The Cotton Patch Blog

Ethiopian Quilt-making on BBC Radio 4

BizzieLizzie — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 16:28:00 +0000

Following on from our earlier post about Jen Jones, Janet Bridge and CAFOD's project in Ethiopia, we were delighted to hear that Jen was on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour last week about theproject. I'm not sure that our Welsh quilting customers would agree with Jen's comment that quilting has all but died out in Wales! However, it is great to see some photos of the Ehtiopian ladies that Janet and Jen have been teaching to quilt.

If you would like to visit the article please click this link.

Apron Patterns

BizzieLizzie — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 15:27:00 +0000

We've always loved Barbara Brandenburg's style - she has done some great books under the Cabbage Rose label. Her sisters are artistic and into quilting too. Teri Christopherson publishes under the Black Mountain quilts label and whenever we've got their books in stock we're almost guaranteed a few sales amongst Cotton Patch staff!

Mooching around on the web I found the link to Barbara's blog which is worth a look at the following link. We particularly liked the aprons she's done - they would look great in Amy Butler fabrics, as would her bags! A lovely site with some lovely photography.

Kaffe Fassett playmat finished just in time...!

BizzieLizzie — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:10:00 +0000

Last week one of our customers told us...

"A few weeks back Daniela and I came (on behalf of a group of 7 friends) and bought a selection of fabrics, mainly Kaffe Fassett, from your shop to make a quilted playmat for one of the group's daughters who is expecting a baby in March. Still waiting for the baby but we finished the playmat (design from Quick and colourful quilts for babies and toddlers ed Rosemary Wilkinson)! This is our first project of this kind but we loved doing it and will be back!

Thought you might like to see the finished playmat.

Thanks for your very helpful advice."

The quilt is signed on the back "Annie, Cherry, Daniela, Gloria, Jan, Rosie and Sally. Sun 24th February 2008." So well done to all involved and what a great way to spend a Sunday!

The good news is that we received an email update today -

"Just had the great news that Sarah's baby has arrived! Born on Monday 24 March, 6lb 14 oz and named Jacob.

So that completes the story really - we finished it just in time!"
I'm sure baby Jacob will love the bright colours of the playmat.

November's Patchwork and Quilting Quilt Completed!

BizzieLizzie — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 15:18:00 +0000

Sometimes just the right pattern comes up in a magazine and suddenly what to do with all those scraps becomes more than just a "when I find the right moment, I'll do something with them!" One of our customers had been receiving their Bargain Basics Club for, as she put it "several years", and found the perfect pattern in November's issue of British Patchwork and Quilting Magazine. Sunshine and Shadows is a stunning design that is less about the colour and design of the quilt and so much more about value. Darks and lights create the essence of the dynamic design and as you can see below the result is fantastic with secondary designs coming through.

Frances wrote to us by email, explaining, "I thought that you might like to see my latest effort, finished yesterday. I have been receiving material from your Bargain Basics Club for quite a while (several years!) and have never done anything with it. So recently I thought I would try and use some of it up. In November's Patchwork and Quilting there was the ideal pattern. I found it quite difficult sorting the fabric into light medium and dark but once that was done it was just a case of putting it together. Thank you very much for all the lovely fabrics."

Another tip for using up scraps is to use the Marti Michell Templates. If you're getting odd pieces use the Marti Michell Templates in square or triangles to trim them into useful pieces the moment you have the scrap to hand and on your cutting mat. The Set B is a good starting point. Keep ziplocks marked up with colours and values - warm, cool, dark, medium, light so that when you come to use your scraps later most of the sorting has been done!

When you are ready use a design like Sunshine and Shadows or one of the Marti Michell books of Set B to create your own unique quilt. What I love about this idea is that you will probably remember where those individual pieces came from and the whole quilt may even represent a period of time when you were into particular fabrics and designs.

The Patchwork and Quilting Guide to Buying Fabric

BizzieLizzie — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 16:51:00 +0000

Sorting out my desk drawers today I found a copy of an invaluable guide - "Reasons and Excuses to Buy Fabric". No date, no author so I can't acknowledge credit where it is clearly due. You may have seen it before but I hope you enjoy it ...it's worth reminding ourselves of why we buy fabric!

