Popular Patchwork Oct

I love autumn. It has been quite a few years since I was last at school, but I still get that feeling of anticipation for new shoes, warming cardigans and a fully stocked pencil case. For us quilters it is a time many of us turn our thoughts from the garden to projects for the home, and of course, Christmas. We haven’t got any festive makes in this issue, although I believe any project can be given a festive twist, but I am on the hunt for stories of Christmas themed makes. If you have a story to share then do get in touch, details are on the News pages.

Despite participating in swaps and round robin challenges, I have never taken part in creating a group quilt. In this issue Rosemary Rosenfeld shares her story of organising the making of a quilt that has an impressive 26 participants. The finished result looks stunning, and I really enjoyed hearing how it came about, and how she managed to coordinate such a large group of people into creating such an impressive quilt. You can read all about it on page 58.

It was lovely to meet so many of you at the Festival of Quilts. We are a small team, who are passionate about what we do, and it was great to hear your feedback about the magazine. How can I describe your amazing sketchbook quilts? It was such a privilege to unpack and display your competition entries and wonderful to spend four days surrounded by such creativity. If you are new to the magazine you can find out more about the competition on page 36 (and a big welcome to you too). We have featured the prize winners in this issue, however I wanted to say you are all winners. Every single quilt we received was beautifully designed and made, and from all of us here a massive well done to everyone who entered. Happy Quilting! 

Our regular features and articles this month include: 

  • Nine by 9 - Suzanne Fisher is set the challenge of finding nine different ways to quilt a 9 patch block
  • Meet the... This month we interview Alistair MacDonald
  • Festival of Quilts - We report back from the 2016 Festival of Quilts
  • Sketchbook Quilt Comptition Winners  - Take a look at the three winning quilts from our competition
  • Making a Quilt Group -  Rosemary Rosenfeld tells the story of the group quilt entered into this year's Festival of Quilts by the Popular Patchwork Forum
  • Fabric Freedom Competition - £400 of fabric to be won!
  • A Narrative Thread - We interview Stephanie Crawford
  • Get Creative - Cardboard tube printing, an adapted extract from How to Print Fabrics, by Zena Shah
  • Show & Tell - Our readers share stories and pictures of their quilts and quilted projects
  • Let's Visit - This issue Megan Beaven takes us on a tour of her home city of St Albans 

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