Jo Avery – the Blog

Spot the difference – Tendrils Mini Quilt 2

Last year I made a mini quilt as my entry to the Pantone Quilt Challenge. It was one of my first forays into the obsession which would become ‘Tendrils’! You can read about this first quilt here. Meanwhile Alice, the editor at Love Patchwork and Quilting, asked me to make a version of the mini

Sneak Peeks and Hand Sewing

I’ve entered a bit of a frantic period with lots of magazine commissions due all at once, lots of teaching in the studio, and the Stitch Gathering coming up on Sunday – eeek! Normally I wait until I have lovely finished project to chat about over here, but alas I have nothing finished I can

Pouch Problem?

Is an addiction to zippy pouches a recognised condition?!  If so I think I better get some help as I can’t stop making them! I’ve been talking about my Tendrils Technique in my last few posts.  The pouch above was the first one I tried with this technique, using Dashwood Studio ‘Paper Meadow’ fabric. I

Festival of Quilts 2017 Report

The Festival of Quilts is a four day event and the largest quilt show in Europe with thousands of quilts to see, and way too much to buy! Plus you get to catch up with all your quilty friends! Basically it is four days of bliss and excitement, where you feel completely ‘amongst your people’!

Shangri La Farm Sherbert Quilt finished!

Last week I showed the top for this quilt when announcing my new Aurifil thread collection, Sherbert Dip. I am pleased to show you the finished piece! I made this to accompany the thread box and to hang on the stand at Festival of Quilts. Here’s a little reminder of the colours from the box…

Almost Black Quilt

Presenting ‘Almost Black’, a new finished quilt and a bit of a departure for me. This got sent off earlier today to Festival of Quilts as my entry to the Modern Quilt category. I’ve been thinking for a while now about how to make applique look more modern and minimalist. My recent mini (for the

Sewing Quarter – my first appearance…

…is on Saturday! The Sewing Quarter is a shopping channel focusing completely on sewing (dressmaking and patchwork mainly) which launched in January. I’ve been ‘promised’ since the beginning but my distance from the studio (in Birmingham) and trying to sort out projects and kits has meant it’s taken this long to get me on! I

Stitch Gathering 2017 Tickets – Quilted Postcards!!

It’s that time of year again, when the secret Stitch Gathering Ticket project I have been working on is finally revealed! This will be our fifth event in October, so that means I have had to come up with FIVE different ideas for this so far – phew! Talk about making a rod for your

Quilts and Pouches for Grenfell

I’m sort of on holiday at the moment. The studio is having it’s summer break for the next 6 weeks so I’m not teaching, but I still seems to have a lot to do! I think that’s the problem with this ‘gig economy’ they keep talking about – I just have too many businesses to

Stitch Gathering 2017 workshops and news round up!

Our workshops for this year’s Stitch Gathering Retreat have just been announced and I thought I would share my two new class samples with you. As you can see from the mosaic above there is a fabulous selection of classes on offer this year from our new guest tutors, Mandy Munroe, Lucy Brennan and Sarah