Hugs from Helen

Guest bloggers this month are the team at Aurifil

The wonderful team at Aurifil this month have jotted their thoughts on why stitching is their therapy!

Erin, creative director, Karen, master educator, Kate – Chicago office and Hilary, social media coordinator- have all spoken about their quilting journey and what it brings to their lives…

Pop on over to their blog and read it all here

As I partnered with Aurifil to create and provide a specialised thread collection for our Stitch Therapy 365 program they were an obvious choice to share the blog journey with.

With the beautiful 12 weight threads on offer, the weight of this 12 wt thread being just perfect to cover my printed stitchery lines on the fabric panels.

And be sure to follow them on Instagram and there may just be a giveaway coming up.

Yes a Stitch therapy thread collection

AND

a Stitch therapy 365 panel and program to be won…

If you want to know more about our beautiful mindfulness project click on the picture below.

If you’re already enjoying the journey we have just a few of our daily therapy mouse mats left. A great reminder to take a break from the computer and have 5 minutes of ‘you’ time with a needle and thread..

Hope you get your therapy in today..

hugs from Helen

Razz-a-dazzle your year…

To start the year off with a bang we have a new Block of the Month all ready to go for you. I know many of you followed this journey on Facebook or Instagram with me, and we are finally ready to let you start! So get your stitching fingers warmed up – nightly therapy here we come!

Razz-a-dazzle!

The Quilt measures approx 48” x 48” so not too huge for you.

It features hand embroidery, Easy machine pieced dresdens in a snowflake variation and machine applique. I've used my simple gluestick applique by machine method to assemble so it comes together quite quickly.

There are 13 stunning but simple embroidery designs using 13 colours from the new range of variegated Cosmo Seasons threads. I feel quite excited about these as I helped develop the colours with Lecien – and they made my very own Hugs ‘n Kisses red thread which you know I love so much. (its #5006)

So the pattern is a BOM but you can get it as a full pattern set – or monthly with fabrics and more included.

In the full pattern only set you will get:

13 x colour stitch guides  with colour photos

13 x iron on transfers for all embroidery designs

The Quilting designs/templates I used

Cutting Layout and design guides and of course my normal  step by step instructions.

 

AND an acrylic wedge ruler – the Razz-a-dazzle ruler. Yes, this comes with the pattern set so you don’t have to find one – they are not overly common in this size.

The fabrics I have used in the original quilt are from the Lecien L’s Moderns and 1000 colours ranges. 39 fabrics in all – you could use your stash, collect your own styles and colourways or we have the original fabrics available as full kits or BOM mailouts.

For the machine applique method I used the Superior Monopoly thread and you can see my YouTube videos to see how this works – its so easy and accurate and quick!

I used Auriful 40 wt threads in matching colours to quilt all of my snowflakes and a blending 50wt thread for my background quilting. Auriful Australia have kindly made up special Razz-a-dazzle packs of the threads I used. And they are a wonderful selection of great colours that you may use often so are good for your thread stash.

 

I used  5” Applique paper pre-cut circles to perfectly applique my embroideries to the snowflakes. I didn’t include these in the pattern kits as you may have your own preferred method – or you may already have some applique paper you can use there – but you can order them separately. We have included them in our BOM monthly mailout option.

To see all the details and different options you can head to my website..

So, lets start the year with a bit of Razz-a-dazzle – stitching begin…

hugs for today

Helen

Stitch with me in Penola

Next week I head of on my first teaching adventure of the year..

Actually it combines a trip to home – (my home town and parents) as I didn't make it over the holiday season, but whilst there I offered to run some classes… who will I see from my childhood? It may feel a little strange to me, I'm sure this is not where they expected me to end up in life… me neither…

Anyway, I know a lot of you are wanting to see more of what we will be making so here goes….

 

Date:  Wed 18th - Sat 21st February 2015

Venue:the Habit Patch Church St Penola

Time: 10am - 4pm

Wednesday: Colourque & EPP Hexies

Workshop includes Morning tea, pattern notes.

