Blogger day...

A day where bloggers, blog readers and non-bloggers could get together, connect, and do all sorts of quilty things!  Janine hosted this day at her shop Atelier Quiltgebeuren.  It was really cool to meet the quilters behind the blogs.  I helped by manning the beautiful Jasmine quilt frame and demonstrating hand quilting, for those who have never used such a frame.

As always, it's so energizing to meet new quilters, exchange ideas and admire each other's work.
A few moments:

making a covered button

pincushion workshop

stash building...

focused stitching

sweets are never far...

All in all a wonderful day.  

Thank you so much Janine, for being such a wonderful hostess!  

...and yes, I forgot my fabric!  ...but I'm sure it's in a safe place...;-)

keeping busy...

It's been really quiet here on my blog, but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy!
I've mainly spent my time hand quilting and it's coming along nicely.  I've been enjoying the process which is something I've wanted to get into more rather than the focus on finishing a project.
Taking time to just  do something and learning from it has been very enlightening indeed, and has helped me to slow down and enjoy this art even more.

I'm just about half way through the quilting and with each fan I complete, I get more and more excited...

A snap of what it's starting to look like:

But that's not all I've been up to.

I've also decided to take the plunge and make an applique quilt.
I fell in love with the Beyond the Cherry Trees Quilt , was invited to join the blog, and finally got some baseline fabrics together to get started!

My resolution for this year was not only to enjoy the process, but to also make do with what I have and only purchase fabrics or supplies when needed.  I had a bolt of Natural Moda Muslin on hand, so that's what I'm using for the background blocks.  I am however, having questions about using this fabric as it's kind of thin.  I like the color and feel, but wonder if it's the right fabric for this project.  I do want a vintage, krinkly look, and plan to hand quilt when I'm done...

Wondering if anyone out there has had any experience with using this muslin and would want to share their thoughts on it?

Other than that, another activity that has been keeping me away from blogging is the big cleaning of my sewing room!  I guess the easiest thing to do would be to toss everything in the closet and close the door, but after having done that and still spending waaay to much time looking for fabrics or occasionally finding that I've made a double purchase, it's time to do a serious clean and find an system to store all those different sizes of fabrics!

Right now, all the patterns and magazines and being sorted and that's going pretty quickly.  Saving only those patterns I want to keep, putting them in a binder and tossing the rest of the magazine, is making for a lot of space and there's already an empty shelf for the books stacked on my sewing table waiting for a more permanent spot.

Speaking of which, it's time for me to get up there and work for another hour or so in that mess, so I have some time for my hand quilting as well.....

for her new shop...

A few weeks ago,.  It all started with an email.  An email asking for help.  Janine owner of
't Quiltgebeuren and friend, asked if we could help out cutting fabrics into strips and fat quarters so she could clear out those leftover bolts of fabrics.  This all in preparation for the move to the store's new location.  Myself and the rest of the gang, being more than happy to help out, popped in to the shop to help out.

I was helping to clear a box of fabrics, cutting what could become a roll, or fat quarter.  Odd cuts and bits I put aside, until Janine told me to take those with me, knowing that I'm a big log cabin fan,  Sweet!  Yes, she is a dear....

And then....during a tea break....

Don't ask me how this happened, but somehow I got roped into making a liberated log cabin quilt for  the new shop!  How cool is that? Janine, gave me that puppy look, and I fell.  All I remember is asking about a wall in the new store.....

Luckily there were witnesses, all of whom had a good laugh, so I lassoed the loudest laugher, my friend Els, to help me with this project.  Next, we both told our quilting buddies, and they were excited to help as well, and that's how Tineke and Diana got hooked into this project too!
I was given a few bags worth of the shops' scraps and bits and a sample roll of wall paper use as reference for the colors of the quilt, and sent on my merry way to organize the troops.

