Thursday Inspiration: Alison from Little Island Quilting

Today Alison from Little Island Quilting is joining me (figuratively speaking) for an interview.  Alison lives on a little island near the UK, and is an incredibly talented quilter with a very distinctive and unique style (even if she denies it!).  It is hard to describe her quilting style, but my best attempt would be ALL THE FABRICS, amazing precise piecing, careful use of values, and a large pinch of insanity (I think Alison knows me well enough now to know that I mean that in the nicest possible way).

As well as admiring Alison's quilts from a purely aesthetic stand point, I really admire the way that she makes quilts she likes, the way she wants to, and doesn't worry too much about what other people think.  She's quite forthright and her blog posts are often funny.  She's also incredibly generous, having made 36 quilts so far this year for the Soy Amado project (more on that below) and sharing her knowledge in a series of tutorials (her hand piecing tutorial is particularly interesting, although I have to confess it still hasn't tempted me away from my sewing machine!).

This is how the quilt Alison was working on in her hand piecing tutorial turned out.

So, here's Alison.  As usual, my questions are in bold and her answers are in normal text:

Does your family have a quilting or sewing history, or are you a first generation quilter? 
I learnt to knit, crochet and do tapestry from my mum and I continued knitting well into my 20s. She did buy some Laura Ashley precut hexagons in the 1970s and made a rather lurid (sorry mum) hexagon bed quilt but I think that actually put me off quilting at the time because I thought it was frumpy and old fashioned.

How did you start quilting, and how long have you been quilting for? 
I was just married and living in the Netherlands and in a nearby village was a quilt shop (it's still there) with the most inviting window displays. I went in one day, got talking in Dutch to one of the sales assistants, discovered she was English (!) so we switched to our mother tongue and she said her mum gave quilt lessons and they had a space in a course coming up and I should join. So I did. I think that was 20 years ago now - yikes!

How would you describe your quilting style? 
All over the place! Not sure really. Isn't it for others to describe your style?!

Where do you find inspiration for your quilts?
Everywhere. Literally.

Do you like to follow patterns or create your own designs (or a bit of both)?
Bit of both. For something like the Camelot quilt I bought the pattern because all the complicated maths is done for you. A lot of times I look at a quilt I like and I can usually work out how the blocks are constructed so I don't buy the pattern, I just get cutting. Is that bad?!

Alison's Camelot quilt

Do you think living where you do influences the way you quilt?
Absolutely. It's a small island (population 62,000) with no quilt shop and no opportunity to get in the car and drive off up the road to meet another quilter. I buy all my quilting needs off the Internet. We are lucky in that there are no import taxes here so I buy my fabric from the US, as even with the postage factored in, it is much cheaper than the UK.

Are you a member of a local guild? 
There is no local guild. I know of a group of women who meet once a month in the evening but I am too busy providing a taxi service to our daughters so can't go. I also have a quilting friend who makes art quilts and she's in a small art quilt group which meets during the day.

Have you ever met any of your online sewing friends in real life? 
I met my first online sewing friend for the first time last year. Leila (needleanddime on Flickr) was in a swap with me and we met in New York City and spent a day quilt shopping and chatting. She was even lovelier in person. I also met Leanne (SheCanQuilt) for a meal in London last summer when I was over with our younger daughter for the weekend. That same weekend I accidentally met Hadley/Flying Blind On A Rocket Cycle in a fabric shop. I was in there with our daughter and she walked in with a bunch of other quilt bloggers. It was very surreal because right from the beginning of starting my blog I had made a conscious decision no personal pictures. Other people have posted their pictures on their blogs so I knew it was her when she walked in. We'd struck up an Internet friendship so I thought it would be rude not to say something but I didn't want to gate crash her group. So I had a little five minute internal struggle with myself and when I spotted her looking at fabric on her own, I sidled up and said a few words! So 2 1/2 people is the sum total of my having met Internet quilting friends. Bit pathetic really!

I have to show this cushion that Alison made because it lives with meeee!

How did you decide to start your blog? 
Because I wanted to enter Amy's Blogger's Quilt Festival. I took THE most awful photo of a fairly basic quilt in terrible lighting and within an hour people had left comments. The computer was talking back to me!

