Hometown

That’s a wrap on our summer school at Hometown with a repeat of Alison’s journal workshop. Thanks to all of you that have taken part this year. I hope you’ve enjoyed yourselves.

4 of us have taught 17 classes these past weeks, so as you can imagine we are all a little pooped! Future autumn / winter workshops will be listed in the coming weeks, but for a few days we’re all just taking a breath.

In the meantime, whatever your age, why not embrace the September ‘back-to-school’ feeling, with a great new book on quiltmaking, dressmaking, stitching and so on? We’ve plenty on our bookshelves instore to inspire you this autumn. Keep stitching!

Downstairs / upstairs at the shop today. Mel and the students are busy sewing dresses in their workshop and I’m currently cutting online orders to get them in the morning post.

I particularly like this combination heading to Kidderminster. Good choices, Lesley! 👏

It’s that time of year when, we’re still selling summery fabrics and we’ve also got customers starting to plan autumn, Halloween and Christmas projects. Luckily we’ve fabrics for all seasons in stock!

This weekend we’re open both Saturday (10-5) and Sunday (11-3), so you can shop different seasons on different days…

Competition time! Maurice (new intern) has been helping me get the final festive fabrics unpacked and had a great idea for a fun competition.

Guess how many Christmas fabrics we have in stock instore on the bolt (as of today). Simply pop your number in the comments below, make sure you’re following us and on Sunday, I’ll let you know who are the winners.

Each winner will receive a £20 gift card to spend instore or a £20 credit to use online. (One winner each on IG and FB).

If two guess the same number, it’s the first to comment so don’t delay thinking of a number and share this post with your quilty friends.

Plus the clock is ticking on using our OOPS discount online. (Until midnight Thursday).

(Competition is not sponsored by IG, FB or Meta - it’s totally Maurice’s big idea…)

Any guesses what I was sewing yesterday?

Hear ye! Hear ye! Website gremlins have been fixed, our online shop is bursting with fabulous fabrics and here’s a groovy discount to say welcome back. Use code OOPS for a 10% discount for the next few days.

I’m now off for an extra large cup of tea, a panadol and a lie down….

Our summer school is in full swing - with 6 workshops in the past 6 days, it’s definitely a marathon, not a sprint.

Wednesday and Thursday I’ve been knee deep in nine patch quilts and jelly roll strips - my students’ work is so inspiring - thank you one and all!🏆

Just a reminder we have normal opening hours over the bank holiday- today and Saturday 10-5, then open again from Tuesday at 10.

Website glitches continue…. give us a call with any product questions or be old school and pay us a visit. Our shop is a stitcher’s dream…

Eek! Our website is not working just now. I’m on the case…

Thanks Nisa for the heads up….. I will post again when gremlins are fixed.

Meanwhile folks - why not pay us a visit? We’re open all day 10-5.

Offspring off to uni? Send them away with a quilt and they’ll instantly have a homely room.

I’ve collected together these gorgeous prints and first thing Wednesday I’ll be cutting fat quarter bundles. Ideal for anyone who wants a modern quilt. Cosy? Yes! Flowery? No!

Find the bundles online in the Sleuth collection and instore, on the cutting mat!

🚨Stop Press! We’ve had spots open up on 4 upcoming workshops:

Eco Crackers 21/8 am
Jelly off the Rails 22/8 all day
Oven Mitts 25/8 am
Quilt Journals 27/8 pm

3 of these workshops were fully booked, so hot foot it over to our website ASAP to nab your spot and treat yourself to a sewing session at Hometown this August.

We love colour … and so do you! These are the first 2 colour schemes on the counter today for regulars, Jackie and Kathy. Wow!

It’s like an energy drink in fabric form….

I’m adding to the loveliness that is Beach House today, with our Sweet Treats bundles. Photographed yesterday, available online later today and instore from tomorrow.

Every bundle is cut individually by us and contains 12 coordinating fabrics, each cut 5in x 22in, so ideal for cutting into 48 charm squares or 24 half jelly strips or teeny bunting. You choose!

Welcome to our Beach House…

No, we haven’t suddenly relocated to the seaside (that would be nice!), but we are happy to report that the new collection, Beach House, from is now in stock. You can’t beat a classic blue and white colour scheme and the prints are simply gorgeous.

Come in and have a gander, or take a look online if you’re far from the shores of Rochester.

Exciting sewing stuff is happening behind the scenes at Hometown today and tomorrow.

Our started today with our Macaron workshop currently in full swing with Mel .

