Strictly Quilting

Bamboo Baby!

My hairdresser recently announced she was expecting, such wonderful news (but little distressed to realise that I’ll have to go without her for 6 months!) Of course, as a quilter I immediately guessed she’d need a quilt.. The nursery decoration was based on her favourite children’s book – ‘Guess How Much I Love You’. It’s such a cute story and many of you may recognise the images from the book. Illustrated by Anita Jeram, these have been produced as several fabric ranges which include panels and lots of different patterns.

These are so lovely that as soon as Anya mentioned it, I knew that it just had to be the fabric of choice. Quilters are wonderfully generous people and, knowing that the fabrics were ‘out of print’ so to speak, I put a call out on the Facebook associated group – UKQU Destash asking if anyone wanted to part with some. I had a very kindly reply from a lady saying she had some which she wanted to get rid of and quickly posted it to me.

It was such a treasure trove of these fabrics that I was stunned. The baby’s sex is unknown at this stage so I utilised the greens and yellows from the range rather than the usual pink or blue. (As an aside, I always think it’s interesting that pink was originally considered a ‘boys’ colour but changed over the years to be associated with girls….)

I made a simple squares quilt – 4 1/2” squares, sewed into nine rows of seven squares and finished it with a border of the linear fabric; mitring the corners so the pattern faces inward all the way around. Now came the layering and quilting but what wadding to use?

Vlieseline is a household name and produces wonderfully soft wadding in a range of fabrics. I chose the Crib Size Bamboo Mix (268) which is 50/50 cotton and bamboo. Produced from renewable raw materials, it can be either hand or machine sewn making it ideal for duvets, quilts and light clothing such as jackets and coats.

It was beautiful to quilt, with a ‘body’ which works brilliantly for quilting. You can see how well the wadding puffed against the stitching. I feel this would be a good wadding to partner with a top layer of wool or poly for extensive free motion (which gives that extra pouf that looks so nice).

The comfortable, natural soft handle makes it easy to work with for a wide range of applications and it is suitable for use with most fabrics. Washable at 30° and used with an iron on a cool setting and conforms to OEKO-TEX® 100 Class I, standards.

If you’d like to learn to make your own quilt you can join me at Strictly Quilting HQ, near Monmouth for patchwork lessons in many different techniques.

Vlieseline products are available nationwide from craft, hobby and sewing suppliers, online and in shops. For general product and stockist information visit www.vlieseline.com.

Follow Vlieseline on Instagram – @vlieseline_uk

Enhance Your Crafting: Project Bag and Block Nanny Featuring Style Vil Foam

Some of you may know that Strictly Quilting has been running sewing retreats for a couple of years now in collaboration with Cecilia Slinn. We recently held our Summer Retreat where we had a fabulous time. There were two projects for people to make. Cecilia brought us a Project Bag and I designed a Block Nanny. Both of these items used a foam layer which helped to add body and form.

The Project Bag has lots of pockets for all your crafting goodies plus internal pockets for your cutting mat and even pockets which will fit A4 instructions. Cecilia used a bonded foam to support her original bag but I used sew in Style Vil from Vlieseline. The advantage? Well, every time I’ve used the bonded type, I’ve found that the surface of the fabric takes on a slightly bubbly or ruched effect. The Style Vil worked perfectly. I quilted each bag panel, which firstly holds the foam in place and helps provide another level of support, plus adding a little extra design style…

The Style Vil was easy to work with and allows the bag to stand nicely, allowing space for a storage box in which I can pack all my fabrics for a project. There was one little adaptation I made to the bag pattern – the addition of an extra strap to hold the bag onto my sewing machine trolley. I have a storage bag for moving my machine to and from workshops and the project bag fits on the trolly, slipping over the pull up handle, allowing easy transportation. It really makes a brilliant addition.

The second project, the Block Nanny, was something I’d designed to go along with my beginners Doris Sampler Quilt. A bag which opens out, book like, to hold blocks flat, clean and, more importantly, in one place. (I know I’m not alone to say that, when making a sampler quilt or similar, it’s easy to put blocks in a ‘safe place’ not to be found for weeks!) The Block Nanny makes it easy to carry them to your workshop. The Style Vil was again the perfect product. I used a fleece on the inside of the Nanny which works well as a mini design wall for your blocks. If you’ve cut them out you can hold them in place before piecing. (This pattern is available on my shop on UKQU here.)

