A Wonderful Finish! (Finally)

It's time to spread the news 

and

Shout it out!

My antique reproduction applique album quilt,
affectionately knows as
Noah and Matilda,
is finally done!

84" x 96"

This quilt was started in January, 2015.

Dawn Cook Ronningen offered and
still has available this

Noah and Matilda BOM pattern
on her website Collector with a Needle.

She designed the pattern from

the antique applique sampler (1851) which is

part of her collection.

 She calls it 

Noah and Matilda because of the 

 two names found on the quilt.

My blocks were appliqued 

throughout 2015.

I used a limited number of fabrics 

to keep the look simple and classic.

Then I hit a road block

in 2016.

Grapes!

The border has 18 bunches of grapes.

I just couldn't face making

all the tiny circles needed for all

that fruit!

But once I got going,

 I discovered those circles
weren't as bad as I had thought
In fact they were pretty quick and easy
once they were prepped.

 Next I struggled with the corners  because

I couldn't get the four corners to match.
I ended up with two and two.

 We'll just say it adds some character.

It wasn't until I got the top

entirely put together that I realized

there had been a right and wrong side

to the French General fabric I
 had chosen for the background.

There was no going back.

More character?

Before sewing the quilt together,

I premarked the feathered wreath pattern

I wanted to quilt in the alternating blank squares.

I was taking a risk.

that the designs which were marked lightly

with a mechanical pencil
with a hard lead would not disappear

while the quilt was basted and when other

parts were quilted.

Fortunately, the designs were still visible

when it came time to quilt them.
( I know the photo doesn't show the lines,
but they were there faint enough for me to see)

I started handquilting in January, 2017 and 

worked diligently on it almost every evening.

That turns out to be about 150 days x 2 hours = 300 hours.
(probably more)

I used  3 spools  of Guterman handquilting thread

with a Dream Cotton Request batting.  

I knew it needed a red binding and I 

had only used one red throughout the quilt.

Because the pattern was printed diagonally

 the binding was cut on the straight of the grain

to maintain the diagonal pattern.

I chose a pretty wild backing in comparison

to the top.  It's a Minick and Simpson fabric
and the colors went perfectly.

  The busy pattern doesn't

allow the quilting stitches
to show much, but that's okay.

Thank you, Dawn,
 for this wonderful  antique pattern.

It was fun and challenging
and now it's done.

 Here's my quilt top with the orginial
Noah and Matilda quilt,
spring, 2016.

Today, I could finally

cross off another 17 in 17 project!!!!

Until Next Time-
Kyle

No Hay...Hexies Instead

There's an old saying

"make hay while the sun shines".

Last week I had to change

the wording just a little.

" Make Hexies while the Snow Blows"

Even with the yearly signal that it's okay 

to plant annuals after Mother's Day,

Mother Nature had other ideas.

I decided it was a great opportunity

take advantage of the time

and start make the hexies I had been putting off. 

They're not for a new project, 

but for a not so mystery mystery

( I loved Shirley's take on it over at Stitcherydo)

They are for the final border of Petra Prins'

last years mystery quilt from Quiltmania.

Here's Petra's quilt at the Australian-Dutch Connection show

in Amersfoort, Netherlands.

It was in front of a window so it had a stain glass effect.

But here's Petra's final border and

the hexies and kite shapes I worked on

while the snow was blowing.

I had been dragging my feet for quite awhile

not because of the hexie part, but the kite shape.

I had tried thread basting these small pieces and

and didn't have very good luck.

I finally decided the only way to move on was 

to glue baste, which is what I did.

 It was fast and easy.

I just hope removing the paper will be too.

So while it continued to snow

 my pile of pieces got deeper and deeper
thread basting the hexies.

I had to lay out a few combinations

It was fun to work with the Dutch fabrics again. 

And I certainly made progress 

despite Mother Nature.

Until Next Time-
Kyle

Quick, Easy, and Sweet

Last week was one of those 

weeks that was super busy

all for good and happy reasons.

Meet Weston Kimani Wolfe

Born May 10

7 lbs. 15 oz.

