Sew, Sew, Quilt As You Go! – Apr. 2022
Friday 1st April 2022
Hello everyone,
What lovely spring weather we’ve been having recently, it’s really put me in a cheery mood. And do you know what else has put me in cheery mood? Knowing that I’m going to be sharing some wonderful news about all the amazing fabrics and products which are arriving at Sew-Drops this month!
So I may have given you a pretty big clue in the title of this blog, but I am happy to announce that we are officially proud stockists of June Tailor’s ‘Quilt as you Go’ kits. Established since 1961, June Tailor’s kits are made in the USA and have been designed to easily help you to complete your quilting projects with professionally finished results.
We’ve currently got 12 x different kits available on our website; including quilts, insulated lunch boxes, tote bags, cosmetic bags, table runners and placemats. Each kit will come with pre-printed wadding and step-by-step instructions, and depending on which kit you choose, there will be any necessary materials including the Zippity Do Done zips, webbing for bag projects, etc.
All the kits include links to step-by-step tutorial videos on June Tailor’s YouTube channel.
Now, I need to point out that there are NO fabrics included in any of the kits, so you will be able to choose your own. I also recommend that you have some starch spray for piecing and co-ordinating threads too.
I’m currently working on one of the kits, the ‘London Labyrinth’ quilt (above), using fabrics from Liberty Fabric’s Winterbourne collection. I’m almost finished, but one thing I’ve found to be very helpful is having the layout for the quilt blocks printed onto the wadding; it’s made piecing the strips together a lot easier, like colouring by numbers.
Oh, before I forget, Lewis & Irene’s Celtic Dream collection is now available on our website!
Later on this month, we’ll be getting our second fabric collection of the year, Henry Glass ‘Say it with a Stitch’, which will feature the beautiful sewing-themed designs of Mandy Shaw. Known for her embroidery and stitchery projects, Mandy has teamed up with Henry Glass Fabrics to create this charming line of 13 x sayings and sewing items; designs include 24″ panels, hearts, thimbles, as well as some small simple prints such as dots, packed buttons, and a small floral ditsy.
As soon as I saw this collection, I knew I would be making a fabric notice board for my sewing room, but there are so many amazing sewing-themed projects you could use these fabrics for, e.g. sewing machine cover, cushion covers, wall-hangings, just to name a few.
Now, there were two reasons why we chose to stock this range, the first being that we loved the designs, but the second reason is a little more personal. A few months ago, I shared my Mum’s story about her ongoing battle with anxiety and how she has been doing sewing projects with me to help overcome it. The projects have consisted mainly of embroidery hoops and mini felt kits from Corinne Lapierre, but she’s also done a fair share of projects of Mandy Shaw’s too. Last Christmas we made 10 x mini heart decorations for our tree, and this year I’m currently making 12 x patchwork appliqué blocks for The Nutcracker Quilt – which I should hopefully have finished by the end of Summer.
My Mum has progressed so much in the last few months, and getting this collection is my way of saying ‘thank you’ to Mandy Shaw.
Finally, before I end this blog, I wanted to let you all know about two things which will be happening at Sew-Drops: –
Firstly, we’ve been waiting a very long time to start offering this (make that 2+ years) but in the next few weeks, we are going to start doing 1-1 sessions on Patchwork and Quilting to anyone living in Newton-le-Willows or locally e.g. Lowton, Golborne, Culcheth. Now, we’re still in the process of finalising everything, but if you would be interested, or have any questions, then please email me. More details about this will be announced soon once we are ready to begin.
Lastly, over the next few weeks, we will be making some small changes to our ‘Homepage’ design. I’m really excited about this, mainly because I want to try something new. Once we’re done, I’ll let you all know.
Thank you all so much for reading this month’s blog. I will be back in May with more news and updates on all the latest products and fabrics that will be arriving at Sew-Drops!
Best wishes,
Rebecca x