What is your favourite thing about the online quilting community? And what is one thing that you would change, if you could? 
Definitely the 'meeting' of people who get your hobby that people in real life don't get.

If I could change one thing it would be banning quilting book blog tours! I completely get that a quilt author needs to get their book out there but I'm afraid if someone's done a quilt book review and it's on a long journey with a bunch of other quilters I zone out. You know you're going to be told the same thing, that the book really is very wonderful and you really need to buy it. And the nail in the coffin for me is asking people to leave reviews on Amazon etc. I hugely admire people who are constructively honest with their opinions and don't get completely sucked into the vortex that is the well-oiled quilt marketing machine. While I appreciate some quilt bloggers are looking to make a business out of their blogging, I would like to see more transparency in their tie ups with companies.

Many newbie quilters starting out now are getting their information from the Internet. Is it fair the information they read is biased because of commercial link-ups to blogs? And what happened to constructive opinions? It seems because of these commercial tie-ins we are afraid to share our real thoughts. I don't mean being unnecessarily unkind, I mean having a different point of view to the norm and not being afraid to give or air that point of view. Surely we'll all learn something from expressing our differing views rather than all politely agreeing with each other or not saying anything at all? (Well you did ask!)

I'm pretty sure Alison was working on this quilt when I started reading her blog.  I thought omg, this lady is insane and I love it!

Your Soy Amado project is amazing - could you tell me a little bit about how you got started (and what it involves, for my readers' benefit).
We were in Mexico City over the Christmas period and to cut a long story short we visited a home for former street children to help hand out Christmas presents. You have no idea how something is going to affect you. I had given a small baby quilt but the reaction to it was so lovely. They couldn't believe someone had made something especially for them. That made me feel even more guilty because I hadn't made something especially for them: I'd taken one of my quilts that I thought was 'OK' and thought 'that will do - I've done my bit'.

But that was what we were all doing: a football team had donated some of their old football shirts (as in old design) and another company had donated some cheap clothes and toys and I just stood there and thought we were all passing on stuff we didn't really want any more - they deserved more than OK or another company's cast offs. No one had given them the best, something special just for them.

Afterwards, I talked with one of the ladies involved with supporting the home and asked her about quilts. She thought it was a good idea so I resolved to try and get a quilt on every bed.

Soy Amado No. 31 - my personal favourite, so far.

I knew I couldn't expect people to make whole quilts ( which would have been a whole lot less work for me) and it was Nicolette (Dutchcomfort) who suggested quilt blocks to me. And then the idea of quilted blocks came to me as I thought I could construct the quilts far more quickly this way.

I put a request on my blog for quilted 12 1/2" blocks and although it started quite slowly, the appeal has slowly gained momentum. I even joined Instagram so I could reach more people, having told myself a blog was enough of a time-sucker and to stay clear of IG!

I am aware though that not everyone shares my zealous enthusiasm for this project. If you're interested, since posting about the quilts, comments have dropped off from their normal levels and quite a few people who used to comment quite regularly on my blog have stopped altogether. I'm not sure if it's because they feel awkward about commenting because they haven't sent me anything or that I'm boring the pants off them. Either way, if you do something like this, don't automatically expect everyone who comments on your blog to stick their hand up and help you.

That said, I have been hugely touched by the generosity of everyone who has and am completely aware that I could not have produced the amount of quilts I have done without the support I have had. There is another delivery going in June when I should find out how many more quilts I still need to make.

A lovely pile of quilts Alison has put together for the Soy Amado project.

Confession time - how many quilts do you have in your house right now? 
Not that many actually - maybe around 15. I give most of them away. I love giving away what I know the other person can't buy. It's a priceless, personal gift.

Do you do any crafts other than quilting? 
Nope - in between work, family life and quilting there isn't really much left over for anything else! 

Where do you see your quilting going - is it a career or a hobby for you and would you like to change that?
I'm going nowhere fast! It will always be a hobby. I love my day job (most of the time) with quilting as my creative release. If I think of quilting as more than a hobby then that means sewing things I don't want to with fabric I don't particularly like and that's not fun for me. There are more than enough people out there wanting to change their quilting from a hobby into a business without me joining the ever-growing queue!

Do you have any tips or tricks or things that have changed your quilting life that you'd like to share? 
Do what you want to do the way you want to do it. Don't follow the crowd as ultimately your creative journey will be more rewarding.

