Summer 2017 catch up

I started to work on my 70's tulip quilt, which I mentioned here  .All the applique is down but I want to embroider over it, so work on this one will continue.

On holiday in June, I started this kaleidoscope quilt. Not as easy as it seems. I really had to pay attention to what colours (and shades) to pick. 

Somewhere in between projects I made this top with the big churn dash blocks. I loved working with big blocks for a change. I used thrift shop shirts, new quilt fabric, old French fabric, a handkerchief and some 80's fabric.

I started to embroider from this book by Cecile Franconi. All of the projects are not big, easy to finish in a couple of days. And the more I practice the more I learn. Fun to learn new things!

This is a card I embroidered for a good friend. There is no pattern in the book, but I just thought to give it a go and learn on the way.

Another good friend send me lots of silk pieces for a new exciting project, all the way from the USA. 

After washing and ironing it looked like this.

With the help of my husband, I draw blocks, mostly on the computer, after a quilt from 1765,  in possession of Huis Doorn (the Netherlands) but once made in the UK.  Sadly the quilt is in a depot. I hope to see it once.
There is a picture of it in this book by An Moonen on page number 124 and 125.

I enjoyed making a replica of the 1718 quilt ( York, UK). Since the 1765 quilt from Huis Doorn reminded me of the 1718 quilt I started thinking of making another replica. I hope to show you more blocks soon. I'm still collecting silks, which is not that easy, but fun. It will be my first silk quilt.

Groetjes
Annemieke

Old and used embroidery

Over a couple of weeks I found some embroidery in the thrift shops. I always look for embroidered table cloth or samplers. It gets harder but sometimes I'm lucky. This one is embroidered by hand. There are some stains on this one but I can use the good parts someday.

 This small tablecloth is machine embroidered but I like the chickens.

 A very soft and well used table cloth with lovely faded flowers.

 A unusual sampler in just a few colours: light and dark green, black, red and white. To see the white (on white) embroidery you really must look up close. There are lots of initials too but I don't see a date, can you see one?

 These two fabric covered boxes went home with me too. I can always use some extra storage....

See how busy it sometimes is when I look from our balcony onto the water? Nice view isn't it? Sometimes those bigger boats stop and tourists come on shore and do some bike trails here. Mostly American and Japanese tourists. We recognize them because they all ride the same bikes and wear helmets which most Dutch people here don't .

 And this is at our balcony on the other side....new plants in pot like this geranium without flowers only leaves....

 My little fountain.....fun to have a fountain on a balcony!

And Lizzy our little dachshund enjoying the sun. She always knows where to look for a sunny spot.

Have a nice and creative day,

Groetjes
Annemieke
 

Embroidering and quilting in the sun

Still working on this collection of orphanage and/or abandoned blocks.

I'm embroidering over the seems in red and écru

and quilting in bigger stitches with Week dye works thread .

Lizzy is joining me, she loves sunbathing

And these cathedral windows (called 'ramen lappen' in Dutch by Supergoof from whom I learned to make this), made from Japanese fabrics on a cotton 80%/linen 20%  fabric, are growing slowly. A nice quilt to work on while traveling or waiting.

Have a nice weekend,

Groetjes
Annemieke

Old embroidery and fun quilt fabrics

 

This is the start of a new quilt. The top is sewn together.

 The work in progress: I made just simple square blocks of 12cm by 12cm. I chose this size because of the embroidery blocks I wanted to use.

 Like this one with the bunnies in the dunes. All the embroidery blocks are sceneries from my country: The Netherlands. I found this embroidery at the thriftstore (we call it  'kringloopwinkel' ).

 There were exactly 8 embroidery pieces, so I used them all. Who knows who made them ? That is what I think when I take it home. The work is done very neatly. I always think it is a bit sad if such nice work ends up in a thrift store. Well good for me though..I love working with this..

 When it is finished it will fit on this table.

 And another picture, just because I'm so happy with it how it turned out. It took me a whole evening to design everything because I didn't have enough of some fabrics, so I had to start over a few times.

 I like the crazy, pink and yellow horses from Tula Pink.  And the big flowers from the Anna Maria Horner fabric, it matches the checker fabrics, big and small, very well.

  This is one, with the owls, is of my favorite fabric!

 Photo from a distance....and I put fabric on the back ( so called 'toile de beurre' in French and may be 'cheescloth'  in English?)  so I can embroider over the top. This is a bit of an  experiment!!

 I bought embroidery stuff during my holiday in France. Now I only need the courage and a plan to start to embroider.

I read this book: The last Runaway' by Tracy Chevalier. Such a nice book, very well written, about a young woman emigrating to America in the 19th century, about her life,  a lot of history of daily life and slavery and... quilts! So I couldn't ask more and  I will look for other books by Tracy Chevalier.



Have a good weekend,

Groetjes
Annemieke

What makes me happy today

De tekst in het hart op het rode velour, iets voor mij om te onthouden:

La vie est la traversée d ún pont très étroit l'esentiel est de ne pas avoir peur

(Life is crossing a very narrow bridge the key is not to be afraid)

Uit het boek van Lea stansal: Le monde de Léa, patwork & Broderies,  zou ik alles wel kunnen maken.  Dit hart hierboven is zo'n voorbeeld. Het borduurwerk, de tekst en rand er om heen...mooi en een beetje gek tegelijk.

From the boek : Le monde de Léa, patwork & broderie. I could make all of the patterns. Everything is different, a bit crazy but beautiful. I love the embroidery on the heart, the rufles and ofcourse the text.

