quilt show // plesse quilter 2014

One of my mom's quilt guilds called 'Plesse Quilter' had a quilt show last weekend showing some of their beautiful quilts. The theme was '25' because it was their 25th anniversary. They had a challenge for which each of the members made a quilt that had to include '25' and two fabrics (the silver fabric and the main fabric of the quilt above). It's always fun to see what people come up with if they use the same fabrics yet the outcome is completely different depending on the style and taste of the quilter.

I loved the wall hanging above because it combined quilting and knitting! Great idea, isn't it??

The mini quilt above was made by my mom. I love the modern feel and the combination of straight line quilting and round appliqué elements.

My friend B. made a beautiful wall hanging featuring 25 tulips. I love the combination of blue and pink. My mom quilted it on her long arm machine and she managed to make the tulips pop out by quilting the background rather densely.

Another member of the quilt guild made a looong (like 15 feet?) quilt that is composed of 25 squares. Each square represents one year in her patchwork career. It started with fabrics from the 80s, then 90s. In the 2000's there were different phases like batik fabrics and most recently a phase of hand dyed fabrics. It's a great idea and I might adapt it to a scarf that represents different eras in my knitting career.

Another set of quilts I really liked were the ones made from scraps; it's amazing to see what you can make out of the tiniest scraps of fabric. I don't think I can throw away any fabric scraps anymore because I'll just have to think of the awesome quilts other people would use them for.

craft fair sign

My mom Patricia made the most awesome craft fair sign for my small business. I wanted something bright and airy yet eye catching and unique. I'm not a fan of vinyl signs or anything with a hard structure. If you're selling textile accessories for knitters it's a logical consequence to have a textile sign, too - right?

My mom started off with a light fray piece of fabric. I think it was a curtain in an earlier life. Next I printed out all the letters necessary on a sheet of papers. I mirrored the letters in Word and printed them on normal office paper so they could be used as patterns.

Next my mom traced the letters onto vliesofix and ironed them onto a collection of 14 different green fabrics - the green one with the tiny sheep is my favorite. After ironing the letters to the background fabric she quilted it on her longarm machine.

Obviously my mom is a true artist and watching her turn a boring, old curtain into a piece of art is amazing. I just love how the letters pop out. My mom recently started a longarm quilting service - so drop her a mail (p.bussemeier AT gmx DOT com) if you'd like her to quilt something for you.

There are several rod pockets and sleeves on the back to hang the quilt. I couldn't be happier about the sign and I'm gonna hang it above my coach when it's not used as a craft fair sign.

52 craft projects // walk with me quilt

Remember the quilt top I shared in the summer? I'm happy to report that the quilt is finally done. I had originally planned to finish it in October so I could launch into making my Christmas quilt in November and have it ready by December. Things don't always work out the way we hoped they would and I only finished this quilt a couple of days ago. At least I got to finish it in 2013 so I can check it off my 2013 to-do list.

You can read all about the quilt top making here so I'm gonna skip that step here.
My mom quilted it on her long arm quilting machine. She posted about the quilting process on her blog. The picture below was taken by her when my quilt was on her long arm - it looks so tiny compared to her huge frame!

I love that my mom used three different quilting designs - each border got its own pattern and the plusses were quilted with geometric shapes.

After sewing the coordinating patchwork pillow I still had some scraps from the jelly roll leftover so I decided to use the scraps for the binding. I love the look and I saved some money because I didn't have to buy yet another fabric for this quilt. It's really amazing how much you can get out of one jelly roll - they aren't cheap but imho definitely worth the bucks.

The flannel on the back is super soft - unfortunately it's really hard to see the quilting on the fray background! I used this tutorial for the binding - I know I complained a lot about the machine binding last time I around but I figured it's better to have an imperfect binding than no binding at all and having yet another ufo laying around next year (confession: I'm terrible lazy when it comes to sewing on a binding by hand. It probably would've taken me another year to finish the quilt if I had to sew the binding by hand).

