To everyone a wonderful Holiday and the Best Wishes for the New Year!

...and of course, lots of quilty-goodness!

Mariner's Compass in progress...

Strange sunlight today, so the colors don't come close to the actual quilt, but here it is anyway.

The idea was to put a nice wide border around the blocks and call it a quilt top, but now I've thoughts of making a dense, leafy applique border around it, using the same cream solid background fabric as used in the compasses.  What kind of border, leaves, flowers, I still have to figure out.  Looking for good sources of where to find ideas.

It's nice to have made a quilt out of mostly scraps out of my bin, but mostly I'm proud of the flat blocks!

For now, I'm off stash diving to collect fabrics for my Dresden plates......

after the workshop...

Remember the Spiderweb Workshop I gave?  Well, some of my students were kind enough to send me photos of their completed ( or almost completed) tops.
The rest are still working on theirs...

Gerda's Spiderweb

Gerda did mention to me that she had changed the look of her quilt, and would be sending me the changes as son as they were completed.  I still like the random feeling of this quilt and the warmth the pinks/reds give.

 Heleen's Spiderweb

Heleen's quilt is very different!  Bright colors surrounded by a cool blue plain fabric.
It reminds me of spring and pick-nicks in the park.  Last I heard there may be a border
made to trap the webs ....


Well done ladies!  I'm so enjoying your progress, and can't wait to see the end results!

morning mist...

I enjoy my morning walks with Darwin.  

Yesterday was quite special. 

 A heavy mist surrounded us.

It was cold, damp, but above all, very quiet. 

 Even the birds were silent.....

I think we both enjoyed that walk.

World Championships Squash 2011

Could have stayed home and spent a lovely afternoon with my quilting friends at the Camelot Bee,

Could have spent the evening getting the the end of my Mariner's Compass blocks,

Instead I went with Mr. Between Stitches to the World Championships Squash in Rotterdam held in the very lovely Luxor Theatre. ( bad iPhone photos to follow)

(star dancers...who, once in the box, couldn't get out...)

The thought crossed my mind to take some sock knitting with me....but I couldn't find the one I was working on.  I even thought about taking some hand stitching with me, but that didn't last as the lighting would be bad,

( blindingly fast games...)

I gently suggested that perhaps he'd like to go with one of his squash buddies, who really understood the game ( to me it was merely fly swatting in a box) but the tickets were bought with me in mind, wich included evening of dinner and spending time - just the two of us....

(entertainment during the break.....)

So I armed myself with tic-tacs and rolls of salty licorice, and settled in my seat, took a breath,

and ended up getting into this incredible game of skill, speed, stamina, and strategy, and had a fabulous time! I was calling shots, and hooting and cheering with all the rest to the pleasant but quizzical surprise of Mr. Between Stitches.   He beamed, happy, and I think I've earned quite a few brownie points....(wink!)

What do you think?  shall I offer him to join me at an afternoon Bee, followed by a romantic dinner?  

Would that work?  Ok, I'll wake up out of that dream now....

Spider Web Workshop

Yesterday I gave my Spider Web Workshop at Atelier Quiltgebeuren.  Can I just say straight off that it was heaps of fun?  As a teacher you can't ask for better than a group of fun, eager, and willing students ready to learn and try new things.

After going through the basics and the preparation, we got out the fabric scraps and bits and made a wonderfully colorful mess and got to the business of sewing....

or so I thought.....did I miss the coffee run.....?

at least there are a few left...

ah!  there they are!....can you hear the silence of concentration?

Gerda is doing this by hand....or will she change her mind and get behind the machine?

Marijke is also working by hand, and also wondering if she should do this by machine.....

Jeanette and Menda are hard at work after deciding their color schemes

Ah! this is what I like to see!  students happy and busy!

And there's progress!  As they finish them, units of the block are put up on the wall.

To the left with the border, is Janine's sample, and to the right, is my chaotic sample.

Gina had a mean little machine that sounded like it took off every time it sewed!

Marijke and Gerda in sync....

Menda dared to cut up some amazing african fabrics and wow, I can't wait to see this one complete!

Here's the result of their work - not bad for all the chatting!

