Nicola Foreman Quilts - BLOG

Bouquet Cushion

30/8/2024

This gorgeous pattern is the Bouquet Cushion - the pattern is from the book Patchwork Quilts and Gifts by Jo Colwill, and the fabrics were purchased as a kit from Cowslip Worshops stand at the Festival of Quilts back in 2016. It had been packed away with several other kits, and I finally made a start on it back in January. The background was pieced together with a selection of low volume fabrics, and the flower stems were made very simply using bias strips. The tulips and leaves were machine appliqued into place, and the larger flowers have been both hand appliqued and hand embroidered...

...once the applique was completed, the front of the cushion was layered up with cotton wadding and calico (both included in the kit) and prepared for hand quilting. Using the same cream DMC perle thread that I'd used for the hand embroidery, I marked a simple grid in a crosshatch design, making my lines 1.5" apart. A few vintage buttons have been scattered amongst the appliquéd flowers...

...once the front of the cushion was completed, I put it away as I was busy with other things - house sitting for friends, holidays and a new grandson were all taking up my time! Anyway, last week I decided I really needed to get it finished, and started by doodling ideas for a hand embroidered "label" for the back of the cushion. Once I'd drafted my ideas, this was traced onto the lined with a lightpad and a Micron Pigma pen, and hand embroidered very simply. A row of bound buttonholes was stitched along the opening, and the cushion is fastened by threading a fabric strip through the buttonholes, knotted at one end and tied in a bow at the other end...

...and here's the completed Bouquet Cushion. It's quite large, approx 24" x 30" and is filled with 2 feather bed pillows. It was a super project to make, and I've also got the fabrics to make a quilt in similar colours, which I'm hoping to to make a start on soon!

The Write Stuff for Toby

27/8/2024

One of my friends recently asked me to make a couple of journal covers for her grandchildre, I shared some pictures recently of the one I made for her grand-daughter, Florence, and this is the one I made for her brother Toby. My friend supplied the Harry Potter fabrics, and I added a few of my own fabrics to go with it. The pattern is The Write Stuff, and is a ByAnnie design, which I've made several times before. The outer cover, which is made of ByAnnie Soft and Stable wadding, is quite structured, and quilts nicely too...

...the front has a zippered pocket, which is ideal for storing pencils and pens. The cover is kept closed with a flap that is stitched on the back cover, and fastens on the front with a small magnet...

...there are 2 pockets inside, which the journal slips into, and there's also another useful pocket. A page marker is also attached to the inside of the journal cover. Now these have both been completed, I can pass them on to my fiend for her grandchildren. I hope they enjoy using them as much as I enjoyed making them!

The Write Stuff for Florence

25/8/2024

One of my friends asked me to make a journal cover for her grand-daughter. She gave me some of this pretty unicorn fabric, by Riley Bklake Designs, and I pulled together a few of my own fabrics to go with it. I've used this pattern - The Write Stuff - which is a ByAnnie pattern, which I've used several times before...

...the outer part of the cover is made using ByAnnie Soft and Stable wadding, which is similar to Bosal. The front has an added zippered pocket, and I chose this bright pink zipper. A neat fabric tie was threaded through the zipper pull. There's a small flap with is stitched on the back of the cover that folds over to the front and closes with a small magnet to keep the journal cover closed...

...inside the cover there are 2 pockets to keep the journal in place, and a further pocket for useful bits and bobs. A page marker is also added, so Florence can keep her place in the journal. Now it's completed, I need to make one for her brother too!

Bird in a Basket

23/8/2024

Back in 2020, I won a super prize from a giveaway on Lynette Anderson's FB group, In Stitches with Lynette Anderson. The prize included this beautiful kit to make the Bird in a Basket pillow, and included the pattern, fabrics, and a hand painted wooden button. I'd already made one of these pillows for me, and decided to make this one for a friend. The stittchery design was traced onto background fabric using a Micron Pigma pen, and a lightweight interfacing was fused to the wrong side. The hand embroidery was stitched using a selection of variegated Valdani stranded embroidery threads. This has been a really portable project, and lots of the hand sewing has been done while I've been watching my husband playing cricket...

