Quilt Finishing & Binding Class at Abakhan at Mostyn

Description of workshop:

In this workshop we will quilt and bind the quilt that you made in Beginners Patchwork. However, if you were not able to attend this, you can bring your own project to finish (no bigger than ¼ metre) or a piece of your favourite fabric with a pattern or even a plain piece of fabric to decorate with free motion quilting (FMQ).

This is a fun workshop to build confidence and learn skills to finish your quilting projects. Suitable for beginners and anyone wanting to build on their skills. We will finish the quilt with a binding using mitred corners for a professional finish.

Full instructions will be provided.

You will learn how to:

• Quilting with a decorative stitches
• Quilting with straight stitch - Echo quilting and stitch in the ditch
• Free motion quilting to fill negative space or highlight shapes on your quilt
• Binding with mitred corners
• Finishing the binding
• Demonstration of flange binding, double fold binding.

Skill Level: Basic sewing machine skills required

What to bring:

For the unfinished small quilt (no bigger than 1/4m) the patchwork should be finished and ready for quilting and binding.

• 1/4m patchwork finished quilt top or quilt top from beginners quilting workshop
• 1/2 metre of 2oz wadding
• 1/2 metre of cotton fabric for the backing
• 4 metres of 25mm cotton bias binding to match your quilt project
• 505 temporary basting spray or equivalent (optional)
• Matching / contrasting machine embroidery threads (selection if multi coloured)
• Sewing thread matching the backing fabric 2 reels
• ½ metre of calico or plain cotton fabric to practise on

If you do not have an unfinished quilt and would like to try out quilting and binding, you will need:

• 2 fat quarters of patterned craft cotton fabric or a small printed panel (no bigger than ¼ m due to time constraints)
• ½ metre of 2 oz wadding
• ½ metre of backing cotton fabric
• 4 metres of 25mm cotton bias binding to match or contrast your fabrics
• 505 temporary basting spray or equivalent (optional)
• Matching/ contrasting machine embroidery threads 2-3 reels
• Sewing thread matching fabric 2 reels
• ½ metre of calico or plain cotton fabric to practise on

Janome sewing machines will be provided on the day along with a hot drink. You will also receive a 10% discount card to use in-store.

For FAQ's please visit here

Tutor: Carolyn Buxton

I was lucky to be born into a creative family and I have sewn all my life. My passion for patchwork and quilting began in early 2000 when my mother introduced me to a wonderful book Learning to Quilt: A Beginner's Guide by Lori Yetmar Smith, ISBN: 978-1574867206 and we both worked through the 25 lessons in it. We were hooked and I have carried on my learning attending workshops with wonderful quilting masters from around the world.

During the week I work in a local college teaching adults academic and computer skills and it is here where I achieved my teaching qualifications. I am passionate about education, patchwork and fabric collecting!

There is nothing quite like creating something to bring about mindful peace, happiness and a sense of achievement, especially if it involves learning new skills. This to me is pure joy only improved when passing on these skills to others. In 2015, I achieved one of my dreams and began teaching patchwork and quilting at Abakhan, where I have met and helped a lot of lovely people to start their patchwork journey. Hard to believe that patchwork takes a lovely piece of fabric, cuts it into pieces and sews it back together to form a beautiful piece of art to be loved and cherished for years to come.

Patchwork has been around for centuries and began as a way of using up scraps of fabric to create a warm blanket, the quilting is purely to hold the stuffing which was originally horsehair between two layers of fabric in place. Over time the scraps have become wonderful geometric patterns that can be truly astounding, and the quilting has become an artform all of its own which can be simple lines or beautiful drawings in thread, and all can take your quilt to the next level.

Working in my sewing room with fabric, designing and making quilts is my ultimate happy place, so please come and join me for an adventure of a lifetime, but be warned patchwork is addictive but the side effects are warmth, laughter and fun.

In patchwork and quilting we try to stick to 100% cotton fabrics and preferably of the same weight. I tend to use only 100% Craft Cotton, the reason we do this is that when we wash the finished quilt, the fabrics should hopefully all shrink and behave the same, it can ruin a quilt if one fabric shrinks and the others do not.

It is also a good idea to carry out a colour test on your fabrics if you can, before you sew them up. Some cotton fabrics may ‘bleed’ into other fabrics and again this could ruin your quilt. A colour test is easily done: heat the water to your normal washing temperature ie. 30 degrees and add detergent. Place in a transparent container, place a 2 inch square of fabric into the mixture and leave it for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes place the container over a piece of white paper to check if the water is discoloured.

In patchwork we try to avoid large printed fabrics because when they are cut the effect will be lost. However this is not always the case, and it may be the effect you're looking for! Or you may wish to “fussy cut” the fabric. This is where you cut a shape from the fabric to isolate part of the printed design. This can be wasteful of the fabric, but can have some stunning results in your quilt.

Choosing colours for your quilt is what people find the most difficult part and there are numerous workshops on matching colours, & tones on youtube, here is one I found: (https://youtu.be/sZHaS8ST1SU). A good investment is a colour wheel to see who colours work together. A quick and easy method can be to purchase a bundle of fat quarters where the fabrics have been put together for you. Although this can be an expensive way to purchase fabric in the long run, it can help if you're struggling.

When I refer to light fabrics, I mean your pastel tones, whites and creams.

Medium fabrics are the brights and dull shades that are mixed with grey or a little white. They sit in the middle of the colour wheel

Darks are the colours that are almost blacks on the colour wheel, Navy, Dark browns, Deep Reds, Deep Yellows and Deep Oranges etc.

A good tip when selecting colours, lay them out and take a photo either in black and white or change the photo to black and white. Then you will only see the tone of the colours and this will look very different. If you are looking at colours and they don't go together and you are unable to see why. Check the tone and you may find that the tones are all the same and they need to be mixed up too. Don't panic though stick with colours you love and have fun. Working with colour is a skill and it will improve the more you do it. Remember there are no quilting police and if you love it then that's all that matter