Free Motion Mavericks - Week 10 - A Present for Bonnie!

It has been a busy week, so I shall tell it mainly in pictures... another project with the free motion quilting done on the 1945 Singer 15K treadle, and all the rest of the stitching done on the 1949 Singer 15K hand machine.

Last week's fancy leaves were such fun to do that I dived into my mini-stash of Oakshott cottons and varied the design, this time combining the leaves with berries.  

Here is the back of the panel, which shall never see the light of day again, so the few tails left hanging don't matter.

Three different variegated threads were used against the different background colours.

I took the opportunity to make a test video, using a mini tripod on the table.  In the past the focus has kept shifting if I move my hands in the foreground, but this time I zoomed in on the action, and I think the result is better than previous attempts.

The quilted panel was enough to make two identical tea cosies, made using the same method I have shown before, lined with thermal curtain lining.  Here is the one that has stayed at home with me.

First I tried the cosy out with bold colours and everyday crockery.  Peach for the tablecloth with a lime green mug isn't my usual style, but somehow the colours of the cotton lend themselves to taking risks with clashes and getting away with it.  Also, don't ask me how a Canadian Coastguard sugar bowl found its way into a local charity shop.  I expect someone nicked it years ago.

Next I tried it with the posh crocks, and decided it teamed up quite well with the Royal Doulton too.

I love this bird doing a plunge into the teacup.

This tea cosy's twin was specially gift-wrapped and given to its new owner last night.

Dawn, Brenda, Bonnie, Julia and me

There she is in the middle - Bonnie Hunter out with the girls on her last night in Bath.  It was a very cosy and noisy affair, and the very sweet waitress (from North Carolina, would you believe, just about 12 miles from Bonnie) was a great sport and took photos for us.

It was such a pleasure meeting Bonnie.  A few years back I would stay up till silly times of the morning studying all her wonderful piecing methods. Thank you Bonnie! Then as time went on we were acquiring some very similar vintage machines.   It was a delight having such a good night out with her, hearing how much she is enjoying being in England, meeting three new friends, and giving Bonnie a souvenir to take home.

                                                       

So here goes for week 10...

Firstly, many thanks to Esther, Gwyned, Cynthia, Myra and Dora for linking up last week - another wonderful collection of projects!

If you love free motion quilting, whether you are a beginner just taking the plunge, or you have reached the stage where you can do ostrich feathers with your eyes shut and still achieve perfect symmetry, then please link up.

Remember, FMQ is FMQ, whether your machine was made last week, or it is older than your granny.

Here are the very easy and slightly elastic rules:-

1.  Link up with any recent post, ideally from the last week but within the last month, which features a free motion quilting project.

2.  Link back to this post in your own post and/or grab the linky button for your blog's sidebar.
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3.  Visit as many of the other participants as possible and say hello in the comments box.

4.  The link up will remain open for four days, from midnight to midnight GMT for the long weekend, Friday to Monday.

So far bloggers from USA, England, Wales, Australia, Canada, Germany and Holland have taken part.  The first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week!

Linking up with Kelly's blog My Quilt Infatuation for Needle and Thread Thursday
and Sarah's blog Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Whoop Whoop Friday

Linen Frocks Made to Measure

This advert is in my copy of The Needlewoman of May 1937, next to the picture of Mrs. Simpson in her corsets.  I love the style of dresses in the late 1930s and find it frustrating that the dress materials on offer today haven't got the lovely feel and drape of the old fashioned crepes.

Evidently I was born too late.  Not only was there a huge range of Irish linens available in the 1930s, but also this company had a dressmaking service.  I rather like the dress on the left, and am tempted to post the coupon asking for the Illustrated Frock Leaflet showing the choice of Ten New Paris Styles.

I think I'll start with the cheap option of a flowered dress print at elevenpence a yard, then creep slowly up the scale for the next dress and try the uncrushable crepe at one and a halfpenny.  It would have to be a very special occasion for me to fork out three shillings a yard for the "Never-Fade" Irish linen or the fadeless dress poplin.

I have been enjoying following Bonnie Hunter's adventures in Ireland.  If you haven't seen it already, you might be interested in her blog post today about her visit to the Irish Linen Centre and Museum in Lisburn. 

Quilt Pieced on the Frister and Rossmann Transverse Shuttle

I made this quilt for my daughter.  She likes pink and green.  It is a single sized quilt laid out on a double bed to show the border.  It was pieced on my Frister and Rossman Transverse shuttle - easy with the seam guide in place.  The method for this pattern is shown by Bonnie Hunter on her website Quiltville under the heading Sister's Choice.

For the border I did my own thing, separate blocks of strips.  Bonnie's instructions for borders involves laying the whole top out on the floor - completely impossible in a small house.

At the corners the strips cross over each other.  Feast your eyes on the mismatched seam.  
Every quilt should have its imperfections - it's all part of the charm.

It was long arm quilted by Midsomer Quilting, and because I was feeling particularly lazy they did the binding too.  They did a perfect job.

A Quilt in Memory of a Great-Grandmother - and Pieced on a Treadle

First and foremost, a big thank you to Bonnie Hunter at Quiltville who posted my video      "How to Treadle" on her blog yesterday.
I have been a big fan of Bonnie's for some time now and have her to thank for inspiring me to get quilting again after a gap of about 25 years.

Also, a big welcome to all the new followers who arrived yesterday - Rhonda D, JudyBL, Not Lucy, Marianne, Leeanne, bmoubray, sharon bull and Shena Boes. 

Now that so many of you have seen the video of the Serata treadle, here are photos of the quilt that I made as my first project using that machine.  I bought the machine in May last year, and once I had cleaned and oiled it I was ready to set to work.

The quilt top was made using material left by my sister-in-law's mother, who died nearly two years ago.  Pat was 89, a great-grandmother, and originally from Wisconsin.  She left the States in the late 1940's.  She married an Englishman and lived at various times in the Middle East and Africa because he worked for an oil company.  Eventually they settled in England, but she would visit her relatives in the States fairly regularly.  She was a tiny little lady, and never lost her big Wisconsin accent.

When Pat died my sister-in-law and I sorted through bags full of material that she had squirrelled away.  Some of the fabrics had come from the States - in fact I have recognised some of them on the slide shows on Bonnie's blog being used in her classes.  Pat loved green, so I had the challenge of making a quilt in her colours.  Fortunately she had yards of the neutral print that I used for the background, and I added a few matching colours from my own stash where needed.

All the piecing was done in strips, an ideal method with a treadle, and a great way to give the machine a good workout after years of lying idle.  To add length to the blocks, so I could get nine houses to fit the top of the bed with an even border all round, I hit on the idea of adding hedges.

The quilting was done on a long-arm machine at the quilt shop, Midsomer Quilting  They did a fabulous job, I was really pleased.  Then all I needed to do was the binding, which again I did on the treadle.

This was my fastest project ever - two months from start to finish - because I wanted to make sure it was ready for the next time I visited my brother and sister-in-law.  It looked perfect on their bed, and my sister-in-law was slightly emotional.  My brother liked it too, but he had to be told that it was a houses design.  He couldn't see them.  He thought it was just random patchwork.  Blokes.