Exeter Sewing Directory Meet Up: the Second

On Saturday I had the pleasure of teaching and attending at the Second Sewing Directory Meet Up in Exeter.  The sun shone again and it was a wonderful relaxing day of sewing and talking.  Every time at these events I hear great stories and put a face to another online identity

Claire, Deena, Janet and Andrea busy at work and at the sunniest spot in the room. 

The Exeter/Newton Abbot cohort, Emily, Mary, Jo and Susy.   Jean on the right who was very generous with her strawberries.

Ruth (Fi's Sister), Pippa (Fi's mum) who both did a lovely job with Fiona of greeting everyone, ensuring everyone was sorted for tea and biscuits.  And Emily on the right, a blur of activity as she organises her design.

Sue and  Mary busy with raw edge appliqué.  Jenna concentrating on precision with her blanket stitch- she who came from the near by Exeter Sewing Machine shop.

Sue brought extra applique supplies for people to use and told me stories of Laura Ashley dresses and evenings from her glamourous past.  Rhiannon provided our in house shop, The Sewing Boutique, and gave us a generous online discount too.

Fi actually having a moment to sit down and sew, alongside Hannah who travelled from Cornwall and is also known as Quirklyhannah on Instagram.  You can see more photos in Fi's blog post.

Will, from Abakhan travelled down from Chester to learn a little hand sewing and applique skills from me and Fi along with sewing machine basics from Jenna Sewhappygeek (hiding to the right in the pic below) who had him completing a small drawstring bag before the afternoon was out.  Will was a non sewer when he started but a quick learner.  He left with a long list of new equipment/stock ideas for Abakhans and new stitching skills.   He found out about how quilters contribute to Siblings Together from Mary & friends and he is taking his experiences back to  put to good use in the Abakhan business.  Look out for his ideas and activities on Twitter and I have a feeling we might see him again, maybe Fat Quarterly retreat 2014?

And this is what the day produced.  Beautiful bags for Making for Charity.  

I had designed a set of letter templates, a bird shape, leaves and circles and everyone came up with their own design.   I loved the variety in everyone's creations.

There is a mix of the skills that I taught and a whole lot more from the makers.  Needle turn, raw edge appliqué, foil circles and then all the extra additions of embroidery, fabric  textures, buttons.

Fiona has a busy year getting her book done, but even she is finding it hard to resist the allure of organising another meet up in Exeter.  Spring 2014 looks possible, maybe a sewing clinic for all your creative troubles?  And the usual stitchy chat and socialising.  People travelled from near (10 mins walk) and far- Deena came from Manchester.  Others from Plymouth,  Cornwall and Dorset.  And for all those lovely people who wanted to see mine and Lynne's book 500 Quilt Blocks and even buy a copy,  I should have some very exciting news at the end of this week, watch this space...

September Meet-Up

There are still over two weeks of Summer holidays left so I am making the most of them but I also have my eye on September.  My favourite month, the weather is usually good, it is my birthday month and this year it is the release month for mine and Lynne's book which makes it extra special:

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We don't know exactly which date but we will have copies to sell on our blogs as soon as they arrive with us and if they come in time I'll be bringing a selection to The Sewing Directory Meet up on Saturday 14th September. All the essential details are here.  I am busy prepping applique ideas- hand and machine techniques and I will bring along a selection of books for extra ideas.

It is a longer meet up as time really did fly so we start at 11am finishing at 4.30.  There will be an informal lunch break at 1pm so bring a packed lunch or pop up to Waitrose- I am very partial to their Sushi rolls!  Once we have tidied up at the end people are welcome to eat or just chat in a pub over the road if they don't need to rush.

For those who haven't been before, we meet in a well appointed hall with kitchenette next to a large car park and 5 mins from Waitrose and Exeter Sewing Machine shop.  I am leading an appliqué activity, all materials provided, just bring the basics (needle, pins, threads, scissors and erasable markers e.g Frixion pen would all be helpful and a real bonus would be a silver gel pen) or if you would rather bring your own work in progress to sew that would be welcome too. The emphasis is on hand sewing but this time there will be a couple of machines and irons so that we have an option to use machine raw edge appliqué as well as hand turned techniques.  We will be sewing bags for  Macmillan Cancer support and I will design a range of suitable motifs and talk you through a range of appliqué methods.

 Abakahan have generously supplied fabric/bondaweb/trim and a lot more- its all waiting in my loft for me to cut up ready for you and  Will and Beth from Abakahan will be there too.  I might have to tell them my dream- that they open a branch in Exeter!  There is a raffle with a ton of prizes and The Sewing Boutique will have a stall of goodies if you want to buy anything.  It was a wonderful warm event last time, it really lifted my heart so I am hugely looking forward to it and planning to make a new dress which is pretty much how I celebrate everything!  Fi, her mum, Jenna from sew happygeek will all be there for a warm welcome.  And a ticket, only costs £20 including tea and biccies!