Angela's Sampler Quilt

My friend Angela ( we belong to the same quilt group - Glenrothes Quilters) made this beautiful sampler quilt.  It is from the Lynne Edwards book, The Essential Sampler Quilt.

Angela did a fantastic job making all the blocks, adding sashings etc and had got as far as basting and stitching in the ditch around each block then she got stuck and didn't quite know what to do with it.

After we got talking one day about vintage sewing machines, she offered me not one but three vintage machines including a Singer treadle and a Jones hand crank that is GREEN and an electric Singer with beautiful decals.  In return I offered to do some quilting on her sampler quilt and so the deal was struck!

I quilted it on my Janome 1600p on the table top.  This quilt is so big it would not have fitted onto my Gracie frame anyway.  To me most of hard work was already done, i.e. basting and ditching, all I had to do was fill in the blanks.

Have to say, I really enjoyed quilting this.  Here are some of my favourite blocks:

                                             
For the borders, I quilted a continuous feather.

I didn't take many photos of the back - but here's one :

I gave the quilt back to Angela today and she loved it!! I am so pleased.  It really was quite nerve wracking working on somebody else's labour of love. I watched Angela make this quilt and I know the effort and care she put into it.   She is going to bind it in either the dark green or the same fabric as the border.  I think either will look great.  I will try and get a photo when the binding is done and I will tell you all about the vintage machines in another post.
I'll leave you of one last photo of this beautiful quilt and say Thank you Angela for letting me loose with my sewing machine.  I had a blast!

Til next time
Happy Stitchin'
Rhianon.

Grandmother's Fan Quilt - The Quilting

Hi everyone.

Hope you have had a busy and productive week.  I have, I've been quilting the Grandmother's fan quilt.
I decided not to add the Dresden plates around the edge and just to leave it plain,. I'll jazz it up with some quilting.

 I used a big plate to mark a curve on the blocks and then just sewed it freehand.  I don't have any rulers to use for quilting but I plan on getting one.  I am quilting this on my domestic machine and NOT on my frame.
There is a reason for this and I'll tell you at the end of the post.

                                                                Looking ok so far......

Freehand flowers in the border, I will fill in the background to make the flowers pop.  I'm using a Guterman Sulky variegated thread for the flowers and the wadding I'm using is one layer of Hobbs Heirloom 80/20.

I'd really like to get this finished next week if my shoulders are up to it.
Maybe you are wondering why I am not quilting this on my new Gracie frame?     Well, I can let you into a secret,  I have been asked by Grosvenor Shows if I would like to have a display of my work next year..
They need 15 - 20 pieces and they will travel to 4 different venues in the UK from January to April next year.
I said yes and now I am sooooo excited and just a little bit freaked out!  I am just a little short of what I would like to put in, so I am working really hard to put on a good display.  I am not practiced enough on my frame yet so this is why I am still quilting on my domestic machine.
Once I get through the autumn, I will have time to spend on my frame.  In the meantime it is sitting there and I admit it is a little frustrating because I want to use it so badly.  I will get there eventually though.
I'm off to do some sewing now.
Enjoy your weekend.
Rhianon.

Hearts Baby Quilt

I was commissioned to make this small quilt for a baby.  It is designed as a pram or stoller cover.

                                                   
                                                               Appliqued hearts.

                                                    Detail of free motion quilting.

If you'd like to make one of these, I have done a tutorial and you can find it here

I hope you enjoy it.
Off to sew now.........

Rhianon.

Kindle and ipad Covers

Hi everyone.

This week I finally got round to finishing off the assortment of covers I'd been making.
Here they are:

They are all free motion quilted with feathers and a few have flowers.

                                                             Showing the lining inside.

                                                                     The lilac one.
                                                                 

                                                                          ipad cover

                                                              This one is a Kindle cover.

                                                        Suffolk puff to decorate the tab.

This was one of the first ones I made, where I used a band over a button to close it, but I prefer the tab - it has a neater finish.

                                                       Back of the previous cover.
I'll finish with some close ups of my free motion quilting.
See you all next time.
Rhianon.