...I used pre-cut hexagon papers for the EPP, and used the thread basting method for both the small and larger hexagons. The basting threads can be left in place when the papers are removed. Once the hexagons had been joined together, they were stitched into place on the front of the pillow...

...the hand of the basket was made using a narrow strip of fabric cut on the bias, then using a Clover Bias Maker to fold the sides over. This was stitched in place first, then the remaing shapes were sttched using the needleturn applique method. The 3-D flowers were made using a selection of blue fabrics, and a small plastic dome was covered then attached to cover the raw edges of the petals...

...once the pieced borders were attached to the centre square, the pillow top was pressed, then layered ready for some simple machine quilting. I tend to incorporate the theme of my projects into a label, and I've done the same for this pillow. I usually write on paper first, and sketch out a few ideas for appliqué, embroidery, etc. When I'm happy with the final design, I write over the pencil lines with a very fine black Sharpie pen, and use that as a template that I can trace onto fabric. I tape the pattern directly onto a lightbox, and tape or pin the fabric on top. To trace the design, I use a Micron Pigma pen, nib size 005, in a pale brown colour. Using a pale brown colour ink means the colours of the embroidery thread stay true - if you use a black pen, the colours appear darker. I have used an ordinary pencil for tracing onto fabric too, but it tends to drag the fabric. I've used the same embroidery threads for the hand embroidered "label" that I used on the front of the pillow. A final embellishment for this "label" was a 3-D appliqued flower...

...once the flap has been pressed and top stitched, a zipper is attached. This is so the inner feather pillow can be removed if the pillow cover needs to be laundered. Once the front and back are attached, I like to neaten the raw edges with a narrow binding, which s machined to the front of the cushion, folded over to the back, then hand stitched in place using ladder stitch. I chose a stripey fabric, also one of Lynette's prints, for this binding...

...a final press of the pillow cover, then it's ready to be filled with a plump feather pad. I prefer to take photographs of my completed projects outside, as the light is so much better.

Dilly Dally Project Bag

12/8/2024

I've recently been on a workshop with the Australian designer Gail Pan at Poppy Patch here in the UK, and the project I chose was the Dilly Dally Bag. I had always struggled with needleturn applique, so this was an excellant opportunity to practise this technique under the expert guidance of Gail. I'd picked fabrics from my stash, from the Super Bloom collection by Laundrey Basket Quilts. The bag pattern has a small hand embroidered piece of fabric which is appliqued to the front of the bag, which I stitched using a DMC embroidery thread...

...the flower staems are made from bias strips, and Gail demonstrated how to make these using a Clover bias tape maker. I'd had one of these for ages, but didn't really know how to use it properly. Having Gail on hand to demonstrate this was great, and I was really pleased with my results. The bird, flowers and leaves have been needleturn appliqued, and stitched onto a low volume print from the same fabric collection. The background has then been layered with a piece of bamboo wadding and hand quilted with a DMC perle thread. Some buttons have been added to one of the flowers.....

...I decided to make mine a project bag with a zipper closeure rather than a tote bag, as I thought that would be more useful for my sewing projects. To maje the main part of my project bag, I used a piece of ByAnnie Soft and Stable wadding which I quilted in a simple cross hatch design. The top edge of a piece of ByAnnie vinyl was neatened with a wide binding and a zipper was added. The two pieces of wadding and the vinyl were then stitched together and the raw edges neatened with a double fold binding - this was made with 3 fabrics for a scrappy effect. I used the Clover bias tape maker to make a fabric pull to add to the zipper head. This is a super project bag, and the clear vinyl means I can easily see what I've got tucked inside it...

...this picture shows the back of the project bag. This was really simple to make, and I'll definately make more of these for keeping my projects in. They can be made whatever size you like, and I might make a couple of smaller ones too.

