Recollections of an arts and crafts fair

Huuuh, it´s over but I´m still thinking about it: even with all my nervousness, cold weather and wind it´s been a great experience. I presented my quilts for the first time to the public and one which is not as familiar with quilts or patchwork as in America, England etc. 

I sold one of my dearest and most favourite quilts and hope that it will be as dear to the new owner as it´s been to me. Parting with a quilt that you have spent a lot of time making, pouring in so many good vibes and feelings is not easy. If someone told me that before I would not have believed it up front. But now I know.

The most rewarding thing for the day were all the compliments that we got from the people walking by, seeing, touching and feeling the quilts. Some were really amazed about the quilts, some made compliments that made me smile and grin for hours (I still do that when I recollect that day).

All in all it was a great day with my Mum, we met new friends and I got an invitation to take part at a Christmas fair in December. For that I am now going to spend a lot of time preparing, sewing, quilting. 

But a lot of time will also go into another project that I will post more in the coming weeks. 

Here´s my Mum

 My Mum and me, freezing but having fun!

Kunsthandwerksmarkt Leoben

Every day is filled with last minute works for the upcoming Kunsthandwerksmarkt in Leoben (craft fair).

 

For me it´s the first time to have a booth (white tent 3x3 metres) and to sell my crafts to the public. So I am pretty nervous about it as quilts and patchwork are not a very known craft here, really.

 

I know there are hundreds of talented quilters and textile artists and many small quilt guilds in Austria but when you ask people around you (like at your working place, people in public) there are not a lot that know this craft.

 

That´s why I am working on a few decorative things to explain quilts and patchwork, the cutting, sewing, quilting and fun about it.

 

But I am also really looking forward to this fair and to have fun at showing people my quilts and patchwork things.

 

Maybe I will see you there this Friday?

 

 

Long-arm quilted hexagons and "Where is Hugo"?

After making a huge hexagon quilt for a customer I had hundreds of scraps (mostly shirt fabrics) and thought "well, why not make another big one?" But for this one I took my time, almost 2 years. Whenever I was travelling I took a box full of hexies with me and during 2 winters I sewed them in the morning at home because with time it became so big (165 x 215 cm) that I could not sew on it anywhere else. 

But to hand-quilt it I did not have the time so I sent it together with the Autumn Leaves quilt to Jana in Prague the get them longarm-quilted. This week I got them back - see for yourself, I am very happy with them!

You´re probably wondering about the "Where is Hugo" in the post-title, well I have one hexagon in the quilt showing Hugo, can you find him?

I did not want the quilt very densely quilted so I am more than happy with the big flowers that Jana did. The dark grey fabric on the edge and the flower-surrounding hexies is shimmering slightly (which doesn´t show very good in the pictures) and I love that contrast to the cotton fabrics.

Last time by the lake

Last weekend has probably been the last time by the lake this year (or maybe not?) but as always it is so relaxing and enjoyable to spend a day at either Lake Turner or Lake Kraubath - they are both beautiful, clear, blue-green water and without masses of people, rather the opposite.

 

All that makes hand-sewing a heavenly delight!

 

Lake Turner in Carinthia:

My mum.....

 

View over the lake - it is quite big and I only swam through once.... but that was a long time ago.....



Lake Kraubath in Styria: not as big as Lake Turner and also quite colder.

EPP pillows

I finished the EPP lone stars on jeans scrap pillows. Now I can continue with my summer lilies quilt, appliquéing the orange peels to the borders.

 



 

From orange peels to EPP addiction

After finishing my orange peels I could not resist to continue hand-sewing (for me it´s an addiction, really). So when I got my LOVE PATCHWORK & QUILTING issue no. twenty four the solution was right in front of me: EPP, paper-piecing!!

 

A bag full of free templates, many scraps from my previous quilts and two more days at lake Kraubath. That´s all my quilters heart desires!

 

I will applicate the lone stars on jeans fabric (out of a pair of pants that I got from a flea-market for 2 euros) and make two pretty little pillows.

 

Tomorrow I will applicate the orange peels on my Summer Lilies quilt and hope to finish it before starting another EPP (I locked the remaining templates away!).

 

 

Again, to be contiued......

Orange peels in summer

I´ve finished my big hexagon quilt (180x200cm) a couple of months ago but still had no idea how to quilt it. After I finished the autumn leaves quilt I sent both quilts to Jana at Bellus in Prague to get them longarm-quilted. Which means I am sooooo curious and anxious of how they will turn out....

But the big question was: what am I going to do now, meaning hand-sewing-wise? Again hexagons? No, I wanted to try something else. And after surfing around in the quilter-blogs-universe I got lucky and found something that I call myself again addicted to: appliquéing orange peels !!

There´s a new book (For Keeps by Amy Gibson) which a lot of bloggers refer to and which I have ordered but still have not gotten it yet, so I took my newest accquisition (a GO BABY accuquilt die cutter) and started with what I had from tutorials and made my own.

I am sooooo happy to have this cute little "device", it saves so much time cutting the peels and squares and, in my case, also fabric. 

 

 

You put the fabric on the die then the plastic plate over it and roll it through the cutter. So within a few minutes I had lots of peels and squares to go on.

This is what I prepared for my "to go box": 

- several threads, matching the orange peel fabrics

- basting thread

- a basting needle long, sharp no. 10

- a gold eye quilting needle between, no. 10 (very small) for appliquéing

- three pins

- freezer paper for the paper peels (scaled down to 77%)

 

 

 

I cut one paper peel with the Go Baby and scaled it on the copier down to 77%. This one I transfered with pencil on to the big freezer paper sheet (which I had loads of, gotten some years ago without knowing what to do with it). On one sheet I had almost 30 peels, cut them out (a leisurely thing to do when watching TV).

Then I ironed the freezer paper peels on to the fabric peels (watch ouf of the glossy side down on the wrong side of the fabric, otherwise your iron will not be happy about it).

 

Now basting, again a fun work (at least for me) which can be done anytime and anywhere.

Iron the fabric squares in half (into triangles) and arrange the peels along the crease so that the peel tips are exaclty on the crease line.

 

Start with appliquéing stitches 1cm away from one tip and do the first half of the peel.

After the first half before the first tip remove the basting thread and take out the freezer paper.

Tuck under the protruding fabric at the tip and continue.

 

Cut off if the protruding fabric is to big to tuck under - but only a little bit !

Sometimes the tips end up not exactly on the line of the crease but that doesn´t bother me at all!

 

 

 

  To be continued......