This quilt top was made a few years ago, as a sample for a class that I taught. This pattern is called "Pinwheel Puffs" (it was part of the "Breakfast Club" programme held a few years ago at my local quilt shop) and was made with a Jelly Roll - this one is "Rural Jardin" by French General for Moda. Each month you were given the cutting directions and a total number of 2.5" strips of fabric. Of course you could just cut the strips yourself and use your stash, but it was much more fun to use a Jelly Roll and Moda certainly has a huge selection to chose from. I'd made this top and put it away as I wasn't really sure how I wanted it quilted. A few weeks ago I took it over to Jeanette at J-Quilts and she worked her magic... ...and just look at the wonderful quilt I've collected from her! I used a plain fabric for the binding, also from French General, that I bought last week from my local quilt shop, Quilters Haven. I used a narrow binding for this one, machined into place on the front of the quilt, and hand stitched to the back. Janette longarm quilted 2 of these smaller quilts for me recently, and used this lovely French General fabric for the backing too. As it was extra wide fabric, she was able to quilt them both with one width of fabric. Anyway, this morning I finally managed to get a picture of this pretty quilt in the sunshine! I simply LOVE this one - and may have to make this pattern again!
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I bought a bundle of beautiful batik fat quarters from Kaleidoscope when I was at the Festival Of Quilts a few weeks ago, in shades of turquoise and teal, as I had a very special project in mind. My daughter was going to be 21 and I wanted to make her a special quilt for her birthday. I decided to use a simple pattern for the quilt design as I needed to make a quilt top that was quick to piece together. "Turning Twenty" by Tricia Cribbs was the perfect choice of pattern... ...this quilt top pieced together really quickly, and is a great quilt to make to showcase gorgeous fabrics like these batiks (my regular blog followers will know that I've made quite a few of these "Turning Twenty" quilts!) As you can see, it was quite a blustery day when I did this photo-shoot... ...once this was pieced together, it was taken to Janette at J-quilts to turn it into a fabulous quilt - and she certainly did an excellent job! My daughter loves dragonflies, so "Dragonfly Pond" seemed the perfect quilting design for this one. The backing fabric was an extra-wide Moda fabric (this was from the Shangri-La collection by 3 Sisters for Moda) that had been in my stash for simply ages, and was the perfect colour. How spooky is that! Unfortunately the batik fabric that I'd ordered from Kaleidoscope for the binding didn't arrive in time (so much for ordering Priority Post - 5 days later and I was still waiting - I won't order from that company again if I need fabric urgently!) but luckily there was just enough fabric left over from the backing to make the binding too... ...I was so pleased to be able to get this finished in time for my daughter's special day, although I did burn a lot of midnight oil getting the binding finished! Alice really was thrilled with it, and that made me a very happy mummy :) Thank you SO much Janette - your quilting was superb as always!
A few weeks ago I took this quilt top over to Jeanette at J-Quilts and just look at the wonderful quilt I've collected from her! I'd made this a few years ago, when I taught a class at my local quilt shop. This quilt pattern is called "Mexican Fiesta Eggs" and was made using a Jelly Roll called "Rouenneriers" by French General for Moda. The pattern was part of a programme called "The Breakfast Club" which was held at my local quilt shop. Each month you were given the cutting directions and a total number of 2.5" strips of fabric that you needed. Of course you could just cut the strips yourself and use your stash, but it was much more fun to use a Jelly Roll and Moda certainly has a huge selection to chose from... ...this was longarm quilted in an all-over "Baptist Swirl" design, and Janette used another French General fabric for the backing. I'd already made binding for this quilt from some left-over strips from the original jelly roll, and machined this into place. One of my labels was sewn diagonally into one pf the corners on the back of the quilt, then the binding was folded over to the back, and slip stitched by hand using ladder stitch... ...and here is the finished quilt, with the binding sewn to the back of the quilt by hand. The finished size of this one is approx 42" square. Every time I go to Janette I pick a different quilting design, and tomorrow I'll post pictures of the OTHER quilt I collected from her recently, that was made with another range of fabric by French General - and another all-over quilting design too ;)Unfortunately I don't know whether these patterns are still available, but if you are interested, then I'd suggest contacting your local shop for more information.