1. It insulates the cupboard where it is kept.

2. It is our duty to support the economy.

3. It is less expensive and more fun than psychiatric care.

4. It is useful for covering all empty surfaces where dust may otherwise gather.

5. A sudden increase in the boll weevil population might wipe out the cotton crop for the next ten years.

6. I am participating in a contest - the one who dies with the most fabric wins.

7. Stress relief from dealing with the Fabric Control Officer (FCO, otherwise known as DH or Dear Husband)

8. It is not immoral, illegal or fattening. It calms the nerves, gratifies the soul and makes you feel good.

9. Buy it now before your husband retires and goes shopping with you.

10. It keeps without refrigeration; you don't have to cook it to enjoy it. You never have to feed or walk it.

11. A metre a day keeps the doctor away.

12. YOU DESERVE IT!

And because it feels like Spring is on the way here is the Kaffe Fassett Sunny Frames quilt :-)

Sewing Seeds of Opportunity in Ethiopia

BizzieLizzie — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 11:12:00 +0000

Whilst chatting to a customer recently I learnt of a fascinating and inspiring initiative by Welsh quilt expert Jen Jones from Llanybydder and Janet Bridge from Cardigan.

Over the past year they have made several trips to Ethiopia after a visit to the UK by CAFOD's Beverley Jones (CAFOD's co-ordinator in Ethiopia) who stumbled on Jen's quilt shop in Wales. The idea was fomulated from their conversation to provide Ethiopian women with the skills to enable them to make and sell their hand-sewn quilts in Ethiopia and Wales.

Jen said "I saw this as a unique opportunity to source replica Welsh quilts for my proposed Welsh Quilt Gallery Shop in Lampeter Town Hall. It's such a great story that poor women who became master quilt-makers in Wales to avoid destitution and prostitution in the last century are linked to women in northern Ethiopia doing exactly the same thing this century.

"Also that a dying tradition in one country is helping to stimulate market development in another. I hope that this will be the beginning of a mutually productive and prosperous enterprise."

According to Beverley "There is a long tradition of weaving and embroidery in Ethiopia. The country is just recovering from cycles of drought and war which have left the majority of its people impoverished. But now there is a possibility for developing new products and creating more income for women who would otherwise be forced into sex work or other hazardous ways of earning a living."

The Ethiopian made quilts will be inspired by the styles and patterns of Welsh quilts and made using flannel woven at the Welsh Woollen Museum at Drefach Felindre as well as the colourfull Ethiopian fabric designs.

Janet told me that on the latest trip, which Janet and Jen are taking right now, they will be training five trainers who in turn will teach ten young women. This will enable them to ensure quality control is maintained and place some good orders.

It sounds like an excellent project that could really empower people who, given sufficient skills and tools can make a difference in their own lives.

More information can be found at the links on this page and here.

Kaffe Fassett Postcard Quilt

BizzieLizzie — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 09:32:00 +0000

Taking a quilt pattern from a book as inspiration and guidance for colour and then making it with your own fabrics is a great way to make an individual quilt but with a more certain outcome! One of our customers - Marian who lives in Portugal, sent us her work-in-progress of the Kaffe Fassett quilt "Postcard Quilt", which featured in Kaffe's book "Quilt Road", in a pastel colourway.

She told us, "I usually make quilts to my own designs but the beauty of the Kaffe Fassett works of art are both inspirational and irresistable . My daughter asked me for a quilt in pastel colours and so I am taking great pleasure in choosing paler colours and allowing them to flow through the quilt . As always it is not just the design but the movement and flow of colours that excites me!

I used to leave part made items on the floor of my sewing room but that was until the cat brought in a small animal during the night and ate it on the wall hanging (back to the drawing board !) Life is never dull, is it?"

She reminded us that a while ago she sent an email which explained why old ladies wear purple and orange. "Because as you get older your eyesight deteriorates and purple and orange appear to be dark blue and pink!"

We're delighted that we've supplied (apparently!) the fabrics to make twenty quilts - we hope that we see the results of many more - purple, orange, whatever... quilts in the future!

Cotty Threads and Cabot Quilting

BizzieLizzie — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 15:07:00 +0000

Christine Porter, internationally known quilter, author, teacher and quilt judge has been busy making lots of projects which will be featured in her forthcoming book "Take a Break Quilts". We are delighted that she has used The Cotton Patch's Cotty thread for the quilting in both the Sunbonnet Sue wall-hanging and Lighthouse quilt shown below.

