An evening with the Frome WI

On May 17th we were invited by the lovely ladies of the newly formed Frome Wi to be their guest speakers. All the team gathered together at the shop on beautiful Catherine hill and wandered up the hill to the United Reformed church hall on Whittox lane, sewing machines at the ready.

With plenty of space to spread out we quickly set up our 3 make tables and 3 demonstration tables. Tonights theme, Jubilee of course.

Two tables were making Jubilee corsages with Angela and myself and the other table were working on paper craft with Gaynor. Some fab pieces were made.

On the demonstration tables we had Vickie (Fromemaid) demonstrating her own jubilee tea cosy kits, 

Caroline was marking the jubilee with a special quilt demonstration 

and Becki was giving away expert tips in making jubilee bunting. 

A really lovely but exhausting evening and the ladies moved around the room, one lady referred to it as 'speed crafting'! Hopefully everyone had a go at the makes and were inspired by the demonstrations.

We have a range of jubilee fabrics, ribbons, buttons and bows in both shops. Fromemaid tea cosy's, Millie Moons Bunting and corsages are available ready made and in kit form. Pop in and be ready for your street party!


Thanks to Frome WI for inviting. We will see you in November for "christmas crafts"


 Photos supplied by Storm @ Frome WI
If you are interested in joining the WI, then please contact Storm via their Facebook page

Quilting Weekend!

We are delighted to announce that we have Anne Baxter coming to teach a quilting weekend in Frome!

Anne will be teaching a log cabin design, and the weekend will see you sew a large proportion of the project and equip you to complete it with confidence (fast workers may get very close to completing the quilt).

Here are all the details:

Dates: Sat 21st & Sun 22nd July 2012
Times: 10:00-16:00 each day with a break for lunch (not provided)
Place: The Bennett Centre (St John's Church Hall - opposite the auction rooms), Frome
Quilt design: Log cabin
Materials: Not included (a list will be provided) & you will need your own sewing machine
Tutor: Anne Baxter (www.annebaxter.co.uk)
Max places: 10
Fee: £115.00

Anne is a highly experienced patchwork & quilting tutor, and her classes are extremely popular (here's a blog post about one of Anne's Cornwall weekends). The class is suitable for people who haven't made a quilt before, but you must know how to use a sewing machine (how to thread it up and sew straight lines). Even more experienced quilters will learn invaluable hints and tips over the course of the weekend.

To book a place (they are sure to sell out quickly), call Millie Moon on 01373 464650.

Introducing Caroline Frances-Payne

Hi my name is Caroline, my passion is colour, Patchwork and Quilting.

I became interested in quilting when I lived In germany. I made a little jacket for my small daughter with material already quilted. They had some fabric in this gift shop in the town centre. I was enthralled by the little patterns on the fabric and would spend hours creating garments.




After a move back to England, ending up in Tidworth, I would get hooked on Readicut rugs but the passion for fabric was still burning.

We moved to Frome in early 1982, after a few years I was invited to join Frome quilters, thats when the passion really too off, I became a fan pf appliqué and would love to cut out loads of 'Sunbonnet Sues' using fabrics from a lovely little shop in stoney street. My girls got used to me frequently visiting and buying fabric which was small and dainty. My passion for colour came later when on a workshop by Carole Lizbeth I was blown away by her bold use of colour. I was hooked. Next came a workshop with the legendary Kaffe Fassett at the American Museum in Bath and I was overwhelmed by his thinking. From 3 simple templates you could achieve anything. It was all down to the pattern and colourways of the fabric.

Then along came Millie Moon to Catherine Hill. Vibrant and bright and full of colour. Glorious quilting fabrics on my doorstep. I soon became a regular at the shop and the girls offered me the fantastic opportunity to share my love of colour. I have now been teaching patchwork and quilting with them for 4 years. Each group, new and nervous is a wonderful challenge to me, I love to see them develop into positive people each week and by the end of the course the look on their faces says it all. Its lovely to see that the joy of such a craft is not lost forever and we can make this happen by introducing them to patchwork in many ways and watch it grow.