Since I was deemed the liberated log cabin expert, and the rest had never made one, we gathered at my house for a quick-start lesson, and everyone had 4, 12 1/2 " blocks to complete.  Diana and I got together this past Monday and spent the evening sewing everyone's blocks into a quilt top.
Here our contribution to the new entrance of the shop ends as we leave the quilt in Janine's capable hands to quilt it on her longarm machine!  Since she doesn't like the last task, I offerend to hand sew the binding on......;-)

So here it is:

close up detail:

This was so much fun to do and so liberating to work like this, I'm planning to make one for myself with all my left over bits and scraps.  I sure do have enough to make a few!  After making Janine's I have some new ideas, or may just let the fabrics speak for themselves....so stay tuned...

Now back to my hand quilting - the Baptist Fans are coming along nicely and the first fan of the second row is drawn, leaving me to settle on the couch and quilt this evening.  I've really come to love hand quilting and find that I look forward to doing it every moment I can!

take a moment...

Just wanted to share this with you after reading about it on my friend Diana's blog, thanks Diana!

A wonderful little film celebrating the beauty and symmetry of quilts.

I enjoyed taking a moment to enjoy the animation and images, I hope you will too...

Here's the link just in case it won't work in the post...

Quilt by Gayle Thomas

enjoy!

souvenirs from the Patchwork & Quiltdagen....

Saturday I spent a wonderful day with my quilt buddies at the Patchwork & Quiltdagen in Vijfhuizen.
Oh, so much to see, and lots to be tempted with!
Of course I couldn't leave without some souvenirs:

a basket full of goodies:

some tweed, linnens, reproductions fabrics and quilting thread

here's a close up of the white linens

and a snap of the luscious tweeds

Yummy, no?
I've got a few projects that I can't show right now, that I need to get done, and then I can't wait to get my hands on my new goodies!

liberated wednesday

 Having fun with lots of beautiful scraps making liberated log cabins

Making a lovely mess, chatting, laughing and working.

We did finish some blocks, but I'm not going to show them to you yet because it's a surprise...

3 done, 1 to go!

I must be the worst blogger around!  It's been very hectic around here, and time to photograph and think of something sensible to say just wasn't working.  But that doesn't mean I haven't been busy on the quilting end!
I'm happy to say that I did manage to complete yet another project for the New Year's Even UFO challenge!  Here it is:

 "shoo!"

A little quilt done in the liberated style from my bits and scraps.  It was really good fun to make and looking at it now, I think putting the block on point would've been a good idea as well, but at the time I just wanted to put the little shoo-fly blocks together quickly.  I do just love that paisley border fabric don't you?  Those were the last bits left from my "Chicken Soup" quilt. 
As for the machine quilting, I'm still working on getting my head around free-form machine quilting.  I would've preferred to do it for the whole quilt, but my machine acted up again, creating little loops in the back and shredding thread!  I gave up and quilted the center using straight lines....
All in all I like this little quilt, and it gave me plenty of ideas to do for the next time when I make something liberated, which if the stars are aligned properly, will be soon!

till then,

2 done, 2 to go!

I'm motivated.  A comment led me to be invited to participate with the New Years' Eve UFO Challenge happening on Finn's blog, Pieces from my Scrap Bag.  The idea is to pledge to complete an amount (you decide) of UFO's before Year's End. 
Since we're already well into November, I didn't have a spectacular number of UFO's that I could realistically finish in time, but I did have a stack of quilts ready for quilting that I would love to have done so I could get a bit of a fresh start in the New Year.  Besides, having stacks of unfinished tops and projects just cuts into the fun of it all, doesn't it?  I can't stare at them anymore, and trying to hide them doesn't help either ( because we all know they're there, lurking somewhere...), so getting a few done feels good.

My challenge is to finish 4 quilts before year's end.  If I keep up the momentum, and the holidays don't get to me, I may add another!  Here are the first two:

"Cherry & Chocolate": a quilts made, oh months  if not a year ago!  Simple straight line stitching put it all together to make a nice little lap quilt.

