Chris Franses wrote a new post, Simple Shapes . . . 1 week, 4 days ago
. . . . Stunning Quilts – the title of Stuart Hillards’s new book says it all. The five main chapters each take a simple shape (or combination of those shapes) to make twenty very different blocks and quilts. Whe…
Chris Franses wrote a new post, Design your own quilt block Part 2 1 month ago
Last month we looked at designing your own blocks by taking a traditional block and adding or subtracting a few lines. This month we will look at drawing what you might call ‘skewed’ blocks using graph paper with a d…
Chris Franses posted a new activity comment 2 months, 1 week ago
It boggled my mind when I first realised it was not only possible but ‘allowed’! Hope you enjoy playing around and being further boggled by what you can achieve!
Chris Franses wrote a new post, Design your own block. Part 1 2 months, 2 weeks ago
The simplest way to design your own block is to take a traditional block and add or subtract a few lines. The Ohio Star block for instance can be changed into Swamp Angel by turning the corner squares into…
WOW that just completely boggled my Mind!
It boggled my mind when I first realised it was not only possible but ‘allowed’! Hope you enjoy playing around and being further boggled by what you can achieve!
Chris Franses posted a new activity comment 3 months ago
Thanks, Juliet! I’ve had fun dreaming up different ways to put blocks together so students feel they are getting something new if they return each year.
Chris Franses posted a new activity comment 3 months ago
Thank you, Teresa. Orphan blocks can be a challenge (and I have quite a few myself) but the settings can often bring quite different blocks (and colours) together.
Chris Franses wrote a new post, Sampler Quilts 3 months, 2 weeks ago
Sampler quilts are a great way to learn a lot of different techniques and still end up with something useful rather than a random collection of blocks stuffed in a drawer (or a folder with notes if you are truly…
Wow those are gorgeous!
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Thanks, Juliet! I’ve had fun dreaming up different ways to put blocks together so students feel they are getting something new if they return each year.
Some amazing ideas, particularly useful because I am in a group making charity quilts from sometimes donated orphan blocks.
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Thank you, Teresa. Orphan blocks can be a challenge (and I have quite a few myself) but the settings can often bring quite different blocks (and colours) together.
Yours quilts are fabulous, I have never made a sampler style quilt and you have inspired me to have a go when I have time
Chris Franses wrote a new post, Skimpy seams 4 months, 1 week ago
That moment when you are pressing a quilt top – from the back – removing stray threads and preparing to layer it up for quilting . . . and you find a seam that is hanging on by a few threads. What to do? There’s no…
Most excellent tip! Thank you
This is such a good tip and I will make sure that I remember it, I’m rubbish at keeping a consistent 1/4 inch seam, thanks for doing this blog!
Chris Franses wrote a new post, Drafting, Making and Using Templates 4 months, 3 weeks ago
There are many reasons for needing to make templates for cutting shapes. Some shapes simply cannot be easily cut with a rotary cutter and although you can buy acrylic templates for many of these shapes it can get a…
Chris Franses posted a new activity comment 5 months ago
Thank you , Karin. It’s good to know that the graph paper is probably still available – I only have a couple of sheets left!
Chris Franses wrote a new post, Octagon quilts 5 months ago
The octagon and its tessellating square was a popular design in tiled floors as well as quilts – the kitchen floor in my last (Victorian) house had such a design with terracotta octagons and black squares. In Hannah…
Chris Franses wrote a new post, How to draft a block 5 months, 1 week ago
Where to start?! In my last blog about re-creating a quilt I looked at the stars quilt I had made using lots of left-over bits and explained how you could deconstruct it to work out how it might have been made. I…
What an interesting post! The Bramble Patch have certainly had the pads of 12″ square paper for drafting in the last year or so, as they used to send them out for their BOM projects for us to cut our own EPP shapes.
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Thank you , Karin. It’s good to know that the graph paper is probably still available – I only have a couple of sheets left!
Chris Franses posted a new activity comment 6 months, 1 week ago
Hi Ruth – my first reply to you seems to have been posted below Teresa’s comment. I must have pressed the wrong button. Story of my life.
Chris Franses posted a new activity comment 6 months, 1 week ago
I like ‘winging it’ much more than ‘frame quilt’ – it describes the randomness of it so much better.
