July Retreat!

Fancy a weekend away to learn some new line designs? Come to our July Machine Quilting Retreat!

The Retreat venue is the Chaplin House converted barn - a lovely venue with lots of light and good working space. The retreats are a new venture for us, and they've been brilliant.This July retreat will be our third this year. The food and the fellowship are excellent and a worthwhile part of the whole experience.No materials are required for the sessions. We talk about care of the JUKI, thread options, creating line designs and gaining fluency on the frame.

The participants are a good mix between new and experienced quilters.The retreats are small and hosted by Martha Milne and Trudi Wood - so there is plenty of one on one instruction. I've found it quite inspiring to see ideas bounce off a group of diverse but like minded people. Let me know if you're interested or have any questions: martha@machinequilter.co.uk

Retreat Advances

Retreats are an interesting concept - a stepping back in order to move forward. The April Machine Quilters Retreat was a fantastic example of this. Our retreats attract a wide variety of people. Some are just beginning, some are quite experienced. Some are traditional some are edgy and arty. Put them all together and great things happen.

Maria has had her New English Quilting frame for a couple of years now and she was already creating lovely quilts. Maria had mastered stippling but wanted to expand her repertoire of stitches.

So Maria came to the retreat to learn some new line designs. She wanted to gain more fluency and confidence. She even brought her husband Andy along for the ride.

The converted barn at Chaplin House provides an ideal space for quilters, quilting frames and quilts! The weather was glorious, the food was great and everyone went home with new skills to practice. Maria emailed me yesterday with some follow up from the retreat. You can read what she said on Maria's blog. It's quite a big step from stippling to feathers but she's done it!

We still have places for the JULY Retreat. Follow the link to find out more.

The Week After

It's been a week since the Machine Quilters Retreat and I am only just posting! Today I'll give a basic overview and go into more detail in later posts. It was lovely to be able to escape from ordinary life for a weekend. The girls were a real pleasure! Trudi from quilting prolifically was our guest quilter for the weekend.

The Chaplin House converted barn was transformed with many of Trudi's quilts. There were examples of Trudi's very first efforts right down through to her current projects. So we were able to track her progress. We were all inspired!Some girls brought sewing machines and we helped to get them threaded and tensioned properly. Trudi demonstrated the best way to clean and oil a JUKI. She even showed us a secret trap door - a great way to get out the gunk!

We had a couple of New English Quilter frames set up so we could practice various machine quilting line designs and see new designs demonstrated. Emma wanted to learn feathers and made a fantastic start! One of the best things about this part was seeing how different people execute the same line designs differently.

Some girls brought tops and we brainstormed together about possible quilting patterns and auditioned various threads. This is a gorgeous top which Joan made, called storm at sea.

We ended with a 'threaducation' talk where everyone got to touch and compare a variety of machine quilting threads and learn about how best to use them. It was a real bonus to see how these threads played out in Trudi's many quilts!

I left inspired by everyone and looking forward to the next Machine Quilters Retreat in April. The food was so good that I've asked for the same again. With any luck we might be able to take our coffee and tea breaks on the deck overlooking the back garden. Roll on Spring!

Machine Quilter Retreat

We're hosting our first ever Machine Quilting Retreat, featuring guest quilter Trudi Wood. This is an opportunity to focus on machine quilting using a table top frame in a gorgeous rural setting, tucked away from the interruptions of daily life. We're keeping the numbers down to 5 participants so there will be plenty of one-to-one attention. All are welcome, whether you just need some help getting started or some inspiration to move up to a new level. The food will be delicious, the rooms comfortable and the conversation rewarding.

dates: from Friday to Sunday, February 25-27

venue: the award winning Chaplin House B&B

Martin Village in Lincolnshire

cost: £225 for a single room or £200 for a shared room.

Prices include 2 nights accommodation, meals, snacks and all quilting materials.

Update:

All 5 places for the February Retreat are now filled! We will let you know how it goes and post the dates for future Retreats. Please do contact us if you are interested in reserving a place or have any questions or suggestions: 01526 378057

martha@machinequilter.co.uk

Machine Quiltling Workshops

There are lots of reasons to go on a machine quilting workshop. Sometimes it's all about learning styles. Some people can learn everything they need to know from books or blogs. But others will benefit from a more personal hands on approach.

A new gadget can be daunting. You see it at the show. It looks so easy. So in the heat of the moment you buy the thing. But when you get it home there can be a certain 'quilters block' when it comes to getting it out of the box and starting to quilt with it. A workshop can be just the thing to get over the hump, bridging the gap between watching someone else and confidently doing it yourself.

Sometimes it's just about focus. Our lives are so busy, filled with endless demands on our time and energies. Setting aside time for a workshop, creates a context to focus on just one thing. And focus is powerful. A couple of days away from the daily grind can be refreshing and restorative. And the opportunity to focus on developing a new skill away from the daily distractions can usher us into new levels of proficiency.

I offer personal workshops for one or perhaps two people keen to develop free-motion machine quilting skills using a table top frame. Although I'm using a JUKI TL 98P on the New English Quilter, the lessons can be applied to any sewing machine on any frame. All the materials are provided in a relaxed setting and the workshop is built around you, where you are and what you hope to accomplish.

For people traveling any distance, there is an award winning B&B just across the street. Margaret and David at Chaplin House will make your stay something special. so much so that many people who came to Chaplin House for an initial workshop keep on coming back again and again to just to enjoy the hospitality. http://www.chaplin-house.co.uk/

To arrange a workshop give me a ring or email.

tel:01526 378057 marthamilne@tiscali.co.uk