Juliet's First Go

machine quilting detail of Juliet Flockhart's Chelsea Blues quilt

I love it when customers send me photos of their work! Juliet had a chance to try out our New English Quilter frame at the Alexander Palace Knitting and Stitching Show last fall. Then she came to visit for a free demo and decided it was just what she needed to move forward with her quilting.

Juliet setting up her 8 foot NEQ2frame

Here's a photo of her 8 foot NEQ2 with the JUKI TL98P lockstitch sewing machine and the Nifty Grip speed control handles. She's just got it out of the box and set up in a spare bedroom. Juliet is happy to be able to leave the frame set up most of the time.

practising the ripple stipple pattern on some scrap fabric

Now Juliet is practising the Ripple Stipple from the La Mer DVD. It's a good idea to spend time on a practice piece before launching out on the proper quilt.

Juliet's Chelsea Blues quilt , finished and just off the NEQ2 frame

I think that Juliet's Chelsea Blues quilt is just gorgeous. The Ripple Stipple quilting pattern worked beautifully with the log cabin pieced blocks. The stitching pattern shows up well on the back in the photo below.

the machine quilting stitches show up well on the back

"I have completed my 'Chelsea Blues' quilt and am very pleased with the outcome. Apart from perhaps having the quilting too close for my taste, the actual presentation is very pleasing.  The tension was nigh on perfect and the back was excellent, which was what I was having so much trouble with latterly on my hand and machine quilting.  It has a very nice 'hand quilted' effect all over which was exactly what I had been aiming for."

Juliet's next project!

Isn't it nice when a plan comes together. I'm excited to see what happens with this one!! After working for a couple of months on her own, Juliet is coming down from Edinburgh for our March Retreat at the Petwood. What fun!

What's on at the Wiltshire Quilt Fest

See the New English Quilter frame at the Wiltshire Quilt Festival

We've been busy preparing for the 

Wiltshire Quilt Festival. 

Here's a schedule of events 
through out the week 

so you'll  know what's on.

On Thursday 13 March, we're hosting a special day for a group of quilters coming over from the Isle of Wight. But all are welcome to join in. Friday March 14th and Saturday March 15th the Salisbury Franklins shop will be open between 9:00 and 5:00 so you can... 

• Try out the latest and tried-and-true-classic sewing machines and overlockers. There will be experienced instructors on hand to demo the machines and give advice. 
• Have a go machine quilting on the New English Quilter frames. Emma and Martha will have our machine quilting frames set up so anyone who likes can have a play.
• Join in our Machine Quilting Threaducation Seminar and find out what threads work best for machine quilting and why. 
• Participate in our 'Thread Play Sessions' it's a chance to try out all the new ranges of threads on the sewing machines, overlockers and machine quilting frames. You'll get to take home your thread samples for future reference.
• Take advantage of all the sales, special offers and super deals on sewing machines, fabrics, quilting gizmos and gadgets. We've tried to bring everything together for the textile enthusiast all under one charming and spacious roof!
• Have a fun day out with quilting friends and family. There will be tea, coffee and lovely cakes available through out the day. 

Test drive the Juki Exceed 600

On Sunday March 16th Martha will be visiting the American Quilt Museum in Bath with anyone who wants to come along for the ride. For people travelling any distance, we've booked rooms at a special rate at the Mercule White Hart in Salisbury for Sunday night. We'll have an evening meal together and a good night's rest so we'll be ready for the Machine Quilter Clinic. 

Martha using the Juki TL98P sewing machine on the New English Quilter frame

Our Machine Quilting Clinic on Monday March 17th is open to machine quilters who want to become more fluent at free-motion-quilting. All are welcome whether you just need some help getting started or inspiration to move up to a new level. We keep our Clinics small with a maximum of 8 participants between 2 teachers and 3 frames. This way Emma and Martha will be able to give plenty of one to one instruction. Currently, we have 5 people signed up and places available for 3 more. 

Teaching sessions run between 10:00 and 4:00 on Monday March 17th. We'll have coffee, tea and cakes for elevenses, a buffet lunch, afternoon tea and an evening meal included in the £150 price per person.

Interested? 

Ring or email Martha.

