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 27 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.
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.
Well the weather in England has not been that great but Nick and I have just come back from ten days in France and Italy and we had blue skies and sunshine the whole time - even too hot at times but I can't bear to say that!
We certainly did some driving as we drove to the south of France and stayed there for four days enjoying the company of close relatives and lazing around in the sunshine. Then off we went again driving to Tuscany where friends of ours were getting married. This was definitely not a lazy time as it takes a lot of energy to enjoy yourself as much as we did!
There were ninety guests and we all stayed in a vineyard in Tuscany. I think we managed to sample every wine they produced plus an awful lot more! We had such a great time - wonderful food - wonderful company - and the bride looked beautiful.
The quilt show at Sandown was held last week and as always it was a lovely show. The year seems to be going by so fast. All the quilts from our new book Layer Cake, Jelly Roll & Charm Quilts were on display.
Emma and Roger who organise the quilt shows always display the quilts so well but this time Emma was on holiday and 'the boys' were left in charge of displaying the quilts. When we saw that they had hung the quilts in front of the windows we were rather horrified as all you could see were the seams - all beautifully neat but not quite what you want to see. When we pointed it out they were brilliant and immediately took down all the display and re-did it - without a murmur (or not much of one). A bag of brownies the next day helped smooth things over!
The Championship quilt was a beautiful Baltimore quilt. Here is a picture and I am embarrassed that I cannot at the moment give the maker's name as I can't find my Catalogue. Please forgive me if you are reading this for not mentioning your name - it is an absolutely stunning quilt.
We just had to include a photo in this blog of the most industrious member of our Dear Jane club. Most people made a great number of blocks over the past few months but here is Mandy Wilkes with what she has accomplished. What an amazing achievement.
Our new workshop programme is now available and our Mystery Monday club is still continuing on the first Monday of every month. Instead of the Dear Jane club we are having a Seaside Block of the Month Club on the third Monday of every month. It is just for an hour - 10am-11am and is FREE. Come along - have a cup of coffee and it could be you standing next to your newly completed quilt in one of our future blogs.
Just a few more photos which I know you will love. This is Ursula having her coat taken off. Keith, the guy who came to shear my small flock,thought I was totally mad as I insisted on separating the wool from each different sheep and labelling it with the name of the sheep! It is going to be so amazing to knit a pair of gloves or a hat with wool from one of my own sheep and to know whose wool it is.
Ursula here is one of the sheep with lambs and she is very friendly. She eats quite happily from my hand and her lambs are equally friendly. One of the lambs looks as though she is going to have four horns which will look very impressive - occasionally they have as many as six horns.
Here I am looking like the proud mother with one of my Hebridean fleeces. This one is from the very greedy Vivienne and her fleece was one of the heaviest - definitely a pair of gloves AND a hat.
I am heading up to Dorking tomorrow morning to get ready for the quilt show at Sandown. The quilts from our new book will all be on display there. Come and say hello.
Our Summer Festival was a great success and I will post the names of the winners of our Quiz and Prize Draw as soon as possible. Nicky has a well deserved day off today so I can't get the information from her to tell you now. However, if you haven't been notified, I am afraid to tell you that you have not won - sorry. It was lovely to see so many people who came and everyone was so interested in the longarm quilting machine. I have to say it does look impressive and only JUST fits in to the new studio.
Nicky has been working away quilting all the winning quilts for the Jelly Roll Challenge and today I delivered them to the publishers David & Charles.
Here is Jane Trollopp of David & Charles receiving the quilts. She was just as excited as us to see how beautiful the quilts were. We really do think they are exceptional quilts and the book is going to be absolutely great. Gosh there are a lot of talented quilters out there. Look out for the book Jelly Roll Challenge which will be launched in October - the quilts are really exciting.
