A great day out: Applique workshop and antique quilts

Last Saturday I was finally able to visit  Dorry from the quilt shop that moved to Overloon: Quilt it & Dotty : BEAUTIFUL!!! Lots of atmosphere, light, large and many fabric.

The first reason to go all the way over there was to join a workshop given by Dawn . She is a very talented lady who does a lot of things for example: collecting antique quilts and other antique quilting items. She, together with her daughter, makes, and sells patterns (See her patterns here)  made from those antique quilts and also teaches.
We were taught an applique technique called: back basting applique. This was very clear and could come in very handy for me in the near future...

I already finished mine today!!!  There was no more daylight for the photo, but I couldn't wait showing it here;) The fabrics are a bit light, not so much contrast but I'm okay with that.

Dawn showed some of her antique quilts in the afternoon....Every one was in Aaahhhh every time she unfolded one.....so beautiful and fragile too. She told lots of history too.

I was enjoying it so much....Do you see here every shape is a bit different? They had to improvise a lot back than. They didn't have the patterns we are able to buy today....well choosing one to make nowadays is almost giving me sleepless nights but that is a different problem.

This one was very nice too, I almost bought this pattern...but I already bought the Shenandoah botanical quilt pattern.
(also see the button on the right on my weblog too) and hope to start working on that one soon.

This is a detail of an antique quilt with embroidery, quite unusual for the 19th century, Dawn told us.

This is a 'Noah and Matilda' quilt top replica, Dawn made. Also very beautiful.....

Dawn said, it is still possible to find old quilt tops in thrift stores in the USA. We, quilters here, are all dreaming of finding such tops!

  And I was (and still am) in love with Dorry's kittens, six in total, so sweet.

I was able to purchase fabric for my Lizzy BOM project (see the Lizzy quilt in Dorry's shop in the photo above) for the sashings and cornerstones. And of course some fat quarters because they were so nice, I couldn't resist them...
It was a great day thanks to Dawn our teacher, Dorry, owner of the shop and giving us the hospitality and such nice drinks and food during the day. Also Dorry's Mum who helped her where she could.
Thank you all!!!

Groetjes

Annemieke

 

New Teddy bears to show

Just an impression of the new teddy bears who were created during the teddy bear workshops this autumn. This one is being made by Hanneke.

 And this little fellow is being made by Anja and waiting to be filled.

Besides the hard work of making the bears, there is always a lot to talk and laugh. Hanneke and Anja working at a table full of equipment and teddy bear parts.

Here is the result of two days work (and even some homework done by the ladies):
Anja's bear on the left and Hanneke's bear on the right. Cute aren't they?

The next teddy bear workshop was soon after the previous one and here Corine is sewing hers on one of my Singer featherweights.

Lucy is working hard on her teddy bear too and

 there is always time to talk, make pictures and enjoy the day.

 Almost done filling....

And here is the result of these two days (and homework) Teddy bear workshop:
The yellow one on the left is made by Corine and the one on the right is made by Lucy. If you click on her name you see more pictures of her bear with his lovely, new knitted pants.

Thank you ladies for taking part in the teddy bear workshops and I'm very proud of you having made such lovely teddy bears!

Groetjes

Annemieke

Busy week...Supergoof workshop and Bear tea

Als een klein wondertje had ik vrijdag na een paar uur deze raampjes gelapt. Ingrid (Supergoof) gaf deze workshop in de winkel van Dorry,  Quilt it en Dotty. Ingrid legt alles héél rustig uit, echt met engelen geduld! Je kan deze methode dus helemaal met de hand doen en zonder te strijken, want zo werkt Ingrid altijd. Met je beentjes op de bank een hele quilt maken dat lijkt me wel wat :)

It alomost felt like a little miracle to have made these tiny cathedral windows in a few hours. Ingrid (alias Supergoof) taught this during a class in the Quilt it & Dotty quiltshop. She explained it all with a lot of patience. We only used thread, needle and scissors, all made by hand and no ironing at all, Ingrid's method . This way you can make a whole quilt sitting with your legs up on the sofa!

