Layer Cake Quilt Book

We have just taken stock of Suzanne McNeils latest book, BIG Blocks, BIG Quilts which looks at creating exciting quilts using the Moda 10" square Layer Cake Format. There are 11 quilts designs in this new project book.

Quilting Arts Calendar 2009

Free Quilting Arts 2009 Calendar when you take out a pre-paid UK subscription. Take out a 6 or 12 issue subscription before 31st January 2009 and we will send you a free Quilting Arts 2009 Calendar, worth £9.95, while stocks last.

The Quilting Arts Calendar 2009 is just one of the Patchwork and Quilting themed Calendars that we provide. There are, for example, Calendars from That Patchwork Place, Thimbleberries, Debbie Mumm and Piecemakers.

Moda Strip Rolls, Layer Ckes and Fabric by the Metre

There is a new section devoted to Moda Patchwork Fabrics, one of the largest and best known fabric manufacturers in the States. Moda Strip Rolls have been one of the success stories of the last year or so and we have a number of new Strip Rolls, including Heritage, Fig & Plum and Civil War Crossing. These fabric ranges are also available in Charm and Layer Cake format. As well as these precut Packs. There are a number of ranges with fabrics by the metre as well as the Moda Marbles range.

Quilting Arts Gift Magazine

The second annual Quilting Arts Gift Issue is bigger and better, with 148 pages full of fabulous projects to make for the holiday season, including home décor, decorations, and gifts designed and created by some of the world’s best art quilters.

This super issue features:

• 35 seasonal projects for quilted gifts and home décor

• Sensational stocking stuffers: our editors’ favorite tools, gadgets, and more

• 7 holiday patterns to celebrate the season



There is also Cloth, Paper, Scissors Studios Special Issues. Be inspired by how you could have your creative space set up. Finally we have a range of back issues from some of our craft magazines.

Gift Box Studio Books

We have two new books in from C&T Publications which are called Gift Box Studio. They are a large format book with beautifully printed pop-out cards. The card then forms a series of wonderful boxes and gift envelopes. There are also lots of little embellishments and tags. The box designs are based on fabric designs.

Kaffe Fassett Country Garden Quilts Fabric Packs

Kaffe Fasset and Rowan's latest Patchwork and Quilting project book was launched at the Festival of Quilts in August. The book is a sumptuous collection of quilts with a floral theme and marks a decade of partnership between Kaffe and Rowan. We now have available all 20 quilts as fabric packs for you to make. The instructions for making the quilts are all in Country Garden Quilts so you will need a copy of the book. As usual there is a range of visually stunning quilts from a range of designers using some of the latest fabrics from Kaffe.



The photographs of the quilts were taken at Great Dixter, the House and Gardens made famous by Christopher Lloyd, that epitomise the English Country Garden. Great Dixter is combination of an original mid 15th century building and a 16th century house in a similar style, which was moved from Kent. This new combination was the work of the famous architect Edwin Lutyens. The Garden though is mainly the work of Christopher Lloyd and is in an arts and crafts style with a Long Border, Wall Garden and Meadow amongst its features.

Blooms Quilt

New Items over the last month

There has been a number of new items added to the Cotton Patch site over the last month.

Firstly I have made a new area for Amy Butler fabrics, books and patterns. There are some new bag patterns, the Midwest Modern range and we also have the Nigella range of home decor weight fabrics. There are three books by Amy including the new title 'Little Stitches for Little Ones' that I mean to dip into for my new little one. See also Ellie and Liz's Amy sewathon

We have expanded our range of batik fabrics with sixteen new fabrics with the By the Pool and Streaks and Splodges ranges.

There are also sixteen new Oriental style fabrics with the Shanghai Gold and Kyoto Garden ranges

For a cute little project we have a new kit from Rachels of Greenfield called Baby Bear.

There are lots more products in the pipeline with Kaffe Fasset kits and fabrics, some wondeful new Free Spirit fabrics, new notions from Clover, new books and Calendars for 2009. We also have a major project that we are all working very hard on for the website.

New arrival is reason for absence

James Harrison Sewell with his bionic arm and Project Linus Quilts

Well, I must apologise to everyone for not posting any Whats New updates for a while and the main reason is the arrival of James, my newborn son. He is now a healthy and increasingly heavy seven weeks old and dominating our lives totally. When he was five days old then we had to take him back into hospital and he stayed for four days as a precaution. This was very much a rollercoaster for my wife and I but whilst in hospital then the nurses made James a little nest from Project Linus Quilts to sleep on in the hospital cot. Liz has mentioned before the great work that Project Linus do of providing quilts to hospitals. Having now been on the receiving end of these quilts then I would just like to say what a difference they make. Hospitals are by inference cold and clinical places and having something that is bright, cheery and a reminder of home can really make a difference to how you feel.

James now has a Winnie the Pooh quilted playmat made for him by his Nanna Jean and is quite tired out from his exertions, allowing his father some time to blog away.

