Sue's two quilts..................

Quilt Information:

Pattern - Taupe Flower Garden.
Measurements - 91" x 98"
Batting - Cotton - Purchased from me.
Backing - Supplied by customer.
Quilting - Custom Quilting.
Thread - Glide.

Quilt Information:

Pattern - Le Jardin by Bunny Hill Designs.
Measurements - 95" x 101"
Batting - Cotton - Purchased from me.
Backing - Riley Blake Molted Cream - Purchased from me.
Quilting - Custom Quilting.
Threads - Glide.

Bunny Hill Designs and Japanese woven quilts

Hello there! Now that the postie has arrived in Christchurch at Maree's house with her two quilts I can have a show and tell!
Facebook followers will have seen the sneak peeks of both these beautiful quilts.Without further or do.....................

"Merry Merry Snowmen" by Bunny Hill. Needleturn applique, piecing and a small amount of stitchery (with eyes & other embellishments to follow) makes for a fabulous fun quilt for Christmas!

Maree had her usual request: " I trust you and love your quilting style so go for it!" Well if that's not permission to play I don't know what is! So after the hard yards of stitching in ALL the ditches and around the applique shapes, it was time to play.

You may see the faint pencil lines, these are where Maree with do some added stitchery. I did use the line of the 'slope' to divide the two areas into 'a snow slope' and a background sky.

                                  Awesome fun, going down a snow slope in a teacup!

Maree chose Warm & Natural cotton batting and I used the following threads: "so fine" by Superior Threads, YLI, perma-core and my nice fine thread for ditch stitching.

The swag border helps create a theatrical framing for a fabulous quilt.
Even Maree's choice of backing has a sense of fun about it...................................

The next quilt Maree had me custom quilt was "Taupe Flower Garden" that Maree bought some years back as a Block of the Month from Patchwork Passion. Robyn the owner of Patchwork Passion tells me this is no longer available as a BOM, but they have similar patterns available.

Once again Maree gave me free range, however I was aware that this was to be a bed quilt.

I was keen to keep this quilt looking classic, so cross-hatching the background of the flower blocks seemed like a good choice, but I wanted a japanese type feel, I think the the twin lines creates this vibe.
I added light detailing to the applique.

Maree chose Matilda's Own wool batting for extra warm and loft, I used the same thread brands as Merry Merry Snowmen except different colours.

For the pieced blocks I kept things simple, there is of course ditch stitching, it really does help your piecing shine.

The scrappy pieced blocks I did stipple, not exciting I know, but it really seemed like the right 'fit' for this quilt.

Sashings and corner stones.........................................

The borders are my FAVOURITE! When I saw these borders on Kathy's blog some months back I filed the idea away, all the while quietly waiting for the right quilt.

I will be honest and say I did have a booboo and had to do some unpicking, it was a combination of things, first time trying this design, so it's not built up in my muscle memory like many designs and I had applique on the borders to maneuver around. It was all worth it as this design frames this quilt perfectly! Thank you Kathy.

Thank you so much Maree for producing well made quilts and for letting me have creative freedom!

A Batik Beauty

Hello good people, a quick post to share Kerry's lovely Batik quilt. Kerry is the owner/operator of Tulis Textiles  selling "Exotic fabric and unique tools for the creative quilter".

Made using one of Kerry's slicing type rulers and templates and of course a selection of her batik fabrics. Kerry asked for all over quilting (edge to edge) but when I received her quilt and noticed the olive green peeper I suggested all over quilting through the middle only, and not over the peeper, then choosing a separate design for the border. I designed a pattern that I free armed/handed guided that suited the pattern and fabrics.

Which you can actually see better from the back, I was having a day of the sun not being on my photo taking side! You may have noticed the white circles, Kerry is going to applique some circles on now that the quilting is complete.

The border was easy to come up as the pattern on the fabric was quite geometric and very similar to what I have quilted, it ended up giving some nice texture.

                                  See that free peeper! Thank you Kerry, enjoy your quilt!

Facebook followers will have seen the latest quilt I am working on : Merry Merry Snowmen by Bunny Hill Designs. My customer, Maree has sent me two applique quilts that she has requested custom quilting on. Here is a photo of some of the quilting so far.

Stay tuned for more. Until then keep creating!

*Rabbits *Prefer * Chocolate*

How nice to be sharing a quilt with you, rather than sneak peeks! As has become the 'norm' in recent posts!.
Gaynor has made a lovely job of this Bunny Hill pattern called "Rabbits Prefer Chocolate". This will make a lovely addition to Gaynor's Easter display.
I remember assisting Gaynor last year at the shop to choose fabrics for this delightful quilt.
Ok enough talking, here's what you came for, the quilting!

Quilting over cotton batting, using a mix of Gunold, Madeira poly neon & glide threads. Some echoing, swirls, pebbles & even some hearts & flowers.

see the tulip I quilted?

A view of the back. For the border I quilted piano keys, if you missed how I did this see my previous post here.
So if you think Rabbits only ate grass, think again!!

Below is a gathering of gifts made & shared at a stitching group I belong to. A rather late Christmas swap & shared dinner. Another couple of months & we could have called it a 'mid winter Christmas'!!

Some gorgeous gifts received & given!
Below, a collage of what I made my swap friend. A pincushion made from one wooden coffee mug stand, one cake tin, wool felt & embellishments.
Fun time with paint, glue & of course the needle! But the best part, the giving!!!!

My gift was special, because my swap pal, really was listening one day when I mentioned in passing I would like to try the Bohin marking pens. My pal, then got her daughter living in London to send for these french designed pens. Also in my parcel a beautifully made wool felt needle case......thank you 'pal', you know who you are!

On a flying visit south, I visited my friend Julie & her lovely shop Threadbear Cottage. Look who wanted to come home with me?' Jack Cat! He is a heafty fellow that holds my door open when needed. Julie made his body with an old grey army blanket........love him! he should be cheap to keep too & hopefully won't go back to the old house!

The postie is back with another quilt, so back to it! Until next time, take care.