This is a delightful workshop which covers English Quilting, Trapunto and Sylvia’s own version of French Boutis, or French style corded, work. These are all traditional stitching techniques, but Sylvia has brought them up-to-date. While traditionally worked in white, Sylvia has added colour. She ...

Sylvia talks us through all the stages of making this charming little pincushion. She points out that these steps apply to all her patterns and projects.
She talks through the materials she likes to use. This includes needles, threads and she is obviously a rebel here using machine threads and me...

In this interview with Sylvia learn more about the 10 different projects in her book. This is in addition to the sampler quilt in which there are another 9 projects!
Over the course of her long and creative career, Sylvia has established her own unique process for combining raised quilt and stitc...

In this interview Sylvia shares with us her love of Christmas and talks through the inspiration for her winter table runner, which is full of snowflakes, which are Valerie’s favourites too. The table runner is one of the many projects that are included in Sylvia’s latest book, Raised Quilt and St...

3D Folded Patchwork
This is fun to make and creates a delightful 3D decoration or mat.
Valerie has also made a circular potholder using a similar technique, which you can enjoy by clicking here.
More about Sylvia Critcher
Sylvia Critcher is a textile designer and tutor with over 35 years experien...

Sylvia guides us through how to make this simple block and she has designed this interesting table runner approx 48″x32″. Or you could also raid your fabric stash to make an interesting scrap quilt.
Scrap Star Patchwork Block
The block itself is quite unusual as it takes four to make the star shi...

Foundation Pieced silk patchwork cushions or quilt
The Dusk to Dawn Cushion is one of four different blocks from the 15 block quilt ‘Misty Morning Star’. Sylvia Critcher designed it  specifically for The Silk Route’s 21st anniversary. She used silk dupion on a foundation fabric and quilted with v...

This useful little tip is a part of Sylvia’s longer workshop video about how to make a StashBuster scrap quilt.
If you haven’t seen it – you can click here.

Click here to learn more about Sylvia Critcher.

Guided by Sylvia Critcher
Sylvia shows us around some of the lovely quilts that were on display in the exhibition.

The Hope Quilters’ Banner managed to take away the rosette for Viewers Choice as well as the Humour Quilt Prize at Quilts UK, Malvern in 2009.

Sylvia is famous for her corded ...

A truely brilliant idea where you can use up all your scraps any colour and create a great quilt. Sylvia is full of these super ideas and this video will certainly get you rushing to your stash cupboard to get sewing.
Several of these quilts were on display recently at The Hope Quilters exhibitio...

Quilts Galore
What an amazing amount of work Sylvia has managed to get her girls to do! In this section, we get to enjoy quilts using the Stack-the-Deck style of slash-and-sew. This video reminds us that a color flange works wonders as well as there are lots of great ideas for leftover scraps. So...

Inspired by Sylvia Critcher
In this video, you will receive more inspiration from this very prolific group of students under the guidance of Sylvia Critcher.
We enjoy several versions of Sylvia’s pattern ‘Seeing Stars’ which is a workshop. As well as brilliant uses of a variety of small panels, w...

Instead of throwing away snipped off triangles, Sylvia shows how you could use all these bits up in your border.
More About Sylvia:
She teaches all manner of patchwork and an exhibition of her student’s work were on show at Otford Village Memorial Hall, High Street, Otford, Nr Sevenoaks Kent. TN1...

The Charlie Chaplin quilt is an award-winning quilt and was certainly at the forefront of patchwork innovation when it was first displayed.
Sylvia is also part of the Hope Quilters. Their banner won the Humour Quilt Prize at Quilts UK, Malvern in 2009.
Known mostly for her trapunto and faux Frenc...

Who would have thought that a mummified cat could form the basis of a trapunto design? Sylvia demonstrates a simple way of recording inspiration.
Utilising a mood board to hone your design ideas certainly focuses the creative process.
We find out more about Sylvia’s filing system, a bit like Val’...

The kit related to this workshop is a great for beginners interested in trapunto and quilting. It comes complete with all you will need. The only things not included are cushion pads and coloured threads. The pattern template allows you a variety of project sizes, from the little heart and small ...

A varied selection of new patterns from Sylvia which were featured in the inspirational pages at the back of her book “Raised Quilt and Stitch” which we learnt about in an earlier interview.
So here Sylvia shows us her Flitterbugs cushion pattern, which is part of the bugs and moths series of pat...

Sylvia starts off by showing a layout of the blocks, she made with the alternative mauve series of fabrics.
Then we get to the big reveal – great quilt, and the fun of the quilt is that there is a secondary circle pattern that emerges. One of the joys of making quilts is that there can be hidden ...

Sylvia suggests watching all the way through so that you get an overview of what she wants you to do.
In the workshop notes she provides a clever diagram to help you with the laying out of the quilt and also a neat tip to help you keep the corect sewing sequence. She uses an unusual sequence, rat...

In this section Sylvia talks you through what to cut, what to sew and how to make the sashing for the blocks, plus getting the cornerstones ready.
She does suggest watching the whole thing through before embarking on any cutting, and this might also help you with colour selection.
Sylvia has some...

Sylvia sugests you watch Part 1 through before embarking on your project.
The completed blocks should be 12½ ins square when made to this stage. If they are slightly larger or smaller, this will be ok providing, if they are all the same size and you can trim if necessary, but beware of being too ...

Well, we know the secret, and bribing us with fabric won’t work, you will just have to wait!
In the meantime, have a sort through your fabrics or ask Santa for funds for shopping early in the New Year.
You can see Sylvia worked from a pink and green palette in this promotional video, but the work...