Project: Belconnen Beauty - a small wallhanging or larger quilt centre panel. You will learn step by step the art of Colourque (coloured pencils on fabric to give an applique effect) plus our great iron on English paper pieced hexies.

Thursday: Applique the Hugs ‘n Kisses way (hand or machine)  Morning tea  and pattern notes included.

Birds of a Feather - small wallhanging or quilt panel using my simple gluestick applique technique. This project is more suited to the hand method with smaller pieces for this class. I will demonstrate the machine method during the day so you can choose your preferred method at home and for future projects.

Friday: English Paper Piecing and embroidery workshop Morning tea  and class notes included

Edelweiss Quilt - this quilt uses both the iron on English Paper pieced hexies and embroidery stitches. We will be making one circle of hexies on the day and one embroidery panel learning and perfecting several stitches.  You may purchase the full pattern pack for $40 (enough hexies and transfers to make the complete quilt)

or

just the class pack - enough hexies for one circle and one transfer will be included in your class.

 

Saturday: ’A gathering of stitchers’: two patterns and one kit included, hand work. Share, learn, inspire and stitch. $90. Morning tea, lunch & afternoon tea inc

Now a lot of you have expressed interest in coming but I need you to book! I will be packing Tuesday so I need to know how many kits/patterns to pack!  Contact Karen on 08 8737 3101 or Lori on 03 62787507 to book or email.

We will be sending out requirement lists by email this week or kits can be ordered from Karen.

 

hope to see you there

hugs for today

Helen

Pattern Press news #162

Introducing you today to the Temora Traveller Bag

Using French linen and a lovely variegated red thread this sewing bag features stunning embroidery, gluestick applique, and easy iron on EPP shapes.
(Iron on Transfers, app paper & precut hexies included)

The project contains several techniques including:

embroidery

gluestick applique

iron on hexies

iron on clamshells

applique paper is included in the pattern and the flower and clamshells can be printed or traced straight onto the paper through an inkjet printer.

I have used Cottage Garden Thread #1007 Hugs ‘n Kisses red  Perle 12 thread – two skeins are required.2 x 20cm lace zippers are used on the sides so you don’t have to panic about inserting zippers!inside the sewing bag you will find a pouch with a 14cm spring clip closure attached with a magnet on the base. Pockets to hold embroidery hoops and a stitching project.

A hexie scissor keep, and a hexie pincushion scissor fob are also included again attached with a magnet clasp.

I used fabrics from my Basically Hugs range and Primrose Sands  and an Essex linen in the Putty Shade but any combination would be wonderful. Here’s a totally different version my pattern tester did

		Belle’s version VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

 

I also have an accessories pack available with the zippers, spring clips, magnets and threads if you want them all at once –selling fast, but more on order if you miss out.

hope you like it!

hugs for today

Helen

Fabric Heaven–a giveaway

I thought I’d officially tell you about my two latest fabric lines now that they are shipping into Aussie stores as I type.

…at market this year I had to be prepared to release two ranges at once – scary but exciting, and a lot of last minute sewing – twice as much as normal… but we got there… so here are the two lines and what Red Rooster had to say about them….

 

Primrose Sands

Primrose Sands is the name of a small seaside village in Tasmania, an Island state at the very bottom of Australia near Helen’s home. Helen tells us, “The collection started from my wallpaper photograph at my friends’ beach shack and was the inspiration for the main geometric print of rosettes. My memories of good times at the beach with my girls and our friends…the soft minty greens, romantic pinks, and silver grays with a pop of raspberry signified relaxation, peace, freedom, and perhaps a bit of romance…at the seaside in an Australian summer…bubbles, summer fruit, laughter, and sunshine…” Although the main geometric was inspired by a wallpaper pattern, the bright, bold colors were inspired by popular 1980s colors…pinks, reds, teals, and grays.

