Up from London Town

Siobhan came up from London town last Saturday to collect her 6 foot New English Quilter frame, her 6 foot purpose built table and the Nifty Grip speed control handles that we made to go with her new Juki TL98P sewing machine. Siobhan's a founding member of the London Modern Quilt Guild. Like many modern quilters, she's keen on fresh colours and simple striking designs. But Siobhan loves creating interesting texture and wanted a tool that would enable her to go beyond the straight line quilting often associated with modern quilts.

Siobhan having a play with the Juki TL98P on the 6 foot New English Quilter 

During the free workshop, we took the frame and table apart and put it back together so that Siobhan would know just what to do when she got it home. We had a session with the  Juki TL98P sewing machine too so that Siobhan would know how to oil it and clean it and tension it just right for free motion quilting on a frame.

some of the quilts we looked at during the demo

We looked at lots and lots of quilts and talked about ways to become fluent with various line design stitches.

The Village Haberdashery

Siobhan told me about her favourite London quilt shops like the Village Haberdashery in the photo above, and what fun it is to be a part of London's Modern Quilt Guild that meets the first Sunday of each month in a quintessentially English pub called the Star Tavern in Belgravia.

A Flying Geese project - one of Siobhans quilt tops

I asked Siobhan to bring a few of her unfinished tops so I could get a sense of her quilting style. We were able to audition various threads and play around with line designs that could be used for the quilting. I really liked this Flying Geese project and Siobhan chose a wild and wonderful Neon thread from the Rainbows range of Superior Threads that is going to look gorgeous! 

Siobhan headed back to London Saturday afternoon with her head spinning full of ideas and a boot full of machine quilting tools. I can't wait to see what she gets up to!I've asked her to send me a photo of her new studio set up. I'll post it here when she sends it.