Flanello has arrived!

At last! Yesterday Flanello arrived at its destination in The Netherlands and baby Vincent's mother let me know that they liked it very much!
This is the first quilt that I have given away as a present and it feels good!

So now I can put some photos on this blog:







The idea is from a book (No-Sweat Flannel Quilts by Beth Garretson); I changed the colours and the sizes. It's the first quilt that I freemotion-quilted. (Yes, I have a long way to go yet..)
Although it's far from perfect I like it very much! :-)

Rainbow ragtime

Today I finished the flannel and chenille ragtime quilt. Koen likes the way it feels:



I practised my free motion quilting on it; in some cases with quite a good result:




I've bought the fabric for the next baby quilt, flannels again (I love flannels, especially for babies - they're so soft and warm!). It is going to be a rail fence quilt, but as I will start my new job tomorrow I guess it will be some time before it's finished. The last one still hasn't arrived in The Netherlands; I'm beginning to get worried...

I have also started another bag; the Basket Style Bag from this great bagmaking blog! I'm afraid bagmaking may become a serious addiction... ;-)
Helen, thanks for the compliment for my first bag! And yes, the Bow Bag (another Monica Poole design) is on my wish list as well! (as is this carpetbag!)

Affo! *

Yesterday I finished Flanello, the baby quilt, and today it started its journey to The Netherlands by airmail. It's scary to send a quilt on such a long trip - what if something happens to it? What if it never arrives?

Well, we'll just have to wait and see... As soon as it has arrived I will put a photo here, but for now it will remain a surprise to the receiving party!

Today I started the flannel ragtime quilt - a nice way to get rid of all the remaining scraps! I hope to finish it soon and be able to put it over our laps in the evening as we watch tv (which we seldom do - DH sits at the computer and I at the sewing machine). The Queensland winter is colder than we had thought it would be! (or rather, the houses aren't isolated as well as we'd thought they would be!) DH is now sitting at the computer with the 'playquilt' I made for Koen draped around his shoulders! ;-)

* 'Affo' is the term Dutch quilters use for a finished object. ('Af' = finished in Dutch)

My first bag

Last Friday I did the bag making workshop at The Quilters Corner. It was great, I will definitely do another workshop there!
I finished the bag yesterday:






I'm rather proud of it! :-)
It's a Monica Poole design, the large travelling bag. I wanted a large bag and apparently chose the most difficult one to make. I'm sure it will be the first of many!

I also found a quiltgroup: Patch 'n' Chat in Ferny Hills. Went there last week and it was lovely, so I will join them!

This week I hope to finish the first baby quilt (I am now trying to do some free motion quilting on it...) and start the next... And I also want to do a ragtime flannel quilt to put on our laps in the evening when we watch dvd's - it's cold now in the Queensland winter!

So... better stop blogging and start quilting! ;-)

Kaffe

Yesterday I went to Kaffe Fassett's lecture at St Lucia. It was great fun. He is very entertaining and although I do not like everything he does (don't care much for his knitting and needlepoint) he has a wonderful feeling for colour. Bought his V&A book (and had it signed) and some fat quarters for the rosy quilt I am going to make one day. Got home really inspired!

Last weekend I finished the top of the baby quilt and I am quite happy with it! It's called Flanello; that should ring a bell here and there! (though not with the baby's mother, I trust). Can't go on now as I have to buy batting and backing, which I will do this weekend when I am going to look for a bag pattern for my workshop next week!

And meanwhile another baby was born, so another quilt to make! The alphabet quilt is waiting as well, but I have found a job and need to make some arrangements for the childcare etc... Guess there won't be much time for quilting in the next few months (years...) but, well, I've the rest of my life ahead of me, haven't I?
;-)

Busy

It feels good to be working on some projects again! During the day, when the little ones are sleeping, I cut the fabrics and trace the foundation piecing patterns. In the evening I sew, in the small bedroom full of boxes:



I hope to have a larger table soon, but meanwhile this small round one will do...
I've finished 3 blocks for the alphabet quilt (B - beaver-, D - dolphin- and E - emu- ) and about one third of the baby quilt's top. I love that feeling of 'flow' when you're really getting into it!