One important tip for piecing blocks is to lay out the individual pieces in position prior to actually piecing. This helps keep everything in place and stops you making mistakes with positioning. Having a folder to keep the blocks in place prior to piecing really helps when at a workshop – easy to pack up without having to throw all the cut pieces into a bag or box.

I’ve also used Style Vil in the past for my laptop slip as it is soft, supportive and protective and it makes brilliant little make up bags. In fact, Vlieseline have a tutorial for a make up bag on their website which you can find here.

But what is Style Vil? It’s a foam which is easily sewn by hand or machine, although do trim the seam allowances to reduce bulk. It is washable and resistant to wear, so quite a robust material. If you are looking to make a bag then give Style Vil a go, you won’t regret it.

My Journey Quilt using Vlieseline 276.

If you’ve met me before at a show, in a class or on our wonderful retreats you may well also have met my Mum. We started our quilting journey together well over a decade ago at a local quilt shop and, as the saying goes, didn’t look back. From quilt shows to exhibitions, local quilt shops to working on the magazine. My quilting journey took me many places and my Mother, Nanny Pat as she was known to all, was by my side. Until last year. We all have to go at some point, and her loss was sudden and, although she had been a little unwell, certainly a shock.

It took awhile for my quilting mojo to return but when it did, I was drawn to hand sewing. Always a comfort to me. I have entered what I like to call my Baltimore phase. Every now and again I discover a different area of quilting and spend some time learning the processes and techniques before moving on. A true ‘butterfly’ of the craft. I really enjoy hand work so the tradition of needle turned appliqué suits me. I had been designing a Baltimore cushion for a workshop shortly before my Mum passed and it was as I was trying to gather myself after the event that I was inspired to use my Mother’s stash. When clearing her sewing room I found a box labelled ‘small pieces’.

The cushion was completed purely from her fabrics and this then led to another idea – a quilt, again using only her fabric scraps, Baltimore style using symbols from our lives. From Bristol to Monmouth, each element holding a meaning.

The quilt was in the draft stages of design when I noticed that the theme for the Quilts UK show at Malvern was to be ‘Journey’. It seemed fate that I should try and get it finished in time. (Working to a deadline does help with finishing a quilt!) And so I began.

Baltimore quilts frequently have boats and bridges, both easily found in Bristol and Monmouth. Bristol Suspension Bridge and the SS Great Britain were must haves, along with the Monnow Bridge and the ship symbol which commemorates the contribution to medieval ship building by the town of Monmouth, situated as it is close to the Forest of Dean. If you ever visit Monmouth you will see the Monnow Bridge at the bottom of town. As you walk over this, look to the left hand side and you will see a stone carving of the ship which I used as my source for the ship on my quilt.

As a child, I’d always loved the Unicorns which adorn the roof of the Council House on College Green in Bristol, sparking golden in the sun as they did in the 1970s when I first saw them. This became the central top block of my quilt. After this came the Cat. I’d lost my beloved siamese, Neo, in 2022 so he had to make an appearance to stand for all our lovely animals over the years.

In my late teens, my parents became landlords of a couple of public houses, The Black Horse on Old Market Street, followed by The Antelope in Stockwood. Interesting times as they say, and the Bristol Blue brandy glass helped show this period of my life. Bristol Blue, again another big part of the Bristol story, and both Mum and I enjoying a good brandy many a Christmas.

There were just two more blocks to make. The first had to be where I am now with my little business Strictly Quilting and, as my logo is a sewing machine, this had to be added. (I did love the way the gold hand embroidery echoed the old Singer machines – I felt this worked really well!) Last, but not least, were the two Collared Doves in the centre of the quilt. There was more symbolism here. For my wedding, Mum and I cross stitched all of the invitations and Orders of Service with a dual dove design and, as luck would have it, I have two Collared Doves which live close and frequently visit my garden. They are so lovely and it seemed right to include them.

But now we come to the reason for my blog, long as it is! I had been kindly sent some Vlieseline 276 Natural Cotton White wadding to try out and, as I was planning to free motion quilt I thought it was a good time to try it out. I double layered it in the quilt. By ‘knocking back’ an area with denser quilting, the double layer adds volume to the ‘puffy’ areas. The wadding was lovely, soft and fluffy with no noticeable bearding probably because of the scrim which helps bind the fibres. This is a cotton wadding and, because it is beautifully white, worked well with my light coloured quilt. Definitely a bonus. You can sew by hand or machine with it and the maximum quilt spacing is 10 to 20cm.

