Karen Styles from Somerset Quilts designed the Mrs Billings Coverlet several years ago, and has a band of dedicated followers making thei...
The Billings’ Coverlet 1805-1810 The original coverlet can be found in the collection of The Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles. This is the amazingly detailed quilt on which I based my Mrs Billings. A square coverlet made from fifteen frames of printed cotton hexagons, squares on point, kites and long diamonds made from triangles. Some of the fabrics date from the 1770s, and several have three blue threads in the selvedge. The majority of the fabrics are made from dress prints, although there are some furnishing prints represented. The coverlet had been passed down through the donor's family from her Great Grandmother, who was a housekeeper in a large house in the Leeds area. March 2012... Leigh has completed Mrs Billings! At 9.17 pm Wednesday evening to be precise! Here is a close up of Leigh's lovely fussy cut hexagons. January 2012... Here are some beautiful photos of Helen's quilt, aren't the little elephants gorgeous! Helen is now out to the hexagon rosette border, look at that fussy cutting! November 2011... One of my star pupils, Shirley, brought along her completed Mrs Billings' Coverlet to show us her progress. Shirley started with me at the beginning of 2011 and is now hand quilting her beautiful version. Sue Daley is having a very close look at how the quilting is progressing. Maybe Sue will hand quilt hers too when she has finished! Shirley has finished her Mrs Billings' quilt top and has decided to quilt it by hand! Jenny from NSW came for a visit, isn't it lovely. Mary's bright and cheerful Mrs B, almost finished the double diamond border! October 2011... For those of you who have signed up for our BoM, we have just posted this months subscriptions, albeit a few days later than planned. Here's a picture of Mrs Billings before she was quilted and I'll post one of the finished article shortly. For anyone interested in signing up, the fabric kit may be fully subscribed but you can still join up at any time for the "Patterns & Templates" option (includes comprehensive patterns, acrylic templates and hexagon English Paper Piecing papers). See our website home page for details. Yours in quilting, Karen
You've seen this picture before, but I'll share it again, because I have the best news!! ... My Mrs Billings quilt placed first in it's category at the Royal Adelaide Show! And it also won Best in Section!! I'm just so happy - beyond thrilled actually!! Thank you all for your kind words while I've been working on it, so much appreciated :-) I'm not sure if I remembered to share what I actually named my quilt ... its called: Mrs Billings meets a French General. Almost sounds racy doesn't it? :-)
Karen Styles from Somerset Quilts designed the Mrs Billings Coverlet several years ago, and has a band of dedicated followers making thei...
The Billings’ Coverlet 1805-1810 The original coverlet can be found in the collection of The Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles. This is the amazingly detailed quilt on which I based my Mrs Billings. A square coverlet made from fifteen frames of printed cotton hexagons, squares on point, kites and long diamonds made from triangles. Some of the fabrics date from the 1770s, and several have three blue threads in the selvedge. The majority of the fabrics are made from dress prints, although there are some furnishing prints represented. The coverlet had been passed down through the donor's family from her Great Grandmother, who was a housekeeper in a large house in the Leeds area. March 2012... Leigh has completed Mrs Billings! At 9.17 pm Wednesday evening to be precise! Here is a close up of Leigh's lovely fussy cut hexagons. January 2012... Here are some beautiful photos of Helen's quilt, aren't the little elephants gorgeous! Helen is now out to the hexagon rosette border, look at that fussy cutting! November 2011... One of my star pupils, Shirley, brought along her completed Mrs Billings' Coverlet to show us her progress. Shirley started with me at the beginning of 2011 and is now hand quilting her beautiful version. Sue Daley is having a very close look at how the quilting is progressing. Maybe Sue will hand quilt hers too when she has finished! Shirley has finished her Mrs Billings' quilt top and has decided to quilt it by hand! Jenny from NSW came for a visit, isn't it lovely. Mary's bright and cheerful Mrs B, almost finished the double diamond border! October 2011... For those of you who have signed up for our BoM, we have just posted this months subscriptions, albeit a few days later than planned. Here's a picture of Mrs Billings before she was quilted and I'll post one of the finished article shortly. For anyone interested in signing up, the fabric kit may be fully subscribed but you can still join up at any time for the "Patterns & Templates" option (includes comprehensive patterns, acrylic templates and hexagon English Paper Piecing papers). See our website home page for details. Yours in quilting, Karen
Denne blog er dedikeret til Mrs. Billing's Coverlet, et mønster af australske Karen Styles fra Somerset Patchwork, inspireret af en antik engelsk coverlet fra ca. 1808-1810. Karen Styles har lavet mønster på dette smukke tæppe og har kørt den som BOM i sin butik. Fra januar 2013 kører Helene Juul Design den som BOM og bloggen er tænkt som et mødested for de som syr denne quilt og som et sted, hvor der kan deles erfaringer og deles information og billeder af de fremskridt man gør.
Sue brought me this lovely 'Mrs Billings' quilt, all hand pieced with a running stitch using beautiful bright oriental fabrics. It took around 18 months of stitching time, the hexagons are appliqued onto the background, the border design is very clever. The pattern can be found on the Quilters Guild of the British Isles website in the UK or at Somerset Patchwork in Australia. I did what I call minimal quilting but it was still quite intense with all of those pieces, I used only two threads, Sue provided the wadding which I think was Hobbs 80/20, it's a heavy quilt with all of those seams... The original Mrs Billings quilt is in the hands of /the Quilters Guild of the British Isles.... I'm going to let the photos speak fr themselves... What a lot of pieces, beautiful isn't it?