My 4th grand baby.

****

Stitching and sewing

definitely took a back seat, but

I had recently finished two projects.

First, were the "Sister Quilts" that I made

for my trip to the Netherlands.

The design was from this new book,

Simple Friendship

by Kim Diehl and Jo Morton.

Looking through my stash,  I quickly

chose this border and then easily planned the color

scheme around it.

Vintage browns and pinks always work.

Some simple machine quilting 

and these two quilts were finished 

and ready to share.

Simple Friendship is an excellent book written 

with the idea of exchanging blocks with friends or

easily sewing them yourself.

Both Jo and Kim share their interpretations of the same

blocks and patterns.  It's always interesting 

to see how different that can be.

My second finish was

working on this simple

embroidery while recently flying for a total of 22 hours.

Needless to say,

it didn't take me that long to stitch!

I had purchased the vintage linen towel at 

an antique show a while ago and my friend Becky found

the darling chicks on Pinterest.

I did some crayon tinting

and the embroidery was done with Cosmos

embroidery floss.

Quick, Easy and Sweet all rolled into one.

I'm not sure how Quick and Easy

the week was for my daughter,

but for me 

it was pretty Sweet!

Until Next Time-

Kyle

Dutch Quilts, Fabrics and New Friends

Enjoying the culture and history of the 

Netherlands was just one part of my recent trip.

The other part revolved around quilts,

fabric and new friends.

Scene 1

Eight giddy quilters

eagerly walking down the streets of Amsterdam

in search of 

and the shop "Den Haan & Wagenmakers."

We were so excited about going in, it was
hard to stop and have our picture taken.

Petra Prins' Amsterdam shop is not very big, but
definitely filled with wonderful Dutch Heritage fabrics
and beautiful inspiring quilts.

It was one of those shops where you have 

to just stop and let your eyes rest in

one spot before looking some more,
otherwise everything is just a blur.

We were having so much fun!

I had told myself I would look for a kit
to bring back home.

This is the one I chose.

  but instead of the gold
border I picked out two Dutch fabrics.

I wasn't sure which one would be perfect so

it's best to get both.

This doll size quilt
would be perfect to make
with all the leftovers

I have from making Petra's mystery quilt.


Scene 2
One thing you learn when you travel 
is that people are the same no matter where you are.

 Our group had the sweet opportunity 
to meet with another quilting bee from

 Leiden, Netherlands.

  
Yvonne is a blogging friend 
and you'll want to check out her blog .

Just look at the beautiful Dear Jane she's made.

Doreen had arranged for us to all come together.
 What a thrill to come to Yvonne's home,
 share a delicious Dutch meal,
 and them meet the gals in her quilting bee.

 There was time for show and tell

 sharing some gifts,

and sharing that quilting rush you get when
quilters get excited.

Before leaving on the trip,
 I had made "sister quilts"
for Yvonne and myself.
It was so much fun to give her hers.

We had each made a block for signatures.
It was fun to get everyone to sign our friendship squares.

 This is mine.

It will be the label for a quilt I have in mind.

Getting together was definitely
one of the high point of the trip.

  "Quilting Sisters"

Scene 3
The next morning we were up early and
on the train heading to Amersfoort to attend the
quilt show 
The Australian-Dutch Connection

 You can read more about it on Judith's blog
who was one of the coordinators of the show.
It featured the quilts of Di Ford-Hall
of Australia

Cloverdale House

 

Gigglewick Mill Sampler

and Petra Prins of the Netherlands

 An's Treasure

Discovery
the Quiltmania mystery quilt, 2016

It was so exciting to see these and many many more 
gorgeous quilts in person.

We attend Petra's and Nell Kooiman's
trunk show of antique quilts.

  The lecture was in Dutch, but we learned

 

 we all speak "quilt"!

I had traveled with only a small carry on 
so my shopping had to be somewhat limited.
But I did manage to bring home a 
few more Dutch Heritage pieces

 and

 Di and Petra's new books. 
It was hard not to go crazy! 

Needless to say 
it was a fantastic trip

 from beginning to end!

Until Next Time-

Kyle