Blog Archives - Nicola Foreman Quilts

My Stitching Things - Completed

25/1/2020

Back in November, I stitched the hand embroidery for "My Stitching Things" - designed by the Australian designer Gail Pan. This was packed in my sewing bag when I went on a weekend quilting retreat, but I ran out of time to finish it, and it's been in my sewing bag ever since then! A couple of weeks ago I bought some beautiful red fabrics that were just perfect for finishing this project. "My Stitching Things" is a folder for holding patterns and notions and bits and bobs, and has a hand embroidered centre piece. Smart fabric ties have been used to secure the folder and keep everything tucked safely inside, and thick card inserts give it structure...

...I used a mixture of fabrics from French General by Moda and Andover Fabrics to compliment the red embroidery. Inside the folder there are several useful pockets, and a wool felt needle holder. One row of pockets has been trimmed with tape measure ribbon. I delved into my button tin for an assortment of vintage buttons to trim one of the embroidered blocks on the front of the folder...

....this has been machine quilted around the centre panel, then hand quilted very simply using variegated Valdani perle threads in cream and red. The sides have been topstitched using a mid-grey Aurifil 40wt thread. If you want to enlarge the pictures, just click on them for a closer look.

Another Trixie Zip Pouch

24/1/2020

Last Saturday I shared a picture of a new zippered pouch I'd made, using the Trixie Zip Pouch pattern by Minkie Kim. It's a really pattern to make, and is a great style for using either a feature fabric of scraps. It was so easy to make, I made another one in the aftrernoon! This one has been made with some pieces of fabric from the Hollyhock Cottage collection by Lynette Anderson Designs, and was embellished with a piece of vintage lace. I quilted it very simply, using a variegated King Tut machine quilting thread. This will be a great pouch for keeping my Apliquick tools in.

My Stitching Things - Hand Quilting

23/1/2020

"My Stitching Things" was the perfect project for practising my hand quilting! Initially I'd machine quilted around the edge of the stitchery panel, then decided to add a row of hand quilting a quarter inch in from the edge with a cream Valdani perle thread. Another Valdani perle thread was used for the rest of the hand quilting, this time I chose a variegated red perle thread to match the fabrics. My stitches are rather rustic, and I definitely need to practise more, and hope my sister, who is the Queen-of-Hand-Quilting will give me some lessons!

My Stitching Things - Applique

22/1/2020

I've almost finished hand quilting the cover of "My Stitching Things" sewing folder, and this little stitchery design is going to be appliqued onto one of the pockets. The design was traced using a Micron Pigma pen, and a small piece of lightweight interfacing was fused onto the wrong side of the background fabric. I've used a variegated Valdani perle thread for the embroidery - this is the same perle thread that I used for the hand quilting. This little design just needs to be trimmed to size, and appliqued into place.

My Stitching Things - The Fabrics

20/1/2020

I recently had a shopping trip to Sew and So's at Bungay and couldnt resist these gorgeous red fabrics. They were just what I'd been looking for, to finish "My Stitching Things" (pattern by Gail Pan Designs) that I'd started back in November 2019. The embroidered centre was stitched using Presencia Finca perle thread, then it was packed away in a huge pile of projects on my sewing table, while I deliberated over what fabrics to use. When I saw these ones, I knew they were just what I was looking for! Lots of slow stitching will be done in the evenings so I can practise my hand quilting on this project.

Safari Life Fabrics

19/1/2020

A bit of secret sewing has been going on at Forman Towers, using a "Safari Life" charm pack by Stacy Iest Hsu for Moda, some yardage from the same collection, and some pale grey Grunge spot also by Moda. This was purchased on a recent trip to Sew and So's at Bungay. I can't reveal the finished project just yet, as it's being posted off to a very special little boy on Tuesday, and I don't want to spoil the surprise!

Trixie Zip Pouch

18/1/2020

I absolutely LOVE this! The pattern is "Trixie Zip Pouch" by Minki Kim - the original pattern uses one pice of fabric for the outer, but I chose two contasting fabrics, embellished with some vintage lace. This was quilted very simply using Aurifil 40wt thread...

...I cut the binding on the bias, which has covered the corved edge nicely without any puckers, and I added some top stitching when the zipper was stitched in place. Tthis has only taken a couple of hours to make, and it's ready to be wrapped and gifted to a friend.

Badger Cottage - A Gift Set

16/1/2020

I'm really pleased with how this gift set looks - "Badger Cottage" Journal Cover and Pencil case, by Lynette Anderson Designs, is such a pretty pattern, and combines two of my favourite techniques, applique and hand embroidery. Now this set is complete, it's ready to wrappped and gifted to someone very special. I changed the pencil case from the original pattern instructions, and it maybe just a bit too large, but I'm sure it will be put to good use! I've got a new zipper pouch pattern to try out that might look better, so I'll be testing that with some more of these gorgeous Hollyhock Cottage fabrics (also designed by Lynette) so watch this space!

Badger Cottage Pencil Case

15/1/2020

The stitchery/applique design is from the Badger Cottage Journal Cover and Pencil Case pattern by the Australian designer, Lynette Anderson Designs, and I'd already made the journal cover a few days ago. The original design for this pencil case uses hexaons, but I preferred to use some of my "Lynette" fabrics, from the Hollyhock Cottage collection, and I wanted a slightly larger case, so drafted my own template for this one. The case was layered with some thin felted polyester wadding, and quilted in a simple cross hatch design. The zipper was stitched in place by hand...

...yesterday's plans were scuppered due to the blustery weather, so I spent the afternoon in my sewing studio with some tiny Suffolk Puffs and a few vintage buttons from my button tin. This has made a cute decorative zipper pull. The centre stitchery design has been hand embroidered using DMC thread, and has been appliqued into place on the front of the quilted pencil case.

Hollyberry House Completed

13/1/2020

My Hollyberry House quilt is completed at last! Unfortunately I didn't manage to finish this one before the festive season, as life got in the way, but it's been a delightful project to stitch over the past few weeks, combining hand embroidery using variegated Valdani embroidery threads, and hand appliqued using a variety of techniques (the Apliquick method, wool applique, and 3-D applique)...

...the pattern is by Lynette Anderson Designs, and the fabrics, also designed by Lynette, were bought as a fabric pack from Cross Patch, along with the hand painted wooden star button. This was machine quilted very simply, using a cream coloured King Tut quilting thread. A small hand embroidered label, embellished with a reindeer, has been appliqued to the back of the quilt. It;s all ready now to be rolled up and stored until December 2020 when I display all of my smaller festive quilts in my sewing studio!