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....

Summer's over...

But that doesn't mean I've been idle.
I managed to make 3 quilts, all gifts for children, two of which I can show you, the third, I can't yet because it's not been given yet.

The first one was for my dear "sister" friends' first daughter, Analicia.  I was so pleased to be able to give this to her personally while on a visit in New York this summer!  I wish her many warm cuddles with this quilt....

Analicia's quilt

A detail:

When my next door neighbor asked me to help her make a quilt for her daughter's 9th birthday, I of course said "yes" and well, not only was a little girl chuffed to bits with her new quilt, a new quilter with lots of talent is now in our midst....

not bad for a first quilt, no?

her butterflies...

The third quilt?  I can't show you that yet.  It's done, but the new owner hasn't received it yet.  I can tell you it's a very special baby quilt that I made for a dear friends' first baby...

Uhm...what else have I been up to?

With all those finishes, I thought to treat myself to a new project.  Yes, a new quilt is in the making, but this time it's a sampler:

Oh, and wanting to make the moment I saw it, the Hannah Gilpin 1800 sampler from Needleprint

I'm keeping this one short and sweet, tomorrow is going to be a long day, but I'll tell you about that later.

At least now you don't have to stare at pretzels anymore...lol!!

see you soon,

Heidi

A preference for pretzels over peanuts...

Be back in a while....










-- Post From My iPhone

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....

Veldhoven 2010

We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day to head out to the European Quilt Championships in Veldhoven.  There were beautiful quilts to see...

...details that caught my eye...

In the paper bag: a pallet of Japanese fabrics and shot cottons from Kaffe Fasset, for a modern wall quilt.  Oh, and I couldn't wait - they're already cut up and on my brand new design wall - thank you Ro!
A cute little "Basket & Stars quilt pattern.
...and a stack of some solids from India out of my stash that I'm auditioning with the solids I bought.

a beautiful pallet of hand dyed and printed linen fabric from a German Artist.


But the weekend didn't end there...
Sunday I got together with some friends with our Featherweights to begin work on Droomdekentjes.
These are quilts made for children who are seriously ill, suffer from a life-threatening disease, and or have suffered from a trauma be it physically or mentally.  The quilts are there to offer comfort and everyone is welcome to donate supplies for quilt making, blocks, or an entire quilt.
Armed with scraps, a production line was sent up and our little machines were humming away!  I'll post soon with the our simple but heartfelt results.

All in all, a wonderful weekend, filled with quilty goodness!
I'm off now to unpack, and get ready to do some stitching on this cold and rainy day.  It really is a day for some chicken soup made from scratch!

I hope you all had a great weekend...do anything cool?

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.....