The Quilt Connection

Textile Art Festival- Brisbane

2010-07-16T15:43:00.000+10:00

I took the afternoon off last Friday to venture into the Textile Art Festival. It turned out to be a very inspiring afternoon.

Twelve by Twelve

The Twelve by Twelve exhibit was my favourite. It is the result of an online collaborative project where twelve quilt artists from all over the world present each other with a challenge based on a particular theme or colour palette. You can see the quilts on the web but it's not as impressive as seeing them up close.

I was fascinated as I listened to one of the artists, Kirsten Duncan of Pom Pom Rouge, Townsville talk about the ideas, inspiration and techniques used to create these marvellous little quilts. Kirsten sells these neat little colourful cut-out felt shapes. Check out her website and blog, PomPom Rouge.

I also caught Brenda Gael Smith’s photo transfer demonstration using a product designed to remove "sticky spots and goo" and saw some great pieces from the Shibori Dying demo she had given in the morning. Brenda gives more info here at Serendipity.

Resisting Temptation - or not!

I managed to walk past the numerous stalls selling all sorts of wool and yarn, (there just aren’t enough hours in the day to do everything) but I couldn’t resist the colourful display of Lisa Walton’s dyed fabric. I bought some! You can see her range at Dyed and Gone to Heaven.

Down the hole with Alice...

I went down the hole to see the very imaginative entries in the Alice in Wonderland Art U Wear competition, found an interesting selection of triptychs in the Elements display by the Darling Downs Textile Art Group and saw a stunning piece of freeform crochet produced by Prudence Mapstone. WOW!

I ran into a few friends and stopped for coffee. I had a great time and although I had never been to this Festival before I certainly want to go to the next one.

What a wild quilt!

2010-07-16T11:17:00.001+10:00

Isn’t this a wild quilt! I just love all these beautiful animal prints.

The quilt was made by Jane Bester for her son Jonathan to celebrate his 15th birthday.

She fussy cut all the blocks for maximum effect from several jungle animal prints. She made three different sized blocks and framed them in different colours to add movement, variety and interest.

Here are some close-ups:

Jane has also pieced some leftover blocks into the backing and in so doing, she has created a double-sided quilt.

When Jonathan and Jane asked me to do the quilting they said they would like the quilting to give the effect of swaying grass.

I used a pattern called ‘Blackberry’ which was designed by Hermione Agee of Lorien Quilting. It added so much movement, you can really get the feeling of the savannah. The quilting is easier to see in the above photo of the pieced back and the one of the border on the right, shows the detail.

Happy Birthday Jonathan and thank you for sharing your quilt with us.

You can see more of Hermione’s digitized and paper quilting patterns at http://www.lorienquilting.com/

The Inaugural AMQA Quilt Show

2010-06-20T10:43:00.020+10:00

This was a wonderful show with so many inspirational quilts on display. It was held at the Auditorium at Eventide, Brighton, Queensland, near the edge of the water on the north side of Brisbane. A great venue in a convenient and very beautiful location.
The show ran over the weekend of the 26 - 27 September 2009 and was the very first show run by the Australian Machine Quilting Association in Queensland to focus on machine quilting.

It was a shame that Brisbane was hit by dust storms on the days of the show so fewer people that anticipated ventured out to see it, but even so, it was very well received.

I was very fortunate to win prizes in several categories for quilts I had both made and quilted, and for those some of my wonderful customers had made and I had quilted. They very kindly allowed me to show their quilts. I thought you might like to see these prize wining quilts.

Prize winners

In the Art/Pictorial category quilts I both made and quilted won 1st and 3rd prizes! I was over the moon!


Uluru - 1st Prize	Solutions - 3rd Prize

In the Edge to Edge category Earthy Squares won third prize and Hop, Skip and Jump was Highly Commended. Both quilts were made my Kate Elliott (Scarborough, Qld) and quilted by me.


Earthy Squares	Earthy Squares detail	Hop, Skip and Jump

In the Functional Custom category I entered Burning Desire which was Highly Commended. This quilt is owned by Ann McKenzie but was made for her by her daughter Debbie Morton.


Burning Desire	Burning Desire detail

In the Custom-Heirloom/Traditional section I was fortunate enough to win third prize for quilting Lyndell McDonald's quilt ( Kyogle, NSW) Follow the Path and a Highly Commended for Rosa Mangano's quilt (Gordon Park, Qld) Heirloom Lace.


