On Sunday I was in Edinburgh for the Stitch Gathering retreat organised by Jo Avery of myBearpaw. I went to teach my hand pieced Whatever the Weather mini quilt pattern (which will be available to buy soon!). It was a brilliant day spent with wonderful people and it all went by in a flash, as these things tend to do. The loveliest part was getting to meet up with quilty friends, make new ones and spend time with people I have only ever known online. It's amazing how well you click with people on t'internet (pun intended) and when you meet they are even more fabulous than you expected. Events like this really cement that feeling of belonging for me and I only wish Stitch Gathering had lasted longer. Nevertheless we packed a lot in!
There were great classes to chose from in the morning and afternoon, plenty of chatting during breaks and lunch, a fun lucky dip tombola and a show and tell!

I failed to take lots of pictures, I was too involved in the chatting! But I did manage to snap a few during the show and tell...

Don't Box Me In by Trudi Wood


#beeadventurousquilts by Sandra Cassidy and bee mates


Bee quilt by Fiona Calvert


Twirl quilt by Poppy Russell


Scrappy Drunkard's Path quilt by Poppy Russell


In the afternoon I took Jo's Appliquéing Circles and Leaves class. She showed us some of her gorgeous makes and it was incredibly inspiring! She gave us lots of great tips and tricks for dealing with curves and recommended Aurifil 80wt thread, which is fab for appliqué. I had some fun trading fabric with my lovely class mates sitting next to me (very glad I sat with Lucy who prints the most gorgeous fabric, and Moira who understands my deep love for Denyse Schimidt! Thank you ladies!) and I got to gaze at beautiful Di too. It was awesome.


Turns out I'm not a great student, I didn't get too much sewing done as I kept faffing about trying to make fabric choices! I was paying attention though and I will be continuing to work on my flowers tonight:


We were all given a fabulous goody bag, with yummy fabric and other treats! Thank you to the sponsors Aurifil, Nairns, Dear Stella, Today's Quilter and Love Patchwork and Quilting, DMC, Duck Egg Threads, Michael Miller, Cloud9 Fabric, Blend Fabric, Free Spirit Fabric, Lewis & Irene, Sewing Quarter, Dashwood Studio and Fiskars.


And huge thanks to Jo myBearpaw for a truly wonderful day! ♡