teaching at South West Modern Quilt Guild

There is nothing quite like being in the company of other quilters! This past weekend I spent a day teaching the South West Modern Quilt Guild my Crossed Orange Peel pattern. I had met a few of the group before, some were familiar to me from social media and then there were new people to meet - all are utterly lovely and so welcoming!

The pattern is hand pieced, you can see my original mini quilt here (it will be available to purchase soon!) and it was really fun to see all the different fabrics everyone chose to use. Here are some blocks in progress:

And brave Helen took up my challenge of using one piece of fabric as the X. I'm still working on my own version of this but I think hers worked so nicely!

I really love teaching and it was an honour to teach such a talented and enthusiastic group! I am hoping to see finished projects popping up in #crossedorangepeel (that's my way of encouraging them to carry on sewing!!). It was nice to get to chat with everyone and there were some fabulous ideas about what they were going to do with their blocks, there was talk of a full sized quilt too - that would be brilliant!

We had a delicious lunch, everyone brought something to share, and then there was a show and tell. I didn't manage to get pictures of everything but Helen showed her beautiful apron that you can see in the top photo. The style is so wearable and I would like to make one for myself! And here are some of the other fabulous makes I did capture...

Bionic Gear Bag - Mary:

Row Quilt - Joan:

Sampler quilt - Denise:

Quilt Bee quilt - Sarah:

Tote bag - Fiona

I enjoyed hearing them talk about their projects too; the hows, whys, problems and process. It's very easy to skip over some of those things when you're looking at social media photos yet the stories of quilts and how they're made are always so interesting.

It was a wonderful day, in the best company and I am sad I live way too far away to join their guild!! Because I would! Thank you to the South West Modern Quilt Guild ♡

Since I was staying with Sarah, we got to spend a lot of time together over the weekend and we stayed up REALLY late chatting!! Generally I am a people person and get along with most people I meet; quilty people I have an immediate bond with, and I like nothing more than making a true friend. Sarah is an inspiring, fun and caring woman and she motivated me so much! It felt like serendipity that we got to connect and share our experiences because she's given me a lot of support right when I needed it. So thank you Sarah!

Also I got to see her making the project pouches she sells in her Etsy shop with fabulous sparkly vinyl. Of course I bought a personalised one and 'Stitch' for hand sewing, to go with my pink 'WIP' pouch. They hold so much and I'm all for cute storage solutions to keep me organised! Do visit her shop - Sarah Ashford Studio - she has offers for sets (and you can chose different words and colours) because who doesn't have more than one project on the go ;)

And then on the train home I met a lady who crochets and we had a nice little chat about sewing and crafting. Doing EPP always creates a talking point!

It felt so good to connect and get out and about!