The Make and Do Studio

I love the colour in these photos....

I have been taking many photos recently and downloading them into my Picasa files (in an attempt to keep them in some semblance of order!).  It occured to me that the negative to digital images is that you don't tend to keep them anywhere where you can look at them on a daily basis - I tend to look at them. go "wow, that is lovely" and then that is it. So I decided to take a very random selection from the last six weeks and post them  - just so I can see them once in a while!

Children's felt drying alfresco.

Addison catching the last dying rays of the autumn sun.

Canning and preserving stuff - ready for show.

Quilt strips on their way to being finished.

My daughter Sydney made a gorgeous Octonaut cake for Addison's birthday. 

The beginning stages of the Canning and Preserving workshop that just passed.  What a great workshop!

I hope you are all gearing up for the holidays - I know I am but this year I have decided to pace it out a bit. I have slowed down on workshops from the beginning of December and am concentrating on some other studio stuff - putting new stuff on Folksy, sorting out a monthly "Create" night at a local business, writing a business support section called This Crafty Business on the Crafty Network and of all things - hopefully being filmed by the BBC!

All the best and for those back in the States, here is to a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

 

 

 

Houston- we have lift off (or at least a workshop listing for Spring!)

The latest schedule seems to have taken much longer than usual to get organised and, in a self reflective moment, I was asking myself "why?".  But then I Iooked at the schedule and we now have 15 unique workshops - with four highly qualified and creative tutors - and I realised how much we had grown in the last year. So I am okay with the workshop schedule being a bit later to press than usual - we hope you think it is worth the wait!  

• We now have a "refer a friend" scheme as it appears you all want to come in pairs!  If you refer someone who books on to a workshop, you get either £5 off an existing workshop that you may already be booked on to or £5 credit towards any future workshops you may want to take.
• We now have evening courses for the Beginning Quiltmaking workshop as well as the All You Need to Know to Sew workshop.
• Our newest workshops include: Making Beaded Necklaces, Creating Felt Jewellery, Making Simple Roman Blinds, Making Simple Lined Curtains and just in time for Mothers Day - Creative Wrapping!
• We are so passionate about what we do - and are so sure we do it well! - that we back each workshop up with a 100% satisfied customer experience.  If you were not happy with any aspect of your workshop, we will refund your money - no questions asked.
• We have added a few February half term workshops for anyone that would like to have their child learn the basics of sewing!  We only have eight places so book early to ensure you get a place.
• If you want to keep on top of what is going at the Studio, we are now on Facebook! Feel free to "like" us!
• To register for any of the courses - or if you want more information on any of the courses- send an e-mail to maeri@themakeanddostudio.co.uk. 

I will be updating other sections of our website over the next week or so but the course listing link above is the most up to date place for information on the workshops until then!

Give me three days in York and I come back a well rested woman!

First, a felt making class last Thursday which was good fun to serve tea at.  As Beryl is the instructor, I am just the dipping in and out lady - "more coffee?" - which I really enjoy.  Below is Anne, under the guidance of Beryls finger, getting to grips with all the apparatus needed to felt...

And then the next day we had a weekend away without any children - some call it a late honeymoon.  We had a fantastic three days away  - did I mention no children - and while we were wondering around, I discovered a few places worth mentioning:

• Grace and Jacob is a lovely little shop that combines felt making and sewing. The quirky felt slippers in the window caught my eye and then the shelf of Amy Butler fabrics pulled me inside. Fiona owns the shop and was knee deep in moving boxes but she took time out to have a chat with me when I am sure she could have been unpacking a box or two.
• Duttons for Buttons - it is still a bit of a wonder to me that this shop, which does what it says on the tin (though they have expanded a bit).  I recently bought a gorgeous Karen Millen wool winter coat at a local charity shop but it was missing buttons. One trip to Duttons and my Karen Millen is about to get a button makeover!
• York Quilting Museum - I know I keep saying I am not a proper quilter but I did want to have a look at what was on offer. Smaller than I thought but well laid out.  And behind the museum...
• The New School House Gallery -  Very light and open - their displays (we both loved the ceramic artwork by Fenella Elms but unfortunately, our wallets did not!). Well worth a browse, because behind the gallery was..
• The most serene public park I have been to in recent memory. It was designed by Annette Parkes and goes back to the city walls.  And it is a council owned park - that really blew me away.
• And it is worth one last mention about the Italian restaurant that sits the front of the gallery, Le Langhe - the deli alone is worth a visit. It had a bit of the same feel as Valvona and Crolla in Edinburgh.  The food was authentic and the wine went down a treat!

