Recently in Quilting Category

Ever since I got back from Europe, I've been thinking about the Dutch tiles fabric that I picked up in Amsterdam. This weekend I got it out and made four small wall hangings out of it.

There were enough tiles to make two quilts of four tiles each, and two of 16 tiles. I had just enough fabric from the fat quarters to make the boarders around them.

I was amazed at how quick it was to make these, even if I forgot to square the tiles before I sewed the bars to them and had to rip it all out since they were slightly larger than 6-inches. I realized that most of the quilts that I have in production are at least queen bed size. That's big. No wonder it takes me so long to finish one!

I decided that I really should back these wall hangings with the same fabric as the front. So I went to the Den Haan & Wagenmakers site and ordered enough fabric to back all four, as well as the binding. I decided to go with a black print since I was afraid the blue wouldn't quite match.

I hope the fabric arrives soon. I really want to finish these up. I'm just going to stitch in the ditch, so that should be fast too. Yay for small projects and getting done quickly!

I landed back in San Francisco late last night. Man, I don't know what time it is or what day or anything. I've slowly been going through my bags, putting stuff away. I managed to pick up some crafty things on my travels, and thought I would share them with you all.

In Amsterdam, I went to this neat quilt shop called Den Haan & Wagenmakers. If you are ever in Amsterdam, I highly recommend you go! They are not far from Dam Square. The shop is chock full of their lovely fabrics, with lots of kits and examples of how you might put them together. There is also a cute little quilt shop right next door, which was more of traditional quilt shop, more like what you'd find in the states.

I picked up a kit, which included the fabric above. It makes a small wall hanging quilt of different squares. Should be quite nice when finished.

I also picked up this tile fabric and a set of fat quarters. They showed an example of the tiles cut with the fat quarters fabric as a border. I originally got this as a gift for my mother, by I love the fabric so much I may have to keep it for myself.

We past a cute little crafty shop while in Skagen, and I was sure to go back before we left in the morning. The shop was a strange mixture of yarns, fabric, cross-stitch kits and clothing. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason for how things were organized in the shop.

I did find this Christmas tablecloth kit though, and decided that it was worth it. It seems to be a more traditional design. The woman at the shop commented that it was "a big project" but we both agreed that it will be lovely when complete. I may or may not stitch the words in Danish... might change it to English. We'll see.

In Copenhagen, I went to a number of knitting stores. One of the stores, Sommerfuglen, had yarn, cross-stitch and embroidery, as well as fabric for quilting. I almost got a pattern for a lovely cardigan, but I was afraid that the directions would be too hard given that they were only in Danish. They also had some lovely cross-stitched maps of Denmark that I was really tempted by as well.

In the end, I decided to get this book of cross-stitch wreaths and flowers. It's easy to follow the patterns, since it doesn't matter that they are in Danish.

I also picked up some yarn while I was at Uldstedet. This was a cute little shop with a fairly good selection, though not as large as Sommerfuglen. I went back and forth and back and forth over which yarn to get. They had a wide range of colors and it was so hard to decide.

In the end I settled on this denim blue fingerling-weight yarn. It's Alpaca, so it's very soft. I don't have a pattern to use it in yet. I'm sure three skeins will be either way too much or not enough.

I have a lot of quilts that are in various stages of creation. But there is one little lap quilt that has been lucky enough to make it all the way to completion. It's a Christmas Lap Quilt that I made at the end of 2002.

The quilt is a very simple patchwork pattern. I picked it up at ThimbleCreek, back when they were still in Walnut Creek, CA, as a kit. The fabric for the top was all pre-cut. I chose a Christmas-y flannel as the backing, because I wanted it to be something cozy to curl up with.

To stitch the top I put all the squares in a big grocery bag. I shook it up good and then blindly picked out a square to stitch. I added the square in whatever orientation I pulled it out. This meant that the squares are upside down and sideways and all around pretty random.

Here's a photo of the quilt after it had been pieced and as I was sandwiching it together for basting.

I used the Warm and Natural (at least, I think that is the name) as the batting.

The fact that this quilt is only a lap quilt size made it a lot easier to finish. I stitched in the ditch for the final top stitching. I had a bit of trouble with the flannel backing bunching up as it when through the machine. I don't notice it anymore, but at the time I was all upset about the bunching. Washing it a few times so it crinkled up a bit has also helped with that.

It's actually just a smidge too small. You have to turn it on the diagonal to get it to cover your feet and to your chin. But I still love it. It's soft and warm. And I think the fabrics they chose for the kit really work well together.

Christmas Lap Quilt:
Started: Fall 2002
Finished: Fall 2002