Magnificent Morris

Stained Glass Window

At last, Valerie found the inspiration to show off her collection of William Morris prints in this classic 'stained glass window' effect quilt, and I had the privilege of quilting it for her! This simple layout is perfect to showcase the fabrics and Val's placement is just right.

All it needed from me was texture, interesting but not overwhelming, so as not to detract from this beautiful design.

Hopefully I achieved that with these feathered swirls. My reward was the back of the quilt!

I continued this style on Karen's quilt, 'Good Fortune' the latest Mystery quilt design by Bonnie Hunter. The piecing on this one was so intricate, by contrast, but also needed a large scale all over design so as not to make it too busy.

Karen had pieced large multi coloured squares for the backing, which looked just great!

Well that is two off the pile and I have already loaded number three for Margaret. My heart skipped a beat when I was pressing the backing fabric (which she had bought online) as I discovered this 3 inch tear right in the middle of it! Fortunately I was able to repair it with some iron-on Vilene. 

I am already well on the way with this one.

Meanwhile, I am working on my first sample for my November workshop for Connecting Threads Group  

'Something Scrappy' ..........OF COURSE!!!!!!!!

Happy Quilting Everyone!

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Ballycastle Twist

Wonderful Week!

I was so motivated last week, after the holiday break, that I couldn't rest until I finished this first quilt of the year. This one is for my sofa, to replace my early first attempt at feathers which looked rather like bananas!

Although it was a busy week in other ways I got it done in 10 days, putting that oh so satisfying final stitch in on Tuesday night! 

The layout is the same as the French General top I quilted for Janet S last year, which I thought was so striking with just two contrasting fabrics. My version, however, uses almost all the fabrics in Christopher Wilson-Tate's Regency Ballycastle 18th Century Chintz collection, in these delicious blues and yellows. I used most of 3 charm packs and 4 fat quarters to make the 144 half square triangle units, plus a couple of metres of the yellow print for the border. (That was the only one I bought on the bolt.)

The centre section is made up of 4 of these matching 24 inch quarter blocks. All the yellows and darker blues were placed on one side and the light blues, whites and creams on the other side. Then I rotated each section by a quarter turn, so that there is a sort of pinwheel effect in the middle, as you can see in the top picture. Hence the name I have given it: 'Ballycastle Twist'

I spent a whole day quilting the centre panel with waves of feathers with pebbled spines. They show up clearer from the back.

Then I spent all of Sunday finishing the border. Some ruler work for the semi circle outlines (filled in with freehand curled feathers) and curved cross hatching. Then lots of ruler work for the ribbed edge. 

I finally got a chance to try a double layer of wadding using my new wool wadding. I still think it could have more definition, again it looks better from the back. When I get some more time for myself I will experiment some more, and perhaps on a plain fabric.

But there won't be much chance of that for a while; I have had four requests this week to finish quilts for some other busy ladies. So I am really pleased to have got this one done - just for ME!

Happy Quilting Everyone!

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January Blues

I had to call Dibs on these!

I've only just caught up on my chores and got back into my sewing room tonight, after more than two weeks abstinence!

 Top of my long to do list is to make a start on a project for myself. These lovely blues, yellows and whites are from the new Regency Ballycastle Chintz 18th Century collection by Christopher Wilson-Tate for Moda and I've been itching to use some of them. This is one charm pack made into 4 and a 1/2" Half Square Triangle units, trimmed up nicely with my Bloc-Loc Ruler. (Such a useful tool, I wouldn't be without it).

I will need at least another pack and a couple of fat quarters for the design I have in mind. It will be a medium-sized square quilt to liven up my sofa a bit and will replace one of my first attempts at quilting feathers on the long arm - I think I can improve on that now. Christopher is bringing some of his antique quilts to Connecting Threads next month and I'm hoping to have it done by then.

Father Christmas really delivered this year and brought me all the toys on my wishlist!

There are so many new tools to try out, I hardly know what to do first; new shapes on the long arm, clever strip pieced Dresden plates or appliqué - so many ideas going round my mind!

But I have lots of other projects to pursue already, with samples for workshops and preparations for my classes etc - 2019 is already looking like a busy year. I can't wait to get stuck in!

Happy Quilting Everyone!

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www.englishquilter.co.uk