Blog Archives

Orange Batik Journal Cover

26/9/2017

Another quick project (made on Monday afternoon) - a simple quilted journal cover, made with a selection of orange/red batik fabrics, quilted very simply with King Tut variegated orange thread, and embellished with some vintage buttons...

..this journal cover holds an A4 display book, and I played around with some free motion quilting on a few of the scraps of fabric,,,..

...and here's the completed journal cover. This bright gift if for my friend Linda - I really hope she likes it!

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Blue Batik Folder Cover

25/9/2017

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My latest project - a simple quilted journal cover, made with a selection of blue batik fabrics, quilted very simply with Mettler variegated blue thread, and embellished with some vintage buttons. This cover fits an A4 display book...

...this shows a close up of the straight rows of quilting and the vintage buttons. The folder cover was quilted in straight rows with a variegated blue YLI thread..

...this shows a close up of the straight rows of quilting and the vintage buttons. This is a gift for my friend Helen who is rather fond of blue fabrics, so I hope she likes it!

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Trees and Feathers and Leaves

25/9/2017

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Many years ago (well about 8 or 9) I did a class called "trees" with an amazing tutor, Helen Howes. The background was pieced with an assortment of scraps (all left overs from various quilts and bags!). The idea was to applique trees into place, and to free motion quilt in the spaces - well my free motion quilting, along with my creative inspiration, was sadly lacking, and this was rolled up and put away, and had been long forgotten about. That is until I unpacked box upon box of goodies for my sewing studio. This was the perfect project to practice my free motion quilting skills with...

...I finally had permission to "play" with my new Bernina 570QE and practiced lots of squiggles and feathery shapes and plumes and leaves under the expert guidance and tuition of Philippa Naylor. As you can see, this wall hanging was finished without a binding - instead, it was finished with a facing, and I've added a sleeve to the back so it can be displayed on the wall of my sewing studio...

...an assortment of quilting threads were used for this project - mostly YLI variegated threads, along with some King Tut and some gorgeous Sulky threads that had never been used before! I still need to practise those feathery plumes, and I'm definitely not up to Philippa's standards yet, but I'm not longer afraid to try, and really have enjoyed time to "play" with my machine in an arty way, rather than having to make something specific!

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Let It Snow Table Topper Completed

24/9/2017

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This table topper was started back in December - the machine piecing, the hand applique (using the applique paper, glue stick and Apliquick tools method) and the hand embroidery with DMC threads was all completed, then it was packed away ready to be quilted at a later date - and has been waiting in my "small projects to be completed pile" ever since! Well, yesterday I decided it was time to quilt it, and did some very simple stitch-in-the ditch quilting to outline the snowball blocks and the star blocks. I used some thin cotton wadding and used the green star print from this collection for the backing (this was bought from Cross Patch in Wales). I knew exactly what quilting design I wanted in the borders - so the feed dogs were lowered, the stitch length set to 0, and I was busy with lots of free motion quilting using a variegated YLI quilting thread, shade "Festival" 14V. I didn't want to waste the variegated thread, so used a dark green Mettler 40wt thread in the bobbin...

...once all the quilting was done, all four sides of the table topper were stay-stitched about an eighth of an inch from the edge, using a slightly longer stitch length than usual, and the edges were trimmed. Finally some cute raw wood wooden buttons were hand stitched into place...

...a narrow single fold binding in the red stars print was used for the binding - I cut strips of fabric 1.5" wide, and joined them with a mitred seam. The binding was machined to the front of the quilt, folded over, and then hand stitched to to the back of the table topper by hand...

...I really do love these holly leaves, and love this variegated quilting thread - it really was perfect for this project, and had been in my thread box for way too long! I hadn't really played properly with my Bernina 570QE until a couple of weeks ago, and haven't tried the BSR yet - so the holly leaves were all done entirely by me!!...

...and the table topper was finally completed. This pattern is by Lynette Anderson Designs, and these fabrics are from Lynette's Festive Fun collection. I'd initially bought as a kit from Lynette's stall at the Festival of Quilts last year, along with another table runner kit that is still waiting to be made too!

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Anna Table Runner

22/9/2017

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I was sorting through a few more boxes of goodies when I was unpacking boxes in my my sewing studio, and I pulled together a few fabrics for another table runner. This pattern is called "Anna" and is from the Norwegian quilting magazine "MyQuilt" issue 04/2015. I absolutely LOVE sewing with batiks - and most of these were left over from a quilt that I use all the time, draped over the back of my leather sofa. This pattern was really simple to make, and I just followed the diagrams rather than actually reading the Norwegian instructions! Most of these blocks were quilted in straight rows, using the edge of the walking foot as a guide, but a couple of blocks were free motion quilted...

