Heather Everitt

We have a fantastic selection of tutors teaching our guest workshops at The Magpie's Nest.
The lovely Heather of Heather Everitt Embroidery has been teaching with us for well over a year now and we have had some really lovely mornings embroidering with her.

For our first workshop Heather taught us how to stitch Blue Tits.

Next we stitched Coal Tits.

Next we moved on to insects,
the bees were very popular so we had to run that class twice!

I think my favourite session was the Ladybird Applique workshop, 
we did this on a Sunday morning and it was a really lovely relaxed session. I really enjoy Heather's gentle approach to teaching and the silk and Liberty print fabrics are so beautiful to work with, I have thoroughly enjoyed every workshop and quite a few of my students have done several workshops with Heather.

Our next workshop with Heather is this beautiful silk and Liberty fabric applique and embroidered fish, we do have a couple of spaces left if you'd like to join us.

Heather sells her beautiful work in Liberty of London and the pieces I most admire are her highly detailed butterflies made from silk and Liberty fabrics, they are truly stunning. 
So I am very happy that Heather is coming along to The Magpie's Nest to teach a full day Butterfly workshop with us in September. The workshop will be held on Saturday, 8th, September, 10 am - 4 pm, the cost is £55 including materials. Places are selling fast on the workshop, so if you'd like to join us for a full day of relaxing stitching with Heather please don't hesitate to get in touch. 
To book a workshop please email us at 
maximumrabbitdesigns@yahoo.co.uk



I hope you have enjoyed reading about our workshops
 with Heather, why not pop over to her website and have a look at her beautiful work? It is so inspirational!


Heather Everitt Embroidery

Slow Stitching Club - July

Twice a month we hold a Slow Stitching Club at The Magpie's Nest. On the first Tuesday of a month we have an evening session and later in the month we hold a Friday daytime session. It is drop in session at the moment but I do ask that people drop me a line to tell me they are coming, so that I can make sure I have enough seating, mugs and biscuits!

This month we were full to the rafters and I had to close the book, buy in extra chairs and raid the cupboard for extra mugs! We had two tables of lovely ladies, a good mix of old and new slow stitchers, some of whom had brought intrigued friends along, a BIG thank-you to them for spreading the word.

Our mini make this month was my favourite medium of the moment - Blanket Applique - Ice-creams and ice lollies - it seemed the right project for this amazing hot sunny weather we have been blessed with lately.

Here are the beautiful appliques from table one

and the fab ices from table two

Definitely too cool 4 school 

It was a lovely two hours of sitting and sewing, tea drinking and chatting and getting to know new friends, such a lovely friendly group of ladies, a dozen in all, our busiest slow stitching club so far. We may even have to change venue if the club continues to grow!

Here is my little fella, he got an eye transplant

 the day after the club and rosy cheeks!

This kawaii ice-cream was made

by one of the lovely girlies that I mind after school,

 she is only ten, look at her lovely neat stitching!

Get in touch if you fancy joining us at our Slow Stitching Club, our next session is on Friday, 20th of July, 11am - 1pm, we will be doing this mini-make again or if evenings are better for you they are held on the first Tuesday of the month.

email me at 

maximumrabbitdesigns@yahoo.co.uk

to express an interest.

Megan :)

Framing in the hoop

My previous blog was called 

maximumrabbitdesigns.blogspot.com

and even if I do say so myself it was a pretty good blog with some good tutorials which I still use now, including this one

how-to-frame-your-embroidery-in-the-hoop

 for framing an embroidery in the hoop.

It gives a very neat finish and a lightly padded effect.

The Alice in Wonderland cross stitch was one of my many designs, I have been revisiting my cross stitch design folder and think it is time to bring some counted cross stitch to our slow stitching club, I have the perfect project in mind for August's sessions, watch this space.

Craft supplies : Blanket Bundles

We don't just do craft workshops at The Magpie's Nest, we also sell craft and haberdashery supplies. One of my best selling items online are my blanket bundles, they come in three different sizes and really beautiful colours, these are made from vintage wool blankets and work brilliantly for applique.

They have inspired many of my projects for our popular Slow Stitching Club that is held twice a month in the shop.

 

This is free motion embroidery on blanket

 with needlefelted sheep and clouds.

The blanket fabric works really well with hand embroidery as well, because it is quite a thick fabric you get a nice raised 3d effect. The blankets vary in thickness and weave and come in beautiful colours. Our blanket bundles are made of vintage wool blankets, although I do check the fabric for stains and holes and cut the squares by hand to avoid these, please bear in mind these blankets are very vintage and may have age related wear or marks. 