Zie je wat klein ze zijn zo naast het haakwerk (wat langzaam groeit zo dooe al die afleiding). Ik had niet gedacht dat ik er zo verwonderd over zou zijn. Je begint namelijk met platte lapjes en maakt er een soort 3D werkje van, alleen met een naald en draad, bijzonder toch?
Dank je Ingrid voor de SUPER workshop!!!!!

See how small the windows are? I was surprised by this work. Just starting with some fabric and making a kind of 3D work in the end, special isn't it? Thanks Ingrid for this SUPER class!!!!

Nog iets héél bijzonders: ik heb Margootje (teckeltje van 12 wk) van Ingrid ontmoet....SUPERLIEF. Ik ben er helemaal van gesmolten en denk nog steeds aan haar. Ik maakte nog meer foto's maar Margootje is zo snel als het licht zeg maar, alles beweegt aan haar, met als gevolg dat de rest niet scherp is.

And very special too: I met Margootje (dachshund, 12 wk) Ingrids dog....so SWEET. I totally fell in love with her. My other pictures were not good, Margootje is fast as lighting ;)

 Heerlijke lunch verzorgt door Dorry met spinaziesoep en broodjes (en we hadden al koffie met huisjescake op:). Ik voelde me er helemaal thuis. 's Middags nog een mini trunkshow van Ingrid's quilts met kleine stukjes in de huiskamer van Dorry.

Dorry made us a wonderful lunch, after having had coffee with cake. In the afternoon Ingrid showed some of her  quilts with tiny pieces.

Thuis begon ik aan meer raampjesondergrond maar dan van een andere stof. De eerste stof is grof geweven en daar durf ik niet een grotere lap (weet nog niet hoe groot tie wordt) van te gaan maken.

Coming home I started with more cathedral windows but chose a different fabric to start with. The other one was a little bit to loosely woven.

 Met mijn teckeltjes op de bank als gezelschap.

Good company with my dachshunds on the sofa.

Ook in deze week ging ik naar een 'bear high tea'bij Heidi's.  Heidi Wilma. deden een paar weken geleden bij mij een teddy bear workshop . Heidi had veel werk gemaakt van al het lekkere eten en het zag er prachtig uit. Ik heb er maar een foto (nam een camera mee die ik niet goed ken;( Gelukkig maakte Heidi er hier een héél leuk verslag van met erg mooie foto's 

Earlier this week my bear and me went to a 'bear tea' at Heidi's place. Heidi en Wilma. took a teddy bear workshop at my place a couple of weeks ago. Heidi did a wonderful job making lots of nice things to eat. I also had a great time seeing all the things she made (and that is a lot I can tell you!). Unfortunately only one photo was oke (Yes I did use a camera this week I'm not used too so it didn't work out well) but Heidi wrote a very nice post about our time together with lots of beautiful pictures.

Heidi maakte voor  Wilma en mij een beker onderzetter. Hij is zelfs geborduurd en gequilt. Dank je wel Heidi voor alles en het cadeautje.

 She made me and Wilma a very nice mug rug, all embroderied and quilted as well. Thanks Heidi!!!

Groetjes allemaal en een hele fijne week
Annemieke

Teddy bear workshop

In two days I teached two ladies: Wilma  en Heidi  how to make a teddy bear.  The pattern we used is from my own teddy bear on the left. Everything was ready: all the materials, tools, pattern, coffee and cake.

They brought a special giant cooky from Spakenburg, the writing says in Dutch: 'Hurray the 4th of March,  bear day'. So lovely and very tasty. It was a bit funny though because it was February not March, but never mind, it tasted great anyway!

First we started choosing the fabric, not easy because they were all different. I dyed the teddy bear fabric in different colours and made it look old already.Then they started tracing the pattern, cutting the pieces and pinning everything together.

My two Singer Featherweights came in handy. I like to sew some parts of my teddy bears on the featherweight, it is strong and easy to clean. Some parts had to be done by hand.
Wilma en Heidi did some homework too.