This wadding is also part of Vlieseline’s Up-cycling collection – should be no surprise to patchworkers but the main question is have I used up my Mum’s small scraps box? Answer – No! There’s so much left I think I could make another five of these quilts and that’s just from her ‘small scraps’. She was much better than mean, only purchasing for the project she was starting. I now must admit that I feel sorry for my boys when the time comes to clear my sewing cabin! I’ll have to make a list of who and where to send it all…..

Special thanks to Vlieseline for allowing me to try the wadding and you can find more product information here.

Summer Workshop Projects

This year is passing so quickly. Easter has come and gone and the garden has started to grow even with all the rain. It’s about now I start to look forward to summer, hoping for a little sunshine to make us all feel better.

Another thing that made me feel better this year was a trip to the wholesale show at the NEC in Feb. What a lovely trip which ended up with a new sewing machine for the workshop and a lovely selection of fabrics! These have been arriving over the past few weeks so I now have a greater selection to tempt you. Bali Pops in a choice of colours and the beautiful Cottage Cloth from Makower. I’ll slowly build up the choice but the below are the first arrivals!

Cecilia Slinn and I have been arranging this summer’s June Retreat and can’t wait to share what we have been working on. Cecilia is bringing a Project Bag and, to accompany this, I’m bringing my Block Nanny carry folder. What’s a Block Nanny, I hear you ask? It’s a folder/bag in which you can keep your individual blocks flat, clean and safe, when traveling to and from workshops or even to hold them in one place at home. There are fleece liner panels which help hold the blocks in place and it’s perfect for keeping track. I do have a tendency to get a bit distracted with new ideas, loosing the blocks of the quilts I haven’t quite finished. The Baltimore quilt I’ve been working on has been safely stored in the Block Nanny and it works, I haven’t lost a block yet!

Going back to Cecilia’s Project Bag, this has plenty of pockets to keep all your workshop requirements safe and also takes a plastic box, as shown, to store things in. I particularly like the slip pockets for a cutting mat. These can really be affected by heat in a car so keeping them flat, when the weather gets a bit warm, is really important.

I have a friend, we’ll call her Emily (not her real name!) who sews and quilts along with her Mother in Law. They had a table set out in the conservatory, covered by a lovely silk tablecloth. A gift from the MOLs friend from the Orient. One summer’s day, Emily was busy cutting out strips and squares for her new project, using the cutting mat on the table. It was only a while later, when tidying up, that they realised that the tablecloth was now a collection of ribbons! The heat of the sun had caused the rotary cutter to cut right through the mat to the tablecloth! I’ve also seen cutting mats left in cars be twisted out of shape by the heat so having a bag to keep them flat is a worthwhile investment.

The retreat is due on 14th to 16th June and is being held at Hillscourt Conference Centre. A great location, not far off the motorway network on the outskirts of Birmingham. The rooms are single en-suites, and full board is included from the Friday evening though to the Sunday lunch. Breakfast is a good selection of traditional cooked, cereals or continental options. Lunch is a hot and cold buffet and for the two course dinner, there is a choice from three selections. We also have the conference hall for sewing from Friday lunchtime through to Sunday afternoon.

You can join in with the projects or bring your own. The patterns will be provided for you to choose so if you have a quilt you really need some time to get finished, what better than to bring it along. I can’t quite decide what I’m going to take with me. I should be finishing some quilts by quilting them. Queenie, the new sit-down long arm, has been helping with this but she’s not exactly transportable so I may just have to start a new project! Oh no, that means shopping!

For more details about the retreat you can find them here or email either Helen at helen@striclyquilting.com or Cecilia at cecilia.slinn@btinternet.com.

Back from the slopes and using Vlieseline Wadding – 279 Soft Cotton Mix 80/20

Well it’s been a bit of a while since I’ve done a lot of sewing. In January the family and I took to the slopes of Bulgaria for a ski trip and, you guessed it, I was taken out by a snowboarder on the first day and broke my wrist.. Had to be the right hand, didn’t it! I spent the week kidding myself I hadn’t really broken it but only managed to ski one other day as my knee was twisted too. I’m getting too old for this!

