The Summer of '25

And so the summer of '25 has drawn towards a close. September often brings us sunshine and warmth but the daylight hours are shortening and we feel the chill in the air at the beginning and end of most days.

How do you feel about the onset of Autumn? Are you happy to see the last of the long hot days? Have you a preference for a particular season or favourite time of the year? I must admit that for many years I dreaded the Autumn months, just because they lead us into winter which was my least favourite time of year. I loved the hot days of summer and the darkness and cold of winter was my nemesis. But, as we do, I have changed. Spring and Autumn are my favourites now. Long gone is my love of lying in the sun. During the hot weather now, I just want to stay indoors in front of a fan!

The Summer of '25 brought us plenty of crafting opportunities. Let's remind ourselves.

We've had new patterns from Lizzy HQ, here are a couple:

Arabella

Polly

Have a look at the website for more, like Helen and Meadow, as well as some older patterns which were given the heave ho into 2025.

Then came the sister event of the12 Days of Christmas - the 12 Days of Summer.

The design was brought to life by Lizzy during a weekend away we shared, in Helensburgh, with Jacqui, Jackie, Nicola, Trisha, Susan and Maggie. We met Trisha's Mum too, which was fantastic, she's a gem. Then, over 12 days and 12 sessions in July, Lizzy lead us through all the steps to making the wonderful Flowers in the Sunshine Quilt.

Flowers in the Sunshine

I don't think I've ever made a quilt with so many opportunities for different techniques and Lizzy went through so many of them with us. It meant that every quilt made - and there are loads - is unique. The colours, fabrics and different methods of creating the quilt means that each and every one is a masterpiece.

And! And! This was a completely FREE 12 hour-long (plus some) masterclass for our lovely Creative Friends members.

Let's not forget a most enjoyable workshop, Butterfly Needle Case. Did you join in?

These photos show the front and back of the stunning Butterfly Needle Case.

We enjoyed a multi session workshop, where we practised (and practiced) our FPP techniques and appliqué, to make a gorgeous needle case. It was great fun and we've seen loads of these made too.

We even had the August challenge!

"It's a piece of cake" was a daily challenge throughout August. 31 days of stitching for 10 minutes a day. It's no secret that I failed miserably, as I haven't completed my "cake" slices yet, but that only means I can enjoy the process for longer. I'm half way through and loving the challenge of using different crafting skills for each slice. The imagination of some our Creative Friends has been truly wonderful.

Here's Lizzy's cake, all finished and beautiful! Mine is a work in progress that will get done. For other photos, look in the album of the same name in the Creative Friends FB group, there are almost 100! If you're not a Creative Friends member, you really have missed out this summer! But you don't have to miss out this Autumn!

No calories here, just beauty!!

Friends.

Early August saw Lizzy and I meeting up at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham. It was a great show, full of inspiration and very skilfully quilted delights, as well as countless shopping opportunities. Best of all though, it lovely to catch up in person.

Lizzy & Kath with trolleys full of stitching delights at the NEC Festival of Quilts

Now, we know that the summer is busy for most of us. The children are off school so that demands a little more of our time as parents or grandparents. Some of you may have been away on holiday and others may have been struggled to continue working in the heat. Lots of you have still found time for crafting, but if you haven't managed to, don't worry, you have lots to look forward in the coming months.

Summer is over, but creativity lasts far longer than one season. Whenever you look back at what you've made this summer, you'll be taken down memory lane. The summer of '25 will always make me think of friends, having fun and crafting, from the time I spent in Helensburgh with "the girls", right up to the end of making my "It's a piece of Cake" project - whenever that will be.

That though, is not the end. Summer may be over, crafting and fun most certainly is not. If you've enjoyed the summer as a Creative Friend, you'll already know about some of the joys in store for September. We have an action packed month planned and we started with a live demo for making Polly earlier this week. Every week something lovely is happening within the group.

If you now realise that you may be missing out on all the fun, you can join Creative Friends at any time. Go from here (the blog tab) to the subscriptions tab and look at the details. You need never miss out again!

I'll be with you again at the beginning of October for another blog post. It's good to reminisce and remember the great things we've been part of, but now let's look forward to an awesome Autumn together.

Until next month,

Happy Stitching

Kath x