Ladies, you were amazing students, and made my easy and a pleasure to teach.  Thank you Nel, Heleen, Gina, Gerda, Marijke, Jeanette, and Menda for a great class.  I can't wait to see what I know are going to be fabulous results!

in a right mess...

You don't want to be here in my sewing room: ankle-deep in fabric scraps
in all colors. Closet doors, boxes and bags open and their contents on the floor. I'm just grabbing blindly, and sewing them down...
I'm trusting in the Universe that this quilt will work out.....
But for now, it's great letting go!





Do any of you like to work like this?



- iPad reports: cause I can't reach the keyboard.....

Thank you Steve...

on a sunny Saturday...

...while the boys went out to do this:

I went and did this:

My first Camelot block.

I had most of it completed at home, and put in the last wedges during the Camelot Bee at Atelier Quiltgebeuren where those participating in with this B.O.M. get together to share in the fun of making this quilt.  Janine and I are running this Bee together, guiding and helping those who need it with working with circles for the first time.  The Bee was great,  I really enjoyed the relaxed and friendly atmosphere, and how everyone was excited to try something completely new to them!

I chose to work with my own fabrics instead of going with the lovely fabric pack that Janine prepared.   I'm trying to experiment more, expand the repertoire of fabrics I normally use within a project, mix them up, toss them about, and see what happens.  After all, I have a nice collection of Reproduction, Japanese, Handwoven/dyed, Modern, and what-not fabric in my closet.  This means I will be working without a compass on this project, and will really have to work the instinct!

One thing I can tell you, although I'm casting about in the dark, it feels right going in this direction to find my own voice in my quilting.  The Camelot quilt is my experiment.

enough dots...for now...

The next seven dots blocks are prepped and ready to be stitched down.  This set is so diverse, I'm wondering if they won't be too chaotic in the quilt?  I guess I'll let daughter be the final judge on that - after all, the quilt is for her....

It's so much fun jumping into the bin and pulling out not just bits of scraps, but lots of memories as well!

How is it that I remember when and where I bought that bit of fabric and the friends I was with, even the weather is was, but I can't remember where I put my favorite Moroccan scarf?

Anyhow, here are some pics:

This is really one of the coolest projects I've worked on and am enjoying every moment!

But now that these fellows are prepped, I think I'm going to continue prepping blocks for the Beyond the Cherry Trees quilt.  It's waited way to long..

Now to go and enjoy some sunshine with Darwin..

Have a great weekend!

seeing spots....

I've made a good start on the "Got Dots" quilt.
After preparing a stack to take with me to St.Marie-aux-Mines, and working on them in the evenings,
I've finally got 10 done out of the 20 I'm making of this block.

Yes, I know, they are wonky, but that's how daughter wants them.  She liked the organic/imperfect look of the original quilt, so even though I'm using paper pieces to shape the dots, I'm not getting too exact when stitching them down.

The preparation and stitching of the first two blocks was a bit fiddly and took a bit getting used to with those 3/4' circles, ( making me wonder what I had gotten myself into!) but it picked up pretty quickly, and now they've become addictive to make!
Another fun side effect of this project is that I'm now building a collection of applique threads.  It's great to see all the different colors in my basket, and soon they will have to have their own home...
Any good ideas about storing threads?

Here's a quick picture of the blocks so far:

Out of the scrap bin:

 Well behaved dots!.......

Now for a bit of a change, and work on sorting and prepping the heart blocks for this quilt today.
It would be nice if I could get some done and put aside for evening stitching, and pick up my other projects that have been neglected this summer....

impressions...

What an amazing time that was in St.Marie-aux-Mines.

Some impressions and inspirations:

Perhaps this weekend will offer some inspirations?
Have a good one!

Day Three

Oh my! I can't feel my feet, my back, well, is barely able to hold me up, but what another good day it was!
Found some more fabrics for projects, and a few for the stash.
We decided to complete the exhibits in St.Marie-aux-Mines, traversing the village, and stopping at an antiques quilt shop where we did became proud owners of adorable quilt blocks. I'll show those when I get home....

Anyhow, I'm wiped, and have few sensible words left, so here are some pictures:



























Tomorrow we're on our way back home, richer in fabrics, inspiration, memories and friendship.
For those of you who are there too, I hope you had a great time, and I wish you a safe trip home.