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My Quilting Page |
Every so often I undertake to teach myself a new hobby. Quilting was really an outgrowth of years of working with fabrics -- whether sewing clothing and household linens, crafting cloth dolls and stuffed animals, or making fabric wall hangings.
I must admit that without the internet, quilting would have remained in the planning stage. It offers an unlimited source of inspiration, instruction, and supplies.
In the Summer of 2004 I finished my first project--a table runner for my son who has just set up his own place in New York City. Here is a photo of it.
Click on it to see a larger picture.
I was amazed at how easy it was to design the table runner using the log cabin pattern. I decided on the final size and went on from there.
For an English language quilting workshop
located in the beautiful village of Labarthe Bleys just outside of Cordes-sur-
Ciel in South western France, check out the
Studio France website. I just
completed a 8 day stay in early July and had a wonderful learning/vacationing
experience. Here is a photo of
the table runner I stitched together during the workshop.
Click on the thumbnail to see a larger picture.
The table runner features six blocks which were sewn using foundation patterns. This method allows you to piece the blocks together with incredible accuracy.
Another recent project was taken from the
Australian Women's Weekly Homemade magazine. . It featured a
"California Rail" quilt using fabric from the
Thimbleberries "Paint Box" range of
fabrics.
To view a larger photograph, click on the quilt.
This
is my new project for the holiday season. The trees are foundation pieced
using batiks. The original pattern was for a much larger quilt,
approximately 50" x 60". My quilt measures approximately 30" x 40" and
hangs over my fireplace. The pattern came from the book "Home for the Holidays"
by Lynda Milligan and Nancy Smith which is published by Possibilities books.
This summer I finished a wall hanging
from the "Underground Railroad Sampler"
book.
According to the authors, Eleanor Burns & Sue Bouchard, quilts were used to communicate information about the Underground Railroad which guided runaway slaves to safe houses on their journey to Canada. Each block carried a coded message. Whether this is true or not, the expert directions contained in this book allows you to make this quilt as well as other projects. It is published by Quilt in a Day.
Another recent project was taken from "The Stack a New Deck" book by Karla Alexander and published by Martingale & Co. This 'crazy quilt' hangs next to my son's bed and was fun to make.
For any one interested in quilting, I would highly suggest joining the about. com quilting forum