Another hand pieced beauty.

What is your favourite part of the quilting process (and what's your least favourite part)? 
Everything and nothing! Possibly choosing the fabrics (the more the better) has a slight edge.

Are there any quilting techniques you haven't tried yet but that you'd like to? 
Can't think of any.

What's something about you that people might be surprised to know? 
I don't know?! What would people like to know? First person to leave a question in the comments section, I promise to give an honest answer to. How does that sound?!

Thank you so much to Alison for participating in this series, and for her full and frank answers!  I think her advice about doing what you want to do, the way you want to do it, is really great and applies whether you're just starting out or are an experienced quilter.  Pop over to Alison's blog, Little Island Quilting, and check out all the other lovely things she's made.

WIP Wednesday

This weekend I had real hankering to start a new project.  I feel like the only person in the quilting world who hasn't made an interlocking plus quilt.  I didn't have a colour scheme in mind so I turned to Design Seeds for inspiration.  Since it's winter here, I looked at the various palettes under the winter theme and picked these three as favourites.

  

I pulled some fabrics from stash and cut a lot of  4" squares (because you can cut 5 4" squares, which is how many you need to make one plus, from a 4" strip cut from a fat quarter).  I laid them out on my design wall and ummmed and ahhhhed over whether to leave the red in.

As you can see, the red stayed in!  It's a Kaffe Fassett shot cotton which gives it a bit of depth and texture.

This quilt top will be pretty nice and quick to quilt up,  but I haven't basted it yet because I want to use a lovely cotton waffle fabric that my Dad bought in Japan and I needed to pre-wash it first.  I'm a bit nervous about using the waffle because it's effectively a knit, but I'm hopeful that by using plenty of pins to baste and quilting really carefully, it will come out ok.  If not, I guess I can use another cat quilt!

I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced:

P.S. I am speaking and showing some of my quilts at the Wellington Quilter's Guild meeting tomorrow evening. If you're a reader please feel free to come and say hi - I'd love to meet you.

My new Juki TL-98P and Swiftquilter

A couple of months ago I bought a Juki TL-98P sewing machine and Swiftquilter quilting frame from Sew Frisco.  In the interests of full disclosure, I'll tell you now that I negotiated a discount on the purchase price in exchange for blog advertising and a couple of blog post reviews.  This is the first one and I'll do another review at around the 6 month mark.  As with all my reviews, I agreed to this on the basis that my review would be completely honest and mention any cons as well as pros.

So, how did I decide to buy the Juki?  I decided I needed a new sewing machine and narrowed my choice of brands down to Bernina (because that's what I had already and what I've sewn on most before), Janome (because that's what most of my real life quilting friends have, and what lots of bloggers have and recommend) and Juki (because lots of bloggers have been raving about their Jukis and I really liked the idea of a fully mechanical sewing machine because I thrash my sewing machine and I don't want it to break down).

Then I started using my Mum's Bernina 440QE, which has a stitch regulator (BSR), for free motion quilting.  BSR is really nice - it means that your stitches are a consistent length and it definitely helps when you're learning to free motion quilt.  I got hooked, and started using Mum's sewing machine every time I needed to free motion quilt something.  I decided that the BSR was so great that I HAD to get a Bernina, even though they are significantly more expensive than any other brand of machine.

To get the throat space I wanted with a Bernina, I needed to go up to the 700 series, so I started saving up for the Bernina 750QE, which retails in New Zealand for $6,999 (by comparison, a Janome 8900 QC retails in New Zealand for $5,499).  (Yes, I cry a little bit inside every time I read American sewing machine prices). And then, I needed to do some free motion quilting and I didn't have time to go around and use Mum's sewing machine.  So I used my little, basic, 25 year old Bernina which definitely does not have BSR.  And do you know what?  My stitches were still pretty consistent.  I quilted a woodgrain pattern, which I hadn't done before,  and I didn't have any issues with the quilting.  My tension was perfect.  All these things which I thought the BSR was doing for me, I was capable of doing myself.  I didn't NEED BSR.  I had just needed practice and the BSR gave me the ability do a nice job while I was still practising.  (By the way, I don't think this is something unique to me.  If you have BSR and always use it, try turning it off, just for a test.  I think you might be surprised.)

