Nicola Foreman Quilts
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Stitched By Me

29/7/2016

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Do you remember the "Stitched By Me" quilt that I made a few weeks ago? This has been over with Janette at J-Quilts and she has custom longarm quilted it and as usual she has made this look fabulous! Once I'd got it home, it just needed to have the binding attached, and I'd already picked out this pretty blue stripe. I used a double-fold binding method, mitring the corners, and hand stitched the folded edge over to the back of the quilt. I added a quilt sleeve to the back using some left-over backing fabric. I machined the top edge of the quilt sleeve to the top edge of the back of the quilt, at the same time as I was machining the binding into place. This saves so much time!...
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...and finally added these cute wooden buttons, that came with the patterns. They really do add the finishing touch to the front of the quilt. Finally the quilt label - I played around with several of "Lynette- style" designs, and finally decided to make a quilt label with the wording and a border (I used a script from a Leanne Beasley as this style of writing is very similar to my hand writing), and then an appliqued bird that was over the edge of the label. The bird made from blue wool felt that was hand stitched in place using a gorgeous blue Valadani thread and blanket stitch (the idea for this border, and the bird with the heart were from Lynette's book "Raining Cats and Dogs)...
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...and here it is finally completed - blowing gently in the breeze. This pattern is by Lynette Anderson Designs, and was made with a selection of fabrics from Lynette's "My Hearts At Home" collection. This was machine pieced with Aurifil 50wt thread, hand appliqued and hand embroidered with both DMC and Valdani threads. Kits for this gorgeous quilt are available from Lynette's shop, Little Quilt Store. If you're going to the Festival of Quilts at the NEC in Birmingham this year, this will be on display on Lynette's stall. I'll be at the FOQ on the Sunday, and hope to see you there!
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Leanne's House Block 5

21/7/2016

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A couple of weeks ago the pattern for block 5 of Leanne's House arrived in the post from Julia at Cross Patch. The pattern is by the Australian designer, Leanne's House, an I have made several of her designs in the past. It didn't take me long to get the block prepared - the stitchery designs were traced using a light box and a Micron Pigma pen (I use the finest one, and you do need a very steady hand as the ink is permanent). weaveline (a fusible woven interfacing was fused to each piece of background fabric and then the block was pieced together with Aurifil 50wt thread... 
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...I always use a wooden embroidery hoop to keep the fabric taut, and the hand embroidery was completed using 2 strands of DMC thread in very simple stitches - back stitch, running stitch, lazy daisy and satin stitch. The small hearts were appliqued into place using the glue stick and applique paper method - those apliquick rods made turning over the edges of the hearts very easy! Anyway, here's the completed block. I've already stitched the first 3 blocks together to make row 1 and it's looking very pretty. Can't wait for block 6 to arrive in the post!
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Sewing Machine Cover

17/7/2016

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This cute bundle of pretty fabrics has been in my sewing box for simply AGES and it was the perfect choice for my latest project. These are a selection from the "Stitches" collection by Lynette Anderson Designs for Henry Glass & Co (from a few years ago now - ) and I'd got the perfect pink variegated Aurifil thread for quilting these pretty fabrics. I'd seen some sewing machine covers on an Instagram page that I follow, Lizzie The Quilter. Her blog is here. I downloaded a PDF pattern from her Etsy shop, and soon got to work machine piecing lots of squares together. The front pocket is neatened with binding, and I added a style idea of my own - some bright red cotton lace trimming, to match the "red" on my Bernina sewing machine. I used pellon felted polyester wadding for this, and quilted both the pocket and the cover in straight rows 0.5" apart...
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...and here's the completed sewing machine cover! The pocket at the front is just the right size for storing the extension table and instruction manual. This is ideal for keeping the dust off my machine when I keep it out for a few days, as I don't have a special sewing room yet - my sewing table has to be hastily converted back to a dining table at meal times! This was really simple to make, and I might have to stitch up a few of these for for gifts for my sewing friends. 
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Anderson's Farm - Getting Pieced Together

15/7/2016

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The first 5 blocks of Anderson's Farm have been machine pieced together with Aurifil thread, and I'm thrilled with how this project is coming along! This is the latest mystery button project, designed by Lynette Anderson Designs. This was bought online from Lynette's shop Little Quilt Store in Australia, along with a fabric pack (a selection of fabrics of various collections, also designed by Lynette), and a Valdani thread pack. Each block will be embellished with a hand painted wooden button once the quilt has been pieced together and quilted. Now I'm really looking forward to getting block 6 in the post!
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Garden Gate Stitchery

14/7/2016

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My poor postman was almost rugby tackled to the ground when he made a delivery a few weeks ago! This pattern is "Garden Gate Tote" by Lynette Anderson Designs and was ordered from Julia at Cross Patch - I must say her customer service is excellent and this arrived in super speedy time! I really didn't need another tote bag, but I'd had a very crafty idea to put this stitchery design to good use...
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...the hand embroidery was done with over-dyed Valdani thread, and once it was completed I made a start on piecing together some squares, using a selection of fabrics from Lynette's Pocketful of Daisies collection. These were pieced together with Aurifil thread...
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...linen and lace are the perfect companions to go with these pretty fabrics. I kept the quilting very simple (and again used Aurifil threads). The stitchery design was appliqued into place and my project was almost complete. The inside raw edges were bound with a strip of co-ordinating fabric, and I was ready to put a lever arch binder into it's new cover...
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...and here's the finished project! This will be used to store articles and patterns from quilting magazines, so I'll have them all together in a safe place. I really like making using projects that are pretty, and it's much quicker than making another quilt!
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More Sneak Peeks of Stitched By Me...