Follow the Path	Follow the Path detail

Heirloom Lace	Heirloom Lace detail

It was really exciting for me to able share these prizes with my customers and present their ribbons to them.

One of my own personal favourite quilts is Oh My Stars! It was too old to be entered here but I thought you might like to see it anyway.

Information about AMQAS 2010 is now available.

A win at the NSW Quilters' Guild Quilt Show!

2010-06-18T10:55:00.018+10:00

The NSW Quilters' Guild Quilt Show is on in Sydney at the moment and one of my clients - Lorna Haigh - won first prize in the Commercially Machine Quilted category! Her quilt is called Australian Wildflowers and is a stained glass style wall hanging that has been machine stitched, hand embroidered and then machine quilted by me. Here is a photo of it.

Congratulations Lorna! A prize well-deserved.

I have had the privilege to quilt some of Lorna's work before. Her quilts vary in style and technique, always something different. I think she likes the fun in challenging me! Check out these:

Visit the Quilters' Guild of NSW website here to see all the winning quilts.

2010-06-15T14:41:00.017+10:00

The Sharon Schamber Workshops

Sharon Schamber is an absolute quilting legend. her work is exquisite and she freely shares her knowledge and expertise both through free videos on Youtube and through paid workshops. While her videos are great for those who can't get to a workshop there is really nothing like meeting her and having her guidance first hand.

This photo was taken at Sharon's lecture and that gorgeous quilt is her Spirit of Mother Earth. It's even more stunning up close and personal!

Sharon Schamber in Australia - May 2009

In May 2009 quilters all over Australia were treated to some of Sharon's workshops. Pam Hill of Manly hosted the tour and organised workshops at Tweed Heads, Brisbane, Maleney and South Australia. The Piec-lique class proved very popular but it was the 3-Day Longarm Quilting workshop that was of particular interest to me.

This turned out to be three days of absolute quilting bliss! Pam’s home is located at Manly overlooking Moreton Bay and you can see from the above photos it was just the most fantastic venue, perfect weather (not that rain would have dampened our enthusiasm) scrumptious food and lots of fun in learning.

Quilters travelled from Victoria, Western Australia, all over Qld and Northern NSW and they were not disappointed they made the journey.

The workshops

My good friend Wendy Watkins of Honey Pot Quilting came up from Bendigo (What an excellent excuse for a 3 ½ day leave pass from 2DD’s and DH). Wendy stayed with us at the Aspley Hacienda and as is always the case when we get together, the weekend was a hoot.
We attended Sharon’s lecture at Qld Quilters headquarters on the Thursday night and were just gobsmacked by the display of stunning quilts. Seeing Sharon’s ‘Spirit of Mother Earth’ up close and personal was awe inspiring. Such perfection in the detail. No wonder Sharon has an extensive list of awards and acknowledgements. Wendy and I both hoped some of the creativity would jump over onto us as we almost drooled over the beautiful quilts.

Day One – Wendy hit the shops for some retail therapy (Wuz up with that!) while I headed off to Manly for a day of Trapunto and Beginning Stipples. It didn’t take too long to discover that I was in the company of a very confident teacher. Sharon has a thorough knowledge of her machine which by the way is a Prodigy (that was one tick for me!). Sharon welcomed questions from her audience and was happy for the ensuing discussion to take place. I found her to be a very confident and helpful teacher.

More happy faces.....
L-R Judy Nolan, Robyn Dall, Debbie Cadman, Sharon Schamber and Elizabeth Magagnotti. came over from WA. (Those girls really know how to have fun at work!)

The two days that followed were filled with even more inspiring quilting... we learnt how to ‘Dance with Feathers’ and how to quilt all those creative stipples from ‘Spirit of Mother Earth’. Sharon truly is a very creative artist!

Show and Tell was amazing! This quilt is a stunner and just look at all those stipples and such majestic feathers!

All things considered... it was a fantastic weekend. Thank you Sharon and thank you Pam.

A Day with Barb

2010-06-02T13:00:00.012+10:00

Sandy Cunningham of Murwillumbah, NSW, visited my studio recently for an all-day 'watch and learn' session of longarming. What a great day!

Sandy has a different computerised operating system so I only utilised my Intelliquilter to lock a straight line of basting when necessary.

