Blog Archives - Nicola Foreman Quilts

Faffing About

18/8/2018

I've had a very creative morning in my sewing studio, faffing about with my soldering iron. A few weeks ago I was on a course called "Indian Tile" with the very talented Alexandra Waylett. We used sheer fabrics, and space dyed velvets, with lots of free motion embroidery and added a bit of bling with metallic threads. It was very much a "work in progress" and we all had lots of homework to do! When I was on another class with Alex on Thursday, a couple of the ladies that had also been on the Indian Tile day brought their completed work to show us - seeing how lovely they looked has inspired me to get mine finished! Now I just need to add a few beads and it will be ready to be framed.

Hydrangea Panel Part 1

17/8/2018

I had a great time yesterday at Kis Quilting Ltd with Alexandra Waylett - the course was Hydrangea Panel. When I asked my mother-in-law if I could have a couple of hydrandrangea heads from her garden, she thought I was doing a flower arranging course! My friend Linda came along with me too, and we both had great fun playing around with sheer fabrics, with lots of free motion embroidery and metallic threads. After a very productive morning I'd produced this gorgeous greeting card. The decorative part is 4" square. These would make beautiful wedding invitations.

My Quilt Has Come Home

15/8/2018

Whoop Whoop!! My "Journey of a Quilter" quilt that was entered into the Festival of Quilts this year has been safely returned. Judge's comments are sent back with the quilt in a sealed envelope, and I was really nervous about what they would say. Imagine my surprise and absolute delight when one of the judges marked my applique as excellent!! I am absolutely thrilled 😊

Spring Ornaments - Completed

14/8/2018

And here's the complete set of "Spring Ornaments" - patterns are by Lynette Anderson Designs. These were bought online as a kit from the Little Quilt Store in Australia, which included the set of 6 patterns, raw wood buttons, fabrics and twine. Hand embroidered with variegated Valdani Threads, these were then stuffed with polyester toy filling. The small openings in the bottom seam were closed invisibly with ladder stitch. These will be displayed next Spring on the white craft tree that I recently bought from Hobbycraft, along with some small decorated eggs and other Spring-themed bits and bobs.

Spring Ornament Stitchery

13/8/2018

Last week a pretty parcel arrived from the Little Quilt Store, in Australia. Inside was a gorgeous kit, "Spring Ornaments" designed by Lynette Anderson Designs. These have been hand embroidered using variegated Valdani Threads and embellished with raw wood buttons. Now they just need to be stitched together and stuffed!

Baking for a Bit of a Do

12/8/2018

Yesterday was spent entirely in the kitchen baking, baking and more baking for a very special "bit of a do" ready for a very large gathering of The Foremans. I truely am a domestic goddess! Homemade cakes really are the best, and my kitchen now smells like heaven, and is filled with delicious goodies - carrot cake, lemon drizzle cake, and a super Victoria sponge, filled with gin jam! Now please excuse me while I whip off my apron and get myself glammed up!

Festival of Quilts 2018

10/8/2018

If you're going to The Festival of Quilts this year, you might see my entry in the Two Person category. This pattern is "Journey of a Quilter" by the Australian designer Leanne Beasley, and was bought as a BOM from Cross Patch, an online quilt shop based in Wales, here in the UK This quilt was hand embroidered using DMC stranded embroidery threads, and was hand appliqued. Finally it was then custom free hand longarm quilted by J-Quilts Longarm quilting. Unfortunately I'm not able to go to the Festival of Quilts this year so I won't be able to see it displayed. If any of my followers just happen to see it, please let me know - I'd love to hear what you think of it!

Little Sweetheart Fabric

9/8/2018

Yesterday this GORGEOUS parcel of loveliness arrived in the post from Cross Patch in Wales. This is Little Sweetheart, the latest collection of fabrics by Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts for Andover Quilts. I've already got great plans this these beautiful fabrics, and it won't be long before they're on my cutting table getting sliced up! If you want to get some of this gorgeous fabric too, it's available here from the Cross Patch website.

The Sopwell Ladies Basket Society Quilt - The Borders

8/8/2018

The Sopwell Ladies Basket Society Quilt is almost finished! As you can, I've been busy with the seam ripper, and unpicked some stitching so I could add some vintage lace trimming to block 5! This quilt, designed by the Australian designer Gail Pan, is made with 6 large blocks and both a narrow inner border and a wider outer border. While this is with the longarm quilter, I'll be busy making a label ready to be appliqued to the back of the quilt. I've already started doodling a few designs for this - and I'll share some pictures on here later of my progress - and yes, there just might be a basket on the label too!

A Pretty Parcel From Oz

7/8/2018

It's always exciting when a parcel arrives in the post from Australia, and the latest delivery was a kit for these Spring Ornaments, designed by Lynette Anderson and purchased online from the Little Quilt Store. The kit contains the set of 6 patterns, fabrics (also designed by Lynette), twine, and some cute raw wood buttons that will be used to decorate these ornaments. Now I just need to gather together a selection of Valdani threads, and I'll be ready for some peaceful stitching in the evenings after a busy day at work.