Modern Art Quilters - Newsletter July 2025

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BY HAND This month we are looking at small projects, perhaps to take on holiday or sit with in the garden (in the shade, of course). A little hand work is soothing and takes up not-much-space in a suitcase, and will keep your sewing-mojo rolling nicely while you are away from your machine. The obvious choice is English Paper Piecing, of course, and we have the usual good selection of ideas below. You might also think about adding some embroidery stitches to your repertoire - crazy patchwork anyone? I love to sit in front of a good DVD series any evening (HH writes) with a little hand work and a snoring cat (I will admit to crochet sometimes too, but please don't tell anyone). Peaceful stitchery and no advertisements! (Currently re-watching Downton Abbey, which is Valium for the brain...) And, yes we are madly finishing the Festival Of Quilts entries; as usual we work to a deadline so much better than any other way. I am angelling from the Monday and delivering quilts on that day, so we do have a bit of extra time! I will be there all four days, HB will be there at the weekend, do email us if you want a phone number to meet up... I note that the stationery shops all have a stock of transparent pencil cases these days - apparently these are required for exams. They make the most useful and inexpensive carriers for all sorts of small projects. And don't forget your glasses! Helen Howes and AitchBee Contact us direct on newsletter@modernartquilters.co.uk Why not forward this message to your quilty friends who might enjoy our ramblings. They can CLICK HERE to go straight to our newsletter sign up page. HEADER IMAGE: This quilt is called Zen Garden, by HH, and is all hand-applique and quilted, done as therapy after a hand injury!
What a perfect holiday project: POSTCARDS! make them and send them home. Sun & Moon Postcard kits by Helen Howes	How about a little project to make before you go away - something to carry you hand-sewing in. See the FREE TUTORIAL in HB's website
Click on any picture in this Newsletter to read more. These are mostly links to external websites and blogs - have fun and enjoy looking!
	English Paper Piecing (aka EPP) is the classic hand-work project and even large quilt designs can usually be broken down into manageable "units" which are easy to pack and carry with you. Hand stitching can be a very mindful occupation - I find it amazingly calming and have noticed in any workshop that includes hand-sewing that as soon as we reach that point in the project immediately the frenetic pace slows and everyone takes a breath. To learn the basics of EPP have a look at the FREE TUTORIAL on the MODERN ART QUILTERS website (linked from the image, left. We also have a tutorial for Radical Paper Piecing (RPP?) which gives you a project for irrational shapes (including gentle curves) rather than the usual geometric shapes. CLICK HERE to view this second tutorial.
	Whether you are looking for simple hexagons for the more complicated combined shapes that form such breath-taking designs as La Pasacaglia, LINA is the place to start your EPP journey. They also do a fantastic range of pre-cut papers to support designs by the likes of Tula Pink, Elizabeth Hartman and Kaffe Fassett, often in several sizes. A note about sizes - most shapes for EPP are listed by the length of their side, so a shape listed as a 1-inch hexagon will actually be 2 inches from corner to corner. I recently purchased some ¼-inch hexagons (shhh, don't tell anyone I haven't dared try them out yet!) and these aren't the smallest size they do!
	There is something quite lovely about stitching with felt - wool or acrylic - it doesn't fray and it is easily cut and stored for small projects on the move. It is a beautiful base for embroidery stitches and beads - you can really customise your projects. These little "worry birds" are designed to finish to about 2 inches across, ideal to hold in the hand, or slip into a pocket, to help soothe anxiety. The PDF pattern for these little cuties is available at a very reasonable price on ETSY.
	This month's SWITCH project shows you how to turn scraps of quilted fabric and card trimmings into super gift tags. Perhaps, if you wanted to add a personalised touch you could hand-embroider a name to each quilted panel before attaching it to the card? Plenty of time to do one for each of the family before Christmas! You could start a new family tradition for re-useable gift tags - a few items less in landfill in the New year?
	HH was lucky enough recently to get onto Irene Roderick's Zoom Workshop hosted by the QGBI Modern SIG. Irene is an American Modern quilter well known for her improv piecing and modern colour combinations. Having seen the piece HH made as a result of the workshop (HB writes) I was intrigued - improv isn't generally my thing but I loved the skinny lines and structure/no-structure layout. Irene's two books include an enormous quantity of images of her work and working methods - a fantastic addition to any Modern Quilter's library.