The lesson predominantly involved manual techniques and the variety of pieced borders on this little quilt made it an excellent teaching sample. I was able to demonstrate quite a few techniques and discuss certain choices in building-up the overall plan, including,

floating the top,

stabilising the quilt into workable sections,

why I needed to use different techniques, and

how to use those techniques to apply different types of quiting whilst limiting the (all too time consuming) number of stops and starts and thread changes.

It all worked and 'Flutterby' came together very well. Sandy said she learnt heaps!

The Quilt Connection goes digital!

2010-05-21T11:48:00.014+10:00

Welcome Intelliquilter!

I don't know if you're aware but I've been hankering after a computer for my quilting machine for some time. I've been humming and hawing, waiting for the dollar to improve, tossing up between this machine and that... You know how it goes.

Eventually I decided on the Intelliquilter and now I have it I'm thrilled with what it offers both me, as the operator, and my customers. In fact I've had it now for about 12 months but I wanted to really run it through its paces and totally get my head around the many ways it has to enhance my creativity before I told you about it.

The image on the left is how Intelliquilter sees the pattern. This one is called Sabrina and is designed by Donna Kleinke of One Song Needle Arts. The image on the right shows the quilted version. Isn't it lovely?

New quilting horizons

The Intelliquilter has so many features but from the point of view of "what's in it for you, my customers" it boils down to the following:

I can now boast a fast turn-around for pantograph (E2E) quilting - only a couple of weeks

The fact that I can be attending to other things in my studio while the machine is working for me hands-free, is such a welcome change and allows me to service more customers

The Intelliquilter produces perfect and exact quilting

No need for paper patterns anymore. Patterns are digitised and stitched out exactly as the designer intended.

The Intelliquilter gives my creativity full rein so please give me a call on 07 3862 8797 or come and talk to me about the many exciting options I can create for your special quilt.

The Bunbury Classes

2010-05-17T11:21:00.020+10:00

The Bunbury Classes
I met Robyn Dall of Quality Quilting of WA at the WA Machine Quilters' Gathering and she drove me down to Bunbury after it. She had arranged for me to give a week of classes and each one was fully booked! The classes I taught included:

KNOWING THE BASICS
PANTOGRAPHING
UNCOMPLICATED MACHINE QUILTING OPTIONS
NO MARK QUILTING
SHOW STOPPER STUFF
TEMPLATING

Victorian Textiles were kind enough to sponsor the classes and supplied batting for the quilting demonstrations. Below is a photo of some of the students who attended the Bunbury Classes and the completed sampler I worked on during the 'Show Stopper' class.

The Bunbury Quilt Show

On the weekend I visited the Bunbury Quilters’ Quilt Show. What an absolutely fabulous show... Take a look at the Raffle Quilt photos below. This gorgeous quilt was quilted Susan Campbell of Rowdy Flat Quilting, Yackandandah.

There were so many inspiring quilts and lots of very creative machine quilting. I also had the chance to view the Bunbury Challenge and I have to say I was ‘gob smacked’ by the standard of entries from all over the world. I bought a challenge pack for 2010 (but alas I didn’t get an entry in).

Relaxing in Bunbury

My relaxation was to take several strolls along the long beach just down from Robyn’s home. I love to walk along the beach, I find it's good for the soul.

My WA Resolution...

I’ll be happy to go and teach in WA anytime! The girls were great, they were like machine quilting sponges, just soaking up any information I could give them. They were all so appreciative of me making the trip and made me feel really welcome. Only thing I swear never to do again is to travel home on that ghastly ‘red eye’!!!!

WA Machine Quilting Workshops

2010-05-17T10:39:00.013+10:00

WA Machine Quilting Workshops

Robyn Dall of Bunbury, WA sent me the following heartfelt plea...

"Poor WA is very isolated far away from the east coast of Australia where most machine quilting training opportunities happen. Now that the Machine Quilting Conferences that were run by the Gammill dealers at Mittagong NSW, have discontinued, there are even less opportunities. Us WA people need to create our own opportunities for skill development. So wondering if you would be interested in running classes here at my quilting room in Bunbury"

I just couldn't refuse! So started my jaunt to WA! I had a wonderful time and met some really lovely people and committed machine quilters.