Here's a quick snap of the back.  I've also been trying to use up my stash lurking in the closet, and this is part of my ongoing "make-do" project.  After all, what's the point of keeping those fabrics in the dark?  I'm pulling them out and working them into my quilts so I can enjoy them!

"Chicken Soup": now this quilt makes me happy.  Lots of fun fabrics put together in a pretty much random way  and left the border on three sides only to create this vintage look quilt.  I also like the gold binding.  It brought a touch more light into the quilt, and I felt like trying something other than the perhaps more safe choice of using a darker binding.  This was also quilted by machine in simple lines.  The idea was to create an overall diamond quilt pattern, but I ended up with squares on point.  Oh well....
The evening I finished the last stitch of this quilt my daughter snatched it up and took it to put on her bed; it hasn't been seen since...kids!

Here's the back of the quilt - another bit of stash that can now be put to good use.
 This is also the first time I used a bamboo batting.   My fellow house dwellers were not too thrilled with it.  They found it a bit flimsy and light, not enough "beef" to it.  When tested for warmth....eh...perhaps good as a summer cover.  Ok, fair enough.  They may be used to the 100% cotton batting I normally use.  Those quilts are a bit heavier, and so far have kept us nice and warm in the winter ( either on the couch or in bed) and they do have a bit more "beef" to them.  I haven't formed a final opinion yet, but did notice a difference in the feel, and the quilts are indeed lighter in weight and to the touch, although to be fair, they do have a nice drape to them.   I'd need to experiment a bit more...

In the meantime, I returned to the sewing machine guy this weekend and he checked out my Pfaff.  Turned out the "shredding" of my thread was due to the plate not being centered to the needle.  As the threaded needle moved up and down, the thread chafed against the plate, causing the thread to shred and break.  Mystery and problem solved!  Now I can go back and try my hand again at free motion quilting.
Quilt number three is on the table and ready to go, so let me get to finishing!

Have a great week,

heidi

pulling, shoving, bunching....

Pffft!
I love my craft, but this can make me grumble...
...but I'm in that "must. finish. now." mode, and this is quilt number two....(out of four)

So, while the water slides down the window, the wind thumps against the house, like the big bad wolf, I  sing, hum, and bop to my favorite tunes while trying to get through quilting this mass of fabric!

Since the quilt is made up of very busy fabrics and my machine has decided to shred my Yli cotton thread when I attempt to free motion quilt ( yes, I will bring it back to the Sewing Machine Guy ), I'm doing a simple all-over 60-degree diamond pattern.

You can see the paper tape I used here to get me started.  Once that first line is done I'll use the guide to help me to the rest of the lines.

The stitch-in-the-ditch foot is very handy here.  I use the "skate" to follow the line exactly.

You know, it's not all that bad really, I just need to get into a groove, have my tea and music nearby and remind myself that just because I'm sitting behind a sewing machine, doesn't mean things will or automatically have to go faster! Repeating that to myself today while puling, pushing, adjusting, propping and bunching the quilt through my machine, made it go a little easier...a little.......

Have a great weekend my friends!
( I'm heading back to my machine......)

Fall drab?

Who thinks Fall is drab and depressing?
I'm enjoying my walks with Darwin even more and am loving the inspirational colors around me....

 

...and when you come back inside and shake the rain and wind off, that hot cup of tea tastes soo much better....

happy stitching,

sandwich...

That's my daughter helping me to sandwich the Fall Stars quilt.  A task made very pleasant by working together, chatting away and giggling over some silliness...

...with tea and her freshly baked cookies nearby...

thank you Monki!

shoo-flies...

The moment I finished my "leftovers" top I started playing around with some liberated shoo-fly blocks.

 

 Three inches square, it was fun to work with small pieces again, after the large pieces I quickly put together.  grabbing a handful of stash and just getting started without thinking too much about it was fun and very, well, liberating!

