Blog Archives - Nicola Foreman Quilts

A Merry Christmas Garden Quilt Top

28/9/2019

Well here it is - the borders have been added to A Merry Christmas Garden and I have to say, I'm absolutely thrilled to bits with it. I've absolutely loved every art of making this - the hand applique which is my absolute favourite technique, hand embroidery using a gorgeous red varigated Valdani perle thread from the Cross Patch Favourites collection, and machine piecing all the blocks together to make a gorgeous festive quilt. A Merry Christmas Garden is the third quilt I've made using one of Gail Pan's patterns - (she's an Australian designer, and I was lucky enough to meet her over here in the UK when she was at the Festival of Quilts a few weeks ago). This was a 6 part BOM, and the set of patterns and all the fabrics were supplied from Cross Patch, an online shop based in Wales, here in the UK. Julia, the owner, stocks a wonderful array of patterns, fabrics and kits - and her customer service really is excellent. This has now been delivered to the longarm quilter, and while it's away I can doodle some ideas ready for a personalised label to stitch on the back. Now to clean and tidy my sewing studio ready for my next Gail Pan project, "Bountiful", which I shared a picture of on here yesterday!

Bountiful Kit

27/9/2019

Ohhhh my goodness I was so excited when I arrived home from work on Monday to find this parcel waiting for me from Cross Patch - the pattern and all the fabrics to make the Bountiful wall hanging by Gail Pan Designs, which is made with simple piecing and applique. This will be in my sewing bag on Saturday when I'm meeting up with some quilty-friends. This will keep me busy over the next few weeks, as I'm going to quilt this one myself. I'm planning a little trip with my daughter over to Sew and So's at Bungay on my day off on Tuesday, so will be looking for some backing fabric for this one and some wadding too!

And Another One!

26/9/2019

I like to have a supply of assorted items that I can gift to friends and family, and my favourite "makes" are these cosmetic bags. This is my favourite cosmetic bag pattern - Anna's Sminkepung by the Norwegian designer AnnAKa - and I've used some beautiful fabric from the Antique Rose collection by Lecien that I'd bought from Sew and So's of Bungay a few months ago for this one. It's quilted very simply in a pale teal variegated KingTut quilting thread, and embellished with some vintage lace trimming.
*I bought this pattern Anna's Sminkepung several years ago online from Lapp-Elisa in Sweden. The patterns are still available - although the instructions are in Norwegian, I made mine by just following the diagrams.

Working With Linen

23/9/2019

As I've mentioned before, I'm taking part in the Great British Quilter challenge over on Instragram, and today was all about your favourite go-to background fabric. Mine has to be linen - it's beautiful to sew with both as a background for hand embroidery and applique, and is gorgeous when teamed with an assortment of fabrics - brights, muted tones, pastels and best of all my absolute favourites - batiks. Here are a few of my projects that have used linen for the background #GreatBritishQuilter

A Merry Christmas Garden - Block 6

22/9/2019

The 6th and final block of A Merry Christmas Garden is completed! The hand embroidery has been stitched using a Valdani Perle thread from the Cross Patch Favourites collection, and just uses some very simple stitches - back stitch and Colonial knots. The simple applique shapes have been stitched in place using Superior Threads Superbobs in an assortment of colours. This gorgeous festive quilt is a 6 part BOM by the Australian designer Gail Pan, and was supplied as usual by Cross Patch, an online shop based in Wales, here in the UK, along with all these beautiful fabrics. Now I just need to add the two borders and give it a final press before it goes off to the longarm quilter!

Mini Pear

21/9/2019

I've been following my friend Julie Suffolk Socks on social media for quite a while, but as I'm not a knitter I've never ordered anything from her before. Well all that all changed a couple of days ago as I saw this fab little Mini Pear kit on her Instragram account and couldn't resist getting one! It's by Corrine Lapierre, and includes the wool mix felt, embroidery threads, toy filling and even a needle - all I needed to add was a pair of scissors!...

...some simple hand embroidery is all that was needed to embellish the front of the pear. The front and back are stitched together with blanket stitch, and it's filled with polyester toy filler. This could easily be filled with crushed walnut shells and used as a pin cushion too. These would make super Christmas decorations, and I may well be making more of these! As you can see in the picture above, mine is hanging on the door handle of my sewing studio.

Farm Girl Vintage 2

20/9/2019

I absolutely LOVE books and designs by Lori Holt, and when I saw her latest book adverised on social media I knew I just had to ordser it! I ordered mine from Sew & Quilt, and it arrived really quickly (I've ordered from them online before, and I also bought my wool pressing mat from Sew & Quilt at the Festival of Quilts this year too). The book is great, and spiral bound cover ensures it lays flat when it's on your sewing table which is really helpful. Now please excuse me while I sit down on the sofa with a nice cuppa and this book - I might be some time!

Joy to the World

19/9/2019

I've just finished the hand applique and hand embridery for the final block of A Merry Christmas Garden. This has been such a lovely project to stitch, and has certainly kept me busy over the past few weeks. This pattern is by Gail Pan Designs, one of my favourite Australian designers, and this will be the third quilt that I've made using one of her designs. As usual this was supplied by Cross Patch as a BOM and Julia, the owner, certainly does put some amazing kits together. Now I just need to get this block pieced together, and I can share a picture of this at the weekend.

Fall Favourites Collection

16/9/2019

Ohhhhh just look what was waiting for me when I arrived home from work this evening! I'm really looking forward to using these GORGEOUS Valdani Perle threads from the Cross Patch Fall Favourites collection. These 12wt perle threads are simply perfect for hand embroidery and hand quilting too. This collection of threads is available from the Cross Patch Website if you'd like a set too - and believe me, these colours are absolutely divine, and this has made a super start to my week!

Tea and Treats

15/9/2019

I've been taking part in the Great British Quilter challenge on Instagram, and today was all about tea and treats. I probably drink unpteen cups of tea when I'm busy in my sewing studio, and my afternoon cuppa is usually accompanied by a slice of cake. It's a very British tradition for afternoon tea, and my cake just has to be homemade - obviously! Here are a selection of my homemade goodies - as you can see, Lemon Drizzle cake and Victoria Sponge feature a couple of times, and my absolute favourite homemade treat is cheese scones, especially when they're served with chilli jam. Occassionally I'll have a cheeky glass of wine while I'm hand sewing in the evenings too!