Wednesday 21 December 2011

A little Quilt & Merry Christmas

 Hi there everyone ... it has been a long year for me and I am taking a little break over Christmas and January 2012. 

I thought you all might like to see this little quilt that I quilted with intensive background fill for my customer Helen.   This is the second quilt she has made in this pattern and I have loved both of them.   I might have to make one myself!

EDIT to add quilt designer details:    I just knew there was a reason I liked this quilt ... designed by the very talented Kellie of Don't Look Now.  The pattern is called "Jessica's Garden".


I wanted to say thank you to everyone who has read and left comments on my blog ... it really is quite uplifting when someone comments and means I am not talking to myself - lol!

So I will see you all in the New Year when I will be back quilting for my customers.   In the meantime here is a little quilt I made with leftover quilted fabric and added a border of Laurel Burch Christmas Trees

Don't forget to check out the AMQF web and blog to see the listing of classes available for September 2012 big event.  

A safe and Merry Christmas to everyone.....Jane x

Monday 19 December 2011

RICKY TIMS in ADELAIDE 2012

Yes, you heard me correctly.   Ricky Tims - musical quilter extraordinaire is coming to Adelaide, South Australia for the September 2012 Australian Machine Quilters Festival ... you don't want to miss a whole day with Ricky, learning about his quilty secrets and techniques ... I'm going!

Also ... this picture is a little sneaky pre-view of a project that I will be teaching for domestic machine quilters ... a 6 hour class that will be packed full of my quilting fillers and focus points.    I am looking forward to teaching in Adelaide and meeting everyone.   

Happy Quilting for now ... Jane

Wednesday 7 December 2011

Custom Quilting & Teaching in 2012

I sometimes do Custom Quilting for customers.  These quilts take longer to do than the usual Edge to Edge quilts as the quilting is individual and more often than not, designed by me. Sometimes I can have the quilt  machine tied up with a custom quilt for two weeks at a time.

I do not have a computerised quilting machine - I use an APQS Millennium that is hand guided (this means that I move the quilt machine to create the stitches and patterns - it is all in my hands and head).  I don't use a lot of rulers or stencils.  I call it Freehand Custom Quilting and this allows me to use my artistic and technical ability.  

Next year I will only be doing a limited number of custom quilted quilts, and I already have four booked in.   So if you have something special you wish to be custom quilted by me, make sure you leave plenty of time and book it in well before you need it completed.    This also means that I will have a quicker turn around for Edge to Edge and AllOver quilts ... so call me to arrange an obligation free quote to have your quilt quilted by me here at Purrfectly Quilted.   (Contact: 0438 302 515) 

Also, I have been working hard to bring you a project that you can make using my Zentangle for Quilters style of freehand quilting on your domestic sewing machine.   January 2012 issue of Quilters Companion will feature my project and accompanied by a DVD ... I hope you all enjoy this project and the brief look at Zentangle for Quilters.  

I will be teaching at the September 2012 Australian Machine Quilters Festival, held in the city of Adelaide, South Australia - both a domestic machine quilting class and a longarm machine quilting class - This second AMQF Festival is going to be a fantastic event and even Ricky Tims is coming - don't miss it!

I am also very very happy to say that I will also be teaching at the Taupo Sympostium Fabric Art Festival in New Zealand, to be held in 2013...which is really not that far away.

Happy Quilting for now .... Jane

Monday 5 December 2011

Orca Bay Mystery Quilt - Parts 1 & 2 done

 Over the weekend I finished off Parts 1 & 2 of the Orca Bay Mystery Quilt.  I just have to cut off all the little ears on those hourglass units.
I was amazed at how much fabric you actually cut off and I couldn't bring myself to throw it away.   There has got to be something I can do with those little tiny bits ... thinking....


So now onto Part 3 ... and I can't believe the next step is 350 half-square triangle units in Black & Neutral - 2 inches that will be 1.5inches finished in the quilt - cute!

I have sewn all of these blocks on my little Singer Featherweight - it is a lovely machine to do straight stitching on, it just purrs along nicely.

Happy Quilting this week ... Jane x

Tuesday 29 November 2011

Orca Bay Mystery Quilt - I've made a start

Last night  I finally made a start on my Orca Bay Mystery Quilt.   1 little 2.5inch square hourglass block - only a couple hundred to go~!
Two little 3.5inch square blue string blocks ... only 70 to go.   These are a lot of fun to make.  I am using Carol Doak foundation papers to sew these on (because that is what I had otherwise I would have cut up an old phone book as Bonnie suggests).

These blocks will come to life this weekend I hope.

I can't wait to see the next step ... hopefully it will be the red blocks.

Happy Quilting for now ..... Jane 

Monday 28 November 2011

Quick Coaster Mat Tutorial

 This is my tutorial for quick coasters to make ... a great handmade gift for  Christmas. All you need to make one coaster is six 5 inch squares of fabric.

