Experimenting

It's been a while since my last posting, but I have been quite busy. I have started something I have been wanting to do for a long time: a black, white and red log cabin:



The blocks are 3" square (7.5 cm), I am foundation piecing them. Unfortunately I started without looking how much of the red fabric I had (it's the border of Ernst's I Spy quilt) - there is enough for a lot of blocks, but not for a small border if the finished quilt is larger than 30 cm or so... I went back to the quiltshop where I bought it, but alas, they don't have it anymore. And they didn't know the name of the fabric, so I guess it will have to be a very small quilt - or a bag perhaps?

I'm also making a new set of ATCs - for the Cyber Fyber Exhibition (I've traded nr 24 with Susan) and for the ATC swap in my class at Quiltuniversity.com. The class is great, I'm learning lots of new things - and used some of them in this ATC project. First I weaved these fabrics:



(nothing new so far, I did this before - love how it turned out though)

And then I sewed on some nice thread, using my new cording foot, sewed on some feathers, some Angelina and used the Shiva Paintstik that I bought (with the Angelina) online at The Thread Studio:



And generally I had a lot of fun experimenting! I'll cut this piece in a lot of ATCs when the paint has dried.

And finally, I bought fabric for Amy Butler's High Street Messenger Bag. I'm starting my new job next week and really need a bag like this! (don't think it will be finished by then, though)

Cabo Halter

When I started sewing, a few years ago, I made mainly clothes - for my baby and a few for myself and DH. Since I've discovered quilting I've hardly made any garments - I much prefer making quilts or bags!

So this is the first garment I've made in a long time: Amy Butler's Cabo Halter:



It isn't a difficult pattern, but I now remember one of the things I hated about sewing clothes: zippers!!!

More ATCs

These ATCs are quite addictive!
I finished the second set for the SCQ ATC swap and have started on the third. I can't show them here yet, but I can show the I Love Zebras set I made last week:



I haven't embellished them with buttons, thread or ribbons - it's just the nice soft fabric. Some people may consider these ATCs 'too easy', but I like them like this.

I received a lot of ATCs as well:



These are all from Djesbeeb in The Netherlands, who sent me a set twice, as the first one didn't arrive... Thanks very much, I really appreciate it!



1 3 6
4
2 5 7

1 and 2 are from Nadia, 3 is from Cathy in Rochedale, Qld, 4 is from Delia, 5 is from Ria in The Netherlands, 6 is from Lindi in Edgeworth, NSW and 7 is a little book-shaped card from Karla, the bookbinder.

I recently bought this gorgeous little (10 x 10 cm) book from Karla:



I think I will use it to jot down ideas for future quilts...

And finally, I started the course at Quiltuniversity.com. I've only had one lesson so far (there are four altogether) but it looks like it will be a lot of fun while learning useful things!

Tagged

I have been tagged by Shirley!

THE RULES:
1. Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post THE RULES on your blog.
3. Post 7 weird or random facts about yourself on your blog.
4. Tag 7 people and link to them.
5. Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.

So here are 7 things about me...

1. Unlike a lot of (most?) quilters, I didn't start sewing as a child. My grandmother was a trained seamstress and she and my mother were often sewing (clothes, not quilts) when I was a child, but I was never interested. I didn't start sewing until my first child was born (in 2003) and started quilting 3 years later.
My mother and grandmother both died when I was a teenager. Everytime I finish something now, I think of how happy and proud they would have been...!

2. The best thing that ever happened to me was having children (well, not actually having/delivering them; that was rather painful - although I was very happy to be able to have 3 natural deliveries, 2 of which were at home, which is still possible and safe in The Netherlands. Nothing beats lying in your own bed - freshly made by the midwife's helper - with your newborn baby). I am an only child with very little family and I love having my own family now!

3. I love living in a subtropical climate! I have never liked sunbathing, my favourite holiday destinations are the UK, Ireland and Scandinavia and I was sure I would miss the seasons in The Netherlands very much, but as it turned out I adore living in a place where the sun shines (almost) every day! Admitted, at the moment it is very humid and that isn't very nice, but spring here was wonderful and I am looking forward very much to autumn here!

4. As a consequence of nr. 3, I do not miss The Netherlands very much. I do miss my friends and family, talking in Dutch with my girlfriends (and with 'official people' on the telephone...) and riding a bike everywhere (without wearing a helmet and looking out for car drivers who are not used to bikes or do not want to get used to bikes). But I don't miss the gloves, scarves, wintercoats and raincoats (especially the childrens'!).

5. I am a medical doctor and in The Netherlands I used to work as a public health physician in tuberculosis control. Here in Brisbane I have worked for a while as a research assistant at QUT and in March I will start working as a senior researcher at the Queensland TB Control Centre. I am really looking forward to that. I haven't registered as an MD here yet, but will do that this year, so maybe someday I'll be able to do my old job again.

6. My favourite pastime besides quilting is reading. My all-time favourite book is The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. Other favourite authors are Iris Murdoch, John Fowles, Minette Walters, Robert Goddard, Milan Kundera...

7. I always thought my favourite colour was blue, but since I started quilting I know it is green and purple! I still love blue, though...

And now I tag Corry in The Netherlands, Nicole in Germany, Julie, Delia, Pamela and Remote Ramblings in Queensland and Cat in Tassie, Australia!

Book

Not much sewing has been done this week, as my sewing machine was away to be serviced.
I did finish the book for Hugo, made from the wallpaper I bought at Reverse Garbage. Karla gave me a crash course in bookbinding! He can use it as a sketch-book - he likes drawing. It's a present for his 5th birthday, the day after tomorrow. I am rather happy with how it turned out:




I finished a set of ATCs, but can't show them here yet as they are for the SCQ-ATC swap in April. Have to make 2 sets more, one is in progress, the other has yet to be designed.
I am also working on some other ATCs, to trade with people who responded to this blog. Will show them here soon!

