I am a lawyer by training but needed an artistic outlet to keep me sane while working in the City of London. I love quilting and was initially self taught when I started hand piecing hexagons in the 1980’s. I joined various quilting groups and attended many technique workshops to stretch my abilities. I have numerous books and magazines which continue to inspire me today.
I also love painting and sketching and the use of colour on paper and canvas feeds into my choice of colours in my quilts. Because of issues with my wrists, hand piecing became difficult and I started working on machine piecing which is my main construction method today.
I am working on a hand pieced project for myself at the moment which will consist of approx two thousand 2” diamonds and will eventually form the tumbling blocks pattern. It is a long term project which will be my constant travelling companion for the next few years.
I rarely work on one project at a time, so historically my quilts have taken years to go from planning, through cutting and piecing to completion. I still work on more than one project at a time but I am now much more disciplined at completing projects. However I still cannot control my excitement when I get a new idea and start drawing it out and choosing colours and fabrics.
I also love painting and sketching and the use of colour on paper and canvas feeds into my choice of colours in my quilts. Because of issues with my wrists, hand piecing became difficult and I started working on machine piecing which is my main construction method today.
I am working on a hand pieced project for myself at the moment which will consist of approx two thousand 2” diamonds and will eventually form the tumbling blocks pattern. It is a long term project which will be my constant travelling companion for the next few years.
I rarely work on one project at a time, so historically my quilts have taken years to go from planning, through cutting and piecing to completion. I still work on more than one project at a time but I am now much more disciplined at completing projects. However I still cannot control my excitement when I get a new idea and start drawing it out and choosing colours and fabrics.
My main sewing machine is a domestic Bernina (model 1015) which I have had since June 1992. It is a metal bodied workhorse and I would never ever trade in. I have a second newer machine (a Janome Platinum 760) which is a ¾ size body which I use for taking to workshops as it is so much lighter than my beloved Bernina. My Bernina is so reliable and steady and will just chug along no matter how much sewing I am doing. I also have a Bernette 334D (Bernina) overlocker which I use for dressmaking.
Thread is a very important part of the quilting process as it holds all those small pieces together. At the moment I am using an Italian 100% Egyptian cotton thread called Aurifil which is lovely and smooth as well as being very strong because of the long fibres in the Egyptian cotton.
Thread is a very important part of the quilting process as it holds all those small pieces together. At the moment I am using an Italian 100% Egyptian cotton thread called Aurifil which is lovely and smooth as well as being very strong because of the long fibres in the Egyptian cotton.
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