That opened up the sewing machine options for me again.  I was still interested in the Juki but unwilling to buy one sight unseen, and the only Juki dealer (Sew Frisco) is in Auckland.  When I got sent to work in Auckland for a few weeks, I decided to take the opportunity to check out a Juki for myself.  It was really really nice, and with a price of $1,995, seemed like great value for money compared to the other options.

Now, I will say in defence of the Bernina and Janome machines that they do much more than the Juki.  The Juki is straight stitch only and the Bernina and Janome machines have all kinds of stitches, and you can do embroidery, and they are computerised and basically a whole bunch more sophisticated than the Juki.  BUT, I don't use almost any of that stuff now and I couldn't see that I would use it in the future.  Basically, to get the large throat space, you have to pay for a whole lot of other stuff that you may or may not use.

Now I've had the Juki for a few weeks, and I love it.  I've used it on the quilting frame, for free motion quilting off the frame, for piecing, for straight line quilting, and to make a small bag (including installing a zip).  It has handled all of those tasks really well and is basically a joy to use.  By the way, as far as I can tell, the Juki TL-98P is exactly the same as the TL-98Q available in the US, except that it runs on New Zealand voltage.  An equivalent to the Juki TL-2010Q isn't available here, but I think the only difference is that the TL-2010Q has a speed control and the TL-98 does not.

So I thought it would be interesting to go back to my post on the sewing machine I've been using for most of my quilting life, my Bernina 802 Sport.  I made a bit of a shopping list of features I was looking for in my next machine:

- large throat space.  Check - the Juki TL-98P has 9" of space between the needle and the right hand upright.

- automatic needle down.  This is pretty much a given on all modern sewing machines, so of course the Juki has it. It's sooooo nice though!

- more speed.  The Juki definitely delivers on this.  I spent most of the time pedal to the metal on my Bernina, but I haven't even touched the top speed on the Juki yet.  From a technical perspective, it does 1500 stitches per minute.  I can confirm that it is FAST.

- knee lift. The Juki has a knee lift which works really well and even clips into the extension table when you're not using it.

One feature which wasn't on my wish list but which I really really love is the automatic thread cutter - you either hit a button on the machine or on the foot pedal and it cuts your thread for you.  Awesome.

My Bernina 802 Sport next to my Juki TL-98P

There are a couple of downsides to the Juki:

- the Juki only does one thing, straight stitch, but it does it super well.  If you are looking for a general purpose domestic sewing machine, this is not the one for you.  It doesn't have a zig zag stitch for sewing knits, or a blanket stitch for machine appliqué, or anything like that.  I'd say it's best suited to a quilter who already has one sewing machine and is looking to upgrade and get more throat space.  I was planning to keep my Bernina anyway, and I'll be using it whenever I need a zigzag stitch (I like to finish the inside seams of cushions and bags this way for durability).

- the Juki does not have a free arm.  Apart from the lack of zigzag stitch, this makes it unsuitable for sewing most garments.  It also means you'll be going back to your domestic machine for some tasks, like top-stitching around the edge of a small zipper pouch, for example.

- as far as I've been able to tell, you can't get an open toe foot for the Juki.  It would most commonly be used for non straight stitching anyway, so that makes sense, but there are times when it's nice to have a good view of the needle, like when you're sewing on the line for foundation paper piecing, or sewing on a marked line when you're quilting.  I'm going to investigate whether I can get a generic open toe foot that works on the Juki.

- it's a big heavy (11.5kg/25lb) sewing machine.  That makes it awesome to sew on but not terribly portable.  It also doesn't come with a hard cover or travel case (but of course you could buy a generic sewing machine bag if you wanted).

None of these are things which put me off the Juki or mean that I'm disappointed in it.  I just wanted to be clear that it does what it does, and it does it very well, but it doesn't do everything.

I've used the Juki with Aurifil (it takes a cone, yay) and with Guterman cotton quilting thread and it's handled both of them perfectly.  For free motion quilting I've stuck to the 90/14 and 100/16 Organ needles that came with the machine, but for piecing I've used Schmetz 80/12 Microtex Sharp needles with great success.  I'll continue to experiment with different needles for different applications, but when I'm using the Juki on the Swiftquilter frame, I've discovered that I really do need to stick with the heavier 100/16 needles (after breaking two 90/14 needles in quick succession).