    

I live in Frome with my husband Charlie and our 2 Jack Russell's, Doris Day and Moo Cow. I sew everyday and get my fix of colour and creation. Come and join me.

By Caroline x

Carolines next beginners Patchwork and Quilting workshop begins on Wednesday 13th June 6.30-8.30pm for 6 weeks in Frome.

Caroline also runs an 'Introduction to Patchwork' workshop once a month. The next available is;
Wells:  Sunday 20th May 10.30-2.00pm
Frome: Tuesday 19th June 1.30-4.30pm

Caroline is also available for 1-1 tuition

Call the shop to book your place. 

Rachel Ashwell, Shabby Chic fabrics

I am not sure when Rachel Ashwell first appeared on my radar but I have been an avid fan for quite a while. I love to drool over the beautiful furnishings and fabrics and dream of owning a house that is completely furnished with Shabby chic. Unfortunately my house, my kids and my husband would not allow the beautiful girlie pastels so I keep dreaming over the fabulous website and Rachel's inspiring blog.


In January this year I was lucky enough to take a trip to New York City for my birthday. On my list of 'must do' , was to visit the Rachel Ashwell store in Soho, and... yes I did! 
Oh my, it was heaven. Gorgeous plump pillows, eiderdowns, feathers, grown up spaces... 'sigh' (My husband did venture inside but only for a few moments and then left to wait outside). 


When I heard the news that Rachel was launching a fabric range 'Treasures' Shabby chic, I knew we had to have it in Millie Moon. Its such a different range for us, Millie Moon is well know for its bright and bold prints but I twisted Becki's arm that it would be a wonderful new addition.





Well the time has come and the FULL range has arrived in store. With 32 bolts of shabby chic pastels now available in both shops. I feel a quilt coming... Maybe I will finally be able to have my own little grown up space, or at least be able to hide under a shabby chic quilt with my book and a bar of chocolate and shut out the madness for a little while. 


Rachel x 

also new cross stitch and embroidery kits just arrive

Pleas take a look at the website and blog, you won't be disappointed 
www.shabbychic.com
rachelashwellshabbychic.blogspot.com

Yummy projects by Angie Somerville

Hello its Angela here,

Well this week I bumped into Angie Sommerville (a familiar face to the Millie Moon team) and whilst having a good natter Angie showed me some pictures of the projects she had been up to. I was so impressed I had to share with all.

The cushion is a dresden plate design that Angie has taken from a Cath Kidston book. She has made it into a cushion rather than a bag which is featured in the book. Its so lovely, I want one. The quilt Angie has produced ( so so beautiful ) will most definitely keep her toasty over this February freeze; has been made using stash fabrics from Angie's ever increasing selection of Millie Moon fabrics and left overs from the quilting course that she did with Caroline. Don't know about you but definitely makes me want to make a quilt, very inspiring, thank you Angie.

Come visit us in store to show off your projects, the Millie Moon team love to nosey over whats keeping you creative and smiling.

Charm pack quilting

We now have a nice selection of Moda Charm Packs in both Frome and Wells, so we thought we would show you a quilt that Jen A-C, one of our customers, recently completed.
This is a simple quilt, made using the Disappearing Nine Patch design (the link takes you to a basic tutorial on creating this design).

Materials:
2 Moda Sophie Charm Packs (or 81 x 5" squares),
30cm of pale cream fabric for the framing border,
1m of brown spots for the main border and binding,
1.5m of wadding
1.5m of red gingham for the backing.