and I MADE my self imposed deadline. As those of you who follow my sporadic blog… I have been piecing and hand quilting Mrs Billings Coverlet. A pattern reproduced by Karen Styles of Somerset Patchwork in Australia. I have included a little of the history of the Quilt as written by Karen on her Blog. The Billings’ Coverlet 1805-1810 The original coverlet can be found in the collection of The Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles. This is the amazingly detailed quilt on which I based my Mrs Billings. A square coverlet made from fifteen frames of printed cotton hexagons, squares on point, kites and long diamonds made from triangles. Some of the fabrics date from the 1770s, and several have three blue threads in the selvedge. The majority of the fabrics are made from dress prints, although there are some furnishing prints represented. The coverlet had been passed down through the donor's family from her Great Grandmother, who was a housekeeper in a large house in the Leeds area. This is my version At last it is now finished. At this stage this is the only photo I have as its in storage awaiting the Festival of Quilts show in Auckland on the 7th, 8th and 9th November. I am really thrilled with how it turned out, and if I’d known what a mammoth job it was I may not have kept at it….but I did. Over 500 hours of hand quilting! Thanks for dropping by
Karen Styles from Somerset Quilts designed the Mrs Billings Coverlet several years ago, and has a band of dedicated followers making their versions of the quilt. Here is Karen below with her original quilt. This year at the Melbourne Quilt Show 16 of the completed quilts were hung in a special exhibit. Several of them won prizes as you will see by their ribbons, including Runner Up Best of Show. All the quilts are just a little different, from the fabrics used, or a creative change in the design. Each one is different, unique and equally beautiful. So grab a cuppa, sit back, and enjoy these amazing quilts. Many thanks to Karen for permission granted to post these quilts. This quilt won Traditional 2 person First. Well done and congratulations to Meredithe. This is Shirley's. She won First in Traditional Amateur, and also took Runner Up in Best of Show. Congratulations Shirley. l thought you might enjoy seeing them hung together as a group. Well, l have a favorite or two!! Do you????? l hope you enjoyed seeing these amazing quilts. Thaks for visiting. Linda.
The Billings’ Coverlet 1805-1810 The original coverlet can be found in the collection of The Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles. This is the amazingly detailed quilt on which I based my Mrs Billings. A square coverlet made from fifteen frames of printed cotton hexagons, squares on point, kites and long diamonds made from triangles. Some of the fabrics date from the 1770s, and several have three blue threads in the selvedge. The majority of the fabrics are made from dress prints, although there are some furnishing prints represented. The coverlet had been passed down through the donor's family from her Great Grandmother, who was a housekeeper in a large house in the Leeds area. March 2012... Leigh has completed Mrs Billings! At 9.17 pm Wednesday evening to be precise! Here is a close up of Leigh's lovely fussy cut hexagons. January 2012... Here are some beautiful photos of Helen's quilt, aren't the little elephants gorgeous! Helen is now out to the hexagon rosette border, look at that fussy cutting! November 2011... One of my star pupils, Shirley, brought along her completed Mrs Billings' Coverlet to show us her progress. Shirley started with me at the beginning of 2011 and is now hand quilting her beautiful version. Sue Daley is having a very close look at how the quilting is progressing. Maybe Sue will hand quilt hers too when she has finished! Shirley has finished her Mrs Billings' quilt top and has decided to quilt it by hand! Jenny from NSW came for a visit, isn't it lovely. Mary's bright and cheerful Mrs B, almost finished the double diamond border! October 2011... For those of you who have signed up for our BoM, we have just posted this months subscriptions, albeit a few days later than planned. Here's a picture of Mrs Billings before she was quilted and I'll post one of the finished article shortly. For anyone interested in signing up, the fabric kit may be fully subscribed but you can still join up at any time for the "Patterns & Templates" option (includes comprehensive patterns, acrylic templates and hexagon English Paper Piecing papers). See our website home page for details. Yours in quilting, Karen
Karen Styles from Somerset Quilts designed the Mrs Billings Coverlet several years ago, and has a band of dedicated followers making their versions of the quilt. Here is Karen below with her original quilt. This year at the Melbourne Quilt Show 16 of the completed quilts were hung in a special exhibit. Several of them won prizes as you will see by their ribbons, including Runner Up Best of Show. All the quilts are just a little different, from the fabrics used, or a creative change in the design. Each one is different, unique and equally beautiful. So grab a cuppa, sit back, and enjoy these amazing quilts. Many thanks to Karen for permission granted to post these quilts. This quilt won Traditional 2 person First. Well done and congratulations to Meredithe. This is Shirley's. She won First in Traditional Amateur, and also took Runner Up in Best of Show. Congratulations Shirley. l thought you might enjoy seeing them hung together as a group. Well, l have a favorite or two!! Do you????? l hope you enjoyed seeing these amazing quilts. Thaks for visiting. Linda.
At last... a post featuring the fantastic quilts created by friends and family of Somerset Patchwork. The girls have worked very hard over the past few months and with a little prodding from me, met their deadlines and created the most amazing display of their very own Mrs Billings quilts. There were close replicas to my block of the month quilt, variations with individual designs and quilts inspired by the original 1790's English quilt. There were traditional colour choices, soft feminine hues and bold dramatic fabrics. The combined result was a feast for the eyes! If you were unable to attend and see them for yourself, please sit back and enjoy the following photos... 'Mrs Billings Revisited' by Lois Bell (aka my MUM!) 'This One's For You Mr Billings' by Lynne Windross 'My Mrs Billings' by Shirley Lodington (runner up Best of Show) 'Beguiling Billings' by Meredithe Clark (First prize Traditional Professional Two Person... I got a ribbon too for quilting this one!) '(In) Sanity' by Glenys Nash 'Felicity Billings' by Susan James 'Gypsy Billings at Midnight' by Roslyn Littlejohn 'Baby Billings' by Nancy Flowers 'Jubilee Billings' by Leigh Edwards 'Colour Blind' by Mary Asker 'Wendy's Cover' by Wendy Gleeson 'Contraception' by Julie Meago 'Mrs Brown's Ordeal' by Wendy Blyth 'A Visit with Mrs Billings' by Jenny Hancock 'Mrs Billings' by Kaye Balchin and ... '42' by Susan Ambrose I would like to thank each and everyone of these wonderful ladies (and many more from our Friday Morning sewing group) for their patience and persistence over the past 12-18 months. The journey together has been filled with learning, friendship and lots and lots of laughs. Without their encouragement my original version would not have been completed! Thanks also to Linda Collins for photographing of each of these quilts. I hope you enjoyed this post!
