Time away and quilt ideas

A lot of fun getting away and seeing different things and catching up with good friends.  But quilting is never very far from my my mind and the fields and flowers of Scotland and the tulip fields outside of Amsterdam were wonderful inspiration.  In Scotland every town and farm had masses of daffodils in bloom on the roadside; nodding in the breeze and declaring that Spring was here.  The hills rising out of the valleys were rich blocks of various greens bordered by the rock walls.  The fields were full of sheep and their tiny lambs; like dots on the hillside.  Home.

The gardens at Keukenhof outside of Amsterdam were fantastic and so beautifully landscaped.  Lots of fun pictures.  Now comes the hard part - finding time to create some art quilts of my memories.   From the plane going into Schiphol, you could see there were strips and strips of colour below us.  A strip quilt comes to mind with lots of French knots; lots and lots.

Some lovely landscaping with the magnolias out

 This view was from the gardens into nearby tulips fields.  Now imagine that from the air; acres and acres of neat rows of colour.  The vibrancy of the colours were stunning.  Massed blocks of reds, purples, yellows, whites and blues.

Fields of colour everywhere

Before that though it has been a busy time; getting ready to go away and then recovering from the trip and a cold generously bestowed by a seatmate on my return flight.  Two weeks lost to coughs and sniffles.  No quilting inspiration there.  But it did allow some time to mull over potential projects and possible quilt designs.  There is always some good to be found.

I did manage to finish a quilt belonging to a client that I hated to give up.  Stitch in the ditch was challenging but with lovely results and the feathers just added to the look.  Have a look at the beautiful job the maker did on creating the quilt.   Fresh off the frame.

The back looks wonderful too.   The design translated to the back beautifully.

On to the next one which has a simple meandering on a beautiful traditional quilt.  So much fun making quilts have personality.  Each stage of a quilt from beautiful fabrics through to the quilting makes the quilt come alive.  It is a partnership between the maker and the quilter.   

A pile of fabrics and a pattern become a beautiful gift like this one above.

Which is it? Spring or Winter

Well, it is February and for those of you acquainted with northern climes you will realize that the mixed picture of snow and flowers is a depiction of cabin fever and the attendant sensations.  Your heart wants spring but your body is experiencing winter.  Two hyacinths are blooming on the counter behind my computer and the smell is a talisman; spring will come, spring will come.  A whiff of scent helps to keep the cabin fever down.   The day the snow scene was captured the sun was blazing and it felt wonderful as long as you were sheltered.  Otherwise the wind found your neck and wrists and your fingers were longing to be in front of a lovely fire and you had no need to add artificial colour to your cheeks.

Cabin fever and the doctor's leash are making this a long winter but when one is in need of a jolt of fun one turns to the sewing room if you are a quilter.  This also means the computer to create some embroideries for quilt blocks for a special quilt and to draw quilting designs.  The nice thing is mistakes disappear in an instant on the computer.  The eraser icon is a great favourite.   The computer activity means being able to sit down which is compatible with the doctor's leash.  However it is not the same as handling fabric and hearing the sewing machine happily piecing the fabric.  So I made a couple of rag quilts; just small enough for cats and some dogs.  I cannot use Hortense and I feel I have abandoned her.  But only  12 more days to go to behave; fingers and toes crossed.

Several things came to light as the quilts were being done.

1.  Big golden retrievers under the sewing table means the foot peddle is available to paws which cannot resist stretching out.  (Fortunately the machine is not perturbed by this use but do not leave fabric under the pressure foot.)
2.  Rag quilts made with denim are best made with well used denim which becomes soft especially when well worn by an active farmer whose wife saves the well used items.
3.  You need to get denim articles from large men to get long strips. (At guild a few days later one lady making one remarked that fortunately her brother-in-law is a BIG fellow.  She had nice long and wide strips.)
4.  Doing strips is faster than blocks.
5.  Making one is a chance to use fancy stitches and some of that fancy thread you bought on spec. (finally a use!!!)
6.  Rag quilts are not really my style.
7.  It is good to experience something not your style.

So after all that here is a picture of a small quilt being used by a small creature in front of the fire.  Ah, another thing, cat a dog hair stick to rag quilts even better than regular cotton quilts.  :)  And no red eye tool will dim those eyes.  He always gets what he wants.

Sun, sun outside the kitchen windows.  Be still my beating heart.