They're still up on my design wall, a bit unruly and needing to be pressed and trimmed, but I think they're kind of cute, no? 

Now I'm wondering how to put them together in a top ..... sashing or alternate blocks?  Hmm...

leftovers

What a fun quilt this was to make!
...and on my Featherweight too...
A simple nine patch and alternate block pattern, I cut lots of different fabrics, some of which that have been laying in my closet for years, and randomly threw them together.
It's not easy to work randomly, but once you get started, it's lots of fun and the quilt just makes itself.

leftovers, originally uploaded by Monkicat.

I'm not too sure about the results yet, so after taking this picture, I folded it away and will not look at it for a while. Maybe after a few days something new will come to me.

Thoughts that have crossed my mind:
- an appilque edge on the bottom? ( simple and folky)
- perhaps a thin border between the main part and the large red border?

Any ideas you may have?

Now off to do some quiet cross stitch...

mail day!

I love getting boxes, don't you?

Just before I was getting ready to take Darwin out for a bike ride, I spotted the postman, hands full of boxes.  One was for my neighbor, and yet another book for me to add to my growing collection, and just in time for the weekend to get stuck into!  My neighbor had also ordered a stack of quilting books to begin her quilting library.  She wasn't home, but on our street it's quite common that we take each other's packages so that we don't have to wait yet another day to receive them or to have to pick them up.
What did I get?
Well, something that departs from the usual books I buy...

 Comfort Zone by Maggie Bonanomi

I've been thinking about working with wool and felt in different ways, have some beautiful Harris and Irish tweed to make two quilts with, and thought this would be a fun place to start.  There's all sorts of homey, folky projects in the book, big and small, so lots of inspiration to work with for this winter!

When I came back from my bike ride, I spotted the second post-lady, and just as she was about the round the corner, I greeted her and asked her if there was anything for me, and sure enough!  My eagerly awaited fabric arrived!  Ten yards of "sprout spots" background fabric for The Roseville Album quilt.
I became aware of this quilt while reading several bloggers who were writing about it.  After finding and following the Glorious Applique blog and seeing all the wonderful work done there, I was sold!  And, I must tell you, I'm not even an applique "fan", so to speak.

still in it's wrapping fresh out of the envelope

Things happen for a reason, I guess.  I'm getting ready to take a master class in applique in two weeks, and the Bee I just joined is also working on an applique project.  Hmm, you think it was written in the stars?

So while there's some time before my classes, I'm spending this stormy Friday catching up on some podcasts, and sewing a "droom deken" or " dream quilt" for  Stichting de Regenboogboom.  A good thing to do on a day like this...

Well, I've got my work cut out for me, so let me get stuck in!
Have a pieceful weekend!

Heidi

fall celebration

The summer's over and it's time to prepare for what is probably my favorite part of the year, Fall.
I've always seen it as the start of the new year, with things picking up their normal rhythm after the lazy days of summer.  With that in mind, I decided to make a simple quilt to cuddle under during the cooler nights when one can find me in my favorite corner of the couch stitching on a sampler.

It's also the first large-sized quilt I've made with my Featherweight, and it held up quite nicely too!
There's a wonderful 1/4 inch foot on it, but I can't sew over the pins as I usually do with my Pfaff, but with a little practice I managed to get most of the points just right. 
Yes, there's a boo-boo in it - I saw it too late and left it in, as I always do with my quilts! 
And now it's time to dig into my closet and find fabric for the backing.  In keeping with the folksy feel, I decided to "make-do" and not buy any special fabric for it....so it may look a bit scary back there!

That should give me some extra time to consider the quilting bit...babtist fans?  meander? If you have any suggestions, I welcome them!

In the meantime, enjoy the weekend!

Sunday morning...

