Progress Down Under

It’s always a pleasure getting feedback from exciting places. I’ve blogged about Brenda in Australia before. Brenda’s the one whose husband can’t stop singing La Mer! Here’s a photo of Brenda’s stunning Australian Flag Quilt. As I’m busy beavering away on my English flag blocks for the next DVD, I was really keen to see how this flag quilt turned out. I love it! And I think it’s a brilliant idea to make it double-sided. I've included parts of an email from Brenda and another photo which shows the ripple stipple stitching close up.Thanks for sharing Brenda. I think your quilt is gorgeous! I can’t wait to see what you do next!

Hello Martha,

I thought you might be interested in my progress. WOW, what a great time quilting I’ve been having! Thanks to you and your DVD, I’ve completed several of my projects, including Ben’s Flag Quilt. Ben lives with us and is so pleased to finally have his quilt. Ben just turned 21 and when he requested a flag quilt, for his 21^st, my dilemma was how to make a flag quilt that he could continue to enjoy as he got older.

The result was a double-sided quilt, flag one side and stars the other. The next problem was solved with your DVD, I used the Ripple pattern. It was ideal, for me, and the project. I am looking forward to your next DVD, when can I expect to see it??? The best news of all is, Dick has stopped singing La Mer!

Thanks once again,

Brenda XXX

By the way Brenda, you need to prepare yourself! The theme tune for the next DVD in the Line Dancing Series, is a song by Bobby Darin called Beyond the Sea. Your husband's going to love it!

Fibonacci ~ Fab Fabrics

We all have colours that make us go weak in the knees. These are mine. I needed a couple of tries to get the colour right - it just wasn't sunny enough here yesterday and my first photos came out all muddy. But this shot captures the colours. Here are all the strips cut in widths according to the Fibonacci Sequence with the added seam allowance making them 1 1/2, 2 1/2, 3 1/2 and 5 1/2. They're hung across the back of a chair and catching the rare burst of sunlight!

These pieces are for a sister quilt. The quilt on the frame below was created last summer for Emily. Now Rosie is sharing the room and needs a matching quilt. So these fabrics are for her. Emily's colour ways ran from turquoise to blue to purple. Rosie likes pink so her quilt will run from blue to purple to pink.

Here's Emily's quilt on the frame. I've backed it in fleece. The quilting pattern is a personal favourite that I call 'the Ripple Stipple'. This free-motion line design is a very directional pattern. I think that this makes it much easier than an ordinary stipple where you are moving in all directions. With this pattern you are mainly moving in one direction; right or left, with a few curves that bend back on yourself and then carry on in the same direction. I think it looks like sunlight on water.

Here's a detail of the quilting. I've used lots of different threads for the quilting, metallics for sparkle, variegated light reflecting Rainbows in watery colours and the bolder matt lines that King Tut makes. I've used some LAVA and So Fine as well.

Here's a selection of the threads, on the left are some gorgeous 2,000 yd cones of King Tut and a couple of Superior Metallics are on the right. Click on the image and you can see them better. I use Bottom Line pre-wounds in the bobbin and a Topstitch 16/100 needle. I think the threads are just as fab as the fabrics!