Welcome to The Quilt Room blog. My name is Pam Lintott and I have been running The Quilt Room since 1981 which by my calculations is about 29 years ago! I am very lucky now to be working alongside my daughter Nicky and between us we will strive to keep you up to date with all that is new and exciting in the quilting world - and outside of it for that matter.
I was just about to take the dogs for a walk this morning when we suddenly had a hail storm. I shouldn't be at all surprised as the weather is so unpredictable but I rushed back into the house to get a hat and grabbed my camera to snap this beautiful rainbow. The hail storm only lasted about five minutes and the rainbow disappeared equally as quickly - but I managed to capture it.
I know you will already have your advent calendars started but I had to show you this advent calendar which my friend Lally bought for her gorgeous grandchild Chloe. There is Chloe bottom left who slipped into the picture by accident. I didn't realise I had captured her but she steals the show without trying!
Don't you think this is much better than the regular advent calendars and much more important is that Chloe doesn't receive little presents in each pocket but she is being taught to pop a penny into the pockets to give to children more needy than herself. I think that is a lovely thing to do.
new Friday was our Quilt Room Christmas dinner - a little early this year but Margaret is off to Australia next week to see her daughter. We were also lucky enough to have Anya Townrow join us as she was teaching a workshop Friday and Saturday.
I had some things to do in Cornwall so I couldn't leave until Friday morning. I was on the road - that well known A.303 - by 4am and arrived in Dorking in time to have breakfast with Nicky. We spent the day finishing off the quilts for the new book - only one more to bind!!! and then had a lovely evening out with the girls. A good time was had by all.
Here is Chris with her desert - I'm not sure she managed to get through it all but we all enjoyed the food, wine and good company.
Nicky and I then worked on Saturday morning and I hit the A.303 again and was back in Cornwall in time for Strictly Come Dancing!
Two From One Jelly Roll Quilts will be published in July next year which seems a long way off but there is still a lot to do. There are a couple of edits to go through and then the photography. I am going to try and persuade the publishers to come and do some photography in Cornwall so I can drape a few quilts around the sheep and chickens.
Our ram by the way (now renamed Roger) doesn't seem very interested in our flock of pedigree girls. He has escaped twice now into a neighbouring field with a flock of sheep who don't have a pedigree between them! I just hope I am going to have some lambs in the spring although I am quite sure our neighbours will have lots!
I have got to show you these. Liz Lynch who used to manage The Quilt Room now lives in Cornwall and she is an amazing knitter. I gave her some natural wool from my sheep - black from the Hebridean and light brown from the Manx Loaghtan and asked her to devise a pattern for some fingerless gloves.
She came up with this selection and when we get more wool next year we are going to have knitting kits with pattern and wool to make these great gloves - all from my own sheep. How about that!!
A big thank you to Liz and my only regret is that she made all the samples for the right hand. My left hand is going to get very cold this winter!
Nicky is sending an email out next week but if you are not on our email mailing list check out the website for a couple of really great book bargains.
It is always nice to see someone's interpretation of your pattern and this has just been sent to me by Anne Arthur. She has used the pattern from the first Jelly Roll Quilt book and just look at this applique. Her friend did it for her - how we all wish to have friends like that! It looks wonderful and is now being sent off to be longarm quilted.
It's lovely to feature quilts which people have made from the Jelly Roll books and it is surprising to see just how different they can look.
If you have a variation of any of the quilts from our books then do let us have a photo as we love to see them.
W I wasn't sure which of us would expire first - my sewing machine - my iron or me! Well I am pleased to report that it wasn't me and here is my nice new iron.
Last week Moda sent us some jelly rolls which are not due out until next spring so we just had to redo some of our quilts for the new book in these gorgeous new fabrics. I know it was a bit silly as our first quilts looked great but quilters are a little mad and when you get some brand new fabric you can't wait to see how it is going to look made up.