The Perth Section of the Trip

What a wonderful welcome! I was met at the airport by Greg Camden - a very accomplished male quilter and WA Agent for Superior Threads - of House of Quilts. Greg and Gayle gave me a very nice dinner and put me up in style despite never having met me before.

Thanks so much Greg and Gayle, I'm looking forward to returning the favour when you visit Queensland.

The next day we gathered at Jo Northcott’s home (Jo Northcott Quilting in Sorrento) for the Machine

Quilters' Gathering which was very well attended. It was great to meet so many quilters. The Gathering was a real hive of activity and discussion and it was good to see networking in WA is in fine form.

There were lots of products on display including backing fabrics from Widebacks Au stralia and threads from Superior Threads and a scrumptious lunch! So much food!

Stay tuned for the Bunbury Section of my WA trip...

Catching up and the AMQA website

2010-05-17T10:04:00.011+10:00

Catching up...

Life has been so hectic the last 12 months that I just turned around and a whole 18 months flew by. Well, I'm hoping to be able to be more regular in my postings from now on but I thought first I'd bring you up-to-date on what has happened in the last 18 months, so here goes...

The AMQA website

The committee of the Australian Machine Quilting Association (AMQA) decided in 2009 that the Association needed a new website to be a more effective focal point for all aspects of machine quilting. A place where quilters and their customers and potential customers could go for relevant, up-to-date information.

Setting up this website and briefing the designer were my final tasks as the founding member of AMQA. After four years of putting strong foundations in place I felt satisfied that the association had made good progress so I resigned as President of AMQA to refocus on my own business and my family.

The new website looks fabulous and provides AMQA the means to grow and prosper to the benefit of everyone involved or associated with the machine quilting industry.

As I said in my President’s report (AGM August 2009), “I am proud of what has been achieved and... I resigned from the Presidency earlier this year. In the belief of the AMQA vision, I felt I should step aside and provide the opportunity for the new membership to step-up and broaden the culture of the organisation, give it a new horizon to pursue, whilst carrying forward the strong principles on which AMQA was founded”.

Since then I have been focussing on my own family and business but I continue to watch AMQA grow with great excitement.

'One Still Bird' by Annette Isager

2008-10-18T11:15:00.005+10:00

"I call my quilt "One Still Bird", because the bird inspired the design. I began this quilt in July 2006. It was taught in a class at Vision Patchworkers in Ipswich Queensland. This is after an origional design by Sue van Slyke (Copyrite 2006) called Sue's Medallion Quilt. Sue was assisted by Audrey Mazzaracca. The quilt was tailormade as a bedspread for an old silky oak bed.

The bird was painted by a friend called Maggie. I kept the Tshirt it was on for 20+ years and was delighted to be able to include it.

I used pictures and flowers of the West Australian gum Eucalyptus caesia for a guide to the gum flowers and photocopied Gerladton Wax flowers for the guide to the flowers in the baskets.

I should be finished this quilt in October 2008 and owe a debt of gratitude to my great friend Cheryl Doblo who helped me in many ways throughout the making.

Everyone who comes to my house gets dragged in to the guest bedroom to see this quilt. I love it and am totally delighted with your work. Everyone who has seen it loves it too!

Thanks for your great work. I feel you have made my quilt an heirloom. "
Annette Isager
Booval Qld

New Zealand Machine Quilters' Conference 2008

2008-08-27T11:05:00.012+10:00

“I am speaking to you tonight as President of the AMQA. Founded about two years ago in Queensland, Australia, the Australian Machine Quilting Association is a not-for-profit organisation which is specific to machine quilting..... in particular.... the business of machine quilting”.

Earlier this year I was given the privilege to open the 2008 New Zealand Machine Quilters’ Conference at Cambridge, New Zealand. Hosts, Mike and Lori Neels once again ran a very successful four days of learning opportunities and machine quilters and tutors travelled from all over New Zealand and Australia to attend.

There were seminars and workshops for all levels that gave tuition across a wide range of interesting topics including, funky free-handing, thread-play, templating, pantographs, designing wholecloth quilts, business principles and inspirational colouring techniques.

Sunday was open day at the hall and the public were welcomed in to view a very impressive display of machine quilting. Hands-on classes for those who wanted extra were given by Kim Bradley, Tina Whitaker, and yours truly, either side of the main two-day conference.