This FABULOUS quilt was my absolute favourite out of all the quilts that I saw on display. This is called "The Good Life" - and was designed, pieced, appliqued and machine quilted by Philippa Naylor. It is really stunning. I'd seen a sneak preview of it before on FB (Philippa is launching a new book VERY SOON!!). Philippa was at the show on the Sunday, doing some free-motion quilting demonstrations and I managed to get a couple of pictures of her in action! In September I'm off on a week long residential course in Yorkshire with Philippa again (I really am VERY lucky as this will be the third year I've been on a residential course with Philippa!) - I'm off there with two of my quilting friends, Helen and Linda, and I really can't wait!
Group Quilts - sponsored by Upper Street Events.
There were several stunning quilts in this section, but this exhibit was my absolute favourite! Maybe living to close to the Suffolk coast is what made me drawn to this particular piece - I thought it absolutely fabulous! Fishing For Compliments - by Totley Brook Quilters. The information relating to this exhibit was taken from the FOQ competition catalogue and is as follows: "Members - 25. Entered by Julie Edwards, Sheffield. Traditional piecing, embroidery, fusing,layering, burning. Fabrics used were cottons, silks, organza, plastic, fishing line, angelina, metal objects. For everyone to contribute using their skills an favourite techniques. To create a colourful, playful piece. Sheffield is a long way from the sea, so it brings it closer to us!" Traditional Quilts - sponsored by British Patchwork and Quilting. This is a selection of my favourite quilts from the "traditional" section, together with the title of the quilt and the name of the quilter, together with the accompanying information from the FOQ competition catalogue. I hope you enjoy looking at these as much as I did - tomorrow I'll share another group with you! Deidre and Keith - A Journey - by Breege Watson. Machine piecing and machine quilted on a domestic machine. All cotton fabrics with cotton batting. Breege stated: This quilt was made to mark my daughter's wedding. I know she likes traditional and wanted something with stars to reflect her life in Texas. The blues and greens of the Storm at Sea represent the colours in Hawaii where they started out". Autumn Gold - by Heather Bentley. This quilt was pieced on a sewing machine then hand quilted. Cotton fabric. Hether stated: "Last autumn's glorious colours was the inspiration for this quilt. I used a block called Tilted Log Cabin from the wonderful Lynne Edwards book Scrappy Quilts, and added a tilted border". Harlequin Star - by Jess Williams. Hand pieced and quilted. Machine edged. Mixed fabrics. Jess stated: "I love these colours and the challenge of combining over 400 different fabrics into a harmonious quilt". Feather Passion - by Nadezda Dankova.
Nadezda stated "Classic patchwork, stitching combined. Cotton. Feather star". Quilters Guild Challenge - and was sponsored by Bernina. I was particularly drawn to these "gardening" quilts that were on display at the show - maybe because Mr F is a gardener? Each morning when Alice and me went into the show we walked past this particular quilt group, and each morning I saw something different on them - they really are amazing! Anyway, I have shared a few pictures of my favourites, together with the title of the quilt and the name of the quilter, together with the accompanying information from the FOQ competition catalogue. I hope you enjoy looking at these as much as I did - tomorrow I'll share another group with you! Up The Garden Path - by Jill Gray. Hand and machine quilted and embroidered, fabric applique. Calico background, dyed cotton and silk fabric and threads. Jill states: "My interest in garden plans and symbols has been the inspiration for this piece. I have chosen a selection of plants, vegetables and fruits from my own garden and used them diagrammatically". In My Garden - In My Dreams by Betty Ball. Hand dyed and printed fabrics including screen printing. Pieced, appliqued and quilted by hand and machine. Hand dyed cotton fabrics. Betty stated: "I love the images of trees and pathways used in garden design plans. The challenge was to combine print and stitch in different ways to achieve texture". Transforming - by Jane Farrall. Painting on patchwork silks and cottons machine and hand embroidery, beads embellishment. Silk, cotton, net, machine and hand threads, beads. Jane states: My love of silk and fabric painting form the base of this contemporary quilt. My work encompasses these words and emotions - hating, thinking, energising, moving, tipping, cutting, uprooting, destroying, planning, researching, levelling, marking, building, digging, nourishing, planting, watering, growing, admiring and enjoying". Flowers - by Marianne Bender-Chevalley. Quilting machine. Hand dyed fabric. Marianne stated: "I like my garden and the flowers" Through The Window - by Janey MaCallum. Background painted with thickened dyes. Applique flowers. Machine quilted. Hand dyed and painted cotton. Janet stated: I looked out of the window and saw my inspiration! It was a perfect summer meadow". Japanese Maple In My Garden - by Lisbet Borggreen.