...it was a great opportunity to play with my new Bernina 570QE (it's hardly been out of it's box since I bought it) and a great opportunity to practise free motion quilting! I used an open toed embroidery foot, lowered the feed dogs and set the stitch length to 0 and had lots of fun! Even the back of the quilting didn't look too bad. You can click on the pictures to enlarge them to get a better view...

...a very simple single fold binding was the perfect finish to this runner - and it now has pride of place on my dining table. I used a very thin pellon wadding for this, and it has quilted really well. I've still got a few leftovers of these gorgeous batiks, so might have to rustle up some place mats too!

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An Autumn Morning Walk

19/9/2017

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Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness - close-bosom friend of the maturing sun. I've been getting some Autumnal inspiration this morning whilst out for a walk with that hairy hound. I'm so lucky to live in the Suffolk countryside, not far from the forest and not too far from the coast (although that's a car journey rather than a walk!) and being out in the fresh air for a brisk walk is one of my favourite past times. It really was a bit chilly this morning, and I was glad I wearing a pair of woolly tights and stout brogues, although Jasper didn't seem at all bothered by the crispness in the air!

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Festival of Quilts 2017 - Scandinavian Christmas

18/9/2017

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A few months ago, Lynette Anderson sent me a fat eight bundle of her latest festive fabrics, Frosty Friends. I teamed them up with some linen, and made one of Lynette's gorgeous quilts - Scandinavian Christmas. This was hand embroidered and hand pieced, and Janette at J-Quilts worked her usual magic with some wonderful freehand custom quilting. I was nearly giddy with excitement when Lynette asked if she could borrow it for her stand at the FOQ this year (she was also using Stitched By Me that I'd made the previous year too). Sadly I wasn't able to get a picture of it when I visited the FOQ, but Lynette posted this photograph on Instagram and FB yesterday, so I've "borrowed" it! This quilt was great fun to make, and it will be proudly displayed in my sewing room over the festive season.
If you'd like to make one too, the set of patterns are available from Lynette's online shop Little Quilt Store and there is also a list of worldwide stockists of Lynette's patterns and fabrics on her website..

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Jelly Roll Quilts

9/9/2017

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My sewing mojo still isn't at it's optimum level (I've been home a week now post surgery and I'm still so exhausted every day!) so all I've managed over the past couple of days is to sort through a couple of my boxes of goodies - and I found a HUGE box of jelly Rolls that I had bought a few years ago when I taught Jelly Roll classes at my local quilt shop. These are a few of the samples that I'd made for the classes I taught - patterns are Denver Omlette, Mexican Fiesta Eggs and Pinwheel Puffs. These were all part of the Breakfast Club that my local shop took part in. Please don't ask me for copies of these patterns, as I don't have the copyright to distribute them!)

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Fernhill - The Quilting is Completed!

6/9/2017

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Eeekkk!! Janette from J-Quilts has been very busy and she has finished the freehand custom quilting on my Fernhill quilt. This pattern is by Lynette Anderson Designs, and was bought online as a fabulous kit from Cross Patch in Wales. This small quilt has been hand embroidered with variegated Weeks Dye Works threads, and hand appliqued using the applique paper and glue stick method with apliquick tools. The quilt label will incorporate some of the details of the quilt, and I'll use some of the left over embroidery threads for it.

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Fernhill is Getting Quilted!

4/9/2017

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After my recent hospital stay, I won't be sewing for a few days, so here's a little peek of something else for you instead! My wonderful longarm quilter J-Quilts has already made a start on custom quilting my Fernhill quilt. This lovely pattern is by Lynette Anderson Designs, and this was bought as a kit along with a set of pretty hand painted wooden buttons, a few months ago from Cross Patch in Wales. Julia really does put gorgeous kits together. Seeing this has really cheered me up! While Janette is busy working her magic on this, I've got a chance to get a label designed ready for the quilt's return!

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<<Previous

Orange Batik Journal Cover

Blue Batik Folder Cover

Trees and Feathers and Leaves

Let It Snow Table Topper Completed

Anna Table Runner

An Autumn Morning Walk

Festival of Quilts 2017 - Scandinavian Christmas

Jelly Roll Quilts

Fernhill - The Quilting is Completed!

Fernhill is Getting Quilted!

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