Nicola Foreman Quilts - BLOG

Sewing Angel Journal Cover

21/2/2019

I've had this pattern for simply ages, tucked away in a box simply overflowing with patterns by Australian designers. It's "Sewing Angel Toolstore" by Anni Downs of Hatched and Patched. Although I absolutely loved the applique design, I really didn't want to make the actual project, so decided to use it to make a quilted journal cover instead...

...this has been hand embroidered using DMC embroidery threads, and appliqued using the Apliquick method, with Apliquick tools, applique paper and a glue stick. Some teeny tiny buttons have also been stitched in place on both the front and the back of the journal cover...

...this cute little 4 patch block is only 1" square. It was machine pieced together, then appliqued into place using 80wt Aurifil thread and a Clover Black Gold applique needle. The pin heads are made with colonial knots (I find them much neater than French knots)...

...the back is also appliqued and hand embroidered. (The journal cover was made using some leftover strips of fabric from another recent make, Home Sweet Home). I used some thin felted polyester wadding, and quilted it very simply in straight rows, both stitch in the ditch and using the edge of the walking foot as a guide. I've slipped a small A5 sized notebook inside - it will be perfect for keeping my sewing notes in!

Another Surprise From My Postie

20/2/2019

After a hectic day at work, it's always exciting to discover the postman has delivered another super parcel! Peaceful Garden is another pattern by the Australian designer Anni Downs of Hatched and Patched, and this was purchased as a kit online from Cross Patch in Wales. Julia (the owner of Cross Patch) puts amazing kits together, and this one is no exception. Peaceful Garden is another wall hanging, and will be displayed in my sewing studio when it's completed. It will involve lots of hand applique and hand embroidery, so I just need to delve into my thread box for some appropriate colours, then I can start to prepare the stitchery design.

Home Sweet Home on Display

19/2/2019

"Home Sweet Home" - pattern by Natalie Bird of The Birdhouse Patchwork Designs, this was bought as a kit from Cross Patch in Wales here in the UK. (It's a fantastic online shop, Julia puts some brilliant kits together, and stocks a huge assortment of patterns from my favourite designers, aswell as some of her own designs. Oh and her customer service really is BRILLIANT). The finished size is approx 11" x 15" - this decorative quilt hanger was a gift from a friend a few years ago and is perfect for small wall hangings!

Home Sweet Home

18/2/2019

"Home Sweet Home" is designed by Natalie Bird of The Birdhouse Patchwork Designs. I bought the kit to make this wall hanging a few weeks ago from my favourite online shop, Cross Patch in Wales. This kit included the pattern, all the fabrics including the backing and binding fabric, and a piece of lightweight interfacing. All i needed to add was a piece of wadding and some embroidery threads. The hand embroidery was all done using DMC stranded embroidery thread...

...the hand applique was completed using applique paper and Apliquick tools. This wall hanging was machine quilted very simply around the centre panel and around the inner border. I used a single fold binding to trim the raw edges, and mitred the corners. A narrow quilt sleeve was added to the back. The finished size is approx 11" x 15" - just perfect for hanging on the wall of my sewing studio along with a few other small projects.

The Sopwell Ladies Basket Society Quilt - Finally Revealed

15/2/2019

It was a glorious day here in Suffolk yesterday, and the perfect opportunity to take some outdoor photographs of this - The Sopwell Ladies Basket Society Quilt, pattern by the Australian designer Gail Pan. This was bought as a BOM from Cross Patch in Wales, and Julia the owner supplied all the fabrics in a kit - these are from the Sequoia collection by Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts for Andover Fabrics...

...once the quilt top was machine pieced together, (my favourite thread is Aurifil, and I use a 50wt mid-grey shade for most of my piecing) it was hand appliqued (using the Apliquick method, with Apliquick rods, applique paper and a gluestick, the hand stitched in place using Aurifil 80wt thread) and hand embroidered using a few DMC threads in co-ordinating colours from my thread box. My quilt spent a few months with the longarm quilter, patiently waiting it's turn to be freehand custom longarm quilted by J-Quilts...

...once the binding had been stitched in place and a quilt sleeve was added, some of the baskets were embellished with a few vintage buttons from my button tin. Although it has a quilt sleeve stitched on the back, I was struggling to find an appropriate place to display it outside ready for a photo shoot, so my neighbours probably thought I was mad, laying my quilt out on the driveway taking photographs of it!...

...I really am so very pleased with this quilt - all those hours spent hand stitching the applique has been so very well worth it. Now I'm deliberating over which Gail Pan quilt to make next as there are a couple of her designs I'd like to stitch.

Valentine Bouquet

14/2/2019

"Valentine Bouquet" - finished size 48" square. This pattern is by Hilary Gooding and was made with the Hearts and Roses collection of fabric by Makower UK - I bought this as a kit back in 2008 from Quilters Haven (sadly this has since closed down). Machine pieced, machine appliqued and machine quilted - all by yours truely! As I made this back in 2008, I'm not sure if the pattern is still available as it was a free download from the Makower UK website.

Embellished With Vintage Buttons

13/2/2019

I found some real treasures when I was rummaging through my tin of vintage buttons yesterday afternoon -some of these were donated to me by my mother-in-law and one of her friends, and some were rescused from charity shops (it's amazing what people give away!). My favourites have now been used to embellish some of the baskets on my version of The Sopwell Ladies Basket Society Quilt, designed by Gail Pan Designs...

...I tried to co-ordinate the colours of the buttons with these gorgeous fabrics that are from the Sequoia collection by Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts for Andover fabrics. If you read yesterday's blog post, you'll see that I also managed to embellish my quilt label with a vintage button too!

The Sopwell Ladies Basket Society Quilt Label

12/2/2019

I've been busy in my sewing studio this morning, making a label for The Sopwell Ladies Basket Society Quilt. I like to incorporate the theme from the quilt top in the label, and used some left over scraps of fabric from the quilt, and a couple of surplus half square triangle units. The words have been hand embroidered using DMC embroidery thread and the ric-rac basket handle has been embellished with a few colonial knots...

...when I was rummaging through my tin of vintage buttons to embellish some of the baskets on the front of the quilt, I found one to embellish the basket on the label too. The label was appliqued in place, and now it's ready for a photo shoot of the completed quilt.

The Quilt Sleeve

11/2/2019

A sleeve stitched onto the back of the quilt ensures the quilt can be displayed from a hanging rod. A piece of left over backing fabric was used for this quilt sleeve, which has been hand stitched in place with a matching thread. I just need to finish the label, and my quilt will be complete!

Binding My Quilt

10/2/2019

At last the binding is on The Sopwell Ladies Basket Society quilt. This red fabric with the tiny black stars was included with the kit and it's just perfect for the binding. I prefer using a wider binding on my larger quilts, and these strips were cut at 3.25" then joined with diagonal seams before being folded in half, then machine stitched to the front of the quilt, with mitred corners. The double fold binding was hand stitched in place to the back of the quilt using an Aurifil 40wt red quilting thread.