Hi everyone,
I have some exciting news to share, my latest quilt pattern “Geckos Galore” will be out in stores and on my website as from 12th April 2021.
I was actually playing around with another quilt design which will come out later this year, but the gecko just stood out. He was calling for his own quilt. I’ll admit I have a soft spot for gecko’s, they would have to be one of my favourite animals, (don’t worry Winston (our beloved cat) is still #1!). When I designed this quilt we were in a different house and had quite a few around the house, some even sneaked inside. Much to my delight, I have found a resident gecko at the new house! They all have their own characters, plus beautiful marks and colours. Nature is just so clever with her colour combinations.
So, an idea for a quilt based around geckos was born. I wanted a simple applique quilt that a beginner could do confidently and get a striking result, but equally it was appealing to a more advanced sewer but with a modern twist.
Appliqué is such a lovely process that can be taken in so many directions to achieve the result. Fused, smooth edge, raw edge, reverse, machine, hand… and the list goes on. I guess you can sum them up into two main types of application; machine or hand. The latest method of machine appliqué uses fabrics which are fused, cut into shape, ironed into place on the background before then stitching them to the background fabric. Hand appliqué is most often used in quilting, and essentially you just sew the shape to the background fabric by hand. A rather beautiful, but time consuming method is needle-turn. This is a traditional method where the sewer uses the needle to ‘turn’ under the seam allowance while sewing the shape onto the background fabric.
I’ll admit, I use the fused machine appliqué method. Whilst I love the look of turned edge appliqué, I wanted this quilt finished and to be able show the world. I am NOT a fast hand stitcher, machine was the only way it was going to get seen this century!
I look forward to seeing how other sewers interpret my pattern. That is one of the joys I get, seeing my pattern made by someone else, the colour combinations, whether they hand or machine appliqué the geckos, how it’s quilted. I love it.
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I love what I do and am excited to share my journey with you.
Happy sewing
Anita : -)
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