magic monday

Jun6

It has been some time since I wrote the last post. My parents were with us on a 10 day visit, so family life was the main focus in these days. I was also fairly busy at work, interpreting and translating quotes for the construction company I work for (since 9 years now). And I gave beginner classes at my local patchwork and quilting shop. I have already done 3 Monday classes and my lady pupils are happy – lucky me. But I also must admit, that I enjoy it very much!

Monday was as good as Christmas – my three parcels arrived:

3 colorful fabrics I want to use for backing that I ordered at Hawthorne Threads
High quality piecing and quilting threads that I always order at Quilt Direct
Book Quilting Modern: Techniques and Projects for Improvisational Quilts

Where shall I start first? All 3 fabrics have incredible colors. The moment I saw them, I knew they are a must for my stash. Particularly the fabric on the top from Alexander Henry House Designer from the collection Paloma, La Paloma in Multi. Hawthorne Threads is very nice online shop that concentrates on modern patchwork fabrics. They have a wonderfully designed website, all is clearly arranged and it is always a pleasure to order there.

High quality cotton threads are a must for me. After all threads have to hold the entire quilt together, from piecing to quilting. Unfortunately I cannot buy them locally, but fortunately we have internet. I have found Quilt Direct in the UK, have ordered there in the past and always got a very good service. This time I decided to buy piecing thread from Aurifil 50/2 in 4 different neutral shades. For quilting I also ordered a neutral, the big spool is from Superior King Tut 40/3. I have used in the past this thread for quilting my projects and I like the quality.

For books we have Amazon, once more a perfect marketplace to order make worldwide. The book has wonderful and colorful patterns, I just love the quilting techniques. I didn’t have time to read it, but I certainly looked at all the photos. Please visit one of the author’s blog on Sew Katie Did.

Well, it is time to start again with quilting (after my short holiday with family and making preserves). This hobby is worth everything, a perfect pursuit!

Happy quilting everyone, B.

Sunrise Quilt Finished

Feb8

One quilt is finally finished and posted, it is free-motion quilted and the binding is stitched with the machine. I am happy with the result and really like the pink tone of the binding. This reminds me of raspberry ice cream and hot summer. Just to comment : both day and night temperatures in our area have dropped a lot, the icy Siberian winds have reached the Med. No snow, but we have frozen puddles over night.

A short comment about threads:

for piecing I use MasterPiece from Superior Threads, a 50/3 ply, 100% extra-long staple Egyptian-grown cotton, in a neutral colour (more beige than white)
for quilting and binding this top I used YLI Machine Quilting thread, a 40/3 ply-tex 40, 100% long-staple cotton, a variegated shade called Maui Sunset (red/pink/orange/purple)

Please find the listings for this quilt on ~~Etsy~~ and ~~Dawanda~~ This quilt is S O L D

So now it is time to start quilting the other finished top. First choose a backing and prepare it, make a sandwich, pin, quilt …… and finish with binding … and take finally photos

Until next time, happy quilting, Barbora

New Stash in the Old Year

Dec25

Not only have I bought new fresh and modern fabrics in Prague but also a few colourful machine quilting threads from Gutermann and Mettler.

Look at these dots – aren’t they beautiful? And the tasty cakes, and the colourful cats!!

The Mettler thread is made in Spain, but I cannot find a place to buy it local. So made in Spain it travels to the Czech Republic and then back with me to Alicante in Spain. What a crazy world – or is this called GLOBAL ?!

Just before Christmas a thick envelope arrived from the States. Thanks for the good and quick service at Hawthorne Threads I have received a full fat quarter bundle from the Echo Collection by Lotta Jansdotter. I just love the golden-yellow shades as well as the grey ones. Cannot wait to start a new quilt.