Woke up before light, and took a quiet walk with my Darwin in the pouring rain.
The house is still sleeping,

Think I'll sew now....

on a rainy sunday

I'm very quickly typing in this post, awaiting my friend whom I'm giving a cooking lesson.
I hope you all had a good weekend, Mine here started out beautifully with lots of sun and gentle winds, but now it's grumpy outside, dark rainy and windy.

At least Friday was a good day!  I met up with my quilting friends at 't Quiltgebeuren to help owners Wil and Janine celebrate the shops' 5th anniversary.  They beautifully decorated the store and Wil's home ( who lives upstairs ) with quilts of their own and customers.

The moment I walked into the door, I was sent up the stairs by Diana, with no chance to greet anyone.
Upstairs, I was greeted by quilting friends, and congratulated.  Congratulated?  For what?

My quilt was there too, it was hung upstairs in the living room. And it won second prize!  Wow!

I had no idea that prizes were being given, and never won anything, so this was really very special!
Normally it's friends and family that see my work and tell you it's nice, but it's another bag of beans to have it judged by people in the business, and other quilters you don't know compliment your work.

The first and third place quilts were truly wonderful and deserving of their prize.

..and the third prize...

Super, aren't they?

There were so many wonderful quilts hanging, it was hard to capture them all, but here's a sample:

What a great day to catch up with friends and talk quilt!  Seeing and meeting up with quilters is always good fun and inspiring.  It certainly gets my fingers itchy and eager to get back to sewing, my head full of new ideas and things to try out in the future.

I'm really proud of Wil and Janine, they worked so hard to get to this point, and they are going farther still!  They've made this shop not only a great quilt store, but a place where you are warmly welcomed.  I wish you many, many more years!

So now, it's time for me to get back to my projects - I've finally got some more foundation to finish my log cabins for the baby quilt, and the pieces for a simple modern wall quilt ( an experiment really) are cut and ready to go under the needle.  So stay tuned!


have a great week,
heidi

finally a picture...

of the log cabin quilt I made!  Completed in early January of this year, it was hanging in the living room all this time where the lighting just wasn't right to photograph it.  I managed to remember to take a quick shot of it ( still not pleased with how it came out) before it went off to Brielle to be be part of a show they are having to celebrate their 5 year anniversary.
I haven't seen yet how it will displayed, so I'll be just as curious as the rest of the quilters who've brought in quilts when I go to celebrate with the "meiden" (girls)  tomorrow.

This quilt was inspired by the woods we walked in with friends during an Easter weekend getaway last year.  It's made up of mostly Japanese fabrics I've collected over the years, batiks, reproductions fabrics, and who-knows-what bits and pieces.

Here it is:

the color is better on the detail I think....

I must admit, I'm pretty pleased and proud of how this one came out!

Log cabins always continue to fascinate me, and perhaps one day, when I've collected enough bits and pieces, I'd like to make a traditional scrap log cabin.  

For now, there's enough to work on....

coasters

I really wasn't in the mood to work on one of my larger projects today, but still wanted to feel like I did something that was on "the list" to finish, so I sat down and made 8 coasters.  I've made these before for friends as gifts, and finally I made some to match the neutral colors in our living room.  I found some Japanese fabrics scraps left over from a previous project, and here's the result:

I really need to make little projects more often!  It feels so nice to have something done at the end of the day to enjoy!  That, and it keeps the hands busy while I decide what to work on next.  I always seem to have a period of time where I don't do much after completing a large project.  There's so much I'd like to work on, that I don't know what to work on!  Ever have that?

But now it's off to make a shopping list of things I really do need to continue and finish some projects.  Tomorrow I'm off to the European Quilt Championships in Veldhoven to meet with friends and enjoy some beautiful quilts.  As far as shopping goes, I will try to stick to what I need, and not come home with yet another bag full of fabrics!  Perhaps just a few to make a modern wall quilt for the living room...?  With the wonderful weather we've been having here, no matter what I come home with, it will be a great day!

12 klosjes

a modest beginning...

12 done, 488 to go.....