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So satisfying to pop out the back basted EPP hexies 😆 . #epp #hexies #handstitching #carolynforster #stitchtopiauk
Appliqué for the win today on our @stitchtopiauk back basted appliqué weekend! And more stitching to come tomorrow! #handstitching #handappliqué #backbastingneedleturnapplique #stitchtopiauk #carolynforster
Spent a lovely day stitching and chatting with friends both old and new. Marvelled at the joy of creating something from literally nothing and being totally absorbed by every minute of it 😊. Many thanks to @aitorsaraiba @searchpress and @theamelia_tw
#slowstitch #handstitching #handstitched
Playing with some gingham and a motif for the bonus project on the textiles trip to Romania with @stitchtopiauk next autumn! If you’re coming along there will be so much adventure and inspiration! #stitchtopiauk #ginghamembroidery #chickenscratchembroidery #carolynforster
Some days I really do need to focus. But some ideas are better out than in 🤷♀️🪡🧵.
#backbastedneedleturnapplique #handappliqué #handstitching #carolynforster
Circling back round to my first love of hexagons and Broderie Perse with inspiration from these bed hangings and quilt in the Norwich Museum. You’ll see what becomes of all this if you come to explore and stitch with me in Norfolk next year with @stitchtopiauk 😆. #handstitching #broderieperse #stitchtopiacraftholidays #carolynforster
A bit of a teaser of fun stuff to come next year! 😊 @searchpress @searchpress_na
So I went a bit off piste yesterday with the stitching.
You can swipe to see the process.
I was looking through the Alice Timmons book for some appliqué, but got caught up in the EPP!
The book has a quirky layout and you sort of come across things with no particular planning.
WhenI saw the wonky flower and the needle book front pictured in black and white, it got me thinking, and stitching. I used the pattern from the book and set about stitching. I was actually only going to file the pattern away for the future, but then no time like the present!
Don’t you love it when a fun stitch comes at you unexpectedly 😆🪡🧵.
#epp #wonkypatchwork #handstitching #carolynforster
Having a big sort out and tidy up of my appliqués ready for a studio photo shoot next week with @searchpress 😆🧵🪡.
In the meantime I’ve then been distracted/re inspired by some projects!
These ladies were on individual backgrounds, and now I’m wondering should they be standing together when I stitch more? Probably that was what stopped in the flow of this, I wasn’t happy with them on their own? Or the fact that that I felt it was as much about the shoes as the dresses? I might embroider them instead of applying them, or make the whole pattern bigger 🤷♀️.
Whatever you are stitching , have a good one !
#handappliqué #handstitching #handstitched #norush #carolynforster
Some days I really need saving from myself 😂.
Penultimate day of @seam_collective and the prompt is , what next ?
Keep moving forward and do your best .
There are always more quilts to create and stitch, more things for me to sew on a whim, more patterns to write and books to share and inspire you, but in essence it’s always moving forward and doing my best.
#carolynforster #septtextilelove
@seam_collective day 28 and the prompt is Place.
A place for everything and everything in its place.(Most often attributed to George Herbert, 1640, but the religious tract society 1799 for the exact wording is where the exact wording comes from).
Don’t you just love a quote!
This is my tray with my stitching things for when I sit down in the evening. It will always be hand stitching, piecing, quilting, or appliqué, and all the bits I need will always be ready and waiting. I’m currently back to quilting, hence the 12wt thread, but the black handled scissors are a left over from some applique last week,so perhaps I’m not as organised as I thought 😂🧵🪡.
#septtextilelove #handstitching #stitchingnotions #carolynforster
Back up with the @seam_collective and the #septtextilelove . Today is alignment.
Although I love all the quilts I make and things that I stitch, occasionally one will seem extra special. It’s not something that I can foresee it just happens and the way I feel about that quilt will be slightly different. This Ric Rac quilt is one of those.
A combination of different things that came together at a particular time to become this. It’s being quilted now that autumn is here so it will be taking on its next textured stage of its life.
#patchworkquilt #quiltinprogress #backbastedneedleturnapplique #carolynforster
Excited to share with you today the fun #quiltblockcarddeck from @holdmyseamripper !
This Quilt Block Card Deck is a box of delights coming out at the end of the month, so you can pre order now from your local quilt shop, from Holly if you are in Canada, or your favourite bookseller and from the publisher @searchpress .
Inside are 50 four inch cards each with a different patchwork block, and you know how I love a quilt block!
The blocks make up to 8 in finished size and all the instructions are on the cards, or in the accompanying instruction booklet.
I love the fact that you can play about the cards to arrange your blocks before stitching!
I stitched four blocks to try out some of the techniques the box introduced me to.
These worked out perfectly and I’ve stitched them into a Rice Bag, as the blocks get shown off beautifully on each side of the bag.
I hope the box of blocks inspires you as it’s inspired me!