Tomorrow, I’m looking forward to teaching a double dose of stitching. What a great way to start the week!

I hope you’re fitting in some creative time this August. A couple of hours spent stitching can feel like a mini break…

We’re ready for a summer heatwave as there’s now a deckchair in the window.

Considering that in previous summer displays, we’ve included sailboats and a surfboard, this is completely normal behaviour for Hometown!

Colours are inspired by the bright cheerful railway posters of yore. Just leave your sh*****ng nets by the door….

Floribunda! These 3 glorious options by students Esther and Alison, were on the quilt drawing board at last night’s workshop.

Both started with the Coming Up Roses charm pack and I’m loving how different their quilts are developing. It may have been Rochester, but last night, I felt like I was following Monet around Giverney. 🌺🌼🌸

More workshops will be launched by the end of the month. In the meantime, why not pop into the shop and create your own flower garden of fabulous fabrics?

Hometown’s Summer School starts soon and we have just a few spots left. We’ve scheduled a second workshop for Eco Crackers and there are still spaces that we’d like to fill…

Wed 21 Aug 2-4.30pm

So why not book with a friend this week, use code ECO at checkout and save 15%!

(Please note: we won’t be repeating this workshop before Christmas as Mel doesn’t have any more free teaching spots….so clear your diary for August)…

PS thank you for all your kind words and solidarity over my rant re shoplifters yesterday. You are truly good folk / Marion XX

I have just closed the door on my shop after working the 7th day out of 7. I’m tidying up and discover someone has shoplifted this Clover Iron. SHAME ON THEM.

So if you are offered an iron on the cheap, tell them where to go and ask them to return their stolen goods back to us.

All you lovely people who follow us online and support us through shopping online and instore will, like me, wonder why scumbags do this?

Lowest of the low…..

The delight of our Liberty fat quarter bundle winner, Ginette, when I phoned her today was podium-worthy!

Remember that we’re open tomorrow, Sunday 11-3, so you too can feel like a no.1 stitcher in the no.1 quilt shop in town.

Current summer vibes at Hometown. This is the gorgeous Coral Coast by for

Paddling in crystal clear tropical waters and a sandy beach? Yes please, where’s my plane ticket? (Lost in the post, huh?). OK, better head off to work then, today.

Note to self: must buy a mini paddling pool….

FOMO Friday is here! Enjoy 10% off store wide, 15% off all jelly rolls and 20% off when you finish any fabric bolts. Plus, you still collect your Loyalty Card stamps!

Open 10-8 today, so come now, come later, come after work… You don’t need to be at to enjoy fantastic fabrics and quilts on display. See you later!

Lady Luck / Lady Liberty! Tomorrow we’re giving away a glorious Liberty Woodland fat quarter bundle worth £48, thanks to our friends at

What would you sew with 3m of Liberty cotton?

Plus, there’s 10% off everything instore (that means fabrics, fat quarters, rotary equipment, books, wadding, gifts…), 15% off and 20% off when you finish any bolt of fabric.

Plus freebies (everyone loves a freebie)!

We’re open from 10-8. So phone a friend today, arrange a play date in Rochester on Friday and we’ll see you at our FOMO party.

You’re invited! It’s our Festival event on Friday at Hometown. Open from 10-8, we’l have discounts of 10, 15 and 20% throughout the store. Plus giveaways and prizes. 🏆

Put on your glad rags or come as you are!

Tell all your quilty and stitching friends - you’re all on the invite list!

YOU (yes that’s you!) are invited to our Festival FOMO day this Friday at Hometown.

We’ll be open all day from 10-8 with offers and giveaways, the launch of a super limited edition product and you can get first dibs on our lovely Christmas fabrics (squeezing in a reference).

So if you’re not going to Birmingham for , phone a friend and visit your favourite, local quilt shop (that’s us!) instead.

See you Friday!

Today’s prompt in challenge is Favourite Quilt. I’m choosing a quilt that I made in 2021, called ‘Blue Plate Special’.

This quilt seems almost like a mirage. Sewn in a matter of days, it was an engagement present for my niece and her fiancé and I only had it for a day or so, before it was gifted and it now lives in Virginia 🇺🇸.

I had the idea, I had a few evenings after work (and an all nighter) and I just sewed!

The raw edge blue circles are all machine appliquéd and then the quilt is closely quilted. Alice loves blue, hence the colours and the fabrics feature nods to Alice and Clayton (tea drinking, love dogs etc).

