Hugs from Helen

I’m the October pinup girl!

Apple or Yellow Greens are the colour for this months Aurifil block designer – and I’m it!  I love my Aurifil threads and was chuffed when they asked me to be the October girl…

This year this free BOM quilt is based on the colours of the Rainbow – and we are up to October already – but never fear you can go back and find all the previous months quite easily here

Growing up on a farm there were plenty of memories for inspiration for this colour – and it just so happened that my greens in the Basically Hugs range for P&B Textiles were also perfect to use.

I, of course, had to include some English paper piecing (using EPP Iron-ons – iron on leave in epp papers) and a touch of whimsical embroidery using the 12wt threads.In the pattern I included a printable sheet for the templates you can print onto my Applique paper so you too can use the iron-on/leave-in method.

If you need help with the how-to’s of English Paper piecing I have several YouTube videos on my channel – go subscribe as there are more coming soon!Or I have a great Craftsy class which will take you through everything step by step…. if you click on the photo below it will take you to a 33% off link!

If you need help with embroidery stitches you can sign up to my free embroidery lessons right here.

 

So I hope you enjoy my block and would love to see them if you do happen to make it – Please share on Instagram (if you’re not following me its helen_stubbings)

and use the hashtag #stitchwithhelen so I can find you….

 

don’t forget to also share your blocks with Aurifil and you can win a full set of yummy threads… go here to see the details and follow Pat Sloan as she makes the blocks along the way.

 

happy stitching!

hugs from Helen

PS- forgot to tell you where to get it!

head to here to download the pattern.

Easy English Paper piecing on Craftsy

My first Craftsy class is now live!

You can view the trailer here

……and for my special blog friends I can offer you a launch special of 50% off for one week!  Click on this link to access the special price…. (sorry discount now expired)

If you’ve never tried English Paper piecing before – or even if you have but perhaps not the way I do it and you’d like to try it out, please go take a look… I hope I have made everything easy to understand and in simple terms – but never fear, if not, I'm right there on the Craftsy forums to help answer your questions.

And the winner of the free class is:

cdel9419jaffa!!!  I will be emailing your link to claim your free class very soon – Congratulations…

hugs for today, from Hobart at the bottom of Australia

Helen

Craftsy excitement!

Remember my whirlwind trip to Denver just before Christmas?

Well I'm excited to say now that it was to tape a Craftsy class!

What an experience. This was the most professional platform I’ve worked with before – but it was also a lot of fun. The whole team made me feel so welcome and the whole experience was wonderful.

To back up a bit, I had met the Craftsy girls at a party in Portland years ago – their first year at market, and was given a card and asked to submit proposals. Of course, it dropped down the list and it took me a few years to find the card, go through an extensive submission process and put a class in. They were immediately interested however I couldn’t make it to Houston to discuss it further and the opportunity disappeared. A whole year later I finally got around to submitting again, I spent a day putting the first technique submission in and planned to do three more the next day… however I woke up to an acceptance that morning – my class was accepted!  If I could fill a very short notice cancellation….  of course I said yes…

So now its official, by this time next week……

So after a lot of prep work, many hours of Skype calls in between dance concerts, end of year assemblies and Christmas parties, I hit the skies and headed to Denver.

Had hair and makeup done each day…..(thankfully!)

and the nails done before I left! – just as well, look how close they got?

and hopefully everyone will understand my Aussie accent and ‘foreign’ language.

now, if you’re not familiar with Craftsy – it is an online platform for education classes – In actual fact Craftsy is the fastest growing crafty community on the web with over 5 million members in over 200 countries worldwide.

With a Craftsy online class you can take it as many times as you want, whenever you want and access never expires.  Craftsy’s platform enables you to take virtual notes while watching a class and the HD quality video and audio make it easy to see exactly how the instructor is creating the craft, with close-ups of the different steps. Instructors and other students will answer your questions and give feedback. 

So now that I’ve told you my big news, I have more to tell…you can win a free class  - just click on this link and enter..

http://www.craftsy.com/ext/HelenStubbings_Giveaway

Of course I’ll be back to tell you more when the class goes live next week….

 

so don’t miss out – click to enter and

hugs for today

Helen