Jo Avery – the Blog

Announcements Galore!

I’ve been meaning to publish a newsy post for ages and now my ‘news bag’ is full to bursting! So I am going to get everything out there in one big announcement splurge! 
Did you know it is World Craft Week this week?! 
Check out the Facebook page
to find out how to get involved with this year’s challenge:
“Share your craft crush and take part in World Craft Week’s inspiring challenge!
To celebrate all things crafty, we’re challenging you to post a photo, or share a short crafting video, of something you’ve made on our Facebook page. Tag someone or something that inspires you and your craft, encouraging them to take up the World Craft Week challenge as well. Remember to use the hashtag #worldcraftweek when you share your craft crush with us”
Plus there is still time to sign up for more info and get a free digital magazine with 25 craft
projects!
That lovely little ‘yarn bee’ above is the logo for the Indie Burgh Yarn Crawl, brain child of Jessica from Ginger Twist Studio. In previous year’s this has been a yarn shop crawl around Edinburgh, but this year it’s expanded to include all sorts of fabric and craft shops too, and myBearpaw is taking part (plus we do sell yarn!).
It takes place on Saturday 17 June 2017 and is a great way to support local craft shops and get involved with the crafting community. Each
shop validation on your ‘Craft Passport’ counts as a raffle entry. Check out the Facebook page for
more info. Passports will be available from myBearpaw and other
participating shops soon, plus look out for some special offers and
other excitements that we have planned for the day!

This year’s Thread House Retreat was such a great success that we are
repeating the event at the same time and at the same place next year!
This is a residential weekend retreat hosted by myself, Karen Lewis and
Lynne Goldsworthy for around 40 participants, held at Folly Farm near
Bristol. Take a look at the retreat page on our website for more info about last year’s event and sign up for
news about the next one. We’ll be releasing tickets sometime in June,
more details soon!         

And speaking of Retreats… 
Get ready everyone! Stitch Gathering 2017 tickets will be released on
Friday at 1pm. This will be our 5th event and takes place on Sunday 8th
October at Napier University’s Craiglockhart Campus, Edinburgh. As in
previous years we won’t release details about workshops, teachers,
ticket projects or swaps until the summer. If you are new to the event
and would like to know what all the fuss is about check out my report blog post from last year, and this page featuring last year’s classes from our Stitch Gathering website. Tickets will cost £120. 

The second Knitting and Stitching Show Edinburgh is coming up soon! 
It’s at the Royal Highland Show Ground, just by the airport on 27th – 30th April. Last year’s event was a huge success and this year there is even more reason to come – our Edinburgh Modern Quilt Guild have our own Gallery Space and will be exhibiting a number of our member’s quilts!
Plus I will be teaching a class every day to make this Patchwork Storage Caddy. You can buy tickets for the workshops here. I will also be demoing twice a day in both Origami bags and Log Cabin Tote Bags – all demos are free!
If you haven’t already bought a ticket to the K & S show then you can get £2 off each ticket (£1 off concessions) by quoting code DISC3 at checkout .
If you can’t make it to Edinburgh then perhaps I will see you at the Festival of Quilts in August! 
I am teaching there again this year – my Patchwork Portraits Workshop and my 3D Improv Dresden Workshop. Tickets and booking is available already to Quilter’s Guild members with general public release very imminent. Check out all the details here.

Plus don’t forget to enter a quilt this year! I will be entering a few including one to the new Modern Quilt Category that launched last year. The quilt exhibition is not juried so if you enter your quilt it will be hung!

We have some new fabric which I actually managed to list online! This is Denyse Schmidt’s Winter Walk and Joel Dewberry’s Modernist. We have it available it FQs, yardage and bundles! Check out our website here.
Lastly a huge thank you to whoever voted for me in the British Craft Awards! I came third in best Quilt Designer of the year and second in Best Quilting Blog of the year!! The last one makes me especially pleased as I guess it means some of you really like to read my ramblings over here. 
Thank you so much, that means such a lot to me 🙂
P.S. If you haven’t had enough of me yet then why not read an interview with me on Judith Hollies blog, part of her Meet the Maker series. It was published a month but March went by in such a blur that I only just got a chance to read it!

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