Tuesday 31 August 2010

The Geckoboxes

Why the name Geckoboxes for my box-making hobby? Geckos, or small lizards, have been around our house in Italy, Spain, Singapore and Saigon for many years, sometimes hiding in the boxes I was making. Because they were so little, I was never scared but more surprised by their sudden appearances.
These 2 boxes are made with pictures of paintings made by my Dutch friend Joke. Bringing these colorful pictures together as a mosaic around the corners of a box is one of the things I like to do most.

This heap of boxes is made during workshops I gave in Saigon. It is a mixture of different levels of box-making: beginners, advanced, with paper, fabric, glass top and picture collage.
Right now all my materials are in storage and I am so much looking forward to unpacking them all when we move to Sao Paulo, somewhere in October. Even more so after visiting a another box making lady here in The Hague. She makes beautiful boxes, some of those are for an on-line shop: http://kunstenvliegwerk.nl (click on the URL). She uses printed copies of antique samplers, simply beautiful.

some more Geckoboxes
Cheers, Hilde

Pentagons and diamonds...

I would almost say: ... are a girl's best friend!
It is only that I have just started but I know I am hooked already! Before I can continue I have to study Portuguese, clean the bathroom, walk the dogs, get some groceries, appointment with the dentist, sort out the packing list for the movers in random order... ahhhh!!!
I so much more prefer to go through my stash, cut out pieces of fabrics and make a heap of pentagons to play with.  The colours of the Kaffe Fassett and Amy Butler fabrics are just so appealing!
Sigh... ok,ok, I will do something from my to-do-list first and then I can go ahead and play for a while!

 Over the weekend I finished the applique to a top for a charity quilt.
All hexagon flowers and pentagon fishes and butterflies were made by a few ladies from the quilt bee at The Stitch Cottage. The top will be used for a so called Dream quilt. In total we made 2 tops for this special project.
More info regarding the dream quilts (in Dutch): http://www.regenboogboom.nl/droomdekentjes

Happy quilting! Hilde

Saturday 28 August 2010

Pincushionswap

Jeannet organized a pincushionswap and apparently already more than 100 people signed up! It is the first time I join a swap and it promises to be fun! If you want to join in as well, just click on the picture on the right side. Closure date is September 5!

A few weeks ago the postman brought me a book about pentagons: Liesels Fünfecke written by Hilde Klatt and Liesel Niesner; a wonderful variation on the hexagon principle with stunning effects. 

The book is in German but the instructions are clear. I bought it from Lohuis-Tijhuis quiltshop, but you can also order it from the writers themselves. Just click on the links and you will go their websites.

I am planning to make a few pincushion samples with these pentagons, just have to decide on the colors.. 
Cheers, Hilde

Thursday 19 August 2010

ANZA quiltgroup in Singapore

During our posting in Singapore from 2000 until 2006 I was a member of the ANZA quilting group, a very active group of ladies from around the world. Every Tuesday one of the ladies hosted the whole group while another brought cookies and cakes. Sometimes more than 20 came and the golden rule was "six stitches before having coffee and cake". We often made barely six as there was so much to share, show and tell.
For every member who left we made a friendship block. Many friendship blocks were made...


When I left, the ladies all made a me block in autumn colors.
As I like to be challenged, the measurements of the finished blocks was open. Oh my, I received so many lovely blocks from all of them, all so very different and beautiful. Pictured here are some ladies of this wonderful group.


It became a challenge indeed to group all these different blocks together. I decided to make a design with a medallion in the center, to add small triangles and appliques of flowers at the corners and to repeat this at the border.

This quilt is very special to me, it contains so many fond memories to a group of women who helped each other and made life in Singapore so much easier.



Below a few close-ups.

 

Tuesday 17 August 2010

My very first quilt







 About 20 years ago, during our first posting overseas, I went to a just opened quilt shop on Johnson Ferry Road in Marietta, Georgia.

With seeing all the fabrics I wanted to learn this craft right on the spot. Here is where I made my sampler in very soft tone colors, very modern for those days. Unfortunately the colors have faded over the years, especially during the years in Singapore where the sun rays were stronger then I expected... Or was the quality of the fabrics in those days not as good as they are now?

I managed to take this quilt out of the storage to take a picture and to decide if I take it with me to our next posting in Brazil or leave it here. Maybe I just take it, just to have my projects with me...






 
Bickel and Spetter, waiting to go out to the park. Okay guys, let's go!

Friday 13 August 2010

Floating Flowers


My mini Schnauzer named Spetter loves it every time I spread my quilt projects out on the floor. In fact my other dog, a standard Schnauzer named Bickel, likes it too but he hates my camera and sneaks away as soon as I hold that flashlight machine in my hands...

This quilt is made out of one kind of fabric, the one that goes around in the border. I got this bright colored fabric more then a year ago at Quilts 'n Calicoes, a lovely shop in Singapore.The owner, Ira Joseph, is a wonderful woman and skilled quilter. Once you enter her shop it feels like being in a candy store, so many colorful fabrics to choose from!



With the Stack and Whack way this colorful quilt was born. The pattern is from the book: One Block Wonder by Maxine Rosenthal. Every time I worked on this quilt I was struck by the effect of rearranging the triangles.
Working on this one was such a joy; I almost did not want it to be finished.
I hand-quilted it with a multi-colored thread, first along the ditch, and then again with circles at the corners where three blocks meet.



It took a while before I found another project that was as much inspiring to me as this one.


Cheers, Hilde

Monday 9 August 2010

My quilt is up on my wall!


In between visits of dear friends from Singapore and Vietnam and my parents, I made the final stitches to Coming Full Circle. It is up on the wall in the living room and I like it a lot! The colors are blending in nicely with the rest of the room.


This is the back of the quilt. There was not enough fabric for the whole of the back, as you can see! The 9 blocks were first quilted by machine and then sown together.The strips of fabric are placed on top of the seams.


And here is a close up.
Because I am not sure yet when the move to Sao Paulo will take place, I better get started with a new project!

Cheers, Hilde