Hey hey there First name / Scrapper … it's Monday here in Perth and I'm overdue to be sending you an email. How have you been? Sewing patchwork? It's cooling down here and we're heading into winter. Winter in Perth is pretty mild compared to other places in the world so I cannot complain! I spent a couple of hours yesterday with the Mrs in the garden chopping and cleaning up for our green waste collection. I'm no green thumb but I do always enjoy the garden once I'm in it doing stuff I've be procrastinating about doing.

 

Patchwork, the next Makers Bundle, is available next month (9-14 May) and we (Lauren and I) have a fabulous lineup of quilt designers and their patterns. So keep your eyes peeled for that release in May or join the Makers Bundles list. You can unsubscribe at anytime. You can also read more about the bundle on our blog post.

We're coming into month FOUR of Mariners Mischief and this month it's a couple of fun blocks! This block, she has a few seams, but with a little wrangling she comes out nice and flat.

I hope you have a great week and there's lots of stitching for you.

 

Nic xo

As a small thank you for being here and supporting my very small, one woman business I'd like to offer a monthly discount on a particular pattern. I'm kicking off with my first published pattern for Craftapalooza Designs, Monochrome Peel. I love this block, you can play with contrast and prints and make your own amazing patchwork masterpiece. Click the button below to purchase Monochrome Peel and receive 10% off this pattern, the discount is automatically applied at checkout.

Each newsletter I'll share a quick tip or trick that I find useful when sewing patchwork. Today I'm sharing some basting tips. Basting quilts is not my favourite part of the process, ain't no way my knees will let me crawl around on the floor to baste. Sometimes I'll send a quilt to the longarmer for basting, but budget and deadlines don't always fit with this option.

 

I recently tried the tabletop pool noodle method using a micro tagging gun. I used a folding table bought from a hardware store that I had already, use a dining table or bench if you have one big enough.

 

As far as the basting goes, I tried micro tagging for the first time (see the photo below). I used the tagger on an angle to make sure I went through all three layers. I did have some misfires but overall I'm happy with this process. I'll snip the tags off as I approach them whilst hand quilting. Alternatively once you have the quilt set up on the noodles you could thread or pin baste with curved pins as well. 

 

Watch this video - it's super clear on how to setup to baste using pool noodles - I bought an extra one and cut it in thirds to make my noodles longer, I taped the extra bit on with some duct tape. I also bought jumbo noodles that have a diametre of 10cm (4") and I like that they're a little bigger.

 

I also did a very quick reel showing the micro tagging gun in action, click below to watch it.

Hi First name / Scrapper, check out these awesome patchworky items below. Click on the images to find out more.

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