Nicola Foreman Quilts - BLOG

Roses and Ruching Pincushion

24/11/2021

Here's the completed Roses and Ruching Pincushion - this is the second project that I've stitched as a member of the Poppy Patch Posse. This pretty pattern is included in this lovely kit supplied by Poppy Patch, along with all the fabrics, embroidery threads and wadding. I've shared earlier posts on my blog of the hand embroidered label, making the patchwork top, constructing the body of the pincushion and the 3D applique...

...once the 3D applique has been stitched to the top of this sweet pincushion, I filled it with crushed walnut shells through the opening in the side seam - this was then closed by hand using a fine thread and ladder stitch, ensuring the filling stays in and the stitches don't show. My top tip for buying crushed walnut shells is to try your local quilt shop - it's sold as lizard bedding, and is very ecconomical!...

...the hand embroidered label has also been stitched in place, nestling among the roses. This is a really lovely pincushion, which will have pride of place on my sewing table.
If you'd like to make one of these too, the kit for this pincushion was supplied by Poppy Patch - and includes the pattern with full size traceable stitchery design and full size applique templates, all the fabrics, fusible wadding and embroidery threads. The pattern is designed by Melissa Grant of One Day in May Creations.

A Dog's Life Pencil Case

18/11/2021

Back in December 2015, I made a baby quilt with these fabrics (from the Patch collection by Henley Studio for Makower UK). I don't normally keep scraps, but these were larger pieces that were put in a "they'll be useful oneday" bag and they were just what I needed for this project! I couldn't resist this pattern by Hatched and Patched - it's A Dog's Life Pencil Case, purchased online from Coast and Country Crafts and Quilts a couple of weeks ago...

... this pattern combines 2 of my favourite techniques, hand applique and hand embroidery. The design was traced onto a grey background fabric and I picked a few DMC embroidery threads in colours to co-ordinate with my prints. The hand embroidery was stitched first, then I added the striped "ground" by machine. The original pattern used wool for the applique, however I chose cotton fabrics and used the Apliquick method for turning the edges over. The applique shapes were hand stitched using Aurifil 80wt thread. I fused a piece of Pellon H630 to the wrong side of both the front and the back of the pencil case to give it a bit more structure...

...once the zipper is in place the pencil case is machined together and the lining has a gap that is used for turning the pencil case through - although I used fusible wadding on the front and back of the pencil case, I didn't use it for the lining. My favourite stitch for closing seams like this is ladder stitch - small neat stitches that resemble the rungs of a ladder, then when the stitches are pulled together it leaves a nice neat, flat seam, rather than the thicker seam that you'd get with slip stitch...

...and you can't see which part of the seam was stitched by hand! Once the lining gap is closed, the lining is puched inside the pencil case and it's ready to be used. As you can see, I even managed to find a zipper in a co-ordinating colour to make my fabrics too - that's the beniefit of have a HUGE collection of zippers..

...I pieced the back of the pencil case with the feature print and a piece of grey fabric leftover from the stitchery/applique background, as I wanted the dogs to be the right way up! A small piece of the strip that I used for the "ground" was also used for the zipper tabs - all the instruction for making the tabs and the zipper insersertion are in the instructions, which are really well written and clearly illustrated, making this a simple project for any zipper-phobes!...

...and here's the finished pencil case - filled with my quilting pencils, ready to put in my sewing bag. This would make a great little gift so I may well make more of these!

3D Applique

14/11/2021

Both the leaves and the roses that are used to embellished on the top of the Roses and Ruching Pincushion are made with 3D applique. They are constructed in the same way, using a piece of fusible webbing that is fused to the wrong side of your fabric. The paper backing sheet is removed then the fabric is folded in half to made a doublesided piece for your applique. The leaf shapes have been traced onto the matt side of a piece of Reynolds Freezer Paper, this is ironed onto your double sided fabric, then cut out on the traced lines. Leaf veins are then drawn on the fabric using a fabric marking pen, ready for stitching on to the top of the pincushion...

...the roses are initially made in the same way - I've used Lite Steam-A-Seam 2 as the fusible webbing. Once the traced shape has been cut out of the doublesided roses fabric,a running stitch is made along the raw edge (not along the scalloped edge) and then gathered up...

...starting at the smaller end, a bud is shaped with a few securing stitched. The rose takes shape by gently winding the gathered edge around in a spiral, not too tightly, securing the layers with a few stitches as you go. Once the rose is completed, the stitches are secured so it doen't unrvael, then is can be stitched in place on the top of the pincushion.
If you'd like to make one of these too, the kit for this pincushion was supplied by Poppy Patch - and includes the pattern, all the fabrics, wadding and embroidery threads. The pattern is designed by Melissa Grant of One Day in May Creations.

