A Dutch Treat May Mini

Welcome to

 another Monthly Mini installment. 

This month I decided to have a bit

of quilting fun with my collection of 

Dutch fabrics.

I can't really enjoy them while

they're in a pile 

on a shelf.

Why do I save them there?

Why do I save so many of my

favorite fabrics?

No more lamenting.

Here's what I did this month.

Dutch Treat

24" x32"

The pattern is from

Petra Prins and An Moonen's

book, Promenade in a Dutch Garden.

It was easy piecing

hst's together from small colorful pieces

from my treasured collection and

then using only one fabric piece for the light.

The center star

acts as a small calm medallion

surrounded by the busy chintz patterns.

I finished the edge with a  traditional Dutch

invisible binding.

In this method you finish the edge

on the top with strips that are 

then folded it to the back of the quilt and

stitched down.  Instead of stitching

I used a narrow stitch witchery on the edge

to hold it in place.

I machine quilted a simple diagonal grid 

over the top.  I didn't want the 

beautiful designs of the fabrics to be 

covered over with threads.

To make it's debut,

I headed out to the barbed wire fence.

The bright green of the spring hay made the colors pop.

"Dutch Treat" was joined by two other Dutch favorites.

It made for a sweet mini May parade

in the open field, early in the morning.

Don't forget to check out what other

May minis were created on

Wendy's blog, The Constant Quilter. 

Until Next Time-

Kyle

Vision verses Ability

Do you ever feel like this?

This little chipmunk seems to have 

bitten off more than he can chew.

Oh, how I know the feeling!

The pieced top for the mystery quilt, Discovery,

  designed by Petra Prins in 2016 for Quiltmania magazine

has been finished for almost a year.

The delay?
ME!

  I've wanted to quilt it myself,

but the task seemed daunting.

My vision far exceeded my ability.

So for 9 months I've moved it

from list to list,
dragged my heels, and

totally procrastinated.

A couple of weeks ago I finally I 

ordered a collection of Aurifil #28 thread

in the pefect colors so my stitches 

would blend in, yet add

texture with the thicker thread.

So then last week

I pulled up my big girl panties and 

said," What have I got to loose!  Just do it."

It took more time and 

thought than I had originally planned,
although I knew it would.

Each section brought new challenges.

Figuring out what to do,

practicing, practicing...,
and attempting to make the designs look cohesive.

I left the center section until last.

I was unsure if I would be able to  fill in the background

with a swirl design that looked appropriate

for this beautiful design.

Not perfect, but acceptable for me.

I was excited to finally

 add my special label.
 When I was in the Netherlands

last spring, Petra signed it for me.

Now both of our names are included.

(notice how I changed the date!)

This quilt was a long term

project with many discoveries.  

I discovered Dutch chintz designs and how lovely they're to work with,

EPP piecing is accurate and fun to do,

and my machine quilting skills may be far from perfect,

but you never know what you can do until you give it a try.

Until Next Time-

Kyle

Discovery!

Last week I shared with you

how silly my mind can work.

I like to take one of the strategies

from the game of Parcheesi

and compare it to working

 on multiple quilts simultaneously

and then being rewarded with 
multiple finishes!

What's not to love about that!

Well, this week my fourth man (quilt) 

made it Home.
Tah Dah!!!

First, let me clarify, that my
finish is a finished top,
which was one of my 17 UFO's in 2017!

Discovery
65" x 65"

 It is the 2016 mystery quilt
designed by Petra Prins
for Quiltmania magazine.

Yes, you've probably noticed that 2017
is already half over, but I'm so happy to
have this sewn together.
I "discovered" that it's rather
hard for me to keep up with mystery quilts.

*Besides I like to cheat
and be a few months behind.
That way I know where I'm headed.
(I wouldn't have made a very good explorer.)

The design included lots of appliquéing,
fussy cutting,
English Paper Piecing,
and playing with Petra's
wonderful Dutch Heritage Fabrics.

I also "discovered" that I love these fabrics!
The only place I was able to find

 them here in the states
was at Web Fabric. com


 I didn't work from a kit
but used other fabrics from my stash

 
for the background pieces and borders.
It changed it up a little.

