Tuesday 29 July 2014

Quilting Bee!

Im guessing a fair few people will land on this blog after following me on Instagram (@_norahgeorge and my personal account @_tracyarnold) so you'll know that I'm starting a Quilting Bee in September!



In it's simplest form, a Quilting Bee is a collection of quilters (beginners, intermediates and advanced) who each month make the same block out of their own fabrics according to a colour theme set by one member - The Queen Bee! Once the block is made, they send them over to The Queen Bee who gets to assemble the blocks, finish the quilt and love it forever. You keep going each month until each Bee has their own quilt. Simple, huh?!

After finding my love of quilting less than a year ago, and realising how important crafting in general is to my sanity, I wanted to spread the quilty love as much as possible. Hence the Quilting Bee!

As I said, we will start of 1 September and still have spaces available. There are varying sewing skill levels in our Bee, so we're keeping blocks simple, but beautiful through our fabric choices.




Throughout August I will be posting regular pieces on quilting basics that I have learnt as I went along, from classes I took, blogs and books. I'll run a small quilting project so that each Bee can make a little something to keep before we start proper. I'll also be making some tutorials to post on YouTube. I'll keep you updated on those! Look out for the first post this Friday!

If you'd like to get involved, email me at hello@norahgeorge.com

Happy Crafting!

Monday 21 July 2014

Hello!

Well, I though that I ought to introduce myself before I start sharing my crafty journey with you all! 



I'm Tracy..I live in the Midlands with my craft-tolerant husband Ben and my two gorgeous kiddos Finn and Pippa.

I've always been "creative" you could say. I'm a part-time professional photographer shooting portraits and weddings and a full-time crafter. Seriously, any spare second. I have tried most crafts & there's not many I didn't like but there's a few that I love; sewing, knitting and crochet. I can't help but plan what I'll be driving everyone mad with next...

I really turned more to crafts after Finn was born. Being at home a lot meant I needed a mental escape from the monotony that a small baby can bring. It was me time even when my time was otherwise occupied! I have knitted for years but it wasn't until I was pregnant that I picked the needles up more seriously, making blankets, baby clothes, toys... However it was a bit, well, slow. So I taught myself to crochet. I made blankets after blankets, hats, scarves. Well pretty much anything really! It was love at first chain.



I didn't start sewing properly until 2012. I took a few workshops at a fantastic sewing shop and haberdashery in Hinckley, Leicestershire called The Sewing Cafe (www.thesewingcafe.co.uk). Becky and Fay nurtured my love for stitching and soon I'd progressed from simple projects to dressmaking and quilting. Ah, quilting. It's pure love. The fabrics, choosing combinations, the slow methodical precision of cutting and stitching and then seeing it all together. All ready to be put to some serious love. To become family heirloom. It's amazing. 



I now *try* to split my time between my three crafting passions but I go through phases of focusing on one before loving back over to another. Luckily my kiddies are young and they benefit from Mummy's makes... Toys, blankets, comforters. They love them as much as I do!



So, what I want to say is, pull up a chair and follow me on my crafty journey. Watch me make things i love. And then see if you love them too.

My shop will open soon, but in the meantime I'll share some of my recent makes with details on how I made them...!

Tracy
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