Blog Archives - Nicola Foreman Quilts

Completed Projects - 2023

31/12/2023

As usual I've had another VERY productive year, with lots of quiltystuff being produced in my sewing studio - quilts and wallhangings, tablerunners and journal covers, bags and Christmas stockings - the list goes on and on! Also, this year I've included a few non-sewing crafty projects that I've made too. Unfortunately, I just ran out of time and energy this year to complete all the qrojects that I started, so I've still got 4 small quilt tops to finish, and they're going to be my priority in the new year. Now I need to blitz my sewing studio and make an updated list of the projects that have been tucked away still waiting to get made - hopefully I'll have another fabric-fuelled year in 2024.

Completed Kits from that VERY Long List from 2023

30/12/2023

At the beginning of 2023, I updated my list of kits that I'd bought in previous years, and here are the eight kits from that VERY long list that I actually managed to complete. There's quite an assortment of projects here - 4 table runners, a small wall hanging, a bag, a Christmas decoration and a beautiful festive quilt. Unfortunately towards the end of the year I completely ran out of time and energy, and 4 projects from that long list are still waiting to be completed. I'm planning to get those finished as soon as possible, while the year is young and I'm still full of good intentions! Tomorrow I'll share a picture of ALL the projects that I've completed this year, including non-sewing ones!

Tree of Christmas Cheer

28/12/2023

I've still got lots of kits packed away in several boxes, and one that was perfect for the festive season was Tree of Christmas Cheer, by Anni Downs of Hatched and Patched - another one of my favourite Australian designers! Purchased back in 2020 from Coast and Country Crafts and Quilts this beautiful kit had been packed away like so many others, waiting for me to have more hours in the day! Reading through the instructions, I could see that it wasn't going to take too long to put together - the stitchery design was traced and embroidered and the applique added in a couple of evenings...

...this festive decoration was embellished with a cute star, attached with a piece of pink ric-tac trimming, secured to the top of the tree before it was turned the right was through. The tree was then filled with some weighted pellets to stop it from falling over...

...I love decorating my home with my handmade projects, and this year has seen a few new additions. It was tricky getting a photograph indoors, so using the holly tree in our garden seemed the perfect backdrop for a festive photoshoot! Well that's another kit ticked off my list, although that list does seem to be getting longer rather than shorter!

A Stocking for Leni

27/12/2023

A new little girl in the family means a new stocking - and these pretty festive fabrics designed by Lynette Anderson were perfect for what I had planned. I used the Waiting for Santa pattern by another Australian designer, Leanne Beasley, and added some vintage lace trimming along the lower edge of the stocking cuff. A hand embroidered label with her name has been attached with a vintage button from from my button tin...

...and here's the completed stocking, that was gifted a few days ago. A personalised handmade stocking makes a lovely gift, and each year this one can be filed with little goodies for a precious little girl.

Let There Be Joy

26/12/2023

I've been slowly working my way through my large collection of kits, and this pretty kit was purchaded from Poppy Patch back in 2020. The kit included the pattern - Let There Be Joy, by One Day in May Creations, along with all the fabrics and a selection of variegated Cottage Garden Threads stranded embroidery threads. The stitchery design was traced onto the background fabric, using a lightbox and a fine nibbed Micron Pigma pen. My favourite is a size 005 nib, in a light brown shade. A lightweight interfacing was fused to the back, and the hand embroidery wa scompleted with the aid of a small wooden embroidery hoop and a Hiroshima Tulip embroidery needle. Very simple embroidery stitches were used, back stitch and satin stitch...

...once the table mat was stiched together, this was layered onto the backing fabric, and machine quilted very simply with Aurifil 40wt thrread in matching colours. The vintage lace was hand stitched in place. A narrow binding was machined in place, folded over and hand stitched to the back of the runner with ladder stitch. The finished table mat is approx 8" x 18.5" and has looked very pretty displayed on top of a small wooden sideboard over the festive season.

Oh Christmas Tree Tablerunner

24/12/2023

Oh Christmas Tree Tablerunner by the Australian designer Anni Downs - Hatched and Patched - was purchased from Coast and Country Crafts and Quilts in 2020. The kit included the pattern, embroidery threads, fabrics for the applique, the stichery/applique background and the binding fabric. I chose to use the Apliquick method of applique for this project, although you can use whatever method you prefer. These cute Christmas trees were made from 3 different prints that were joined together using a very small machine stitch - I set my Bernina at stitch length 1.90, then the seams were pressed open. I've used the Apliquick method of applique, as my fat fingers are far too clumsy for traditional needleturn applique...