These materials make a finished quilt that is approx. 125cm square. This is a reasonable size to machine-quilt without needing a special long-arm quilting machine. Jen quilted hers using the shadow technique, with lines around each of the blocks in the centre panel. She quilted the border more densely, with parallel lines every cm or so. The finished quilt is already in much demand in her sitting room!
You can read more about Jen's quilt over on her blog: JenACKnitwear's Disappearing Nine Patch Quilt
Do call the shop if you would like the supplies to make your own quilt (01373 464650).

Blog Review: I'm a Ginger Monkey

As we were updating our blog list (on the right of the main blog homepage), we thought we would explain what makes our favourite blogs so special.

First up is I'm a Ginger Monkey. Monkey Do (AKA I'm a Ginger Monkey) is a blog of pure quilting enthusiasm. Katy shares her projects and designs with a sense of joy that is dangerously infectious.

This recent quilt is particularly stunning, isn't it?

Katy made it with her own adaptations, starting from a design in Issue 5 of Fat Quarterly.

There are many reasons for making I'm a Ginger Monkey a regular blog read, but over and above the regular posts, there is also a wealth of information in the tutorial section. It contains downloadable instructions for some lovely projects and techniques. The instructions on binding a quilt are among the clearest we've seen, and we're loving the quilt designs as well. The instructions and photography are clear, leaving no questions about how to carry out each step.

Katy also does regular reviews of the latest fabric lines and gadgets. Her posts regularly send us scurrying off to check out the newest arrivals from our suppliers. She visited Quilt Market in the States just last month, and her round-up of booths left us more impatient than ever for next season's fabrics to arrive.

Finally, Katy is part of the team at the modern quilting e-zine, Fat Quarterly. If you haven't heard of FQ, then, do head straight over and download an issue. It's a must-read for quilters wanting to try new ideas and hear about the latest products.

Which blogs to you read regularly? Please do let us know.

Introducing... Rachel Le Page

Have you wondered who makes the quilts? Which team member creates wonderful collages? And who loves nothing better than to bake cakes?

Each week we will be interviewing a member of Team Millie Moon, and all of the answers will be revealed!

Rachel will be a familiar face to most Millie Moon customers, as she owns the shop jointly with her sister, Becki. We caught up with Rachel in the Frome shop, and asked her about her sewing habits...

Rachel loves to bake... and quilt!

1) How did you learn to sew?
I had needlework lessons at school when I was growing up. They weren't very inspiring, and the projects were mostly pretty horrid. But it must have sparked something in me, as I started to make things at home. I borrowed my Mum's sewing machine, and made clothes. I remember, I must have been about 14, and I used to lay dresses onto fabric and cut out pieces. I didn't know what I was doing, but I enjoyed it.

I then had a break for quite a few years before picking up my sewing needle again, about 8 years ago, when I had my first child.

2) What sorts of things do you like to make?
Cakes! I adore baking... Oh, sorry, did you mean sewing?


I mostly make quilts. I love combining fabric for specific projects - making gifts for friends and family. I rarely sew for myself, and I lack the precision needed for dressmaking!

3) What gadget could you not live without having?

Rachel made this quilt for her niece

Undoubtably my rotary cutter. It's brilliant for cutting pieces for patchwork. It gives me precision. I love it!

4) Who inspires you to create?
At the moment I'm having a hard time holding myself back from the new Aneela Hoey Little Apples layer cakes. They are absolutely gorgeous! I think they would make a wonderful quilt for a child or an adult. I'm also a big fan of anything Scandinavian. I adore the Tilda fabric range - such simple beauty.

Rachel also looks after the Millie Moon Twitter account (@MillieMoonShop), so do say hello and share pictures of what you've been making either on our Facebook group, or on Twitter.

Tape Maker: My favourite gadget

I want to sing the praises of Tape Makers. They take all of the fiddle out of making (bias) binding.

These handy little gadgets can save your fingers from the perils of the iron! I own 3 different sizes, from 50mm to 18mm, and I use them all the time.