#holdmyseamripper #searchpress #quiltblocks #carolynforster
A few process shots as sometimes I’ll just show you how it is 🤓.
#quiltasyougo #QAYG #quiltingonthego #carolynforster
@seams_collective September posting challenge continues today, day 21 with the prompt, Time.
I’m often told that I must spend a lot of time sewing .
And it’s true, to get all the ideas I have out there into fabric then I need to spend the time stitching them.
But I stitch different things at different times.
My machine stitching is generally done during the day, and mostly after I’ve completed other tasks.
My hand stitching of any sort is done in the evening, but the prep will be during the day. If I’m travelling then there is always a hand stitching project on the go, literally, and that’s one of the reasons the Quilt as you Go appeals to me so much, that by planning and deciding on your project you can literally make a quilt anywhere 😃🪡🧵.
I also stitch on trains and planes and in hotel rooms. I’m always glad of a nice crisp whit duvet cover to photograph projects on 🤣. The above a is my hotel room sewing today, making the most of time before I visit with a group to give a talk, ironically on QAYG !
I definitely find that by having a a number of sewing techniques to draw on, there is always a time when I can be stitching!
#quiltingonthego #septtextilelove #carolynforster #sewingonthego
@seam_collective and the prompt is Growth, I’m guessing it’s for day 20 as I’ve not checked the chart and I fell off the wagon for a few days 🤣.
Although I mostly create from traditional patchwork blocks and old quilts from endless research books and museum archives, I look a lot at some favourite textile artists.
Someone who amazes me with their creativity and productivity is @miesjechafer .
Her colours are so much fun!
I tried out her Criss Cross pattern last week . I was away and only had fabric strips from the quilt I had taken with me to work on. For me this is when I can grow and learn. With only a limited amount and palette of fabrics, I really have to think!
It’s all very nice when I can just sew without thinking much about it. But when I only have certain things to work with, you do have to think and I felt learn more about what the fabrics will do and look like for you.
Hopefully that growth then works its way into my other projects!
Thanks @miesjechafer for the fun pattern, you can find it on her site through the links.
#scrapquilt #septtextilelove #miesjechafer #quiltinprogress #carolynforster
@seam_collective and the prompt for day 16 is technology.
For me the most technologically advanced thing I use for the activity of sewing is my sewing machine.
This one I saw in a shop this week, but I do have similar and older at home. And most of them have been used at some stage by me to stitch patchwork.
They are not what I use on a regular basis, but there is really no reason why I couldn’t. They all do an amazing straight stitch which is all you need for patchwork.
It doesn’t mean that I didn’t buy myself a new machine this year for teaching when I travel though 😆. Yes I wanted an automatic needle threader and the up and down needle position, and an automatic thread cutter, but that was the sum of what I needed technology at this stage to do for me! And even on my home machine, more all singing and dancing, a lot of it I never and probably will never use!
#septtextilelove #vintagesewingmachine #carolynforster
@seam_collective and the prompt today is Celebration.
I do think every quilt made is cause for a celebration 🎉. All the time, effort, thought and love that goes into a quilt should never be taken for granted. Many of the quilts we see in museums are only there because they were saved for best. But really quilts are made to be used, and it’s those tatty ones that might not get their museum place which I think are the most celebrated. Having fulfilled their destiny daily on beds in homes.
The quilt in the picture in two colour ways is my latest celebration share with folks in class’s and with the pattern and templates that you can use to stitch and celebrate your own!
Twirling Stars is available from me , £25 UK postage included. Just email via my website , and sign up to my newsletter to see what’s happening this autumn!
#twirlingstars #twirlingstarsquilt #handpeicedpatchwork #handpiecedquilt #carolynforster
@seam_collective day 13, Rethink.
Yesterday was a bit of a re set rethink day here where I gave myself a sewing retreat day! Yes I know, a staycation but with stitching. I’ll pay to go on these, and love every immersed minute, but yesterday I did it myself! Although I’m pretty much stitching what I fancy most of the time, I don’t often give myself the time to do what I call the ditsy things. I spend a lot of time looking at other folks work, even buying their pieces, needle books, pincushions etc.. as they are so clever and covetable.
But really I could stitch my own, if I rethought it and gave myself the time.
I usually view it as time away from the patchwork which I love, but often when I’m stitching these fun ideas other thoughts marinade and ideas pop to the surface.
So not only do I get to stitch all the fun little bits that I save my scraps for, but I get new quilt ideas too!
So yesterday I stitched sewing bag charms and today I work on completing the first stage of a quilt but with ditsy bits to accompany me 🤓🪡🧵
#septtextilelove26 #stlday13 #carolynforster #sewingbag
@seam_collective , day 11, language.
No matter what language you speak we all understand the meaning behind making and sometimes giving a quilt. We all understand what draws each of us to stitch and share our joy of stitching.
#alphabetquilt #patchwork #scrapquilt #carolynforster #septtextilelove26