So far I've pretty much stuck to a description of the sewing machine as used in the way that most people would use it - without the Swiftquilter frame.  Even if you're not interested in a frame, it's still a really great machine and I would definitely recommend it.

So, the Swiftquilter frame.  Basically, it's a set up which includes a moving platform that you sit the sewing machine on, a frame with leaders and enders to stretch the quilt out on, so you free motion quilt by moving the sewing machine and not the quilt.  I bought it because I find normal free motion quilting, where you move the quilt under the needle, very hard on my hands, my neck and my shoulders.  I want to do more free motion quilting but I don't because I can't spend too much time doing it or I end up unable to turn my head.

You sit the frame on a table (I had a special extra tall one made so that the controls are at a comfortable height to use when standing and also so I can see where I'm stitching.  The optimal height for your table will depend on your height.)  The basic frame is 72" wide, and the bit that sits on the table is 23" deep.  The frame overhangs the table so in total it is 34" deep.  The highest point of the frame will sit 11" above the table top, and the part which the quilt sits on is 8" above the table top.  Even though the basic frame is 72" wide, really the widest quilt you can quilt on it is 50" wide.  That's because you need extra room at the sides for the platform that the sewing machine sits on.

The Swiftquilter frame, on my extra tall table.

The frame also comes with an extension, which takes its total width out to 108".  I haven't used the extension yet (and to be honest I'll need to measure to check that my sewing room is even 108" wide!) but hopefully I'll have given it a try by the time my next review rolls around.

I really like the way the platform that the sewing machine sits on moves.  It moves smoothly and freely, but it's got a bit of weight to it (mostly the sewing machine, I guess), which makes it easier (for me, anyway), than something which moves really really easily (I've used long-arms which move at the slightest touch and I found them really hard to control).

I found the frame easy to assemble with the help of the assembly video on Sew Frisco's website.  I did it by myself so it's not like its a two person job or anything like that.  I do quite enjoy assembling flat pack furniture though, so if you absolutely hate things like that you may not enjoy putting the frame together but I still don't think you'd find it difficult.  I know some people disassemble their frames and put them away when they're not using them, but I'm leaving mine up all the time.

The frame can conceptually be used with any large throat sewing machine, but it's recommended for use with Juki TL-98P.  As you'll see if you watch the video, it comes with a handle that screws onto the machine which has controls which plug in so you can control the machine from the handle (no foot pedal needed).

With a lot of help from my sister, I made a video which explains how I load a quilt onto the frame and set it up for quilting.  Hopefully it will give you a good sense of how the frame works, because it would be quite hard to describe in a meaningful way in writing.

Disclaimer: I take no responsibility for the actions of my eyebrows in this video!

Ok well I hope you enjoyed the video (or at least had a good laugh)!

If there is anything else you want to know about the Juki and/or the Swiftquilter, let me know and I'll try to answer your question.

Caturday Wisdom #72

It's ok to look sheepish when you're wearing this much wool. Whiskey

Masquerading as a cat again, Whiskey is modelling a pair of socks knitted for my lucky brother. Lucky because Mum didn't take one look at his huge feet and say "Nope."

Craftsy Sale

Hello lovely readers. Just a quick post to let you know that Craftsy is having a big sale this weekend, with up to 50% off all classes.

It's been a while since I last did a Craftsy class, but I'm going to treat myself to a new one while they're on sale. My friend Alison from Little Island Quilting has a bit of a quilter's crush on Ann Petersen and highly recommended her classes. Since I have a bit of experience with free motion quilting, but am looking to improve my skills, I'm going to give Ann Petersen's Beyond Basic Machine Quilting Class a go!

Completely unrelated to the Craftsy sale but something I wanted to mention - I've been getting quite a few comments from no-reply bloggers lately, particularly ones asking me questions. I am pretty much always happy to answer questions, but if you're a no-reply blogger I can't respond! Please please if you have left me a question and I haven't responded, click on the button below and check whether you're a no-reply blogger.

Happy Friday - I hope you have a great weekend! I'll be keeping out of the winter weather and quilting up a storm.

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