Nicola Foreman Quilts - BLOG

The Birthday Girl

21/10/2018

Yesterday I spent my birthday at my local quilt shop, Kis Quilting Ltd in Ipswich, on a machine embroidery workshop with Alexandra Waylett. I've been on several workshops with Alex over the past few months, and she really is a great tutor. As you can see, I was very colour co-ordinated with my finished purse! This gorgeous feathers fabric was free motion machine embroidered, using a variety of threads, in a variety of colours, including a very sparkly gold metallic Maderia thread, adding a bit of bling to my purse!

Machine Embroidered Purse

20/10/2018

Last year I spent my birthday dipping my toes in the Pacific ocean while I was on holiday in New Zealand. So how did I spend my birthday this year? Well today I've been on a machine embroidered purse workshop at my local quilt shop Kis Quilting Ltd in Ipswich, under the expert tuition of Alexandra Waylett. We spent the morning stitching and stitching and stitching using a variety of threads including using a very sparkly metallic gold Madeira thread...

...then the afternoon was spent constructing the purse. The main body of the bag is layered up with interfacing and curtain interlining. The result is a very structured purse, which has a dupion silk back. This really was a great workshop, we all had lots of fun, and it was a super way to spend my birthday!

The Woolpatch

19/10/2018

I discovered an absolute gem of a shop recently, The Woolpatch in Long Melford. I first discovered it a few weeks ago when we visited Lavenham and Long Melford with our friends from New Zealand, and was just waiting for the chance to go back! I couldn't resist this "White Christmas" charm pack by Zen Chic for Moda, as it will be perfect for a new festive table runner! Watch this space for more pictures of this project!

Hearts and Happy Flowers Update

18/10/2018

Here's a little update on my progress with the Hearts and Happy Flowers quilt, designed by Leanne Beasley. I'm still stitching block 1 although I have progressed to getting the mini-blocks pieced together, and I've appliqued the hearts in place. There is lots and lots and LOTS of hand embroidery in this quilt, so lots of slow stitching for the next few months...

...the little squares with a bordered satin stitch heart are just 1" square, and Block 1 has 25 of them! This quilt will certainly keep me busy in the cold winter evenings. I'll be curled up on the sofa with my needle and threads, a good film on tv, a nice cup of tea, and I'll be perfectly happy.

In a Garden Zippered Pouch

17/10/2018

A few weeks ago the "In a Garden" kit arrived in the post from the Little Quilt Store in Australia - this pattern is by Lynette Anderson's Designs, and the kit contained the pattern, fabrics, and zipper to make a cute zippered pouch. I decided I really needed mine to be a bit bigger, so adapted it using the pattern "Anna's Sminkepung" by the Norwegian designer AnnAKa, and used some extra fabric for the back of the bag and the binding around the zipper (I used my own as I needed one a bit bigger). I also added boxed corners...

...this was hand embroidered with variegated Valdani threads, and hand appliqued. The original pattern has a needle-punched beehive, but I used some wool felt for this, and appliqued it in place by hand, using 2 strands of embroidery thread and a small blanket stitch. Two hand painted wooden bee buttons were stitched in place, and the final embellishment was some lace trimming along the binding. This is a really useful bag, and I can fit my next hand sewing project in here along with a small box of embroidery threads, scissors, needlecase and embroidery hoop.

Completed Tuffet

14/10/2018

My Tuffet is completed! I'm really pleased with this, and absolutely LOVE these colours. My tuffet was made on a 2 day course at Busybee Stitching - I used a Bali Pop for my strips (similar to a Jelly Roll, a Bali Pop contains 40 2.5" strips of co-ordinating batik fabrics). The feet were painted with Cuprinol Garden Shades in "Seasoned Oak" and match these fabrics really well. It was a great idea to paint the feet before the tuffet was assembled - once they've been screwed into place, they're not going to come out in a hurry! The underneath of the tuffet is very neat, and a piece of fabric has been handstitched in place to cover the "gubbins" - that was probably the trickiest part! If you'd like to have a go at making one of these gorgeous tuffets, there are still spaces on another 2 day course at Busybee Stitching in November, day 1 is on Thursday 15th and day 2 will be on Thursday 29th.

A Tuffet Teaser

13/10/2018

Here's a little teaser from Day 2 of the Tuffet Class at Busybee Stitching. This was my progress at lunchtime - the drawstring cord had been couched in place, and the covered button had been made. Although it's out of shot, the foam tuffet had been covered in waddling with the aid of a staple gun! I'm really pleased with the colour of the feet, which were patiently waiting to be screwed into position (this was going to be the last task of the day)...

...by the end of the day, the tuffet was completed. These gorgeous fabrics were from a Bali Pop (similar to a Jelly Roll, 40 x 2.5" wide syrips of co-ordinating batik fabrics. I used a scrap of Moda fabric for the button. Full reveal will happen on Sunday when it's found a new home in my lounge!

Little Miss Muffet Again!

13/10/2018

My sewing bag is packed and ready, as it's day 2 of the Tuffet Class at Busybee Stitching - and I can't wait to see what my completed tuffet will look like! Day 1 was a couple of weeks ago, and all my homework is completed, and I've even painted my tuffet feet to match the colours of my fabrics, using a tester pot of Cuprinol Garden Shades paint in "Seasoned Oak". More pictures will be shared tomorrow - hopefully with no eight-legged beasties!!
*If you want to make a tuffet, this class is being repeated at Busybee Stitching with day 1 on Thursday 15th November, and day 2 on Thursday 29th November.

Painting in my Studio

12/10/2018

I've got a busy afternoon planned, being creative with some Cuprinol Garden Shades. No, I'm not painting the garden fence, but I am transforming the wooden feet for my tuffet! I wanted a darker colour to match my fabrics, and this was perfect. And tester pots meant I didn't need to buy a huge pot...

...I'd used a Bali Pop (a pack of pre-cut 2.5" strips of hand dyed batiks, similar to a Jelly Roll) for the tuffet cover. This saved lots of cutting on day 1 of the class, and gives a really scrappy effect. I wanted colours that will fit in with my neutral coloured lounge, and I absolutely love these rich shades of browns and creams - chocolate, toffee, caramel, cocoa, coffee and fudge!

A Peek at In a Garden

11/10/2018

I've been playing around with "In a Garden" over the past couple of weeks. This is a pattern by Lynette Anderson Designs - I prefer machine-stitched zippers, so I've used Lynette's stitchery/applique design and used the bag pattern Anna's Sminkepung by the Norwegian designer AnnAKa. I've also made this bag a bit bigger to hold my sewing bits and bobs in...