Chris has also been keeping busy teaching quilting on various American cruises as well as in land-based classrooms all over the world. In July she will be teaching on a cruise in the Baltic - its a tough life, but somebody has to do it! The Lighthouse quilt below will no doubt be a good topical quilt for that trip!

More information on Christine's quilts, books, etc can be found on her website. We look forward to seeing the new book when it is finished!

Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably Workshops

The Cotton Patch Blog — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 21:44:00 +0000

Alison Baxter who runs Short Courses at West Dean College, near Chichester has sent information on two courses on colour being run at the college in June.

West Dean looks to be a stunning and probably inspiring place to be for such a course and coupled with the knowledge and skills of Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably this should be a great opportunity. West Dean, according to the website, "is a unique community, a creative and rich mixture of artists and craftspeople, conservators and restorers, working alongside gardeners, farmers, foresters and builders. Managed by The Edward James Foundation, a charitable trust, West Dean is located in an area of outstanding natural beauty in south-east England."

Details of the courses are as follows:

TWO COLOUR WORKSHOPS BY KAFFE FASSETT AND BRANDON MABLY

Colour in design – a knitting workshop
June 24 • Brandon Mably • BM1 • £80
Brandon Mably has worked with Kaffe for 18 years and now teaches the knit workshops on colour. After an introduction on interpreting colour, you choose a range of colours and apply them to a swatch using stocking stitch, and also look at texture and pattern. Open to all levels.

A colour class with Kaffe Fassett – Big Diamonds quilts
June 25 • Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably • KF1 • £110
Kaffe and Brandon work together on this one day workshop selecting fabric for your quilt. You are asked to bring a selection of fabrics for this design and by the end of the day, after cutting, arranging and editing, everyone has their design pinned out ready for sewing.

Overnight accommodation is available for the night before each workshop – prices from £53 including dinner and breakfast.
Full details of the workshops are available on our website, where you can also book online: http://www.westdean.org.uk/

Close-up of Quilt

The Cotton Patch Blog — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 17:51:00 +0000

A larger image of the "we can't quite believe it's finished" quilt has been requested so hopefully you can see a bit more detail on this one. It is a big quilt so we had to photograph it outside (obviously we managed to do so during one of those relatively infrequent periods when we actually had sunshine) In fact the winter light probably made it easier to see the actual quilting lines than if we had taken the photo inside which really would not have done it justice.

It must have been quite an amusing sight as Adam and I climbed two ladders to hold the quilt up for the photo to be taken right next to a main road and under pain of death by its maker if we so much as got a speck of dirt on the quilt itself. Bear in mind that Adam is six foot four (and still growing I think) and I'm...well, quite a bit shorter than that.

The UFO has landed

BizzieLizzie — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 16:57:00 +0000

We've talked on this blog about UFO's before but usually in the context of our customers. Well just to let you know all of our customers with UFO's are in good company - one of our long-serving members of staff has just completed a quilt that was started 7 years ago!

During that time she has learnt many time-saving new techniques including machine applique after doing a course with Harriet Hargrave on invisible machine applique (Mastering Machine Applique Ref 1573) but at the end of the day hand quilting does take time (especially when you are constantly surrounded by new fabrics and inspiring projects...I mean how hard is that!?!).

When she first started at the Cotton Patch she was mainly a dress-maker, but gradually she did more and more patchwork and is now proficient in many aspects of patchwork, quilting and applique and has a great knowledge of the many books on the subject.

Congratulations on finishing the quilt - and did you think you could bring it in and it not go on the Cotton Patch blog?

More Tales of The Cotton Patch

BizzieLizzie — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 17:03:00 +0000

A couple of people were missed off the previous post at the Christmas do..

Our webmaster David and me!

We have endeavoured to get important gifts to all our customers on time and we really hope we have succeeded this year. We know we can't bat 100 every time but we hope that the similarities to cricket don't go as far as the England Cricket team's performance in Sri Lanka at the moment!

So, our closing comments for 2007 are that we hope you are all as delighted as this customer...

Date: 21 Dec 2007 15:12:51 GMT
From: customer@blueyonder.co.uk
Subject: Delivery of Order.
To: mailorder@cottonpatch.co.uk
Reply-To:
Name:K D.M

Message:Would just like to express my thanks for the speedy delivery of my book order. In plenty of time for Christmas. May I wish you and your staff a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous 2008.