Here are all the important information at a glance:

the quilt:

• name: Walk With Me Quilt (because it took me so long to finish it...)
• size: 57 x 45.5 inches 
• quilt pattern: plus quilt (/cross quilt)
• making the quilt top
• quilting it on a long arm machine
• machine binding tutorial
• coordinating patchwork pillow 

the materials:

• sewing machines used: Juki HZL-F600 for piecing and binding, Handi Quilter Avanté for quilting
• threads: 'sew and quilt thread' by aerofil madeira for piecing and binding, 'so fine' by superior for quilting
• 'A walk in the Woods' jelly roll by Aneela Hoey for Moda: Hamels fabrics in Chilliwack, BC, Canada
• 'bleach white' by KONA cotton: Quilt und Textilkunst in Munich, Germany
• 'blue mushrooms' by Aneela Hoey: Volksfaden in Berlin, Germany
• quilt backing fabric (brand unknown): Alfatex in Göttingen, Germany

This is project #35 of 52 craft projects I'm attempting to complete in 2013. You can see all the other projects I've complete so far here.

my first quilt. ever.

The other day, my mom and I were searching for something in my parents' attic and we found the very first quilt I ever made. I don't remember how old exactly I was when I made it but I was probably 5-6 years old. I asked my mom why it didn't look all wonky and badly sewn and she claims she pinned everything in place and let me sew it with her sewing machine.

The pattern is pretty simple (duh!) and I wouldn't choose the same fabrics again but it looks like I've always had a thing for pink :)

The finished size is about 25 x 25 inches which makes it more like a wall hanging than anything else.

I remember using a quilt stencil to draw the lines for the border quilting. It was so much fun and probably my favorite part of making this little quilt!

It was hand quilted but I can't imagine that I did it all myself - I'm really impatient when it comes to sewing anything by hand and I don't think that was any different when I was younger ;)
I'm not too sure what to do with it yet; it might go back to my parents' attic. Or I might hang it somewhere... it definitely needs a good wash because there are some white stains on it but I'm afraid the fabrics might not handle a washing too well.

Do you still have your first quilt/sewing project? I'd love to see it!

'A Walk in the Woods' - Quilt Top

I bought this 'A Walk in the Woods' jelly roll in Canada. Last year. It's been patiently waiting in my stash for me to summon up the courage to untie it. It's almost too pretty to use!
I decided to make a cross quilt out of it because I needed something mindless and quick. Patching the crosses together took me three evenings/nights. That was back in June. Then my exams started and the quilt top went into my ufo drawer.

I know it's a shame to leave an almost finished quilt (or so it feels...) laying in my ufo drawer for months. I'm not trying to make excuses but it took some time to find the fabrics for the borders.
First I thought about using one of the gray fabrics from the Walk in the Woods collection. When I saw the prices (and realized the fabrics are hard to find because the collection is discontinued) I decided to go with a simple white border. Easier said than done.
I went to about five fabric stores, had my mom look at craft fairs, went to several fabric markets... nothing. This particular white seems to be impossible to find in Germany.
So what to do if you can't find the fabric you're looking for? Ask the designer.
Yepp. I asked Aneela Hoey in person (well sort of... via instagram) whether she knew of any coordinating solid white to go with the collection. And guess what? She answered within several hours!! I couldn't believe my luck. Apparently it's a 'bleached white' that's available from bella solids by moda.
Well I didn't find that particular fabric but I found a kona cotton bleach white.

Adding just a white border was too boring so bought the blue mushroom fabric when I was in Berlin.
For the binding I'm gonna use all the scraps from the collection I have left to make it fun and colorful.

I also found the perfect quilt backing fabric in my stash. It's a soft flannel that I originally bought to make pajama pants. Well, two years later it's still in my stash so I figured I'd just use it for the quilt.

Now comes the worst part: waiting for my mom to quilt it!

fabric sources:
'A walk in the Woods' jelly roll by Aneela Hoey for Moda: Hamels fabrics in Chilliwack, BC, Canada
'bleach white' by KONA cotton: Quilt und Textilkunst in Munich, Germany
'blue mushrooms' by Aneela Hoey: Volksfaden in Berlin, Germany
quilt backing fabric (brand unknown): Alfatex in Göttingen, Germany