Karen Styles from Somerset Quilts designed the Mrs Billings Coverlet several years ago, and has a band of dedicated followers making thei...
Well that was fun! Our Biggest Morning Tea fundraiser in support of the Cancer Council this week had a modern theme, taken up in the table decorations, and our guest quilters from the Sydney Modern Sewists and Quilters (Sydney ModQuad) who delighted our audience of members and friends with a spectacular presentation of just some of their modern quilts. Congratulations to Linda Parsons and the team – Sue Brennan, Robyn Leek, Janice Freelander, Roslyn Pullen and Elsa Kachwalla – on the organising of a very successful event. We raised over $600 for a cause close to our hearts - many of us have had too close encounters with cancer ourselves, or in loved ones, and we know the importance of research and support in the field of cancer. Thank you to every one who came and helped us to make that donation to the work of the Cancer Council. Our thanks too to Natasha Renstead, Selina Cheng and Bec Proshogo from Syd ModSquad for bringing their stunning quilts, and to Jenn Davis who allowed us to see hers, even though she could not be with us. We loved your quilts, your commitment to and enthusiasm for quilting - we are in awe of your needlework, design and quilting skills. And thank you for allowing us to use your photos. Linda chose a fun modern decorating theme, in keeping with our much anticipated visit from the Syd ModSquad. The tables were laid with fat quarters that were 'lucky plate' prizes. Of course there was a wonderful morning tea spread, donated by Fairholme members, and as it happens, Linda is a brilliant cake maker and decorator - and her specialty is towers of macaroons! One of the aims of Sydney Modern Sewists and Quilters is 'to engage with the wider Sydney community by contributing charity quilts and acts of service.' One way of doing that is to make a group quilt each year (this year's is the fifth), that is entered into the group category at Sydney Quilt Show, and then raffled as a fundraiser for a charity that supports women in need. We saw two of those quilts on Monday: Rainbow Skyline was made in 2015, from Tula Pink's book '100 Modern Quilt Blocks'. Each colour column was made by a different ModSquad member, graduating blocks from dark to light tones of a single colour. It will be raffled later this year. (Photo: from @sydmodsquad) In 2016 Grey Skies and Rainbow Fields was designed for the group by Jenn Davis, and members chose blocks to make, assisted by a detailed colour map. Blocks range in size from 8" to 24" square, with rectangular flying geese units.It won third place for a group quilt at the 2016 Sydney Quilt Show. (Photo: from @sydmodsquad) Bec's beautiful modern take on a classic Storm at Sea. Its four year old owner agreed to allow her to bring it only on the condition that she came with it to keep an eye on it (and on us)! Smart little boy. Bec quilted it herself on her domestic machine. Check out her own post on this beauty on Instagram @skyberries for additional images in close up, and of the reverse. (Image: from @skyberries) Bec made her toddler sized Drunkard's Path quilt for her one year old daughter, from the same Tula Pink fabrics as a quilt she had made for her own Mum. Syd Mod Squad is a very co-operative and collaborative group, who often work together. Tash pattern tested 'Shattered Star' designed by Jenn Davis, using print fabrics for the half-square triangles, and a white solid for the background. Selina made a larger version in very different fabrics as a pattern test too. The pattern may be released for sale in the future. Most of the Mod Squad members are active on social media, especially Instagram. Selina @seldear 's diamond blocks were gathered from a birthday swap conducted via Instagram. She quilted it herself on the longarm available for hire by customers at HobbySew at Top Ryde. Selina made her Intulawoven quilt from fabric mostly acquired in an Instagram based swap of designer Tula Pink's charm squares, that resulted in each swapper receiving 112 different 5" squares. The intricate pattern is achieved with a single block 'just rotated through 90º - easy' she said ... Selina devised a modern take on the disappearing 9 patch block design by gradually increasing the negative space and eliminating some block elements across her quilt, and by varying the print elements. Rain Chains is another of Jenn's own designs,made and quilted by her, by hand and machine. The fabrics are all solids. You will find her on Instagram @pennypoppleton. Jenn's splendid modern version of Mrs Billing's Coverlet (pattern by Karen Styles from Somerset Patchwork and Quilting) won a second prize in the 2016 Sydney Quilt Show. It was hand and machine pieced over an 18 month period, to mark her 30th birthday, and machine quilted by Leanne Harvey of Mount Vincent Quilts @leanne_mountvincentquilts in the Hunter Valley. (Photo from @pennypoppleton) Snapped as it was being refolded, here you can see some of the very detailed fussy cutting, piecing and quilting in 'Jenn does Mrs B' as this wonderful quilt was known during its making. Sydney Modern Sewists and Quilters blog, has contact details and the meeting schedule, and can be found on Instagram @sydmodsquad and #sydmodsquad.