...these 52 tiny little 3/4" squares were also made with a piece of Apliquick interfacing on the back, along with the jolly Santa. Once the applique shapes were completed, they were placed in postion on the background fabric and hand stitched using a fine thread - I've used an Aurifil 80wt thread in a mid-grey colour, along with a Clover Blackgold needle and a very small slip stitch. The tree toppers were hand embroidered using a DMC stranded embroidery thread that was supplied with the kit...

...strips of Quilters Tape were used to plan the quilting grid. The tablerunner was hand quilted very simply using a YLI quilting thread in an ecru colour to blend in with the background fabric. I quilted up to the applique shapes, rather than quilting over them. When the hand quilting was completed, I added a very tiny jingle bell on the end of Santa's hat...

...once the table runner was finished, it was trimmed to size and a narrow double fold binding was machined to the front of the tablerunner. This was mitred at the corners, folded over to the back and hand stitched in place using ladder stitch. A small hand embroidered label was also hand appliqued to the back of the quilt. The central motif was traced from the main pattern, and hand embroidered using the same coloured DMC thread that wa sused for the tree toppers on the front of the runner...

...and here's the finished runner, ready to use during the festive season. This was such a lovely table runner to make, using a combination of my favourite techniques - and I'm planning to make a few more Hatched and Patched projects next year.

A Handmade Festive Wreath

23/12/2023

Decorating for Christmas is a bit last-minute here at Foreman Towers! Mr F very kindly cut me some sprigs of holly from the trees in our garden, so I was able to get creative and make my own homemade wreath for the front door. A pre-used oasis was soaked in water, and a selection of wired pine cones, cinnamon sticks and dried bell peppers were added for texture and colour. There's even a small robin perched in there too! It won't win any floristry awards, although it's quite large, and VERY prickly, so would certainly deter any unwanted guests over the festive season!

Snow Birds

20/12/2023

A few months ago I purchased a super kit from Coast and Country Crafts and Quilts. Designed by Heart to Hand this festive walling hanging is called Snow Birds, and the kit included the pattern, all fabrics including the wadding, and the embroidery threads needed to complete it. I used some Lite Steam-a-seam 2 for the applique. The DMC embroidery threads were used for both the hand embroidery and for securing the applique shapes in place...

...the tabs were machine stitched in place, then it was machine quilted around all of the applique shapes. Once the wall hanging was completed, 2 buttons were stitched to the top and some twine wrapped around them ready to hand it on a twig...

...and here it is displayed on the wall, bringing a little festive spirit into my sewing studio.

Gingerbread House Gift Bags

17/12/2023

Keeping in with the theme of the Gingerbread House that I made for my little grandson, I've been making some gingerbread house gift bags for some of the younger members of the family. Armed with some brown paper bags, brown tape, a selection of chalk pens and a healthy dose of imagination, I set about drawing on the bags...

...these were really simple to make, and you can add as many curliques and swirls and hearts as you like! The possibilities really are endless - you're only limited by your imagination. I've personalised the gift tags, and these have been tied to the bags with twine. Now these have all been delivered - will there be one or two of these underneath your Christmas tree?

A Gingerbread House for Rory

16/12/2023

I haven't spent as much time in my sewing studio recently as I would've liked, as we've been renovating our kitchen and dining room. As we've had an abundance of cardboard sheets (from new kitchen units) I decided to get crafty, and armed with a chalk pen, some super strength sticky tape and my imagination, I set about making a gingerbread playhouse for my little grandson...

...an old rotary cutter, a cutting mat and a selection of my quilting rulers were the perfect tools for drawing and cutting out both square and round windows and a pretty door that opens. Once the main part of the house had been put together and the windows cut out, I used a chalk pen to draw lots of culiques and swirls and hearts around the windows...

...and even more curliques and swirls and hearts were drawn on both the front and the back of the gingerbread house. This was such a fun project to make, and my little grandson absolutely loved it, although he wasn't too keen on letting the dog sit inside the house with him! Hopefully he'll have lots of fun and games playing in here during the festive period.