Classes Update

Thanks ever so much for the support and generous offers to act as tutors for the upcoming classes - it’s greatly appreciated, and emails will be sent shortly to formalise the details.  I’ll keep the list updated as tutors come to hand, and once dates are finalised the information will be added to the Class Schedule page

To date I have tutors offered/confirmed as follows (those confirmed are highlighted in blue):

• *  Lining and Tin / Tin Topper (combining two topics into one tutorial)
• *  Lining a Basket - Vonna
• *  Mattress-style Pincushion - KarenV
• *  Needlebook (with needle pages) - Meari
• *  Emery/Strawberry ornament - CathyMK
• *  Sewing Pouch/Purse - need a volunteer
• *  Flat-fold - Lisa
• *  Scissor Case - KarenV
• *  Tassels - Joanie, and one more tutor has been approached
• *  Cording - AnneS
• *  Ornaments - Pendibulle - AnneS
• *  Ornaments - Humbug - Nicki
• *  Ornaments - Rectangular - need a volunteer
• *  Ornaments - Pillows etc - AnneS
• *  Tote Bag - Renee
• *  Bellpull - with hemstitched edges - Nicki
• *  Bellpull - with seamed edges - Jenna
• *  Biscornu - Jenna
• *  Scissor Fob (stitched) - AnneS
• *  Needleroll - AnneS
• *  Stitcher’s Tray - Harmien
• *  Tape Measure Cover - Celeste
• *  Needlecase (for needle packets) - Celeste
• *  Covered Book - BarbaraJ
• *  Pillows - Tuck - Alison
• *  Small Pillow - Cindy
• *  Treat Bag/Sachet - Celeste
• *  Scissor fob (beaded) - Cindy
• *  Quilted Wallhanging - Alison
• *  Bookmarks - Barbara
• *  Cube-It - Joanie

Requests for tutors & future classes

You may remember we held the poll early last year regarding what finishing classes you would like to see as a tutorial.  As a reminder, the following list will show which items were requested.  I have split the group into two separate lists - the first list covers those items where we have had tutors recommended and I am contacting already, the second list covers those that I would dearly love to have volunteers to help me out.

Tutors already being approached:

• *  Lining and Tin / Tin Topper (combining two topics into one tutorial)
• *  Lining a Basket
• *  Mattress-style Pincushion
• *  Needlebook (with needle pages)
• *  Emery Strawberry
• *  Sewing Pouch/Purse
• *  Flat-fold
• *  Scissor Case
• *  Tassels
• *  Cording
• *  Ornaments - Pendibulle, Humbug, Rectangular, Pillows etc
• *  Tote Bag
• *  Bellpull
• *  Biscornu
• *  Scissor Fob (stitched)
• *  Needleroll
• *  Stitcher’s Tray (new subject being requested)

Classes where I need tutors to volunteer:

• *  Tape Measure Cover
• *  Needlecase (for needle packets)
• *  Covered Book
• *  Pillows - Tuck
• *  Treat Bag/Sachet
• *  Scissor fob (beaded)
• *  Quilted Wallhanging
• *  Bookmarks

Lastly, there is a final question for you:

“What other finishing techniques would you like to see on the blog?  This can be an actual product (eg pinkeep, scissor fob etc) or a technique used as part of the finishing process (eg whipstitching, joining sides/seams together, cording etc).  Whatever you can think of that you would like to see, I’ve love to know about it.”

A couple of polls and requests for feedback

Unfortunately WordPress won’t allow polls on their blogs, so I’d appreciate it if those who want to vote could leave a comment, especially regarding the future hosting of this blog.

Karen and I have previously discussed that this blog gets far less contributions by people posting their finishes, than any of the blogs on Blogspot.  While personally I prefer WordPress as a blogging platform, there are a greater number of Blogger blogs out there than WordPress.  So, I put the following question to you:

“Would you prefer this blog to be hosted on Blogger or WordPress, and if moved would you be more likely to contribute by way of posting your finishes or would this not be a factor?”

The next question is related to upcoming tutorials, so I’ll raise a separate post for that question.

Thanks in advance for your time in giving feedback, it’s much appreciated.

In the meantime, I hope you like the new format - hopefully this makes the text a bit larger and easier to read

Hugs,
Anne

Temporary change in Administration

Just a quick note to advise that Karen is taking a short blogging break, so if you need help with anything to do with the blog, I’ll be the only contact in the interim.

Thanks and kind regards,
Anne S

Next year’s tutorials

Just a quick post to touch base regarding the planning of next year’s tutorials.  Karen and I have been looking at potential tutors for the list of tutorials we have on request from the survey you completed at the creation of this blog.

What I’d also love to know is whether, since that survey was taken, there are any other topics you’d like to see covered.  If there is a specific technique you’ve seen on someone’s blog or website, and you’d love to know how to do it yourself, please leave a comment with the blog details and the project, and I’m more than happy to contact the blog owner to see if they would be willing to run a tutorial for us all.