Deze quilt staat hier . Hij is van Loretta Bennet (Gee's Bend). Ook op mijn lijstje om zoiets nog eens te maken. Zonder patroon, werken op gevoel. Ik kan er naar blijven kijken :)

This quilt is here  It is made by Loretta Bennet ( Gee's Bend). It is on my list to make one day, without a pattern just work on intuition. I can keep on looking at it:) 

 Dit is een van mijn 'home made' beertjes, het is mijn eigen patroon. Een beetje apart een rode beer met een wit eendje, maar daarom wel een van mijn favouriete beren.

This is one of my 'home made'  bears, my own pattern. A bit weird: a red bear with a little white duck, but that is probably why I like him.

Tijdens een fietsrondje met de hondjes in het fietskarretje zagen we de berm vol in bloei met de Hommel molen langs de ringvaart, er midden in.

I made a trip by bike and my small dog trailer while we saw all those plants flowering around the 'Hommel mill'  (Hommel is the name of the mill, it means bumblebee).

Pioenrozen: om nooit genoeg van te krijgen!!! Ik vind ze ieder jaar weer een verassing.  Als de zon erop staat pak ik gauw mijn foto toestel.

Peonies: One of my favorite flowers, they surprise me every year. When the sun starts shining on the flowers I get out my camera as quick as I can.

Een goed begin van de week,

Have a good start of the week,


Groetjes
Annemieke

Pour lámour du fil, Nantes 2014 and a finish

Enkele foto's uit Nantes:

Some photo's from the show in Nantes:

Antieke quilts:

Antique quilts:

 Quilts van Carolyn Konig

En hier is Carolyn Konig. Haar nieuwe boek heb ik al besteld voor ik naar Nantes ging. Haar quilts zijn minitueus nagemaakt van de originele antieke quilts. Erg aardige vrouw die alles rustig beantwoorde en bevlogen vertelde over haar werk.

Here she is. I ordered her book in advance before I knew I was going to Nantes. Most of her quilts are self-made copies of very old antique quilts. She told me she uses a magnifier glass to see all the details. She is a very nice lady with lots of patience to answer all the questions.

Hieronder de quilts van Akiko Ike, een Japanse dame. Erg leuk en 'nieuw' om te zien. Alles wordt gemaakt van gebruikte stoffen.

Below: the quilts of Akiko Ike, a Japanese lady. Very nice and 'new' work, all made of reused fabrics.

 Akiko Ike zelf aan het werk. Ze spreekt alleen Japans,dus met haar praten kan niet. Er was wel een aardige Franse dame die hielp en waar ik even mee sprak. Zij sprak Frans Engels en Japans.

Akiko working, she only speaks Japanes but gets a lot of help.

 De stoffen worden op een ondergrond, een soort stramien, genaaid. In  het 100ste nummer van Quiltmania staat een leuke reportage over haar.

The fabrics are sewn on a layer. You can read all about her in the Quiltmania number 100.

 Ik kocht dit stapeltje kleine strookjes (alemaal gebruikt) bij Akiko Ike.

This is a little pile of fabrics which I bought from Akiko Ike.

 Deze antieke stoffen kocht ik ergens anders, sorry haar naam even vergeten.

And these old fabrics I bought from another stand, sorry forgot her name.

Kleine quilts, tafareetjes meestal uit Parijs, gemaakt door Martine Apaolaza, hier eentje te zien op een kaart. Bijzonder gedetailleerd en leuk om te zien.

Little quilts, scenes from Paris, made by Martine Apaolaza, here you see one on a card. Everything is very detailed and fun to see.

 Wollen stoffen uit Donegal in nieuwe lichte tinten.

Woolen fabrics from Donegal in new light colours.

Veel Franse stands met borduurmaterialen. Ook een aantal Nederlandse, Japanse,  Engelse, Italiaanse, Finse en vast nog meer die ik nog niet noemde. Je kan hier makkelijk meer dan één dag naar toe. Erg indrukwekkend en veelzijdig.

Lots of embroidery stands. Also stands from outside France from all  over the world. You can easily go more than one day, impressive and versitile.

 Bij Facilecécile kocht ik deze kit, waarvan ik zo snel mogelijk dit mapje maakte. De stoffen, het borduurmateriaal en de beschrijving zaten in het pakketje. De beschrijving was niet zo uitgebreid en wat onduidelijk maar het is toch gelukt.

I bought this kit at Facilecécile and made it as soon as I could. The desription was not that clear but I managed it.

In het echt is het mapje groener en het rode randje iets minder fel. Super leuk om te maken en hij voelt ook lekker aan, niet onbelangrijk toch? En dan het gehaakte randje aan de stof vast....ik moest zelf uitpuzzelen hoe dat moest, maar het resultaat is zo gaaf. Dat ga ik vast meer gebruiken!!

The colours are slightly different in real life (greener and less bright red) Lovely to make and it feels very nice too, important don't you think? To crochet a border to the fabric was new to me and I love it. I will defenitely use it again!!

Voor mooie foto's, ook detailfoto's, van de tentoonstelling kan je ook een kijkje nemen bij Facilcécile ( in een interview in Quiltmania nummer 100 verteld ze dat ze meer dan 5000 volgers heeft!)

For lots of beautiful pictures go to Facilcécile (more than 5000 followers!)as well.

Nog een gezellige middag op deze winderige (maar 11 graden hier!) mei-dag,

Have a nice day on this very windy (11 degrees C!!) may day here,

Groetjes
Annemieke