Friday 29 April 2016

Suzanne's First Quilt - Heart Quilting

Suzanne's first quilt Frances Meredith quilting
Suzanne's first quilt
This is Suzanne's first quilt.  I am filled with delight every time I see this quilt.  I have watched her patiently hand stitch these squares together over the past few years at the Worker Bees group based at Busy Bees patchwork.  One evening she arrived with the top suddenly completed and we were all totally in awe of what she had done.

'Ginger Hearts' by Apricot Moon, digital pantograph
'Ginger Hearts' by Apricot Moon, digital pantograph

For the quilting she chose a digital pantograph pattern, 'Ginger Hearts' by Apricot Moon. 


Fabadashery Long Arm Quilting - Ginger Hearts Digital Pantograph
Fabadashery Long Arm Quilting - Ginger Hearts Digital Pantograph
I love this pattern.  It is simple, gives a good even pattern across the quilt and has never disappointed.  With the soft pinks and reds on this quilt, it looked great.
Fabadashery Long Arm Quilting - Ginger Hearts Digital Pantograph
Suzanne also put some thought to her choice of backing fabric and chose a plain rich red which showed the quilting pattern beautifully and so now she has a quilt which works perfectly on the front and the back.  For the thread she chose a sophisticated rose pink, 2152 Isacord thread, and the wadding was Hobbs 80/20 Cotton / polyester, which I was able to provide.
Pink candy striped binding
Pink candy striped binding

 I had just taken a quilt off the frame when she brought it round for long arm quilting, so I was able to get on with it straight away and within 24 hours she was able to pick up her completed quilt.  Suzanne also prepared this GORGEOUS pink candy stripe binding for her quilt which I stitched on for her and by the end of the evening she got in touch to say that she had completed the hand stitching for the binding and is now ready to start her next quilt!
Go Suzanne!
 

Wednesday 20 April 2016

Project Linus Quilts # 1

Project Linus quilt - made by Ruth
I have been flicking through my photos and realised I had some lovely Project Linus quilts I hadn't shared with you.  This lovely quilt was made by Ruth.  She attended one of the stitching days last year and made this lovely cheerful quilt as a result.  Simple squares make up the background, but it is the appliqued flowers and ric rac stems which transform it into something special.

Ginger Snap digital pantograph on fleece backing
Ginger Snap digital pantograph on fleece backing
On the back we had a cute green spotted fleece fabric.  I find the quality of fleece can vary, but this one came up beautifully.  The pattern is called 'Ginger Snaps' by Apricot Moon and the circular pattern seems to echo the spotty fabric.

Ginger snap pantograph by Apricot Moon
Ginger Snap pantograph by Apricot Moon
The local South East Wales Project Linus group have just announced another Project Linus stitching day for May 2016.  If you would like to go along to help cut, stitch or bind quilts, or like Ruth take away some bits and pieces to make up a quilt at home for Project Linus, the details are on the Fabadashery Long Arm Quilting Facebook page.

Friday 15 April 2016

Allietare Mystery Quilt 2015 - Quilting Ideas

Fabadashery Frances Meredith Long Arm Quilting
Allietare Mystery Quilt by Catherine, quilted by Frances Meredith
This is the second Allietare Mystery quilt which has been on the Fabadashery long arm quilting frame and this one is made by Catherine.  It is made using mainly Tilda fabrics and is backed with a co-ordinating Rose and Hubble floral print.

Thread Choice Fabadashery Frances Meredith
Which thread should we use?
The first choice was the thread.  I always have a good range of colours in stock because you never know what colour is going to work best on the front and the back.  Sometimes it is the least obvious colour which works the best and on this occasion we went for the Warm Grey Glide thread (10WG6) which has a lovely luxury sheen to it.  For the wadding we used Hobbs 80/20 Cotton Polyester.
'Topiary' digital long arm pantograph by Patricia Ritter
'Topiary' digital long arm pantograph by Patricia Ritter
Catherine wanted a flowery quilting pattern for the centre of her quilt with a different treatment for the border so we chose a digital pantograph, 'Topiary' by Patricia Ritter, which has meandering flowers and leaves.
Allietare Mystery Quilt by Catherine, quilted by Frances Meredith
Allietare Mystery Quilt - Topiary Border by Patricia Ritter
I stitched in the ditch on either side of the inner border and then added the same Topiary pattern along the border.
Allietare Mystery Quilt - Longarm quilted by Frances Meredith at Fabadashery
Turning a quilt top into a quilt has to be my favourite part of the quilt making process.  Even just laying the quilt top on the wadding takes it a step forward towards becoming a completed quilt, but once those first stitches go in it truly does take on a different dimension.

Thursday 7 April 2016

GIVEAWAY - 2016 Quilts UK Malvern Quilt Show Tickets

Fabadashery Long Arm Quilting Ticket GIVEAWAY
Fabadashery Long Arm Quilting Ticket GIVEAWAY
THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED
 
Would you like to visit the Quilts UK Malvern Show in May 2016?

I am offering the chance to win a pair of tickets to the 2016 Quilts UK Malvern Quilt Show.  Each ticket is valid for one person for one day and are non-refundable.  The show runs from Thursday 19th May to Sunday 22nd May 2016 at the Three Counties Showground, Malvern, WR13 6NW, UK.  There will be one winner who will receive the prize of two tickets.  The draw will be made on Saturday 23rd April 2016. 


How to win the tickets - you have three chances
  • Go to my Fabadashery Long Arm Quilting Facebook page where you will find a post about the Giveaway, leave a comment, SHARE it and the LIKE my Fabadashery Long Arm page, or let me know that you are already a Follower and you would like to enter the draw. 
  • Go to my Fabadashery Long Arm Quilting Blog and become a Follower or let me know that you are already a Follower, leaving a comment on the blog to let me know.  You can link from the button on the sidebar.
  • Become a Follower on my regular Fabadashery Blog or let me know that you are already a Follower and you want to be entered into the draw.
Be sure to leave a comment to let me know what you have done by 12pm Saturday 23rd April to be entered into the draw.

This competition is now closed.  The winner is Frances Darvill.

Wednesday 6 April 2016

Jelly Roll Sampler Quilt - No 2

Jelly Roll Sampler Quilt - French General fabrics
Jelly Roll Sampler Quilt - French General fabrics
In my last post I mentioned that I was about to long arm quilt the same Jelly Roll Sampler quilt by another customer who had followed it as a BOM a couple of years ago.  This one uses the popular French General fabric range by Moda.


Jelly Roll Sampler Quilt - French General fabrics
Jelly Roll Sampler Quilt - French General fabrics
Not only do the fabric choices make the two quilts different, but I have treated the quilting in the blocks slightly differently too.   Here is the same block I featured in the last post, but the quilting emphasises different elements.


Fabadashery Long Arm Quilting Frances Meredith
Jelly Roll Sampler Quilt - French General fabrics
 Now I know this quilt so well I am almost tempted to make one myself!