by GillyMac | Jan 19, 2022 | blog, Designing, Sewing Made Simple, Tutorial
Throughout this year, I will be sharing the colour palette for each Season. These will be the seasonal palettes as I see them. I will also be creating a secondary palette using my garden which has been an incredible source of inspiration over the past eighteen months....
by GillyMac | Jan 12, 2022 | blog, general, Sewing Made Simple
Over the past couple of months, I have enjoyed experimenting with a Wing Needle. Let me share with you what I have learnt. What is A Wing Needle? At a 100/16, a Wing needle is a larger needle that we typically use for everyday sewing. Its shape is similar to a...
by GillyMac | Jan 5, 2022 | blog, Patchwork, Sewing Made Simple, Tutorial
Of the many things I made in 2021, this table runner is my favourite. Apart from many other qualities, it is an exercise in achieving perfect points. This runner and the accompanying Snowy Days Quilt were the projects in last Autumn’s Virtual Retreat; however,...
by GillyMac | Jul 14, 2021 | Beginners, blog, free, GillyMac Community, Sewing Made Simple, Tutorial
I enjoy using Pinterest to give me visual prompts. However, I find it incredibly frustrating when searching for links to the source documents, and they aren’t there. It can be such hard work. Consequently, once I find great people to follow, I tend to go back to them...
by GillyMac | Jul 7, 2021 | cake, general, GillyMac Community
Cooking and baking are a large part of my life. For that reason, it was always likely that any business I started would have an element of cake included. Since starting GillyMac eight years ago, I must have made hundreds of cakes, traybakes and biscuits. Over the rest...
by GillyMac | Jun 30, 2021 | Applique, Beginners, blog, Patchwork, Sewing Made Simple, Tutorial
Following on from last week’s tutorial on raw edge applique, let’s have a look at using invisible thread. This tutorial follows some of the processes to create my Flower Power Quilt. Last week, with raw edge applique, we sealed the edge with thread. If the thread had...
by GillyMac | Jun 23, 2021 | Applique, Beginners, blog, Patchwork, Sewing Made Simple, Tutorial
This tutorial covers raw edge Applique. Next week, I will cover turned edge machine applique with invisible thread, often called invisible machine applique. With all machine applique, there are three steps. Preparing the applique piece Providing the first fix of it on...
by GillyMac | Jun 16, 2021 | Beginners, blog, Patchwork, Quilting, Sewing Made Simple
My criteria as to what makes a quilt pattern suitable for a beginner is The project shouldn’t be too big The pattern should have lots of diagrams and simple steps to follow or be accompanied by a good video. The project should teach you something new, but not too...
by GillyMac | Jun 9, 2021 | blog, general, Quilting, Sewing Made Simple
Stabilising a quilt happens once the wadding and backing are sandwiched onto the quilt top and held temporarily in place by glue, pins, tack or thread. Stabilising the quilt is the starting part of the quilting process. What is Stabilising A Quilt? Stabilisation is a...
