Sunday, December 27, 2020

Dark And Light aka A Home For All // 5 and last !

I'm happy I also was able to finish this quilt. It's nice to end the year with completed work and make room for new beginnings.

While Hugs And Kisses has been (and still is) my companion helping me process these pandemic times, Dark And Light aka A Home For All has been created while processing thoughts and feelings related to injustice, racism, violence, poverty, migration and flight. Themes unfortunately not just relevant to 2020 but more predominant than ever. Hopes that the world may become a better place battered once again. What or whom am I waiting for?

Making this quilt has been a strange almost weird experience. The improvised log cabins were an easy, mindless, joyful sewing while the thinking and sometimes sheer incredulity about humankind were and still are heavy and exasperating.

Dark and light for our different skin colors. Log cabins for homes that everyone should have.
180 x 119 cm.









Monday, December 21, 2020

Hugs And Kisses // 5 and last !

It's all finished. What can I say, I'm in love! For so many reasons.

I started this quilt last December with certain expectations about what the next months were going to bring. We all know, that 2020 had a total different plan for us ahead. This quilt has been my companion during this often incomprehensible time giving me many occasions to calm down during the meditative hand sewing process. It is soaked with my feelings and thoughts, has become a devoted friend and done its name more than justice since the start. Aren't these colors just some hugs and kisses? I'm keeping this quilt to myself. It will continue to be kind to me.

Pieced (epp) and quilted by hand, measuring 160 x 125 cm.

A load of love to be wrapped into.














Friday, December 11, 2020

Dark And Light aka A Home For All // 4

Also made progress with this quilt. Only a little bit left and I'll have a second finished quilt to remind me of this year that has brought many challenges the world and I didn't need but also my first exhibit





Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Hugs And Kisses // 4

Half a year since I last posted about this quilt in progress. And one whole year has gone by since I started to work on this quilt. It's only missing the label and it will be all done. December a year ago! With no clue what the new year was going to bring. So many plans changed or cancelled since. And during all this time the possibility to pick up this hand sewing project. To find some calm and tenderness, some peace of mind. I love all my quilts but this one is special. It's become a testimony of this strange 2020.

Here are some last process pictures. I've stitched the label and only need to sew it to the back. Then I hope to be able to take some pictures when these grey days get a bit better light.










Tuesday, December 1, 2020

Dark And Light aka A Home For All // 3

Spent the last week working on this quilt and I'm almost done quilting it. Had a bit a hard time deciding on the quilting pattern and finally chose to echo quilt the log cabins and add straight lines to the top and bottom part. Will probably add some hand quilting touches to the fire places in the cabins.







Tuesday, November 24, 2020

Luca // 4 and last !

Luca is all done and on its way to its recipient. Fingers crossed it will get there safe and sound. It is always special to design a quilt for somebody specific. Thinking what kind of colors or prints may be liked. What size it should have to be useful and how to quilt it to make it snuggly. During the hours of sewing I think of the person it is destined for and memories of shared moments come to mind. This quilt is going to a nephew living far away. I held him on my arms as a baby and now that he is a grown up man he can wrap himself up in this quilt and maybe feel some of the love that I put into it.

This has been my 7th disappearing nine patch variation and I'm quite happy with the result. Again that simple block construction lead to a complete different look thanks to the decisions made in color and fabric choices and block layout. As it is often said, the possibilities are endless.

Luca measures about 195 x 145 cm.





I don't know why the green color looks so different in these pictures. The pictures above show it better.







Friday, October 30, 2020

Luca // 3

And this is finally the layout that I picked. And the more I look at it the more I'm convinced to have taken a very good decision.

I chain pieced the top, joining first one column after the other from left to right without never cutting threads, then pressing all the seams in alternating direction and finally joining all the rows. I love this technique, it came to me all by itself some years ago while picking the blocks from the design wall next to my sewing machine.






Isn't it just gorgeous? I've ordered some backing fabric and can't wait for it to arrive!


Thursday, October 29, 2020

Luca // 2

I've been working on the design wall for quite a while until I found the layout that convinced me. This process is a lot of fun but also a difficult one as there are always so many different options making it hard to pick one. Some are obvious drop outs, others it's harder to part with. Then there are lots of minor changes to consider. The more time I have the more time I take with making a decision. Which again can be good or bad as sometimes there just isn't right or wrong and I can get lost in details. Anyways, I'm glad I've meanwhile found my preferred one.

The ones I'm sharing today are all rejected ones.










Tomorrow I'll show you what I picked and how it looks all sewn together.


Tuesday, October 20, 2020

Luca // 1

Five years ago I started the tradition of sewing family members a quilt as a gift for a special birthday. 

I decided at the time that I would set myself the challenge of sticking to the disappearing ninepatch pattern trying to come up with as many variations as I could think of.

I have completed six quilts since, these being
Cathe 2015, Gerry 2016, Ariel 2016, Danbar 2017, Nelly 2018, and Otiv 2019.

Recently I've started on my 7th and for the first time I'm late as the birthday was already last week. As we all know this year 2020 is a strange one and many plans and intentions had to be adjusted or postponed. Nevertheless, I'm happy I've finally gotten to it. It's going to be a gift for a young man and I'm very excited about my fabric choices. I have the feeling he is going to love it. At least, it's what I'm hoping for. Since I don't expect him to read my blog or checking in on my Instagram feed I feel safe to sharing some work in progress pictures.








All the ninepatches are sewn and cut into their four quarters. Now the fun part of arranging and shifting around until I find a pleasing layout can start.