(Thank you all so much for the baby-quilt-love. You’ve giving me the confidence I needed to go next door and give it to them as soon as those little ones arrive home!)
So sorry to have been so absent! I felt awful for a few days and the little time I was able to actually do something else than just sit and read blogs, I spent writing an article and a “column” (dutch readers: see my website).
And… sewing! Just a little bit, but enough to finally finish the quilt I have been working on for a while now.
I love those vintage fabrics, but working with them wasn’t as easy as I hoped it would be. They were so worn out, that they stretched when I cut them. I was planning on making smaller squares, but every cut seemed to end up weird.
So I settled for bigger panels, which I think worked out fine with these bright colors.
I am very happy with the quilting. It started out as just a circle, but I started off the middle, so then I decided it would be a sun. I love it!
I’m usually a bit shy about giving quilts away (not that I’ve made that many), but I meant this to be for our neighbors. They had twins six weeks ago, two little girls. We’re all hoping they will be out of the hospital soon (they were born ten weeks early!). If I can work up the courage to give this away (that means not nagging to myself about the little mistakes and the puckering) I think it will be perfect (it’s about crib sized) for the little ones to sleep under, cuddle with and play on…
Does posting about not being able to post count as a post when you signed up for Blogtoberfest?
I’m still kind of ill, very tired and working up a bad cough. But I’ll try and do better tomorrow!
(The flu I have been catching seems to be over now. I have slept through most of the weekend and feel a lot better now.)
It was raining and there was a strong wind. But they looked so calm and untouched by what was going on around them, that my eyes (and lens) were drawn to them…
I’m cheating here, I cut yesterday’s post in half. Today is far from sunny.
Theo came home very sick this week (he was on a business trip in Turkey) and I think I’m next, so I hope I will be able to post a little something the next few days.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Yesterday I decided I needed a bit more therapy. So I visited one of my favorite thrift stores (well, actually they all are). I wasn’t sure what I was looking for, had to ignore the yarn and needles and was just about to leave unsatisfied when I spotted something bright and funny. This little green suitcase was hiding under a table, and I loved it instantly.
When I pulled it out, I felt it was heavier than it should be. So I opened it. And then I loved it even more, because it was filled to the brim with embroidery stuff. So of course I brought it home with me.
I had a great time sorting through it all. There was a little note that said: “finished embroidery, not yet framed”. And there was a lot of that indeed. The picture below doesn’t show all of it.
But there was also a lot of thread, a hoop, some little frames, two small preprinted canvases with matching thread, and two pieces of linen with flowers printed on it (a pillowcase and a small table cloth).
I picture an elderly lady making all these things. There are little designs, probably meant to make cards with, but also bigger ones. Some of them have the tiniest stitches I have ever seen. There is so much crafty goodness in that suitcase. I feel sad for the way it has been thrown out, I doubt that lady did it herself. But I’m glad I found it. I am going to save most of this. I already have some ideas, using the cute little bears for a babyquilt, make a few wall hangings with the bigger canvases. There is a cute little picture of a sewing machine that I’m going to use myself (I need to make covers for my sewing machines and this will be just a perfect little extra touch) and … well, you get it. Lots of ideas. If only I could find time to sew more often!
And no, the cat did not get to sleep there and ruin it all, I’m not going to let all that handy work going to waste.
I can only hope someone will do that for me too, someday.
Thank you all so much for the comments on yesterday’s post! This certainly gives me a boost to make more quilts!
Since I can’t knit anymore, and I’m not yet up to quilting by hand, I thought I’d try some embroidery. (I’m left handed, so the only thing my poor right hand has to do is hold on to the hoop). Somehow filling up that pretty sewing basket with the thread I have been collecting at thrift shops lt was just what I needed to start. Those colors are so inspirational!
I do have some experience with embroidery, but nothing like this. I did some chicken scratch when I was eight (at school – hated it) and some cross stitch when I was about eighteen (very ambitious – big preprinted canvas – never finished – threw it out a few years ago – regret that now ofcourse), but I never really “got” it. I have been admiring the embroidery I keep seeing on the internet though, especially the type of embroidering that I think is like drawing and painting with thread.
So I got me a book from the library, practiced a bit with chain stitching. I tried some other stitches, thinking I could make a sampler but I got bored with that pretty soon. And than I just started doodling.
Flowers. Of course. I take pictures of flowers, I draw flowers (and trees) and now I stitch flowers. I know it’s not much, I just made things up as I went. I’m also not sure yet if I’m going to expand it (that fabric is long and narrow, I could make a table runner or something)or just keep it this way. But I do like it. I think I will be doodling with thread a lot from now on!
Have you heard about this? It’s great. An online quilt festival. Not good for my attempt to spent less time at the computer. Now I’m visiting blogtoberfest participants and all these wonderfull quilters! But both are wonderful lists of blogs to be discovered in the next days, weeks, or even months.
I have been hesitating to enter the quilt festival. The links I have been visiting are both inspiring and intimidating. I have made only four quilts so far and none of them is very sophisticated. I would love to get over the being intimidated part, that is keeping me from making another one, especially since I have so many cute fabrics to play with now. But I’ll save that for another post.
My entry for the quilt festival is the quilt that I have slept under every night since I finished it. It brings a smile to my face every time I make the bed. Long time readers of my blog surely recognize it, since it took me so long to finish it. All fabrics are thrifted pillowcases, the border, binding and back are thrifted sheets. Although making it was a long journey with lots of insecurity about being able to pull it off, it was worth it. And now I think I’m going to kick myself to get up to that sewing room and start making another one!
