John & Marie

Interesting statement from an outsider’s perspective who sees you hunching over a sewing machine for hours sewing together little bits of fabric you have cut up. If anything, most people would call that a recipe for frustration. So why do we say that sewing is so relaxing? Modern-day stress

Visit any quality quilt or fabric shop and you are bound to come across the batik section. For people who don’t know, batik is a process of dyeing fabric using a wax resist method. Batiks have been around for a long time. While there is evidence that batiks date

Besides being a song released on vinyl by Petula Clark in 1967 it is also an essential theme for patchworkers and quilters.  On Saturday 28th May we held an understanding of colour workshop facilitated by Chris. (Thanks Chris and all the participants) We are drawn to all sorts of colourful

Most of us would be familiar with the old proverb “Give someone a fish, and you feed them for a day.  Teach them to fish, and you feed them for a lifetime.” The original thought pertaining to this proverb is attributed to Maimonides, a 12th Century Jewish philosopher (1138–1204)

Have you ever found yourself gazing at the ceiling and apprehending something weird? Or looking outside the window and pondering about several known and unknown issues? These automatic and not so important thoughts that appear suddenly can literally blow your mind and make you question anything and everything. They are

“Whistle while you work” is a playful tune written by Frank Churchill and Larry Morey that made its debut in Disney's first animated feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). Snow White cleans up the dwarfs' messy cottage with the help of her animal friends and this upbeat

The song “My way” was originally written and composed as “Comme d’Habitude” (“As Usual”) by Jacques Revaux and Gilles Thibault.  Canadian singer Paul Anka re-wrote the original French song for Frank Sinatra, subtly altering the melodic structure and changing the lyrics to become “My Way” thus becoming the classic

Quilting: Stitching through all three layers of the quilt (the quilt top, the batting, and the quilt back), typically in decorative patterns, which serves three purposes: To secure the layers to each other,To add to the beauty and design of the finished quilt, andTo trap air within the quilted

In simple terms Sashing (aka Lattice) is strips of fabric sewn between individual quilt blocks, generally in the rows and columns of a quilt top. By adding sashing to your quilt design can achieve a number of varying results.  Here are a couple of our reflections. Sashing can allow individual

With enthusiasm and gusto you have begun your patchwork journey and are becoming bamboozled with all of the available gadgets and gizmos. The great thing about this craft is that you can add to your supplies as and when needed. S-E-W one of the very first tools to consider is

In 1983 Elton John released “I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues”* as part of his Too Low for Zero Album. When recently using the Pfaff Ambition 610 two lines from that song resonated. These being                        …And I guess that’s why they call it the blues

Anita Goodesign, founded by Steve Wilson in 1994, is a world-class embroidery design company based in Charlotte USA who manufactures all their own products from conception through to completion.  These include generic embroidery to original, custom-designed works of art of which Prayer Garden is something completely different from any others

Cornerstones are squares of fabric pieced within sashing or border strips that usually align in the block corners or outside corners in the case of the border. Sometimes, mind you, cornerstones are used simply because there just wasn't enough fabric for the sashing. Participants involved in our beginner patchwork quilt

In 1970 José Feliciano, a Puerto Rican singer-songwriter created a Christmas song with simple, heartfelt lyrics. From duets e.g., Michael Bublé and Thaila (2017) - https://www.youtube.om/watch?v=SK7cpuhwoP0 to soloist e.g., Céline Dion (2015) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwFD6dCV82w to the

Introducing Amara - the newest member to call Ripley Sewing Centre home. When you work with Amara you enjoy a quality experience like never before and you will become mesmerized with how precise Amara is in all that she does. You will be gobsmacked with all the possibilities Amara offers

A couple of months ago a small number of beginner sewers decided to start their patchwork and quilting journey through Ripley Sewing Centre. For this program we focussed on using a newly published book titled Jump into Patchwork and Quilting by Sarah Ashford for C&T Publishing, Inc. Sarah