That kind of sounds like an Agatha Christie title doesn't it? It's not. This title is a bit more joyous than that. I finished sewing the binding onto Mrs. Billings Coverlet last night. Bill asked m
Melbourne really turned on a beautiful Autumn morning, it was almost too nice to go indoors to the Australasian Quilt Convention (AQC). It was held in the Royal Exhibition building Which is set in the Carlton Gardens, I was there early so I had a bit of a stroll around first. It's so nice to see and hear water in our fountains after so many years of drought when they lay dry. There were plenty of tributes to nature inside. These are the quilts that caught my eye. I apologise in advance for not crediting all the photos. Enjoy. There were quilts from Korea... These were from the AQC challenge: Free 'Free Board and Lodging' by Kay Murray These were from the New Zealand Hoffman Challenge... Two quilts from the Garden Path theme... Random quilts that I liked... Moon Garden by Judith Coates Perez - whole cloth painted & quilted. The workmanship in this quilt was just stunning - love the colours... 'Southern Stars' by Karen Malone Interesting use of colour... Infinity by Deborah Laurie This modern quilt included the creative use of tea towels! 'A Little Bird Told Me' by Anieta Barendrecht Absolutely stunning... 'Night Bloomers' by Beth Miller It's amazing what you can do with leftovers, the blocks were quite small. 'Left Over Madness' by Wendy Blyth 'My Mrs Billings' by Shirley Lodington Great fussy cutting... An amazing achievement considering the maker confessed to not enjoying making the hexagons! (read the label) 'Basket Case' by Kathy Doughty 'Constellation' by Ros Luck, quilted by Leslie O'Rourke (Quarry burn Quilters) Loved how this was quilted... These small quilts by the twelve by twelves were beautiful but difficult to photograph as the sun was shining on them. 'Floral Nine' by Jane Rundle Something Borrowed Something Blue exhibit from the UK. This was my favourite, the effect of the shadows was achieved not by an amazing use of fabric colours. 'Curious Cate' by Gillian Shearer Phew! Then I went shopping and discovered some new shops, including Pieces to Treasure where I bought these French table runner kits and was very tempted to start their new BOM 'Love Birds'. And Mai Misake where I bought some beautiful Japanese Taupe fabric for my Comfort Quilt. Here's my little stash.
The Billings’ Coverlet 1805-1810 The original coverlet can be found in the collection of The Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles. This is the amazingly detailed quilt on which I based my Mrs Billings. A square coverlet made from fifteen frames of printed cotton hexagons, squares on point, kites and long diamonds made from triangles. Some of the fabrics date from the 1770s, and several have three blue threads in the selvedge. The majority of the fabrics are made from dress prints, although there are some furnishing prints represented. The coverlet had been passed down through the donor's family from her Great Grandmother, who was a housekeeper in a large house in the Leeds area. March 2012... Leigh has completed Mrs Billings! At 9.17 pm Wednesday evening to be precise! Here is a close up of Leigh's lovely fussy cut hexagons. January 2012... Here are some beautiful photos of Helen's quilt, aren't the little elephants gorgeous! Helen is now out to the hexagon rosette border, look at that fussy cutting! November 2011... One of my star pupils, Shirley, brought along her completed Mrs Billings' Coverlet to show us her progress. Shirley started with me at the beginning of 2011 and is now hand quilting her beautiful version. Sue Daley is having a very close look at how the quilting is progressing. Maybe Sue will hand quilt hers too when she has finished! Shirley has finished her Mrs Billings' quilt top and has decided to quilt it by hand! Jenny from NSW came for a visit, isn't it lovely. Mary's bright and cheerful Mrs B, almost finished the double diamond border! October 2011... For those of you who have signed up for our BoM, we have just posted this months subscriptions, albeit a few days later than planned. Here's a picture of Mrs Billings before she was quilted and I'll post one of the finished article shortly. For anyone interested in signing up, the fabric kit may be fully subscribed but you can still join up at any time for the "Patterns & Templates" option (includes comprehensive patterns, acrylic templates and hexagon English Paper Piecing papers). See our website home page for details. Yours in quilting, Karen
Karen Styles from Somerset Quilts designed the Mrs Billings Coverlet several years ago, and has a band of dedicated followers making their versions of the quilt. Here is Karen below with her original quilt. This year at the Melbourne Quilt Show 16 of the completed quilts were hung in a special exhibit. Several of them won prizes as you will see by their ribbons, including Runner Up Best of Show. All the quilts are just a little different, from the fabrics used, or a creative change in the design. Each one is different, unique and equally beautiful. So grab a cuppa, sit back, and enjoy these amazing quilts. Many thanks to Karen for permission granted to post these quilts. This quilt won Traditional 2 person First. Well done and congratulations to Meredithe. This is Shirley's. She won First in Traditional Amateur, and also took Runner Up in Best of Show. Congratulations Shirley. l thought you might enjoy seeing them hung together as a group. Well, l have a favorite or two!! Do you????? l hope you enjoyed seeing these amazing quilts. Thaks for visiting. Linda.
