Tips from Maria Elkins

I just love this quilt! Perhaps it's because I have two red headed daughters. It's called 'Windblown'. I came across a photo before we went to the Houston show and I emailed Maria to ask permission to post about it. When Maria emailed back and generously agreed, I took the opportunity to ask a few questions:

"I am interested in how you went about making the quilts. What sewing machine do you use? Are you using a frame or sitting down at the machine? What threads do you like? What would be you best tip to someone starting out? Is there someone particular who inspired you? Do you have a fine arts background?"

And much to my delight Maria replied:

"Yes, I have a fine arts background. I took art and drawing classes in junior high and high school. I went to college and was an art major with an emphasis in textiles. A year after I got married, I dropped out of college,we moved, and we had kids. Twenty years later, I went back to college to finish my fine arts degree, but this time with an emphasis in printmaking. (The second college didn't recognize fiber as fine art.)"

"Embrace 1" is based on a series of woodblock prints that I had done in college. As a result, the quilt version is just an experimental piece for me. I wanted to play with an image that was a bit more abstract."

"Windblown" is a hand painted, wholecloth quilt of a young lady who I've known since she was 7. In the background, I really wanted to focus on wind-like fantasy feathers."

"I use a Janome 6500. I do not use a frame. I sit down when I quilt. I mostly use Superior Threads. I like using silk thread when I quilt faces. I love using variegated threads when I quilt hair."

"I think beginners should give themselves a break. So often, I hear "I can't___" when they haven't even tried. It's okay to try something and then throw it away if you don't like it. Remember, many of the skills related to quilt making require a lot of practice. I learned to use a sewing machine when I was 9, and I've pretty much sewn non-stop since that time. I learned to free motion quilting on baby quilts that I gave away. That's a great way to learn the skill."

"In the early 1990s, I was first exposed to art quilts through various quilt magazines. In particular, I remember seeing Charlotte Warr Andersen's quilts, and knowing that I wanted to combine my love of drawing people with my love of sewing and quilting."

Wow! I am so inspired! These quilts were even more spectacular in person! Both quilts were listed as finalists for the 2011 Houston Quilt Festival."Windblown" won the Fairfield Master Award for Contemporary Artistry Follow the link to get a peek into the awards evening!

Thank you Maria!!

No Fuss Frames

Our heads have been buzzing ever since we got back from the Houston Quilt Festival. This photo gives a glimpse of just how big it was. You can see our stand in the upper right hand corner of the photo. It was very exciting, and a bit scary, to bring our English made machine quilting frame 'across the pond'. We'd received so many emails about our frames from American quilters over the past several years, that we decided to take the plunge. Our Art Quilter and New English Quilter frames were so simple compared to the larger, more complicated and more expensive frames already available in America. Would the American quilters like our frames?

They did! And we were thrilled. We had lots of sales and so many positive comments. People loved the simplicity of the frame, especially how easy it was to set up and take down. People also liked that our frames were aimed at ordinary quilters; people who wanted to finish their own quilts more easily, quickly and to a higher standard without spending a fortune and needing a permanent set up. People liked the warmth of the wood. Husbands particularly liked the thought and attention to detail that went into the design. Machine quilters appreciated how easily the sewing machine glided and how comfortable the speed control Nifty Grip handles were to use. And many people just loved that it was made with love in England yet would only take 3 days to get from our village to their American doorstep. All the photos in this post feature the Union Jack Quilt, on the 6 foot frame, off the frame and you can just glimpse it on the back of the booth in the upper right of the top photo.

So our trip to Houston was a big step into the unknown and totally worth it! For anyone State-side still looking for a show bargain we have the 6 foot Art Quilter and 8 foot New English Quilter demo frames available at a big discount. Email me about the prices. martha@machinequilter.co.uk The frame makes a great Christmas present! Gee, order soon and you'll get your frame delivered in plenty of time to make Christmas presents.

