Hochanda

The Festival of Quilts is Europe’s leading patchwork and quilting event and this year I had the privilege of attending with Hochanda . Attracting more than 25,000 visitors from all over the world, honestly there were bus loads rolling in daily from Australia, it was truly an international event. Prior to the show, I was unsure what to expect but to put it mildly I was blown away by the entire experience, from the organisation and layout of the three halls down to the incredible talent on show. Celebrating quilting in all forms, there were over 300 exhibitors providing endless stalls to purchase all your quilting essentials , incredible galleries displaying what I can only describe as the most ore-inspiring quilts I have ever seen. One that stands out for me was The Women’s Quilt . It was made up of 598 patches, a patch to commemorate 598 women killed as a result of domestic violence between 2009 and 2015. The quilt is ...

If you caught our debut show on Hochanda , we thought you may like some ideas of what designs can be made from the packs we featured.  Amongst the goodies available are three leather bundles, noodle bead packs including CZ rondels and a fabulous hematine bead 10 strand pack. We have designed this classic leather necklace using a combination of items from this show and we want to share the design with you. It’s perfect for that day-into-evening look.       1  Firstly take one of the 1 metre lengths of leather and fold in half.         2  Then attach a crimp and ring to each end of the leather. Crimp it in the middle with pliers to hold it securely in place.     3      Take a headpin and snip off the head with snips/flush cutters to create a piece of wire. Use the wrapped loop technique* to turn a loop in one end of the wire, before completing the wrapped loop, atta...

Peterborough Re-use, “British Renewable Energy Awards Finalist” have crafted an amazing idea of coffee bags from around the world. These kits will be exclusively designed and sold to Hochanda viewers only. Ranged from just £9.99, each kit is unique due to the cut of the fabric, the inner material, ribbon used for handles, decoration and strength so viewers will definitely be spoiled for choice. Be the first to take a look here! A bag from literally around the world Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica- to name a few- are some of the countries the coffee bags have come from. The bags each hold up to 65kg of coffee beans so they are extremely strong. Created to help eradicate our throwaway society ethos and to get the community involved in the project, Peterborough Re-use has held a series of workshops in the local area. These being sewing and fresh home-working opportunities. The initiative has given local people the opportunity to learn new skills and created fres...

We are so thrilled that one of our very talented guests, Sara Davies, founder of Crafter’s Companion has been appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the Her Majesty’s Birthday 2016 Honors List as a result of her contribution and achievements in the craft industry. This is the latest and greatest achievement for the 32 year old Durham born entrepreneur who has taken her craft supplies company from a university bedroom start-up to an international market leading business in just 11 years. Sara says: “ I am thrilled, honoured and so genuinely humbled by this recognition. I’m also still a bit shocked, to be honest “ This is nice recognition for the industry as well, as this just doesn’t happen to people in our industry . “ I’m quite excited that it might hopefully raise the profile of the industry as well as the business. “ I also hope it inspires others entrepreneurs in craft to believe, innovate and put our industry firmly on the map. ”...

Katie Skilton gives us a sneak peak at what's to come with her next show on Hochanda with Sizzix! Hello there… Today I wanted to share a quick blog post with you with some sneak peaks of what I have coming up on my Sizzix shows on Sunday 19th June. I know there are a lot of Tim Holtz fans out there so this release is going to be really exciting for you. It is time to get those inks, paints and mixed media projects out as these new dies will be perfect for that. One of the most popular products on my Hochanda shows are always the Sizzix Mixed Media dies and this time will be no exception as I bring you the latest release - Mixed Media #3 Not only that but we have some fabulous cogs in both Biqz dies and Thinlits Dies. And of course the new release Sizzix Bigz Die Dapper.  How cool is this for the men in your life? Over the 3 shows I will be showing you how to get the best from your Sizzix dies and sharing a lot of crafty inspiration. ...

Add more creativity to your life with sewing and embroidery! Whether you're a sewer, or interested in exploring embroidery, the Husqvarna DESIGNER JADE 35 machine enables you to express your creativity, simply and easily! If you're thinking about buying the machine, or have already purchased one, watch the videos below for more information about the machine's capabilities. We absolutely love it!  You can see the machine in action live on Hochanda too! Simply tune in to Debbie Shore's 'Embroidery with Husqvarna', on Monday 30th May at 10am, 1pm and 5pm. If you can't wait until then you can purchase this wonderful machine from the Hochanda website .  We've also found a great series from Husqvarna over on YouTube ; "Do you need to brush up on your basic machine embroidery knowledge? Then follow along with our Machine Embroidery for beginners video series, which will cover all the info you need to get started." Catch the series righ...

Katie Skilton gives us a sneak peak at what's to come with her next show on Hochanda with Sizzix! Hi there … I am here on the Hochanda blog today sharing a little sneak peak of what is to come on my next Sizzix shows which you can see on Tuesday 24th May. This is a really exciting launch as not only are the products brand new but they are something a little bit different!  I would like to introduce to you the latest Bigz dies from Tim Holtz … The village houses. These are super cute and really addictive!  Each building has it’s own features and you can get add on dies that will allow you to add the most amazing detail to these buildings.  You will notice the pictures I am sharing today are quite plain because i don’t want to give too much away! For those of you who love your inks, paints and mixed media these are going to be amazing to take those techniques and make them 3D. There are a variety of different roof tops, bui...

Melissa of Simply Vintage Designs is back with the perfect step-by-step to create a vintage china cake stand with one of her craft kits, which can be bought from the Hochanda website here ! Try it out and let us know how you get on! Pack Includes: - Cake Stand Handle - Washers - Standard Drill Bit Equipment Needed: - Electric Hand Drill - Small Jug of Water - Masking, Washi or Sticky tape - Ruler or Tape Measure - Pencil - Old Tea Towel or Cloth Step 1: Choose some beautiful plates from which to create your cake stand. Make sure they are clean and without hairline cracks or chips. Add a small strip of tape to the top and bottom of each plate, approximately in the centre.  On the plate’s top side, measure the precise centre by taking a ruler and placing it across the plate’s diameter and making a small dot with a pencil onto the masking tape.  Step 2: Have a small vessel of water close by, a protective surface to w...