Learn how to make a wholecloth quilt with this step-by-step photo tutorial that includes tips for Kantha-style stitching!
Here are some details from the 'Early to Bed' exhibition at the Welsh Quilt Centre. It closed on Saturday, so if you didn't get to visit, you've missed it. The exhibition catalogue is available by mail order, as are the catalogues from the previous exhibitions - worth having. The quilt shown above, from Llandeilo, which is shown in Janet Rae's book 'Quilts of the British Isles'. I didn't take a photo of the whole quilt, because it's in the book, so please cross refer with your copy to see the whole thing. I like the tiny pieces in the centre grading out to larger pieces towards the edge, and the completely busy appearance of all those prints. There are some very early fabrics in this quilt. This quilt, made from military cloth, includes early khaki uniform cloth. It has a more innovative, random style, similar in feeling to the coverlet made by James Williams of Wrexham (scroll down my blog link to see photos) but in an even more lively style. This patchwork top is a very playful and irregular take on a medallion arrangement. It seems like an early hint of some of the 'modern quilt' pieces being made today. The fabrics used to piece the squares are graded, with darker pieces at the bottom, almost an early colourwash. This patchwork is made from flannel shirtings, with the stripes going in every direction and very simple quilting. Tailors' sample quilt, showing fabric details. Detail of the tailors' quilt Glyn is looking at in my previous post, showing that bold red stitching. Another tailors' quilt, with very simple quilting but wonderful value contrasts, also shown in my previous post but with an extra detail photo below. Details from the quilts displayed in the central 'enclosure'. Quilts from the right hand wall. These have typical Welsh quilting designs, with spirals and fans etc. The Sennybridge quilt, a well known design partly thanks to being used as the poster quilt for Festival of Quilts a few years ago, is much more simply quilted. Unlike many Welsh quilts, the quilting design on this one seems to have been fitted into the patchwork design. Perhaps I could use any oddments of red and black check from Glyn's kilt to make something like this? There were some very interesting textured weaves in this block based quilt, beautifully accented with red flannel. I love the random strips and the plaids on point in this. The fancy stitching on this crazy quilt suggests much later abstract embroideries from the 1960s. Subtle touches of plaids in an otherwise dark palette. An early C19th patchwork in many brown fabrics - and in very good condition for its age, as brown/black prints are very prone to rot from the iron mordant in the dye. Aren't the blocks of colour beautiful in this? It was hung very high and this was the best photo I could manage. I am sure I have seen this quilt exhibited before, perhaps at Llanidloes. It might surprise quilters today that anyone would attempt to piece such an intricate design in thick wools, but the fabric is a big part of the charm here. We finished off our visit with a good look through the shop and bought the exhibition catalogue so we can browse the quilts all over again. I would have liked to stay much longer, but we could only have a very short visit because of our schedule - setting up World Textile Day on the other side of Bristol that afternoon. We were both glad we'd made the effort to drive that bit further to Lampeter on this trip, otherwise we wouldn't have had the chance to see the exhibition - 540 miles. Now I'm looking forward to next year's exhibition, which will feature wholecloth quilts. The Welsh Quilt Centre makes great reuse of an old building and getting there by car is relatively easy from south or mid Wales. Next time I want to explore the town as well.