The conference dinner was held at Onyx, one of Cambridge’s top restaurants. Everyone had a fantastic time, the food was great and I developed a serious liking for NZ wine which I am pleased to discover is available here in Oz.

Congratulations to all the winners:

Peers’ Choice 1st - Linda Young - $500 cash from Nolting Mfg Inc plus $250 thread parcel from Coats Industrial. (photo to left)

Peers’ Choice 2nd - Colleen Burr - $250 cash from Karamu Quilting plus $250 voucher from John Rainger Textiles.

Public Choice 1st - Diane Caskey - $500 cash from Kasa Engineering plus $250 thread parcel from Coats Industrial.

Public Choice 2nd - Julie Cannon - $250 cash from Karamu Quilting plus $250 books & fabrics from Fabco Ltd.

Kim Bradley’s Choice - Susan Trendall - 2 nights B&B plus 20 fat quarters and batting from Quilt Fairies of Baylys Beach.

The time just flew and before I knew it I was saying goodbye to our Kiwi friends. I left Mike and Lori sharing a well earned moment of relaxation on the front verandah at Quiltique under the autumn leaves of that beautiful neighbouring tree.

See you in 2010!

Soon It Will Be Spring

2008-08-21T14:46:00.006+10:00

I can't remember feeling so cold in the winter months in Brisbane. Previous winters have been quite mild, this year it's freezing! Normally we only need to use the heaters occassionally, this year they have really had a good work out.

Sure to brighten the wintery mood is such a crisp, fresh explosion of bright Spring colours. This quilt made by my good friend Suzanne Walker called appropriately 'Spring Fling' has reminded me that the start of the Spring season is only one week away!

I usually find myself looking forward to a welcomed spell from what can be a very hot Queensland Summer. This year though I must admit, I am looking forward to feeling the warmth of the sun again.

I love daisies, don't you? This is a view of Sue's quilt from the back. Lovely Sue, well done.

Exciting News!

2008-08-06T12:50:00.014+10:00

It was a very exciting day here at The Quilt Connection yesterday. I received a phone call in the morning from the organisors of the Quilts Across Queensland exhibition at the Ekka to tell me that my quilt ‘Solutions 1’ had won 1st place in the Professional Small Quilts category. A blue ribbon….. I’m stoked!

‘Solutions 1’ is one of a pair of teaching samples created in preparation for the New Zealand Machine Quilters’ Conference in Cambridge which I attended earlier in the year. Both ‘Solutions 1’ and ‘Solutions 2’ are examples of thinking ‘outside the square’ in terms of planning the quilting. I applied very different machine quilting to a very basic piecing design which resulted in two unique and very individual quilts. Unfortunately, I was unable to complete ‘Solutions 2’ before the cut-off for entries so only ‘Solutions 1’ will be on display, but WOW, it will be on display with a big blue ribbon on it!

Second phone call for the day was from one of my favourite customer/friends, Barb McIntyre..... the red and purple one, and her husband David, who by the way, poses as my part-time business manager occasionally giving advise such as, “definitely with the stippling, not without” and “white, not red thread will give a better result on that red and white quilt”.

They rang with the news that Barb’s quilt, “The Torch of Lady Liberty” had won the red ribbon in the Collaborative - Commercially Quilted - Any technique Class 7 also in the Quilts Across Queensland competition. How ironic is that, a new red ribbon to dress up Barb's red hat. (VBG)
Congratulations Barb......Woo Hoo!

As if that wasn’t exciting enough, later in the afternoon, another much loved customer/friend, Lorna Haigh, rang to say her quilt ‘Morning Light’ had won the Blue ribbon in the Class 7. Congratulations Lorna.
I’m very excited for you both.
In fact, I am just over the moon, not only is it just the best feeling ever, to know that as partners in quilt-making we are obviously getting it right but also so good to be rewarded for our efforts.

All this excitement will make it difficult to focus today, but preparations need to continue for activities planned at the end of the week. Machine Quilters have flown down from the Atherton Tablelands and others, more local, who have recently purchased a machine for their own use or to enter the business of machine quilting, are attending a longarm workshop I am running here on Friday. Then, on Saturday, people from all over Queensland will come here to attend the next Queensland Machine Quilters’ Gathering. So off to work I go…… Whistling with joy all the while.

Congratulations to all other winners in the Quilts Across Queensland exhibit at this year’s Ekka.

