Free Motion Quilting - What I have learnt

As you know I love patchwork. I have made clothes and bags, but patchwork is my passion!

 

It all started back in 1996 when I spotted a patchwork quilt in a magazine and immediately bought a small cheep sewing machine. That fist king size quilt has pride of place in my bedroom and is still used to build dens!

 

Faded and worn, but a den building staple!

 

For  person who avoided sewing lessons at school because they were for girls that is quite an achievement!

 

When I started patchwork I was  determined hand quilter. I couldn't seem to get the machine to quilt in the way I wanted it to, so I stopped trying - I didn't realise I needed special feet and strong enough thread.

 

In 2011 that all changed when my youngest son requested a quilt for his birthday which was 3 weeks away. I undertook a self taught crash course in machine quilting. The joy of the internet is that you can find out pretty much anything and I was able to find out why my previous attempts had never worked. The quilt was finished at 2am on his birthday and he still pulls it out to snuggle under whenever he can.

The birthday quilt designed by mini.

My first attempt at free motion quilting!

 

So my free motion journey has been a relatively short one - especially placed in the context of the 20 years I have been making quilts. And it is a journey I have loved. In fact I often love the free motion quilting more than the patchwork.

 

As a sewing teacher I have taught free motion quilting to all my patchwork classes. Some students love the challenge and throw themselves in whole heartedly, whilst others give it a go and then run away screaming!

 

It is a hard skills to master - especially on a small domestic machine - but is one that is worth working on. My free motion is not perfect and nor do I ever expect it to be. I have the privilege of knowing that if I select a thread that matches the fabric I am working on then all of my faults will fade into the background of the quilt. They will add texture and interest. Even if the thread doesn't blend in the not so perfect pebble will look perfectly fine in a sea of not so perfect pebbles. They will all look amazing together!

'Mistakes' make up part of the whole design.

For beginner to free motion quilting this idea of just doing it, ignoring the little 'mistakes' and trusting the journey can be tough. It can cause a project to be rejected. But you must keep going, keep quilting, keep moving forward. Each time to quilt with our machine you are getting better. Each pebble will blend in with the other pebbles.  You will never reach perfection but you will create a unique quilt that will wrapped around you family and friends for many years - 20 years and counting in my household.

 

When in doubt - just keep quilting!

Making Changes.....

2016 so far has been a year of epic changes.... moving house and town, changing schools -twice and changing job!

As with any changes all of this has taken a toll on our family. We love where we now live in Stroud. It has taken 5 months but we finally feel at home. It is a great town with lovely walks into town and all sorts of lovely shops.

The rest of life is settling down, but we have had to make some changes. The boys have stopped Saturday morning activities for a little while - family time has been needed to help us all settle in.

And I have made the decision in the last 2 weeks that my creativity has taken a nose dive in the last 18 months through work pressures, teaching commitments and life! Like so many of you I can't function without being creative. It is part of my soul and without working on something creative my brain starts to suffer...... I suffer!

So..... I have decided to stop teaching. I love teaching and passing on my skills and creating fabric addicts! But I NEED to work on my own creations. I want to finish my City and Guilds, I want to create new items and I want finish my stack of half finished quilts.... I want to do something for me!

It has been a hard decision and I am heart broken to leave my students, but having made a commitment to look after myself more I feel better already.

Just some of the things I have been doing since my decision to slow down: crochet (3 blankets on the go at once), bread making and finishing the quilt top for my Tulip Medallion quilt.

Sometimes hard decisions lead to a happier life.... a hopefully a more creative life!

See you soon,

Bunny Cushion!

The birthday party day has arrived and the present was finished with an hour to spare!

The pattern by Elizabeth Hartman was really easy to follow but the cutting out was quite intense because there are pretty small pieces of fabric!

I made the bottom of the bunnies face a little bit bigger so he has a nice chubby face.

Once I had finished the piecing I decided to not quilt the bunnies face apart from the nose and some whiskers. I then concentrated on the background. Into to this I quilted carrots and swirls. A bunny needs carrots after all!

The picture of the finished cushion is not great - no light here today!

I hope that the birtdhay boy loves it as much as I loved making it!

Once Upon a Star!

During my break from blogging things changed dramatically here, I now have an actual job as a Community Development Worker! It is a job a love and builds on the teaching I have done in communities around the county.

It has meant a massive shift in how my family works, I no longer have the freedom to manage my time that I had as a freelance teacher. It has been a major adjustment for us all, but one we have all come through still smiling!

I have been teaching around the hours I work - 3 after school clubs and weekend classes!

My monthly sampler class has just had it's 6th class and we have a selection of gorgeous blocks. We now have the fun job of creating the quilt top and exploring machine quilting. Another round of this class will start in September - more info soon!

Foundation piecing star

I recently met a lovely new student who is coming for patchwork lessons. We will be making a quilt using different star patterns and techniques. It is going to be a fun adventure in piecing.

Part of a Christmas Star

I mentioned the idea to my Saturday class who all asked to give the course a go - and a new class was born!