Ironing Board Cover

12/11/2021

I've got a small table top ironing board in my sewing studio and it was in desperate need of a new cover, so using one of these gorgeous Wash Day fabrics (by Henry Glass for Makower UK) I've made a new one. Using the old cover as a template, here's the result! I made new padding with cotton batting and Insulbrite as the old one had definitely seen better days, and I also added a layer of wadding underneath the actual cover, so it was a bit more sturdy when I stitched the casing on. My poor old arthritic fingers really didn't like threading the elastic through the casing so I won't make another one in a hurry!...

...corded elastic, rather than flat elastic, was used for this project, and I made sure it really was nice and tight before stitching the elastic closed. The layers of wadding and insulbright were also stitched together before adding the cover so the layers don't slip around when it's being used. This particular ironing board has a hole on the back for hanging on a hook, ao it doesn't have to be out all the time, it can be tidied away...

and here's my posh new ironing board cover - all ready to be used in my sewing studio. I tend to use my wool pressing mat for most pressing tasks, but this small board will still be very useful. And it's certainly brightened up my ironing station/cutting table!

A New Pegbag

10/11/2021

Sometimes you make a project and the fabrics are just PERFECT - and this was certainly the case when I decided to make a new pegbag! These fun fabrics are by Henry Glass for Makower UK and had been purchased back in 2013 from the Cross Patch stall at the Autumn Quilt Festival in Duxford. Although I'd made a couple of pegbags at the time (they'd been sold on my stall at a local Christmas Craft Fair) I still had a few pieces leftover. Firstly, I drafted a pattern by drawing a rectangle, then tracing around a coathanger for the shaped top (note to self - this was the smallest coathanger I had in my wardrobe, a child's hanger would be much better for future ones) allowing 1/2" for a seam allowance all around. Rather than make a bag using a single layer of fabric, I've quilted co-ordinating fabrics together with Pellon H630 for the wadding and Aurifil 40wt thread. The front of the peg bag was constructed using 2 sections, bias strips were cut and joined together for binding around the curved opening and the 2 sections were then joined together, making sure there is room for the coathanger to be inserted...

...once the front sections were joined together, they were stitched to the back of the peg bag. Again, bias strips were cut and stiched along the raw edges as I like my projects to look as neat on the inside as the outside...

...obviously a tiny opening was left at the top of the pegbag to allow the hook to go through for hanging on the washing line. I used a small piece of leftover binding to make a smart bow which has been stitched to the top of the bag to neaten it. The second picture shows the back - this fabric collection really is so pretty...

...and here's my finished pegbag - 2 coordinating fabrics were pieced together for the lower portion of the bag. This was such a fun project to make, right from drafting my own pattern to finally stitching on the bow! Now I'll have the poshest washing line in Suffolk and my pegs have got a cosy new home!

Constructing the Pincushion

27/10/2021

I've made good progress with my second Poppy Patch Posse project, the Roses and Ruching Pincushion. An assortment of 1.5" squares have been cut and pieced together to make the top of the pincushion. Once these are pieced together, they are fused to a piece of Pellon H630 wadding, and quilted very simply...

...using the template (included in the pattern) as a guide, a circle is drawn on the quilted top and cut out along the drawn line. I also made the base in the same way. The side of the pincushion is made with a strip of fabric with the ends joined together, leaving an opening for turning the pincushion through. Using a long stitch length, I've machine stitched 2 rows of gathering threads along the 2 raw edges of the joined strip - these are gathered up and the base and top of the pincushion is pinned in place, with the gathers distributed evenly, before machining all around the base...

...the pincushion is then turned the right way through, ready for attaching the 3D applique, and stuffing with your choice of filling - such as fibrefill or crushed walnut shells.
If you'd like to make one of these too, the kit for this pincushion was supplied by Poppy Patch - and includes the pattern, all the fabrics, wadding and embroidery threads. The pattern is designed by Melissa Grant of One Day in May Creations.

A Cushion for Taylor

24/10/2021

I was lucky enough to spend Friday with a very special girl, teaching her how to sew! She wanted to make a cushion with her name on, so I explained and demonstrated exactly what needed to be done, letting her do all the work on the cushion herself. She started by chosing a selection of fabrics from my scrap box (she obviously loves batiks as much as I do), chose a selection of matching threads (thank goodness for my huge Aurifil collection), then she picked a style of letters for the applique. She pressed all of her fabrics herself, traced the letters in reverse onto Lite Steam-A-Seam 2 which were then roughly cut around the traced lines and fused the webbing onto the wrong side of the batik fabrics. She then cut around each letter directly on the traced lines, peeled off the backing paper and fused the letters onto the background fabric. We used a piece of fusible Pellon H630 for the wadding and a walking foot was attached to the sewing machine. As this was her first time using a machine, I made her a sample to practise on, then she was ready to stitch the letters for her name...