On the second day the parts were put together, eyes put in. Here Wilma's teddy bear without stuffing.

Heidi's teddy bear is also patiently waiting to be stuffed.

Closing the back..

Stuffing the back..

Still with no nose, but already two different characters.

Heidi's happy teddy bear, ready!!

Wilma's teddy bear, a bit shy but friendly and finished too!

In the sun, posing for all our camera's.

Everything is packed after two very nice days with two very talented students!!! They worked very hard. We were all happy with the results!!

Ready to go home and Heidi's teddy bear was looking out of this bag to see where he was going...

And so is Wilma's....we will meet again soon;)

The pattern was designed by me, a 'Annemiekebears pattern'. I used to make lots of teddy bears and sell them on teddy bear shows a couple of years ago. I still like to make them once in a while. I'll show it here when a new teddy bear is 'born'. May be there will be a new teddy bear generation in the coming years!

For tools and supplies in the Netherlands I usually go to Berenatelier Tierlantijntje (click for their webshop)

P.S.  Heidi made a nice post on the workshop too, you can find it here

Have a good weekend,

Groetjes

Annemieke

Eentje klaar en nog meer te gaan...

 

 Dit is de sterrenquilt uit mijn vorige berichtje maar nu helemaal klaar! Alle kleine blokjes komen dus uit een blokkenruil en de grotere blokken zocht ik er zelf bij uit  mijn voorraad en resten. Het was tijdens het naaien wel een kunst om alles op de goede plek te houden.

My Starquilt made from blocks from a BlockSwap is finished. I showed the top in my previous post. It was a bit of a challenge to keep the pieces in the right place while I was sewing.Every bigger piece of fabric has its own place.

 

En het labeltje met de maat van de quilt: 45" bij 44".

And this is the label with the measerments: 45"by 44".

Op het weblog van  de Sampler schreef ik hier al een stukje over. Deze blokken leer je maken tijdens een workshop: Midnight fireworks van Willyne Hammerstein ( Uit haar boek: Millefiori  Quilts). Alle middenstukken zijn gemaakt van Nederlandse boeren zakdoeken.

I wrote earlier on the weblog of the quiltshop the Sampler a little bit about this project. I did follow a workshop from Willyne Hammerstein: Midnight Fireworks (from her book: Millefiori Quilts). All the stars in the middle are made from handkerchiefs (knonw as farmers handkerchiefs here in Holland).

De zakdoeken zijn nooit helemaal strak symmetrisch dus het blijft een beetje een verassing hoe de sterren eruit gaan zien. Ik heb er nu 4 af. Er komen er vast nog meer :)

The prints on the handkerchiefs are not exactly symmetrical so it is a little bit of a surprise how it will work out. I made four of them and probably will make more:)

Deze blauwe top met halve hexagons is ook al een beetje gegroeid. ALs ik er links en rechts nog een baan langs maak past hij op deze poef, dan is hij ongeveer 1.5 m bij 1.5 m. De kartonnetjes zijn best groot waardoor dit niet zo lekker werkt. Als ik de blokken teveel buig 'ploppen' de kartonnetjes eruit. Maar met het resultaat ben ik wel blij. Het is een leuk blok om naar te kijken.

This blue top has grown. If I make two more rows on the sides it will fit.( see picture). To work with those big paperpieces is not the easiest. They go out of the fabric very easy. But I like the result and the pattern is fun to watch.

Vandaag heb ik mandjes gemaakt. Allemaal anders. Het was een project wat goed verstopt lag. Mijn dochter vroeg waarom ik die niet afmaakte. En zodoende is hij weer tevoorschijn gekomen. Alle mandjes zijn anders en dat past wel goed bij me. Ik heb niet zoveel geduld voor veel dezelfde blokken.

Today I made more baskets. My daughter encouraged me to go on with this quilt. It was burried in  a drawer. Now I'm back on this, I like it again.  I don't have much patience to make a lot of the same blocks, so this is perfect for me.

Fijne avond allemaal,

Have a nice evening,

groetjes
Annemieke