The Billings’ Coverlet 1805-1810 The original coverlet can be found in the collection of The Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles. This is the amazingly detailed quilt on which I based my Mrs Billings. A square coverlet made from fifteen frames of printed cotton hexagons, squares on point, kites and long diamonds made from triangles. Some of the fabrics date from the 1770s, and several have three blue threads in the selvedge. The majority of the fabrics are made from dress prints, although there are some furnishing prints represented. The coverlet had been passed down through the donor's family from her Great Grandmother, who was a housekeeper in a large house in the Leeds area. March 2012... Leigh has completed Mrs Billings! At 9.17 pm Wednesday evening to be precise! Here is a close up of Leigh's lovely fussy cut hexagons. January 2012... Here are some beautiful photos of Helen's quilt, aren't the little elephants gorgeous! Helen is now out to the hexagon rosette border, look at that fussy cutting! November 2011... One of my star pupils, Shirley, brought along her completed Mrs Billings' Coverlet to show us her progress. Shirley started with me at the beginning of 2011 and is now hand quilting her beautiful version. Sue Daley is having a very close look at how the quilting is progressing. Maybe Sue will hand quilt hers too when she has finished! Shirley has finished her Mrs Billings' quilt top and has decided to quilt it by hand! Jenny from NSW came for a visit, isn't it lovely. Mary's bright and cheerful Mrs B, almost finished the double diamond border! October 2011... For those of you who have signed up for our BoM, we have just posted this months subscriptions, albeit a few days later than planned. Here's a picture of Mrs Billings before she was quilted and I'll post one of the finished article shortly. For anyone interested in signing up, the fabric kit may be fully subscribed but you can still join up at any time for the "Patterns & Templates" option (includes comprehensive patterns, acrylic templates and hexagon English Paper Piecing papers). See our website home page for details. Yours in quilting, Karen
The Billings’ Coverlet 1805-1810 The original coverlet can be found in the collection of The Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles. This is the amazingly detailed quilt on which I based my Mrs Billings. A square coverlet made from fifteen frames of printed cotton hexagons, squares on point, kites and long diamonds made from triangles. Some of the fabrics date from the 1770s, and several have three blue threads in the selvedge. The majority of the fabrics are made from dress prints, although there are some furnishing prints represented. The coverlet had been passed down through the donor's family from her Great Grandmother, who was a housekeeper in a large house in the Leeds area. March 2012... Leigh has completed Mrs Billings! At 9.17 pm Wednesday evening to be precise! Here is a close up of Leigh's lovely fussy cut hexagons. January 2012... Here are some beautiful photos of Helen's quilt, aren't the little elephants gorgeous! Helen is now out to the hexagon rosette border, look at that fussy cutting! November 2011... One of my star pupils, Shirley, brought along her completed Mrs Billings' Coverlet to show us her progress. Shirley started with me at the beginning of 2011 and is now hand quilting her beautiful version. Sue Daley is having a very close look at how the quilting is progressing. Maybe Sue will hand quilt hers too when she has finished! Shirley has finished her Mrs Billings' quilt top and has decided to quilt it by hand! Jenny from NSW came for a visit, isn't it lovely. Mary's bright and cheerful Mrs B, almost finished the double diamond border! October 2011... For those of you who have signed up for our BoM, we have just posted this months subscriptions, albeit a few days later than planned. Here's a picture of Mrs Billings before she was quilted and I'll post one of the finished article shortly. For anyone interested in signing up, the fabric kit may be fully subscribed but you can still join up at any time for the "Patterns & Templates" option (includes comprehensive patterns, acrylic templates and hexagon English Paper Piecing papers). See our website home page for details. Yours in quilting, Karen
Denne blog er dedikeret til Mrs. Billing's Coverlet, et mønster af australske Karen Styles fra Somerset Patchwork, inspireret af en antik engelsk coverlet fra ca. 1808-1810. Karen Styles har lavet mønster på dette smukke tæppe og har kørt den som BOM i sin butik. Fra januar 2013 kører Helene Juul Design den som BOM og bloggen er tænkt som et mødested for de som syr denne quilt og som et sted, hvor der kan deles erfaringer og deles information og billeder af de fremskridt man gør.
We zijn gestart met het Blok vand Maand Mrs Billings' Coverlet. En ziehier vers van de pers het begin van Bep en het begin van Esther Volgende maand het vervolg :-) Vandaag heb ik in de winkel heerlijk lopen uitpakken en een "home" gezocht voor van alles wat nieuw is binnengekomen. Onder andere voor de prachtige collectie "My Secret Garden"van Lynette Anderson. Helaas komen op de foto de stoffen niet helemaal tot hun recht. In het "echt" zijn ze zoveel mooier! Binnenkort starten we met het Blok van de Maand "In Full Bloom". Ben je geïnteresseerd? Houd dan voor meer informatie de website we in de gaten! Fijne dag, Petra
That kind of sounds like an Agatha Christie title doesn't it? It's not. This title is a bit more joyous than that. I finished sewing the binding onto Mrs. Billings Coverlet last night. Bill asked m
The Billings’ Coverlet 1805-1810 The original coverlet can be found in the collection of The Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles. This is the amazingly detailed quilt on which I based my Mrs Billings. A square coverlet made from fifteen frames of printed cotton hexagons, squares on point, kites and long diamonds made from triangles. Some of the fabrics date from the 1770s, and several have three blue threads in the selvedge. The majority of the fabrics are made from dress prints, although there are some furnishing prints represented. The coverlet had been passed down through the donor's family from her Great Grandmother, who was a housekeeper in a large house in the Leeds area. March 2012... Leigh has completed Mrs Billings! At 9.17 pm Wednesday evening to be precise! Here is a close up of Leigh's lovely fussy cut hexagons. January 2012... Here are some beautiful photos of Helen's quilt, aren't the little elephants gorgeous! Helen is now out to the hexagon rosette border, look at that fussy cutting! November 2011... One of my star pupils, Shirley, brought along her completed Mrs Billings' Coverlet to show us her progress. Shirley started with me at the beginning of 2011 and is now hand quilting her beautiful version. Sue Daley is having a very close look at how the quilting is progressing. Maybe Sue will hand quilt hers too when she has finished! Shirley has finished her Mrs Billings' quilt top and has decided to quilt it by hand! Jenny from NSW came for a visit, isn't it lovely. Mary's bright and cheerful Mrs B, almost finished the double diamond border! October 2011... For those of you who have signed up for our BoM, we have just posted this months subscriptions, albeit a few days later than planned. Here's a picture of Mrs Billings before she was quilted and I'll post one of the finished article shortly. For anyone interested in signing up, the fabric kit may be fully subscribed but you can still join up at any time for the "Patterns & Templates" option (includes comprehensive patterns, acrylic templates and hexagon English Paper Piecing papers). See our website home page for details. Yours in quilting, Karen
Ze zitten eraan, de 4 randen, de 4 hoeken, met alle ruiten, wybers, diamanten, of hoe je ze ook maar wil noemen. In heel veel kleuren, allerlei tinten, rood, wit, blauw, en oranje. En dat voelt heerlijk Nederlands. Het is geen moeilijke quilt om te maken. De onderdeeltjes zijn ook niet piepklein. Het is wel heeeeeeeeeeel veeeeeeeeel,... Allemaal naadjes, het moet allemaal passen. En GELUKKIG, dat doet het ook. hèhè,.. Natuurlijk is de Mrs Billings Coverlet nog veel groter, en dat wordt mijn Billingsboerinnetje op Klompen ook, nog wat maanden te gaan. LEUK. Maar voor nu even niet, het Mrs BillingsBomBee huiswerk voor april en ook mei is gedaan. Ik kon echt niet halverwege stoppen, was zo benieuwd,... ;o) Ben nu wel even huiswerkvrij,... De hoogste tijd om iets met bijtjes te gaan doen,... en om de stofzuiger er bij te halen, want de draadjes liggen door het hele huis. :o) ps dit Boerinnetje is niet gestreken, dus zie je her en der kreukels. Je weet vast wel dat ik m'n quilts nevernooitniet strijk. En Karen Styles schrijft voor in het patroon, dat strijken echt niet verstandig is met al dat, wat schuin van draad is. Fijn weekend allemaal, en
Eunice spent eighteen months piecing her Mrs Billings quilt by machine. These really are a labour of love which I would never have the patience to even start never mind finish. It must be a great sense of achievement to see it finished though. This is the second Mrs Billings that I have quilted, there is so much piecing that quilting design choices are limited and cost prohibitive for my clients too. So simple quilting although every piece is quilted somehow. Mrs Billings is the pattern name available from Somerset Patchwork Off white thread and customer supplied wadding, 92" x 92" As with many of this type of quilt, both piecer and quilter spent time finding solutions to give a good result for the borders, but a pleasing result was accomplished on both sides.... As usual lots of photos....
