tag poppin' in ballard

My latest quilt top on the design wall, in the process of being put together.

This is my third time sewing with reclaimed shirts. I think they are a bit more challenging to use than quilting cotton, as they vary in weight and weave. So I went with simple shapes.

I also wanted to make them a bit big to show off the pretty fabrics that are generously gifted from a dear friends stash and joyfully selected on a memorable day of tag poppin' in Ballard, Seattle.
Happy memories in each square of fabric!

The colors is a hommage to LeeAnn's stash and love of a beautiful warm palette. I always admire her way of choosing colors.

The design is simple, 9 patches measures 7.5" finished size.  The medallion / trip around the world variation is inspired by a golden brooch from viking times found in a creek near my grandmothers childhood home. A true fairytale that is now exhibited in the archeological museum in my home town Stavanger. As a stark contrast my grandmother was one of 5 girls raised by their mother with no such luxury. They learned to make do and mend. My grandmother was an excellent cook and a seamstress.  And I was lucky enough to spend time with her and my grandfather in the summertime with my siblings and cousins, completely spoilt on homemade bread and cake, fish from the fjords and fresh vegetables from their patch. This spring we have been spending a lot of time refreshing the gardens of this place, her childhood home, chopping down trees and clearing brush.

Visiting LeeAnn I was privileged to see and touch her quilts and quilts of her good friends in the Rebels quilt group. The softness of those quilts made from recycled shirts are just wonderful!

For me, so many happy things come together in this simple quilt top. tag poppin' in ballard is 67.5" square and I will spend some time wondering about adding a border or not.

The mystery of the struggle accessing my blog and uploading pictures are still not completely solved. It seems like our service provider might not be consistent in providing stable lines. Hopefully there will be more posts this summer. The weather is only good for indoor activities right now...

; )

Blogger quilt festival - autumn 2009

Hello ...
Come on ...
Step a bit closer ...

Have a seat, will you? It's time for a bit of show and tell:

I want to show you my cats in the garden quilt. It is made of thrifted cotton shirts and linen trousers, vintage kimono silk, homespuns, a bit of velvet, and some japanese fabric from my stash.

The quilt measures about 70" * 82" , is hand stitched over 6" batting squares (a bit like english paper-piecing, my technique), and hand-quilted using a sheet for backing and binding (folded to the front). I started working on this in april 2008, and finished the quilt the summer of 2009.

If you want to read more about this quilt, I have posted about it earlier.

It is now up on the wall in our living room, hanging on little clips in an old fashion curtain slider fashion. This way it is easy to replace and switch the quilts by season. Not all quilts are made for beds. Not in my house, that is...

Thank you Spirith Cloth for inspiration on using different kinds of fabric, and also for your wonderful cats in cloth!

Also, thank you Amy, for hosting this wonderful quilt show, no traveling cost, no entrance fee, just take your time and travel the list as much as you like!

show and tell

Early layout and some help rearranging the patches for Kattelatte aka Cats in my garden.

This quilt was started back in 2008 and blogged about here. It has been a slow process, on and off, and was finished this spring / summer.

Cats in my garden uses a mix of thrifted clothes: linen trousers, cotton shirts and silk kimonos, with some homespun from my stash as well. It uses 6" squares from my batting scraps, and is handpieced together like english paper piecing. The batting is not removed, but stays. I used a double cotton sheet for backing, and folded it to the front as a binding / finish. The quilt is handquilted. Some of the blocks are sewn by machine.

The colors of the quilt is inspired by the colors of our two cats: Mars and Venus, as is the title.

Butterflies made of vintage kimono silk and silk brocade as in a norwegian national costume...

Bumble bees from shirttails...

Cats faces made of thrifted linen trousers and gifted mother of pearl buttons...

The quilt measures about 70" * 82". It is used as a wall quilt for our dining room or living room, and hung by curtain gliders. I am quite happy with the final result, warm and cosy colors adds a nice atmosphere to the room.

I had fun finding fabric for this quilt. And I want to play some more. If you want to be inspired too, take a look at this great reclaimed clothing quilt-a-long for inspiration. I think I will be on the hunt for cotton shirts now!

a bit on the edge...

I saw these nice rag rugs and a great tutorial last week. As I was cutting the edges of some yellow fabric for a workshop later this month, I just connected the two... There is a lot of good ways to use the selvage, but the edge without the name and colorsamples are less interesting - so how do you use those?

Victoria was the inspiration I needed to try this rug technic. I cut all my dull edges of the fabric for my workshop at 1,5", and then added some 1,5" strips from my stash too. My rag rug is big enough for using underneath a flowervase or a bowl. It was a fun project. And I feel good about using it all, no waste!

Victoria is even hosting a givaway, if you would likesome help to get started! Have a try, it's fun...

my smallest quilt so far

How small can a quilt be? This little wall quilt is 6" by 12". Its hand quilted, the vase is appliqued and the flowers are thrifted sateén with mother of pearl buttons received as a gift. And yes, the blue vase fabric was another gift. So all in all, little quilt, lots of love put into it.... And it will sit ontop of my Snowhite on the wall.

It is funny how I started out making big quilts (~90" by 60") to cover walls, and now have progressed to making smaller quilts - and not the other way around. Well, have fun, no matter if the quilt is big or small....

Cat quilt

Inspired by Spirith Cloth I have started a new quilt - Cat Quilt. I want to experiment a bit with different fabrics: linen, cotton, wool, and more. The colors and theme is desided by my two cats. So I have started washing and cutting up thrifted linen trousers, mens shirts and som fabric from my stash. I am planning to sew a lot by hand. For now I am using a metod of english paperpiecing without paper, cutting up batting to 6" squares. This is the first layout - and guess what, my cats kindly let me evaluate my color choises...

I am planning on piecing some blocks and test out different applique technics. Handpiecing can be very comforting and relaxing. At least thats what I am hoping for.