	This is FROST HARE, a Kantha Stitch Kit by Angela Daymond. We both love Angela's style and have been meeting her at shows for many years. Her KANTHA KITS are the perfect holiday project and include everything you need to complete one of her lovely little designs each of which finish to about 12 x 8 inches (approximately A4 - so, very easy to frame!) This is an ideal "grab & go" kit, all you need to add is some tacking thread and a pencil to transfer the design to the fabric. At such excellent prices, what's stopping you?
	SASHIKO literally translates from Japanese as "little stabs" The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as: A Japanese hand-embroidery technique consisting of a simple running stitch forming repeating geometric patterns, typically in white thread on an indigo background. Also: fabric that has been embroidered in this way. Sashiko was originally used to join layers of cloth for making clothes with reinforced durability but is now chiefly decorative in purpose. A relaxing and therapeutic form of hand-embroidery, rather more formal than many others with its repeated geometric shapes. Click on the image to read more about the history of the technique on WIKIPEDIA. For patterns, specialist supplies and ideas, enter SASHIKO PATTERNS into your web-browser, but have a cup of tea and make sure you have a comfy chair!
	SANDIE LUSH is justifiably famous for hand-stitched whole-cloth quilts. For the uninitiated, whole-cloth means that a single piece of fabric is used for the front of the quilt and the quilting alone carries the design. So, no patchwork to hide anything! The image links to an excellent YouTube video where Sandie shows you how to hand quilt. Alternatively CLICK HERE to visit Sandie's website and learn more. Although a bed quilt might be a little large to use as a travelling project, cushion covers and other smaller items might be just the thing to practice on.
	Like most quilters the first patchwork I ever did was EPP hexagons (HB writes). It was in my last year at Middle School (no idea what year that is new money - and I'm not admitting how many years ago that was!) I made a cushion cover and didn't do any more patchwork until about fifteen years ago. I have recently rediscovered a love of hand piecing but don't have a lot of time so projects grow very slowly. This little pincushion, made of EPP hexagons, is a perfect travel project - not only is it small and manageable, but it makes a useful end product. Click on the image to visit the MAQ SMALL PROJECTS web page
	American Hand Piecing, very different from EPP, is where accurately cut pieces of fabric are hand stitched together on a nominal sewing line using small running stitches to form a ¼-inch seam. This tutorial on ALL PEOPLE QUILT - the blog of American Patchwork & Quilting Magazine - gives you the basics. Quite often the sewing lines are marked on the cut fabric pieces in pencil with a slightly larger dot to denote the point at start and end of each seam. If you want to find out more there's plenty of info on-line.
	Crazy patchwork always makes me think of Victorian tea cosies for some reason - I think it is a book I had as a child, it's funny the things you remember! However, it is actually a great scrap-busting technique and makes a perfect travel project. Apart from your fabrics and a base cloth, take those short lengths of embroidery thread and braid oddments to use as embellishments. Then let your imagination run riot.
	The Quilter's Apprentice and I will be at the Lamport Hall Quilting & Sewing Show in July - that's somewhere between Kettering and Northampton (I am sure we will find it in time for set-up day!) Do come and visit us if you are in the area. The image is linked to the Grosvenor Shows website where you can find more details and book advance tickets. LAMPORT HALL QUILTING & SEWING SHOW 18th to 20th July - 10am to 4pm (Sunday 3.30pm) Lamport, Northamptonshire, NN6 9HD (NN6 9EZ for Satnav)
We are happy to publicise your exhibition or quilting event anywhere in the country, please let us know at least a month before it is due to start and provide details of venue, dates, times, a brief description, and image and a website link if you have a relevant one.

	Now I am sure I could make this quilt by FPP, but that's not the point (HB writes). I love this modern EPP quilt by Jodi Godfrey called, LAVENDER. A great example of mixing hand-piecing with negative space and an asymmetric design. I first saw this in her book THE SEEDLINGS QUILTS a few years ago (still available on Amazon). One of my regular students brought the book to class and I loved it to so much I got my own copy. And... one day... I shall make some of these quilts. Actually it will probably take more than one day! Have a look around Jodi's website - I am also quite taken by CHERISH. Made of very simple geometric shapes but with clever arrangement and colour placement. Nice!

	A veritable plethora of small hand-work ideas and suggestions for holiday projects. This month's Pinterest board BY HAND surely has something to tempt every palate, or even palette?
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BY HAND