Thirties pin cushion

I spent a very enjoyable week with a lovely friend who came up for a visit from Sydney, Australia. As she is a quilter too,  there was of course much talk about quilts, fabric, quilting books, patterns etc. She brought me a lovely little kit to make a "Thirties" pin cushion. We decided to make one each and had a cosy day at home stitching.

This is my pin cushion, all stitched by hand I might add,

and this is the one my friend made!

Here they are together; aren't they just lovely?

I hope you are having a good week too.

Vreni 

Stash Busting

I'm determinant to reduce my stash; mostly so I can buy more fabric as there are so many lovely new lines on the market.

This quilts top is made with one jelly roll (Just Wing It by Moda) plus about 2 yards of white fabric. Although I have a few in my possession, it's the first time I've used a jelly roll as so far I just couldn't make myself open and unroll one. But I must say it was a joy to work with and it all came together easily.

For this quilt I've cut the strips myself. A few years ago I was very much into the shabby chic look and still have plenty of those fabrics left. I think it will go well with my mum's decor in her house. As both quilts are for Christmas presents, I better get going with quilting them. 

Have you seen the free Block of the Month Jackie from Canton Village Quilt Works is organizing? If not, take a look here.

In my quest to reduce my stash I am playing along. Here's my first block. Now I can't wait for next  month's pattern.

Thanks for stopping by.
Vreni

“Strip-tease”

..... is the theme of this year's quilt challenge, the operative word being "Strip"!!! Every year, for the past 12 years or so, Singapore's quilters come together for a challenge. It's a low key affair with a little exhibition and a luncheon where everybody gets to vote. The rules this year are that at least 75 % of the quilts had to be made with strips no wider than 2 1/2 inches.

This is what I made!

It's a Chinese Lantern, in case you are not sure, and not a Christmas bauble nor a tree  ;).

The fabrics I've used are all from my stash.  It is imperative that I make a dent into said stash as lately I've been buying fabric again like no body's business.  But that's another story altogether.

And now back to stitching. I've decided to make both my mum and my mother in law a quilt for Christmas. One top is done, now on to the next. I'll show you next week.

And here's something I came across today; nothing to do with quilting, but really interesting. Check it out!


Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

Cheers
Vreni

What should it be called?

Here's the finished quilt for the "ALQS 6". It measures  19,5 by 22 inches and is quilted heavily with various embroidery cottons.

The only thing left to do now is to find a name for it? Somehow it reminds me of the view from an airplane when flying over agricultural fields. Maybe I'll call it "A Bird's Eye View". Any better ideas?

I hope you are having a good weekend.

Vreni

Pottering about!

Today was one of those days when I had the urge to try out a couple of ideas I've been thinking about.

For the first trial I ironed a piece of fabric to a piece of freezer paper, the size of a computer paper. I used Microsoft  Word and printed labels in different colours. After removing the freezer paper I cut the piece of fabric into strips, then turned the long edges over and stitched them down. Now they are ready to be cut into individual labels.

Label folded then sewn into the binding.

For the second batch I ironed a piece of fabric to a piece of  paper backed fusible web, again, the size of a computer paper. This time I spray starched the fabric first, to make it less "floppy". With this method there's no need to turn the edges under.

Ironed on and then stitched around. 

I then played around with a couple of ideas for - do I dare to say it - Christmas cards. As I have to make around 100  pieces I thought I better get my act together, so at least I know what I'm going to do and gather all the materials needed. 

I hope you are enjoying your Sunday.

Vreni x

What I have been doing this week!

While rummaging in my UFO baskets I came across a few things I had forgotten about completely. I don't go there too often; guilt, you see!

I found a couple of "orphan" blocks, leftovers from this quilt:

This is what became of them:

a couple of humble pot holder!

 Another thing I found while digging through those baskets was a bag full of fabric strips. I cut them from scarps a couple of years ago, I think I was still living in China at the time. As my scrap basket was quite full again, I cut some more and started to sew them into blocks. This is how far I got. I still have heaps of strips left, so I will continue with making blocks until I have enough for a decent size quilt.

I'm not yet sure how I will set the blocks. I will have to play around with them a bit, I think!

I continued with quilting my little "art quilt". It does improve with lots and lots of quilting, don't you agree?

Also, if you happen to go to the Weekly Themed Quilt contest here, you'll find a quilt of mine; Marianne's Garden. Voting is open until Sunday... hint hint... ;)

Cheers
Vreni

A stab in the dark!

I've been admiring modern quilts, which seem to pop up everywhere. I really wanted to try my hand on making one too. As I have absolutely no formal or even informal art education, it really is a stab in the dark. For the colours I took my inspiration from this roll of binding.

First I made a pattern (I know, it looks like a five year old's drawing)









then I cut out all the fabric pieces













and this is how it looks sewn together. There were quite a number of Y-seams which was a learning experience on its own.

I'm going to quilt it with some embroidery floss to give it a some texture. Depending on how it turns out, I might use it for  "Another Little Quilt Swap 6" which I have signed up for again.

And as is my wont, I had to play with the leftover scraps. Although it's made completely randomly, I think I might like this one better. "Not my cup of tea" was DH comment after I showed him. Oh well, it's good to try something new and out of one's comfort zone, don't you agree?

Have a good week ahead!

Vreni