Checking out the Festival of Quilts at the NEC

I decided to spend one of the nicest Sundays so far at the lovely concrete jungle that is the NEC in Birmingham.  Why? Because even though I don't consider myself a proper quilter, I do love to look at what proper quilters/sewers do.  And the last seven years has seen the Festival of Quilts become the main exhibition for both those that want to show their quilts and for those that want to sell things that are part of the world of sewing - from the latest line of fabrics, to the sewing machine that can hoover your house whilst sewing (just kidding - but it is probably around the corner!).  A few of the highlights for me were:

• Bumping into Kaffe Fassett while he was signing his new book Quilts en Provence  - I have to admit I didn't realise who it was (even though I know all about his contributions to the world of sewing and fabrics). I politely said excuse me and then noticed a flurry of ladies pointing whilst he made he way through the crowd - where he made his way to his table and started to sign.  Below is a photo of a section of one of his quilts on display  - the photos don't do them justice as they really have to be seen close up to appreciate how he works with colour:
   
• The Cotton Patch stand was gorgeous - so many sewing related items to chose from that it really is hard to concentrate on just what you would like to buy.  I kept my hands in my pockets as my Mom recently brought me a very large addition to my stash but temptation was all around me!
• Speaking of temptation, Amy Butler is bigger than ever and was a big part of the Cotton Patch stand.  It is easy to forget that she is a designer so therefore, she can turn her hand to anything - not just fabric.  And she has started to do that - wallpaper, stationery etc.  
   Check out the rain coat! 
• The most untraditional but incredibly striking quilts that I saw were made by a lady named Pauline Burbridge . All of her pieces were black and white (with grey thrown in) and had this incredible amount of detail that made them look like block prints or pen and ink drawings. You looked at them from a distance and they had almost an ethereal presence but then as you got closer, the detail became more obvious and you saw them in a whole different light.  They made my eyes water with the amount of work she must put into them - even the small wall pieces were stunning. I would love to try her method and she apparently holds a short course at West Dean College in Chichester. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps........

Let me introduce you to Sarah B...

 I would like to introduce you to Sarah B.  Sarah came to one of my All You Need to Know to Sew classes quite a few months ago - I think she had seen my flyer in one of the local shops. She had been given a lovely little machine from her fiance and wanted to know how to get around it. So off she came to the workshop, which if I remember correctly was a bit busy. We also discovered that we were both planning our weddings so we had a few chats about where we were up to with the planning etc. and she left saying that she was keen to come to other classes so she would be back. I often hear that as folks that take the classes get really excited about the possibility of what else they can do. And sometimes they come back and sometimes they don't - it is the ying and the yang of life.

True to her word, she has come back - to the Sling Bag Basic class and to the Basic Quilt making class. But what makes her story a bit different is that she takes days off work to come to the classes.  This came out when we were talking about how much she is enjoying the sewing and Sarah said that even though she enjoys taking time off for holidays, she liked to be able to do things for herself that she can enjoy all year long, not just for when she is on holiday. 

How great is that?

And I think she is so right - and not just because she is coming to my workshops! - but because life is bit too short to hold your breath until the next holiday.

It has changed the way I look at things.....in the best possible way.

Thanks Sarah!

 

Where have you been?

I have been sooooo bad about posting the last six weeks!  It is not because I haven't been busy - I am getting married in two weeks and when the plans were first banded around about where to have it, I decided that since we lived on such a pretty street (especially in the summer) why not have it here!  So between the planning of that as well as having more workshops than expected, posting seems to have fallen to the wayside. 

We have had a few more firsts here at Make and Do - my first mother/daughter students (that does not sound right at all but that is the only word I can think of) who came to our Everything You Need to Know to Learn How to Sew workshop (the last one before we slow down for summer!)    

