Made to Measure

Our workshops are 'made to measure'. We like to keep them personal. Every workshop is different because they're designed to please each person who comes. Judith bought one of our original New English Quilter frames a few years ago. She completed quite a few smaller projects like table runners, pillows and smaller lap quilts. But she was daunted by a larger sized quilt that she'd lovingly pieced. She was afraid of spoiling a top that she really cared about. So she rang and asked for some help.

I suggested that we book a workshop for a couple of days. Judith lives 5 minutes away in the next village so I came to her. This bright sunny spot at the top of her stairs is just the right setting for her New English Quilter frame. Judith designed the quilt to go in her bedroom. She chose a pale yellow fleece for the backing.

For the top Judith chose a thread from Superior Threads' Rainbow range called Opal # 808. The pastel colours looked so pretty over the chintz-like fabrics.

We chose cream coloured pre-wound bobbins in Bottom  Line #620 which blended beautifully with the fleece.We changed the needle to a 100/16 Titanium coated Topstitch needle and we were ready to start.

Judith was practising the scalloped mussel shell design for an overall pattern on paper first, then it was easy to draw the pattern with the thread. She wanted to create a subtle texture, something that would cross the pieced lines and hold the quilt together visually.

Judith loved learning a new line design. By the end of the quilt, Judith was really good at this pattern!  We took the quilt off the frame and threw it on the bed just to see the way the light fell across the raised 'negative space' created by the quilted lines. It looked beautiful.  It's just wonderful when a plan comes together. I'll post a picture of it on the bed once the binding is on. Now Judith plans to do the same scalloped mussel shell pattern on a red, cream and blue quilt for her daughter Cathy to take to University. She can't wait to see how the pattern will look in a different colour- way.

Lalla Ward's Vanishing Act

LallaWard 

has a new exhibition coming up at the National Theatre called Vanishing Act

It's staged as an encore applauding

Lalla's penchant for flora, fauna and fibre so admired in her previous exhibitions. 

Lalla's exquisitely stitched textile pieces capture the amazing ability of many animals, reptiles, amphibians and insects to blend in with their natural environments.

It's a clever idea, brilliantly executed. 

moth by Lalla Ward  rests on artisan bowl by Nick Kettlewell

The camouflage theme plays out across a wide variety of materials ranging

from hand turned wooden bowls to meticulously stitched moths. 

Lalla with her sketch book

Lalla's work has a curious impact on the viewer.

It draws you in as you look ...again and again... to find
what's hidden in plain sight

Viewers often ask Lalla how she creates her pieces. So as a new feature of the exhibition, Lalla will stage a mini-mock-up of her work space, offering a behind the scenes glimpse of  the tools, materials and techniques that she uses to stitch the pieces.

 

Vanishing Act

by textile artist Lalla Ward

on show at the National Theatre

April 1st through May 12th

Be sure to catch it before it disappears!

Lalla's textile art work was stitched using a
JUKI straight stitch TL98P sewing machine 
with a wide variety of Superior Threads. You can see them on display 

at the National Theatre through out the exhibition. 

The Vanishing Act exhibition is Free! 

Never heard of it

South Oxford at Sunset

Yesterday, Helen came to visit from Oxford. She'd been visiting the machinequilter website for years and decided that it was time to come and have a look for herself. I so enjoyed meeting Helen. Chatting over coffee, we found much in common. We'd lived in similar parts of the UK and even had children the same ages. Helen likes to make smaller quilts, especially to give away as gifts so she was keen on our smaller Art Quilter frames. She's in-between-houses at the moment and is stopping off in Oxford en route to the Cotswolds. With most of her sewing supplies in boxes, Helen's been strip piecing projects and with extra time on her hands she wanted to do more quilting.

As we explored her options we thought that the 4 foot Art Quilter would be perfect for now. The 4 foot Art Quilter frame is just the right size to fit in the smaller house. Yet it performs the same as the larger frames. Once loaded on the frame, each layer of the quilt is perfectly tensioned, so there are no rucks or wrinkles. The frame creates a perfectly tensioned steady surface, leaving the quilter free to focus on the quilting. 