For each line I am contracted to provide a free pattern for you. These can be downloaded from the Red Rooster website and stores will make up a kit for you.  Sunshine and Daisies (below) is my free pattern for the Primrose Sands line…

Basically Hugs – available very soon

“My inspiration was my dream to have a wonderful ongoing basics collection that would be very usable for me as a stitchery and appliqué designer - and for stitchers and quilters throughout the world. I hope to build on these basics with future additions to create must-haves for all kinds of projects and quilter’s styles. For Basically Hugs, I began with the basic blenders and small prints that I love to use as backgrounds and for contrast in my projects. Some of the designs are from earlier collections - the fabrics that I use over and over again. The motifs are from my own drawings and pattern designs and include tone-on-tone heart stripes, a flower toss, a hearts and flowers toss, dots, a lacy stripe, textured burlap, subtle spirals, and rows of little hearts.”
Helen’s four colorways evolved from her earlier collections. There’s a range of light to medium grays, a selection of light to dark blues, another of light pinks to dark reds, and a nice range of essential white, cream, and beige prints.

Clambaked is my free pattern for the Basically Hugs range. Ask at your local store if they can do a kit for you.

Of course I have also designed a lot of other projects using the fabrics with more in the design line. I have been busy cutting kits for many of these also so if there is something you’d particularly like just ask.. (email)

Quilt measures 12” x 12“

A simple little banner to show you care. Suited to a 12” table stand. Applique paper included in the pattern pack.

Stitch with me

Tea and Cake

So Tweet

and others you can see on the website..

Now I might just have 5 charm packs (4” x 36 Basically Hugs fabrics) to give away.

Leave a comment here telling me what you’d most like me to design next to be in the running

For an extra entry, share this post on Facebook or your blog (and let me know)

And anyone who purchases any new pattern using the new fabrics over the next week will get another entry….

hugs for today

Helen

A friendship Garden

Introducing you to

‘A Friendship Garden’

 

‘The green grass and happy skies court the fluttering butterflies..’

With summer here (so the calendar tells us) its my favourite time to be in the garden, pottering, soaking up some vitamin D and admiring natures wonders…

We have the biggest bumblebees here and many fluttering butterflies, thankfully not too many pesky flies or mozzies..

 

                            

Six feelgood stitcheries turned with ric rac…

Gorgeous Tilda fabrics

Cottage Garden threads (I used Raisin)

and… scallops – yes I think I’m a scallopaholic…. since I tried the new rulers that make it so simple – with perfect curves..

Friendship garden is available now for Christmas and includes the 3/4” scallop ruler and teflon pusher which allow you to also get perfectly curved scallops – none of those pesky pointy curves.

It measures only 24” x 30” – some great holiday stitching…

Available now from here or your local store..

hugs for today – off to my first Christmas lunch.

Helen

Tarraleah Stitched….

as promised I am back today! with something else to show you…

Last weekend I had the lovely pleasure (actually it was two weekends ago, how time flies) of travelling to country Victoria to the town of Warracknabeal to stitch with 110 lovely ladies, hosted by Del and Shirley of Quilters Harvest…

I had so much to show them I hardly had time to draw breath but gee we had fun… I was picked up by Gail at the airport and we also didn't draw breath on the 4 hour drive – we had LOTS to catch up on and lots to plan..

Ladies had come from far and wide – as far away as Perth to enjoy three tutors, myself, Gail and Jennifer Knol, share, learn, stitch, chat and of course eat the most yummy country food…it was great to catch up with old friends and meet many new ones..

My projects for the weekend were also the ones I designed specially for our A Stitching Affair retreat in June at the amazing Tarraleah resort – hence the name..

  

Two of the projects are now available as a pattern named

Tarraleah Stitched… on the website now and in your local stores very soon.

There is this delightful needle book with the simple stitchery on the front

and on the inside a little pocket, and some wool felt for inserting your needles and pins… and see the little magnet – she holds it all together..

the back is pieced 1/2” hexagons.. Then there is this gorgeous pincushion featuring six stitched designs on the petals around the edge and another 42 or so 1/2” hexies to make the top.

