Quick Kids Quilts

Hi I thought I'd show you the quilts I have been making for some special kids. I've hang them on the washing line for the photos, and took these in between the wind gusts! They have polar fleece for backing, it's the first time that I have used it and I will do again. It worked really well and makes the quilt very cuddly.

These next 2 quilts have been made for a set of twins that's why they are the same, but different colours.

Here's some close ups so you can see the quilting. Just very basic line quilting, as these are made to be used up. They are cuddle size, for cold mornings, making forts under tables, dragging around etc.

Update: Lis asked, "Love the idea of using fleece for the backing - do you know how it washes please?"

Lis sorry I should have put this in post, so thanks for asking.

The polar fleece washes fine, these quilts have already been washed, as I wanted to make sure they would hold up to just being chucked in the washing machine, and dryer if that's what happened for them! They came out great! So next time you want something quick for a child it is a good way to go. It cuts the cost too, as you are only buying polar fleece and not backing and batting. Was very easy to pin layers together too. I just smoothed polar fleece out on the carpet then smoothed the quilt top on top and pinned. The layers 'gripped' each other and stayed put as I pinned them together.

Leah Day- Quilting in the Ditch

Hi everyone, a lot of you are fans of Leah Day and her '365 Days of Free Motion Quilting Filler Designs'. (There's a link to her blog on my 'blog list' on the side bar too, in case you haven't had a look.) Well her designs are great but, if you are like me you can still have problems deciding how it use them in your quilt. Leah has just started a great series of videos on different ways to quilt your quilt. The first technique covered is 'Quilting in the Ditch'. Have a look at them I'm sure everyone who does will learn something, no matter how long they have been quilting. The summary video is especially good, wrapping up the pro's and con's of this technique.

TIP: After you have started the video run your mouse over the bottom right hand corner till you see 'Watch on YouTube' then click to watch on a larger screen.

Quilting in the Ditch Part 1


Quilting in the Ditch Part 2


Summary of Quilting in the Ditch

Show and Tell, August 2010

Here's the Show and Tell from the August meeting. Remember you can click on all the photo's to 'embiggen' them to see more detail. :-)


'My Shattered Nine Patch' by Maureen Jackson. All fruit and vege fabric.


This is the first free motion quilting that Petra Pilkington has done! The quilt is a gift for a friend who lives at the beach. Close up below of free motion quilting and one of the embroideries on the quilt.




This is Petra's first quilt made last year. It has a lot of beautiful lace on it, so there's a close up below so you can see detail better. A lot of the laces on this quilt are handmade lace, some were made by her mother in law.




'Butterflies' by Terri Mills, made with blocks from the first patchwork course she took in 2007.




'Dazzling Dogs' by Beryl McDowell, block of the month from Grandmothers Garden a long time ago. Now finished! Close up below.




'Hinehana' by Beryl McDowell, for her newest grand daughter.
Close up below.




This Sashiko wall hanging was made by Pam Carr.


Felted bears by Sue Gillard, inspired by a library book, she has made these bears for her grandchildren. Made using a single felting needle & foam from carded wool.


'Christmas Star' by Robin Halverson, an early start to xmas decorations made at 'Loose Ends' group tutored by Shirley Julian


Mushroom stitched by Marie Finegan in a needle turn appliqué class.


Shelia Ujdur showing us 2 cot quilts she has in progess, as they will be finished and sent off before the next meeting. They are for Shelia's new grandchild.




Here's Elaine hiding behind a quilt! Val's Gal's satellite group had two of their members in hospital recently, so they made quilts for them. Above is one of the quilts made for Frances Dixon, who is out of hospital now and on the mend. The other quilt is with Yvonne Wright in hospital. I'm sure having a special quilt made by her close friends is a great comfort to her.


This is a charity quilt made by Fiona Carter, for a special little girl.


'Flying Pigs' by Elaine Healey made for Starship (National Children's Hospital).


Blocks made by Bernice Spear & given to Elaine Healey to make a quilt for Starship Hospital.


'Ballerinas' for Starship Hospital by Elaine Healey


And here is Lynda and Elaine showing us quilts made by Yvonne Davies for Starship Hospital. There were several more made by Yvonne, sorry my cameras batteries ran out!


I didn't get a photo of the charity quilt I made either, but it's the bright one hanging on the wall top left of this photo!

Results of Public 'Viewers Choice'

There was a wide spread of voting in viewers choice, here's the results. Sorry some of quilts have their edges cut off in my photo's. I couldn't 'backup' enough for some photo's, as other quilts were behind me. Hope that makes sense! You can click on photo's to 'embiggen'.

1st 'Phoebe's Quilt' by Margaret Corbett (hand appliqué) & Leonie Wihongi (machine quilting)

Margaret spent more than 5 years researching and appliquéing this quilt.

2nd 'Lavender & Lace' by Anne Joule.

Victorian Crazy, fabrics from everywhere, including some kimono silks.

3rd 'Corn Poppies' by Anne Joule.

Crazy quilting,quilt as you go hexagons. The corn poppies grew on the soldiers graves in France.

4th 'Kaleidoscope' by Sue Farrier.

A stack and whack kaleidoscope quilt made for my sons 21st.

5th 'North to Alaska' by Anne Joule.

Spring in Alaska. Hand & Machine pieced, circles hand appliquéd, made from tie off cuts.

6th 'I'm a Hopeless Romantic' by Leeann Hansen.

Blocks from the book 'Affairs of the Heart' by Aie Rossmann. Hand embroidered & hand quilted.

7th 'Maia's Quilt' by Amie Ujdur-Nelson. From Children's Section- Amie is 14yrs old.

Block of the month from Susan Claire. Made for my sister. Machine quilted by myself.

8th 'I Love Patchwork' by Pat Heaslip.

'Affairs of the Heart' pattern. Really enjoyed doing all the appliqué.

Guest Speaker, John Nielsen

Hi everyone, yesterday was Whangarei Patchwork & Quilters Club meeting day. We were very lucky to have John Nielsen as our guest speaker. For those who don't know John is a longarm quilter, based at Baylys Beach. John has only been longarm quilting for about 3 years, and has become well known for the high quality of his work.

John is originally from Denmark, but has lived in New Zealand for the nearly 20 years. He fell in love with patchwork and started making quilts. But soon found it too difficult, to quilt the large quilts he was making on a domestic sewing machine. So after a lot of research he decided to import a longarm quilting machine, and hasn't looked back since.

John recently taught at the 'New Zealand Quilting Conference' for longarm quilters in Cambridge. John's business is 'The Quilt Fairies'

John's talk was very interesting, and he bought a lot of his quilts to show too.

For someone who hasn't been quilting that long John has made some very complex quilts!

The quilting is exquisite on this quilt, click on photo for a closer look.

This is a very vibrant quilt, sorry the photo doesn't do it justice.

John's Amish quilts, I especially like the star below. The touch of purple mixed in with the pink, really made this quilt glow.

This quilt is made from some of John's old shirts! It's quilted with a silver thread so it sparkles too.

John's latest is a whole cloth quilt, made using cotton sateen, which has a very nice sheen. The quilting is to die for. Close up below.

Another couple of close ups. Click on them to 'embiggen'.

Thank you John, we all really enjoyed your talk and seeing all your lovely quilts, and being allowed to handle them as well.