The exciting news is that I am changing the name of my business from Moore Patchwork & Quilting to Lyn Briggs Designs.
I've been thinking about it for a while but it was when we were on our UK holiday that I made the decision. Sometimes stepping back helps you to see things more clearly.
When I started Moore Patchwork & Quilting in 2005, I only sold other designers' patterns but gradually over time, I started designing more and more of my own patterns until now I only sell my own designs. Because of that, I believe the name Lyn Briggs Designs is a better reflection of my business today.
The biggest change in the new store is that all PDF patterns will be available for immediate download at the time of purchase.The other change is that all payments go through Paypal - either your Paypal account or credit card. I'm hoping that both of these changes will make shopping easier.
Oh, and of course there's a new blog and from next week I will be posting from here.
I Love Xmas....
In amongst all the admin work I've been doing lately, I've managed to finish my I Love Xmas project.
The quilting went quickly and I'm glad I machine quilted in the ditch of the seams of the stars because it does make them stand out more.
The finished size is 24" x 12"
The pattern is available in both printed and pdf formats in my new shop!
I know it seems a bit ridiculous given how swelteringly hot it is in Paradise at the moment, but I've actually finished a knitting project! All I can say is airconditioning helps.
I started this Macro Lace Cardigan by Laura Chau in June before we went on our big trip and then picked it up again in October. Well now it's finished! It took a little bit longer than I anticipated to do the bands which are really wide but I got there in the end.
The plum coloured Cascade 220 yarn is beautiful and I know that this version will become a favourite of mine like the lastMacro Lace Cardigan I made which by the way is now 'retired'.
I really enjoy knitting Laura Chau's patterns. They are easy to follow and she provides both a chart (which I prefer) and written instructions. Besides that, her designs actually fit me well.
Another thing I did before we went away was buy some more Cascade 220 to make another one of her designs. This time a pullover called Levina.
I pulled it out of the cupboard this morning and was a bit surprised to find navy blue yarn. I don't know what I was thinking at the time but if I was buying yarn today I would have bought something a bit more colourful - like the lovely reddish colour on the pattern! I will just have to dress it up with a colourful scarf.
Every summer I plan to make jumpers for winter and every year I seem to fail except this summer I'm determined to turn that record around. I've already finished one cardigan and hopefully I will add this pullover to my wardrobe as well.
I'm still working on the borders of my I Love Xmas project.
I am pleased with the red inside borders and after thinking about it overnight, decided that a pieced outside border would go nicely.
I cut 2 1/2" squares from the reds and greys and arranged them around the outside until I was happy with them.
Now it's just a matter of sewing them together and then adding them to the quilt.
That's the plan for the weekend.
Lost Postcard....
Remember all of those postcards I posted back to myself from UK? When I was adding them to my travel journal, I noticed that one day was missing. It was a day we spent in Worchester and I was sure I had sent a postcard with a photo of the magnificent cathedral on it.
Turns out I was right because yesterday it arrived in my mail box (only 3 months late). It looks a little bit battered and bruised around the edges (Robin said it looks like it's been on a detour around the world.), but I'm pleased to see it. I can now fill that empty space dated 1 August.
Since I'm making a Christmas tablerunner, when it came to designing the patchwork blocks I thought a couple star blocks were appropriate.
I found this block in one of my patchwork books - I'm sure it has a name but the book didn't give it one so I remain clueless.
It was surpisingly easy to make and just to add some interest I used two different red and 2 different grey fabrics per block. I did make a third block but the red was a bit too dark and I decided that these two would do nicely.
Once the stitchery was completed I joined it with the blocks for the centre of the tablerunner and then it was a matter of adding the inside borders.
Fortunately the red fabric from my stash worked really well with the red and grey print fabrics. I've cut them 1" (finished) and will now think about the outside border.
I have finally got my head around the fact that Christmas is fast approaching and that I need to get some Christmas cheer happening around here. To get myself in the Christmas mood I decided that making something Christmassy was the thing to do.
A couple of weeks ago while looking through my stash, I came across this pile of Christmas type fabrics that I bought this time last year and I vowed that they wouldn't still be sitting in my stash this time next year.
I had no clear idea what to make until I started thinking about what I needed in the house and came up with a tablerunner. I quickly came up with a plan with some stitchery and some patchwork blocks.
