Gallery Of Ideas & How I Work

I enjoy working to commission. I may be sent a vague list of plants and colour suggestions. I may be sent a clear and complete list of all manner of things to include with carpet samples and curtain snippets to match. I have a few discussions and ponder. When happy I have the idea I get going.

I rummage through my store of tiny snippets, searching, searching and gather fabrics together, heaping them up on my table until happy I have a good mood of colour and range of designs.

My plans start vague, jottings on paper. I prefer to keep ideas fluid in my head. I ponder and poke about trying to visualise the quilt but it’s only when I find the right fabrics that the idea starts to become clear. I draw on fabric to make templates and start cutting and pinning, usually from the lower left hand corner of the quilt.

I start stitching before the quilt is fully pinned. I may take a break and hang it on my wall to get to know it while I get on with something else. Slowly the jigsaw reveals itself to me.

Once the appliqué is complete I go back to the heap of fabrics to make the patchwork border and then a lot of ironing. On to the long arm machine to vermicelli quilt. This is swirly quilting all over the background, meandering around the motifs. This gives texture and strengthens the background.

Woodland Floor Quilt. This quilt was made to accompany the Beechwood wall hanging I had made previously. There was no patchwork border on this quilt, the leaves thin out as they reach the edge of the quilt. Under the appliquéd leaves I machine stitched leaf outlines, to represent fallen leaves fading away.

Floral Quilt, made to live alongside a crewel work fire screen.

Ceramic Tile block quilt in greens. The customer had seen the turquoise quilt but wanted different colours. I sent some snippets to agree the colours. I included kingfishers, owls, butterflies.