Hearts and Loops

My twin sister is a grandmother! I'm not sure who is more cute the baby Ruby or my sister Peggy. I made my sister a baby quilt when her first child was born and when he had his first child, of course I had to make another.

Peggy likes bright fabrics so this little quilt comes from all my bright kiddie scraps and it's quilted with hearts and loops. As little Ruby gets bigger she'll be able to play "I spy with my little eye" with the quilt and look for doggies, and icecream cones, flowers and strawberries, lightning bugs, lady bugs and butterflies. I hope they'll have hours of fun together. 

There's a gorgeous red heart flannel on the back which makes the whole quilt soft and cosy. 

Here's the quilt loaded on our 6 foot New English Quilter frame.

I'm using a JUKI TL98P straight stitch sewing machine because it's got the space under the arm and the 1500 stitches-per-minute speed I need to get a lovely flowing line of stitching.

I'm using a pretty pink variegated thread from Superior Threads' Fantastico range called Giggles and I've used bright red Bottom Line pre-wounds in the bobbin so it will blend in to the backing flannel.


I just love how this lovely light reflecting tri-lobal polyester thread runs through my machine without any trouble, even at high speeds through multiple layers. This thread is cross-wound on a large cone perfect for long arm quilters and any machine quilting. 

Here's a detail of the hearts and loops quilting design.

And here's another. Even though this is a simple basic design I still use it as an all over pattern. 

It works so well on children's quilts. The hearts and loops design covers lots of ground quickly 

and lets people know that you love them too.

Here I am sewing on the binding on a visit home to America 

with my brother I'd not seen in 22 years!! 

I'm so happy to get to spend time with Pat and Peggy!

I'm using the bright red Bottom Line to hand stitch the binding. 

This fine thread blends in perfectly and it doesn't knot!

March Petwood Retreat

Jackie, Cathy and Diane looking at Juliet's quilt top

One of my favourite parts of our Machine Quilting Retreats are the afternoon sessions when we audition threads on the various quilt tops that the participants bring. It is inspiring for everyone to see the quilts.  It's fun to try out lots of different threads and to collaborate about how to quilt it .

Juliet with her Kaffe quilt

As you can see from the photos below
everyone learns from everyone else!

Cathy watching Jackie doodle a new design

Diane considering which thread and pattern to use

Cathy showing Juliet just how she arranged the blocks

Joy mastered a new line design!

Juliet making butterflies

a 'peicing detail' on Juliet's granddaughter's quilt

We all fell in love with this pieced pattern. I want to do a version where I add machine quilted details on the faces and clothes.

April Retreat

Lexie and Martha on the 6 foot Art Quilter frame

 Our April Machine Quilter's Retreat was lovely. Small is beautiful! With three participants and three tutors there was plenty of one on one instruction.  Joy and Lexie were experienced quilters but relatively new to machine quilting on a frame. Both brought their Juki TL98 P sewing machines so we could help to get them properly tensioned for free-motion quilting.

talking about loading the quilt sandwich

Joy and Lexie wanted to consolidate basic skills and move on to the next level. We explore trouble shooting techniques beginning with sewing machine tension. 

Joy practising a new line design on the frame

We move on to drawing designs with pen and paper and then we go to the frame and execute the same designs with the needle and various threads. Then we introduce a new design and go through the process all over again.

Joy drawing an E's and 3's design

The pen and paper exercises enable us to master the line design and move with it. One of the best things about hand guided machine quilting is that the line designs are like handwriting. The same designs flow differently from different people.Each person brings their own style and personality to the design. On a very practical level we all learn from each other.

Lynda working on feathers

Lynda came on our January Retreat and progressed so quickly that she came back to our April Retreat for more. Lynda spent this retreat working on feathers with Trudi Wood. It was fun to have people with mixed abilities working together. I think that by our next Retreat Lynda will be teaching us all!

Lynda drawing feathers under Trudi's watchful eye : )

First on paper and then on the frame. Fantastic!!!!

penguin feathers on the practice piece

The feathers were so fun that Emily had to have a go! She's definitely doing feathers on her next quilt.