Our bundles come in three sizes:

 tiny/3" squares/6 pieces = £1.50

mini/6" squares/6 pieces = £3.50

midi/12" squares/5 pieces = £10

mail order is available.

Please get in touch to order

maximumrabbitdesigns@yahoo.co.uk

A satisfying stack of hand cut squares

 waiting to be made up into bundles.

Our tiny bundles are so cute.

Here are the three sizes of our blanket bundles.

I think the mini is my favourite bundle

six beautiful 6" squares, folded and stacked and ready for action!

Gorgeous colours, great for crafting, true recycling too!

July's Workshops

We have just two workshops during July.

On Saturday the 21st we have our second Papercutting Workshop

 with Beckie from Pod Cuts and Crafts. Papercutting is a very enjoyable craft and one that you can easily continue at home after the workshop. 

Beckie will talk you through the project that she designed herself, show you how to safely use the scalpel and how to change the blades. For this workshop we will be using different coloured papers in beautiful pastel shades to make our beach huts pop!

Extra templates, scalpel handles, blades and mats will be available to buy from Beckie at the workshop.

This workshop is selling fast so please get in touch if you'd like to book a place.

You can contact me via email at 

maximumrabbitdesigns@yahoo.co.uk

Our second workshop on Saturday the 28th is with our very popular embroidery teacher, Heather Everitt. We have had many workshops with Heather and they really are our most relaxing workshop. Heather will talk us through the project and teach us how to make a beautiful appliqued fish with silk and Liberty print fabrics. Once our fish is applied to the base fabric, the fun of embroidering and embellishing begins. It is highly possible that you won't finish your project on the day but don't worry you will go home with your embroidery hoop and any threads and embellishments you need to finish.

Please get in touch to book a place via email

maximumrabbitdesigns@yahoo.co.uk

During August I will be taking a family holiday but we do have a couple of workshops planned.

On Saturday 4th August we have crochet for beginners "Learn to Crochet a granny square" this is a great class for complete beginners and I only teach very small classes so that everyone gets plenty of tuition time.

The second workshop is a secret for now but I will update as soon as I have confirmation.

Lino Printing Workshop

On Saturday we welcomed back our regular printing teacher Liz Wilde of Little Pilton Printing Press. Liz has taught us lino printing and dry point etching several times in the past but this workshop was slightly different, this time Liz taught us to lino print on fabric with special heat set inks using the big etching press. 

For once I finished my lino cut design first, I kept it simple, continuing with my cactus obsession!

We tested the press pressure with my plate, third time lucky and look how crisp and clear it prints!

 I loved this beetle, the way the background is cut is just like a wood engraving.

Moon gazing hare midway through the cutting stage.

A industrious and creative mess on the worktable.

Jessie's hare was so fluffy, she had a very delicate touch which worked perfectly with the fluffiness,

 Fluffy hare printed perfectly, beautiful!

The beetle all printed up, isn't it fantastic?!
It printed so well, and the border works really well.

 The moon gazing hare. 

All finished and embellished with metallic thread on his throat and chest, reflecting the silvery moonlight.

Last but not least we have Heather's lovely lino cut and print and her finished embellished design, love the beads and stitching, not only beautiful but useful as the design will be used for her business too.

I hope you have enjoyed reading about our workshop, please do get in touch if this is a class you'd like to do with us and we will arrange another date.

                  

Welcome to The Magpie's Nest Craft Workshops

Hello & Welcome

to

The Magpie's Nest Craft Workshops

I have been hosting craft workshops in my units at Bideford Pannier Market for six years now and I absolutely love it. This really is my dream job, it has taken determination and hard work but it has been well worth it, going to work in my shop is always a pleasure and never a chore!

This is me and some of my work buddies outside my shop in Butcher's Row, it is a great place to work, there is always someone around for a chat or if you need a hand with a project. In Butcher's Row we have potters, wood carvers, metal workers, artists, stained glass workers and more, it is a very creative environment.

Here is my workshop all set up for our twice monthly Slow Stitching Club. 

My workshop seats eight comfortably but I can squeeze in a few more for our social gatherings!

We hold workshops most Saturday's throughout the year and the occasional week day and evenings too, depending on demand.

 I also host craft parties for birthdays and hen parties and one to one or private group lessons.

I can also teach at other venues for private craft groups like WI groups.

I shall be regularly updating this blog with our upcoming workshops and sharing our makes from workshops attended.

Megan x