Likewise, if you are familiar with any of the techniques from our previous survey, and you’d like to offer your services to write up a tutorial, we’d be thrilled to hear from you … as the time will be arriving very very soon to start coordinating class times for next year (I know, I can’t believe it myself!).

Thanks again for your continued support of the blog - we look forward to another great year of learning and sharing

Hugs,
Anne S

PS:  Here are the results of the previous survey for your information (since then the bourse and flanged pillow tutorials have already taken place - and I have a needleroll tutorial sitting in the wings ready for next year).

Lining a tin	51 votes
Mattress-style pincushion	41 votes
Stitcher’s bourse	39 votes
Needlebook (with needle pages)	38 votes
Pillows - flanged	38 votes
Emery strawberry	35 votes
Sewing pouch/purse	34 votes
Lining a basket	33 votes
Needlecase (for needle packets)	33 votes
Covered book	31 votes
Flat-fold	31 votes
Scissor case	31 votes
Tassels	31 votes
Ornaments - pendibulle	27 votes
Pillows - tuck	26 votes
Tin topper	26 votes
Tote bag	26 votes
Ornaments - humbug	25 votes
Cording	24 votes
Tape measure cover	24 votes
Treat bag/sachet	23 votes
Bellpull	20 votes
Scissor fob - stitched	19 votes
Biscornu	18 votes
Scissor fob - beaded	18 votes
Quilted wallhanging	17 votes
Needleroll	15 votes
Bookmarks	9 votes
Other	1 vote

Kudos or Complaints?

It’s that time of year when we’re starting to put our heads together from the admin side of things for future months of the Focus on Finishing blog.  And perhaps it’s time we ask for some feedback from you all whether there are parts of the blog you dislike, or don’t use much - or if there are parts of the blog you love to death, and would like to see more of … also if there is anything we haven’t thought of, and you’d love to see added.  We’d love some feedback, good, bad or indifferent, so we know we’re on the right track … or whether we’ve gone slightly off the rails …

Over the next few weeks we’ll be looking into possible tutors for upcoming classes - using the results of the survey when we first opened up the blog for business.  Some of the classes we plan to teach ourselves, some we’ll be asking for volunteers, and some people we think would be just perfect for a particular technique, so we’ll be approaching those people directly while keeping our fingers and toes crossed

A HUGE thank you for those of you who have run classes for us already this year, without whom the blog would be a tad boring!  And another round of thanks go to those of you who take the time to post your finishes for us all to see - when we see people participating that way it’s more motivating for us to continue, as at least we can see the tutorials are being useful.

Don’t forget it’s a very simple process to sign up for posting - you just need to set up a WordPress account (no blog at all is needed), then drop one of us an email (links in the sidebar) requesting to be added as an Author, and Bob’s your Uncle!

Now, don’t forget, put your thinking caps on and give us that feedback - any different classes you want to see?  Any tutors you think would be wonderful?  Anything you would like to see being done differently?  Anything extra you would like to see?  Want to know what the winning Lotto numbers are??  OK, so we can’t help you with that last one, but we would seriously love the feedback

Hugs to you all,
Anne

New tutorial - fabric basket

Barbara J has written a great tutorial on how to make a fabric basket - now added to the tutorials page.

Tutorials page updated

…with links to instructions on bow-tying (under Cording, Tassels, Misc)

Text instructions (no pictures)

Instructions with pictures

Thanks for the suggestion in the comments - I’ve used these tutorials myself and found them useful, so I hope they help!

August FAL theme

The first theme for our new FAL themed months is stitching accessories!

This month’s class is a pinkeep, so we’ve decided to tie the theme in with the class, so that people who want to do the class will have a chance to participate. However, we’ve decided to expand the theme to include all types of stitching accessories, such as scissor fobs, biscornu, needlecases, scissor cases, pincushions, tape measure covers and needlerolls, so there are plenty of finishing choices.

I’ll post some tutorial links and pictures of finished accessories to (hopefully) give you some inspiration in separate posts below.

Happy finishing!

August FAL - stitching accessories tutorials

If you’ve never attempted any of these types of finishes before, here’s some tutorial links to get you started. I’ve pulled out the most basic, straightforward tutorials with beginners in mind but there are many others on the tutorial links page:

• Biscornu here - very clear instructions with loads of pictures
• Mattress pincushions here - in French but with loads of pictures. I used this one for my first mattress pincushion and found it easy to do from just the pictures.
• Needlecases here and a slightly different style here
• Needlerolls here - nice, clear tutorial with good explanations and pictures
• Scissor fob here
• Scissor case here - in French with lots of pictures and scissor pocket here (Becky will be doing a class on this one at a later date too, which will have more step-by-step photos if you want to wait for that)
• Tape measure cover here - in Japanese with lots of pictures. I’ve used this one myself and found it very clear and easy to use