Saturday Workshop

I love my Saturday Workshops. They are always busy, fun filled days and I am always inspired by the  talent of the participants. Here is just a small sample of the wonderful work done today.

First up is Sue's Sewmiriam Large Dresden Quilt. Her wonderful friends gave her today's workshop as a birthday present. How nice is that! What wonderful, thoughtful friends. Sue sewed up a storm and the results speak for themselves - spectacular!

Here is how it looks in its awesome entirety.

Caroline made her first Sewmiriam Handy Zip Top bag. Here is the front...

and here is the back. I love the fabric choices and the colours.Well done Caroline. Your bag is gorgeous.

Angela bought in a beautiful selection of floral fabrics to her first lesson. Mixing them with some clever stripes and spots she is well on the way to making both the front and back of her first Sewmiriam Handy Zip Top Bag. You can see some of Angela's beautiful work here...

And here....

Exquisite work Angela!

Sue B is busy building up her 6 inch blocks using Tilda fabrics. This isn't the final placement, but it is fun to start playing around with the blocks and to think about fabric framing. Here are Sue's soft and delicate blocks squared up and on point. 

Anne worked on the square borders of her beautiful star , based on the Barn Star from Victoria Findlay Wolfe's 15 Minutes of Play book. This photo montage does not do justice to the colours and beauty of this quilt which really glows. I can't wait to see it with the square borders stitched on.

So much talent in one room in one day! 

Next on my calendar is a Bag Making Workshop with the Epping Quilters on Thursday. I can't wait . 

Happy sewing, love Miriamx

Sewmiriam Workshop

What a day it has been! My Saturday workshop ladies are amazingly talented. I look forward to this class so much and today - well they took my breath away!

What delights me every single time in patchwork, is how the same pattern can look so different when interpreted in different colours and print styles. Read on and you will see what I mean.

Let's start with the stars inspired by the book 15 Minutes of Play by Victoria Findlay Wolfe. Here is Sandy's red and white version. It is stunning!

Here is Nancye's star done in Scandinavian style prints. It is beautiful and radiates elegance.

Here is Anne's lovely star on the design wall 

And here it is with the corner squares and inset triangles being added. Now the star is starting to glow!

Anne has chosen a gorgeous purple small dot print and I can't wait to see how the quilt will look with the next border added. 

Dee is working on 2 cushion covers and wanted a Japanese theme. I put together a fabric pack for her and  reduced  the pattern size considerably. Here is cushion cover number one. ( Do you think Dee will notice if I steal it?  I love this star!) 

Here is the second  of Dee's small stars, and it is equally as beautiful. Just look at those houses and baskets! 

There was also work being done on Sewmiriam Quilt As You Go Pony Express Quilts.

Here is Marg's playmat version ready for its rusty red binding.

The detail in this quilt is wonderful. Lots of "I Spy an Animal" going on here.

Here is Nancye's work in progress with a special little girl in mind. In no particular order here are her blocks so far. This quilt looks so fresh and lovely. 

Sue is working on 6 inch blocks for her twin set quilts. Sue is carefully planning the block placements and using Tilda fabrics for a soft dreamy effect. Divine. 

Phew! What a wonderful amount of work to show you this week! I haven't mentioned that there was also great interest in my easy orange peel technique, and in between all the other projects I did spy these being created today. I think we will be seeing more of these in coming months. If you missed my tutorial series click here and follow the link.  

 Being grand final week here in Australia for several football codes, I imagine that I will not be alone in my sewing/cheering/snacking happy place. Go the Swans! Maybe Sandy's red and white star will be our  lucky charm this year.

Happy sewing, love Miriamx 

Stars in the Making

Today was filled with great delight at the Sewmiriam Workshop at Cottage Quiltworks.

This was the project  - a big, bold, happy star quilt top. 

This is my version of the Barn Star - from Victoria Findlay Wolfe's book 15 Minutes of Play . 

Today in my workshop we gathered our copies of the book 

and following a few tips and tricks I learnt along the way from making mine , including adjusting the size and creating our own templates ( which we can all now make to any size!)  we set about making our own stars.

Much fabric play was done and the building blocks of the stars began to emerge

You will have to wait until the next months workshop to see the stars in all their glory . This photo is just a tease! 

Most of these stars will be large, however the Japanese star when finished

will be just the right size for a cushion cover, and will be this size when finished

There was also some wonderful Sewmiriam Tote bag work being done by Marg 

and the start of my Twinset Quilts by Sue, using Tilda fabrics. 

All in all a busy, marvellous workshop. Thank you ladies for being so talented and generous. I really do have the best job in the world, and I can't wait to see these projects again next month.

Happy sewing, love Miriamx