Mill Quilters Quilt Show

Moulton Windmill home to the Mill Quilters

 I spent a lovely couple of days last Friday and Saturday at the Mill Quilters 2015 Quilt Show at Moulton Windmill.


 I brought along a selection of Superior Threads for people to browse and buy.

Martha by her Superior Threads stand.

The Mill Quilters put on a great show! There were so many inspiring quilts.

Lesley with her amazing reversible quilt

 This one of Lesley's was one of my favourites. And I loved the modern feel of Ginny's quilt below.

There was a really neat tombola. If you won you got to pick from a great selection of gorgeous bags.

Mill Quilters Tombola

Wendy from Camelot Crafts brought some fabric and quilting gadgets galore.

I had a lovely time and met lots of great people. 

The Mill Quilters put on their Show every 2 years 

so the next show will be in 2017!

Moulton Windmill is the tallest windmill in England. It was a stunning venue for the quilt show.


 If you're keen to learn more about quilting,  the Mill Quilters hold weekly classes. Call the Moulton Windmill and ask for Norma if you're interested in joining the classes.
01406 373 237

Picking up where you left off

Bunting Quilt on the 6 foot New English Quilter frame

One of the great features about our New English Quilter frames is the ability to pick up right where you left off. I was working on this quilt over a year ago. I needed to make room for a Demo so I took it off the 6 foot frame and put it to one side. I used it as a teaching tool to show how important it is to add side-sashing strips on the quilt top so that there is a place to get the tension working right before launching into the proper quilt.

on the left is the side-sashing strip where I sort my tension

But last week I decided to finish the Bunting quilt. So I loaded it back on the frame. Our frame tensions each layer of the quilt separately so there will be no rucks or wrinkles on the top or backing. I can pick up just where I left off whether it's 5 minutes or 5 months.

notice the undulating shape of the scalloped mussel shell background filler

 This red, white and blue Bunting Quilt began as a machine quilting sampler project. The top was easy to assemble with the bunting flags raw edge appliquéd by machine to a solid piece of fabric. the idea was to machine quilt something different in each flag giving the opportunity to try out a variety of patterns.

Each flag was outlined in scallops, then I used a scalloped mussel shell filler.

machine quilted with Kimono Silk from Superior Threads

I used Kimono Silk thread for machine quilting the various line designs and Bottom Line pre-wounds in the bobbins, all from Superior Threads.

an echoed ripple stipple line design

 This echoed ripple stipple design worked well with the blue crabs.

machine quilted with a JUKI TL98P Lockstitch machine

It was very satisfying to finally complete something that has been a WIP (work in progress) for a long time.

Happy Easter!

Superior Thread cones - the perfect Easter Basket for Quilters

 I'm busy making Easter baskets for the kids. Americans make Easter Baskets filled with chocolates, sweets and eggs. It's a bit like Christmas Stockings. When they were little our kids could carry their Easter baskets with them and have all their goodies in one place. I've kept up the tradition so I'm busy getting the final few bits and bobs to fill the baskets. Even though our kids are mostly grown up now, they still love those baskets.

Superior Threads - better than Chocolate!

 If someone were going to make me an Easter Basket, I would want it to be full of cones of thread!

Superior Threads - no calories!

Then I would have all the fun and none of the calories!
Happy Easter, everyone!

When you're fed up with the chocolates, we have a great selection of Superior Threads in stock. Visit our website or ring Martha for a chat. 01526 378551 or 01526 378057.

Springtime - it's official!

Springtime a new colour-way from the Fantastico range of Superior Threads

Spring is officially here! Heralded by the Equinox, a solar eclipse and a super moon. Wow!


I've just ordered some of the new variegated colour-ways from the Fantastico range of Superior Threads. This ones's called Springtime and today is the perfect day to introduce it.

Fantastico threads are my current favourite for machine quilting. They combine beauty and strength making it the perfect thread to go at high speeds without shredding or breaking.

Priced at £12.95 for a  2,000 yd. cross-wound cone, Fantastico is a great value for money thread. Affordable, Beautiful and Strong. What's not to love?

We have a great selection of Fantastico in stock at MachineQuilter.

However you like to quilt.
on a frame, a long arm,
sitting at your sewing machine
or by hand, Fantastico will create a beautiful and strong line of stitching.
Celebrate Spring with Fantastico!

Available from our Machine Quilter online shop serving the UK and Europe. 

