checking in

It seems that I'm not only extremely introverted and shy IRL (even more so after the stroke), but that it transcends to my online life too.

I have been quilting over the last two months. I'm no longer interested in commercially printed fabric, so I used up the stash that I accumulated in the '90s. Since I'm in Europe and buying fabric here is quite expensive (I imported my stash from the USA, since it used to be less expensive than buying fabric from the few local quilt shops), and I used to quilt a lot earlier in my life, the stash I had left wasn't too big anymore. I managed to strip piece/cut/strip piece/cut/etc. nine quilts (I pieced front and back) in the style of the one in the photo below. I didn't even bother to take photos of them all (and four were already given as gifts). All that I have left now is a small stash of batiks, which I'll probably mix in with my hand dyed fabric until it's used up. And then it will be hand dyed fabric only, plus maybe some solids thrown in, or recycled clothing. For now at least.

The second picture is a table runner that "happened" during the strip piecing process. Back in the '80s I hand quilted *1* quilt, everthing else I've done since then was machine quilted. This is the first piece I hand quilted again. Since I'm doing it for my own pleasure and gifts only, I hand quilt without a care in the world. No tiny or evenly sized stitches here, and I still love the resulting look. The Quilt Police can bite me!

still crazy after all these quilts, finished

free pieced, machine quilted

crossing

For this small wallhanging I raw edge appliquilted the fabric pieces.

looking deeper

A collaged (fabric, leftover yarn and threads, sandwiched between background fabric and watersoluble stabilizer), heavily embroidered, quilted with invisible thread quilt (27 x 42 cm/~10.5 x 16.5") mounted (with gel medium) on a stretched canvas (40 x 50cm/~16 x 20"). I blanket stitched the edges of the quilt with 6 strands of variegated embroidery floss. I really, really like the process of machine embroidery, as it comes very close to the "spaced out" feeling I get when I paint.

life weaving

A small collaged, heavily embroidered, quilted with invisible thread quilt (26 x 30 cm/~10 x 12") mounted (with gel medium) to a stretched canvas (40 x 50cm/~16 x 20").

finished

some of my quilts

Quilts I've made over the years...

string quilt
batiks and hand-dyeds, 2007

mystery quilt
I don't know where it is, I seem to have "lost" a few quilts along the way. I think it was one of the Inspector Clue-sew mysteries.

machine applique wallhanging
And again, I have no idea where it is.

my ex-husband's 40th birthday quilt
I'm kinda proud of this one, alas it isn't in my possession anymore, for obvious reasons. LOL! My own design after reading Margaret Miller's Blockbender Quilts.

fantasy landscape
a small wallhanging, completely by machine, except for some beading

small bowties
small wallhanging, it was a way to make bowties without a set-in seam....now I can't remember how they were done anymore

mystery quilt
A mystery quilt I found on the Internet many moons ago. I was soooo happy how it turned out, for once I really liked my fabric choices for a mystery quilt.

when pigs fly
Named after one of the fabrics in it, featuring, you guessed it, flying pigs. I have no idea where this quilt is now. I also wish I knew where the sampler is, as it was my first quilt *after* getting a few books and decent quilting cottons. Addendum February 2012: The sampler lives at my daughter's in Berlin. :)

black and white
made for my brother, late 80's

funky stars
I loved making this one! I only found the hole in one of the stars when I quilt-tacked it for machine quilting. That hole still makes me smile when I look at the quilt.

bargello wallhanging
I loved making bargellos. I think it had something to do with raising my autistic son. Amongst all the chaos and heartbreak, I needed order at that time. The bargello technique gave me some of that.

my summer quilt
It may very well be the simplest quilt I have ever made.....and also the one I use the most. I sleep under it during the summers, I believe I have been doing so for close to 20 years. I used a very, very low-loft poly batting and it has one machine quilted line down the center and one across the center. I just wrapped the top to the back, and machine sewed it to the back, with the raw edges turned under. The Quilt Police has still "Wanted" signs out to get me for this quilt. LOL!

paper pieced wallhanging
heavily machine quilted with rayon threads

southwestern landscape
small wallhanging from a pattern a friend sent on to me, machine pieced and appliqued

optical illusion wallhanging

penguins
Made for a friend's child sometimes in the 90's, I *think* it was a pattern from Quiltmaker Magazine.

eruption
I let go and created eruption sometimes in the 90's. And once more I have no idea where it is. I wish I did know though, as I like it. It was a first "sign" (for myself) that yes, I could do non-traditional quilts.

my first projects
ca. 1986/87, nothing survived, they all fell apart after a few years, as I was quilting without ever having seen instructions, my sewing machine was below dirt etc. The Log Cabin was my very first quilting project, I figured out the pattern after having seen a similar quilt on TV. It was a rerun of a 70's patchwork show from England, if I remember correctly. I remember that I suddenly found myself right in front of the TV, my nose practically glued to the screen. The next day I went out and searched for any books, fabrics etc. and so the journey began.