It’s no secret that I’m a cheerleader for the quilting industry. One of my favorite things is being an ambassador for companies whose products I love. Full disclosure: I’m not pai…
Item Details. Another extraordinary handmade silk and silk velvet crazy patchwork quilt from our studio collection and dating from 1886/87, America. Made in rich jewel-like coloured silks and velvets embroidered with details including initials, dates, scissors, flowers etc. worked in hand worked silk embroidery. Patchworks such as this lovely example are the originators of recycling at its best, using tiny scraps and found pieces this quilt includes dress silks and velvets, cuttings from ribbons and such like. Probably made as a wedding quilt, perhaps by a mother for her daughters trousseau, no doubt some of the fabrics used would have been recognisable as a part of dresses etc. The quilt has been backed at a later date - possibly the 1930s with a scarlet, silky lining. It also has some later patches added over the years probably covering some damaged original patches. This is folk art piece, it has a charming naïve quality and was worked by someone who is untrained. The quilt is too fragile to use and deserves to be displayed on a wall or become part of a collection. You would never get tired of looking at it there is so much detail and interest. Measurements: 172 x 172cm Condition. The quilt is in good antique condition but is time worn from use, it has numerous rubs and losses to the surface of some of the thinner silk dress fabrics ribbons. These could be replaced and or repaired. All of the textiles we sell are genuine antiques and may have some the idiosyncrasies and small flaws that you would expect in an antique textile. Further Notes. We are able to accept layaway on this item, please ask for details. We have lots more original and quality vintage items and textiles in our shop, https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TheTextileTreasury Where possible, we use recycled packaging when shipping items.
• whistling kettle • moss underfoot • wood smoke • starlight •
A blog about life every day....quilting, photography, musings.
Hello quilters! I always love getting to that last phase of making a quilt - the binding. The majority of the time I hand stitch my binding down with an invisible stitch, but lately I have been getting out of my comfort zone. If you're looking for inspiration - today I am sharing five ways you can bind your quilts. I hope this gets your creative juices flowing! (Since typing this up I have decided that on my next quilt I might try a decorative machine stitch for the binding. Yes? No?) 1. Invisible Hand Sewn I like the clean look of this binding. It goes fairly quickly for me! I also like the meditative quality of this process. It gives me time to think, zone out or watch Gilmore Girls. 2. Machine Binding I am honestly not a fan of this because it usually shows on both sides. I have tried to stitch in the ditch, but it just doesn't look as clean to me. However, this is a great and VERY fast option if you are on a deadline! 3. Blanket Stitch This was a new one for me. I did this to finish my latest Sunroom Quilt. I really love the cozy little detail it adds. I used a very heavy weight thread. I also recommend going with a contrasting color so it really pops. You don't want to do all that work and not have it stand out! 4. Big Stitch I think this one is really playful! I used a solid fabric for the binding on this quilt and the big stitch really adds some interest. I love the pop of yellow! Again I would do a contrasting color so that your stitches stand out. Show it off! 5. Scrappy Binding I really hate wasting fabric and this one left me with a lot of leftovers. I used all the remaining scraps and pieced together a scrappy binding. It worked out really well since the front is so colorful! I used an invisible hand stitch. Let me know if you give any of these a try! Here are a few other blog posts you might enjoy: Beginner Guide to Quilting Chain Piecing Half Square Triangles Sewing with Triangles Sewing with Curves
Improv quilting is a fun and often overwhelming method to piece a quilt. I spent 100 days exploring improv quilting and want to encourage you to explore too! My History Looking around at my quilts and projects I’ve designed and made, I tend to be a very orderly quilter. I love the sequence and symmetry […]