Along with the grey and red patterned fabrics I found some red fabric in my stash that will match them as well. It will work nicely for the borders and binding.
Because I'm stitching in red thread only, the stitchery is turning out to be very quick to do.
Well it's happened again - a new month has come around way too quickly! A new month means a new newsletter and I've just sent out the November Newsletter.
This month is the final instalment of the Family Blessings block of the month quilt and for Things I've Learned Along the Way I show how I bind my quilts. One of the things I do is (almost) always cut my bindings the same width and save any leftovers so that I can then join them together to use in binding my scrappy quilts.
With the finish of our project, I introduce the block of the month for 2014 - The Word of God which is still very much a work in progress.
I also share some exciting new plans and the Inspiration Column is all about the unconditional love that God has for us even when we do things that disappoint.
If you are interested in finding out more about the newsletter, please email me.
Family Blessings Block of the Month...
If you are interested in the Family Blessings project it's now available as a block of the month project on my website.
It's a seven part project and the patterns are available as a pattern a month for seven months or as a complete set of seven patterns.
I turned out to be a nice quick little project. For the quilting, I simply quilted in the sashings 1/4" from each side; worked a diagonal cross in the little squares; and then quilted 1/4" in the borders.
The binding fabric is the same black print I used in the little squares in the sashing.
The finished size of the quilt is 22" x 10" and I'm going to use it as a tablerunner. I'm really pleased with it!
So glad I thought to make a dolly quilt I had forgotten how much satisfaction I get from making them. Will have to get back to making them more often.
Comfort and Joy...
I have been busy sorting out my patterns and changing them to pdf.
Comfort and Joy is another Christmas pattern now available in both printed and pdf format on my website and as a pdf pattern in my Etsy shop.
Managed to get some sewing done on my Maple Leaf Dolly Quilt on the weekend - in fact it's almost finished!. That's one of the things that I like about making dolly quilts, they are really achievable and provide a break if I'm bogged down on a bigger project.
On Friday afternoon, I laid the finished blocks out on my work table in what I hoped was a nice arrangement, and left them over night so I could see them fresh first thing in the morning. I find this a good strategy when I'm putting together quilt blocks; it means that you get to look at it with 'fresh eyes' and any glaring mismatches seem to be more obvious. Besides that, when I'm trying to arrange quilt blocks I get to the point where I just seem to be moving blocks around over and over again. It's good to call a halt and start again the next day.
With the arrangement settled, I then looked through my stash for suitable sashing and border fabrics.
For the sashings, after auditioning lots of lighter fabrics I settled on a biege background with a small red print.
For the outside borders, I'm following Kathleen Tracey's lead in her pattern and just adding borders to the ends. After tossing up between two black prints I settled on the one with the large pink flowers and cut these at 3.5".
The little tablerunner then seemed to come together really quickly.
I found suitable backing fabric in my stash and then layered it for quilting.
I have a self-imposed 'rule' that for all my dolly quilts I have to do at least some hand quilting but with this one I'm planning to do only hand quilting - and of course it will be with my favourite Perle 8 thread.
I'm pleased with how it's looking so far.
Peace on Earth...
Another Christmas pattern that is now available in both printed and pdf formats on my website and as a pdf pattern in my Etsy store.
It's a small scrappy quilt (18.5" x 18.5") with Christmas stitcheries.
I haven't made a dolly quilt for a while and the other day I was feeling a bit distracted and needed a break from my stitching on The Word bom so I looked up Kathleen Tracey's blog to see what the small quilt of the month is.
This month it is Maple Leaf block and Kathleen gives suggestions for different layouts.
It seems funny working on an Autumn project when we are heading into Summer but I gathered together some browns, greens, and blacks and started planning what I would do.
I liked the idea of having different coloured 'leaves' rather than all the same and I also thought a small table runner would be better than a quilt. Kathleen has a sample of a tablerunner with eight blocks but I decided that I would make mine with six blocks and add 1" sashings between them.
I made one block to see how it would turn out and found it was very easy to make. That gave me confidence and I made the others fairly quickly.
Now I just have to work out a layout and choose sashings and borders.
I have a free monthly newsletter featuring a stitchery block of the month; exclusive specials on my patterns; and an inspiration column which includes a word of encouragement from the Bible.
In 2012 we did the quilt called I am... based on the I am statements Jesus made in the book of John. If you would like more information please email me.