Nicola Foreman Quilts - BLOG

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!

My Very Large Parcel - Part 2

5/6/2019

The second project in my VERY large parcel that arrived in the post from Cross Patch on Monday was this kit for the "Basket of Flowers" cushion, by Lynette Anderson Designs. This fabulous kit includes the pattern, all the fabrics, buttons that will be covered to make the flower centres, and the lace trimming. Unfortunately it might be a while before I get started on this one!

My Very Large Parcel - Part 1

4/6/2019

Inside my VERY large parcel that arrived from Cross Patch yesterday was month 1 of "Tree of Life" which is the latest mystery button club by Lynette Anderson Designs along with a fabric pack and some yarn dyed fabric by Lecien Fabrics - I'll add a few extras from my own collection of prints by Lynette to this, although it will be a few weeks before I make a start on this as I've got a few smaller projects on my cutting table ready to stitch. Watch this space for more info of the projects I'm working on!

A Very Large Parcel

3/6/2019

I recently made a cheeky little order from my favourite online shop. I must have the BEST postman, because I've been out all day so he delivered my VERY large parcel from Cross Patch to my mother-in-law who lives just a few doors away. That really is great service!

Little Summer Wonderland

1/6/2019

Last year I'd seen a project called Little Summer Wonderland by the Australian designer Lynette Anderson, in the summer 2018 edition of Simply Vintage magazine. This project is a mini quilt approx 12" x 14" and used some very simple embroidery stitches, log cabin patchwork, and is embellished with a couple of hand painted wooden buttons, also designed by Lynette...

...the hand embroidery was stitched using Cosmo embroidery threads, and I used some leftover scraps from my Hearts and Happy Flowers quilt for this - and I'm really pleased with how bright and summery it looks! The applique was completed using the Apliquick method, and hand sttiched in place with Aurifil 80wt thread. A narrow single fold binding was machined in place, and hand stitched to the back. 5 pretty tabs were finally added...

...and here is my mini quilt on display, on a decorative quilt stand. The wooden hand painted bee buttons have been stitched into place, and a tiny bee has been hand embroidered on the door of the bee hive. I love the bright, cheerful colours of these fabrics, they've certainly brightened up my lounge!

Valdani Perle Threads

28/5/2019

I've been sent the most GORGEOUS box of Valdani perle threads from Cross Patch, an online quilt shop based in Wales, here in the UK. These 12 balls of thread are the "Cross Patch Favourites" collection. The variegation on these perle threads is lovely, and they've made a very welcome addition to my thread collection...

...I haven't used Valdani perle threads before, so I'm very excited to try these ones, although I've been using Valdani hand dyed stranded embroidery threads for several years - they are hand dyed, and are just wonderful to stitch with. I might even be persuaded to try some hand quilting with these beautiful colours!