The Imperfectionist’s Quilt

Posted on 22nd December 2014 by perfectly4med

The overlocker/serger has been flying away over the last couple of days. Buoyed by the success of my thread catcher, I decided to attempt a quilt using only the overlocker to make. Including making up my own design, working out how to quilt as I went, and all the ironing and cutting and hand-stitched binding, it has taken 14 and a half hours. I think that’s pretty fast! Feature fabric is a Fabric Freedom Noodles Roll (FJ-1/11 Sherbets), alongside calico sashing. The finished size is 44″ x 60″ and I used the majority of the jelly roll.

And the title? Well this made up pattern/technique does not have matching corners – which is just as well, as it’s fairly tricky to line things up on the overlocker as pins and overlockers don’t get on. So I know some quilt purists who would shudder at the thought of this, but I reckon it’s turned out ok! The alternate title is the noughts and crosses quilt… and it’s Quilt No. 011.

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Christmas Quilt 2014

Posted on 14th December 2014 by perfectly4med

I started this year’s Christmas Quilt earlier in the year, but it stalled, and as has started to become traditional, I spent a week in December finishing it off. I didn’t follow any particular pattern, being guided by the sizes of fabric pieces I had. After designing and cutting a stencil for the swirl and spending two days doing all the quilting on the calico border alone, I am so glad it’s finished. The overall quilt size is 56″ x 71″ (142cm x 180cm). The centre blocks are from fat quarters, with the borders added and mitred (finally got the hang of that!). There’s approximately 1 km of sewing thread, with 400m of quilting (I know this as I used exactly one 400m reel of the variegated gold/brown thread!).

I’m looking forward to the arrival of my ‘what do I get a man who has just about everything’ Christmas present, which after much thought is going to be …. an overlocker 🙂

I’m also going to be hosting a sewing/stitching/quilting session in the studio on Wednesday afternoons in the new year, so keep an eye on my workshops page if you’re interested in joining the group.

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Christmas Quilt

Posted on 10th December 2013 by perfectly4med

Here’s my happy-accident Christmas Quilt that I’ve just finished, my ninth quilt. I started it early this year using a January sale jelly roll, with a hiatus during studio construction and starting the new business. Unfortunately, the lone star pattern I was following wasn’t followed closely enough, and I completely ballsed up the strip cutting. Hence the single lone star in the middle, and the hash borders – which by happy accident have worked nicely. Given everything outside the centrepiece is completely made up, I’m pleased with the outcome. I still haven’t quite mastered the layering of backing, batting and top sheet, especially on my own which is why things are a bit baggy in places. That may settle a little after a couple of washes. Mind you, after 22 feet of hand sewing the binding on, which took 4.5 hours, I’m pretty good at that! Now to find somewhere large enough to display a 6’6″ square quilt… that hasn’t already been bedecked with decorations…

[Fabric includes Moda Elegance Jelly Roll 32530JR]

Dedication Quilt

Posted on 1st December 2013 by perfectly4med

During my ‘quiet times’ here on the blog, I’m rarely resting! Complete with a conservatory and hall refurbishment over the last couple of months, I’ve been busy on various projects I can’t share at the time. This is one of them – quilting a pre-printed topper (roughly 36×48″) for the dedication (equivalent to christening) of our friends’ newborn son. That happened earlier today, so now I can share without spoiling the surprise!

I used the free motion setting on my sewing machine to quilt round each of the letters and the main lines of each of the illustrations. As normal, I have hand bound the edging and used an 80/20 cotton-polyester wadding. Being able to wash the quilt is a pre-requisite for this age group! At points I wished I had chosen simpler quilting lines, but the finished article was worth the three days worth of man-hours. Now to move onto quilting my very large happy-accident Christmas quilt: more on that in another post 🙂

250,000 views – the giveaway

Posted on 7th October 2013 by perfectly4med

It’s not long to wait before my little corner of the blogosphere captures it’s 250,000th view. I gave you a sneak preview of my giveaway a couple of weeks ago… and here’s the whole thing! I’m giving away an A3 quilt featuring 100% cotton fabric onto which I have hand drawn and shaded tangle patterns that I’ve published on this blog, quilted with cotton/polyester wadding and then hand bound with a black fabric binding. It’s labelled on the back with my name and the fact it’s my seventh quilt.