The nifty thing about this pattern is that it uses 6 old or unwanted cd/dvd’s – just don’t think about taking Jennifer's Bruce Springsteen CD though!!!of course there was lots of show and tell, lots of shopping and quite a bit of laughter to be had… all in all a great weekend…     

so for those who missed it – here’s your chance to share the projects… available now here…

and that brings me to the end of my teaching days and workshops for 2013… watch this space for some very important news in the next few days about next year however… places will be limited and you will need to be quick!!!

cheers girls..

Helen

opening no more….

Look at that little smiley opening just laughing at me!  As promised I stitched him up last night. I used a matching fine cream thread, an appliqué needle and a ladder stitch.

to stitch him up tight…. I’m never really happy though, I can always tell where the opening was…

So I guess now that you’ve seen the inside I should show you a few more peeks of this ‘Happy Days’ needlebook. This was my project for our recent Stitching with Helen and Lynette day..

There is a little felt pocket for your scissors and a felt flap for needles and pins on the inside,

some gorgeous spring flowers to get you through the winter months… and some very addictive hexies just to give you a taster…. All the ladies loved preparing their hexies with the new iron on precut hexies that we put into the kits..  some of the ladies were going to use the design in a different way – I look forward to seeing what they made it into…

Yes, this will be a pattern one day, but no, it is not ready yet – come on – I only finished it last night with that final finishing step!

hugs for today

Helen

slip stitch the opening closed

I write this in many of my patterns!  how many of you actually do it?… in my case its the story of do as I say not as I do….

 

 

this bit tends to get overlooked as I move onto my next project in a hurry…. its not a part I enjoy, you actually have to take care when doing it so that you cannot even tell where the opening was…and I just want to move on…

If the opening is inside a bag I am sure many a coin is going to get lost in the lining somewhere….as I've never actually stitched that opening closed!

The one pictured above however is inside a needlebook – so I guess I’d better put it on my stitching pile tonight and finish it off as it will be visible…

I’ll show you tomorrow!

Helen

Get Knotted!

and yes, I do mean that literally..

Thread those needles, knot those threads and join in the program…

This has been a long time coming but I have finally finished designing, making, pattern writing, recording and editing the Get Knotted program.

This is a 12 month program that you will do with your local store or an online store in your own home.

Each month you get to watch me (sorry) teach you a stitch, just as if you were in class with me – practise it on a little sampler, and then make a sweet little project to perfect it.

You even get a copy of my brand new little stitch book for easy reference. It has a spiral binding so you can open it to the page you need and follow step by step as you learn the new stitch.

I have tried to include every little hint and tip throughout the videos to help you along the way. Each project pattern includes iron on transfers and plenty of diagrams and instructions to get you through every step. And they are printed in full colour. Month one even includes the self covered button set to make a simple but cute rotary cutter or glasses case.

You need to find a store near you to sign up to the program with – they will hold a class each month where you will watch the DVD lesson, practise and learn together and then begin your project. They will also be supplying fabric kits for your projects in a coordinating fabric range for the duration. I used my Life is Beautiful fabrics – some stores stock this range and may use the same.

Of course if there is not a store near you listed as yet you have two options – tell your local store about it and ask them to run it! OR do it with an online store. They will send you your kit and pattern each month and you will be able to download the DVD to watch on your computer or DVD player. So no-one has to miss out!

The following stores have already signed up to run the program.

Sew Bright Alpine Quilting VIC
Willow Grove Quilting VIC
Anne's Glory Box NSW
Korner Craft Sewing Centre SA
Molly Dooks QLD
Country Bliss NT08 8953 6866
Country Quilt Co QLD
Pretty Country Things SA [email protected]

Online only : Quilt Fabric Delights

USA:

Patchwork Garden - New York

I will add any further store to the website for you as they come in.

I know so many of you have been watching and waiting as I stitched this program… well its finally ready.

Contact a store now and signup, they are shipping today to a store near you!

hugs from me today

Helen