Newsflash - Ricky Tims at The Cotton Patch!

We are delighted to announce that Ricky Tims will be signing copies of his books, DVD's and CD's at the Cotton Patch stand during the Festival of Quilts (14th to 17th August at the NEC, Birmingham, England).



Further details of the timings of the book signings will be posted on our stand on E20.


Ricky is well-known as both musician and quilter and together with Alex Anderson co-hosts the popular online TV show - The Quilt Show.

To quote from his website


"Ricky Tims has successfully blended two diverse passions into one very unique and interesting career. His skills as a pianist, composer and producer have been evident by the thousands who have heard his music. His success as a quilter is equally significant. He is known in the international world of quilting as an enthusiastic and encouraging teacher, an award-winning quilter, and a talented and spellbinding speaker. His innovative and entertaining presentations, feature live music and humor combined with scholarly insights and wisdom. His quilts have been displayed worldwide, and are highly regarded as excellent examples of contemporary quilts with traditional appeal."


Ricky has an exhibition of his quilts at the Festival of Quilts and will also be performing on the Friday night at the Birmingham Metropole Hotel at the NEC which we're very much looking forward to although apparently his entrance won't necessarily have the impact of his foray onto the stage in Paducah accompanied by much dry ice and riding his Harley!






Along with his best-selling book "Convergence Quilts", we also have "Rhapsody Quilts" plus the follow-up books to Rhapsody Quilts - "Feathers and Urns" and "Baskets and Flowers". For more details on these books, his DVDs and his newest products the extra-wide freezer paper please visit our website.

You can listen to his music ahead of the show by following this link.

For more details of the Festival of Quilts and to check on availability for Ricky's talksand workshops please visit the Twisted Thread site.

Summer Holidays

With the rain absolutely bucketing down here memories come flooding (literally) back of this time last year. It was one of our busiest July months and no wonder - what else can you do when the rain is so persistent - at least a good project can cheer you up!

The alternative (albeit not so green) is to the leave the country for sunnier climes, which is the reason the blog has been without a post for a few weeks. I was experiencing 42 degrees in Bodrum, Turkey but fortunately was in the water most of the time (other than the few days I was on crutches..but that's another story). Not a patchwork retreat though (although I have been thinking how nice it would be to go on a Ricky Tims retreat in La Veta, Colorado!) - my holidays tend to be active and usually involve injuring myself at regular intervals!

So for those of you unable to get in the garden or if you're off on holiday and spend more time relaxing than I do, we hope you find some portable projects on the website to keep you entertained...

Before the Malvern Show we had some amazing weather and a lovely project to do inside or outside is cartonnage. Pick a strong fabric (such as a Hoffman, gold over-print or lush Moda) for the outside, a co-ordinating fabric for the inside and together with some book-making glue and one of our new cartonnage kits you'll be up and running in no time at all!

Click here to go to our web page to see the kits and glue. Please bear in mind that in temperatures over 85 degrees F (that's old money), the glue does dry very quickly so you have to work fast!

Alternatively, if you're looking for a change of pace, a little punchneedle embroidery might be just the thing - all the information is here. We love the little sheep...

Have a great summer!

Turntable Ironing Board

One of the really brilliant things about Blogs is how quickly good ideas get passed around. We just got an email about Ricky and Alex's Quilt Show which you might want to check out. On it they mentioned a really neat and easy-to-make tool that would also make an excellent gift. The idea came from a blog in Germany.




Basically, take a quick trip to Ikea (although we would debate whether a trip to Ikea is ever quick!) to purchase the base for the ironing board (in Ikea-speak SNUDDA 39 cm). Cut out some wadding (like Quilters Dream Select, Armofleece or Warm and Natural) to the size of SNUDDA, a fabric circle in your choice of fabric (or use a new tea towel) larger than the base and in a Yo-Yo style gather the fabric around the base and pull tight.

Before you know it you'll be able to use your Clover Mini Iron and be ironing with ease!