Nicola Foreman Quilts - BLOG

Stitching Pouch

24/6/2019

A few weeks ago I had a lovely parcel arrive from the Little Quilt Store in Australia. This pattern is called "Stitching Pouch", designed by Lynette Anderson - also included was a vinyl sewing-themed flap. I pulled a few fabrics from my "Lynette" box for making this project - the pattern suggests using strips of fabric for the back, but I preferred to use this piece from one of the feature prints from Lynette's Hollyhock Cottage collection. This has been machine quilted using a variegated King Tut quilting thread, in a very simple cross-hatch design...

...I used a piece of linen for the front of the pouch, which was then hand embroidered using a selection of Valdani Perle threads from the Cross Patch Favourites collection. The vinyl sewing-themed flap was hand stitched into place on the back of the pouch, and folds over to close with a popper fastening...

...inside the pouch there's a plastic zippered pocket which is perfect for storing some sewing bits and bobs and a pocket for a small embroidery hoop and pencils and pens. There's even a small pincushion for keeping needles safe and secure...

...this stitching pouch is ideal for putting my latest hand sewing project in, and will be packed in my suitcase when I'm off on my hols next week as I always like to have a sewing project or two with me for the journey!

Festival of Quilts 2019 - Discounted Tickets

23/6/2019

**GIVEAWAY** exciting news as well as having five pairs of tickets to give away for the fantastic Festival of Quilts 2019, I also have a discount code which is NICOLA19 and gives £2 off standard advance adult tickets/ £1 off advance concessions (£14.50 instead of £16.50 adult advance/£14.00 instead of £15.00 concessions), plus £1.95 fulfilment fee per transaction. This discount is for advanced bookings only and can be redeemed before 23:59 on Wednesday 31st July.
Tickets can be booked online at https://www.thefestivalofquilts.co.uk/tickets/ticket-options/ or by calling 0844 581 1319 and quoting the discount code. Remeber to comment below if you'd like to be in with a chance of winning a pair of free tickets! Good luck in the giveaway and have a happy Sunday!

Festival of Quilts 2019 - Giveaway!

22/6/2019

Ohhh those lovely people at The Festival of Quilts have offered FIVE pairs of tickets for some of my lucky followers. If you'd like to be in with a chance of winning a pair of tickets, just comment below, and I'll announce the lucky winners on Friday. This giveaway is also on my Instagram account and on my quilting FB page.
*Please note this is only for people with a UK address.

Bungay Quilt Show 2019

21/6/2019

Here are just a few of the beautiful quilts on display at the exhibition of students and customers work, in the Emmanuel Hall, Bungay. Organised by Sew and So's of Bungay, this event is also on tomorrow., so if you're free, why don't you pop along to have a look? Oh and there's tea and cake too there too - and I can highly recommend the lemon drizzle. And after that, there's always Sew and So's for some shopping too!

Share Your Heart Wallhanging

20/6/2019

Last year I bought a super book called Make it Blue by the Australian designer Natalie Bird of The Birdhouse Patchwork Designs. It's filled with lots of smaller pretty projects, as well as the instructions for making the larger quilt that's featured on the front cover. I'd bought this kit from Cross Patch to make the "Share Your Heart" wallhanging last year, and thought it was about time I put it to good use. Most of the hand embroidery was stitched using DMC threads and the 2 hearts were stitched using a gorgeous blue varigated Valdani perle thread. Rather than embroidering the mouse's nose and the flower, I used some vintage buttons instead...

...these gorgeous blue fabrics are by Edytar Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts for Andover Fabrics. I particularly like the stripey fabric that Julia included in the kit for the binding. The applique was stitched in place using Aurifil 80wt thread. This wallhanging is approx 9" wide x 16" long and was machine quilted very simply using a neutral coloured Aurifil 50wt thread, that I'd also used for piecing...

...a small quilt sleeve was hand stitched to the back of the wallhanging, and it's ready to display on a decorative quilt hanger.

Forest Friends Framed Picture

15/6/2019

This project has been on my "to-do" list for several months! The pattern for Forest Friends, by Lynette Anderson Designs, and these hand painted wooden buttons, was a Christmas present from a very good friend - she knows me so well! - and I bought the white wooden frame from Little Quilt Store in Australia. The stitchery design was traced using a Micron Pigma pen, and hand embroidered using a selection of DMC threads...

...the stitchery designs have been embelished with hand painted wooden buttons, and each individual picture has a small piece of wadding fused to the back. There's even a small piece of ribbon trimming that has been appliqued into place. Here's my completed picture, and it's all ready to be displayed in my lounge.

Antique Rose - Teal

11/6/2019

Here's my latest project, photographed early this morning before it was delivered! My daughter requested a gift for a friend, so after a busy day at work, I spent yesterday evening in my sewing studio and this is the result. The pattern, as always, is Anna's Sminkepung by the Norwegian designer AnnAKa, and is available from quilt shops in Scandinavia. This beautiful fabric is part of the Antique Rose collection by Lecien Fabrics which I'd bought from Sew and So's of Bungay - it really is beautiful fabric, and hopefully I can squeeze another one from the leftover pieces of fabric for myself!

Trialling Valdani Perle Threads

9/6/2019

A couple of weeks ago I shared a picture of some gorgeous Valdani perle threads that had been sent to me from Cross Patch, an online quilt shop based in Wales, here in the UK. These are from the "Cross Patch Favourites" collection and they're absolutely lovely to stitch with! Here's a little peek at the embroidery for the "Stitching Pouch" by Lynette Anderson Designs - rather than use the threads that Lynette recommended, I decided to trial the perle ones instead, and I'm absolutely thrilled with them - I'll definitely use them on some more stitchery projects that I've got planned.

Blue Bird Needlebook

8/6/2019

Last year I bought the Make it Blue book by Natalie Bird of The Birdhouse Patchwork Designs. I'm not sure what it is about Australian designers, but I really do love their patterns and books! Cross Patch in Wales had several small kits to make some of the projects that are featured in the book, and I couldn't resist this one for the Blue Bird Needlebook, although it's been sitting in a very large box of kits for absolutely ages! This kit included all the fabrics, woolfelt for the pages and ric-rac for the ties. I used a selection of DMC embroidery threads for the hand embroidery. The stitches used for this were very simple. Once this verse was completed, the circular shape was cut out and appliqued into place...

...a small pocket is attached to the inside, which is ideal for storing packets of needles. Woolfelt pages have been machined into place, and are for keeping needles and pins safe and sound. An appliqued bluebird has been carefully stitched into place on the front of the needlebook, using Aurifil 80wt thread...

...and here's the completed needlebook. I decided to save the ric-rac from the kit for another project, and used some fabric ties instead, to keep the needlebook closed. I just need to tuck a couple of packets of needles inside and its all ready to use!

My Very Large Parcel - Part 3

6/6/2019

And finally my VERY large parcel from Cross Patch contained this kit to make the Green Thumb quilt, also by Lynette Anderson Designs. Julia, the owner at Cross Patch, really does put the most amazing kits together. This is another one that includes all the fabrics for the quilt top, fabrics for both the backing and binding, and the set of 5 patterns. It will be several weeks before this gorgous quilt is top of my "to do" list, but I'll have so much fun making all the other projects that are lined up on my sewing table. patiently waiting their turn!