Pentel Gel Pen for Fabrics

Derwent Inktense block and water

Quilting on Pfaff Quilt Expression 4

As mentioned before – all you have to do to win this giveaway is to be the person closest to the 250,000th view that leaves a meaningful comment somewhere on this blog (spam doesn’t count!). All you have to do then (Sandy F. take note – that’s twice now) is respond to the email from me asking for your postage details!

Just a little thank you from me for supporting me over the months and years 🙂

Handprinted Quilts

Posted on 8th January 2013 by perfectly4med

I’ve just put the finishing touches to two small quilts. They both feature my own pattern design, which I hand screen printed at college onto fabric offcuts using black textile ink. The first shows the patten, unadulterated, quilted using black cotton and free motion machine stitch round each of the circle motifs. The second is dyed with Adirondack Color Wash sprays (which despite my best efforts still covered everything nearby!), dried, heat set, rinsed, ironed and then quilted in the same way. Both are hand bound and labelled. I use backstitch to hand sew labels for my quilts as this is unlikely to wash off! They are both 22.5″x42″ in size.

Quilt No.5 – ‘Pattern No. 1’

Quilt No. 6 – ‘Rainbow’

Quilt No. 4 – ‘Puzzle’

Posted on 29th April 2012 by perfectly4med

The weather has been lousy here all weekend, and rather than making cards – which was my plan – I ended up quilting. There was something about being under the quilt as I was sewing it and binding the edges that suited the conditions! I started it at the beginning of February at a quilting workshop I was given for my birthday at Quorn Country Crafts, during which I finished the top. I layered it and started quilting on Friday afternoon, did the quilted border and corners and binding yesterday, and I finished it with a hand-stitched label this morning. Most of the quilt is quilted with stitch-in-ditch, with the wide border needing a little more, so I created my own quilting design. The quilt measures 64x64in with binding, and as you can see was destined to go in our spare room.

Update 24-FEB-15:
Thank you to my testers, Julie and Anita, and to Tricia: the description of how I made the quilt is now available!

The instructions are an instant download PDF file, purchasable via PayPal by clicking the button below (you will have the option to pay in your local currency). The link will be sent to the email address that is linked to the PayPal account you use to pay. If you don’t receive an email, please check your spam folder! The instructions are for the above size quilt and do not discuss alternative sizes. If you want it bigger or smaller you may choose to adjust the border widths.

By clicking on the download button, you acknowledge that you are not entitled to cancel the order or receive a refund (Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 – digital downloads).
[NB: If you reside in an EU country other than the UK, please do not purchase via this page. Instead, please email me with your request and I will process your order manually. This is due to the new EU rules on handling VAT. Thank you.] [For clarification – if you are in the USA or Canada, go ahead and click the button!]

‘Lilac Time’ Quilt

Posted on 14th April 2012 by perfectly4med

What do you get the man who has most things for his Christmas and birthday presents? Turns out that two quilting workshops are a very good idea! The first I went to was over six weeks in Jan-Feb 2012 at Quorn Country Crafts, where the lovely Margaret supervised the ladies and I in making a ‘Lilac Time’ quilt. The fabrics were chosen to fit into the spare room – which now needs redecorating… It’s amazing how much the costs mount – including all materials, wadding and backing as well as the workshop costs, this double bed sized quilt cost £200 before my time was taken into consideration! Don’t ever underestimate the cost of a hand crafted quilt! This one isn’t for sale though… The petal quilting in the feature fabric is to my own design and the rest is stitch-in-ditch quilted.

Free Motion Machine Quilting – Sampler Quilt progress

Posted on 18th January 2012 by perfectly4med

I’ve had chance to do a few more squares of my free motion machine quilting sampler quilt. See my first post for more details.

Free Motion Machine Quilting – more squares

Posted on 3rd January 2012 by perfectly4med

Four more squares from my ‘practice’ free motion machine quilting, using fabulous continuous line patterns as mentioned in my first bit of blogging about this.

Clockwise from top left are: Daisy Chain, Starshine, Do-Si-Do and Colorado Springs. I’m getting a bit quicker now that I’m getting the practice, and do recommend the daily practice – I did have over New Year off though 🙂