Almost There!

You Quilters Just Can't Wait...

Clue 4 of my 'just for fun' mystery quilt project seemed to really inspire you all last week. A few more ladies have joined in this week AND caught up already!

Clue 5 (which creates the inner border) is just out. I'm sure you can see where it's going by now.  Take care though - it's easy to go wrong when you can't see the final picture. So make sure you follow the placement diagrams really closely.

Don't forget that you can join my Facebook Group, to share pictures of your progress and see how everyone else is getting on. There are some lovely pictures on there already. The best part is seeing how they all turn out so differently with everyone's individual fabric choices.

It's not too late to get the instructions. Visit me at ENGLISHQUILTER for more details if you would like to join in and I will send you all the PDFs for FREE! (NB: Don't try to buy it - just send me an email request via the contact page). 

 Last Sunday was the Annual Garden Party, hosted by Ann and Norman Shuker at their lovely house in Elstree, in aid of the NSPCC. 

The weather was surprisingly kind in the end, although I think the mere threat of rain may have put some people off venturing out.

 We had a lovely display of quilts again and a table full of hand made goodies from Connecting Threads and Studio Quilters.

Look at this amazing zebra applique quilt made by Jean Smith - isn't it stunning?!

Next week I will issue the final clue and, in the meantime, I still have to get my scrappy version quilted.


Happy Quilting Everyone!

Janet

www.englishquilter.co.uk   

Thank you for visiting my blog and for leaving your comments. Please share on Facebook, Pinterest and Google+ etc

Mystery Unfolding! Clue 4 Now Out

Centrepiece

Clue 4 of my 'just for fun' mystery quilt project has just been released and emailed to the 35 ladies who have signed up (including 2 overseas!). 

You can see how it is taking shape now - as the main section comes together. There are just two more clues to come, with the inner and outer bordersI 

Here's how my first version looks quilted. I'm not going to share the whole picture just yet (see above), but I can show you the back. I chose this fresh and pretty print 'Pedal Pushers' by Lauren and Jessi Jung for Moda. I went against all the advice I give about allowing 2 inches extra backing fabric all round and carefully loaded it on the frame so I could get away with just using one width of fabric.  

I got some practice in with the 'pebbling technique' and it is improving! I wanted dense quilting on the white background to lift up the coloured pieces so that the pattern stands out. If I get time this week I will get the scrappy version quilted! That one will be a looser edge to edge design, because the pattern came out clearer with those fabrics.
Visit me at ENGLISHQUILTER for more details if you would like to join in and I will send you all the PDFs for FREE! (NB: Don't try to buy it - just send me an email request via the contact page). 
If you are a member of my Facebook Group, please feel free to share pictures of your progress.

In between times, and in the cooler hours up in the loft, I have been working on this dramatic quilt top pieced by Michelle. Such a striking design in these strong colours on a black background. Michelle was clever enough to find a duvet cover to use as a backing, which not only picked up the colours so well, but also complemented the design of the fabrics on top perfectly. 






The piece had a modern feel so I didn't want the quilting to be too flowery, I went for a fairly simple curly-cue which turned out lovely (at least I think so).

After all that I had some 'crumbs' to sweep up and I spent an evening of 'mindless piecing'  stitching little scraps onto strips of phone book paper. 

This weekend I am manning a stall at the NSPCC Garden Party at Schopwick House in Elstree, so I had better get on with baking my cake for the refreshment stall.

Coffee and Walnut ok?

Happy Quilting Everyone!

Janet

www.englishquilter.co.uk   

Thank you for visiting my blog and for leaving your comments. Please share on Facebook, Pinterest and Google+ etc

Englishquilter's Mystery Quilt Clue 3.

Twosies!

Those of you who know me well, know that I never throw my little scraps away! Instead I save every little 11/2" square and have them stacked up by my machine to use as 'leaders and enders' to save thread and enable tangle-free chain piecing. I have accumulated a great stash of 'TWOSIES' and this week I've put a lot of them to good use, as I start on my scrappy version of my Mystery Quilt - 
SO SATISFYING!