While Nicky has been slaving away quilting and binding all the quilts, I have been remaking some in the new ranges knowing that the deadline to get them to the publishers was just a week away!! My iron expired yesterday afternoon as I was pressing the last quilt in readiness for a border - why it couldn't have waited until the border was on and pressed I don't know but I suppose I would have had to buy another eventually as Nick is hoping to get some shirts ironed at some stage!
Nick doesn't seem overly worried about never having ironed shirts as this is the view from my sewing room. He is off with the dogs catching those elusive fish. The dogs look extremely well behaved but it is another story when he hooks a fish. They go absolutely mad and leap in the water and are a perfect nuisance.
Anyway..... quilts are now all pieced and we have been given a few extra weeks from David & Charles to get them quilted and bound. They all look brilliant - even if I say it myself and it was definitely worth redoing them in the new fabric. I shall tell you all about the new ranges in my next post.
Now this looks like one very happy cat. Laura Paulu from Germany has just sent us this lovely picture of her cat now curled up cosily on her gorgeous quilt.
Laura is one of the winners of the Jelly Roll Challenge and her quilt is featured in the book Jelly Roll Inspirations. She was really pleased to have just received her quilt back from the publishers (beautifully quilted by us of course) and obviously her cat was in total agreement that it was indeed purrrr...fect to have the quilt back.
Nicky is busy, busy, busy at the moment getting the quilts for our new book beautifully quilted. I on the other hand have had a day off and have collected Go West who is our Manx Loaghtan ram who is now on holiday with us for a couple of months and is enjoying the company of our gorgeous girls! I did have to put up with Nick playing the Pet Shop Boys 'Go West' continuously this morning before I left and I fear I shall be hearing that song much more over the next few weeks!
Now I must keep you up to date with what is going on and there certainly seems to be a lot!
Firstly our next book which is due at the publishers on 14th November - goodness only a couple of weeks away - is going to be called Two From One Jelly Roll Quilts. It is such an exciting idea - we have taken one jelly roll and from the first twenty strips we have made one quilt and then from the remaining twenty strips we have made another - looking quite different both in design and colour. It is fantastic for making cot quilts, wallhangings and throws plus you have the option to make them larger if you wish. There will be eighteen new patterns so there will definitely be something you just can't wait to get started on! Publication date for this book is not until July next year so sorry .... you are just going to have to wait. You could however come along to our Strip Club on the first Monday of each month and you will get to see a new pattern from the book - so you will indeed be one step ahead!
To keep you inspired, Jelly Roll Inspirations was published on 30th October and in this book are the twelve quilts from the Jelly Roll Challenge. This book has created such a lot of interest and the quilts in it are absolutely stunning. If you haven't got your copy yet, then don't delay as there is something in it for all levels of ability from the beginner to the much more adventurous.
We have been working hard also on preparing our next workshop programme. Our programme for January - June 2010 is out this week so check this out on our website www.quiltroom.co.uk. We have more visiting tutors than ever before - all looking forward to teaching in our new workshop.
Which brings me on to our next piece of news....... Who remembers when The Quilt Room first started back in 1981 - above the bookshop in the High Street? Yes lots of you I know. Well we are sort of going back to our roots as we are taking over the bookshop. We will be moving from West Street and opening at 37-39 High Street, Dorking on 1st February 2010. There is such a lot to think about but it will all get done and once we have moved it will be fantastic to have the shop, the mail order department, the long arm quilting studio and the workshop all together. I feel quite tired thinking about it all so I shall leave you with something that someone has just sent to me which made me laugh:
Doc I can't stop singing The Green, Green Grass of Home'. "That sounds like the Tom Jones Syndrome". 'Is it common?' "It's not unusual".
Jelly Roll Inspirations hasn't arrived yet but is apparently due in within a week or so. As our last post said we were planning a book launch at Malvern but everything is working against that.
Our new book is due at the publishers 14th November and we still have all the quilts to quilt and some of the patterns to be tested. It is just not going to get done if we take time out to go to Malvern. So - very sorry. The moment we get a definite arrival date for Jelly Roll Inspirations we will plan something in the shop.