Gutermann Sulky Stabiliser Starter Kit

Gutermann Sulky have produced an excellent starter pack of Stabilisers (9723, £11.25) to help you sample their range of stabilisers. There are 10 different stabilisers to try such as Tear Away, Heat Away and Solvy on 25cm x 42cm sheets.

Mother Earth's ABC - Sieglinde Schoen Smith

Sieglinde Schoen Smith's wonderful Mother Earth and Her Children has been followed up by Mother Earth's ABC which is a small illustrated story book. The book is has an alphabet of beautifully illustrated letters and there is also a CD and photo transfer sheet pack (9717) to help you recreate the Letters.

Summer Newsletter

Our Summer Newsletter is now available and if you have not received a copy through the post then you can download a pdf of the Newsletter from our website and peruse it at your leisure.

Country Garden Quilts by Kaffe Fassett

As we arrive at The Festival of Quilts in August 2008 we will be taking delivery of Kaffe Fassett's new project book Country Garden Quilts. This sumptuous collection of quilts with a floral theme marks a decade of partnership bewtween Kaffe Fassett and Rowan. Country Garden Quilts is photographed in the wonderful gardens at Great Dixter in Sussex. The 20 quilts feature the latest fabrics from Kaffe Fassett and Philip Jacobs. Each project has detailed instructions and diagrams.

Kaffe Fassett will be signing copies of the new book on our stand at the Festival of Quilts and if you are not going to be there and would like a signed copy then we are taking pre-orders now. Our Kaffe Fassett book page has further details on how to do this.

Celtic patchwork and quilting fabric

We featured intricate designs featuring Celtic knotwork back in 2006 and they were very popular. The current range of Celtic designs contrasts teal blues with warm, rich earthy tones, and highlighted with gold. Above is one of two designs from the cushion panel strip.
There is a cushion panel, a mini strip and four coordinating fabrics. Celtic illustration is a favourite of mine and I have always admired the work of Jim Fitzpatrick and the Celtic inspired works of Lloyd Alexander were a favourite when I was younger.

Daiwabo Japanese Fabrics

Daiwabo have produced a stunning range of Japanese fabrics with exquisite texture, detail and design. These are beuatiful fabrics and are available as a range of fat quarter packs or by the metre at £15.40 per metre.

Organ Sewing Machine Needles

We have supplied Schmetz Sewing Machine Needles for some time and last year successfully trialled the Quilting Needle Pack from Organ. We have now extended our range to include a variety of different Organ Sewing Machine Needles packs. There are specialist needles for Jeans, Embroidery, Metallic Thread and Embroidery, as well as Quilting. We also have some Titanium Sewing Machine Needles for extra wear resistance.

There are a number of Universal Sewing Machine Needle Packs with 5 needles. The Specialist Needles are available at £2.50 per pack of five whilst the Universal Needles are £1.50 for a pack of five. We also have available value packs of Universal Needles with 100 Needles for the great price of £22.95.

Oodles of Noodles and Bundles of Homespun

Three new Strip Rolls from Fabric Freedom, £17.95. There are 50 Indian Batik Fabrics cut to approximately 2 1/2" by 43" fabrics on each roll. All three rolls are also available as a Summer Offer for £50.

We also have five new Homespun Fat Quarter Bundles, £11.95. Each bundle contains 8 different homespuns cut as fat quarter yards, 45cm x 55cm (18" x 22"). The bundles have some beautiful really subtle colours. There is also a Summer Offer on these Bundles.

Summer Offers

Summer Offers

It is summer out there, but with all the rain around it can be hard to tell sometimes. Now that the excitment of Wimbledon is over we have some Summer Offers to keep you occupied. There are a range of Offers from DVD's, fabrics and notions and I will be adding some more over the next week.

New Pom Pom Maker Sizes

There are two new Clover Pom Pom Maker Packs available, Extra Large and Extra Small. You can make jumbo ones of around 4 1/2" (115mm) diameter or you can make little ones which are only 3/4" or 1" in diameter. Use for decorating scarves, hats, bags etc. The large one has measurements on its arch to help multi coloured pom poms.

Box Making Kits - The Art of Cartonnage

We released a new range of Box Making Kits at the Quilts UK, Malvern Show and these are now available on the website. Currently there are four different boxes to make as well as two sizes of ring binder. The kits come with instructions, excellent thick card and extras such as ticking, brass corners and the ring binders, for example. The fabric is not included but this means that you can choose from our extensive collections to make a truly unique piece. We have included a number of fabrics on the Box Making page which we think go well with the kits. Also on the page is a book binding glue, although any craft glue can be used, we have found this to be very effective and to work well with kits. Shown above is the 1001 Treasure Box.

New Fabrics for Children

We have a number of new fabrics in our Babies and Children section, including two new Paddington Bear coordinates. I note with interest that Paddington Bear is in the news with the release of the latest volume Paddington Bear: Here and Now (review).


