Jo Avery – the Blog

Stitch Gathering 2018 Goody Bag Giveaway – WINNER!

Congratulations to Muriel Campbell!! You have won the Stitch Gathering Goody Bag!! And who says the number 1 entry never wins??! This time it was lucky number 1! Thanks so much to everyone who entered and left such lovely enthusiastic comments about our event.  I am so sorry you can’t all win! Please email me

Stitch Gathering 2018 Report and Goody Bag GIVEAWAY!!

Last Sunday was the 6th annual Stitch Gathering! Every year I organise this one day event which is held in Edinburgh in October. Around 90 quilters come together for a fun filled day of sewing, chatting, shopping, learning and sharing! This year we had some new teachers such as the amazing Karen Lewis (seen here

Pincushion Round-up Post!

This year’s swap item for the Stitch Gathering Retreat is a pincushion so I thought it would be a good idea to round-up all my favourite pincushion tutorials and patterns for inspiration and help. I’ll also be showing off new pincushions I’ve just finished plus favourites I’ve been gifted over the years. But let’s start

Resting Cat Block Tutorial

Regular readers will know that every year around this time I announce the Stitch Gathering Ticket Project.  I will be hosting the 6th annual Stitch Gathering Retreat in October which means so far I have had to come up with six different ideas for this (why oh why…? *head in hands*)! It does get harder every

Small Projects and News

My working life is roughly divided into four parts: MyBearpaw Studio and Shop Stitch Gathering Retreat The Thread House Retreat Quilting/Sewing Patterns for publication I always joke that I’m part of the gig economy as I need to run at least four businesses to survive! Actually I am only partly joking and sometimes I can

The Splendid Sampler 2!

Did you take part in the first Splendid Sampler project a couple of year’s back?  It was a fabulous success, so a sequel is on it’s way! This started off as an online Sew Along and ended up as a book published by Martingale. Pat Sloan and Jane Davidson are running things again but this

Save the Date!

We have secured our usual venue for the Stitch Gathering Retreat 2018! So mark your calendars for Sunday 7th October! Tickets will go on sale in early April.  Make sure you are signed up to our newsletter via the Stitch Gathering website to be the first to hear about it.  Or just keep an eye

SG Blend Fabrics Competition Winner!

We had some wonderful entries for the SG Blend Fabrics Competition, thank you so much to everyone who took the trouble to make something and enter! It was very hard for us judges to decide. I was ably assistant by my two partners in quilty crime, Karen Lewis and Lynne Goldsworthy. In the end we

SG Blend Fabrics Competition – Linky Party!

Welcome to the Stitch Gathering Blend Fabrics Competition Linky Party! It seems very appropriate to be having a party on New Year’s Day – what a great way to start 2018! Just a wee-reminder what this is all about: After years of being a very generous sponsor of The Stitch Gathering, this year Blend Fabrics

The Stitch Gathering Edinburgh 2017

Stitch Gathering 2017 Report!

The fifth annual Stitch Gathering retreat happened on Sunday! And it was a wonderful day from start to finish. In fact I think it was the best ever!! Proceedings actually kicked off the day before with a Private Prosecco Party at my shop/studio! This was a great way for ‘out of towners’ to visit the