christmas and quilting

Oct30

Wow, hello everyone! I haven’t posted for some time, but this doesn’t mean I have stopped with patchwork or quilting. I have fully enjoyed my August holidays that I divided between 2 weeks in Prague and 2 weeks at home. I went back to work in September, both in the office and teaching patchwork and quilting. September was filled with visitors that came to see us after the hot months of July and August. With October nearly over I am slowly getting back to my normal routine.

Never the less I have worked in the meantime on a few small Christmas projects :

table runner

table runner size : 60″ x 18″; free motion quilted with meander pattern using Gutermann Sulky

A lady from my quilting classes send me a photo of a table runner with this design that she liked on Pinterest. As there was no pattern on the web, I started cutting fabrics and piecing until I got all the measurements right. It is a straight forward design, a table runner that you can make in an afternoon.

place mats

place mat size : 12″ x 18″; quilted with walking foot following the tree shapes with Gutermann Sulky

I found this pattern for place mats and a matching table runner in a quilting magazine, but can’t remember which one it was. It is quick and easy design with appliqué.

mini quilt version #II

mini quilt size : 23″ x 24″; free motion quilted with meander pattern using Gutermann Sulky

Below is a photo of version #I of the mini quilt. But I wasn’t satisfied with the design, I thought that the Christmas tree glass ornaments and the present boxes turned out too bulky. So I refined the design – see the photo above with version #II.

mini quilt size : 23″ x 24″; free motion quilted with meander pattern using Gutermann Sulky thread

Some older Christmas mini quilts that I made over the years and shall donate all of them for charities in our area.

Thanks for stopping, feel free to leave a comment, enjoy the rest of the weekend,

barbora flower small skalabara quilts

drunkard’s path block and christmas wreath hanging

Aug16

At long last I have pieced a Drunkard’s Path block. In the past I had a mental block to sew curved pieces. I have tried it and the results were not good, I have left it in the corner for later. But when ordered the Dresden Plate ruler at Creative Grids, I also got a Drunkard’s Path ruler. A large one, the finished block is 14″ square. I thought the larger, the easier to piece. I had a small bundle of 4 fat eights that I bought many years ago (in them days my fabric and color choice was very different to today) and I used them for practice. I have used all the 4 pieces of fabric for the 2 Drunkard’s Path blocks. The cutting was easy (just needed to hold the ruler tight) and decide on the color layout. To my surprise, the piecing went great – I sewed everything without using pins. Just sewing slowly and concentrating on what I am doing. I shall leave one block as a sample and the other one I have quilted with the walking foot. So, here my first two Drunkard’s Path blocks – from the front :

and from the back :

and quilted from the front :

and quilted from the back :

I can only say : do not be afraid of curves and try out this classical block! It is a lot of fun and this block has many different quilt layout possibilities.

As I am on holidays, I have more time to do my crafts. I have also finished a Christmas Wreath wall hanging that I found last year in one of the Spanish patchwork magazines. I only need to get some beads and small bells to sew on as decoration elements. I have added a hanging sleeve on the back.

Our cat enjoys the hot summer : Mickey having a small nap at siesta time :

njoy your weekend, I am off to the pool and shall have a small nap too, Barbora

merry christmas

Dec22

Time is rushing and the festive season is nearly knocking on the door. Another year closes and 2014 is already waiting for us impatiently. A big thank to my followers and visitors for all the cheerful comments and likes.

Merry Christmas and a wonderful 2014 with a lot of new stash, ideas and magic sewing hands!

I would like to share with you a few nativity scenes photos. As every year in Spain big nativity scenes are on display on the main squares of villages or cities. Last weekend we went to see our local nativity and this time I had at least my iphone with me.