Machine pieced, hand and machine quilted. Cotton and silk organza. Lisbet stated: "Inspiration from a Japanese maple tree in my garden. I used the silhouette of scanned leaves from the tree, enlarged a bit, and cut them in silk organza. Inspiration from Maggie Weiss". I was airing some quilts yesterday, and discovered that I had never actually made a label for the "Butterfly Garden" quilt that I made back in 2010. This quilt was a BOM designed by Leanne Beasley, and she had some great ideas for quilt labels in part 10, and included some stitchery designs for this purpose. I'd got a scrap of fabric left over from the border of the quilt (a pale green floral, by Lecien), traced the quilt label and added a few words - just the name of the quilt, my name, and the year it was completed. I embroidered this using 2 strands of DMC thread... ...once the embroidery was completed, I marked an outline of a square half an inch away form the stitched border with a Clover Hera marker, folded in the sides of the square, and gave it a good press. A square of steam-a-seam- lite was added to the back of the label and fused into place. Peeling off the backing paper, the label was carefully positioned into place, and fused to the back of the quilt. Finally, I stitched all around the edges of the label with a very fine silk neutral coloured thread. I wouldn't use a stitchery label for my "fast and fun" quilts, but it's the final flourish a special quilt like this one. Oh, and if you haven't seen them before, here's a slide show of all 9 blocks of the quilt, and finally the completed quilt too. My batik "Turning Twenty" quilt has been longarm quilted by Janette, and she has made it look absolutely beautiful. This was a really simple quilt to piece together, and the "Turning Twenty" pattern is designed by Tricia Cribs. We chose a swirling leaves quilting design, which looks great on both the dark and light coloured batiks... ...initially I was going to use one of the batiks with the leaf design for the binding, but didn't have enough, so on Saturday I made a mercy-dash to Sew and So's and decided to go for this rich dark brown batik (this was also used in the quilt). I prefer wide bindings for larger quilts, so cut my binding strips 3.5" wide, joined the strips with mitred seams, folded the binding in half and machine stitched it into place 0.5" from the edge of the quilt. Luckily my walking foot is 0.5" wide, so I can easily use the edge of the foot as a guide. Janette used a Moda extra wide fabric for the back, which really compliments the batiks on the front of the quilt. These Clover Wonder Clips are brilliant at holding the binding in place while I hand sew it to the back, using ladder stitch... ...nice sharp mitred corners, and I'd already machined one of my labels into place across one corner. This dark brown binding is very effective, and really frames this quilt... ...and here is the finished quilt. I really am absolutely THRILLED with this one, and it looks even better draped over my sofa than it does draped over my decking!
On Wednesday morning I collected my cream and white quilt from my longarm quilter. This was made using 25 fat quarters of different cream and white fabrics. The pattern is "Turning Twenty" by Tricia Cribbs. I couldn't resist taking a picture or two before I'd had time to stitch the binding on! And this shows a close-up of this gorgeous quilting pattern, "flounce" - it adds a wonderful texture to this quilt, and meanders across it... ...I used a gorgeous cream fabric from the "Noteworthy" collection by Sweetwater for Moda, that was already in my stash. This was machined to the front of the quilt, then it was lovingly hand stitched into place - all 344" of it, and yes I did wear a thimble!... ...this shows the different shades of neutrals that were used - it is a very simple pattern to make, and made with these fabrics it blends perfectly in my cream bedroom. I'm trying really hard to use my fabric/thread stash before buying anything new as Mr F keeps complaining about the size of my hoard! So far I'm doing quite well, although I'm not sure if I can last until the end of the week without a quick trip to Bungay!!
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About me...Hi - welcome to my quilting blog! My passions are my family, my dog, my friends and sewing, not necessarily in that order! Archives
July 2023
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