I've been playing around with this pattern "På Quiltelaup" by the Norwegian designer AnnAKa and some red batiks. I never get bored of making this bag, and it really is such an easy bag to make, even though the instructions are written in Norwegian! This shows the inside of the bag - I used a mottled black fabric for the lining, with some scraps of left-over red batiks for the accents and also made a handy tab with a clip for keys. The instructions in the original pattern are for a plain lining, but the idea for this lining was based on a pattern by Elizabeth Hartman called "Perfect Quilted Totes"... ...when I finished this bag yesterday afternoon it was too dark to get a decent photograph outside, and this morning it's pouring with rain!!! Anyway, I managed to brave the weather to take some pictures, so here is the finished project. The Prairie Points are held in place with a decorative button... ...and here is the front of the bag - these batiks really were lovely to sew with. This was quilted with a red Aurifil thread. I've got a few more of these bags to make for Christmas gifts, so I need to get back to my sewing machine!
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I was clearing out a cupboard yesterday, and came across this wall-hanging that I'd made a few years ago (not sure if it was 2006 or 2007!!). This was made on a class I went to at my local quilt shop, Quilters Haven, and the technique we were learning was another method of applique. The pattern was taken from the book "Stitch and Split Applique" by Jayme Crow and Joan Segna. I named this wall-hanging "Stormy Sunflowers" and my inspiration had been driving past a field of sunflowers in a neighbouring village during a storm... ...the background was quilted using a decorative stitch before the applique was added. The leaves are embellished with green beads, and I copied the leaf motif for free-motion quilting in the borders. This was one of my first attempts at FMQ, so the tendrils are probably a bit more curly and wild than they should have been! The background "field" and "sky" of this wall hanging was made with batiks, also the borders and bindings. The stems, leaves and the sunflowers themselves were made from an assortment of fabrics from my stash. The sunflower centres were embellished with large buttons.. ...it seemed perfect to use this sunflower print for the back of the quilt! I haven't got any sunflowers in my garden this year, but Mr F has grown some very nice Rudbeckia, which compliments this wall hanging very nicely. Now I wonder if he'd notice if I picked a few of these to have in the lounge ;) ... ...anyway, back in 2007 I'd entered this wall hanging in a "Quilt Walk Around Wickham Market" that was organised by my local quilt shop, Quilters Haven. Quilts were hung all around the market square, in the church and in local shops too. This wall hanging was displayed in the hardwear shop.
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!
I was very productive on Saturday - firstly I was able to get all the fabric sorted and cut for the next block of "Down In The garden" (more about that later) and then I went off on a road trip with my friend Helen, and my daughter Alice, to Bungay. The main purpose of our trip was to go to Sew and So's, and of course I just HAD to buy some fabric while I was there. Well it would've been silly to go all that way and not buy anything wouldn't it? Last week when I was in Quilters Haven I bought the medium pair of "Perfect Scissors" by Karen Kay Buckley, and they are simply WONDERFUL - so I've invested in the large pair too! I'd already bought the small ones last year, and really couldn't live without them, so now I have the complete set. My sister is a quilter, and she had mentioned that she likes using "Star" hand quilting thread. As I don't hand quilt, I hadn't heard of that brand of thread, but spotted a basket full of spools while I was browsing, so bought her a couple of spools ready for when I see her next. Oh and yes, I did buy some fabric - a gorgeous fat quarter bundle of beautiful batiks in shades of aqua and lime green that I simply had to have. And yes, we had lunch at the wonderful cafe in Bungay too - the crab and crayfish pate was delicious - sorry there's no pictures, but I promise you it was almost as delicious as the chocolate orange cake that I had afterwards!
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!