It was a very quiet class today. Josephine is getting closer to the final border of her Mrs Billings, and today we had time in class to have a look at the pyramid hexagons. Are you sitting down? …
Eunice spent eighteen months piecing her Mrs Billings quilt by machine. These really are a labour of love which I would never have the patience to even start never mind finish. It must be a great sense of achievement to see it finished though. This is the second Mrs Billings that I have quilted, there is so much piecing that quilting design choices are limited and cost prohibitive for my clients too. So simple quilting although every piece is quilted somehow. Mrs Billings is the pattern name available from Somerset Patchwork Off white thread and customer supplied wadding, 92" x 92" As with many of this type of quilt, both piecer and quilter spent time finding solutions to give a good result for the borders, but a pleasing result was accomplished on both sides.... As usual lots of photos....
Sue brought me this lovely 'Mrs Billings' quilt, all hand pieced with a running stitch using beautiful bright oriental fabrics. It took around 18 months of stitching time, the hexagons are appliqued onto the background, the border design is very clever. The pattern can be found on the Quilters Guild of the British Isles website in the UK or at Somerset Patchwork in Australia. I did what I call minimal quilting but it was still quite intense with all of those pieces, I used only two threads, Sue provided the wadding which I think was Hobbs 80/20, it's a heavy quilt with all of those seams... The original Mrs Billings quilt is in the hands of /the Quilters Guild of the British Isles.... I'm going to let the photos speak fr themselves... What a lot of pieces, beautiful isn't it?
The Billings’ Coverlet 1805-1810 The original coverlet can be found in the collection of The Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles. This is the amazingly detailed quilt on which I based my Mrs Billings. A square coverlet made from fifteen frames of printed cotton hexagons, squares on point, kites and long diamonds made from triangles. Some of the fabrics date from the 1770s, and several have three blue threads in the selvedge. The majority of the fabrics are made from dress prints, although there are some furnishing prints represented. The coverlet had been passed down through the donor's family from her Great Grandmother, who was a housekeeper in a large house in the Leeds area. March 2012... Leigh has completed Mrs Billings! At 9.17 pm Wednesday evening to be precise! Here is a close up of Leigh's lovely fussy cut hexagons. January 2012... Here are some beautiful photos of Helen's quilt, aren't the little elephants gorgeous! Helen is now out to the hexagon rosette border, look at that fussy cutting! November 2011... One of my star pupils, Shirley, brought along her completed Mrs Billings' Coverlet to show us her progress. Shirley started with me at the beginning of 2011 and is now hand quilting her beautiful version. Sue Daley is having a very close look at how the quilting is progressing. Maybe Sue will hand quilt hers too when she has finished! Shirley has finished her Mrs Billings' quilt top and has decided to quilt it by hand! Jenny from NSW came for a visit, isn't it lovely. Mary's bright and cheerful Mrs B, almost finished the double diamond border! October 2011... For those of you who have signed up for our BoM, we have just posted this months subscriptions, albeit a few days later than planned. Here's a picture of Mrs Billings before she was quilted and I'll post one of the finished article shortly. For anyone interested in signing up, the fabric kit may be fully subscribed but you can still join up at any time for the "Patterns & Templates" option (includes comprehensive patterns, acrylic templates and hexagon English Paper Piecing papers). See our website home page for details. Yours in quilting, Karen
Mrs Billings is one of my favourite antique quilts of all time. The original is a stunning masterpiece created by a very talented seamstress at the end of the 1700's and early 1800's. The original maker is unknown but her quilt lives on. There have been many variations made from the detailed pattern I have written and here for you to see are a very small sample! These quilts have been created by Mary, Laurie, Sue, Josephine and Joan. They are all amazing! Would you like to create your very own Mrs Billings? I will be teaching a two day workshop this April at AQC (The Australian Quilt Convention) here in Melbourne, Thursday 16th and Friday 17th. Visit here for more information and class vacancies.