Back from Houston

Houston was fantastic! Here's our booth. Les Raichert took the photo. Les and Rose live in Arizona and sell JUKI sewing machines for industry and home use. If you're looking for a JUKI sewing machine in America, Les is the person to talk to! Les and Rose came down to help us at the show. Rose is on the left of the photo next to me and Emily. Jill, on the right, came down from Ohio to help demo. She was the first person in America to get a New English Quilter and you can read about quilting with kids on Jill's blog! For all of us, this was our first time exhibiting at the Houston Quilt Festival. We had so much fun!

Here's a photo of the set up so you can peak behind the scenes. I think that Quilt shows are magical. You come to some enormous building in a state of purposeful chaos. Trucks and lorries, fork lifts and all manner of trolleys moving all sorts of boxes and bits and pieces. 24 hours later the show opens and a new sort of chaos erupts as 60,000 quilters from all over the globe pour through the doors. We have an amazing time meeting all sorts of people who share our passion for quilting. We demo machine quilting with new JUKI 2010 sewing machines on our New English Quilter frames from 10 in the morning til 7 in the evening.

Then four days later we take it all down again. It's exhausting, hilarious and exhilarating. Something must be wrong with us because we can't wait to do it again next year! I'll be posting lots of stories over the next few days but this one sets the stage. Last of all, here's a little you tube clip of our stand during the show that Les took with his phone. You can see Emily machine quilting a charity quilt on the 6 foot Art Quilter frame.

Just in time

Sunday, I finished sewing the binding on the flag quilt, just in time for our trip to the Houston show. I'm thrilled to be taking it with us to put up in our booth! If you're at the Festival please stop by - we're at Booth 726 -728!

Houston Show Goodies

We've been collecting goodies to give away at our stand at the Houston Quilt Festival next week. Today before we packed them for the shippers, I took some photos. The canvas leaders on our new 4 foot Art Quilter frame come in gorgeous stripy deck chair fabric. It's hard to get more English than deck chairs! So we're bringing some colourful cushions made from deck chair fabric.

And lots of lovely aprons made from deck chair fabric too, modelled here by Ellie

...and Katie. There are so many pretty patterns to choose from! We'll be wearing them at the Houston show. And they'll be part of the 'goodie bags' for the first 20 frame sales.

You can find us under Machine Quilter Company in the Catalogue we're at booth 726, 728. Come visit and see how a new JUKI 2010 glides on one of our New English Quilter frames.

Getting ready

It's been an epic couple of weeks. Last week I travelled from the 'back of beyond' in Lincolnshire to London via car, train and tube to get to the American Embassy to renew my passport. After filling out all the forms I went back home to wait a week for the delivery. London is exciting but I am always happy to get back to the 'shire'. The passport was due to be delivered Wednesday, which meant that I needed to be at home all day. So I decided to use the time to finish an English Flags quilt top, which gave me another opportunity to play with the JUKI Exceed 600.

The industrial type box feed makes this JUKI such a dream to piece with! This English Flag quilt top has been 'resting' for the past couple of months. A fresh look this week made me think that it needed another row of flags. We want to have it at our booth at the Houston show next week. Fortunately, thanks to the JUKI Exceed, the blocks came together quickly and now I'm working on a fun back. I often use fleece but sometimes I really enjoy finding just the right fabric for the backing. More about that tomorrow.

Houston Quilt Festival 2011

We're going to the 2011 Houston Quilt Festival! The dates are Thursday - Sunday, November 3-6 with a preview on Wednesday night from 5 to 10pm. We're listed under Machine Quilter Company Ltd and the Booth numbers are 726, 728. We're sharing the stand with Les Raichert. Les Raichert has been supplying American Quilters with JUKI sewing machines since the 1970s.This year we're bringing the Art Quilter and NEQ2 New English Quilter frames and Nifty Grip ergonomically designed speed control handles. We'll also have our Line Dancing DVD's; La Mer and Beyond the Sea.

Come visit and test drive the new JUKI TL2010Q on the New English Quilter frames. We'll be at Booth 726 and 728. We'll see you there!