...despite choosing a tricky style of letters (this whimsy style has lots of curves) she did really well, taking her time and stitching slowly. She wanted to use a different colour thread for each letter so there were lots of thread changes as well as tricky stitching! Taylor wanted a zipper in the back of the cushion too, so I taught her an easy way of doing this using bdouble-sided basting tape. My Bernina 230PE was ideal for her to use and her stitching along the zipper was perfectly straight and neat...

,,,and this is the finished result - I can't believe she's only 11 years old and produced such amazing work! She did extremely well and I was so proud of her! She worked really hard, and when I told her she'd worked harder than if she's been at school, she replied it had been much more fun than school! We've already got her next project planned as she wants to make another one with her brother's name on, so I think I just might have inspired another young stitcher!

The Little Things Pencil Case

16/10/2021

Over the past few weeks, I've been sorting through several boxes of kits, looking for smaller projects to make. This one is The Little Things Pencil Case by Hatched and Patched that I'd bought ages ago from Cross Patch. Included with the pattern was a pre-printed linen panel - this can be used for either the applique version or the stitchery version. The kit included a selection of woolfelt for the applique, the lining fabric and a zipper. Rather than use the woolfelt that was included in the kit, I decided to make the embroidered version, using a selection of my own Cosmo embroidery threads...

...the pattern requirements include Polyfuse, which is a fusible water soluble tearaway. It softens when washed and does not leave any bulk to your design but leaves a thin layer of polyester fibre which helps reduce shadowing in applique and pads the shapes. As I couldn't source this in the UK, I substituted this for Hugs n' Kisses applique paper that had I had already cut to size by tracing around the templates included in the pattern. Once all of the hand embroidery was completed, I fused the applique paper onto the wrong side of the front, back and sides of both the linen and the lining fabrics. Using a fabric gluepen along the free edges of the fabrics, then folded the edges over onto the applique paper, and pressed the edges into place...

...this project is completely hand sewn. Using a fine needle and a 60wt polyester thread in a neutral colour, the pencil case was constructed with ladder stitch. The lining was constructed in exactly the same way, then put inside the pencil case, wrong sides together. The pattern suggested using an embroidery thread and blanket stitch around the top edges to attach the case to the lining, however I preferred to just use ladder stitch, again with a fine 60wt polyester thread...

...I love these cute little satin stitch hearts on the back of the pencil case! The zipper is also secured in place by hand, with tiny slip stitches along the edge of the zipper tape onto the lining...

...the ends of the zipper are neatened with 2 fabric tabs. I like adding my own twist on the projects that I make, so I've embroidered a flower and a ladybird on the tabs...

...my pencil case has been filled with pencils ready for doodling a few of my own project ideas. The applique paper gives this pencil case a bit of structure, and will soften the more it is used.

Lecien Floral iPad Case

5/10/2021

I'd recently made an iPad case for myself and one for my husband. My sister-in-law admired them, so I thought stabiliser, I quilted I'd make one for her too. I chose a selection of Lecian floral fabrics for the iPad case outer, lining, pocket lining and binding. Once I'd layered the fabrics with ByAnnie Soft and Stable, I quilted a very simple design using a dark pink Gutermann thread shade 02779...

...the back of the iPad case has a zippered pocket (I used the ByAnnie method for inserting the zipper - there's a really useful video tutorial for inserting zippers on the ByAnnie website). As usual, I used zipper by the metre from Zipper Station. Rather than using another layer of Soft anfd Stable for the back pocket, I used a piece of H630 wadding, to reduce bulk. A strip of bias binding made from one of the floral fabrics was used to cover the raw edges around the case...

...the front of the iPad case case closes with a strip of velcro. The ByAnnie iCases pattern has instructions for making 2 different sizes but is easily adapted to make it smaller of larger than these if needed. I'd bought the pattern a few weeks ago from Plush Addict - there is a great selection of ByAnnie patterns and accessories on their website.

Poppy Patch Posse Stitching

30/9/2021

I've made a start on my second Poppy Patch Posse project, supplied by Poppy Patch. This is the embroidered tag for the Roses and Ruching Pincushion, designed by One Day In May, Creations by Melissa Grant and has been hand embroidered using a skein of Cottage Garden Threads variegated stranded embroidery thread...

...these Cottage Garden Threads really are lovely for hand embroidery and this pink one, Katie's Blush, is particularly pretty. Now the embroidery is completed, I can make a start on the patchwork for the top of the pincushion.
#poppypatchposse