We had a visit today from Mrs Billings, well not the original, but a very beautiful copy! Helen has brought her quilt in a few times over the past year but now it is nearly finished... just the last border to stitch in place and then she is done! Helen's choice of colours are soft shades of aqua, pink, green and blue. Mmmm very pretty. A friend sent me this little note today. I think they are talking about me! Whoops!!! Until next time,
The Billings’ Coverlet 1805-1810 The original coverlet can be found in the collection of The Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles. This is the amazingly detailed quilt on which I based my Mrs Billings. A square coverlet made from fifteen frames of printed cotton hexagons, squares on point, kites and long diamonds made from triangles. Some of the fabrics date from the 1770s, and several have three blue threads in the selvedge. The majority of the fabrics are made from dress prints, although there are some furnishing prints represented. The coverlet had been passed down through the donor's family from her Great Grandmother, who was a housekeeper in a large house in the Leeds area. March 2012... Leigh has completed Mrs Billings! At 9.17 pm Wednesday evening to be precise! Here is a close up of Leigh's lovely fussy cut hexagons. January 2012... Here are some beautiful photos of Helen's quilt, aren't the little elephants gorgeous! Helen is now out to the hexagon rosette border, look at that fussy cutting! November 2011... One of my star pupils, Shirley, brought along her completed Mrs Billings' Coverlet to show us her progress. Shirley started with me at the beginning of 2011 and is now hand quilting her beautiful version. Sue Daley is having a very close look at how the quilting is progressing. Maybe Sue will hand quilt hers too when she has finished! Shirley has finished her Mrs Billings' quilt top and has decided to quilt it by hand! Jenny from NSW came for a visit, isn't it lovely. Mary's bright and cheerful Mrs B, almost finished the double diamond border! October 2011... For those of you who have signed up for our BoM, we have just posted this months subscriptions, albeit a few days later than planned. Here's a picture of Mrs Billings before she was quilted and I'll post one of the finished article shortly. For anyone interested in signing up, the fabric kit may be fully subscribed but you can still join up at any time for the "Patterns & Templates" option (includes comprehensive patterns, acrylic templates and hexagon English Paper Piecing papers). See our website home page for details. Yours in quilting, Karen
Thank you all for your overwhelming response to my (almost) Mrs Billings finish. You're all so incredibly kind. And of course you know I'm entirely thrilled to have gotten it done under deadline ... only just! Some sweet ladies have asked to see a close up of the quilting, and I'm happy to oblige. Please note that because of our dark wintery days right now, it's hard to get good pictures. That coupled with my complete lack of photography skills makes a picture haphazard at best. But here goes anyway: This is an area out near the margins of the quilt - I will take some more pictures when it's hanging and I can get close. I'd like to also say a big thank you to Sheila - she rescued me from my thread near-miss. I wasn't able to find the same thread I'd been using anywhere in the state and Sheila had a reel to lend me to help out. Thank you so much hon - very much appreciated. I had no idea I'd need two reels and a good portion of a third!! And the good news is this: I've blocked and bound the quilt - that is a relief! The label is made, and now I just need to make up the hanging sleeve and sew the two items in place. Whew!!
Hmmm, a little late with last week’s – it’s nearly time for this week’s!!! (Been a trifle busy here at p and c!) Lorraine had put the borders on her quilt top, so it was all…
Ze zitten eraan, de 4 randen, de 4 hoeken, met alle ruiten, wybers, diamanten, of hoe je ze ook maar wil noemen. In heel veel kleuren, allerlei tinten, rood, wit, blauw, en oranje. En dat voelt heerlijk Nederlands. Het is geen moeilijke quilt om te maken. De onderdeeltjes zijn ook niet piepklein. Het is wel heeeeeeeeeeel veeeeeeeeel,... Allemaal naadjes, het moet allemaal passen. En GELUKKIG, dat doet het ook. hèhè,.. Natuurlijk is de Mrs Billings Coverlet nog veel groter, en dat wordt mijn Billingsboerinnetje op Klompen ook, nog wat maanden te gaan. LEUK. Maar voor nu even niet, het Mrs BillingsBomBee huiswerk voor april en ook mei is gedaan. Ik kon echt niet halverwege stoppen, was zo benieuwd,... ;o) Ben nu wel even huiswerkvrij,... De hoogste tijd om iets met bijtjes te gaan doen,... en om de stofzuiger er bij te halen, want de draadjes liggen door het hele huis. :o) ps dit Boerinnetje is niet gestreken, dus zie je her en der kreukels. Je weet vast wel dat ik m'n quilts nevernooitniet strijk. En Karen Styles schrijft voor in het patroon, dat strijken echt niet verstandig is met al dat, wat schuin van draad is. Fijn weekend allemaal, en
Today has been cool and rainy - the perfect weather to stay in and piece. I've been wanting to work on the occasional something - just to break up the endless sameness of this Mrs Billings Border. I found this little block pattern and templates that I picked up in November from Somerset Patchwork & Quilting. But did I have the perfect fabrics to go along with it? I thought it would be fun to use some of my dear friend Donna's scraps. Whenever I visit with Donna in the USA, she always manages to secret some of her scraps into my luggage. It's really the funniest joke that we share. I keep her fabric all together in a container, it's precious to me! The fabric is precious, but imagine how wonderful a quilt from the fabric would be? The little pattern comes with a cute selection of fabrics and laser cut templates. Aren't they all just darling? :-) I put one block together, and it's really sweet. Sadly though, it hasn't come out at the exact right size. It needs to be 4" finished, and it's around 3 3/4" finished. I've had a look at the templates, and it's my fault. The diamond shape is directional, so I'll have to take care with cutting and pay careful attention when piecing, and then it should all work out fine. You can see a little fullness in the middle where it's pulling. LeMoyne Star It's really cute though, and I can see more of them in my future. And then it was back to working on the Mrs Billings border. This is tricky chain piecing, I have to start and finish in between the seam dots - once this part is done, then I have to come back and insert triangles between all those points. It's coming along well, and I can't wait to attach these kite shapes to the body of the quilt. Alrighty - I'm off to check on the oven ... dessert is cooking, and it smells yummy!