Chris Franses posted a new activity comment 6 months, 1 week ago
I’d forgotten about those – Round Robin quilts we used to call them. Great fun! And, yes, they are frame quilts when finished. I don’t think I knew that either back when I was doing them.
Chris Franses wrote a new post, Frame Quilts 6 months, 2 weeks ago
When is a frame quilt not a frame quilt? When it is a medallion quilt. In fairness the terms are interchangeable, although ‘frame’ is often used to describe British quilts made using fabric scraps and left over bit…
Great article. I made a quilt from 4 orphan blocks from a friend, and then just added to it using scraps and corner stones & sashing strips, until I ran out of fabric, no real pattern in mind. Nice to know there was some method to my madness and it has a real name, rather than my name “Winging It”!
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I’d forgotten about those – Round Robin quilts we used to call them. Great fun! And, yes, they are frame quilts when finished. I don’t think I knew that either back when I was doing them.
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I like ‘winging it’ much more than ‘frame quilt’ – it describes the randomness of it so much better.
Lovely blog Chris. This is a great group challenge! We did this last year – put a block in a pillowcase and keep circulating it around so that several people add a mystery border to it. Some great results, and some not great results, but lovely to see how peolpe worked out their borders.
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Hi Ruth – my first reply to you seems to have been posted below Teresa’s comment. I must have pressed the wrong button. Story of my life.
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So easily done Chris
Chris Franses wrote a new post, Re-creating a quilt 6 months, 4 weeks ago
This quilt probably isn’t the easiest to write about as it was made from random scraps and left-over units – one of those designs that ‘just grew’. However, I will attempt to show how, armed with just a picture…
Ooo nicely done!
Chris Franses posted a new activity comment 7 months ago
Hi Sue – EQ is shorthand for Electric Quilt, a computer programme for designing quilts. Fabulous but not cheap! Rio Designs is the place to go online to buy it in the UK but have a look at the Electric Quilt website and blog for lots more information. And its not long til Christmas . . .!
Quilt Pro is similar and a bit cheaper, but to my mind…[Read more]Chris Franses wrote a new post, Hannah Hauxwell’s Six-Pointed Star quilt 7 months ago
Some of you may remember seeing a link to an auction house in your Facebook UKQU feed recently about the sale of Hannah Hauxwell’s quilts. Someone – I can’t remember who, sorry – said wouldn’t it be great to have t…
Chris – I had forgotten about Hannah – I am sure she was ion the ‘news’ years ago.. Thank you for the reminder. Love the templates and your colourways. What is EQ and where can I source it from? I am currently investigating the Amercian ‘Slave’ quilts and your templates remind me of some of them. Thank you again x
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Hi Sue – EQ is shorthand for Electric Quilt, a computer programme for designing quilts. Fabulous but not cheap! Rio Designs is the place to go online to buy it in the UK but have a look at the Electric Quilt website and blog for lots more information. And its not long til Christmas . . .!
Quilt Pro is similar and a bit cheaper, but to my mind nowhere near as versatile or easy to use (and I have both) – but I think it depends which one you start with and I started with EQ. They use different methods for creating the blocks and quilts.-
Thankyou Chris – will take a look..sounds expensive lol thanks for replying xx
Hello everyone
Just a gentle reminder to everyone I am the new owner/custodian of this Hannah Hauxwell family antique quilt and 10 others from the sale and other items. Whilst we know everyone may use antique quilts for inspiration etc, please keep me informed when they are being used, out of courtesy to me and the thousands of pounds it cost purchasing most of the quilts to ensure they remained here in the UK!
Many thanks Christopher Wilson-Tate
Chris Franses wrote a new post, How to ‘read’ a quilt 7 months, 2 weeks ago
We’ve all been there – you see a quilt in a show, on Facebook or Instagram, on the cover of a magazine and think “I’d like to make one like that, but how has it been done?”. At a show, with the quilt in front of…
Interesting as always, Chris! So many effects possible with traditional blocks.
I really enjoyed reading this, because that is exactly what I try to do when I see a quilt that I like, I try to work out how it was made. I do struggle with the block names as I’m still learning them, but I can so relate to what you have written. I look forward to reading the next one.
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UK Quilters
1 month ago
What a really fascinating and encouraging post! Thank you!