I was able to do a little hand stitching, a pretty cross stitch using the prettiest Aida I’ve ever seen from zoesgiftsncrafts.com. Some of the fabrics are so beautiful and can act as a background to highlight your designs. The cross stitch design was from ‘Cross Stitch Christmas’ by Héléne Le Berre but I digress. After the usual six weeks of recovery the sewing machine is back out, and I launched into a small table runner, Bargello style, to utilise for a workshop at Strictly Quilting HQ.

Bargellos can be made in many different patterns from the usual Wave or Flame to something like my favourite, the Heart. (This one is getting on now but I do love it.) I had always wanted to try to do a simple diamond pattern, which worked really well for this smaller table runner and, looking around the cabin for some wadding, I found this piece of 279 Soft Cotton Mix 80/20 Vlieseline had kindly sent me to try. For those newer to quilting, or who have often wondered, 80/20 stands for 80% cotton and 20% polyester. It also has a scrim, which helps bind the fibres so as not to wander around and ‘beard’ your fabric with a pale, fluffy top coat.

Soft and white, with a lovely drape, it was perfect for my needs and certainly lived up to it’s name. I quilted it with a Walking Foot on my new JUKI DK7. (There’s another blog in there as she is a thing of beauty. I need a name for her!…) The wadding sewed like a dream, no bearding at all and, as I used a plain backing, this would really show any stray fibres.

The advantage to using 80/20 for something like a table runner is that it usually washes very well. I do like the rustic look you get after the first wash from slight shrinkage, so I don’t tend to pre-wash my wadding. I know some people do, and it is recommended should you wish to avoid this. The suggested quilting distance (the maximum space you should leave between lines of quilting) is 20cm, advice I normally follow. With the Bargello pattern I simply followed several of the fabric lines which accentuated the diamond shape of the pattern.

If you are interested in a Bargello workshop I’ll be running two – the table runner as a one day workshop and a full, Bargello two day where we launch into a full quilt, later in the year.

Bargello Table Runner: Saturday 4th May 2024. £65. 10:00 – 16:00hrs. We will learn the tube technique for making a Bargello inspired quilt, a little of the history behind this pattern and given advice on how to quilt and take this technique further. Suitable for confident beginners. Email Helen@strictlyquilting.com to book.

This wadding is suitable for quilts, quilted cushions and table runners but can also be utilised in bags and pouches or for light clothing such as jackets and coats, something I’d like to try, but haven’t as yet. Perhaps that will be my next project. Hummm, I’m off to rummage in my fabric stash…..

2024 Retreat Dates Announced

Well, 2023 went so quickly that I think I missed most of it but now is the time to look forward to 2024. Cecilia and I have so enjoyed running our two retreats last year that we have again booked two more for 2024.

The Summer retreat is booked for 14th to 16th June and we have two different projects to work on – a Craft Bag designed by Cecilia and a Block Nanny from me. The bag is such a useful item to take your equipment and projects to workshops (or retreats!) and the Block Nanny is designed to keep blocks clean and flat when in construction. Both patterns will be available to you to take home so you may like to choose one item to make or you can bring your own projects to work on, knowing you’ll have the patterns for the future. Those to attended the Winter retreat in December 23 will have seen Cecilia working on a smaller ‘test’ version of the bag but we all loved it so much that I think I’ll be making one in this smaller size…

Block Nanny – Used to look after your quilt blocks whilst making them and transporting to and from workshops. This bag contains a fleece liner to hold your blocks or cut fabrics in place.

For the Winter Retreat, which is from Friday 29th November to Sunday 1st December, we have decided to concentrate on appliqué in many different forms such as bonded, reverse and needle turned. We will look at the different methods to finish your appliqué using both hand and machine and will have demonstrations and a talk to support your learning.

The retreats are both held at Hillscourt Conference Centre just on the outer edge of Birmingham which is very easy to find and the rooms are single en-suite. Full board whilst we are there includes breakfasts, buffet lunches and two course dinner with choice.

If you’d like more details about the retreats you can check out the retreat page here. You’ll find the booking forms for both retreats, plus full information on what is included and details of the hotel. If you have any questions you can drop me an email at Helen@strictlyquilting.com.

Vlieseline 276 – Natural Cotton Wadding

Towards the start of this year I was hoping to host a Sew A-Long (SAL) series of blogs on my website Strictly Quilting. Well, sometimes life gets in the way by throwing the odd curve ball and I found things didn’t quite work out the way I’d planned. I’d started the design, based on star blocks, and slowly (very slowly) managed to get the design together.

