The Quilt Room

Dream Challenge Update!

I'm finding it quite difficult to find images to put on the blog at present as I am spending all my time working on the Dream Challenge quilts and of course I can't show anyone what I am working on. I don't want to give anything away.

I have just come back from a very very busy time in Dorking. I drove up late Wednesday night and then worked a 14 hour day on Thursday and a 12 hour day on Friday.... and then decided I wanted to be back home in Cornwall so drove 4 hours home. I think I drove everyone mad in the shop as I was a bit manic but we got so much done.  Is it worth living in Cornwall with the shop in Dorking? Absolutely....... I just love Cornwall and I love where I live.

This is my supper tonight. Sea trout which Nick caught from our little piece of river while I was up in Dorking, courgettes picked today from my vegetable garden and gooseberry and rhubarb pie also picked today - yes I know a pretty wierd combination but it was good. We also had carrots and potatoes from the veggie patch.

 

Now back to the Dream Challenge which is what you all want to know about...... Nicky and I have a meeting with the publishers next week and fingers crossed and with no last minute changing our minds we hope to present them with the twelve winners then. Once David & Charles have our decision they will then put the wheels in motion to let everyone know.  You will definitely be advised by the end of the month - so not long now. We have read and re-read the patterns over and over again making sure we have not missed anything and we have tested nearly twenty of the designs. Can we really be getting near that final decision - WOW!!!

Jelly Roll Block of the Month

Well we did promise you a gorgeous quilt using Tanya Whelan's Delilah range of fabrics and here it is. We absolutely love it and we have called it Celebration.

It is a six month Jelly Roll Block of the Month to celebrate our 30th anniversary at The Quilt Room.... can it really be 30th years - I don't think I'm old enough!!!

We will have the quilt on display at the Malvern Show next week and we will be starting the programme then. It will be £15.95 per month for six months - you will also be able to sign up on line by next week. It is so exciting. We will send the strips each month to you ready cut so there will be no need to cut your own strips nor will you have to do any sorting - sounds too good to be true!

It is certainly a busy time at the moment. Lots of new fabrics are arriving and we are trying to get everything cut and bundled for the Malvern show. Here is the brand new Mrs. March Collection from Lecien and we are trying to get jelly rolls ready for Malvern - so much cutting to do.

I'm sure I have mentioned it but 28 of our quilts from our books Two From One Jelly Roll Quilts and our brand new Jelly Roll Sampler Quilts are being exhibited. Jelly Roll Sampler Quilts is being launched at Malvern and has just been delivered to us. We are really pleased with it - we love the front cover and one of my lambs has crept into one of the photographs as well.

 

 

 

We've also got some new quilt kits from our Antique to Heirloom range which we are getting ready for Malvern. Here are Nicky and Chris pondering on how to quilt a lovely log cabin made up in the Lilac Hill range - should it be purple or green thread - big decision - purple thread won in the end and it looks fabulous.

Look forward to seeing you all at Malvern next week - come and see all the new quilts.

Delilah Jelly Roll has Arrived!

My Delilah jelly roll arrived from the shop and I knew I would be inspired.

I have a gorgeous Welsh medallion quilt in my collection which I want to use in our Antique to Heirloom series of patterns. I have been waiting for just the right fabric and Delilah is going to be perfect.

I couldn't wait to get started and I had my strips sorted about half an hour after the parcel arrived. Here is the centre of my medallion quilt. The original had only one star but I have adapted the design to make it more jelly roll friendly.

I will try and get it finished quickly as it would make a super Block of the Month - having a different border each month using different techniques. I will try.........

Just to keep you up to date with the lambing. We now have ten lambs - one of the Hebs born today is very tiny and born to a very young ewe who doesn't seem to know what on earth is going on. He seems to be feeding all right though and can just about totter around so I'm pretty optimistic.

Sleeves Galore!

Question:

What do you do when you have 28 quilts from our books being exhibited at Quilts UK at Malvern 19-22nd May and the National Quilt Championship at Sandown 17-19th June and none of them have sleeves? They are from our last book Two from One Jelly Roll Quilts and our new book due out in May Jelly Roll Sampler Quilts.

Answer:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes you've guessed - quilters to the rescue. Many thanks to those pictured here - Ellen, Isabel, Jilly, Sheila, Barbara, Pat, Kath and Vivian and to those who escaped before I got the camera out - the two Lesleys.

Thank you so much to you all.

Free Jelly Roll Pattern and Video!!

 

Nicky and I were so inspired by the new Pom Pom de Paris jelly roll from Moda's French General that we thought a FREE pattern and video would be fun. We made this quilt for our Strip Club meeting on 7th March and managed to video the making of it, taking in the different stages.

So if it inspires you, download the FREE pattern  and watch our video - in fact two videos as we split it into two - I think I got a bit carried away in front of the camera!