Christmas Celebrations

BizzieLizzie — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 15:48:00 +0000

Like many mailorder and retail companies the build up to Christmas has been a very busy one. There have been late shifts, extra days worked and more staff and still we were working till the last posting day before Christmas. We hope if you ordered from us that you received it in time and that the gift was well received too!

It only seems fitting that our Christmas celebrations of a lunch for all the Cotton Patch staff should be posted on the blog. Fortunately the injuries were only minor! A certain member of staff (who promises it was nothing to do with the Merlot) found the wooden floor too slippery and had to have ice and arnica for her rather sudden transition from vertical to horizontal.

Pictured here - Margaret and Jean, Geoff (Ho Ho Ho) and Val

The Magazine Angels Anna, Ellie and Nikki

Pam, Ann and Nadine (left)

Anne, Paula, Dawn, Denise, Jayne, Alan, Adam and Nadine (right)

Val, Pat, Cherrie and Ken

From all of The Cotton Patch team we wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy and peaceful New Year.

Don't forget....our internet sale starts on the 4th January 2008 with some fantastic bargains on fabrics, quilting products and daylight lights.

A Stitch in Time..

BizzieLizzie — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 12:11:00 +0000

Fine Cell Work celebrate their 10th Anniversary this year. Featured recently on Radio 4's Midweek programme, Fine Cell Work is described on their website as "a Registered Charity that teaches needlework to prison inmates and sells their products. The prisoners do the work when they are locked in their cells, and the earnings give them hope, skills and independence.Savings reduce the likelihood of offenders returning to crime. Prisoners often send the money they earn from Fine Cell Work to their children and families, or use it to pay debts or for accommodation upon release.

The inmates are all taught by volunteers from the Embroiderers Guild, the Royal School of Needlework and the world of professional design. Once trained, they can be responsible for difficult commissions done to deadlines, and support other inmates who are still learning."

The embroidery featured above was a special commission that hangs in Manchester and, quite appropriately, was sponsored by Deans Court Chambers, Manchester. The wall hanging entitled ‘Manchester all stitched up’ was unveiled in December.

After their move to new chambers over five years ago - a splendid Victorian building with an equally splendid reception atrium - the barristers wanted something special as the centrepiece of the reception area. Former Head of Chambers, Stephen Grime Q.C . suggested commissioning a wallhanging from Fine Cell Work.

‘It was a good chance to commission a truly original work and help prisoners at the same time,’ he explains. 'Barristers are normally involved with trial and sentencing. This seemed a good opportunity to do something to help with rehabilitation. Perhaps some of the inmates who took part had been our clients!'

One of the patrons of Fine Cell Work is Kaffe Fassett. From time to time we supply Fine Cell Work with fabrics and theads - it's good to see that the end results are so worthwhile - we thought it worth sharing this aspect of quilt-making that you may not have heard about. They also have a shop, so if you are looking for finished items for Christmas presents...

7 Quilts in one Year...

The Cotton Patch Blog — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 09:36:00 +0000

After a period of not quilting for a while, one of our customers, Louise, completed 7 quilts in one year. This was quite a prolific feat and one that we were very impressed by (we won't say what the average number of UFO's is for most of us here but you can probably imagine how difficult it is when temptation is continutally being presented...).

Louise gave us some background to the quilt shown here.

"The fabrics were chosen by my daughter and myself from the 2007 range. I did the design in the style that Elizabeth wanted. She had the idea of the cascade of hearts in the outer 'round'.
The quilt was made quilt as you go in strips that formed the 4 sides, after the central 9 blocks which were quilted in one go. It is hand quilted and the whorls follow the basic design on the background and other fabrics.

Fortunately she loves it and so far has remembered to fold it back when sitting on her bed during the day ( she is a university student)"

Thank you to Louise for sending us the picture and sharing it with us.

Better than Belgian Chocolates...!

The Cotton Patch Blog — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 16:55:00 +0000

We hope that customers have recently received their copy of our latest Newsletter in the post over the past few weeks. The phone hasn't stopped ringing since it started arriving and we have had lots of positive feedback about the newsletter including the email below.