And I signed up for a course at Quiltuniversity.com, called Tools of the Trade. Sounds like a good way to learn all about my machine! The course starts on February 9th. I'll keep you posted!

Sydney and more ATCs

I haven't done much this week, because DH and I went to Sydney for a few days, while the grandparents stayed with the boys. Sydney was wonderful, it was great to have a mini holiday. Haven't thought about quilts or ATCs at all, except when I looked at this:



Can you guess what it is?
That's right - it's a close-up of the roof of the Sydney Opera House! Inspiring, isn't it?



(more pics on our Dutch blog!)

Before we left, I managed to make 2 more ATCs, called 'About me: Dutch quilter in Oz':



I 'stole' the idea from Sharon and used a lovely charm square with windmills on it that Cathy sent me to represent The Netherlands, koala fabric that I bought for Ernst's I Spy quilt to represent Australia, sewing machine fabric to represent the quilting and scraps of my favourite fabrics (that I used for Hugo's magic quilt and Robbie's baby quilt) to put between them.
I have more of the 3 main fabrics, so will make some more of these, with other strips between them.

I really must make some more ATCs, as I have had so many reactions on the postings here that I don't have enough ATCs at the moment to swap!

ATCs

I have started on the baby quilt and am also making some more ATCs. Nothing to show yet, but I thought I'd show you the ATCs I have received so far.



1 4 7 8
2 5
3 6 9 10

Nrs 1 and 2 are from Helen in Tasmania, nr 3 is from Cat. Nrs 4 and 5 are from Sue, nr 6 is from Corry in The Netherlands. Nr 7 is from Sharon in Victoria, nr. 8 is from Mandy and nrs 9 and 10 are from Margeeth.

I found this to put them in:



Looks good, don't you think? And now to fill it...

Sun Hat

Not a quilt this week, but Amy Butler's Blue Sky Hat:





Not very difficult to make, but it's a bit floppy - next time I may use another stabiliser than the duck cloth she mentions in the pattern.

Thanks for all the votes! The kookaburra is clearly the favourite - well, I completely agree!

Last week friends in The Netherlands had a baby, so I will start a small baby quilt one of these days. I think I will make a disappearing nine-patch with the flannel scraps I have.

I've also started making a book out of the wallpaper I bought at Reverse Garbage (see posting of December 23rd). It's almost finished, so I hope I can show it here soon.



PS 5000 visitors in 8 months - wow! Thank you all for coming here! I really appreciate it!

Parrot

Here is the parrot:



Which bird quilt do you like best? I've made a poll to see which one is favourite and I'd be very grateful if you would participate! (at home it's 2 votes for the puffin - DH and Hugo ('because it's blue') - against 2 votes for the kookaburra - myself and Ernst. Robert doesn't really care yet) Here are all 3 birds together:



I also made another set of ATCs, called Autumn Leaves:



By the way, if you are reading this and would like to trade ATCs, you're very welcome to mail me; you can find my emailaddress by clicking on my 'View my complete profile'.

We have had a lot of heavy rain here in Brisbane in the last week and Hugo (almost 5 years old) made this piece of art, called Rain:



A real artist in the making, don't you think? ;-)

Happy New Year!

On the last day of 2007, I made another set of ATCs. Fist I weaved strips of fabric, ironed them on fast 2 fuse and did a zigzag with metallic thread:



After ironing on the backing fabric I fussy-cut 7 ATCs out of the big piece:



I used my red and pink fabrics, because they are not my colours at all, so I didn't mind experimenting with them. But I really like the result!

ATCs

Here are my first ATCs:



The blue ones are made from the strippieced remnants for the railfence block of my sampler.
I like it that you can use all sorts of leftover bits and pieces for ATCs!

Reverse Garbage

Yesterday Karla (the bookbinding artist) and I went to Reverse Garbage, a wonderful non-profit store (no affils) that sells 'industrial and commercial offcuts, overruns, left-overs, outdated stock and seconds'. Apart from timber, cardboard, paper, metal, tiles etc etc etc, they have lots of fabric, very suitable for crazy quilting or... ATCs!
So I had a ball collecting lots of scraps:



And I also found this wonderful sample book with fabric and wallpaper samples:



I am sure I can use the fabric for lots of things... and Karla has kindly offered to teach me some basic bookmaking skills to make a book for the children using the wallpaper.

I haven't done anything quilty since finishing the puffin last week, but I have been thinking a lot about the ATCs and have some ideas now that I hope to realize somewhere next week. Some kind ladies have sent me some ATCs so I now have an impression of what they look (and feel!) like.

In the meantime my sampler is a favourite with Hugo:



'I don't want to go to bed! But I will lie on the floor under my quilt.'

Finally, I would like to wish all the readers of this blog a very happy Christmas and a wonderful 2008!

Puffin

Here's the second mini quilt in my bird series: the puffin!



Not a bird you will find in Australia (or in The Netherlands for that matter), but one of my favourite birds ever since I saw it in Scotland years ago.

These mini quilts can be made in little time (a few evenings work) and are so much fun!
I plan on making an owl, an eagle, a parrot...
They will have to take turns hanging on the wall though; we haven't got enough space to hang them all!

The next thing I am going to do is probably not another bird quilt, but have a go at making some ATCs (Artist Trading Cards). I have signed up for an ATC swap in april, but haven't made any yet, so I need to practice. I'm looking forward to that - think it will be fun.

Comments on the puffin are very welcome; if you have any suggestions on how to improve the bird quilts I'd like to hear them!