The Pom Pom de Paris jelly rolls have now arrived and are for sale in the shop or on line at www.quiltroom.co.uk. We also have a kit available which includes the background fabric and the co-ordinating binding. You will need the Multi-size 45/60 or a 60 degree triangle for cutting your triangles - the video shows you how to use it and this is also available on line. Have fun.

Click here to download your FREE Pom Pom Parade pattern

 

Jelly Roll Sampler Front Cover!

 

 

WOW - we really love this front cover. The David & Charles team certainly make our quilts look gorgeous. It is such an exciting time when all our hard work is done and they take over to get everything looking just perfect.

I just love it when they photograph the quilts in unusual places other than on a bed! This landscape is 'somewhere in Devon'  and some of the other outdoor shots in the book were taken in Cornwall. It does make the book feel very special for me. Do look out for our Big & Bold Sampler in the book featured with one of my Manx Loaghtan lambs... and yes there is a story behind every photo!

 

 

 

Lights... Action... Camera - or Something Like That!

Another busy week. On Wednesday the photographers came down to the house to take some styled shots of the quilts for the new book Jelly Roll Sampler Quilts. It was a superb autumnal day and the lighting was perfect. They took some gorgeous shots and everything was going so well until they took up the challenge and tried to photograph one of the quilts with some sheep! It seemed like a good idea at the time!

 

We started off with the whole flock in the barn and Nick trying to get them organised. Sarah above from David & Charles was in charge of making sure the quilt didn't fall off the gate (which it did) and the gate didn't fall on to the sheep (which it didn't quite). My job was to try and get the sheep to face the right way (which I couldn't). And yes we did have a runaway sheep but she came back later!

The photographers shown here stayed calm throughout and I can't believe that they actually managed to get some shots. I am really looking forward to seeing which ones end up in the book.

I'm off for a late holiday tomorrow to France and am just hoping that the strikers haven't managed to bring the country to a standstill.  Oh well - another adventure!

 

 

Delivery Time!

We've had 7th December on our calendar for weeks now and it came far too quickly! We knew all the quilts for the new book Two From One Jelly Roll Quilts had to be completed and delivered to the publishers by then and yes we did have them ready on time - only just!!

I made poor Cheryl, Marie and Sarah be photographed by them as proof of delivery. Thank goodness they don't ask me to do the photography for the book - sorry girls I could have taken a better shot!

You can see just a few of the quilts - in fact the ones you can see on top are made from fabrics not yet in the shops. Spinning Tops in the front is from a bright new range by Me & My Sister which we loved and the red, blue and grey one is the new range from French General. Rouennerries, their current range, is available now and is walking out of the shop. We think their next range Rural Jardin is just as good - maybe even better - as it also includes some gorgeous blues.

So quilts delivered safely and thoughts turn to the next project..................???

Only two weeks now to Christmas - I am sure you are much more organised than me. I've managed to buy some Christmas crackers and that is about all. Nicky poor girl is currently homeless and just hoping that her new house is ready by Christmas. They completed on their sale last week and their new house is just not quite ready although promised for the 18th. Fingers crossed she will be in for Christmas.

Jelly Roll Variation

It is always nice to see someone's interpretation of your pattern and this has just been sent to me by Anne Arthur. She has used the pattern from the first Jelly Roll Quilt book and just look at this applique. Her friend did it for her - how we all wish to have friends like that! It looks wonderful and is now being sent off to be longarm quilted.

It's lovely to feature quilts which people have made from the Jelly Roll books and it is surprising to see just how different they can look.

If you have a variation of any of the quilts from our books then do let us have a photo as we love to see them.

One of us had to go!

W  I wasn't sure which of us would expire first - my sewing machine - my iron or me! Well I am pleased to report that it wasn't me and here is my nice new iron. 

Last week Moda sent us some jelly rolls which are not due out until next spring so we just had to redo some of our quilts for the new book in these gorgeous new fabrics. I know it was a bit silly as our first quilts looked great but quilters are a little mad and when you get some brand new fabric you can't wait to see how it is going to look made up.

While Nicky has been slaving away quilting and binding all the quilts, I have been remaking some in the new ranges knowing that the deadline to get them to the publishers was just a week away!! My iron expired yesterday afternoon as I was pressing the last quilt in readiness for a border - why it couldn't have waited until the border was on and pressed I don't know but I suppose I would have had to buy another eventually as Nick is hoping to get some shirts ironed at some stage!

Nick doesn't seem overly worried about never having ironed shirts as this is the view from my sewing room. He is off with the dogs catching those elusive fish. The dogs look extremely well behaved but it is another story when he hooks a fish. They go absolutely mad and leap in the water and are a perfect nuisance.

Anyway..... quilts are now all pieced and we have been given a few extra weeks from David & Charles to get them quilted and bound. They all look brilliant - even if I say it myself and it was definitely worth redoing them in the new fabric. I shall tell you all about the new ranges in my next post.