From 18–21 September 2014 you can buy Oakshott fabrics from L’Aiguillée Boutique at the 20th Carrefour Européen du Patchwork in Ste. Marie-aux-Mines in Alsace, France. Look out for her special promotions.
1718 Patchwork in 2014
Great excitement at Oakshott when our fabrics were chosen by the Quilt Museum in York for the kit to go with their 1718 Silk Patchwork Coverlet exhibition (5 September–13 December 2014).
The 1718 Coverlet’s 60 exquisitely sewn blocks use a mosaic patchwork technique and illustrate the maker’s surroundings. This is just one small section from the coverlet:
This is a rare chance to see a textile treasure which is normally kept in storage to prevent its deterioration. But if you can’t get to York by 13 December then you can still see the coverlet in detail in Susan Briscoe’s fascinating book The 1718 Coverlet. This book contains a fascinating history of the original and the story of how The Quilter’s Guild made a replica (also on show). If you want to make your own coverlet then the book also contains both original and modern instructions (and Susan is running a workshop on 11 October 2014).
The Quilters’ Guild selected 16 colourways from Oakshott’s New Colourshott collection. Describing their choice, Susan says:
“Oakshott cottons are perfect for a project like this because their quality and colour intensity produce a wonderful iridescence: they look like silk, yet they’re actually 100% mercerised shot cotton.”
The fabric selection is available from the Quilt Museum’s online shop www.quiltmuseumshop.org.uk as pre-cut Fat Eighths or Fat Quarters.
New Colourshott Fat Eighths Picks: Orchid
Jo of MyBearPaw described the Orchid bundle as
“heavenly”
and was immediately inspired to develop her take on a (Japanese) folded patchwork technique. Follow her thought processes on her tutorial and you too could be cuddling one of these:
New Colourshott Fat Eighths Picks: New Forest
We got a sneak preview of SusanClaire’s design for the New Forest bundle before the FoQ
While she provides a full tutorial on her Gourmet Quilter blog there is plenty of scope for your own creativity in the layout:
Do send us photos of your finished Lock Gate, we’d love to admire and compare.
New Colourshott Fat Eighths Picks: Metro
Helen from Archie the Wonderdog blogspot used the Metro bundle:
“I was left with the ‘mystery’ bundle which … was revealed to be a ‘neutrals’ bundle. Not my usual stomping ground but I decided to decline the kind offers to swap (we hadn’t yet seen a photo of this bundle so I had no idea what I was going to get!) and accept the challenge … I’m glad I did”
and so are we.
Helen designed a small quilt cum block roll …
“used to keep pieces in the right place while you’re sewing and which rolls up to keep your pieces safe when you’re not using it) as I use them a lot when I’m hand piecing, as well as when I’m machine piecing. They’re very handy when you’ve got a block with lots of pieces which are the same shape but different colours, as you can carry it to the ironing board, press the seams you’ve just sewn and put the pieces back in the right place. It helps eliminate that moment when, after piecing the final seam, you hold up your block and realise that you’ve got the star points on backwards or two red pieces next to each other.”
See the full and fascinating tutorial (and photos of Archie!) on http://archiethewonderdog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/city-walk-oakshott-metro-project.html
Modern Crosses Quilt Block Tutorial
New free pattern and step-by-step tutorial for the Modern Crosses quilt, as shown at the 2014 Festival of Quilts, is on the Without Pins website. It is shown here in its original Oakshott Air fabric (no longer available) along with a new colour-example made up as a cushion in Ruby Reds.
Design and samples by Heather Hasthorpe; photography and tutorial by Helen Howes; fabrics by Oakshott Fabrics
New Colourshott Fat Eighths Picks: Freesia
Charlotte of Displacement Activity got all poetic about Oakshott, in this case the new fat eighths we are calling Freesia:
As always, photographs just don’t do these fabrics justice – it’s impossible to see how they glow and shimmer unless you get to see them in person. I spent absolutely ages putting them in different orders, pairing them up and generally stroking them and can absolutely and confidently assert that they are at least five gazillion times more gorgeous in real life.
Then, as part of Lily’s Quilts Bloghop, she turned them into this:
full instructions for making Reflections on this page of Displacement Activity.
Oakshott in Canada
Susan Fletcher of Alderspring Design in British Columbia, Canada has just taken delivery of the new Autumn range of Colourshott (thank you FedEx!):
Susan’s speciality is Sashiko. She shares the technique on her blog A Threaded Needle, which is also her retail site for Oakshott fabrics. She is now getting ready to introduce the range to you all at the Creative Stitches exhibitions in Edmonton (12-13 Sep) and Calgary (26-27 Sep).
New Colourshott Fat Eighths Picks: Derwent
Nicky from Mrs Sew and Sow said:
“Oakshott really are among my favourite fabrics! I love the colours, the sheen they have, the feel of them and also how they quilt but this pattern makes use of the ability to use both sides of the woven fabric to make mirror blocks.”
She chose the Derwent fat eighths pack 
and designed a fantastic runner, using the dark blue fabric to create a lattice ‘sashing’, which gave her the name for her design, Trellis:
For full details of the pattern click on this link: http://mrsssewandsow.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/oakshott-colourshott-bloghop.html
New Colourshott Fat Eighth Picks: Brighton Rock
Oakshott have produced a range of Fat Eighth packs picking out a highlight (or accent) colour, given them an evocative name and priced them very competitively.
Thanks to a competition on Lily’s Quilts we’ve been able to bring you some inspirational designs to get you started.
Number 1: Brighton Rock. Sonia of Fabric and Flowers produced this runner and six coasters (click on this link for instructions)
