Inspired by ' The 1765 Huis Doorn quilt'

Although I have a few pictures from the quilt from 'huis Doorn' and from a book by An Moonen it is still very difficult to see which fabrics were used. To make it more difficult: lots of the originals were covered in the beginning of 1900. Therefore I decided to choose my own fabrics and colours. I keep an eye on the pictures and when I can, I try to work in the colours or shades of the original.

Lots more fabric came in this week, from a friend. And being washed and dried, on my balcony.

Folded and put in the basket. Most of it comes from thrift shops (ties, blouses,fabric remnants) and were given by friends or found by me. Amazing how many silk varieties in just one basket!!!

This weekend 'm working on these blocks. Preparing during the day and sewing in the evening , in front of the tv.

This a very special piece a friend gave me. It has beautiful colours and has machine embroidery all over it.

I still have a lot of drawing to do. Some very strange blocks too. So more to come soon hopefully.
Also the best thing would be in the near future, if I could see the original from the museum. No news yet about it though. It is still in depot.

Have a nice weekend,
Groetjes
Annemieke

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

a Lion, a Unicorn, Deer and Chicken

Here are some new blocks for my 1718 coverlet reproduction. I used all kind of fabrics like wool, linen, cotton, silk/linen combination and different ways of appliqué.

This is the unicorn close up. Lots of blocks are made in pairs but this one is on its own. Like the lion in the previous photo, this animal is appliqued with a herringbone stitch.

 I used this stitch before as you can see in this photo above and wrote about it here.

This means that I have two more rows of blocks finished and can start sewing those two rows together. Hope to finish that soon. Lots of appliqué left to do, but I'm getting there!

Groetjes
Annemieke

Great find!!!

THIS is what I found yesterday, at a Dutch antique textiles fair in Maarn!!! Isn't it beautiful????

I immediately noticed it was a silk quilt, not quilted, with a thick batting (looked may be like wool) and backing at the back . It is not quilted at all, only the backing was stitched through the batting and the whole was finished with a trimming around the edge.

The grey silk fabric in between the rosettes of hexagons is special too, I think. I didn't see this colour a lot in books. There was some damage on quite a few fabrics. It has to do with the way they starched the fabric before using it. Sadly the silk breaks. I learned that from An Moonen.

The ladies of the booth were kind enough to hold it so I could take a picture.

Where is the quilt now? I didn't buy it.... I thought it would need a proper home with someone who could take care of it and preserve it for the future. Somewhere everyone could go and look at it, I thought. So this is what I did:

I saw An Moonen at another stand and asked her if she wanted to look and may be buy that quilt and she did. I hope to be able to meet her soon so I can see her antique quilts, see this beauty again and hear more about it. She was very happy and thanked me. I feel I rescued a quilt today!!! 

If you visit An Moonen's site or weblog you can write her and arrange a visit with a group and have a wonderful afternoon hearing all the history and see antique quilts.

Note: the quilt is probably from around the 1850s!

Have a nice Sunday,

Groetjes
Annemieke

(ps I know some people might say I should have bought it myself and I could have sold it for more. I thought about that later in the car home....I think I will never be a rich girl this way; but I'm still very happy!)