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.

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.

Retreat Advances

a still shot of the filming session last week

The opportunity to focus on one thing.

This was such a busy week with planning sessions and filming sessions and all the homely things that keep body and soul together. But the machine quilting weekend gave us the opportunity to focus on just one thing.   

We worked on this same pattern during the retreat

I took the shot below in Trudi's garden studio when we met to plan for the Feathering Retreat weekend. By Thursday Trudi had finished machine quilting the over all feather pattern and on Friday we had it displayed in the Garden Room at the Petwood to inspire us during the the Retreat.

On Tuesday Trudi still had this quilt on the NEQ frame 

The theme for the weekend was feathering.  We started with what I like to think of as pre-feathering patterns and worked our way through them doodling designs on rolls of paper and then on the frames. We tried out lots of new threads and figured out how to clean and oil and tension our sewing machines so they would purr merrily along on the 6 foot Art Quilter frames that Trudi and I brought along.

Now it's the perfect backdrop for Kathy and Trudi

The best part of the weekend was watching people develop into confident doodlers and chuffed quilters. We were all so surprised at the difference a day makes. People came to the weekend unsure of their own abilities and uncertain about whether or not a retreat could really help. By the end of the weekend everyone was delighted!

Janice and Mags during Trudi's trunk show

Mags emailed me some feedback today

Martha, I would like to thank you and Trudie for a wonderful weekend at Petwood Hotel, Woodhall Spa.The retreat was just perfect and I will be recommending it to my friends. I was struggling with my quilts, they were all being done in the same pattern. Now with your training techniques I feel that I will now be able to produce a much wider range of designs. I learned so much and just can't wait to put it in to practice.

Thanks again.
Mags

Our retreats are a great way to advance! The March Feathering Retreat is filling up. The dates are March 9th -11th  email or ring to get on the list. We'll post future retreat dates soon.

Trudi's Feathers

Trudi's feathers just off the frame!

 Trudi machine quilts the most beautiful feathers!

 Come to our Feathering Retreat next week and she'll show you how to do it too!  

Feathers filling a square space

 Trudi is using a JUKI TL 98P sewing machine on an original New English Quilter frame.

All over feathers

 This is no-mark-hand-guided-free-motion-machine quilting on a table top frame.. 

Feather that fit into a pieced pattern

 Just BEAUTIFUL!

All over feathers

 Follow the link to sign up or call or email Martha by Friday: 

01526 378057

 martha@machinequilter.co.uk

Border feathers

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

A New Line Design

This is a post about ... process. One of the best things about the Machine Quilters Retreat is the creative process of bouncing ideas off each other. Throw 5 or 6 people in the same room, approaching a similar task with similar tools. Add differing personalities and diverse areas of expertise and 'et voila!' interesting things begin to happen.

At the end of the retreat Emily was showing Trudi her 'Rachet' pattern and Trudi suggested using a heart shape, which then morphed into 'pengin feathers' and a new design was born. It probably already exists somewhere else. But is was really fun watching Emily and Trudi discover it together.

I asked Emily to doodle out the process for us. The following images describe how the design came to be.

Emily began with her 'rachet' pattern which is inspired by the rachets on our frame!

Trudi suggested adding hearts to the spiral.

When Emily copied the pattern she made a mistake. And they both liked the mistake better than the original pattern.

The wonky heart reminded Trudi of 'penguin feathers' and so they went on to incorporate 'penguin feathers' into the design.

They both played around with how to move from one design to the next.

Trudi is already machine quilting this pattern ! Perhaps she'll show us what she's up to on her blog.

The Week After

It's been a week since the Machine Quilters Retreat and I am only just posting! Today I'll give a basic overview and go into more detail in later posts. It was lovely to be able to escape from ordinary life for a weekend. The girls were a real pleasure! Trudi from quilting prolifically was our guest quilter for the weekend.

The Chaplin House converted barn was transformed with many of Trudi's quilts. There were examples of Trudi's very first efforts right down through to her current projects. So we were able to track her progress. We were all inspired!Some girls brought sewing machines and we helped to get them threaded and tensioned properly. Trudi demonstrated the best way to clean and oil a JUKI. She even showed us a secret trap door - a great way to get out the gunk!

We had a couple of New English Quilter frames set up so we could practice various machine quilting line designs and see new designs demonstrated. Emma wanted to learn feathers and made a fantastic start! One of the best things about this part was seeing how different people execute the same line designs differently.

Some girls brought tops and we brainstormed together about possible quilting patterns and auditioned various threads. This is a gorgeous top which Joan made, called storm at sea.

We ended with a 'threaducation' talk where everyone got to touch and compare a variety of machine quilting threads and learn about how best to use them. It was a real bonus to see how these threads played out in Trudi's many quilts!

I left inspired by everyone and looking forward to the next Machine Quilters Retreat in April. The food was so good that I've asked for the same again. With any luck we might be able to take our coffee and tea breaks on the deck overlooking the back garden. Roll on Spring!

Machine Quilter Retreat

We're hosting our first ever Machine Quilting Retreat, featuring guest quilter Trudi Wood. This is an opportunity to focus on machine quilting using a table top frame in a gorgeous rural setting, tucked away from the interruptions of daily life. We're keeping the numbers down to 5 participants so there will be plenty of one-to-one attention. All are welcome, whether you just need some help getting started or some inspiration to move up to a new level. The food will be delicious, the rooms comfortable and the conversation rewarding.

dates: from Friday to Sunday, February 25-27

venue: the award winning Chaplin House B&B

Martin Village in Lincolnshire

cost: £225 for a single room or £200 for a shared room.

Prices include 2 nights accommodation, meals, snacks and all quilting materials.

Update:

All 5 places for the February Retreat are now filled! We will let you know how it goes and post the dates for future Retreats. Please do contact us if you are interested in reserving a place or have any questions or suggestions: 01526 378057

martha@machinequilter.co.uk

Make it Pink!

My preference was blue but I chose the pink. The quilt was a donation to a friend to raise some money in a silent auction and I thought that the pink would be more popular. I did choose a purply blue for the binding.   I loaded it up on the frame and tried a new quilting design. It's an extension of the mussel shell with a scallop that echoed around the edges.Clicking on the photos will give a good close up of the design.

 I first saw it on one of  Trudi Wood's quilts. But the design turned out a bit different. That's something that I love about free-motion machine quilting - the  way that designs morph from person to person. You glean ideas from other people but as you execute the pattern it changes. I was so happy with how this quilt turned out. A really sweet girl purchased the quilt at the charity lunch today and she loved it - so I was fine about letting it go.You can see more of Trudi's quilts if you visit her blog: http://trudi-quiltingprolifically.blogspot.com/