I had a change of mind over Gypsy Wife, I figured if I put her away in a drawer it would be quite a while before she came out again! So here she is, all stitched up, not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but she is mine! I can't get a good full on shot, to get this pic below I had to practically re-arrange my sewing room. Would I make another one - no. I would not. I am tempted once again by Long Time Gone, I've studied the pattern and think it would be easier than GW, need more time to ponder on that one but it would use up a heck of a lot of the scraps in my boxes. I have four projects on the go, I have quilts to quilt and a few UFO's tucked away in the cupboard, but I find I am tempted constantly to begin more quilts, especially using my favourite fabrics - you know whose - KF and friends. So, guess what I have just been doing only cutting strips for another quilt. This is an all strip quilt in a KF book, and at 3 and 1/2inches wide a great change from 1"ones. Just what I need right now. Our little Tuxedo cat Leila is a real character, so very different from the others we have been privileged to have as part of our family. Here she is telling me it's time for her dinner that's one hungry girl!!!! That's all for now, I am feeling positively euphoric at having achieved a finished GW top and feel I need to sit and have a cup of tea, a large glass of a good Shiraz would suit me better but that wouldn't be a good mix with my medications. Hope you're all having a good week, see you soon. Maureen
Earlier this year, some of our Tasmanian MQG members got together at one of our sewing days and started putting blocks together for our raffle quilt. One of our very dedicated members (my friend Lauren) then put the rest of the blocks together. We worked together to piece the top - and then it was handed over to me for the quilting (which I finished back in April). We made this quilt using a bundle of Kona solids, and Carolyn Friedlander's fantastic Aerial pattern. The blocks are all paper pieced, so it was the perfect choice for a group quilt in terms of making sure the blocks were all the same size. It went together like a dream! It took me a while to decide how to quilt this one, but I knew I wanted to keep it fairly simple since it's such a dynamic and complex design. I ended up deciding to quilt in the ditch in all the seams in each block, and then chose one colour within each block to do some free motion organic straight lines. I think it works really well - the texture is really lovely without distracting from the complexity of the blocks. I used coordinating Aurifil thread for all the quilting - my healthy thread stash certainly came in handy ;o) How to quilt the borders had me stumped for a while - but I ended up extending out the 'fractured' lines within the blocks, and then filling in the spaces around them with some swirls and a couple of feathery designs. It wasn't until I quilted the last border that I discovered what I should have done across the whole border - rather than extending the line and echoing it at an angle on both sides (as in the photo above), it looks much more effective where I've just echoed one side (as in the lower area in the photo below). I'm still really happy with how this one came out, but it was a really great learning experience and has given me ideas for how to quilt future projects :o) We are currently selling raffle tickets for this quilt, and the winner will be drawn at the Craft and Quilt Fair in July. The money we raise will be going to a support a sewing program at our local Women's Prison. I am thrilled that we are supporting this program - I know so many people (including myself) who have found sewing and quilting to be amazing therapy when going through difficult times in life. If you are interested in purchasing tickets, please contact us at tassiemqg at gmail dot com. xx Jess PS stay tuned for my MisDirection pattern release later this week! I can't wait to show you my amazing testers versions.
Have you seen my latest patterns? This is one of them - a simple folding technique that textures fabric beautifully. But how to quilt these textured blocks? First thing first: always think about the size of the block, how the piece will be used, who will use it, how often, in what way, and how often it will be washed. If you want to preserve the look above, then you should do a minimal quilting and the piece could be finished as a wall hanging. You don't touch it often, you don't wash it, so the blocks will stay in
Learn how to make a quilt using cheesecloth fabric. Heather Thomas shows you how and gives you tips for finding, preparing and working with this fabric.
Modern Quilting Tips, Tricks and Tutorials! - Everything you need to know to make quilting easy and fun so you can do what it is you love to do and create a beautiful joy filled life!