There are also new Humpty Dumpty fabrics and some very cute Teddy Bears. We also have available a quilt kit featuring a Very Hungry Caterpillar, the star of the hit childrens book by Eric Carle.

For older children we have some new fabrics featuring Dinosaurs, Wizards and Princesses.
Fabrics are available by the metre or as Fat Quarter Packs

Patchwork Fabric Prewashing Advice

In our Fabric Palettes Catalogue we included some advice on prewashing your patchwork fabrics. I have now put this up on the website and I have included the details below for your information.

Washing patchwork fabrics.
Some patchworkers prefer not to prewash fabric, but prewashing new fabrics generally ensures that there will be no uneven shrinkage and no transfer of colours when the finished piece is washed. These guidelines apply to most 100% cotton fabrics, but we would always advise testing a small piece first as manufacturing processes do vary:

Unfold all fabrics before putting into the washing machine.

Wash light coloured fabrics in tepid water with a phosphate free detergent.

Soak dark coloured fabrics individually in cold water for approximately half an hour and then machine wash in cold water with a phosphate free detergent.

Ensure your washing machine is set to a low spin cycle, Tumble fabric almost dry then remove and press with an iron.

Completed quilts made from light and dark fabrics should only be washed in cold water.

Fresh Fabrics

Our Free Spirit Club fat quarter pack has recently been sent out and the fabrics by the metre can now be purchased. The new fabrics are called Fresh Cut and as ever with Free Spirit are bold, bright and cheerful and bound to add a zing to your step after the downpours of this week. Apologies to those who haven't been under the deluge.

We also have some new fabrics for our Hoffman Club and the Forever Green range provides co-ordinates of subtle greens with foliage designs.

New Books on Patchwork and Quilting

Dear all,

Apologies for it being so long for an update on new material at the Cotton Patch but I was out of the country for over a month and then when I came back we had the Malvern Quilt Show to organise and get ready for. As a consequence though I have a bumper posting of new patchwork and quilting related books. I have added over twenty new titles and they cover a wide range of subjects.

There are new titles from Suzanne McNeil who has been working with Design Originals to produce a number of quilt pattern books. Charm Quilts and Sweet 16's are in the same format as the popular Strip Delight and Strip Crazy. In this case though they focus on precut 5" charms or 9" x 11" special collections sizes.



We have an excellent addition to our section on patchwork bags with Quilted Bags and Totes from Denise Clason. There are comprehensive instructions for making the bags with over 300 photos and illustrations alongside designs for 15 different styles of bag.



Anita Shackelford has some beautiful quilting in her new book "A Modern Mix: Machine and Hand Quilting". As she states in her introduction when she started quilting in the 1960's nearly every quilt was of a traditional style and was hand quilted. Anita now advocates a mixture of techniques, after all if you love quilting how many quilts can you finish by hand versus getting a machine to help you out. In her book she looks at ways that you can combine machine and hand quilting to create faster quilts.



For full details visit our New Books section

Fabric Palettes 2008 has arrived

Our new Fabric Palettes Catalogue for 2008 has now been printed and is being sent out. There are lots of new fabrics showcased and Nik has ben working hard to get all the fabrics and packs ready. We have lots of new ranges such as Textures, Leaves and Country Store as well as many more fat quarter packs including over 20 twenty Kaffe Fassett packs.

Strip rolls have been very popular recently and we have a number of new books which highlight projects that you can make with them. We also have a new Strip Roll template set from Marti Michell which can help you easily turn your strips into finshed quilts. Finally we have eight new Strip Rolls which focus on a number of our fabric ranges.

Tonga Batiks Strip Roll

Brief details on the fabrics and where to find them on our online store can be found here.

Kaffe Fassett Paperweight Fat Quarter Pack (Q1237, £19.20)

We hope that you enjoy our new Fabrics

Happy Easter Holidays

Well it looks as if it may be a cold and damp Easter break here in the UK, so best be surrounded by as many Easter Eggs as possible, and if that fails some of your favourite needlework projects.

Today I have put up two new fabric ranges, Lotus Hana and Passion Fruit. Both of them feature a palette of purples and lavenders but they are very different prints. Personally I think the Lotus Hana (also see the Hana range which will be one of our Fabric Palettes for 2008) is a lovely range of fabrics.

Lotus Hana 1

Passion Fruit 3 by Hoffman Fabrics

I have added a number of new Kaffe Fassett Fat Quarter Packs to the Kaffe Fassett area. If you have a favourite design from Kaffe then you can now sample his fabrics as fat quarters.

Kimino Fat Quarter Pack

Finally we have an offer for 2008 for fabrics purchased through the Bargain Basics Club. Members receive each quarter a pack of 25, 100% cotton fabrics. Further quantities of these fabrics can be purchased at the reduced price of £5.40/m from £6/m for 2008. Full details can be found on our Bargain Basics Club Page.