As I’m sure you know, quilt blocks have a variety of names, frequently more than one, and I used blocks based on dessert names: French Silk Pie, Blueberry Pie and Peach Cobbler. I also added Love in the Mist and a few Friendship Stars as fillers. The whole quilt is now named ‘Galaxy’ and I am still planning on publishing it as a free SAL soon. (You can follow me on my website, Strictly Quilting, and get updated when I publish it, a block a week.)

I finally finished the quilt tops last week. One is made with a white background and a second with a black background. Both are ideal to use up scraps or can be made from meterage. The fabrics I used were from a selection of 10” square fabric samples from Makower, in rainbow colours. So now it came to layering and quilting.

Vlieseline sent this beautiful wadding for me to try and decided this would be the perfect project to trial it. As the wadding came out of the package, I was surprised at how beautifully soft it felt. The class of students that were with me at the time were all impressed by the feel with lots of ‘ohhhs’ and ‘ahhhs’ as it was passed around to feel. It drapes well and is, I have to say again, so soft! It’s got ‘body’, feels more substantial but is still lighter in loft meaning it’s not too puffy

The wadding is white, perfect for the white background quilt. If you use a cream wadding when you have white fabrics it can sometimes show through, making the pure white fabric a bit dull. Using a white wadding, you end up with a crisper white quilt.

The scrim holds it well and there doesn’t appear to be any bearding. This is when fibres from the wadding come away and you end up with them everywhere. (Think hairy dog getting fur all over the sofa! The scrim helps fix the fibres in place.)

For Free Motion Quilting, you can use two layers of wadding, so I layered up the backing, two layers of wadding and the top. Talking of backing fabric do you all do what I did? I was looking for the perfect backing fabric. Found a lovely, beautifully rich purple with gold highlights which was just too nice to use. I had to give myself a stern talking too! Anyway, using two layers of wadding means that when you knock back areas with heavier quilting, the un-quilted areas really stand out. I’d used a purple in the bobbin and a white thread on top. You can see a tiny hint of the bobbin thread which I’d intended to act as distant stars, similar to the Milky Way across the sky.

The wadding is washable, at 30 degrees and it does say that it should not be used in a tumble dryer. (That probably won’t stop me from throwing it in for a minute or two on a low setting to help fluff it up but please, follow the instructions rather than me!) The quilting distance is a recommended 10cm which might be a disadvantage to some. I was quite surprised to be honest, this isn’t a great distance when most modern waddings with scrim have a quilt distance of up to 10”, closer to 25cm. The difference doesn’t sound much but if you are a beginner, doing less quilting is quite appealing.

Overall, this wadding has a lovely feel, drapes well and is certainly one to keep in mind.

Gütermann Deco Stitch

Gütermann is one of the most popular thread producers having been around for decades. As a girl, the chap that used to service our sewing machine always recommended Gütermann thread and I still use it for a lot of my piecing and dressmaking. They have a wide range of threads and one is Deco Stitch.

Deco Stitch is designed to work well with domestic sewing machines decorative stitches. You can use it on the top with a sew all thread on the bottom if you wish. I was sent some to have a play and see exactly how I could use it for quilting. It is 70 weight, so at the lighter end of threads but this means that it will not bulk out too much and will form the stitches evenly but what to do with it?

I lost my Mum earlier this year. We started patchwork and quilting together over a decade ago when we took up a beginners class and it always was a shared passion. This led to a weekly class where we made good friends with our group, who I still see, day trips to the local shows and she came to every retreat I organised. When you loose a quilter, or any crafter, there is the bitter sweet task of sorting out the ‘stash’. I have plenty of UFOs (Un-Finished Objects) and she had a few too! One of these was a cross-stitch of Nemo, the little fish from the movie. She had started this about eighteen years ago as a gift for a little girl called Alice, who LOVED Nemo. When I found it, all those memories of watching the film endless times came rushing back and I remember Mum saying she was making the picture. She hadn’t quite finished it with only a few outlining stitches missing, so I asked Alice (who is now 22) if she would like it. She was delighted but wanted it to be made into something. Her other request was that I not complete the image, leave it just as Nanny Pat had left it.