I love this quilt just because of the speed at which it went from idea to completion and the choice of blue fabrics and low volumes, mostly from my stash. Plus I’m proud of the machine quilting (I’m a hand quilter at heart) and so chuffed of the fact that I had this diner quilt title in my head for years, so I’m pleased I then had the quilt to go with it!

My big regret is that I didn’t have a chance to savour / enjoy the finished quilt (quilters will understand this), before I gave it away and don’t have any good photos of the finished quilt as I finished it late at night and was dog tired.

So this is a plea to Alice and Clayton. Please can I have some good shots of the quilt and maybe take it with you when you visit a diner so I can have a pic of it next to a cup of Joe ☕️ or a stack of pancakes! 🥞

Thanks to and .campion from these prompts as it’s been a trip down memory lane today.

More is better, finished is better than perfect and learn to love hand quilting!

These are my 3 top tips for you in Day 4 of the series, gleaned from 35+ years of quiltmaking.

If you run out of a fabric, don’t worry, just add in another. It will honestly be fine! It’s always easier I find to make a quilt with 10 (or 20!) different fabrics, than just a few.

Secondly, finish your quilt and learn from it. We all make mistakes, perhaps putting in fabrics upside down, mis-matching points etc, but they’re not game changers, you’ll still have a finished quilt that will keep you warm at night, or a hand made gift for a loved one. And has anyone ever refused a quilt as a present? I don’t think so! A quilt with soul, made with love, will always get my vote.

Lastly, learn to hand quilt. It’s affordable, relaxing, portable in the summer, warming in the winter (hand quilting over the winter months is just so cosy). I also think it’s a pretty incredible skill to have and as a final bonus, it stops me from falling asleep when watching TV in the evening!

Thanks to and .campion for organising this in the run up to

And if you’ve read this far and thought, damn I’m not going to the Festival, we’re going to have a fun day and evening at Hometown next Friday to which you’re all invited!

My favourite fabrics/designer/quiltshop are today’s prompt for the challenge.

Well where do I start?! Being the owner of a quilt shop, I’m surrounded by all styles of fabrics on a daily basis. We stock almost 2000 fabrics and yes I probably like/would/could sew with most of them.

Looking through my quilts there isn’t a single fabric style that predominates, but my own personal favourites are probably feedsacks and colourful retro prints as used in ‘Happy Campers’; plains and plainish fabrics which I sew with a lot, such as ‘Ensam’; and clear colours and scrappy combinations along with low volumes, which I really enjoyed using in my quilt ‘Blue Plate Special’.

And favourite quilt shop? That’s easy - Hometown in Rochester, Kent!

Thanks to and .campion for the prompts this week.

Morning folks! Joining in with on IG. Hello I’m Marion, long time on-off quiltmaker for 40+ years.

I started quilting for a school project … and then never really stopped! My quilting has followed me all over Britain and abroad with various job moves, but is now firmly based in Rochester, Kent.

I’m the owner of Hometown and we’re a super colourful quilt shop in Rochester and the reason I’m late in posting (as yesterday I was helping everyone else to sew)!

My own sewing tends to come in waves, depending on teaching deadlines or needing new quilts for display in the shop. Full disclosure: I also have a weakness for rescuing old quilts for repair.

Tara for now as I’m off to see a fabric supplier to, you’ve guessed it, order you more gorgeous fabrics for your quilts!

Thanks to and .campion for this great idea to get to know each other.

PS other fact about me - I love stripes, so this is a very typical shot of me, although I don’t always dress to coordinate with my quilts(!) This is an golden oldie quilt of mine called ‘Sunny Side Up’

Crikey! So many new fabrics are instore right now, our Liberty fabrics have moved shelves. Find them now opposite all our solid colours.

Plus good to know - our lovely Liberty prints are £16-17/m. I spotted the same fabrics last week, selling for £20/m. That’s a win for you, plus, don’t forget, we also offer you a stamp on your Hometown Loyalty Card when you spend £15 instore or online.

Finally, watch this space for a very special event at Hometown next Friday…. 🤫🎟️

Calling all would-be quilters! Sign up for our Nine Patch quilt course this summer and learn the art of quiltmaking. This course is suitable for complete beginners and is a great skill builder as well as being lots of fun.

Using pre-cut charm squares or a sweet treat, you’ll learn the whole process in sewing a patchwork quilt.

Full details are online and the course starts on Wed 31 July (eve). Just 2 spaces are left so don’t dilly dally…

Our next beginners course will start late September or October with details coming soon…