01526 378057

marthamilne@tiscali.co.uk

 

Martha and Emma talking about Machine Quilting threads

Wiltshire Quilt Festival

Franklins  in Salisbury is hosting 

the Wiltshire Quilt Festival from 

Thursday 13th March to Monday 17th March 

Salisbury is the perfect location for all quilters in the south west to come and test drive new sewing machines and quilting frames. We'll have a great selection of Superior Threads for machine quilting. There will be special deals on fabrics and discounts on sewing machines. Best of all there will be experienced instructors on hand to demonstrate and advise on everything. 

Franklins in Salibury a recently restored and refurbished historic building

The Franklins Salisbury shop is a gorgeous building in the heart of the historic Salisbury town centre. There's everything for the quilter, stitcher, knitter and crafter all under one charming roof. The Wiltshire Quilt Fest will focus on the Quilter but  Franklins new Salisbury Needlecraft shop is well stocked for every textile pursuit. Salisbury Franklins has something for everyone!

To get to Salisbury, aim for Stonehenge and  go south east. 

 Franklins Sewing Centre

41 Fisherton Street

Salisbury

SP2 7SU

ring  Nathan or Emma for details

01722 554466

Two March Retreats!

Emma and Martha at the Petwood Retreat January 2014

Our March Machine Quilting Retreat at the Petwood Sunday 9th March ~ Tuesday 11th March has been filling up quickly. We still have a couple of places left so let me know if you want to come. Last week we decided to offer a Machine Quilting Retreat in the Salisbury area. We thought two Retreats would be twice as nice!

The Franklins Shop in Salisbury

Our Salisbury Machine Quilting Retreat will run from Sunday 16th March ~ Monday evening March 17th. Our Hotel is the Mercule White Hart. It's central, within walking distance of restaurants and the Franklins Shop.  We'll be using the ample upstairs teaching rooms at Franklins for our machine quilting sessions. We'll post more information as soon as the details are confirmed. We wanted to get the dates up as soon as possible. We already have five participants. So there are still 3 spaces left. There's more details to follow. We wanted to get this up so you can save the dates.  

Houses

I've always had a soft spot for house quilts. My very first proper quilt on a quilt frame was this Fire Light and Chimney Smoke Quilt.

Machine Quilter Retreat

Jackie holding Sally and Peter's giant log cabin quilt top

 The Petwood Hotel is beautifully situated and full of old world charm. The food is fabulous too. But what makes our Retreats so special is the people. We think that great things happen when a few people gather together around a machine quilting frame. 

Ann, Emma, Brenda, Carol, Maggie and Martha around the NEQ 6 foot frame

 Small is beautiful!  So we limit the numbers to 7 or 8 participants and we have at least 2 teachers.

Sally, Jackie, Maggie, Carol and Brenda with Jackie's quilt

It makes for a friendly atmosphere so it's easy to get to know each other and share ideas.

Peter and Martha chuckling over the 8 foot NEQ frame

There's lots of time one to one interaction as we doodle designs. We go from pen and paper to thread and fabric, gaining confidence on familiar designs and learning lots of new ones.

Sally, Maggie, Carol, Brenda and Martha with Sally's quilt

One of my favourite sessions is when we audition various threads on the unfinished quilt tops that people bring. I make sure that there's a good selection of Machine Quilting threads for people to choose. It's so inspiring to see all the gorgeous quilts as we explore machine quilting options.

Ann and Emma looking at the ripple stipple design on Jackie's quilt

This such a good mix of people.We had so much fun! We're already planning a reunion!

New Fantastico Threads!

Disco #5032 a NEW thread from the Fantastico range of Superior Threads

 Last night I discovered lots of new Fantastico threads listed on the State-side Superior Threads website. Fantastico has been my favourite machine quilting thread ever since it came out last year. Fantastico is designed to cope with the high speeds of long arm quilting machines. It's a premium high tenacity trilobal polyseter so it won't fray or break at high speeds. It's a gorgeous variegated thread too that creates a bold and beautiful line of stitching!

But the range of threads was so new that they only offered 20 different threads. Now there's lots more! And fresh new colour combinations!! It was so fun to choose my favourite cones to bring along to our Machine Quilting Retreat next weekend!

Opalescence  #5024 New from the Fantastico range of Superior Threads

These new threads in the Fantastico range are not yet posted on our UK website. But you can follow the link and use the American Superior Threads site as a shop window.  Then email or phone me with your list and we'll order it in for you.We offer Fantastico 2,000 yd cones at the amazing price of £11.99. Strong, Gorgeous and Affordable.