The image was the perfect size for a small purse, perhaps for make up, so this was what I decided to make. I also had a sparkly zip in my stash which would work brilliantly. Next, I had to find some fabric which matched the image and when I came across the stunning blue, it was perfect; Nemo swimming in the sea. I then looked around for thread and this is when the Deco Stitch came in useful. I had a variegated version in blues which I decided to use for quilting the little bag.

The thread worked really well, showing up on the ‘sea’ as I quilted wavy lines. Initially I was going to play with some of the decorative stitches but, as the fabric was so lovely, I felt it might not have worked. Sometimes, simple is best. I also echo quilted around the Nemo figure, simple to hold that side down.

Deco Stitch is a versatile thread that is useful to have in your thread stash and comes in a range of variegated colours which work brilliantly for those decorative embroidery stitches. So, if you have never used those stitches why not have a go with Deco Stitch.

Clover Finger Presser

Many of you that have visited me at Strictly Quilting HQ know that I love a Hera Marker for marking lines, especially when quilting. I’ve found them useful for both hand quilting and, more recently, for marking for Free Motion Quilting on my beautiful new machine, Queenie. I can do straight lines or curves, use templates or go around shapes. They’re great!

But now I’ve come across a new little tool from Clover – the Finger Presser.

For perfect piecing we really should iron/press each seam usually ‘to the dark side’. Of course I’d like to do this every time but actually getting up, leaving the iron on, then returning to the machine… It’s a pain. And if you are hand piecing, again, it can be annoying to go to the ironing board every seam. This is where the Finger Presser comes in.

I’ve seen these little things before but hadn’t tried one before. Well, it has won me over. I was stunned at how well this worked. Made from a solid, durable material it sits well in the hand. There is a lovely little impression in which your finger rests. The edge can be used to fold against and the other end had a point, again I’ve used to mark lines. Below you can see a before and after using the tool. A crisp press without an iron.

Use the Finger Presser by applying pressure down the seam line. This folds over the seam allowance with surprising crispness. You can find out more about Clover products at – www.clover.mfg.com

Gütermann Super Brite Thread

There are many threads we can use which bring added glamour to our Free Motion Quilting. I’ve not used Gütermann Super Brite before so, when they sent me a sample to try, I was keen to have a go.

Gütermann Super Brite has a trilobal structure – a triangular shape which means there are flat sides from which light reflects. (I had to look that up – I’d always wondered what it meant!) This ensures that you get a glorious shine which, coupled with the beautifully luscious colour, will add depth to your quilt designs.

They recommend that this thread is ideal for machine embroidery motifs and I agree it would be perfect (especially as there are 288 colours to choose from) but, being a quilter, I decided to trial it on my sit-down long arm, Queenie, a Bernina Q20 at Strictly Quilting HQ.

The Festival of Quilts was held a couple of weeks ago and I managed to catch one of Angela Waters talks – Fabulous Feathers. Here Angela talked us how she undertakes feathers, both individual and bump-back. Slightly different methods of crafting Free Motion Feathers. I love doing feathers from large explosive space filling ones to small, delicate whips which intertwine with other patterns. This was the inspiration for a little practice with this new thread.

Ten minutes a day is recommended to develop your Free Motion Quilting. Do I undertake that? No chance. Too busy working but I do keep practice squares made up so when I do find time, I can just grab one and have a play. Calico layered with one or two layers of wadding. I usually cut them to about 12” to 18” square and use the cut offs from my quilts. This is a good size for practice and I also use a strong colour thread. Luckily Gütermann sent me a strong Christmas red. Using a thread with a big contrast means that you can see all the different twists and turns. Don’t be afraid of this, it’s the best way to practice and improve.

But back to the thread. Made from 100% polyester, this thread is strong and hard-wearing. I found it went through my machine effortlessly with no tearing or threading, which can happen with long-arms due to the speed of free motion. Another positive is that it’s washable at 60 degrees. Now, I don’t wash my quilts at 60 but it’s good to know it would stand up to it. The many colours it comes in means that there is sure to be one to suit any project. They recommend using a needle between 70 and 90. The thread is 40 weight but runs finer and there is 1000m on a reel. Not bad for the price of around £5.50 a reel. I’ll be looking up these threads to start building a collection and can recommend it for Free Motion Quilting.

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For stockist information, contact Gütermann creativ –

email: gutermann@stockistenquiries.co.uk