The instructions that come with the tape maker will tell you how wide you need to cut your fabric for each size. Just in case you've mislaid your instructions, here is a reminder:

6mm tape = 13mm fabric

12mm tape = 25mm fabric

18mm tape = 36mm fabric

25mm tape = 48mm fabric

50mm tape = 96mm fabric

The only tricky part is getting them threaded in the first place, but I've discovered that if you cut a bit of taper into the end of the fabric strip, it makes it simple. You just feed the end of fabric in, and use a pin to help work it through, if needed.

Once you have some fabric appearing out from the other end, pull a little through, so that you are past the tapered section.

You then pull the tape maker along, and press the tape with your iron as it comes out the end. You can really get some speed going with this handy gizmo!

Fabric to tape in a jiffy!!

I love this shot of my long strip of fabric in the foreground, with the newly made tape in the background.

I used 10 jelly roll strips, trimmed to size, and this made binding for all 3 of the quilts in my jelly roll post. Once the strips were sewn together, it took maybe 5 minutes in total to turn them all into tape. Gone are the days of burnt fingers!

And voila! A whole roll of finished tape. I'd better get on with quilting those crib quilts hadn't I?

Jelly Roll Love

Jelly rolls have been literally flying off the shelves in both Frome and Wells, so we thought we would share some jelly roll quilt ideas with you.

First up, what is a Jelly Roll?
It's a set of strips of coordinating fabric, that are cut and ready to use in a range of projects. Strips are 2.5in/approx. 6cm wide, and are the length of the width of the fabric (so usually approx. 44in/112cm). The number of different fabrics in a roll depends on how many fabrics are in that range, or simply on the size of the roll.


Which fabrics come in rolls?
We're really pleased to announce that we are now Moda stockists, and will be getting our first proper shipment in the new year. Whoop, whoop! In the meantime, we have a couple of Moda Sophie Jelly Rolls (top right in the picture above), and some Rooftop Garden Charm Packs to keep us out of mischief. Do call the shop if you would like either of these (01373 464650).
We have a good supply of Westminster Fabrics rolls as well (see the selection in the picture above). There are plenty to choose from!


What can I do with a roll?
The possibilities are endless. Rolls can be used in so many ways, so here are a few simple ideas to get you started...


Striped crib quilt
Sew the strips together, and add a simple border, to make a striped quilt top. I joined 14 strips, and then cut the piece in half to make two crib quilt tops. Simple!

Weekend quilting idea
This quilt was completed over the weekend, but probably only took a total of 7 hours (including hand-sewing the final edge of the binding).

It is a simple design, so here are the instructions:
Put together 3 sets of 5 strips.

Join each group of 5 to make long striped rectangles, and then measure the width, and cut the rectangle into 4 squares. My rectangle was 10.25in wide (26cm), and I cut four 10.25in squares from each piece.

I then laid out the pieces so that the squares alternated between horizontal and vertical, and joined to make 3 strips of 4 squares. Those strips were then joined to make the rectangle pictured above.
I added a 4in (10cm) border around the outside, and then basted the quilt top together with wadding and a plain orange backing.
I tend to use simple geometric shapes for quilting, and here I just followed the edges of the squares, around 0.5in (1cm) from the edge. This is a really forgiving quilting method. If you quilt "in the ditch", then it's really obvious if you stray even a little. When you move out by a little distance, then no-one will notice if your quilting lines are slightly less than perfect. I finished the quilting by sewing around the outside border - again at the same distance from the actual seam.

There were plenty of strips left over from the roll, so I trimmed them down to use for binding. You can see that the colours change around the quilt border - you could keep to one side more coordinating colours, but I like the contrast effect!

So from my one jelly roll, 0.5m of border fabric and 2.5m of backing, I have 3 quilts! Two small crib quilts (27in x 33in/69cm x 84cm) and a larger child's quilt (38in x 47in/97cm x 120cm). Not bad for a weekend of sewing, is it?

Do you have any Jelly Roll hints and tips?