8/7/2016

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Janette from J-Quilts has shared another couple of pictures of Stitched By Me, the gorgeous quilt that I made a few months ago, using a Lynette Anderson Designs pattern. This was made with a kit that uses fabrics from Lynette's My Hearts At Home collection, and it looks fabulous! Janette has custom quilted this and she has done an amazing job as always! When it's back with me again, I'll add the binding and then need to embellish it with the cute wooden buttons that came with the pattern.
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Journey Of A Quilter

7/7/2016

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Ohhhh I was nearly giddy when this gorgeous fabric pack and set of patterns arrived in the post from Cross Patch in Wales! This is another quilt by the Australian designer Leanne Beasley, and Julia (the owner of Cross Patch) has picked out the most gorgeous fabrics to make this with! Lots of hand embroidery means I'll be kept very busy over the next few months. I'd love to here from you if you're also stitching this one.
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Sneak Peeks Of Stitched By Me...

7/7/2016

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Ohhh I was so excited when Janette (she's an amazing longarm quilter and there are lots of pictures of her incredible work on her website) sent me some sneak peeks of my "Stitched By Me" quilt. This was designed by Lynette Anderson Designs, and was made with a kit using fabrics from Lynette's "My Hearts At Home collection. If you want to stitch this beautiful quilt, kits are available from Lynette's shop Little Quilt Store and can be ordered online here Stitched By Me quilt kit.

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Leanne's House Block 4

5/7/2016

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Block 4 of Leanne's House has been in my sewing basket for a while, and after I'd caught up with my other projects I could focus on getting this block completed. This BOM is supplied by Cross Patch in Wales, and I just love the gorgeous fabrics that Julia has put together for this kit. Once the block was pieced together, I traced the stitchery designs onto the background fabric with a Micron Pigma pen, and embroidered the designs with DMC threads (these were supplied as part of the BOM). This really is a very pretty project to stitch...
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...and here is the completed block. This was machine pieced with Aurifil 50wt thread, and a Schmetz Microtex size 60 needle. I use a lot of machine needles, as I prefer to change them at least every 6 hours (it's surprising what a difference a new needle makes to your sewing, especially if you're precision piecing!) and I bulk buy from Barnyarns here in the UK. This has been a lovely block to put together, and I really love the mixture of piecing with hand embroidery, and look forward to getting block 5 in the post soon! 
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    About me...

    Hi - welcome to my quilting blog! My passions are my family, my dog, my friends and sewing, not necessarily in that order! 
    ​​I live in Suffolk, not far from the coast, surrounded by the beautiful countryside.  
    ​If you want to share or pin any of my pictures, please link back to my blog.

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    RSS Feed

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    Blogs I follow

    A Quilt Lady
    A Quilting Life
    Abyquilt
    Anne-Grethe's quiltblog
    Anne Marie Quilt
    Bente Malm Quilte-Design
    Bloom
    Cinderberry Styitches
    Daisy made it
    Dilly Dimple
    Karis Quilterier
    Evas Quilterom
    Erickaeckles
    Fantasia Yarns
    Gail Pan Designs
    Hanne's Quilt Corner
    Halfpenny Home
    I'm a Ginger Monkey
    J-quilts
    Just Jude Designs
    Kviltstina
    Leanne's House
    Liv Aagots Quilteblogg
    Lily's Quilts
    Litamora's Quilt & Design
    Lynette Anderson Designs
    Merete's Quiltestue
    Mona's quiltblog
    Pam's Paradise Stitching
    Pia Si Sia
    Random Ramblings
    Sigrun's blog
    Sølvi's blog
    U-handblog
    ZewNice

     UK shops

    These are the UK shops that I use to purchase my quilting supplies - fabrics and threads etc.
    Bramblepatch
    Buttonberry
    Coast and Country Crafts
    Craft Den
    Cross Patch
    Emma's Fabric Studio
    Fiona's Fabrics
    Glenroy Designs
    Halfpenny Home
    Hulu
    J-quilts
    KIS Quilting
    Patchwork Chicks
    Quilter's Cloth
    Quilters Haven
    Sew and So's
    The Eternal Maker
    The Fat Quarters
    The Quilt Room
    U-handbag

    Australian links

    Cookies and Cream Craft
    Homespun magazine
    Little Quilt Store
    Quilt Fabric Delights
    Under The Mulberry Tree

    Scandinavian links

    Lapp-Elisa Quilts HB
    Lappedesign
    Lappedilla AS
    Myquilt
    Northern Quilts
    Quiltegården
    Quiltekroken
    Quiltemagasinet
    Quiltespecialisten
    Sy-Sammen