Bob and bag

Yesterday I went to a quilt show in Aspley and saw some very beautiful quilts. Noticed again that I am always attracted to purple and green quilts (like my own first quilt!).
I also met some very nice people (among them a lady originally from The Netherlands, who had made the purple and green log cabin that I liked so much! Maybe it's a Dutch thing?) and bought some chenille to add to the flannel quilt I am going to make (a tip from someone at the QDU mailinglist).

I forgot to tell in my last posting that when I was cutting the fabric for the Dutch quilt, Hugo (my 4 year old son) was sitting next to me drawing. He said, 'When I'm grown up I can work with fabrics too'. I said, 'Yes, and will you make a quilt as well then?'
He answered, 'Yes, a Bob the Builder quilt'! :-)
Hmm, maybe in a little while we can make something together! (that would be very nice!)

Oh, and some very good news: I signed up for a bag making class at The Quilters Corner in Keperra on June 22nd!!! My first class ever, I'm looking forward to it sooooo much!

Back in business!

Our goods from The Netherlands finally arrived last week and it was wonderful to see my fabrics again! As a farewell present the ladies of my Dutch bee have given me a stash of red, blue, white and orange (the Dutch national colours) fabrics and I have immediately started to create a little quilt out of those. Today I finished the top:



I think I will make it into a pillowcase, as the ones we have (bought at the local shopping mall) are already starting to fall apart and this one will suit our couch very nicely.

I am also designing a baby quilt, but will say no more about that, as the baby's mother will probably read this blog and I want it to be a surprise...

Of course the alphabet quilt is waiting as well, and I found the fabric for Wendy Vosters' playquilt that I was going to make for Ernst...

What am I doing sitting here at my computer? Let's get quilting! :-)

Kaffe Fassett

Yesterday I discovered that Kaffe Fassett is coming to Brisbane in June! Yes!!!
I rang first thing this morning and got a ticket for his lecture on June 12th (the workshop was already sold out, but I wouldn't have been able to join it anyway). Wow, I'm so excited!

I finished piecing the emu last night; only have to embroider an eye on it. I'll start on the kookaburra (or the koala, still not sure) next week, after our camping trip to Moreton Island this weekend.

Thanks for the comments on my last posting. The nightingale is a very nice idea, I'll see if I can find a pattern - or design it myself, perhaps? I want to design a yak as well...

Getting started

Last week I was very disappointed because I heard our personal belongings (including my sewing machine, fabrics and notions) coming by boat from The Netherlands will take another 3 weeks at least to reach us. Luckily Pam, a very nice lady living near us, learnt about this through the quilters mailinglist and offered me the use of her old machine. She even drove to our place to drop it off! Pam, thanks very very much!

So now I'm getting started on the alphabet quilt I wanted to make for our boys. The idea is to use animals that start with the same letter in both English and Dutch. Most letters are easy, but there are a few tricky ones, like the N (I can only think of narwal), U (can't think of anything at all), V (can only come up with a velociraptor) and, of course, X (will probably just put a question mark next to it). Suggestions are very welcome!

I am going to use Margaret Rolfe's Animal Kingdom CD-ROM, which is in the boat as well of course... But in the meantime I have borrowed her book Quilt a Koala from the library and have started yesterday on the emu! The K is provided for in this book as well - I'm not sure yet if it will be the koala, kangaroo or kookaburra, but definitely one of those 3! I bought some fat quarters at the Stitch and Craft Show last week, so I hope to be able to finish these 2 blocks while waiting for my stuff. As soon as I've finished one, I'll show it here, of course!

I borrowed Kaffe Fassett's book Glorious Patchwork as well and spent an hour drooling over it ;-). What gorgeous quilts! The rosy quilt is definitely on my 'quilts I want to make one day'-list.