Join the Sew Much Moore Quilt Block Club Swap and connect with quilters worldwide in a creative, community-driven exchange
I'm going to vent in a bit, so bear with me. I really do love being an artist and making quilts and making weird stuff, and pushing the edge of every design envelope I can find, but the going is rarely smooth. I designed this, the first diamond quilt in one day. I was feeling pretty proud of myself. Well, we all know where THAT leads. I knew there were some things that were not working in yesterday's version, and I thought it would be an easy fix. After dinner last night I went into the studio and started "tinkering." At some point I figured out I was NOT making a colorwash quilt with giant prints. I was making a quilt of diamonds, that were part of bigger, overlapping diamonds, that blended in and out of each other, and to make that happen, I had to make you see their edges, so I did NOT want them to blend. So I had to move them. After a couple of hours I had this, and I thought it was pretty much IT. Then I looked again. SH*T, I had that bright pink at the top left edge that stuck out. Had to fix that. Rummage through stash. Curse. OK! Ta-da! GOT IT! Then I looked at the picture above and I saw IT! The fly in the ointment. The block that JUST WOULD NOT sit back and relax. You can find it. It's the pretty one in the lower left, with the pink flowers. CRAP! I tried moving it to a couple of places, but it just would not play nicely with me. A bit more swearing and fabric shuffling and I have this. YES, I know I have to fill that triangular space at the bottom, but that's not all that hard to do, and it can wait. The corner is now darker than I would like it to be, but I really am running out of unique big prints. Rather I should say I have run out. I don't really want to go shopping, because I can't take my design wall with me, and you never really know what will fit until you try it. Now I can hear some of you already. "Um, Lynne. There's more dark space on the right. Your quilt looks a little off balanced." Um, no. That vertical row of diamonds at the far right are the edge pieces. Those will be cut in half. Here's a "camera crop" to show you. And yes, I know the two pinkish ones at the upper left don't necessarily read as "diamond" shapes, but hey, there are at least 74 unique fabrics in this thing, and though I have a really good stash, it does have it's limits and I've pretty much pushed it to the limit. So here are 74 Diamonds Dancing Like Demons. Here's another funny thought. This quilt is made from scraps (really) and is made from one shape. So it fits the definition of a "Charm Quilt." ROFLMAO!!!
It has been a weird week. I am running up against the deadline for finishing the "Elements" pieces and I essentially lost two days this week. Monday morning I woke up with a stiff neck and by bedtime I was in a serious amount of pain. Did not sleep and by morning I was in such pain and fear of what might be causing it that I went straight to the Urgent Care Clinic near us. It was a strained trapezius muscle in my neck, making my neck impossible to move without screaming, hot pain and sending tentacles of pain winding up around my skull. The recommendation was rest and drugs and sleep and a soft cervical collar to support the weight of my head. So I lounged around all day on Tuesday reading and sleeping, felt a little better on Wednesday and much better today. So I was back in the studio this afternoon. "Water" should have been easy (that's why I left it for last), but I had a hard time settling on an idea. Close to my heart is the wetland area where we walk, so that began to take shape in my head. I started with an assortment of blue, gray and tan fabrics and fused some strips to form a base. At the end of today I had this: I think I am nearly there. A few additions, then I will trim it to size and bind it. Speaking of the wetland area, we had a surprise when we walked last week. Sofia was with us, and as we came around the corner near the Fanno Farmhouse, Beth and I were talking away and Sofia piped in "look at the turtle!" There, studiously digging in the dirt at the side of the trail, was a large turtle. I took its picture with my phone. That evening on the local news was a story of another turtle that was captured in a backyard several miles away. They are snapping turtles that have invaded the wetlands and creek. They are not native to the area and are thought to have been pets, originally, that were released into the creek and have bred there for years. This is the season when they come onto land to dig holes and lay eggs. They are quite destructive, eating the native fish, frogs, even baby ducks and can take a finger off if you are dumb enough to offer it to one. We found this one pretty interesting and were happy to have encountered it until we learned later what pests they are. If we see another we are advised to call the Parks department or Fish and Wildlife, who will come and take it away. Wish I had known. Now I am on the lookout when we walk.
Hi! Remember me?? Well I'm back to share what I've been up to. Complete with poor photos and excessive punctuation! You lucky things :) I will do a catch up post soon but for now, before I run out of time, I'm entering the Modern Mini Quilt Contest over at Ellison Lane Quilts. By the skin of my teeth I might add, as the linky closes in less than an hour! Eeek! I had grand plans of a super-gorgeous-awe-inspiring quilt I would make using a block that I've redesigned but after much dithering, frustration and indecision I decided to take a step back and let it go. It just wasn't working, so that meant it was time for a new plan! I had a new idea that I was really happy with! Unfortunately by the time I had the good idea, I did not have enough time to make it :( On to Plan C! I decided to enter my Mini DSQ. Plan C Finishes at 15½ " x 20". Modern Mini Quilt Contest Entry - Plan C, 15½" x 20". Last year I joined in with the Dead Simple Quilt Along over at Lily's Quilts. You can read more about it here and here. While a bit late to the party as I was trying to finish this, I did put the top together in January(not pics yet sorry!). Then because I've decided to make a "Mini Quall of Fame" (more on that later!) and because I didn't have a big enough area to lay out the big quilt, I decided to make a little one to see how the colours played together and to try out a quilting idea. Modern Mini Quilt - Quilting texture Once I put the top together and after quilting I thought it was a bit plain and just needed a little something extra. So I decided to add some little pops of colour in the binding. Modern Mini quilt - Binding Detail I love this effect and will be doing it on the big DSQ too. It gives a plain back a nice pop. Modern Mini Quilt - Plan C - back. Modern Mini Quilt contest Plan C - Back binding The big DSQ is still waiting patiently for its turn.... DSQ - Dead Simple Quilt There are lots of fantastic Mini quilts already linked up, go and have a look. Good Luck everyone!