My friend Sue is going on a very special holiday, and asked if I could make a tote bag for her to take with her, using these beautiful batiks that were left over from a quilt that she'd made. Well as you know I love batiks and I love making bags, so putting the two together and I said yes straight away. She had already chosen the pattern "På Quiltelaup" by the Norwegian designer AnnAKa. Well I was in batik-heaven sewing with these beautiful fabrics. I made a pocket panel using some of the smaller scraps, and a fuchsia pink zipper that matched perfectly. This panel is based on a pattern by Elizabeth Hartman... ...I used a YLI variegated thread "Great Barrier Reef" for the quilting. The lining fabric (one of my favourite colours!) was also left-over from Sue's quilt. It's great making super projects without having to buy anything new! I added a couple of scraps from my batik box - orange, turquoise and and of course lime green for some of the Prarie Points, and added a red button as the final embellishment... ...I hope Sue likes this as much as I do! I really enjoyed making this for her, and hope she gets as much enjoyment out of using it as I did making it!
This selection of batiks has been in my stash for simply ages - and I decided at the weekend that I really NEEDED to put them to good use! I used an AnnAKa pattern that I have used several times before, called "På Quiltelaup" and set to work, cutting and stitching and quilting. I used a Gutermann Sulky variegated thread that I bought a couple of weeks ago from the "Cosy Cabin" when I went to a Quilt Guild regional day. This bag has a "secret" pocket on the front and the back of the bag... ...I added my own twist on this bag, by adding internal pockets (I used a pattern by Elizabeth Hartman for this - it's my favourite method for internal zippered pockets) and also a special clip for keys -there's nothing so annoying as not being able to find your keys and having to rummage about in the bottom of your bag for them!!... ...and finally the large Prairie Points on the front of the bag are decorated with 2 buttons to secure them in place. This was made with a 5 fat quarters of batiks for the bag, the binding, the Prairie points and the pockets both inside and out, and a half metre of fabric for the lining.
A few weeks ago I made a set of 4 place mats, using the pattern called "Take 4" (designed by Cary Flanagan for Something Sew Fine Quilt Design), and 4 fat quarters of beautiful brown batiks. These orange batiks were still in my stash, that I'd bought from the Festival Of Quilts in 2011, so I thought I'd make another set... ...this pattern is very quick and simple to piece together, and I used a variegated Sulky Gutterman quilting thread. These were quilted really simply, just stitch-in-the-ditch. I always use Pellon wadding for table runners and place mats, which is a felted polyester, and it always lies nice and flat... ...and here are the finished place mats. I used the striped batik for the binding, and I'm really pleased with this set.
Yesterday was National Quilting Day, and I did my bit in supporting this day - by purchasing a few half metres of gorgeous brown batiks from Sew and Sew's at Bungay. I was en route to visit my daughter who is studying at uni in Norwich, and as I have to drive through Bungay to get to Norwich, it seemed silly not to drop in a make a purchase! The project I was planning for these was another Turning Twenty quilt, this time for my lounge, to hang over a large brown leather sofa. These blocks really do piece together very quickly... ...and in no time at all the quilt top was finished, complete with border. This is now ready to take over to Janette, so she can work her magic on it! Oh and I must say "hello" to Diana, a very nice lady who I met in Sew and So's and we got chatting - like you do - anyway, I hope you and your husband managed to find the cafe in Earsham Street, and had a safe journey home :)
A few weeks ago I took this red batik quilt over to Janette, who has a Longarm Quilting Studio over at East Bergholt called J-Quilts. My daughter Alice made this several months ago, while she was working at our local quilt shop during her gap year. Anyway, this weekend she came home from university for a couple of days, so it was the perfect opportunity to finish it. I am so proud of her - Alice's piecing was so neat and precise. Here's a closeup of the piecing and the black backing fabric is perfect for showcasing the wonderful quilting. Alice wanted a red thread to compliment her red batiks, and this looks really dramatic... ...anyway, she wanted me to help out by cutting her some binding strips while she was busy with her new hobby - crochet! So the binding strips were cut from the leftover backing fabric, and then machined into place, and finally slip stitched by hand to the back of the quilt. And yes, I managed to do all this while she was still busy with a ball of wool and a crochet hook!... ...this pattern is called "Pie Chart" and was part of a "Stash Pot Pie" programme that was held at my local quilt shop a few years ago. Unfortunately it's been really difficult to photograph these reds - they either look pink or orange, but they really are beautiful and rich. Alice is really pleased with her quilt - doesn't it look fabulous!!
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July 2023
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