April Retreat

Spring comes to Woodhall Spa

Spring into spring with our April Machine Quilting Retreat at the Petwood Hotel. The Petwood is such a popular venue especially in the Spring and Summer months, that we've struggled to book retreat dates. When they said that Sunday and Monday nights were much more  available we decided to change our days to go around the corner of the weekend. This April 2012 Retreat will start on Sunday and finish on Tuesday. Monday will be our main teaching day, with Sunday for arrivals and getting acquainted and Tuesday morning for winding things up. We've also got a larger room with a bit more space to spread out. It's a way to make new friends and learn new skills.

Our retreats attract a wide variety of people. Some are just beginning to machine quilt on a frame, others are more experienced. Some are traditional and some are edgy and Arty. Put them all together and great things happen. We'll be introducing new line designs and teaching you how to extend and adapt designs you already know.We'll focus on frame fluency to gain confidence creating a bold and flowing line of stitching. It's just fun to get away form it all and make new friends while learning new skills.

We already have a few bookings, email or ring with any questions.

martha@machinequilter.co.uk

01526 678057

Whatever the Weather

Well, the snow was beautiful. It still looks lovely in the fields around our house. But even the A and B roads are clear in the Lincolnshire area around us. The motorways are fine too. So travelling to our Petwood Machine Quilter Retreat this weekend looks pretty good. We're looking forward to wood fires, lovely meals and a demand free weekend without distractions as we focus on fine tuning our machine quilting skills.

Dress for the Retreat is smart casual. We dress up a bit for the evening meals and dress comfortably for the day time workshops.

We'll have frames set up and we'll supply all the materials for the weekend. Please bring any finished quilts or unfinished tops for our afternoon brainstorming session.  We would be delighted to see what you've been up to. If you would like some help tensioning your sewing machine, please bring that along as well. I've just received the January Superior Threads shipment!! So there will be lots of thread to look through.

 The retreat begins at 7:00 pm with our evening meal. But the Hotel staff are expecting arrivals any time after 2:00. So you're welcome to come a bit early and settle in your rooms and relax after the journey if you like. I'll be setting up in the Garden Room in the afternoon then collecting Emily from the Newark train station. We'll meet you for the evening meal at 7:00.We're looking forward to seeing you all! Drop me an email if you have any questions. martha@machinequilter.co.uk    Follow this link to see a schedule for the weekend..

Feathers to Foliage

It was meant to be all about feathers

but our direction took a rather fruitful detour from feathers to foliage. Everybody in quilting loves feathers! We love the way the light bounces off the tear-drop shapes. So feathering is guaranteed to have a popular following. There is a certain progression that helps even the newest machine quilter gain confidence in creating the much loved feather shape. We begin with a simple pattern of hearts and loops. The loops help us to manoeuvre every-which-way around our quilt top. The hearts teach us to create the all important tear-drop shape. Put them together and you've got a simple line design that is going places. And it did go places, just not quite where we expected. 

We had the good fortune to have Lalla Ward as our 'resident Art Quilter' for this Retreat. And Lalla brought her sketchbooks and a lovely leaf book. When Lalla made the little leap from hearts to leaves we all wanted to have a try.. 

There are literally hundreds and hundreds of leaf shapes all begging to be combined in all sorts of lovely arrangements. So we spent some time going from drawing on paper to drawing on fabric. Then we experimented with what the leaves would look like in different sorts of thread. 

These photos capture a marvellous few minutes where everyone was happily drawing all sorts of leaves...

.

...moving the pens in the very same way that soon they would be guiding the sewing machine. 

In the end it doesn't matter what we draw. What matters is that we do draw all the time and in all sorts of places; envelopes, spare bits of paper, sketchbooks, rolls of paper from Early Learning Centre. Once we're confident on paper we can do it on quilt tops. Our Art Quilter frame transforms the sewing machine needle into a pencil. That means whatever we can draw we can quilt. Simple leaf shapes can be connected by loops and aimed in all sorts of directions to create an infinite variety of gorgeous quilted shapes. The possibilities are endless.