HST Star

The Once Upon a Star patchwork course will start on Friday 17th April at 10am at GL11 Community Hub in Cam. There are 4 places left if you would like to come along. Just email me too book a place.

It is going to be a wonderful adventure in piecing techniques to create a gorgeous starry quilt!

Patchwork Cushion Classes

There is a lovely shop in Malmesbury called Dolly Bobbins. It is full of yummy yarn and bits and bobs for sewing.

I am lucky enough to be running a 6 week patchwork cushion course there next term.

The course covers:

• Cutting fabrics with a rotary cutter and ruler
• Making Half Square Triangles (HST)
• How to sew patchwork accurately
• How to machine quilt
• How to make an 18" cushion

The course starts on Friday 12th September and costs £99.00 including all, equipment, materials and use of a sewing machine.

Please contact Tracey here to book a place.

Modern Sampler Group 2014/15

After a lot of jigging around, I have finally managed to sort out the Monthly Modern Sampler Group!

Over the course of 10 months you will learn how to accurately cut and piece a variety of patchwork blocks. You will learn how to hand applique and machine applique fabrics to make a wonderful patchwork top.

We will then look at how to quilt your quilt using hand and machine quilting methods.

This course will give you all the skills you will need to start confidently creating quilts at home - be warned everyone will want one!

The course will start on Saturday 13th September 9am until 12pm - a change to the previous post about the course.

The other dates are: Saturday 25th October
                               Saturday 22nd November
                               Saturday 10th January
                               Saturday 7th February
                               Saturday 7th March
                               Saturday 11th April
                               Saturday 09th May
                               Saturday 13th June
                               Saturday 11th July

It will be held at St Micheal's Hall, Tetbury.

The cost will be £25.00 a month, payable by Standing Order.

If you would like more information or to book a place, please email me.

Monthly Sampler Group

Following on from the success of the monthly patchwork and quilting group in Tetbury, I will be starting a monthly sampler quilt group in September that will run for 10 month.

We will be learning how to make 2 different blocks each month that will build over the course of the 6 months into a gorgeous sampler quilt.

After we have made the quilt top, we will be learning how to sandwich the quilt and machine quilt. By the end of the 10 month course you will have a wonderful patchwork quilt and all the skills you need to make more patchwork quilts at home.

The group will start on Thursday 18th September from 11.30am until 2.30pm at the Catholic Church Hall in Tetbury.

The cost each month is £25 and includes use of sewing machines, cutting equipment and support between session.

If you want to sign up, please email me for more details.

Half Square Triangle - HST

At the moment I am teaching 3 beginners patchwork classes in one day - I do like a challenge!

I teach all my beginners how to make half square triangles (HST). They are the most versatile building block in patchwork and lead easily to lots of different designs.

I thought I would collate some fabulous quilts made using HST as their base unit as inspiration for all those new to HST!

From Red Pepper Quilts

Love the mix of solid colour and bright patterns!

From Sew Katie Did

This quilt is a wonderful mix of HST in solid colour, no plan just go for it!

From The Cottage Mama

Love the mix of colour and the geometric shape.

From Quilt Addict

These stars are so lovely!

From Freshly Pieced

This scrappy HST quilt is divine!

Hope you find this gorgeous collection of quilts just as inspiring as I do!

A Special Quilt!

One of goals this year is to only buy fabric for my classes and to make quilts from the fabric in my stash and scraps buckets.

One of my lovely friend's had a big birthday this year and I wanted to try the Marcelle Medallion quilt by Alexia Abegg's book Liberty Love. When I bought the book and then watched the QAL on Instagram I was hooked.

I decided that I wanted to make this quilt for my friend, so set about making the centre last summer. I will admit it was a frustrating process that was not fun. The Y seams and the small pieces not connecting properly left me really annoyed! Since then I have found this paper piecing tutorial for the block which would make the process much easier!

I put it aside for a few months whilst I started my City and Guilds, but dug it out 5/6 weeks ago and started working on it for the friends birthday.

Work in Progress, and Lego in as usual in the background.

Because my centre block was the wrong size I had to adapt the pattern in a few places, but overall it worked well!

Once the patchwork was finished I set to work machine quilting it, but loads of safety pins where involved first!

Lots for lovely safety pins!

I decided that I would quilt each border with a different pattern:

Lots of tiny pebbles, swirls and star bursts!

As the borders grew I increased the size of the pattern to include a tree bark pattern and the some love heart paisley in the final border, along with the family names of my friends family.

On the back I used fat quarters from my stash. The quilt patterns show up really well on the backing. It is lovely!

I found some fabulous little houses for the binding, which made me smile and fitted in perfectly with the colours in the quilt top.

The finished quilt is so totally gorgeous, and it did cross my mind to keep it for myself!

Luckily I didn't and it is now living in my friends house and very much loved!

Sewing Info:

Pieced and quilted with Aurifil 2024.

Pieced and quilted on a Janome CXL301.