Pour l’Amour du Fil 2025

 

We are back from our little trip to Nantes and Pour l'Amour du Fil. Before booking next year, we'll review the sailing times as we would have preferred to travel on Tuesday or Wednesday instead of Sunday. We have a new ferry operator, DFDS, so they have changed the schedule around totally. We spent two nights in Rennes, two nights in Nantes and last night in St Malo by the beach.

The theme of this year's event was Flower Power and you were greeted by this display as you entered the hall.

Nick joined me for the first day and we employed the Disney method and headed to the back and looked at the galleries first.

The work was exquisite but mainly traditional or incorporating a lot of Kaffe Fassett fabrics, neither of which are my aesthetic.

As in previous years, there were numerous displays from Japan and the Far East as well as shops elling Japanese fabrics and products.

The queues to enter on Wednesday were much longer than on Thursday.

The final gallery we visited before lunch was Sarah Hibbert's gallery and Nick sighed in relief at the gloriousness of her work. I had a quick chat with Sarah as I had a class with her the following morning.

I thoroughly enjoyed Sarah's class on the Thursday, but my piece is a little boring and needs some extra fabrics to add into the mix.

Nick had spent the morning in Nantes and brought back lunch from Mie Caline which we ate on the outside area. I had just one more display of work in sardine tins to look at before leaving the show.

As always, we ate well in Nantes at La Banque and in St Malo at Restaurant 1934. Finding food on Sunday was trickier and many restaurants are also shut on Mondays.

New project

Whenever I go away the first things I pack are medicines, underwear and pyjamas. My next priority is a project or two to work on. I have kitted up Frosty Tiny Town by Heart in Hand and one tree or house a day for our five day trip should be achievable. Or not. I just had to source three thread colours to kit it up fully.

Spring Quaker

 

This project came to London with me for two days this week and sat in my bag untouched. With hospital appointments and an early start on Monday, we were just too tired to do anything more than attend the appointments and find food.

I have however made good progress on the Spring Quaker by Primrose Cottage and it is so nearly complete. If I don't finish it today, it will go with us to France on Sunday.

UFO challenge April 2025

 

I knew we were going to be busy in April, so my Guild's UFO challenge had to be my first priority. I made the four wonky log cabin blocks on my embroidery machine and pieced them together and quilted the border on my sewing machine.

Everything was going swimmingly until I started on the binding, however after cleaning my machine and replacing the needle, order was restored. I even managed to remember to add a fun label. This is another mini quilt to be donated to SCBU.

Monday make - Ruby Star anniversary quilt

 

I have just finished the sixteen kitty paw blocks needed for this quilt. This is the fourth of five blocks which sounds like I'm nearing the end of the stitching of the blocks but there are now 32 sawtooth blocks to complete.

I have eight of the blocks cut out and the flying geese units made, but they now need trimming. For the next two weeks, when I am in Jersey, I want to cut the remaining eight fabrics for the blocks, trim and piece all of the blocks and lay out the blocks ready for piecing into rows. My vague plan is to piece some of the blocks together as I stitch the sawtooth stars. Hopefully all of the blocks will at least be prepped ready to take to Modern Quilt Club retreat on 24 April. 

March 2025 achievements

Apparently, it was all about the clothes in March despite it being a very busy month and April is looking equally busy.

My March Guild UFO was another mini quilt for SCBU using a Me Time Delivered embroidery file.

I finished the Drew sweatshirt by Tilly and the buttons which I started in February. The fabric is Chicacheetah Jersey from Guthrie & Ghani.

I completed the Drew dress by Fabric Godmother in time for our day trip to The Stitch Festival.

I completed the Aspen sweatshirt by Tilly & the buttons in fabric from By Graziela. The ribbing needs replacing as it was too thick. I sized down by a couple of sizes but I still think I could size down more.

April 2025 plans

A busy month is on the horizon with three trips away. I definitely need to finish off some projects this month and hope to get to:

Woven stars - Just a few more blocks to stitch and then I can start laying them out and make into a quilt top.

Ruby Star anniversary quilt - I have half of the penultimate blocks sewn up and some of the final blocks cut out. I might take the blocks to the retreat at the end of the month to finish the quilt top.

Drew sweatshirt in grey - perhaps using the new projector that we've purchased. Affiliate link https://amzn.to/4hzHGbY and there's currently a £30 discount voucher available. The fabric was a gift from a friend who found five metres at a local charity shop.

Spring quaker by Primrose Stitches which has progressed to about half complete.

Guild UFO #7 MeTime delivered September 2024. Instructions are printed out so I need to cut the fabric ready to stitch this weekend.

I purchased three metres of this fabric in Shaukat in London to make either an Aspen dress or another dress.

Monday make - SCBU mini quilt

 

Project 1 was selected for our Guild UFO challenge for March 2025. March has been very busy, so starting this was left until the end of the month. I embroidered the blocks last Tuesday before going to London and I messed up two of the blocks which ended in the bin. I was using scraps and fat quarters so didn’t have a lot of extra fabric and to make two more blocks, I had to unpick some of the blocks in the bin.

I finished all of the blocks and despite an early start on Wednesday, I decided to trim the blocks ready to piece together. I’m so pleased that I did as I was one block short! Eventually I found it in the waster paper bin. That would have been put in the dustbin, never to be seen again if I had not trimmed the blocks.

I did a simple in the ditch quilting around the blocks using an Alison Glass fabric for the backing.

For the binding I found this stripe by Michael Miller called clown stripe which was a good match for my green St Patrick’s Day inspired fabric selection.