4 foot Art Quilter frame and Juki TL98 P

Helen was particularly impressed with the free and easy movement of the carriage. This is the one feature of the frame that you just can't get from a distance. I love the  reaction that people have when they move the carriage for the first time. Helen was astonished. She'd no idea that the carriage would move so smoothly. She immediately realized the effect that this ease of movement would have on her free-motion-quilting. After taking the frame and table apart and then putting them back together, which just takes 5 minutes. We moved on the the sewing machine. 

notice all the space under the Juki TL98P arm

When I mentioned the name JUKI, Helen said that she'd never heard of it. Lots of people say that. But when I showed Helen the features that make the Juki TL98P the ideal sewing machine to use on a frame she was convinced.

1. The JUKI TL98 P arm is wider AND taller. The height is just as important as the width when you have a fabric pole under the arm of the machine.
2. The JUKI TL98 P goes 1500 stitches per minute, easily without straining because it's a semi-industrial machine on the inside. The industrial speed gives you a lovely line of stitching. The industrial power stitches through multiple layers easily. It looks glam on the outside but it's a workshorse on the inside.
3. The JUKI TL98 P only does a straight stitch so it's simple and therefore easy to tension. All the whistles and bells get in the way. A straight stitch is the only stitch we need on a frame and the JUKI TL98 P does a straight stitch perfectly.
4. The JUKI TL98 P offers all these features in one sewing machine. Many other sewing machines offer one or more of these features. Some are longer but not taller. Some are longer but sew much slower. Most sewing machines are much too complicated and do far too many stitches to be happy while dancing around on a frame carriage. The JUKI TL98 P gives you the space, the speed and the simplicity that are the absolute essential features for a sewing machine to use on a quilting frame.

Well, it was a great day! It was such fun for me to meet Helen. And it was fun for Helen to try out the Art Quilter frame with the Juki TL 98P sewing machine. It was fun sharing all my quilts and drawing out the line designs that would be good for starting out. Helen left happy, excited and inspired. 

Demo's are fun and free. So if you've been drooling over the website for years, like Helen. Ring me for a demo and come and see for yourself. The coffee is good too!

martha@machinequilter.co.uk

01526 378057

Valentine Postcards

 Here's a section of my  machine quilted  post card fabric panel just off the 4 foot Art Quilter frame. To keep the postcards light weight, I skipped the batting and only used two layers. So perhaps this project comes more under the free-motion embroidery heading. The exciting thing is that the line between machine quilting and free-motion embroidery is fast disappearing. The Art Quilter frames are fantastic for anyone who wants to draw with the needle.  

Rosie, my clever daughter, designed these post cards using computer graphics. We printed them on card and used my dull rotary cutter to cut them out. Then using my good sharp cutter we cut the fabric to fit the postcards...

...and zig-zagged around the edges on the JUKI Exceed 600. The titanium coated Topstitch needle from Superior Threads easily stitched through the fabric and card. Then we wrote on the back and popped them in the post. 

The post mistress thought that our Valentine postcards  looked lovely. This was so much fun that we'll be making more! There are lots of other excuses for a postcard. We could create postcards for all sorts of special occasions. Birthdays, Spring, Easter, the list goes on...

Christmas Table Runners

My Mom's blue and green table runner on the 8 foot New English Quilter frame

Over the years I've collected a lovely stash of Christmas fabric. Some years I am just so overwhelmed that I get it out, look at it and put it back in the basket. This year I decided to do some really simple stripy table runners for presents. Keeping it simple made it more likely for me to finish in time for Christmas. The stripes work for me as what I really like is the look of the fabrics next to each other. And now, ever since I've been using a frame, it is the machine quilting that gives the magic touch.

My least favourite thing about machine quilting is loading the quilt on the frame. Don't get me wrong, it's way better than being on my hands and knees with hundreds of safety pins or basting or glueing! Anyway, this time I decided to make several runners and sew them together with some strips of fabric. That way I would only need to load the frame once and I could get right to my favourite part - the machine quilting.

Thread auditioning - going for the gold!

Being 'bleak mid winter' it is hard to get enough natural light for a good photo. But here they are all loaded on the frame.This first runner is for my Mom - she loves blue and green. It's fun deciding which threads to use. They're all gorgeous but I decided on the gold metallic from Superior Threads. These metallic threads are a pleasure to sew with! I'm using a Titanium coated 100/16 Topstitch needle, which is, by the way, exactly the same as a Metallic needle! The larger eye gives the thread plenty of room to move through the eye without shredding or breaking.

Filigree scroll work line design

The quilting pattern is a no-mark-hand-guided-free-motion pattern that I call 'filigree scroll work'. I like it because it is so easy to manoeuvre all around the quilting space. More to come...