Here I have four 5inch squares which are my "top" fabric and two 5inch squares which are my inside and back fabrics.
 Fold each 5inch square of top fabric in half.
 Lay each one down with the fold facing in towards the middle.   (So you have the raw edges on the outside)
 this is the third piece being laid down.  See how I am laying them down on top of each other.
 The last piece is at the top.   We need to tuck half of this under the first piece we put down.
 So lift up the top piece and fold back the very first piece we put down.
 Lay down the last piece.  Then put the first piece back down on top of this.

 There you have it.   The four pieces all tucked into each other so you have only four halves showing.   This is where you can have fun co-ordinating fabrics.
 Next step is to place the remaining two 5inch squares onto the stack.   First peice to go down will be your backing fabric, place it face down onto the stack.    Then, the inside piece so the right side is facing up.   This piece of fabric can be something like muslin - you won't see it.
 Turn the whole lot over and pin the in place.
 Stitch around the outside with a 1/4 inch seam.
 Trim off the corners.
 Open the centre hole and turn inside out.
Voila ... a little coaster.  You will need to iron it so it sits nice and flat.

If you like you can run a line of top stitching around the edge, you could even quilt it, embroider it, embellish it or anything you wanted to make it unique and special.

I hope this tutorial is easy to follow.   I love these coasters because you can throw them into the washing machine and wash them when they get grubby, and they are easy to iron back into shape.

Enjoy ... Happy Quilting for now ... Jane x

Saturday 19 November 2011

Orca Bay Mystery Quilt - my fabric selections.

 Orca Bay Mystery Quilt (Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville)   These are my Civil War fabric choices.

Blues


 Neutrals
 Black (some of these look navy on the computer but are really quite black)
Reds


I am going with the same colours as Bonnies.  I have been collecting these Civil War fabrics for about five years now, so I am very happy to be using them for something lovely and scrappy.   Can't wait to see the finished quilt.

The first block is hourglass units - 2.5inch square  Blacks and Neutrals - nice!   You can see more here on Bonnie's site.  Orca Bay Mystery Quilt.

Enjoy.

Bonnie Hunter's new Mystery Quilt - Orca Bay

I have decided to do Bonnie's latest Mystery Quilt.   I haven't done one since I did the Double Delight one in 2008 - my goodness was it that long ago.

Bonnie has uploaded the Introduction and Part 1 ... Look at my right sidebar at the little orca link ... it will take you right to the link.

I am using mostly Civil War fabrics I think ... I'm still deciding on which ones to use ... but I won't be starting to sew for a few weeks yet - at least I don't think so!

Anyone else joining in?

Tuesday 15 November 2011

A collaboration


I finally got the binding done on my quilt ...











 This quilt was pieced by my friend Helen (The fabrics are all from my stash) and when she had finished piecing it I quilted it with the pattern Maple Leaf.   Finally getting the binding done and is now ready to be used.  

It is so sweet - using a whole lot of Civil War fabrics and quilters muslin in the cream squares.   Thank you Helen ... this would have taken me years to make without your help!  xxxx

Sunday 23 October 2011

A Wedding Quilt

 I love it when I finally get going on a quilt ... this one, however, is very very late!  It is a quilt to celebrate my brother and his wife's wedding ... it was in October 2010!  so they have celebrated their first wedding anniversary now - without a quilt.

This quilt became more concrete over the weekend .. it is now in one piece and waiting for the borders to be attached.   This quilt will be KING SIZE - whew ... a lot of sewing and a lot of fabric.   All beautiful green batik fabric.   The borders (two) will also be green batik ... my brother wanted a green quilt.   Hopefully I will get this to him and his wife before Christmas.

I have used the pattern Peppermint Twist for this quilt - just made it a lot bigger.    I can rename it Tasmanian Twist (I do like that name!)   Don't you just love how the secondary pattern appears ... just magic.

Happy quilting for now ... Jane x

Wednesday 19 October 2011

Quilts Quilts Quilts

 This is a customers quilt ... lots of Japanese kimono fabrics ... with the beautiful "Ellie's Dragonflies" E2E pattern - I love how they flit all over the quilt.
 This is one of my own quilts - the batik strips of one colour are very washed out - it is a really vibrant quilt.  Easy to put together
 I quilted it with "Gothic Vine" E2E pattern with a lovely verigated thread.
 The backing fabric is also Batik - gorgeous fabric that I purchased from Brenda at Widebacks (I have Widebacks sample book and can order any of Brenda's delicious fabrics for you).

 This is Nancy's quilt - one of my customers.  Nancy hand pieces her blocks then gets me to choose the sashings, borders and put it all together.   Nancy thought her blocks were very very bright ... but was so pleased with the final quilt - it has come up beautifully and I must admit there was a bit of mathematical thinking to get them into order.
Look at these beautiful fabrics.   I believe Nancy purchased them at a recent quilt show and then more of the fabric from Fresh Fabric in Deloraine  Well worth a visit, especially if you are headed off to the Tasmanian Craft Fair on the first weekend of November.   I have put in a few links for you to check out.


