Free Workshops and Articles

This is a great place to start! Discover all our free workshops and articles here. There’s lots to look through so why not use the filter to narrow things down to your favourite topics. Don’t forget, there’s always lots more to discover in our Classrooms.

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  • Acrylic
  • altered book
  • applique
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  • christmas
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  • Drawing
  • Dressmaking
  • Dyeing
  • Embroidery
  • English paper piecing
  • Exhibitions
  • Fabric Painting
  • For your home
  • Free
  • Gifts
  • Inspiration
  • Mixed Media
  • monoprinting
  • Needlefelting
  • Painting
  • Papermaking
  • Photos
  • piecing
  • Plant printing
  • Printing
  • Procion MX
  • Projects
  • Quilting
  • Rubbings
  • Screenprinting
  • sewing
  • Sketchbook

What weight of thread?

What thread do we use for our machine quilting? In this article Laura will share her tips for how to choose the right thread for the effect you’re looking for.

Plant Printed Sketchbook

A flip-through Linda’s hand-bound, plant printed sketchbook with drawing, painting and stamping.

Applique Remix

See how you can remix a single piece of hand dyed fabric to create a beautiful appliqué design. Laura’s using digital embroidery for her example, but you could try the technique with traditional bonded appliqué too.

Season’s Greetings 2022

Season’s Greetings everyone! Here is our Christmas card to you for 2022. You are welcome to download, save and print the image.

What is Digital Stitch?

Find out more about the basics of digital stitch and see how Amelie’s used it to make a motif patch to customise a jacket.

More painting on the Fish quilt

Linda is adding the final touches to her latest fish quilt using fabric painting. See how it’s coming along.

The Chameleon Box

See the box that Linda made inspired by chameleons!

Quilting and painting a new fish quilt

Linda’s working on a new quilt featuring monoprinted fish. Take a look at the piece in progress and see how she’s adding the quilting and painting.

More Digital Stitch Demonstration Samples

Take a look at some of the digital stitch examples that Laura demonstrated at Festival of Quilts 2022.

Festival of Quilts 2022

See some of our photos from Festival of Quilts 2022.

Antique Drunkards Path Quilt

Take a look at an antique Drunkard’s Path quilt which caught Laura’s eye recently.

Digital Stitch Demonstration Samples

Take a look at some of the digital stitch examples that Laura demonstrated at Festival of Quilts 2022.

Drawing Skulls

Have a look at the drawings Laura’s been working on this week.

Event – Festival of Quilts 2022

We’ll be exhibiting at Festival of Quilts in August. Come and see our work in a gallery hosted by Madeira threads.

Quilting Arts Magazine – Summer Issue 2022

Linda’s written an article for the Summer 2022 issue of Quilting Arts Magazine on the topic of combining digital stitch with fabric painting.

Making it Belong

Linda talks about how you can integrate elements into your sketchbook or altered book and make them look like they belong.

Digital Quilting with Sketch

Laura demonstrates the Sketch module of Premier+ embroidery software to show how it can be perfect for creative quilting.

Sketchbook to Stitch: Eye of the Beholder

Laura talks about her recent digitising project and shares a few tips on how to translate a sketchbook design into stitch using software.

Portrait Artist of the Year: The Exhibition

Take a look at some of the highlights from the Portrait Artist of the Year exhibition at Compton Verney.

Fashion and Embroidery in Art

Take a look at some paintings from the British Portraits room at Compton Verney and explore how the artists represent the garments of the sitters with a particular focus on embroidery.

Digital Stitch plus Painting

Take a look at how Linda’s been using a combination of commercial digital stitch designs, freehand quilting and hand painting to produce a composition.

Tips for Sewing a CC Charlie Caftan

The Charlie Caftan by Closet Core is a great pattern. Here’s my latest version and a step by step look at my method for tackling the trickier part of the make.

Plant Printed Artist Book

Take a page by page look through Linda’s plant printed artist book. The book is hand made from a variety of plant printed papers. As you’ll see she’s added painted birds and insects, these are worked in watercolour, gouache and acrylic ink.

Linda’s Poppy Sketchbook

Take a look at some pages from Linda’s poppy sketchbook.

Poppy Inspiration

We love to find inspiration in our gardens and you know we both have used poppies in our work. Take a look at these beautiful examples and maybe use them to draw or paint from in your sketchbook.

The best paper for making a Concertina Sketchbook

We love working in concertina sketchbooks. In this post we’ll share our tips for the best paper to use when making your own concertina books and you’ll also find a link to our worksheet of instructions to make your own.

Sewing Patch Pockets

Laura’s latest dressmaking project has patch pockets. See how she sews them for great results every time.

In the Mix – Plant Printing and Plants in Altered Books

See how Linda’s combined ideas from two workshops for great results. She’s using techniques from Plants in Altered Books and working into her Plant Printing pages.

Dress/Skirt Refashion

Refashion a dress into a simple skirt. This is a super quick project which gives a whole new lease of life to an unworn garment. You’ll just need some elastic and a few minutes of time.