We have the biggest selection of Superior Threads at the best prices this side of the Atlantic!

Free Workshop with Collection

Jacqui packing up her new 10 foot NEQ frame, table and Juki TL98P Nifty Grips

We offer a FREE 2+ hour workshop for customers who choose to come and collect their New English Quilter frames. Earlier this month, Jacqui came to collect her 10 foot New English Quilter frame, customised table and Nifty Grip speed control handles. Everything she needed to get the advantages of a long arm for a fraction of the cost.

Juki TL98P straight stitch sewing machine - great under arm space

Jacqui brought along her new JUKI TL98P straight stitch sewing machine so that we could help her to get it tensioned properly and run it through its paces on the NEQ quilting frame. 

We showed Jacqui how to oil it, change the foot and the needle and  how to get to the secret compartment for a really good clean.

Investing in the right sewing machine makes a huge difference to successful machine quilting on a frame. So is some personal help in getting everything tensioned properly and up and running smoothly.

Martha's machine quilting studio in Martin, Lincolnshire

every NEQ frame comes with a FREE Goodie bag

We had a play on a practice piece on the NEQ frame, showing how to move across the length of the frame and achieve a happy stitch length. We then took the frame apart and put it back together and showed how to extend the fabric poles and tracks. We showed how to load a 2 and 3 layer quilt sandwich on the frame.


Then Jacqui got to choose some threads for her FREE Goodie bag, which includes the ideal needles and threads, pre-wound bobbins, real thread cards and a New English Quilter Handbook CD - everything that Jacqui needs to get off to a good start.

We looked at lots of machine quilted projects too.so that Jacqui would be inspired when she got home. After a snack and a drink we packed it all up in Jacqui's car and off she went excited to be starting a new adventure.

Fantastico Real Thread Cards

Fantastico Real Thread Card Booklet now in stock

Great News!! The Fantastico Thread Card Booklet is now in stock. Fantastico is my favourite machine quilting thread.I love the gorgeous variegated colours and I love how the threads runs so beautifully through my high speed sewing machine and creates a beautiful line of stitching. The real thread booklet means that you can accurately match thread to fabric and order confidently from the comfort of home.

Fantastico has tensile strength which means that its perfect for machine quilting. It's happy to go at high speeds without shredding or breaking. Fantastico is one of the newest ranges from Superior Threads. There are lots of lovely new colour combinations that I can't wait to try!

I'm putting my Superior Threads order through in the next day or so. So phone or email your orders as soon as you can.

martha@machinequilter.co.uk

01526 378057 or 01526 378551

Brenda for Project Linus

Brenda Pack Project Linus Lincolnshire with Fantastico thread cones

Meet Brenda Pack. As the Project Linus coordinator for Lincolnshire, Brenda keeps busy quilting the many tops that come to Project Linus. Project Linus is a charity providing quilts for all sorts of children from babies to teenagers. Many people send in tops and quilting groups across the country meet up to sandwich the tops with fleece or backing and wadding and then sew on the binding. The completed quilts are passed on to all sorts of children who need the bit of the comfort that home-made quilts can give.

Brenda uses a SuperQuilter frame and a JUKI TL98P sewing machine

To keep up with the project Brenda uses a machine quilting frame and a JUKI TL98P semi-industrial straight stitch sewing machine. You can see the Nifty Grip speed control handles that Brenda uses instead of the foot pedal. The 1500 stitches-per-minute and the extra height and width under the arm help Brenda to finish many quilts quickly. The stack of tops at the front of the photo are waiting to be quilted and the stack at the back are already completed!

a recent project under the arm of the Juki TL98P 

Brenda finds that the right threads make a big difference too. The variegated Fantastico cones from Superior Threads are ideal for Project Linus Quilts. Brenda likes to use the Fantastico on top and Bottom Line in the bobbin. Together these threads give a lovely and strong finish to the quilts. Brenda said:

" I bought my JUKI TL98P lockstitch sewing machine in January and went on your January retreat, since then I have quilted 52 tops using one cone of Bottom Line in silver which I used on all the quilts." 

Impressive! Brenda lives close enough to pop round and choose threads whenever she needs some new colours. If you live further away, the new Fantastico thread booklet just out at Machine Quilter   will make it easy to order all the new variegated colour-ways from the Fantastico range. So NEW it's not yet on the site. You can email or ring Martha with your order.

Project Linus UK has a Facebook page. Follow the link to see how you can join the project.