Thursday, 26 December 2019

Sunday, 27 October 2019

2019 BELGIAN PATCHWORK & QUILTING GUILD SHOW

Three weeks ago, we headed to the beautiful
 ENGHIEN Castle
with my Quilting Bee.
It's always very special, and the 4 of us were very excited...

Such a lovely place

Right from the beginning, we were mesmerized
with all those gorgeous quilts,
most of them being handquilted...







I took more than 100 pictures, so I had to make
some selection for this post, but I guess you get an idea...

After that we rested a bit, while having a yummy lunch,
discussing what we just had seen.
There were also some lovely fabrics and yarns booths,
where we could indulge ourselves into some treats !  
;))

As usual, it was a day to remember,
So, with my happy Bee,
I do hope you enjoyed it too !

From left to right,
Danielle, Agnès, and Simone

°°°°°°°

I'll be back in a few days, with my 
"Sweet Surrender" project (update N°2)




Monday, 21 October 2019

SO LUCKY AND GRATEFUL !

If you remember my latest post, I posted a note about my search for
The "Sweet Surrender" quilt pattern
by Sue Coddy
which is no longer released...


I was immediately contacted by the always helpful
 Pam at "Hokaido Kudasai" (clic)
who suggested to contact another Pam
https://pamspaintbox.blogspot.com/
which, of course, I did ...

Two days later, Pam contacted me, saying that she could
send me a copy of her pattern !
Oh, My … I was thrilled beyond words.
We pleasantly exchanged a few emails,
we shared our love of bright, jewel tones fabrics,
and I also discovered that Pam is an amazing applique artist.
(Please, don't miss visiting her Blog)

The Post offices worked well, and 10 days later
a huge envelope was hitting my door.
Not only did I get that lovely pattern,
but Pam's copies were full of helpful,
personnal annotations...
AND, she even added a whole bunch of
K.Fasset & Kate Spain fabrics !


Just look at those gems !
(I'm planning to use them in another special project )

From the bottom of my heart,
Thank you, dear Pam !

So I was more than ready to start my new project.
How exciting !
Yet, inspired by Marieke, a talented Dutch quilter,
I decided to follow "The Road less travelled",
regarding my colors choices.




So here are my first 2 blocks...
I struggled a bit with those thin stems,
and had to redo them twice,
but now I found my pace, and I'm happy.


The background fabric for the appliques is a gorgeous
ruby red marbled fabric,
whereas the pieced connecting blocks are all
coming from my light fabrics scraps...



I'm planning/hoping to post weekly about
my "Sweet Surrender" updates.


HANDQUILTING
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
Hmmm, that's another BIG goal !
I'm part of a Bee for more than 25 years,
we're only 4, I'm the youngest, and those
lovely ladies taught me everything...
They can sometimes have "sharp tongues", but always for the better.

We were discussing some projects (including my Sweet Surrender),
and Simone, the eldest (83 years old), looked at me
very seriously, saying :
  " careful, baby, you'll soon become a "topper",no longer a quilter !

WOW, lesson learned, and I decided to handquilt
10 threads a day.  For the moment I'm on my "Dear Hannah' + "Pyramids" tops.


QUILT SHOW
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

Last Week, we visited the Annual Belgian National Quilt Show, and it was
wonderful, and so much inspiring.
I made more than 100 photos, and will try to post
some of them, next week, as soon as they're sorted...


ENJOY YOUR SEWING, MY FRIENDS !






Tuesday, 24 September 2019

BACK HOME ... FINALLY !

Well, it's been a long time , Indeed  :))

We enjoyed Spain very much,
yet we're now delighted being back
in our little Belgian cottage...

Autumn is here, and although some rain
is coming our way, the colours are splendid
and very inspiring...

I'll post some more pictures next time
(soon, I promise)
but I wanted to show you, at least,
an applique work that I completed recently.

It's inspired from the book "Dear Hannah"
by Brenda Papadakis
and I love it very much.


I was also very pleased, having completed
a big crochet blanket
Making it was a total blessing and very relaxing.

Of course, I'm now full of projects,
including much handquilting,
but there's that special quilt that's haunting my mind,
it really becomes an obsession.

The quilt name is "Sweet Surrender" 
by Sue Coddy.
and it was originally issued by "Material Obsession" Web site

I waited some time, having so many UFO's on my working table,
but now I'm ready to make it...
Unfortunately, this pattern is no longer available.
I have searched the Web, yet unsuccesfully  (sigh)

My only hope now would be that some quilter friend
would have it and would accept to help me.
Of course, I'm ready to buy it second hand.
I really, really would be so grateful !

Crossing my fingers (and toes),
"with a little help from my friend"

I'm wishing you all happy quilting times

In stitches,
NADINE