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Monday 1 September 2014

Around the World Blog Hop

Today is my stop on the


My friend Linda of Flourishing Palms  fame has kindly tagged me and I'm very happy to comply. The idea is to answer some questions to get to know me a bit better. So here goes:

1. What am I working on? 
I usually have a few project on the go at the same time but I always have one which I do by hand. As I'm meeting with two different quilt groups on a weekly base I have several hours of sitting and sewing time, when I'm not too busy chatting, laughing eating that is.

This is my hand sewing project that I'm working on at the moment: Auntie Green's Garden


and this is how it's going to look when it's finished, hopefully!

Auntie's Green Garden

I'm also in the process of sewing my Camelot blocks together. All the blocks are hand pieced. 


I have to decide if I'm going to add a border or not. And then of course I have to think about how to quilt it. I feel it deserves to be hand quilted but I might "out source" that task.  

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre? 
I don't think it's much different really from other quilters. Looking back I have definitely moved on from country and shabby chic to the more modern/contemporary fabrics. But I'm not categorising  myself as a certain kind of quilter as I like a wide scope of styles. I think I have a low boredom threshold and don't like doing the same thing over and over again therefor I would never attempt to make a quilt where I had to sew lots of the same blocks, especially using the same fabrics.  What I do like is putting my own stamp on a project as I hardly ever follow a pattern completely. I love applique and this is one of my earlier more traditional applique quilts which started with  Eleanor Burns "A Quilt a Day" pattern but then it became "my own".



Applique is my first love anyway, probably because I can't sew a straight line, and I'm not kidding! But as every quilter who hand appliques would tell you, it's slow going. Since I've discovered raw edge applique a whole new (applique) world has opened up to me. A quilt can be finished in a fraction of the time it would usually take to hand applique. Here are some examples I made this way. They are all Don't look now patterns with the exception of the middle one on the left, which I "designed" myself. 
Speaking of designing; that's something I would love to do more in the future. When I say designing, I don't mean I sit down and draw a pattern of a quilt. My method is more hit and miss. I start somewhere and see where it takes me. Here are a few examples:







Another craft I adore is French Cartonnage and sometimes I combine it with applique and quilting. It's great to make use of the fabric stash which grows at an alarming pace at my house ;)!



3. Why do I write/create what I do?
I probably started quilting/crafting more out of necessity to keep myself occupied and to meet new people than anything else. My family and I have moved from country to country for almost 30 years now. That meant that I wasn't able to work (paid work) and I had/have plenty of time on my hands. Finding a quilt group was almost the first thing I did when we moved to a new country, after settling the kids into their new school and setting up house again. The kids are now grown up and I have even more free time but of course quilting has become much more than just a time filler. 

4. How does my writing/creating process work?
Certainly not in any structured or scientific way. I just make and then I show photos and write a little blurb on my blog. I have a note book where I list all my WIPs,  UFOs, quilts I would like to make etc. and at the beginning of each month I write goals of things I want accomplish. Blogging has definitely helped me to stay a bit more focused though (read finish things instead of starting new projects all the time) and I enjoy the interaction with other blogger. Technology is an amazing thing, most of the time at least!

And now it's my turn to tag three more bloggers. 

First we hop down to New Zealand where the relatively new blogger Wendy lives and blogs at Wendy's Quilts and More. Although she is fairly new to blogging, she is definitely not new to quilting. I love her colour choices and I adore the Victorian Gingerbread village she is currently working on.

We will stay a bit longer in the Southern Hemisphere and hop all the way to South Africa, where the talented and creative Ailsa blogs at Cape Pincushion. She is a scientist by day and a quilter/crafter by night as well as on weekends. 

And the last stop is Basel, Switzerland where Martina lives with her family . She blogs at Sunshinequilting and she is currently hosting a "sewalong". Although I still call Basel my hometown, we have not yet met in person.  Hopefully one day! 

All three tagged bloggers will have their own blog post on September 8th where they will answer the same questions and then they will get their turn to tag three more bloggers.   

The purpose of the Around the World Blog Hop is to introduce you to bloggers that you may not know about otherwise. I hope that you've enjoyed your visit to my blog today and continue to follow along with the Blog Hop!

Cheers
Vreni x


12 comments:

antique quilter said...

this was a fun post, I enjoyed seeing projects you have made and are working on. Learning a bit more about you. Seeing quilts you designed, yes I hope you do more of that too. Thanks for the links to 3 new bloggers to me I do believe off to check them out.
Kathie

Calicojoan said...

A girl after my own heart with raw edge applique. I love the freedom it gives me! Fabulous projects! Such an inspiration!

Cattinka said...

Liebe Vreni,
es ist schön Dich besser kennen zu lernen, und was das Bloggen betrifft, mach einfach weiter wie bisher, ich finde was zu zeigst sehr interessant.
LG
KATRIN W.

Martina said...

Liebe Vreni
danke fuer den tollen Bericht und ich schau immer gerne bei dir herein. Schoen dich etwas naeher kennenzulernen. Und ja, ich wuerde dich gerne mal in Person treffen.
GlG Martina

Chookyblue...... said...

it's nice to see a bit of lots of things your working on and have made........

Wendy @ Wendysquiltsandmore said...

Hi Vreni. I love your Chinese lantern quilt and smiled when I saw the fish again. I remember when you finished that quilt, and what you said about them then. Your current project looks like it will keep you busy for quite a while yet. thank you for nominating me!

Flickenstichlerin said...

Liebe Vreni x,
tolle Vorstellung, wunderbar geschriebener Post und eine super Auswahl deiner Projekte. Bin begeistert.
Liebe Grüßle,
Sylvia

HeathersSewingRoom said...

A really nice read Vreni about your quilting life and the amazing journey you have been on. You have really embraced quilting and grown in the art from that first quit class that we took all those years ago! A fabulous collection of your talent.

FlourishingPalms said...

Oh, I sure enjoyed this! It's so great to see a whole review of your quilting. I already knew you love appliqué, and had seen most of these quilts, but it's nice to know that you often put your own stamp on these designs. The look-alike Don't Look Now design is great, but that Camelot quilt is heading toward jaw-dropping. I can't believe you're hand piecing the whole thing. Impressive. Well, all your stuff is impressive. It's obvious you put your free time to good use. I really like this post.

Rosa said...

Wow,stunning.I love all your projects and enjoying readind your post.

Thimbleanna said...

How Fun Vreni! It looks like your Auntie's quilt is coming right along and you're making great progress. And your Camelot blocks look wonderful -- I do hope you have it hand-quilted -- it makes me cringe hand-quilted quilts are then machine quilted!!! ;-D

Lynda said...

So nice to get to know you better. Your work is amazing. I have always loved those fabric boxes you make. Wish I enjoyed hand stitching more so that I had something to work on when I meet with other quilters! I hope to retire soon and have more time to spend on my quilting too.