I hope you've made good progress with Clue 2 this week, because now I am ready to release CLUE 3 and I will be emailing it to everyone who has signed up already (24 as of today!)
Last week's clue was a lot to do, but this week should be easier and you get to see the main block take shape. 

We are going to be making 'hour glass blocks' for Unit 2.

Here's how it looks. See if you can get your seams to spin at the back, by unpicking the three stitches inside the seam allowance and pressing the seams in a clockwise direction. It helps to make the unit lie flatter in the quilt.

Then you get to assemble the main blocks. This is where you will be glad that you labelled the Units so you make sure you use the right ones. 

If I get time this week I will get it quilted!
Visit me at ENGLISHQUILTER for more details if you would like to join in and I will send you all the PDFs for FREE! (NB: Don't try to buy it - just send me an email request via the contact page). 

If you are a member of my Facebook Group, please feel free to share pictures of your progress. I will try to release further instructions every week, in about 8 instalments. (But I will let you have it quicker, if you find yourself racing ahead - but you will have to keep it under wraps until the 'BIG REVEAL' !)






Happy Quilting Everyone!

Janet

www.englishquilter.co.uk   

Thank you for visiting my blog and for leaving your comments. Please share on Facebook, Pinterest and Google+ etc

Mystery Quilt Clue 2 - Get Those Blades Sharpened!

It's time to start cutting!

I have just put my instructions to the test for CLUE 2 of my Mystery Quilt project and found I was two 1 1/2" strips light for Fabric A! So I've had to tweak the instructions a bit. Sorry about that - but you should have sufficient from the yardage I gave you. You might also find you have a whole strip of Fabric C spare as well. 

But Hey! - we can always use a 1 1/2" strip somewhere - can't we!?

So Clue 2 is now good to go and, in the morning, I will be emailing it to everyone who has signed up already (22 at the last count!)

We are going to prepare lots of strip sets and cut them into Sub Units which in turn make up Units 3-6 (top to bottom in the picture above). There's a lot of slicing with your rotary cutter so put a new blade in now!

You will see that I have steered away from my usual pastels and pretty prints for this demo.




 I have used the white cotton sheeting off-cuts from Empress Mills, because it looks so crisp. But I forgot how it tends to pucker up with too much steam and has a surprising tendency to distort when you cut it. So I needed to take extra care. 

My bold blue and yellow should really zing when it all goes together - but I also have a cunning plan to use up some scraps along the way! Look at all my little piles of cross-cut pieces. I love it at this stage, when you are getting set up for chain piecing. Don't forget to sort them out and label them before you start, so you don't lose the plot.

Visit me at ENGLISHQUILTER for more details if you would like to join in and I will send you all the PDFs for FREE! (NB: Don't try to buy it - just send me an email request via the contact page). 

If you are a member of my Facebook Group, please feel free to share pictures of your progress. I will try to release further instructions every week, in about 8 instalments. (But I will let you have it quicker, if you find yourself racing ahead - if I can keep up- just ask!)






Happy Quilting Everyone!

Janet

www.englishquilter.co.uk   

Thank you for visiting my blog and for leaving your comments. Please share on Facebook, Pinterest and Google+ etc

Free to Join In - Mystery Quilt

 I love it when a plan comes together!

Yet another one of these little Bow Tucks Bags. 

A lady I know asked me to make her a bag to take on holiday, but gave me a very vague brief as to what she wanted. I didn't think she really wanted a beach bag, since she is nearly 90 and going to Scotland. So I decided on a handbag and used my 'go to' pattern, this time in these gorgeous florals (kindly given to me by Karen).

With a bit of mixing and matching I had just enough fabric to make up the pieces. That's always pleasing!

It is lovely and roomy with useful pockets on the inside.

So now for my very own little Mystery Quilt!

I am not revealing its name just yet, as I don't want to give too much away. I have designed this lap size quilt at the request of the Mill Hill U3A Patchwork and Quilting group and therefore it is intended for beginners.

I bet they won't think they can do it when they get the instructions! 

