Pumpkin Patch

This year we had a pumpkin patch just down the road! 

So we got to see the pumpkins change from flower to fruit.

I thought that this fabric from Dinara Mirtalipova - Mischief Night really did capture the pumpkin patch perfectly. It made just the right border. The pumpkins we so fun to trace around! This variegated Fantastico thread was just what I needed to create beautiful texture.

Dinara Mirtalipova - Mischief Night brought to life with Fantastico # 5023 Orange Marmalade

The pumpkin patch quilt just off the 6 foot New English Quilter frame machine quilted with the straight stitch JUKI TL98P

  I created pumpkins in all sorts of shapes and sizes for the middle.

 And raw-edge appliquéd them to the black pieced background.

The fun part was adding all the detail with free-motion quilting using lots of gorgeous threads from various Superior Threads ranges. The light-reflecting tri-lobal polyester in the Magnifico and Fantastico ranges really made the pumpkins shine.

While the bold matt line from the King Tut100% extra long staple Egyptian cotton gave just the right texture for the vines and leaves. Of course the Superior Metallic was just super for the spider's web. All these threads were designed to go at high speeds for machine quilting. So I didn't need to worry about thread  shredding or breaking. 

Happy Halloween!

I hope that you enjoy your pumpkins as much as I do mine!
The pumpkin patch down the road has long since been harvested and ploughed under but my pumpkin patch art quilt is still here looking lovely.

This Juki Exceed 600 was brilliant for the piecing, appliqué and binding! 

Double Duty Teacher Quilt

Baby Arthur learning to crawl on the 'Teacher Quilt'

Five years ago, when my youngest son Peter was leaving primary school, his teacher had her first baby. So, of course I had to make her a quilt. Today Mrs Wheatley messaged me to say that she was using the quilt for her second child Arthur. There is something so sweet about babies and quilts! I'm so glad that she gets to use it twice.

I've included the photos added on to the original blog post below.

When my youngest son, Peter's teacher was going to have a baby, I had to make a quilt. The end of term is a useful deadline for this kind of thing. So when the Tuesday of the last week of term came round, I told my friend Allie that I had to finish a quilt I hadn't started yet. I decided to use only what was on hand and gave Peter's teacher the option of brights or pastels. She went for brights.

People who don't quilt think of quilts usually as lots of little squares of fabric sewn together and sometimes it's just best to give people what they want. Tuesday night I sorted through my stash and cut the squares. Wednesday I pieced the top.

Thursday I pieced the back, and the wadding. Yes, I basted leftover pieces of wadding together and it worked just fine in the end. Then I went off task and made a quick table runner for the Headmaster who was also leaving. I called it ' The Writing on the Wall'.

That left Friday for the quilting which was a joy and easily finished in time for a 2:00 leavers service.

I used an overall hearts and loops pattern quilted with a variegated Rainbows thread from Superior Threads #803 Northern Lights and a pre-wound bottom line in the bobbin.

I did keep the quilt over the weekend to put on the binding, which BTW, takes me longer than the quilting!! But it gives me the chance to enjoy the quilt while I'm hand sewing the binding, to glory in the fabric and the texture and be happy to have made something beautiful and useful!

I liked the back almost as much as the front on this one.

Pete's teacher, Mrs Wheatley popped round to collect the quilt yesterday! She was delighted and I'm feeling happy ... and just a bit bereft.

Gail Thomas!

Gail Thomas with her award winning quilt Houston Quilt Festival 2011

Last week, Gail sent me some photos of our 4 foot Art Quilter frame set up in her studio. Before I share the photos, I'd like to share the story of how we met. We met Gail Thomas back in 2011 when we were demonstrating our NEQ frames at the Houston Quilt Festival. We were busy running our JUKI/New English Quilter frames through their paces, when I noticed this amazing woman playing with our Art Quilter frame. She was so striking and looked really familiar. Then I realized that I'd seen her on a quilt!

This is Gail Thomas, one of the 'three sisters' , you'll recognize Gail as the one on the left. The Three Sisters are girls from Canada, America and Australia who met at the 2006 Quilt Show and created this award winning quilt for the following year!

Gail took me over to see her quilt for this year so I could take some photos. 2011 marks the 175th anniversary of Texas' independence from Mexico so there was a section of this year's exhibition dedicated to Texas history. Gail's quilt above called 'Someone Found' tells the story of a girl Cynthia Ann Parker who was captured by the Comanche indians and became the mother of one of the most famous Comanche warriors, Chief Quannah Parker.

In this photo, Gail is showing us the quilting detail. And the quilting is totally awesome but I love the photo for another reason. Gail used her daughter as the model for Cynthia Ann Parker. In this photo looking from Gail to her daughter depicted in the quilt, the pose is so similar that no one could fail to see the resemblance!

Gail loved our frame! She left the Houston Quilt Festival the happy owner of a new 4 foot Art Quilter which is just the right size for her studio.

