Companion Star

I have been busy - this quilt was made after seeing a similar quilt in one of the Through the Needle magazines.  I had thought that I had made a mistake in the cutting and dragged my DH off to the quilt shop for more fabric in a mad panic.  Once I started piecing the second set of fabrics I realised that all was well with the original lot (too much of a hurry to get things completed)  So this quilt is the original set of fabrics - the second quilt was posted with the fairy quilt a little while back. This one has been sitting for quite some time just waiting for the piped binding to be added.
I used embroidery designs from the Jubilee Border collection (email otto@opsewing.com.au if you want these designs). I again quilted it in the hoop as well as using some #20 weight variegated cotton for the other work.

Drunkards Path variations

I have a group that are eager to earn how to really use the stitches on the their machines and designed a couple of quilts that whilst traditional are very non-traditional in their construction.  I encouraged them to really go outside their boundaries and experiment.

This quilt is the second of two quilts that I made demonstrating the technique.  It has been finished for a while and features free motion quilting as well as using the mock hand quilting stitch.  This one was decorative stitched on my 830 and free motion quilted on my 440 (My 830 was busy doing something else!).  The larger one was actually the first one I stitched but I have only just completed the quilting and need to get some photos - hopefully tomorrow.
Enjoy Chris.

Spirit Fantasy takes a prize

HI, just to share with you all, my Spirit Fantasy quilt has just taken second prize for the Innovative Professional quilt category at our State Quilt Exhibition this weekend.  A wonderful prize too - lots of new thread to play with as well as other goodies.
Otto has made a fantastic video showing some of the features of this quilt

http://www.opsewing.com.au/SpiritSong.html

Hearts

Hi, I haven't posted for a couple of days as I have been doing just what I should be - stitching!  As I said in an earlier post, I am trying to finish all of those unfinished projects.  Unfortunately they will not be finished in the same order that they were started.  I looked at that pile and it doesn't seem to have shrunk at all.
I have finished my hearts quilt with embroidery designs by Sarah Vedeler. http://www.sarahvedelerdesignsshop.com/Hearts-CD-for-Download-Hearts-02.htm
 The applique designs stitched out beautifully using my wonderful Bernina 830.  I used Madeira rayon for the embroidery designs and quilting. I had so much fun with the quilting.  thinking of new ways to embellish it.
It also looks as though my version of the floral visions quilt will be the next to complete - I have now finished the borders, the sashings and a couple of the blocks.  Now to get back to the workroom.
Chris

Another backward look

This quilt was one that I designed for a block of the month.  The centre was foundation pieced, the applique machine needle turned.  The actual BOM consisted of just the centre medallion, but I had all of these fabrics lefct over so the quilt grew.  It was raffled of at our State Quilters Guild last year.

FINISHED - Fairy Quilt and Eight Point Star

I have been working on this quilt for quite some time now, having to stitch the free motion work takes me some time as I can't sit for too long these days.  This quilt was a commission for someone's grand daughter.  Her only stipulation was that the quilt should be pink. These were colours that I did not have too many so also had to seach for fabrics that I could use.  Hopefully she will like it.  I also tried out something a little different by having the border applique on both the front and the back.  Was really quite easy.  The fairy designs were by Hatched in Africa.

Fairy Quilt

The eight point star quilt is one that I made after seeing a similar one in one of the Through the Needle magazine - not too sure which one.  It is actually one of a pair - I thought I had made a mistake and rushed my DH out to get fabric for a second.  This is the fabric I bought then.  The original one I made is still unfinished - waiting to have the last of the blocks background quilted - everything else is finished.  This one has been waiting a long time for the binding to be finished.  I drafted the block up in EQ6 and I used strip piecing and added couching to embellish the seams.  The quilting thread is actually a pink variegated thread but does show very light on the darker fabrics.  All of the design quilting was stitched in the jumbo hoop on my 830.