The center of this quilt
is designed after a compass rose
found on nautical maps
showing the points of the compass

or a mariner's compass block.
The Dutch were part of the Age of Exploration
and Discovery.

The most challenging part for me
were the final stars in the final border.

The kite shape points created
a very narrow tip and getting the seam allowance
to tuck under after basting them around
a paper piece was difficult.
I would have done better with good ol' needle turning.
 That was another part
of my sewing "discovery"
with this quilt.

Now when I "discover" some time
I might work on getting this quilted.
****

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

What's Up Now?

The strategy of Meredithe's

17 UFO's in 2017

has been a good one for me so far.

Progress, progress, progress.

So far

I worked on and finished two quilts that were 

"fast to finish" and the latest was 

one that had a "current deadline".

So what's up now?

Two quilts.

One is a "Long Term" project

and the other one is "something I love to work on". 

I've actually been hand quilting 

since the first of the year

 on

Noah and Matilda,

an antique reproduction applique 

pattern from 

Dawn at A Collector with a Needle.

 

Winter evenings are the perfect time

to get underneath the quilt and 

stitch.

I had my machine quilter baste 

it for me.  That is something

I would highly recommend especially for

big full size quilts.

It's been working perfectly. 

I've been quilting the feathered wreaths

before the light pencil markings disappear

and then around the appliques.

 It's starting to fill in.

My handquilting montra has

always been 

"just a hoop a day"

and to always finish the thread in my needle

before quitting for the day.

That's added up to a lot of stitches over time.

I'm far from done, but 

it's making progress!

***

The second quilt is the 

Dutch Medallion I started last year

which was the 2016 Mystery quilt  

found in Quiltmania and designed by

Petra Prins of the Netherlands.

I had gotten this far last summer

with still two more pieced borders to go.

It's not a mystery anymore, and that's 

fine with me.

The next border was added on 

and a vine appliqued in place.

I was eager to try the newest Aurifil  thread,

the ultra thin #80 weight cotton.

It's marvelous.

It's melts into the fibers and completely 

disappears.  I've tried fine silk threads before and

it was continually slipping out of the eye of the needle.

This doesn't do that, at least, with my

sewing style.

I'm super pleased.

Now there's a lot of EPP

to work on.

But it's so fun working with the 

beautiful patterns on the Dutch fabrics

that I covet and use every little bit.

Maybe someday I'll be able to get more!

I love making progress on this quilt. 

It's exactly what quilting should be.

Until Next Time- 

Kyle

Softly Tootin' My Own Horn and Some Other Things

 My mom always told me

never to "toot your own horn".

It was bragging and, besides,

others would see your good work and take notice.

But today

I'm breaking that rule, but 

  I hope I'm not tooting too loudly.

I have completely finished

 

 Dutch Chintz Medallion

2014- 2015

63" x 63"

It's taken a year and a half,

6 installments of Quiltmania magazine,

a fabulous design by Di Ford,

and perseverance.

It was fabulous to work with the Dutch Chintz

 from DEN HAAN & WAGENMAKERS

I had never done Broderie Perse applique before

or English Paper pieced hexagons.

The design brought forth new challenges and skills.

I didn't like how these football shapes didn't touch.

So I added some tiny circles to connect

them altogether.

And mitering borders

is always a challenge for me.

Then there was the decision on how to quilt it.

I combined both machine quilting in the ditch and

 hand quilting the open areas.

Today it's done

 and the label sewn on.

Tah Tah Dah!

*****

Winners:

Last Saturday Running Man drew three names

to win the three fabric baskets I had made 

in conjunction with my birthday celebration 

and my year of fun.

Here are the winners:

Basket #1 - Cathy of Quilting on Main Street

Basket #2 - Sandy L.  

( I still need to hear back from you, Sandy.)

Basket #3 - Julie of JulieKQuilts

Thanks  to everyone who took the time to 

leave a sweet comment.  I appreciate all of you.

***

The Fourth of July holiday is 

just around the corner here in the States.

Have a wonderful celebration.

Until Next Time-