The largest Range of Extra Wide Fabrics in the UK!

Did you know.....Quilt Sandwich has the largest range of extra wide fabrics in the UK!

These are ideal for quilt backs, patchwork, dressmaking, table cloths and many other items.  Most are 108 inches wide - that's 2.75metres. Some are even wider at 115-118 inches.

The minimum cut is half a metre which is 2 units on our website and then by the quarter metre, for example 10 units is 2.5 metres and 9 units is 2.25m.  

You can also order a fat quarter of most of them which is ideal for matching colours and patterns before purchasing the whole amount.  

We stock fabrics from well known manufacturers including Moda, Windham, Benartex, Studio E, FreeSpirit, Timeless Treasures, Lewis & Irene, Nutex, V & A, Riley Blake, Dear Stella, Ruby Star, Kaufman etc 

We also have our own extra wide batik especially manufactured in the traditional way for us.  These are done on a slightly less dense fabric than most standard width batiks and so are ideal for quilt backs and many other items too.  Of course, a standard width batik should not be used as a quilt back as the weave is usually too tight and bearding and holes can occur.

Along with our couple of thousand bolts of extra wide fabrics we also stock a good range of layer cakes, charm packs and Moda scrap bags.

All these can be purchased from our website and, although you can use Paypal to check out, if you select to check out as guest the system then allows you to use a credit or debit card of your choice for payment.

We take a selection of our fabrics to many quilt shows around the UK and also Northern Ireland, but we have so many we cannot take them all!  If you are visiting a show and want to see any of our fabrics - just message or email us before hand and we will
endeavour to pack them in the van - who is called "Eggypops"!

Our extra wide selection was never a plan - it just happened.  We had been running workshops and retreats at our hotel in Bridlington for several years and like most people, I thought I would just quilt my tops myself under my domestic machine.  I only had to attempt one large quilt to realise how hard this is on your eyes, shoulders and back and how difficult it is to manoeuvre.  Over 11 years ago now, we investigated longarm machines and  decided that if we were going to take the gamble of buying one, we had better buy the best possible and so we settled on an ABM Innova 26 inch throat, will lots of extras and Auto pilot for computer guiding.  

We flew out to Utah for a weeks intensive course and ten the year after to Virginia Beach for master classes with well know USA Quilters. 

When we got back from Utah, we began to build our machine and then Matt from ABM flew over from Texas to help install the computer system as my machine was the very first computerised one in the UK.  We christened our machine Rodney and Del Boy - Dell being the computer.

Coincidentally, we had planned a charity quilt show at our hotel and had already had a couple of 'sewathons' before we left for the states and by the time we got set up, lots of quilt tops were being donated for the event which needed to be quilted.

We set off practicing on these and by the time we had done them all - we had quilted over 70 tops and felt really quite confident that we could do a good job on someone's top - their pride and joy!

After the Charity Quilt Show, customers tops started arriving in and I soon learnt that extra wide fabric was hard to get hold of at that stage, so I started stocking a few.  Again tops kept arriving and the need for more and more backings was becoming clear and so my collection grew and grew.

I have now been long arming for over 11 years and I have never been without a queue.

I take on quilt from quilters of all levels - from beginners to tutors.  When problem tops appear, that's when true experience show through. 

Over recent years the UK market has been flooded with a certain domestic style of longarm and many of the people who have bought one have set up long arming for customers.  Some of these people are charging by the inch probably in order to confuse the customer and cover up their high rates and over charging. So remember when choosing a  longarmer its important to compare eggs with eggs and take into account the experience each has gained.

Festival of Quilts 2017

Festival of Quilt 2017

This year we have decided to take the plunge and have a stand at Festival of Quilts. This was a massive gamble as not only is the stand extortionately expensive, but we also needed accommodation for six nights and van hire.

FOQ uses the shell system for the stands - which I must say is superb. Its much better than having a stand immediately behind you and just the invisible demarkation line between.  Indeed at Malvern, the stand behind kept collapsing on top of ours due to the ground being on a slope in the marquee!

We collected and loaded the van on Tue then traveled down to our accommodation on Wed.  We like to go self catering when doing a show as there is just a bit more room to spread out and relax.  We stayed on an equestrian farm situated in lovely countryside.

Our cottage overlooked the menage where lessons were held each day.  Behind our cottage there was a large car parking area bordered by the chickens and opposite the horses stables and barns.

Towards the bottom of the farm, there were large fishing lakes where people could pay for a rod and fish and then beyond this was the space they used for wedding marquees for their wedding business.

It was lovely and relaxing to visit the horses on an evening and we stocked up on carrots and polos for them.  After a couple of days, they got to expect us visiting them - lol.

Wednesday was a long hard day spent setting up our Quilt Sandwich Stall at the NEC.

 Quilt Sandwich - The biggest range of extra wide fabric in the UK

We really enjoyed working the show and meeting quilters from far and wide and all over the world.

The downside was that we didn't really get chance to have a good look round and the stall where I wanted to make purchases were not there early enough in the mornings!

Here are just a few quilts which I managed to snap -

Brigit Schuller - The Sprinter

 Annalise Littlefair - The Trouble with Magenta - hot or not

Mary Palmer & Ann Kiely - Tidings

 Jacqueline Harvey - Silvery Threads

 Philippa Naylor - Measure for Measure

 Friday Frolics - The Four Seasons

This one was started on retreat here at Quilt Sandwich on a retreat with Claudia Pfeil

 Paradox by Claudia Pfeil

Sunday came all too soon and then after the show we had to pack it all back into the van, although there was a great deal less fabric than when we set off!

We arrived back at our farm exhausted and sat down to dinner at 10.30pm!

The next day, after a farewell visit to the horses we headed off home.