Hitting the ground running!

After missing our connecting flight and an unplanned 24 hours in Doha, we are now home again. We had a lovely time in Switzerland over Christmas as well as a quick side trip to Malta with the kids. I was pleased to see how well mum had settled into her "assisted living home" and how happy she is there. I can't tell you what a huge relieve that is! It was a busy time with clearing some of mum's house, entertaining the whole family over Christmas and visiting with friends but somehow it was just enjoyable. And I loved to be in the fresh winter air, although there was no snow, at least not where we were.

When I got home I had exactly one day to prepare for the Kaffe Fassett lecture and workshop I had signed up for. Both were very interesting, although my jet lagged brain was pushed to its limits!

The quilt we were working on is from his book Quilt Grandeur and is called Shadow Pinwheel. This is the original from the book

And this is my version. I wanted it to be completely different and since I had planned to make a blue and brown quilt for a while, I thought this would be the ideal opportunity. Not as easy as you might think to work while Kaffe and Brandon were "breathing down our necks"!

Here's what Kaffe hat to say to my design attempt:

And a few more examples from my class mates:

Now it's back to my sewing room. Although I had brought lots of hand sewing I didn't make one stitch while I was away. And I had such good intentions. 

Cheers

Vreni x

My crafty year in pictures

Here's to a Happy and crafty New Year! Best wishes to everyone and thanks for all your support and encouragements during this past year!
Cheers
Vreni xx

Merry Christmas

Christmas Market in Basel, Switzerland

With best wishes for a wonderful Christmas. 

Vreni

One more handmade gift

After making the small hoop Christmas ornaments, it occurred to me that I could make mum a bigger version of her childhood home, so she can hang it up all year round. This is a 8 inch hoop, compared with the 4 inch hoop I used before.

It's a bit more detailed than the small one, which I'm going to give to my favorite aunt who still lives on the family farm. 

Now no more dilly dallying in my sewing room as I have to start packing. We're going to spend Christmas in Switzerland this year and I can't tell you how much I look forward to some crisp winter air and with any luck, maybe even a white Christmas. It's funny really, after all these years of living abroad, Christmas time I long to be "home". Or in other words; there's no place like home for the Holidays. Don't you agree?

Cheers

Vreni 

Ticking off the list!

Maybe you remember, at the end of August I made a list of things I wanted to accomplish before the end of the year. Let's see how far I got:

1. Finish hand quilting Big Bloom Quilt: tick

I think this must be my very first quilt which is made entirely by hand; hand pieced and hand quilted. It feels very soft and I'm going to give it to my mum for Christmas. I hope she'll like it. 

2. Finish Winter Quilt: tick

3. Make eight blocks for my Camelot quilt: tick

Block 8

and the first eight blocks together. 

4. Make a few Christmas presents: tick, tick and tick!

5. Machine quilt one quilt top; sorry, that didn't happen. 

Well, all in all I'm quite pleased that I was able to do most of the tasks I set myself. The list has definitely helped to keep me on track. 

I leave you with a picture of a  little Christmas decoration I've made. I've seen something similar on Pinterest and tried to copy it. The stick is actually a long piece of cinnamon.

I hope you are enjoying the season!

Vreni x

Hasenbach Challenge

My Winter quilt I sewed as part of the Hasenbach challenge is finished. I encounter a small problem when I sprayed the quilt with water to remove the marking pen lines and the red sashing started to bleed all over the quilt. I bundled  the quilt, without the binding, into the washing machine with a couple of color catches and I was relieved to see that it came out perfect. Pew!!!!

Click here to see more finished quilts, tops and new blocks.

Have a happy weekend.

Vreni xx

Felting Workshop

It's always interesting to try something new. This week I had the opportunity to try my hand on felting. Actually, it started a couple of weeks ago, when we made the actual felt as well as the little felt balls and yesterday we used them to make this Santa. Not as easy as I thought and quite time consuming . Everything is sewn by hand and the trims on Santa's coat are needle felted as well as the beard. The material is pure merino wool, very soft and lovely to work with.

 It starts to look like Christmas!

Cheers
Vreni x