I'll post some photos in a couple of days.

2008-07-23T14:42:00.009+10:00

Betty Houston of Figtree Pocket, Qld, made her 'Blue Dandy' (designed by Barbara Campbell) after finding it in a magazine and deciding it was the one she would lovingly make and give to her daughter-in-law Patsy. Betty is 80 years young and her work in many of the finer arts is exquisite. No surprise to learn that this year Betty was awarded 'Champion of Show' along with several other awards for her beautiful stumpwork at the Embroiderers' Guild Qld April Exhibition.

Patsy's preference is a 'no fuss' style of quilting so we chose to apply a balance of straight and curved lines in alternating fashion.

My Dad Makes Quilts!

2008-06-21T16:59:00.011+10:00

My dad, John David Bond is 80 years young, a retired fitter and turner who can put his hand to anything.
When I took delivery of my first quilting machine back in 2001, a second-hand Gammill Classic, the truck arrived and it took Dad, my teenage son, DH and the driver to unload the various machine parts off the truck. They’re big heavy machines!

Not being so mechanically inclined, DH and son quickly made their excuses and the driver hit the road, leaving Dad and I to work out how to put the machine together and make it work. We managed to do that reasonably well considering we were working off an incomplete manual and, really, knew little about what we were doing.

The machine was usable, but I did experience more than the usual amount of problems. As I explained my difficulties to Dad he realised some components of the machine needed to be improved. Over the next four months Dad rebuilt and refurbished until finally my machine was running better than a new one. I don’t know what I would have done without him.

Several times during this ordeal, Dad had approached me with ‘quilty’ questions which I was only too happy to answer for him. I remember thinking it was great that he was showing an interest in my new found passion. One day, he said, “I’d like to give this patchwork a go”. It was then I realised Dad was more than just interested, he really did want to make a quilt.

Dad had never used a needle and thread and certainly he had never had the need to venture from his work bench to Mum’s old Singer. I knew he had more to learn than most beginners and perhaps I was biting off more than I could chew but he was obviously keen to try patchwork and I was keen for him to have a go.

I loaded up a project bag with a collection of plaids, checks and stripes from my stash, a rotary cutter, mat, ruler and a square Perspex template which, coincidently, he had made for me some time back for a project I was working on involving numerous flying geese.

I took the bag with me on my next visit and asked Dad if he would like to lend a hand with my next quilting project which I was keen to get underway. He agreed. I gave him a lesson in rotary cutting, showed him how to use the template to cut the squares and stressed the importance of keeping the plaids straight. My departing instruction was, “Cut as many squares as you can from the fabric in the bag!”

Next time I saw him and it wasn’t much later, he had cut heaps of squares, which he proudly handed over asking, “What do I do next?” All the stripes and checks were as straight as a die.

Dad’s colour blindness prevents him from distinguishing between certain colours such as brown and red or green and blue, so easier to work with light/medium/dark. Lesson two involved drawing a pencil line diagonally across all the light coloured squares and then pairing all the light squares with either dark or medium.

Lesson three was a big learning curve. I introduced Dad to my sewing machine. I gave him a lesson on how to sew a ¼” seam and while I quilted away on my new ‘toy’, he sat at my Bernina laboriously stitching ¼” either side of the ruled line on all the paired blocks. By this stage he had realised he was working on his own first quilt.

The lessons continued covering every aspect of making the quilt including visiting the fabric shop to find the best option for a backing fabric to the final steps of binding, adding a label and hanging sleeve, just in case he wanted to exhibit one day.

Dad was so thrilled with the end result and I was thrilled for him. He was an excellent student, we had some great father/daughter memories and these days, no one dare remove his quilt from his bed!

Welcome to The Quilt Connection!

2008-06-03T08:20:00.001+10:00

My name is Barb Cowan and I am a dedicated 'machine quilter for hire'.

I offer a wide range of professional machine quilting services using a Prodigy 24” longarm machine quilting system. I am passionate about the art of quilt-making. I treat all quilts with high regard and aim to produce standards of excellence in my work.

Whether you have quilt tops that require finishing in simple, inexpensive fashion, or you have created a traditional heirloom requiring a masterful finish, I believe I have the expertise to answer your call.

I will be happy to advise you about any aspect relating to the quilting process including selecting and preparing backings, choice of battings, type and colour of thread and I do bindings too!