But I have every confidence in them, if they take it step by step and it should be a good exercise for them to follow instructions (and for me writing them). The most difficult bit for me was dividing it up into manageable chunks (clues) - although the formatting was a bit tricky too, with the diagrams etc. 

Anyway, I hope I have done a good job and it works out as planned. (I had better get on and make it before they overtake me!)

It is based on traditional blocks - not wildly original - but should be a fun first project. I am happy for anyone else to join if they would like to. Visit me at ENGLISHQUILTER for more details  and I will send you the PDF for FREE! The first clue might seem a little daunting because it includes the full cutting instructions, but you don't need to do it all at this stage! I will release further instructions every week in about 8 instalments. (But I can let you have it quicker if you find yourself racing ahead - just ask!)

Happy Quilting Everyone!

Janet

www.englishquilter.co.uk   

Thank you for visiting my blog and for leaving your comments. Please share on Facebook, Pinterest and Google+ etc

Bonnie's Quilt

At Last!

Finally got far enough down the pile to finish quilting a couple of pieces of my own! The one in the picture is 'En Provence', designed by the amazing Bonnie Hunter as her mystery quilt for 2016. I still have to bind it, which I will do with the green backing fabric. I still can't seem to do justice to the colours in the photo, even on this sunny morning - it really is quite bright and fresh. 


Tried a slight variation on a feathered curl with this all-over quilting design in yellow thread. I have got the hang of the centre, which reminds me of 'yin and yang' when I get it just right, but I think it works better on a slightly smaller scale (as on the little quilt below).

This pretty little top was a UFO given to me by a friend who had started to piece the blocks by hand. 

 Needless to say, I finished it by machine! I had already begun quilting it several months back and had used it to experiment with my Westalee Rulers. Some of the designs worked well, but I had a problem with the rulers which pivot on a big 'drawing pin' fixed underneath the quilt whilst it is on the frame. The pin catches on the plate of the machine at a certain point and stops you from making a smooth line. Still not solved that one!

All that was needed was to do something in the border - the 'yin yangs' worked better here- and to fill in around the motifs. It was a good opportunity to practise my micro-quilting and pebbling technique. A little busy perhaps, but good fun!







Now I am working on instructions for my own mystery quilt project and will make up a sample version soon. Please leave me a comment if you would like to join in.

 Happy Quilting Everyone!

Janet

www.englishquilter.co.uk   

Thank you for visiting my blog and for leaving your comments. Please share on Facebook, Pinterest and Google+ etc

Riot of Colour!

And More on that Mystery Quilt...

With Janet's 'French General' quilt now completed, I took on 2 pretty girly quilt tops this week, both pieced by Laura for her grand-daughters. As so often happens, once I got up in the loft, I just couldn't stop until they were done!

The first one was made with bright, fresh modern prints (not sure of the range) and the backing was a sumptuous deep pink in the 'Dimples' range from Makower. I picked up on the flowers, swirls and hearts in the prints to create this edge to edge design which shows up so well on the back.

The second one was a lovely combination of fairy prints, with pinks and mauves on a crisp white background with a sprinkle of silver shimmer.

 This time the quilting design was inspired more by the backing fabric which was all swirls and curls. This curled ribbon with petals is fast becoming my favourite freehand motif. 

Ah PINK! It always puts me in a good mood!

The other day I turned on my laptop and it decided to install windows updates - infuriating! 
It took so long to load up that, by the time it was done, I had designed the Mystery Quilt I mentioned in my last blog! 
This was requested by the small U3A group of fairly new to quilting ladies in Mill Hill - so it will be a beginner level lap quilt.
But I have decided to share it with anyone who might like to have a go, via my Facebook page Englishquilter Patchwork Fabric . 
I will be finalising all the details and instructions over the next week or two and will make an announcement when it is good to go. Why not join in?



Happy Quilting Everyone!

Janet

www.englishquilter.co.uk   

Thank you for visiting my blog and for leaving your comments. Please share on Facebook, Pinterest and Google+ etc