JEMIMA FLENDT
This is our first cot quilt from you. Do
make many? I love making cot quilts to
celebrate the precious new arrival of a baby.
I’ve made quilts for all my family’s and friends’
children and love personalising each quilt
to suit the gender, the theme of a nursery
or something that will be dear to the baby.
How did you come up with the idea?
My youngest sister announced that she and
her husband were expecting their first child.
This was very exciting news in my family,
and I immediately started to think of a quilt
design that would celebrate this new baby.
When we found out the baby was going to
be a girl, I knew that the design would haveto be very pretty and girly, and as my sister
loves Liberty fabric, this was going to work
perfectly with the colours I had in mind.
She has since been born, and so this quilt
has been named after her.
Did the design take long to perfect?
I always start with a drawing and then work
the design on grid paper. This allows me to
work out the dimensions of the blocks and
the best way to create the different elements.
It took me a little while to get the scale of
the different blocks into perfect balance
between butterfly and flowers.
You have children of your own, don’t you?
Ihave two daughters, 11 and 12. They were
so excited at the impending arrival of a new
cousin, and I had them help me pick colours
and prints that we would use for the design.
The girls are very much involved in my
sewing and quilting.
Have they got Mum-made special quilts on
theirbeds?Theyhave special Mum-made
quilts on their beds, on chairs and even on the
couch. Everyone in this household has their
own quilts so that everyone can keep extra
warm wherever they happen to be.
What are your favourite colours and prints
to work with? I love working with bright and
modern colours and prints. Pinks, aquas, reds
and blues are some of my favourite shades.
I love Liberty of London fabrics as well as
mixes of chambray, linen, Tana lawn and
cotton within the same project.
Do you like to participate in craft retreats?
It’s great to get away and sew up a storm.
I love spending time with sewing and quilting
enthusiasts and like-minded creatives. I’m
definitely inspired by others, and who doesn’t
love a weekend away with only your sewing
to worry about?Are you a haby-store addict? If so, what
draws you back to those shops again
and again? I love to look and browse through
bolts of fabrics – nothing beats actually
seeing the fabric yourself and dreaming
up all the projects to go on your list of
“To Create”. You know exactly what you’re
getting when you buy it in person and how
the fabrics look and feel.
Do you work on one project at a time or do
youprefer to have several ideas going at
once?I usually have a few projects on the
go at one time, although I do try to limit this.
I like making myself finish a project before
starting a new one whenever I can. Otherwise,
my WIP pile would be immense.
Who are your crafting/quiltmaking heroes?
Mydear friend Claire Turpin (Claire Turpin
Design) is a big support and inspiration for
me. I also love the work by Rita Hodge, of Red
Pepper Quilts, and I’m loving making several
of the projects from Jen Kingwell’s latest book
at the moment. I love the style of Amy
Sinibaldi’s work, from Nana Company.
Do you have enough time to make all the
things you want to make? Is this a trick
question? While I spend most of my days
‘working’ on quilting projects for various
avenues, I do get to create for myself, as well.
I think this is important so that I still love
my sewing/quilting not only as my job but
as my passion and hobby, as well.
If you were granted one crafting wish,
what would you want it to be? I dream of
publishing a book. I hope that one day soon
I may be able to share with others my love
of sewing/quilting within the pages of a book.
I love inspiring others to learn quilting and
sewing and hope that this dream of mine
may become a reality.Gett ing to know ...
52
Draw antennae for
the butterfl y and
backstitch them in pink
thread.53
Centre the cushion
front, right side up, on
the square of batting. Baste
the two layers together and
quilt as desired. Jemima’s
quilting replicated the quilting
on her quilt – see Step 40.54
Fold under one long
edge of each cushion
back rectangle by^11 ⁄ 2 in. Press.
Then fold these edges under
by 1in. Press. Machine stitch
close to both folds in
matching thread.55
Lay the cushion front
right side down. Place
one of the cushion back
rectangles on top of it, right
side facing up, having the
three raw edges matching
and the hemmed edge
towards the centre, as shown
in Diagram 7. Lay the other
cushion back rectangle, right
side up, at the other end of
the cushion, again with the
hemmed edge towards thecentre and raw edges level.
The centre back rectangles
will overlap in the centre of
the cushion.56
Pin the layers together
and sew around all four
edges of the cushion using
a^1 ⁄ 8 in seam allowance to keep
the layers in place.57
Repeat Steps 42-44
with the two strips of
binding cut for the cushion.
Push the cushion insert
inside the cushion cover
and you’re done!For contact details for Jemina
Flendt, of Tied with a Ribbon,
turn to Stockists at the back
of the magazine.05
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