Sheena Norquay’s Beach Collection was inspired by the colours of shells, stones, pebbles, sea glass and sand. It is a box of 12 Large Spools of 50wt thread.
The Colours are:
2524 (light blue/purple), 2564 (light pink/lilac), 4150 (yellow variegated)
1248 (dark blue/purple), 2311 (cream), 2375 (peach)
2610 ((dark grey/blue), 2312 (light beige), 2340 (light rust)
2615 (light grey), 2805 (light turquoise), 2326 (dark beige)
Please visit The Artistry of Sheena Norquay, Part 1 for more details + the full interview with Sheena.
GIVEAWAY
To enter-to-win The Beach Collection by Sheena Norquay, please leave us a comment on this post letting us know which of Sheena’s pieces below is your favorite and why. Entry will close at 11:59pm on Friday, August 18 and a winner will be announced here on Saturday, August 19. This giveaway is open to all of our International friends!
INTERVIEW (con.)
Tell us about The Beach Collection. What inspired the designs and how did you go about selecting the colors?
One of my favourite things to do when I am not stitching, is to go beachcombing. I have collected shells, stones, seaglass, fragments of pottery etc over the years and so I looked at my collection for colour inspiration for the Beach Collection. The rocks and stones on the beaches where I go in Orkney are mainly of sandstone which has warm, gentle, subtle colours. The colours of some shells, seaglass and other stones are cooler but still soft. I tried to have a combination of warm and cool, light and dark in the collection.
Do you have a favorite project made with the collection?
I enjoyed making all of the samples but I think the wholecloth “Periwinkles in a Spin” shows off all the threads in the collection to best effect.
Sheena made a series of samples to showcase the threads in her Beach Collection.
PEBBLE WAVE GRID
Finished at 59 x 86cm
Created between January 17, 2016 & February 2, 2016
Total time: 29 hours 20 minutes
Strip pieced using 12 colours of cotton fabrics matching the threads in the beach collection. Pebbles are printed and painted horizontally in shallow curves echoing the shape of the blue wave at the top. The curved horizontal lines of the grid are satin stitched. Wave shape at the top is twin needled, free motion quilted using swinging c curves and satin stitched in vertical lines in the same colours as the fabrics. Pebble shapes on the calico section at the bottom are fabric painted to match the fabrics and the backgrounds are quilted with colours matching the pebbles and adjacent strips. Backgrounds of the coloured strips are free motion quilted in pebble designs in horizontal bands using each of the 12 colours in the Beach collection.
SCALLOPS
Finished at 39 x 88cm
Created between January 13, 2016 & January 19, 2016
Total time: 22hours 50 minutes
Squares were pieced in colours to match the Beach Collection. The background has 3 different cream and beige fabrics. Scallop shell shapes were free motion quilted in repeat, half drop, random, and overlapping patterns. Shells on the coloured fabric were painted with pearlescent paint. The background was quilted in 12 colours in different sizes of circles and curved lines. Sheena used 2 layers of wadding – polyester Thermore + 80/20 cotton/polyester.
PERIWINKLES IN A SPIN
Finished at 61 x 42cm
Created between January 21, 2016 & February 12, 2016
Total time: 15 hours
Inspired by periwinkle shells. 12 small shell shapes are free motion quilted using Aurifil cotton no. 50 in 12 Beach Collection colours. The shells form a spiral which is then continued in swinging C curves between 2 lines to complete a larger periwinkle shape. Lines separating swinging C curves are satin stitched. The background is quilted in a water pattern. I used 50/50 cotton/polyester wadding behind the small shells, a layer of thin polyester Thermore behind the large, shell shape and 80/20 cotton/polyester for the main layer. It was quilted on a 1008 Bernina machine.
PERIWINKLE SPIRAL PATTERNS
Finished at 61 x 42cm
Created between January 23, 2016 & February 13, 2016
Total time: 13 hours 15minutes
This piece was inspired by the periwinkle shell and its spiral shape. The shell is split into 12 sections and in each section Sheena free motion quilted 12 different spiral patterns using 12 different colours of Aurifil cotton no. 50 from the Beach Collection. She used 2 layers of wadding – 80/20 cotton/polyester + Hobbs Wool Tuscany.
PERIWINKLE BORDERS
Finished at 35.5 x 49.5cm
Created between January 13, 2016 & January 27, 2016
Total time: 12 hours 15 minutes
Four sizes of periwinkle shapes were free motion quilted in horizontal borders in 12 colours of Aurifil no. 50 threads from the Beach collection. Backgrounds were free motion quilted in water, pebble, and sand patterns. Borders were separated with satin stitch. Sheena used cotton sateen and two layers of wadding – polyester thermore + 80/20 cotton/polyester.
BLUE PEBLEWASH WITH MUSSELS
Finished at 42.5 X 60.5cm
Created between January 1, 2016 and February 21, 2016
The blue pebbles were printed with a bathmat and Jacquard Lumiere fabric paints. Mussel shells were hand painted and hand appliqued. The water was hand painted. Cotton organdy was free motion embroidered, appliqued and quilted in wave and bubble shapes. Sheena used 2 layers of wadding – thin thermore polyester + 80/20 cotton/polyester. The piece was free motion quilted with Aurifil cotton no. 50 threads using some colours from the Beach collection. The patterns created by water on the sand were inspired by photos that Sheena took at Nairn Beach and the shells were inspired by some that she has collected from various beaches.
ABOUT SHEENA
Website — Facebook
Sheena Norquay was born on the Orkney Islands, just off the Northern tip of Scotland. Though she began sewing as a child, it wasn’t until attending University in Aberdeen to gain a B.Ed degree that she truly dove into the world of sewing, quilting, and textiles. The degree included 2-dimensional design in textiles which inspired her interest in exploring the artistic potential of threads and fabrics.
Having been a Primary School teacher in Inverness for 30 years, Sheena is now a freelance quilting teacher and teaches workshops locally, all over the UK, and sometimes abroad. She also writes articles for magazines and her quilts have been featured in several books.
Sheena’s work has been exhibited locally, nationally, and internationally since 1981 and she has won many awards in competitive quilt shows. She sells her work, cards and postcards of her work, and also accept commissions.
Text and images courtesy of Sheena Norquay.