X-OriginalArrivalTime: 22 Nov 2007 13:35:44.0525

Just received my latest newsletter and I had to email to say Wow! I enjoyed it more than a box of Belgian choccies. Well Done!!! to all concerned - now .... how to choose!!

...although some of us here would still rather have the Belgian chocolates to help us process all the orders!

A 62-page newsletter is quite a bit of work to put together (especially for Nik who does most of the writing, editing, scanning, assembling, graphics, creative stuff, plus plays a big part in choosing the fabrics...the list goes on) so we hope you all enjoy it as much as this particular customer.

Compassionate Friends

The Cotton Patch Blog — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 16:12:00 +0000

Irene who featured on one of our previous posts as the organiser for a Compassionate Friends group kindly provided the following information about the Sunray Quilt that the group made and that was on a previous post. Many thanks for filling in the details and providing the link.

"The block is called Golden Glow and was first published during the Depression years. It combines piecing and applique. Golden Glow was the inspiration for our Quilt. It can be found as a Block of the Month on www.quilttownusa.com/Chitra/ggblock.htm . The blocks were adapted and constructed in several ways to suit the ability of the individual. Some were appliqued, some backed and stuck with bondaweb. Handstitching, embroidery, machining and machine embroidery and embelishments were worked on the blocks. Hope this helps."

Recycle your fabrics with Morsbags!

The Cotton Patch Blog — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 14:55:00 +0000

We came across this excellent idea when treking round a few blogs ...its a great way to use up fabric scraps/old duvet covers/old jeans/charity shop fabrics and make something very useful too plus its good for the environment. According to the News last night Marks and Spencer will soon be charging for their plastic bags so this idea is even more relevant! If you haven't got big enough pieces - just join a few pieces together (with good strong seams of course) and then use your patchwork as you would a "wholecloth" Morsbag.

The aim of the founder of Morsbags was to encourage the use of fabric bags so that we stop using plastic ones, encourage people to get into the habit of taking their own bags into supermarkets and to provide a pattern for people to make their own (visit the Morsbag website for instructions in pdf / word and a demo). For more about Morsbags click here. Once you've made a few for yourself why not start your own pod and do what the Living Coasts group led by Barbara did and give them away! There are pods all over the world so you can also join an existing pod (see their map)

This is Barbara's story...

"In May 2007 I saw it (Morsbags) on BBC Breakfast and was immediately taken by the idea! I joined the website and named my 'pod' Zappers (as in plasticzappers!). I battled on alone for a few months, making bags and giving them away in all sorts of places; and then I emailed the Paignton zoo. They were very taken with the idea and put me in touch with Living Coasts which is another aspect of the zoo, but in Torquay.

Living Coasts asked me to go to their Marine Mayhem Day in the summer which was to highlight the plight of the marine animals and the plastic problem. I made 150 bags for this occasion on my own, and gave them all away at LC.

I had talks with their volunteer co-ordinator and we arranged to have day workshops at the zoo and LC (for volunteers) on the last Wed and Fri in the month. We have had four of these so far which were very successful and we had a handout outside Tesco in Paignton on 13 Oct. and gave away 130 bags!

Our next handout is on Dec 1st and we are working hard to make anough bags for this and for the following plastic bag amnesty during Dec. at LC. when people can come to LC and bring their plastic bags and get a free morsbag (hopefully).

It is great fun to be a part of and also to be helping the environment and the marine animals."

Some of the photos are from the workshop in early October - looks like they had a great time and made lots of Morsbags (as well as fitting in a few coffee breaks to admire the view!).

Like many quilting groups Morsbags is about having fun while you're sewing, meeting with like-minded individuals and doing something creative and worthwhile!

Thanks to Barbara and the Living Coasts group for the photos - well done for giving away so many bags! We think its a brilliant idea!

Perfect Spirals

The Cotton Patch Blog — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 15:09:00 +0000

If you’re wondering how to quilt your next quilt and perhaps don’t want to do grids or stippling the Perfect Spiral tool can provide perfect radiating spiral or spiral patterned lines.

The Perfect Spiral can mark blocks or backgrounds up to 24" across and the Mini version can mark blocks from 2" to 10". This was recommended to us by a quilter who had seen it used and the results are very effective.

To use it select a pivot point and rotate to mark lines at equidistant intervals. Full instructions on how to use it are included.