The other information I would like to tell you is this:   The next Island Quilt Show is on Friday 27 to Sunday 29 April 2012.    If you are interested in my quilting a Custom Quilt for you to enter this show before March 2012 - you NEED TO BOOK NOW.   I will only be quilting Edge to Edge / Allover quilting for 2012 unless you have booked it in this year ... as I need to have a break from Custom Quilting and be able to get the E2E Allover quilting out in a couple of weeks and not be held up by the custom work.   Customers I have quilted for in the past four years have had very nice wins in the Tasmanian Island Quilts Show ... and two of them have been chosen to go to AQC as the pick of the State in 2010 and 2011.  

Happy Quilting for now ... Jane x

Monday 10 October 2011

A double up post

Over on my other blog "Jane Monk Studio"  I have put a little story about a DVD coming out in Quilters Companion in January 2012 ... it is all about my Zentangle Inspired Quilting ... so hop on over and have a look if you are interested.
Cheers
Jane





I have edited this to add the photograph ... I thought you might like to see the finished table runner from the previous post.   I have done all the quilting in the small "tangle" squares on my domestic sewing machine.  I love the effect, I used the drawings I had done in my journal over the past year. 

Wednesday 21 September 2011

Zentangle Inspired Quilting

 What about some of this ....  Zentangle inspired quilting ....  I was playing with this a few weeks ago.


Have to finish it off sometime soon.

Hope you enjoy!

Jane

Friday 19 August 2011

Hello Again

 Hi ... did you think I had dropped off the face of the earth?   I have had to have a little break but here I am again.

I have a few pictures of some quilts I have just finished.  I have a customer who hand pieces her blocks, then she gets me to put the blocks together with sashings and borders and quilt them ... this is her house blocks ... so cute.

And this same customer gave me two  Maisy panels and asked me to make a quilt for her grandson ... this is the completed quilt.   She had a strip of Maisy fabric which I used at the top of the quilt to make it a bit longer.













I was also recently in Adelaide for a workshop with Internationally acclaimed Long Arm Quilting teacher, Sharon Schamber.   Her work is truely stunning and if you have a spare $20 or $40 Thousand she may quilt for you!

While I was in class, I did what I usually do  - draw -  it helps me to retain what is being said and I find I can usually recall the class better at a later date.
Anyway ... I thought I would share it with you because it is so much like my super custom quilting (that no-one else can afford either as it take so much longer and would cost at least three times the usual for a custom quilt).  But ... if you did want this type of quilting ... intensive and beautiful ... I would certainly give you a price!

Hope everyone has a great weekend ...  cheers Jane x







Thursday 16 June 2011

Taking some leave from blogging

Hi there ... I thought I would let you all know that I will be taking some leave from my blogs for awhile.  

I will still be doing longarm quilting and if you need to contact me to book in a quilt ... email or call.

Happy Quilting
Jane
x

Tuesday 14 June 2011

June Already - what about some quilting workshops


My oh my, the year is powering on ... June already, well almost half way through June.

I have been a little busy creating and quilting.

See this little beauty here ... you can learn how to do this in my Zentangle for Quilters class.  I currently have one booked in Melbourne at Michelle's Sewing Basket in September - I don't often get over to Melbourne, so book in soon if you want to do this class as there are limited places.
Michelle's Sewing Basket
2/54 Wantirna Road, Ringwood Vic - contact 03 9870 0011 for bookings.  http://www.michellessewingbasket.com.au/webcontent1.htm




And then there is quilting on the longarm ... this quilt is so cute .. I loved the colours.










The back ... I love this pattern too!

I hope to put some more quilting up here soon ...  in the meantime you can check out my other blog http://janemonkstudio.blogspot.com/ - lots going on over there too!

Happy Quilting for now ... Jane x

Tuesday 17 May 2011

Velvet, RB&W and a Candlewick Quilt - not all together

 This quilt was made by Judy - she doesn't quilt - it is an absolutely fantastic effort.  I like it as it reminds me of tartan for some reason.
 She picked an edge to edge pattern called "Popcorn" which looks like clouds and a dark blue thread.
 The back was stunning - Judy had chosen a dark blue velvet.  I was hesitant to quilt it and said I would try.   After the first little bit I could see it was going to look great.  It loved the stitching.   It was pretty yucky to put on the quilt machine and I had a few headaches....but it was worth it.
 A little Red Black and White quilt from Sally ... who doesn't love RB&W quilts?
 I used a red thread on both the front and back ... look at that back ....yummy.
 And a Candlewick quilt which has now winged it's way back to Queensland.    I had carte blanche to quilt this, as long as I used my feathers.   I chose to do each block with the same four feathers, fitting into the candlewick pattern.  I have also stitched around the candlewick to give definition and make it pop.   The lace was also quilted down.

 One very happy owner = one happy quilter!
 Some obligatory cat photos - Jet snoozing on my Thousand Pyramid Quilt that I call the "Red Herring".  I quilted it with an edge to edge pattern of fish with a varigated thread and changed the colour out for three of the fish to make them red - hence "Red Herring".

I know, I know - a bit mad!  Jet likes it though.
And Merlin found another spot to sleep - a Queen sized bed was not big enough for two of them!

This week I have on the quilting machine a lovely stitchery quilt ... I am able to give my undivided attention to ...loving it!

Happy quilting for now .... Jane x