 Chris

Some of my earlier applique quilts

Most of my first quilts were either applique or stars.  I think the applique because it really is just an extension of hand embroidery and I had been teaching various embroidery techniques for many years before I began patchwork.  My first quilt was a hand appliqued and quilted Baltimore album and I have made quite a few including wall hangings for friends and commissions.  The following quilt is the second Baltimore I made, again hand appliqued and quilted.  A couple of the designs were from books by Ellie Seinkiewicz but the centre basket is mine.  When I had stitched the blocks, I went looking for the setting fabric and whilst I am not a great fan of blue, at the time it was the only fabric that I found that worked.  The framing strips were leftovers from a queen size lone star quilt.  This was finished in 1989.

Chris

Australiana

Hi - remember I thought that I would show some of my earlier quilts.  I begin by showing a wall hanging which was the only quilt juried into the inaugural Dame Nancy Buttfield exhibition back in 1991??  I played with dimensional Aussie national and state floral emblems.

Australiana Floral Wreath
This one is hand appliqued and quilted with trapunto.

Detail 

Another quilt also with the Aussie theme and also with dimensional state flowers was part of the exhibition for the Artist and the Quilter, I think about 1992 - will definitely have to keep better records - and learn how to use my camera better!  This one is again hand appliqued with needle turn, machine free embroidery and machine quilted.

Unfortunately I need lessons on photography - too bright

Detail - this is more the colour of the piece.  It does sit flat

Detail of left corner

And finally a landscape I did for a conference in Denver Colorado about 2004.  This one is machine needle turn applique, machine free embroidery and machine free quilted.  I also added fabric painting and this caused quite a stir back then!  I used corded thread embroidery for the small tree trunks and branches and heavy braids for the fence posts.  The leaves of the trees were scraps, randomly cut and stitched where they fell.  The large trees and the foreground were also trapuntoed to give added dimension.

ENJOY - Chris

My maddest project Christine's Folly

I bought my first embroidery machine and began to play.  I saw a magazine with some designs stitched and made into a quilt.  Liked the designs but not the quilt but does that stop me?
Simon's Folly magazine with designs by Jenny Haskins inspired me to stitch this quilt.  I began to stitch the quilt blocks  immediately.
Late last year in a clean up I found a pile of fabrics (a lot of fabrics - you know when you see a fabric that you think might look good but... so you buy more?)  Included in this stack of fabric were background fabrics cut into squares, wadding cut up all ready to go AND 1 embroidered block complete with decorative stitching and a partially stitched block.  Hey, that is the first embroidered quilt I started!  No wonder it didn't get very far - so many hoopings just for one block.  However, I now have that wonderful Bernina 830 with a JUMBO hoop.  So I started stitching again.  I was able to put my blocks together, even add decorative stitching in many of them and reduced the hoopings mostly to 4 or 5.  My machine ran hot. Because of the delay from start to finish with this quilt one of the larger blocks needed to have a seam in the background fabric as the overall quilt design kept changing.  You really need to look to find it so that heavy quilting has paid off.  It was wonderful to stitch the quilting at the end using that BSR, all free motion quilted using non-mark quilting.  I used cotton/poly wadding.  I piped all of the blocks with a pistachio coloured fabric, outline stitched the width of my 10D foot from the framing fabrics edges and then added a decorative stitch in the middle of the frames.  I also added a piping to the binding.
It is also a quilt that measures 106" square - huge but I was very happy to see the rest of that pile of fabric finally added back into my stash.

Block 1 with some of the border quilting shown

Fill in alternate blocks

Another corner block

Block 3

Block 4

Block 5

Detail of corner quilting of the center medallion block

Centre Medallion

Yet another

And another

Christine's Folly 

In the quilting thread alone there is nearly 7,500 metres of thread - hate to think how much embroidery thread.
I know now why it was called Simon's Folly!


Chrisb

Baltimore Album

I have stitched quite a few Baltimore album style quilts, from full size to wall hangings. Beginning with hand needle turn, most of the album quilts that I currently stitch are mock hand applique needle turned. The quilt shown on my home page is the first Baltimore Album quilt I digitised and stitched using my embroidery machine.  It is also the first quilt design that I digitised.
Stitched on my Bernina 440, the blocks required either 2 or 3 hoopings whilst the centre block was multiple hoopings using the mega hoop.  These days I would use my Bernina 830 - other than the centre block they would all be one hooping in the jumbo hoop. The basic blocks finish at 12" square.