Our 4 foot New English Quilter Art frame & JUKI 2010 set up in Gail Thomas' studio

Here's a good photo of the Juki 2010 sitting on the Art Quilter frame carraiges. The Juki 2010 straight stitch sewing machine is a classic workhorse with just the right amount of space under the arm. It's simple to tension and has the necessary speed to get a nice flowing line of stitching. 

The speed control Nifty Grip handles allow Gail to bypass the foot pedal

Notice the set of Nifty Grip speed control handles at the far right of the photo. These handles replace the foot pedal! They're ergonomically designed to be comfortable as you guide the sewing machine  every-which-way,  just like the much larger long arm machines.

The 4 foot Art Quilter frame is ideal for smaller projects and fits perfectly in small spaces.

"Thought I would send these as I look like I am relax and chilling.

 They are taken in my small quilting studio.

 Thank you again Martha."

Love Gail

ps. I love the frame ...XXXOOO

We've moved!

Machine Quilter has moved to Kirton Holme near BOSTON.
Our New address is:

Woodstock
Holme Road
Kirton Holme
BOSTON
PE20 1 SY

We're still in Lincolnshire, just a little bit more in the back of beyond. After 17 years of living near Woodhall Spa, in Martin, we moved to be closer to Stephen's work in Holbeach. We love our new house! It has been fun getting settled. There is lots still to do but we are glad to finally be here.

Kirton Holme is just off the A 52 as you're heading towards Boston. Our house is a bit of a secret house. It's tucked away between a couple of older houses. People following their Sat Nav's have had some trouble finding us, so it would be good to check a map before you visit us.

Our drive way is directly opposite this bright red phone booth. We look forward to meeting you here for workshops and demonstrations.You can always ring us if you need any help finding the new place. We'll come out and wave you in.

 Our telephone number is:

01526 553366

and our email remains the same: 

martha@machinequilter.co.uk

Our NEQ frame is 'just right'!

Emily on the QVP and Ellie in the background on the New English Quilter frame

Long arms are WOW! But many people just don't have the space. That's where our New English Quilter frames come into their own. These smaller more affordable frames are an American idea that has been adapted to fit into our smaller English and European homes.

Ellie demonstrating on the 6 foot New English Quilter frame with the Juki TL98P

These versatile frames clamp to any table. The frame perfectly tensions each layer of the quilt so you'll never have to baste, pin, tack, or glue. Your sewing machine sits on a set of carriages that ride on tracks. This ingenious frame allows your sewing machine to glide effortlessly across the top of your quilt. Just like a long arm but for a fraction of the cost.

People are so surprised the first time they see it! And often a bit reluctant to have a try. But we really encourage people to  give it a go so that they can feel the easy movement of the sewing machine.

Here's a shot of Ellie showing how to guide the sewing machine with the ergonomic speed control Nifty Grip handles

And here's our visiting quilter giving the JUKI TL98P a 'test drive' on our New English Quilter frame. She's surprised at how easily the sewing machine glides and happy that she tried something new at the Festival. It really does move "like magic!" 

Long Arm Fun at the Festival

Emily Milne and George Franklin setting up the JUKI QVP 2200

 The Festival of Quilts 2015 was our best ever! We had a brilliant stand this year with lots of room for our new JUKI QVP2200 machines. Emily and George were the JUKI QVP2200 team. QVP stand for Quilt Virtuoso Pro. This is the 'papa bear' of quilting machines with an 18 X 10 inch throat that glides at 2200 stitches per minute.

Emily demonstrated all the really cool features and George kept it running smoothly. Here George is playing with this awesome software that enables the machine to copy designs hand drawn on the tablet.

For the gals lucky enough to have purchased one of these machines, George will come with the Juki QVP 2200 and get it set up and running smoothly for you too. One of the customers asked George how long he would stay? And George replied "I'll stay until you're happy." It doesn't get better than that! The Franklin's Group are the UK Juki distributors.  We believe that any machine is only as good as the service behind it. It's great to know that this amazing machine has amazing back up too.

Behind the scenes at the Festival of Quilts 2015

After a long drive and several coffees, we're finally setting up our stand for the Festival of Quilts at the NEC in Birmingham. We're really excited to be here, and we hope you can make it too!

We're here with Juki Sewing Machines (stand A55 in case you wondered), and we're going through the long process of putting together our stand. We thought we'd give you a behind the scenes look at our set-up...

Normally we put up the quilts ourselves, but this year Juki brought along Liv. Liv is a window dresser, and she's absolutely fantastic. She's working wonders with our stand. Here's a sneaky peak:

Liv is into making displays 3D - so fun!

Coming together. Slowly...

Juki have got some snazzy new headers this year too - we think they look great! Here's a first look:

Shiny and new!

Emily's Thread Painting is also on display. I just looooove the colours in this. Mmmmm... The threads she used are Superior Threads, which are also on sale at our stand!

Close up of Emily's gorgeous thread painting 

We're also hosting a social media giveaway at the show - you can take part while you're here! 

Come take a selfie at our stand for a chance to win a machine quilting DVD!