Just thought I should introduce you to the new ram who will be arriving shortly. Isn't he a magnificent animal. He is a Manx Loaghtan and as you can see he has four horns. Most only have two but some even go as far as having six! Next blog I promise to tell you all about our next book.........
There has been an awful lot going on at the moment but nothing so important as Nicky's wedding to Rob.
Here they are signing the register. It was such a lovely day - very low key which is what they both wanted and we just all had fun. They are now in Paris on their honeymoon for a few days so if you are waiting for any longarm quilting - you are not going to be getting it this week!
Okay just one more photo of the wedding - this is the very proud mum - laughing at I don't know what. We really all had such a good time.
Now I am back in Cornwall and we have such a busy few months ahead. The book featuring all the winning quilts from the Challenge, Jelly Roll Inspirations, will be launched later this month at the Malvern Autumn Fair which starts on Friday, 30th October through to Sunday, 1st November. We are hoping to have as many of the winning quilts as possible plus our variations and I can assure you that you will not be disappointed.
The other book you must look out for is Quiltmakers which is due out in November and again published by David & Charles. Each chapter is a workshop from eight of the world's top quilters. I am proud to say they were my choice and if any one were giving a workshop, you would travel miles to attend. Pick up this book and you can have a personal workshop from all eight.
And if you are wondering whether there are any more books in the pipeline - yes there are. We are working on a new jelly roll book which will be out next spring/summer which has quite a novel twist. Our deadline for the publishers is end November so that is another thing we are trying to get done. If you come to the book launch of Jelly Roll Inspirations we are hoping to have a couple of our new quilts there - and you can see just what that novel twist is - we are hoping you are going to like it.
Great excitement today as Nicky and I both received our advance copies of Jelly Roll Inspirations - Nicky in Dorking and me in Cornwall - so you can imagine the phone has been red hot!
To say that we are pleased with the book would be an understatement - it is so beautiful. We know our twelve winners will be absolutely delighted with it - their quilts look absolutely gorgeous. A big thank you to David & Charles for all their hard work and imagination in creating such a lovely book and an even bigger thank you to everyone who took part in the Challenge. Your quilt might not have made it into the book this time but without everyone's enthusiasm for the project it just would not have happened.
Publication date is later in October so keep a look out for it. We are trying to think where we should have the book launch - any ideas gratefully received!
We have just got back from a very tiring Festival of Quilts but what excitement we had. We were announcing the 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize winners of the Jelly Roll Challenge and here is the winning quilt.
It is Be My Valentine by Helen Allison and is a worthy winner. Here I am not doing a very good job at displaying it but the next time you will see it will be on the front cover of the book Jelly Roll Inspirations which is due for publication in October. Helen received a very substantial cheque donated by Moda Fabrics plus a superb sewing machine donated by Singer. Our thanks go to them for being so generous. Thanks also go to the UK distributor of Moda, Winbourne Fabrics for their support and kindly supplying goodies for all the winners plus giving a retailer's prize.
The prize giving was such fun for everyone except Nicky who valiently kept the stand under control. She managed to take a few photographs but mainly of my back so these photographs are courtesy of our second prize winner.... Jenny Hutchison who very kindly sent them to me.
Here is Jenny's quilt Beach Huts with Jenny to the right. A stunning quilt. Jenny also received a very nice cheque.
The third prize went to Annie Harris for her lovely Birthday Gift quilt and here is a picture of me trying to hold it up for photography. Annie couldn't make it to the prize giving as she was in France but her friends were there and I am sure they will have told her by now. Her cheque will be winging its way to her so what a nice welcome when she returns from holiday.
Well done to all the twelve winners and special congratulations to our first, second and third prize winners. So many talented quilters out there.
The Challenge was such a success that we'll give everyone a breather but look out for another maybe in a year or so!!! Thanks so much to everyone who took part.
We shall be at Hever Castle in just over a week so look forward to seeing you there. If you have never been to the Hever Castle show it is well worth a visit - not quite on the same scale as the NEC but a very friendly show in a gorgeous venue.