Learn how many 6 inch quilt blocks you need to make a quilt with this blog post plus download the free quilt math cheat sheet!
Using sealing wrap to test quilting motifs
Learn about some bad quilting habits that Superior Threads recommends that you quit.
Stars - Underwater - custom quilt designed by @deannalcole using PatternJam quilt design software
Use this standard quilt size chart to design your next project. It covers all sizes from baby to California King. Size chart is easy to read and printable.
Quilting tutorials from QuiltFabrication
Big news! I’m a little late to the party, but I’m joining and cohosting the 2019 Gypsy Wife quilt along with @ScrappyViolet . And it starts this week! You don’t want to miss this. Trust me.
We've designated both July and August as Modern Quilt Month 2015. We've enjoyed seeing the modern quilts at various shows, and summer seems like the perfect time to feature these fun quilts. Here is p
Done!
Picking fabrics, playing mix and match with the fabrics from my stash, auditioning them for a quilt or any patchwork project is my favourite part of the quilting process. While I do love using the …
This month in the quilt group we are working on a little doll quilt- the Honey Bun Doll quilt. It's soo cute and simple and uses those small mini charm packs---
I used the triangle scraps from my low volume swoon quilt to make this sweet little wall hanging. It's made from the cream fabrics from various Bonnie & Camille fabric lines... my favorite. We recently became the new home for my husband's grandparent's dining room set. It's come together nicely. The buffet and table are from his grandparents and the clock is from my grandma. I also have my other grandma's sewing machine in this room, so it's quite the connection to our grandparents in here! I used this chicken wire board as decor and it "needed" a little wall hanging quilt. My idea is to use this board for holiday decor, but this quilt will be a nice neutral for in between.
“Create an art quilt, any subject you wish, using yellow. Your piece must be at least 50% yellow, and read yellow. You may use the full range of values. Use of any green yellows or orange yellows w…
This quilt belongs to Diann. Don't you just LOVE those Kaffe Fassett fabrics! I just did a simple overall swirl quilting. I usually only post pictures of custom quilting but it seems like I have not been doing a lot of quilting this summer. And besides, I absolutely love this quilt!
The 2018 NZP Fat Quarter Mystery is a mystery no more! Team Nancy Zieman is honored to celebrate Nancy Zieman’s legacy with this quilt titled, She’s Our Star.
Making mitered corners doesnt' hjave to be hard.Start with a small application to gain confidence in making excellent mitered corners every time!
Quilt made for my Mother to celebrate her first Christmas as a Grandma. My Niece Eva-Rose was born in July 2011. Made from a pattern by Jeanie O'Sullivan in issue 68 of New Zealand Quilter magazine.
Hey there, fellow quilters and friends! Today I'm sharing my version of Kim Diehl's Late Bloomers quilt pattern, which I finally finished early last year.
Since I began sewing my wardrobe one of my goals was to make a quilted coat out of all my scraps and I finally made […]
Since I have all these blocks done and up on my design wall I thought I’d write up some instructions for making these blocks. I’m calling this my Brandon Left Over quilt because the fab…