 

"Jasmine and I really enjoyed the sewing lesson. It was lovely to do a class together and we are now able to support each other... Your method of teaching was great and we felt very comfortable in such a relaxed but professional atmosphere. The muffin was lovely and as a coffee connoisseur I really enjoyed the coffee too. We now feel energised and motivated to start sewing, our cushions are amazing.  You will be seeing us again and thank you so much for a lovely morning.  Susanne and Jasmine

Back in June we had another first which was two classes held in one morning!  Our Fit to Knit workshop was in our front parlour (that sounds so posh, doesn't it!) and we had the second session of our Quiltmaking for Beginners workshop in the actual Studio. We met up in the kitchen for coffee and nibbles at half time, had a bit of a gab and then went back to our respective workshops.  

Other firsts included the first workshop on Cob Web scarf making - which I was lucky enough to attend due to a last minute cancellation.  I know that might sound odd but I don't often get to go to courses that Beryl teaches as either they are full or I am busy on other work related items.I had great fun and my scarf was so soft and lovely, I have added it to my wedding outfit - I might even post a photo of it on the day.

That is my cob web scarf, before it was a scarf (if you know what I mean).

Well, we are winding down for summer but the autumn schedule is all but done ( I am tweaking a few last minute dates) so I hope to add that in the next day or so.  I will post over the summer as I am looking forward to posting about some new topics - and new photos!

Storks, coasters and a Happy Mothering Sunday!

I thought this picture was a great one to have as we are on the back of Mothering Sunday (in the US you would call it Mother's Day - same thing).  I do remember that the stork was an option when it came to questions about where babies came from - but I think Mothering Sunday but a rest to that question. After all, it isn't called "Stork Delivery Day" now is it?

It seems to have been ages since I have properly posted but it does not mean that we have not been busy on the creative front. With Mothering Sunday looming, the children will have brought home some great coasters - made from 100% recycled materials - for their Mom's to rest their mugs of tea on (or as one child said really loud when I told them about what the coasters can be used for - "my mom can put her wine on it because she has, like, 86 bottles of wine and she drinks them all the time!" How we laughed!!). The children designed the inside of the coaster and then we used old clear plastic folders to make the outside - putting them together like a sandwich and then zipping them through the sewing machine.  You can sew just about anything with the proper needle as well as a study sewing machine. Then to neaten them up, we used pinking sheers on the outside.  The photos below will show you bit of the process:

 
 
That is the loveliest heart!  

The children also made fantastic felt flowers for their Moms - again, made out of all of the leftover scraps of previous projects.  The flowers have had a pin sewn to the back of them so that they can move them from sweater, to bag, to a headband accessory, as one clever clog pointed out!  

With the older children, Beryl worked with them to make the felt from scratch for their flowers. The finished product was gorgeous and I hope the Mom's liked them.

The adult classes have also been busy, with some of them full well in advance of the day of the workshop- I think I am looking forward to a rest over the Easter holiday!  The most recent class was the Sling Bag workshop which I will include a few photos of Sally hard at work making her bag.

The hardest part is picking out the button......

And there you have it - three and a half hours, a little under a meter of fabric, the desire to be a bit creative and me telling Sally not to worry about the mistakes you make - a Sling Bag has been born!  

Does that mean we have to have a day to celebrate the creation of bags as well?

:)

    

 

Optimistically thinking good thoughts...

Made me laugh!

 

Bet you wish you had a quilt in this weather!

2010....you are making me miss 2009!!

I am not that inclined to comment on the weather - I know it is a national past time here in the UK - but my take on it that it is what it is, and just be prepared.  However I am going to break from this tradition as the last week of snow has been...impressive?.....unprecedented (unless you remember the previous two wallops of winter which is either 1947 or 1963 - both before my time!)....and a little bit magical? 

 

To see all the kids in the neighbourhood throwing snowballs and building huge snowmen reminded me of my childhood in Vermont, where long snowy winters are a given.

My two boys spent what seemed like hours throwing snowballs. My older son managed to chip one of his teeth earlier in the week in an ice related incident...guess I should be glad it wasn't the entire tooth that went missing!

 

Rumour has it we may be getting more over the weekend.....what a lovely excuse to slow down.   

I have a few more updates to add - namely the schedule of courses for the Spring  (including one on basic quilt making in case you are curious!)- and will do so in the next day or so. 

Careful on the ice!

Maeri