A quilt for my brother

I am suffering. Or my computer is suffering. Me suffering. Technical disaster if you ask me ( I think we might have deleted ALL my photos from this year... Please, don't let this be true!!!!!). However, I really want to share this before 2010 is over so some quick pictures of the quilt a gave to my brother (as old computer goes very very slooooooooow, and new computer is being on sick leave right now...). Here it is, and I will soon update this post with relevant facts and info on fabric used, measurements etc. And yes, he was very happy for it and I had a hard time to let go of it... my first BIG quilt. Oooh, and by the way,  my Happy New Year post will be delayed as well. So Happy New Year everyone! See you in 2011!

Ciao!

Before Christmas

I was working hard on my secret project before Christmas. Sweating away using a new quilting technique, stitching in the ditch, on this quilt for my brother and his wife to be. The fact that I in the last minute found out that they were arriving a day earlier than I had planned for (HELP!) added of course some pressure to it all.

Stitching in the ditch is when you quilt in your pieced seams. Not an easy task for a beginner like me and half way through (why didn't I do my homework better???) I sat down to surf for advice on how to make it easier. There are several movies on this topic on YouTube, many tutorials in blogland etcetera, and I realized that the clever quilter (I am right now NOT a clever quilter) uses invisible thread to hide seams that does not get hidden in "the ditch". Well, I used natural coloured thread and I will for sure use invisible thread next time as I didn't do to well in places.

After all, this is a handmade quilt (the picture shows a successful stitch in the ditch - yeah!) and once it was finished I was very VERY happy with it. Keep tuned as I am preparing a potpurri of pictures of this first BIG quilt of mine.

And by the way, hope you all had a wonderful cheerful Christmas. I did. My brother left yesterday and things are slowly going back to normal around here. As much as I love Christmas I also love when it is over. It is kind of a relief and it feels like a great opportunity to start fresh with pretty much everthing. Clean the house, start a new project, eat more light, organize things in cupboards and closets, set up new rules for an easier living, start exercising... So I am cleaning the house, and will soon post on my Thomas & Linda Quilt.

Ciao!

My friend's hidden quilt

I went to a friends house to pick up Nelly from a birthday sleep over and I got happily surprised when she showed me this quilt on top of their beds.

She said it was a wedding gift her sister gave about 10 years ago and she never really liked it. But after seeing me doing my small quilts and getting inspired by my crochet work and other handmade stuff in my house she decided to dig it out from the attic and put it to use. How can someone NOT love this quilt, I wonder...

It was found in an antique thrift store and the quilt itself looks really authentic and old to me. The fabric used looks like they are from the 20s or 30s and they all seem to be recycled from clothing, I can imagine some dresses, blouses and skirts there... Some pieces are tearing and it has probably been washed a hundred times as it is barely holding together and it is soooooooo soft and thin. And oooh so pretty!

I am so happy my friend has brought this quilt back to life in her home. It really deserves it. And maybe I can help her to mend those broken small pieces one day, although I don't know anything about how to mend an old antique quilt. But I could of course find out. And I think my friend has changed her mind about this quilt since I ooooohhhhed and aaaahhhed when she showed it to me. She says she actually likes it after all. Well, at least I asbolutely extremely just adore it. Isn't it gorgeous?

Ciao!

Bricolage for Christmas

Welcome to a crafty session in my home. In the French part of Switzerland (where we live) we call it bricolage which in Wikipedia is explained as "to make creative and resourceful use of whatever materials are at hand (regardless of their original purpose)". How lovely the art of bricolage is. All the things you can do with scraps of pretty much anything.

When I saw these clothes pin decorations over at Lilla A I just knew I had to give it a go. They are so much fun to make and suits any age from 3 up to old old old.

Lilla A has more pictures and instructions in Swedish and English.

And then we started to make these glittery lollipops. They are so pretty. I don't have a clue what I am going to do with them but I will think of something. Maybe I'll just put them on ribbons for the Christmas tree aswell. Good fun. And so pretty. And the kids LOVED making these. We put the balls (what do you call those paper balls in English?) on tooth pics, painted them with acrylic paint and dipped them in glitter while they were still wet. Easy peasy! Glitter all over the place! We all need a little sparkle in our lives don't we?

Ciao!

My Christmas table runner

A few weeks ago I started on a Christmas project as I found some fabric with Christmas prints at my local thrift store. I decided to make a stripy table runner. It took longer time than I thought. It was more difficult than I thought. More work involved than I thought. But I am pleased with the result and very pleased with the experience.

I quilted with straight lines (that ended up not being so straight after all...).

And I hand stitched the binding for the first time. Which was and wasn't a success. The result was great. I really really like it. So neat and no wobbly seams. My arm was worse off (yes I am still suffering from that %!^#$^!*%&*! "crochet elbow"!!!). And it took a long time. So, I think I will continue to do the machine binding version in the future. Since the first of advent the table runner is on my table adding some Christmas spirit to the house. I like it. Just because it is homemade which makes it extremely special.

Ciao!

Pretty Bird Pillow - VOILA! (And snow, snow, snow...)

May I introduce you to My Pretty Bird Pillow. She is made from sixteen 5 1/2 inch squares, a mix of Michael Miller's Pretty Bird fabrics and a Tilda polka dot and a lost piece I found in my stash (the floral blue one). I just looooooove the bird print.

I love her. I really truly do. I would have kept her for myself but naaah. This one is for my dear friend Carien who just had her birthday. I suddenly have a reason to make another one!!! And I also suddenly have a reason to maybe order some more of this fabric line but in the blue tones. Right now on sale at Fabric.com. Yes!

To give the patchwork more stability I put some white fabric on the back and quilted the two layers together diagonal to make a cross pattern in the squares. A quilt sandwich without the wadding kind of.

The back is made of two layers from a recycled cotton bed sheet and to spice it up I decided to quilt it with red thread and in the same way as the front to give it some character.

I used a hera marker instead of a marking pen for the first time (after reading about it over at Red Pepper Quilts),  and it worked fantastically well. I am very happy with the backing of this pillow. Simple and crisp.

And snow. It has been snowing for 24 hours non stop more or less. Jay has shovelled the front of the house three times already and there is more snow coming. But the garden and the fields are completely untouched. Isn't it just adorable?

And this picture came out pretty good I think. My Pretty Bird Pillow almost jumps out at you with all that snow in the back. Today is a lovely day.

Ciao!