping out, teaching & chatting. In fact,  I think I love the chatting!

. . . . oh & of course the cakes!

Hopefully it was a great success & everyone left happy. We are planning another one for next March & if the gods are shining on us then we will be doing a third later in 2013, fingers crossed for that one.

The retreat in March is from the 15th – 17th & bookings open on Tuesday 13th November – be quick if you’d like to join us as thy will be done on a first come first served basis!

x x happy stitching!

p.s all the photos are uploaded onto my facebook page

. . . . all I have to do is try & squeeze it all, two sewing machines, two ironing boards, one overlocker, one friend & myself into the back of my little Honda.

If you are wondering where we are going, we are are heading up to Toodyay which is about 1 1/2 hours inland from Perth to the Avalon Homestead. It is set amongth the hillside surrounded by bush & wildlife so it will be really nice to take a few deep breaths of fresh air.

We have a welcome BBQ organised for the first night then we are doing a little mystery workshop!! . . . . it’s a simple little hand sewing project to make something ‘uber’ sweet – be really nice to get to know everyone without the sound of busy sewing machines drowning us out . . . that is saved for saturday when hopefully it will be a really busy day!

Keep an eye on my facebook page as I’ll keep you posted on everyones progress!

Happy stitching

x x

There will be some familiar faces, treasured customers from my Hot Possum days & some brand new faces! We have decided to open up our Sew-Along pattern catalogue so we will have ladies making quilts, handbags, & a whole host of Christmas projects. My husband is under the impression that I am going for ‘retreat’ myself but I am sure that I will be running my little butt off! . . . Bring it on! We are planning another retreat for autumn next year so if you missed out on this one there will be news soon of what we have planned for the next one.

I have had quite a bust few months. I was at the last Perth Upmarket which is always a fun day & always a treat for my stomach . . . cupcakes, fudge, cookies . . . . YUM! Upmarket is the place where we meet most of our new Sew-Along class members & this terms classes have filled quickly so I’m sure there are going to be Christmas sacks full of some beautiful handmade goodies this year.

I have been working on some new cushion designs which will appear on my Etsy site in the next week. If you can’t wait for the pattern to arrive in the mail then I now have PDF patterns for sale for you to download straight way then you can get started almost as soon as you have ordered it!!  Isn’t technology amazing

So onward with this terms projects . . . if my kids let me get to my sewing machine in the next few weeks, hopefully my new range of lap quilts, cot quilts & bed quilts will finally get finished . . . not a lot gets done in the school holidays!

happy stitching x x

The quilt at the top of this post is Sew-Alongs ‘Spring carnival’ that we re teaching in this terms classes.

We are kicking off the term with a brand new quilt called Spring carnival. It’s all about the curves as I know there are a few girls out there that need some new challenges. If curves all seem a bit tricky then we can teach you how to do triangles but either way it is a great quilt to master some useful skills.

The lovely Julia Punlar quilted this for us using a metallic thread & dragonfly design & it looks truely fab in the flesh!

Can you believe that Christmas is only 12ish weeks away! Eeeeek! . . . better get started on those Christmas Projects! I of course,  have already been submerged in Christmas Projects making samples for class. Some of the new projects we have been working on are a really funky table runner and door wreath to match our existing advent calender & santa sacks

We also had an idea to run a class to make things for the kids to open on christmas day. My five year old has been having great fun in a TeePee that I made her so we will be teaching you how to make these in our last class of the year. I have also designed some very cute & handy play mats/bags. These are great when you are heading out for the day, just load the zipped bag up with cars or toys & the kids are kept busy . . . better then playing on the IPhone!!

Booking for these classes are done through Jemima – she’s the more organised one of us! Classes are still being held at the Mount Lawley Tennis Club Monday mornings & Tuesday evenings & hopefully in the next few weeks I’ll get the patterns up for sale on my Etsy site for those of you that can’t make class

x Have a fab weekend

bookings with Jemima at tiedwitharibbon

The whole wallet does up at the front with a velcro strap! I made the pockets for the pens in strips of fabric that came together to make a rainbow. She draws me rainbows all the time & I thought this would help her with her colours & teach her to be organised! (one can only hope!!)

. . . now all I need to do is make myself a nice big new handbag to fit it into so it can come out with Heidi & I for a cappuccino

x x

I have actually made 5 quilts in the last month or so plus a heap of designs. . .

The designs are all a work in progress & coming along beautifully & two of the quilts are for magazines so I am not allowed to show you, which is a bugger! However, my gnome quilt has finally been printed in this months Homespun magazine (Homespun Vol 13 No eight). All the pattern templates & instructions are in the magazine so you can get busy & make it for yourself! You can now subscribe to Homespun online & receive your copy digitally on your Ipad & computer. click here for more info.

. . . the others are quilts that had taken up residence in my ‘to-do’ box where they had sat nice & cosy for quite a while until I disappeared down to Rockingham for a girls sewing retreat

Retreat is such a treat! . . . the girls where fabulous . . . the ‘silent nuns’ where interesting!

anyway, here’s a bit of what I have been up to . . .

x x

Dr Seuss Quilt finally finished . . . I made two of these & I am having them quilted with polar fleece on the back to make them really cuddly TV blankets for the family to fight over!

sneaky peek . . . shhhhhh! . . . new quilt for a magazine!

I had super fun with this wolf hat that I made for a customer . . . I can’t claim that I designed it, that honour goes to Lizette Greco. I saw the picture on Pinterest & worked out a pattern from the photo. There was a fury waistcoat & tail to go with it. I would like to say that I made one for my kids but once again they were sent to see what they could find in the dress up basket!

. . . it’s been quite a while since I designed something on a larger scale!

This is what I have been working on today, it has a very special destination so tomorrow I am going shopping . . . as this is my ‘not-buying-any-fabric-but-using-up-my-supplies’ year,  I am actually very excited about hitting the fabric shops!!

keep you posted on what i find!

x x

This design is the property & copyright of Claire Turpin Design & cannot be copied without permission.