Retreat Reflections

 "This was the best retreat ever!" That's what Trudi and I said at the end of this Retreat. And then we chuckled because that's what we say every time.

We have similar goals for each Retreat. We want our participants to:

1. become sewing machine savvy
2. become fluent at doodling all sorts of line designs
3. be able to transfer the doodled designs to no-mark-hand-guided-free-motion-machine-quilting on the frame
4. and have the opportunity to audition lots of different threads

What really makes our retreats so fantastic is our participants. Although our goals for each retreat are similar the people change. Our retreats are very much centred on the goals, skills and talents of the people attending. Our retreats are small enough to be personal and to adapt and adjust the larger goals to individual needs and expertise. Everybody brings something to the table. Our retreats create an opportunity for all of us to bounce ideas and challenges off each other. This is what makes the experience so rewarding. 

The people who attend are a diverse group. One girl was collecting her frame and needed just enough information to get off to a good start. Others wanted some inspiration to get quilting again after a dry spell. Several girls were struggling with their sewing machines and needed help sorting tension and threading issues so they brought their machines along and we managed to get them running smoothly between us. Everyone was keen to see the difference that the right needles and threads made to the machine quilting process.We had traditional quilters and an art quilter. Some spent the entire weekend and some just came for the day but everyone worked together to solve the challenges and explore the possibilities of the tools we use for machine quilting.

So although we go into our retreats with similar goals, we come out of each retreat with the confidence that comes with a higher level of manual competence as well as new friends, fresh insights and wider horizons.

Fresh Start

My first try - inspired by Trudi

Get the new year off to a good start with our January Retreat running from Friday January 13th through Sunday the 15th. Our retreats are designed to help machine quilters of all levels get the most out of their quilting frames. We're using the JUKI TL 98P sewing machine on the New English Quilter frame but anyone using any sewing machine on any frame is welcome.  We're going to focus on feathering. Whether you're just starting out or already fluent, you will leave with new skills and greater confidence. Our new venue, the Petwood Hotel in Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire offers roaring fires, good food, comfortable rooms and plenty of space for us to spread out. There is plenty of room for friends and husbands too. Follow the link to the website for more information. Ring or email with any questions. Hope to see you there!

£250 includes accommodation, ALL meals, snacks, all materials and tuition
£165 includes, meals, materials and tuition for local girls not needing accommodation

Up Close and personal

Practice makes perfect. This is true, but sometimes practice is just not enough. Sometimes we need help that is Up close and Personal. That is exactly what our Machine Quilting Retreats are for. Being around other machine quilters who are using similar tools is really really helpful. And to be honest the other people on the retreat are just as helpful as the teachers!

Our Machine Quilting Retreads have participants of all levels and we find that everyone learns from everyone else. The smallest things can make the biggest difference. Getting to see and ask questions and get answers takes you to a new level. Getting to look over the shoulders of other machine quilters and listen to the questions that they think of asking helps you grow twice as fast.

The Petwood Hotel is a gorgeous setting. A bit of pampering away from all the hustle and bustle of everyday life is a perfect way to get the new year off to a good start. Setting aside a weekend to focus on a craft that we're all passionate about creates the opportunity for everyone to grow into the 'loving intelligence' that I was waxing lyrical about it the last post.

There will be lovely food, good company, blazing wood fires and plenty of room to spread out and practice on our frames. The retreats are open to day visitors as well as people staying for the nights. There will be three teachers with different areas of expertise so we will be able to give plenty of up close and personal attention. To find our more drop me an email and or follow the link to the Retreats page on the website. A retreat is a great way to start off the New Year and recover from the busy holiday season. Martha, Anne and Trudi wish you all a joyful Christmas and hope to see you at the January Retreat.

Please email or ring with any questions: martha@machinequilter.co.uk

Tel: 01526 378057