A photo in our morning newspaper Remember the saying Red Sky in the morning – a shepherds warning! I will be hunkered down sewing my Mrs Billings. Had a bit of a stop work on my quilt, due to having my sister stay for a couple of weeks. We were out shopping and site seeing nearly every day. Great time! A photo of where I am up to with Mrs. B. I have sewn one corner, but have 3 more to do, so thats the plan for the weekend! The trouble with leaving the sewing for 2 weeks, I thought I had done more than I had! Bah! I also managed to finish off the Baby Quilt I was making for my sister’s Great Grand-daughter Skylah, so she could take it home with her for the baby. This will be great for the wee one to lay on the floor on, but will also fit on her first bed. Thanks for dropping by as I have been so slow with my blogging this year!
Eunice spent eighteen months piecing her Mrs Billings quilt by machine. These really are a labour of love which I would never have the patience to even start never mind finish. It must be a great sense of achievement to see it finished though. This is the second Mrs Billings that I have quilted, there is so much piecing that quilting design choices are limited and cost prohibitive for my clients too. So simple quilting although every piece is quilted somehow. Mrs Billings is the pattern name available from Somerset Patchwork Off white thread and customer supplied wadding, 92" x 92" As with many of this type of quilt, both piecer and quilter spent time finding solutions to give a good result for the borders, but a pleasing result was accomplished on both sides.... As usual lots of photos....
I've been chipping away at the Mrs Billings project today. Normally I wouldn't add appliqué backgrounds until I've done the appliqué - but I was nervous about the fit of the red inner border. Fortunately all is well, so I won't add the side blocks until they're complete - I think the appearance of fullness is because of the previous pieced border having a little stretch to it. It's so exciting seeing this project grow, it's an amazing learning experience, and I love it!
Karen Styles from Somerset Quilts designed the Mrs Billings Coverlet several years ago, and has a band of dedicated followers making their versions of the quilt. Here is Karen below with her original quilt. This year at the Melbourne Quilt Show 16 of the completed quilts were hung in a special exhibit. Several of them won prizes as you will see by their ribbons, including Runner Up Best of Show. All the quilts are just a little different, from the fabrics used, or a creative change in the design. Each one is different, unique and equally beautiful. So grab a cuppa, sit back, and enjoy these amazing quilts. Many thanks to Karen for permission granted to post these quilts. This quilt won Traditional 2 person First. Well done and congratulations to Meredithe. This is Shirley's. She won First in Traditional Amateur, and also took Runner Up in Best of Show. Congratulations Shirley. l thought you might enjoy seeing them hung together as a group. Well, l have a favorite or two!! Do you????? l hope you enjoyed seeing these amazing quilts. Thaks for visiting. Linda.
Eunice spent eighteen months piecing her Mrs Billings quilt by machine. These really are a labour of love which I would never have the patience to even start never mind finish. It must be a great sense of achievement to see it finished though. This is the second Mrs Billings that I have quilted, there is so much piecing that quilting design choices are limited and cost prohibitive for my clients too. So simple quilting although every piece is quilted somehow. Mrs Billings is the pattern name available from Somerset Patchwork Off white thread and customer supplied wadding, 92" x 92" As with many of this type of quilt, both piecer and quilter spent time finding solutions to give a good result for the borders, but a pleasing result was accomplished on both sides.... As usual lots of photos....
and I'm sure I will be for a good long time yet. It's a lucky thing I love to hand quilt, and it has been cold, so it's nice to snuggle under the quilt sandwich. It's my aim to move the hoop once per day, and I've pretty much been able to do just that. This is my favourite area of quilting at the moment - but I'm fickle and my favourite area changes almost daily. I'll check back in later in the week - in the meantime, you know where you can find me :-)
Karen Styles from Somerset Quilts designed the Mrs Billings Coverlet several years ago, and has a band of dedicated followers making their versions of the quilt. Here is Karen below with her original quilt. This year at the Melbourne Quilt Show 16 of the completed quilts were hung in a special exhibit. Several of them won prizes as you will see by their ribbons, including Runner Up Best of Show. All the quilts are just a little different, from the fabrics used, or a creative change in the design. Each one is different, unique and equally beautiful. So grab a cuppa, sit back, and enjoy these amazing quilts. Many thanks to Karen for permission granted to post these quilts. This quilt won Traditional 2 person First. Well done and congratulations to Meredithe. This is Shirley's. She won First in Traditional Amateur, and also took Runner Up in Best of Show. Congratulations Shirley. l thought you might enjoy seeing them hung together as a group. Well, l have a favorite or two!! Do you????? l hope you enjoyed seeing these amazing quilts. Thaks for visiting. Linda.
HOLY ACHING FINGERS BATMAN!! I HAVE FINISHED QUILTING!!! And trust me, my fingers are genuinely aching!! Now I just need to block, bind, apply a hanging sleeve and label ... before Wednesday evening. I CAN DO THIS!! More soon!!
My goodness, what a flurry of finishing activities. The quilt is bound, labelled, ticketed and bagged ready for delivery on Thursday. I'm really surprised that I have a couple of spare days - actually, colour me amazed! Today I hung the quilt in the dining room - I didn't do myself any favours by having the quilt scrunched up on the lounge overnight (mid hanging sleeve application) but hopefully it'll be alright on the day. Can you see my fingers crossed?? And because a blog post always needs some eye candy, here you go: This quilt is just a touch smaller than my Nearly Insane quilt. Not by much, just an inch or two. Forgive my dining chairs for photo-bombing. It would not have killed me to move them out of the way, surely?? And here's another close up of the quilting. You can't even imagine how relieved I was to know with certainty that all the blue lines are gone. So, now all I can do for Mrs Billings is wait. Sometimes it's the hardest part, but I'll fill you in if I have any interesting news. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to working on some other projects. Nothing big just yet - I want to be able to flit from one thing to another ... I haven't done that in a while! Chatter soon :-)