The Cotton Patch Blog — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 16:29:00 +0000

It must be on every quilter's wishlist....a trip to visit the Pennsylvania Amish in the States. A few people at The Cotton Patch have been lucky enough to go already making the rest of us very jealous indeed!

With the dollar reaching all time highs against the pound this could be just the right time to take that much needed vacation!

One of our customers has sent us details of the quilting holiday that she organises. We haven't been ourselves but it certainly looks like all the major attractions are covered such as Heritage Centre at Lancaster, Lancaster Market, Shopping Malls, visits to Intercourse and Bird in Hand, buggy ride and even...a tour of the QVC studio (!), trolley tour of Philladephia and lots more.

For more information please contact email sales at americaasyoulikeit.com

The document below has more details including the itinerary. Or visit their

website.
/docs/Quilting%20Holiday%20Itinerary.doc

Turntable Ironing Board

The Cotton Patch Blog — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 09:51:00 +0000

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!

Ho Ho Yo-Yo

The Cotton Patch Blog — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 14:41:00 +0000

Janet, our resident Yo-yo expert, has been making Christmas decorations using the Clover Yo-yo makers, one of the Christmas Bauble Fat Quarter Packs and some Gold Bias Tape.

They are very easy to make and take about 20 minutes. They are quick and easy and make a perfect little project whilst watching the TV. The joys of being able to multi-task! By putting two Yo-yos back to back and sewing a loop of ribbon in between she was able to create a nice hoop to allow them to be hung from a Christmas Tree.

Positive Feedback

The Cotton Patch Blog — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 10:56:00 +0000

It's not often that we post feedback from customers on our site but we've had some very nice emails recently so we thought we should!

It is also lovely to see people at shows and in the shop and to get that feedback in person - good or bad. We know that sometimes we could do better but we do try to put things right if they go wrong!

Our first email was sent from a customer who had ordered for the first time from us and wouldn't you know it, one of the items was damaged in transit. This is what she wrote...

Dear Cottonpatch

Thank you very much for your good service.

I made my first order with you recently and was very impressed by the speed and quality of service and the good packaging. Also, I had a problem with my order which you responded to immediately by replacing the damaged item. It is not often these days that one can receive such good service and so I think it should not pass without my remarking upon it.

Keep up the good work and I look forward to future purchases.

Yours sincerely

JP

Today we received a lovely email

Date: 17 Oct 2007 18:06:10 GMT
From: xxxxxxxxx@msn.com
Subject: loving the shop
To: mailorder@cottonpatch.co.uk
Name:c h
Email Address: xxxxxxxxx@msn.com

Message: i would just like to say how much i love the look of all your products, your site is well laid out and the stuff looks amazing. i am extremely happy with the variety of stock you show and sell. i have not found a single site to match the high quality of this one. thank you very much.

We have passed the feedback onto our webmaster. Makes it all worthwhile!

Sunray Quilt

The Cotton Patch Blog — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 14:49:00 +0000

Congratulations to the Compassionate Friends Group - their quilt is now complete and a picture of the end result is shown below. Thank you to Irene for sending the photo in and sharing it with us.

I love the way that each person has been able to use fabric to express the individuality of each child.

A beautiful result...

2007/2008 Catalogue

The Cotton Patch Blog — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 09:08:00 +0000

We are delighted with the response to our latest Mail Order Catalogue which is being delivered at the moment.

We hope you find it a useful reference for your patchwork and quilting notions. Despite the effects of the postal strike, which delayed delivery of the catalogue, we have also been able to mail parcels and where items were urgent our courier option has proved popular.

We felt it was important to highlight the effects that a long-term strike could have on small businesses like ourselves. BBC 2's Working Lunch and the Today programme on Radio 4 took up that story and broadcast it to a wider audience, which resulted in a greater awareness of the problem and comments from the Goverment that a resolution was needed soon. The positive message now is that, providing agreement is reached with the Royal Mail and CWU, the postal system will get back to normal soon.

Web email newsletter subscribers will know that we have some excellent offers on the website at the moment - on frames, daylight lights and Cotty boxed sets.

These larger items are normally sent by courier (some restrictions apply). Please note that for courier deliveries a signature is required on delivery and we will need to contact you to arrange the delivery date so please indicate on your "invoice to " address the daytime number we can use to contact you. We will also need a phone number for the "delivery to" address.