A Flip-through Laura’s Sketchbook

Free – Take a quick flip-through tour through Laura’s sketchbook. This one isn’t finished, but we hope you enjoy seeing how the pages are shaping up so far. This book makes use of a lot of monoprint, collage and drawing with pen.

Handpainted Hands

Create a layered painting in acrylic with a messy underpainting of bright colour, stencilled pattern and brush marks. Then overpaint with a negative painting of your own hand to make a personalised piece of art that’ll look beautiful in your home. This is an easy painting technique that even a beginner can try, but experienced painters will love too!

Partridge in a Pear Tree Greetings Card

Download our partridge a pear tree image and make your own Christmas cards.

Altered Book: Nests and Eggs

A flip-through video of Linda’s altered book Nests and Eggs.

Altered Book: Art is Food

A flip-through video of Linda’s altered book Art is Food.

Plant Printing Concertina Books Flip-Through

A flip-through video two concertina books made using plant printed pages. See how Linda’s worked into the plant prints with collage, drawing and painting.

Free – NeedleFelting + Stitch: Landscape

Make a beautiful felted and stitched landscape with Linda. She’ll guide you through the process step-by-step from needlefelting the background to freehand machine stitching motifs and adding final details with hand embroidery.

Altered Book Flip-Through: Crow

A flip-through video of one of Linda’s altered books. We’ll show you page by page through her book Crow where you’ll spot lots of techniques that we cover in our workshops including stamping and oil pastel and wash. 

Free – Simple Thread Skeins

If you enjoy dyeing fabric, then it’s highly likely you’re going to want threads to match! In this show see how Laura prepares skeins ready for dyeing.

What’s the Story? Fractured

Discover the inspirational sources that Linda brought together in the making of her quilt ‘Fractured’. Linda also discusses the techniques that she used in the making of the quilt.

Introduction to: English Paper Piecing

Discover how to sew geometric designs with English paper piecing. Laura guides you through the simple steps for this satisfying method of patchwork that works beautifully for piecing even small shapes with accuracy.

Mixing it up!

Variety of art mediums is the way to get lots of mileage from a single source of inspiration in a sketchbook.

Discover The Needle Museum

Discover the fascinating Needle Museum and learn about the history of the dangerous business of making needles from Jo-Ann Gloger, the curator of the collection.

3D Printed Rubbing Plates

We’ve been experimenting with 3D printers to make rubbing plates. Take a look at how we’ve been getting on…

Faux Piecing: Drunkard’s Path

Work with Laura to create a Drunkard’s Path design using faux piecing. She’ll show you how to use your own hand dyed fabrics (maybe you dyed some using her Exchange Dyeing video workshop), but you can use any of your favourite fabrics from commercial cottons to hand painted cloth.

Story of a Quilt – In and Out of Love

Discover the story behind Laura’s recent quilt ‘In and Out of Love’, a digitally printed photographic quilt.

What is Compressed Sponge?

Discover one of our favourite print block materials – compressed sponge. It’s easy to mark and cut out into any shape you like. Then simply immerse in water to create a sponge printing block to use with acrylics or fabric paints.

Drawing and Painting

Linda’s enjoying more sketchbook drawing and painting today. With spring in the air the garden provides the inspiration.

Motto Cushions

Choose a quote that’s personal to you, find some scraps of felt, and make a dent in that stash of beads with these funky motto cushions.

Working into Printed Sketchbook No. 2

See how Linda is making one of Laura’s printed sketchbooks her own!

Sketchbook Pages

Take a peek at pages from Laura’s sketchbooks.

Art Kit Essentials

Laura’s art kit essentials for sketchbook working on the go.

Winter Table Runner

Brighten your home with a winter themed table runner using fabric painting and quilting.

Sharpen those Pencils!

Get your workspace ready! It sounds like procrastination, but seriously, sharpen those pencils…

Getting Started on a New Project

Laura shares her tips for getting started on a new project.

A Partridge in a Pear Tree

Make an appliqué hanging perfect for this season. Linda will show you how to turn through a perfect appliqué shape, arrange the design and add quilting.

Pattern Review: Vogue V9112

My first time making this Marcy Tilton pattern.

Poppies in Graphitint

Take a look at Linda’s drawings of poppies using Derwent Graphitint pencils.

Linda’s Art Essentials

Find out what Linda’s art essentials are for sketchbook work…

Summer Tops – New Look 6217

We’ve got the dressmaking bug again! The sun is suddenly shining so we need new summer clothes. Immediately! This simple top in cotton lawn was the first off the production line…

The Thick of It

Learn how to thicken Procion MX dyes with Manutex (sodium alginate) so that you can paint or print with them.

Introduction to Papermaking

Linda demonstrates how to make sheets of recycled paper at home using simple equipment.

Infinity Scarf

Learn how to make a quick infinity scarf

Don’t Draw? Trace!

Free Video Workshop – Whether you’re nervous of drawing, or are just looking for a new sketchbook technique, why not consider using tracing?

Waxing Papers

Waxed papers are perfect for paper and stitch projects. Join Linda to find out how to make your own.

Festive Fancy

Create your own festive decoration for the tree and start a new family tradition!

Exploring Monoprint

Explore the potential of monoprinting techniques.