Tully Tote

1/8/2024

Last year I bought this kit from Coast and Country Crafts and Quilts - the pattern is the Tully Tote by the Australian designer Natalie Bird, of The Birdhouse Patchwork Designs. The kit included the pattern, fabrics for both the bag outer and the lining, embroidery threads, ribbon for the drawstring, and pre-cut paper hexagons. All I've had to add is the bag wadding. The cutting instructions are really clear, and once all the pieces had been cut, the front panel was simpke to piece together. The front and one of the side panels is embellished with hand embroidery and applique...

...the back panel is made with EPP hexagons. As I'd mentioned, the pre-cut paper hexagons were included in the kit. The hexagons were made using the thread basting method, and were then stitched together to make the panel. This was trimmed to size, layered with wadding, and quilted using a grey DMC perle thread...

...the bag is constructed very simply, with all four sides being joined together and then the base is added. I decided to add a small patchwork pocket on one of the sides of the bag, as a useful place to put my scissors. I simply lined both the pocket front and lining with interfacing and added a little frill along the top edge of the pocket...

...one of my pre-printed labels has been stitched between the fabric top and the lining. A ribbon is threaded through a casing, and is gathered up and tied in a neat bow to close the bag...

...here are a couple of pictures showing firstly the front of the bag, with the hand embroidery and hand appliqued hexie flower, and then the side panel, with the appliqued 3-D flower...

...and here are a couple of pictures showing the side panel with the patchwork pocket, and then the quilted hexagons which form the back of the bag...

...now my version of the Tully Tote is completed, it is ready to be filled with some sewing bits and bobs. This is so pretty, and practical - I'm really going to enjoy using it. Another project completed, so I can tick this one off that very list that I shared in January!

Workshop Projects

31/7/2024

The ladies that were attending Gail Pan's workshops at Poppy Patch were making an assortment of projects. The needleturn projects were beautiful, and some ladies were lucky enough to be there for more than one day, getting lots of tuition from Gail...

...some of the ladies chose to stitch hand embroidery projects. Gail had provided iron-on transfers to save same tracing the stitchery designs, which was really helpful...

...this was my project - the Dilly Dally bag. Gail suggested making a start on the appliqued flower for the pocket, and I'm really pleased with my result! Needleturn applique is a tricky technique to learn, and following Gail's advice, I'll practise a little bit, including a circle, every day. Gail had several samples of her work on display which were all beautiful - I've got lots of practising to do before mine are as lovely as hers!

World Embroidery Day 2024

30/7/2024

Are you celebrating World Embroidery Day this year? I'm watching Mr F play cricket while I'm stitching a new hand embroidery project - this one is Bird in a Basket by the Australian designer Lynette Anderson, and also includes English Ppaer Piecing, along with some hand applique. And folllowing on from my needleturn applique workshop with Gail Pan last Saturday, that's the method I'll be using, once I've had a bit more practise. But for now I'm going to carry on with the hand embroidery, with some gorgeous variegated Valdani embroidery threads.

Meeting the Friends in my Phone

29/7/2024

Part of the enjoyment of workshops is meeting up with like-minded people, who enjoy the peacefulness of stitching and creating. While I was on the workshop with Gail Pan at Poppy Patch on Saturday, a couple of the ladies that I met also follow me on social media - and I follow them too. It was so lovely to finally meet up, and give each other a hug and say hello properly. Jill and Cheryl it was really special to meet you both - hopefully we'll meet again soon!

Workshop with Gail Pan Designs

28/7/2024

I spent a wonderful day at Poppy Patch yesterday with Gail Pan - Gail is an Australian designer who stitches the most beautiful needleturn appliquedand hand embroidered projects. I've made several of Gail's over the years - bags, quilts and wallhangings - but I've always struggled with hand applique, preferring to use the Appliquick method. So I decided a workshop with Gail would be the perfect way to try to improve my skills! Gail is an excellent teacher, she was very friendly and patient and very generous with her time. She was very encouraging, and all of the ladies on the workshop enjoyed themselves. I'll share some pictures of our projects tomorrow.