Introduction to the Poppy Patch Posse

We are delighted to introduce our New POPPY PATCH POSSE – they are here to review selected products of their choice from our website and Mary and I are very very excited! We will be sharing a couple of their reviews each month on here, social media and our newsletter. Please follow #poppypatchposse tag on instagram

Hi, I’m Nicola. I’ve recently retired after spending almost 40 years working as a nurse for the NHS. I have always enjoyed sewing, having started out as a little girl making dolls clothes.

My dressmaking days included making my bridesmaid dresses, my daughters christening gowns and a few baby clothes. Fast forward several years and I discovered patchwork and quilting and a whole new world was opened up! I was like a child in a sweet shop, wanting to try as many techniques as I could.

I’m lucky enough to have my own sewing studio where I can shut the door and be as creative as I like.I enjoy making both large and small quilted projects, especially when they combine hand embroidery and hand applique. Especially over the past year, sewing really has been my salvation.

Being part of the Poppy Patch Posse is an exciting way to meet new “friends” and sewing buddies along with being able to pass on my knowledge to other like-minded sewists.

https://www.nicolaforemanquilts.com/

You can also find Nicola on Instagram here 

Hello my name is Tracy Balsdon and I’m so excited to have been asked to join the Poppy Patch Posse, I live with my husband and three children on the edge of a small hamlet in Devon where we enjoy a quite country life.

I wouldn’t say my forte in life is using a sewing machine but I’ve found with time and practice my machining skills are Improving albeit Very slowly, I tend to send my quilts away to be long arm quilted, I stick to what I love and enjoy which is appliqué, machine piecing blocks, embroidery and red work.

I’ve loved embroidery from a very young age but I’d say my main passion is hand appliqué, I tend to favour the appliquick method and can’t wait to share my projects with you all over the coming months.

https://www.instagram.com/daydream_sewing/

My name is Anny Patches, My Grandmother  taught me to embroider when I was 6 years old which means I’ve been embroidering for 50 years. I learnt to do English paper piecing patchwork and appliqué  when I was 12, I’m very rarely seen without a needle and thread in hand.

I’ve been combining patchwork and embroidery for over 20 years. I love the designers from Australia such as Lynette Anderson, Annie Downs, Gail Pan, Natalie Bird; Leanne Beasley, Natalie Lymer, and many more. I’m delighted to be a Member of the Poppy Patch Posse, you can follow me on my Instagram page @theneedleworkersbarn which follows my my sewing adventures in my studio in Cumbria x

I’m Vicki, I live in South Devon with my partner, three daughters and black lab. My day job is as a practice manager of a law firm but I have recently stopped working Fridays to focus on my hand dyed threads and fabric. I started crocheting about five years ago but then tried my hand at embroidery at the start of 2018. Since then I have started my certificate with the Royal School of Needlework and embroider everyday. I also like EPP and would love to actually finish a quilt one day. Outside of crafting I run (badly!) which I took up in 2016 when my knee consultant said I needed a replacement but was too young!!

Find Vicki here