I am hoping for a simple UFO for April as this week is the only week that I am home for the entire week. I have another trip to London to look forward to (not) next week, Pour l'Amour du Fils in Nante and then a Modern Quilt Club retreat at the end of the month.

Sometimes it’s all about the small things

This little bag of happiness makes me smile. I have it on the sofa along with Esme’s book which a friend lent me. I have two days of hospital appointments so I have packed the Spring Quaker by Primrose Cottage using blooming crocus by Classic Colorworks into this little bag. I do need to pack my suitcase though.

WIP Wednesday - Drew sweatshirt

I bought the Tilly & The Buttons pattern for the Drew sweatshirt, thinking I could use up some of my stretch remnants. I was sorting through what I had before going to Stitch festival and found two yards of fabric by Graziela Fabrics. I decided to make a plain sweatshirt instead. I took my measurements and went down two sizes. I could probably drop one more size. 

Although I have finished the project, I am not at all happy with the cuffs so will be looking for some black cuffing in London today to redo the cuffs.

 

Stitch Festival shopping

 

I am slowly recovering from a wonderful day at Stitch Festival with my daughter, Lizzie. We took almost no photos, but have appeared in a few people's videos. Look out for the cow jacket! 

We both made good time to Islington, arriving at about 9.30am and the show opened at 10am for non VIPs. Whilst in the queue, I gave Lizzie a lovely Tropic bag in emerald green and Lizzie gave me my order from Talking Dog Stitchery. I had forgotten all about placing the order! I also purchased Summr Quaker by Primrose Cottage at the show.

As planned, we followed the Disney method and headed straight to the mezzanine level which was already getting busy. My first purchase was the Moomin bag, which brings a smile to my face. It is filled with a cross stitch project as I have two days of hospital visits in London this week, so there will be a lot of moving around the hospital and equal amounts of sitting waiting. Lizzie is joining me again for a day's shopping and a day of tests. Fortunately, I have been through most of these before so have an idea of where to go.

I also bought these fabrics from Colette Moscrop and they are going to be used for a class with Sarah Hibbert that I'm taking at Pour l'Amour du Fil in Nantes in April. I need to see if I have any other fabrics I can add to this purchase for the class.

We also shopped at Studio 7T7 on the mezzanine floor where I bought purple and pink bag hardware and a ruler for marking rivets. I also bought two sizes of hoop butts before we headed down to the ground floor. We had spotted the lovely pink and blue fabric at Bornella Fabrics but returned after lunch to both make a purchase from this stand.

We had a good look around the ground floor before heading to Ottolenghis for lunch. The ladies sitting net to us had also been to the festival. After lunch we returned to the venue to finalise purchases at Bornella Fabrics, Rainbow Fabrics and of course Rosenbergs. Jeff is always pleased to see Lizzie wearing at outfit made in their fabric. 

By 3pm we had finished our browsing, retrieved my hand luggage from the cloakroom and headed off for a coffee. We were shattered! Lizzie walked back to King's Cross whilst I took the tube back to London Bridge and caught the Thameslink back to London Gatwick airport. I managed to change my flight to an hour earlier and headed straight through security and to the gate. No time to buy food today.

We both thoroughly enjoyed our day and would go again. However, on Wednesday we hope to head to New Craft House as it's a direct bus taking 40 minutes from Southwark.

Friday finish - Aspen dress

I a, ready for the stitch Festival in London today and even finished the dress I wanted to wear, with two days to spare. I even had time to buy a new pair of black sneakers after I had my hair cut on Wednesday. Hopefully there is no fog and I’ll be in central London by 9am.

I even remembered to add a label to the collar for fun. The collar was the trickiest part of the pattern.  I am happy with how the zip looks too. I will probably buy a few more labels at The Stitch Festival. We are using the Disney plan at the show and head straight to the mezzanine floor, rather than the ground floor.

I have paired the Aspen dress with a upcycled denim jacket. The appliqué design is by Sew Quirky. It will be difficult to lose me! I plan to buy some more fabric for a second Aspen dress.

Quilt shows

 

Our local creative festival closed yesterday, and we have certificates and entries that weren't collected, to get to the participating schools and individuals.

I am now looking forward to a retreat and two events over the next six weeks. For the last few years, we have attended Festival of Quilts, but hotel prices have continued to rise and we decided that we wouldn't attend this year.

What do you look for in a stitchy event?

• The chance to meet old friends and make new friends
• The vendors
• Displays
• Classes
• Proximity

We are going to Stitch Festival in London on Friday for the first time and its definitely about the vendors. Many of the small businesses that we buy from will be attending. I won two tickets to the show and I will be flying in for the day at a cost of £60 which is much less than the cost of staying in a London hotel. My one concern is not waking up in time for the 7am flight, but fortunately the airport is only a 20-minute drive from home, and I will leave the car at the airport.

I just need to finish my Aspen dress to wear to the event. I have done the collar and zip so I think the trickiest parts of the pattern are now done.

It may seem strange to consider a quilt show in France, but we can get there by ferry and it's under a three-hour drive to the Stade Beaujoire and a convenient hotel within walking distance. Last year I took classes with Sew Kind of wonderful and Pride and Joy Quilting, this year i will be taking a class with Sarah Hibbert. Prices are high for quilting fabric, so I usually look out for items that aren't readily available such as faux leather. I hope to see my friend, Pippa whilst we're there. 

The dream is to go to Quilt Con in 2026, but we will see if we can make that dream posible.