Apple core doll quilt finish

A small finish today: a doll quilt, started many years ago, with the apple core pattern (and a little 1950's Steiff monkey;). It was a sandwich for a long time waiting to be picked up again.

I stitched the apple core pieces together by hand (English paper piecing method), appliqued them on top of the border fabric and machine quilted the quilt. The backing fabric is a second hand fabric from France (from a booth at a Show in Nantes I think).

I remembered myself how much I love making doll quilts! I hope I will make more.

GroetjesAnnemieke

The green quilt top turned into a quilt

The green top I wrote about here turned into a quilt finally!

This was 2 years (!) ago when  started the quilt on my design wall.

 It is one of my favorite quilts, probably just because of the fabrics and the way the fabrics came together in rows.

 Some are old fabrics, soft and worn, like the big leaves...

The 2 on the left were left over in quilt shops (years ago), not in fashion apparently, but I loved them and still do! The one on the right is the worn bed sheet I bought at a car boot sale in England. I like big pattern fabrics. So much fun when I cut the up!

Another 2016 photo of the green quilt top on tall bean sticks.

 Now in November 2018, with the geraniums still flowering o my balcony!

Ready to use when it gets colder in the evenings.

Groetjes
Annemieke

Facts:
size: 1.30cm by 1.55 cm (51"by 61")
fabrics: quilt cotton, liberty fabrics, Japanese double gauze fabrics, thrift shop fabrics.
Batting: 100% cotton Hobbs
sewn and quilted by machine, with my Pfaff quilt expression 4.0

Feather quilting on my Amish quilt

Yesterday I practiced free motion quilting again on my Amish inspired top and it was fun!!! I showed this top  already in April here.

This picture is taken in the sun to show the stitching. The fabric is actually black, but looks a bit grey here because the sun is shining so bright.

The red and blue fabrics are dyed by a friend of mine and they almost glow in the sun.

 The strange quilted leaves are inspired by an old Welsh quilt.

I started to practice feather quilting on another quilt and I really like doing this!!!
I used my Pfaff expression 4.0. Quilting in the black cotton was no problem but in the more sturdier blue and red fabric the quilting was difficult.  My thread broke several times.  So this gives me something to think about.... My friend who taught me how to free motion quilt feathers gave advice to search for a Yuki (or Juki). I can't get the same machines like in the US but this is  good one too: juki-tl-98p
So on  my wish list it is:) May be I can find this machine second hand, probably difficult....

 The back of the quilt.

Here it is drying after washing in the washing machine.

And final picture of the quilt on the wall.

Size: 88 cm x 111 cm (inches: 34.5 "x 44")
Quilting thread: Invisafil by Wonderfil in dark grey and red.
Batting: 80% cotton- 20 % polyester
Sewing machine: Pfaff Expression 4.0

Happy sewing!!!

Groetjes
Annemieke

1718 quilt finished

My  '1718 coverlet' reproduction quilt is finished!!!!!

 The quilting is very simple and done with my Pfaff sewing machine with invisafil thread by Wonderfil around the little blocks and the big applique shapes.

The backing fabric is a Japanese woven fabric and a linen/ cotton mix fabric.

 I just wrote the information on the back with a permanent marker, I know... I didn't take the time  to make a nice label, but this does the job as well.

I washed the quilt and dried it flat on a bed, followed by a short 15 minutes program in the dryer.

The quilt is made by me using the pattern from the book by Susan Briscoe:

'The 1718 Coverlet: 69 Quilt Blocks from the Oldest Dated British Patchwork Coverlet'. 

Not only the pattern is in the book but it is also nice to read about the history from the original 1718 coverlet.
It was really a great joy to work on this quilt!!!!
Have a nice Sunday!

Groetjes 

Annemieke

African quilt finished!

My African quilt is finished! The pattern is from a book by Kathy Doughty called "Making quilts...The promise of joy"   

Here I unfolded the quilt in front of the Cruquius museum ( with the biggest steam engine in the world, used for emptying the Haarlemmermeer lake around1852)

Like this butterfly in the grass near my feet,who is just unfolding his wings I think, he couldn't fly yet. The crinkles are still visible.

All African fabrics are bought at the Tambani stand in Rijswijk quiltshow ( Dutch blog: here ) They sell embroidered panels but at that stand, African fabrics too!

I combined the African fabrics with lots of different fabrics of my closet, like the thrift shop shirts I bought in the USA....

 Shirtings...new modern fabrics....reproduction fabrics....

 linen fabrics, old and new.

 

 The back is a combination from leftover fabrics and a big piece with checks my aunt gave me long time ago.

The quilting is done by my on my Pfaff Expression 4.0 . I used a thick thread( which I had for years but there is n name on it) at the top and Invisafil thread from Wonderfil in the bobbin.

Some African fabrics are really bright, like the yellow and orange butterflies.The patterns so different from the ones we are used to.  All of them were reversible, almost no difference between back and front of the fabrics.

The  best way to see the pattern is from a distance. It is perhaps not a beautiful quilt but just  practical and a fun quilt. It has already been washed and dried, feels good and smells nice!!!

Have a good week, finally Spring has come to our region I hope!

Groetjes

Annemieke

Finished with machine quilted feathers, first time!

This was a UFO in my closet for some years and is made from a fabric line by Petra Prins

This little crib size quilt is machine quilted with Invisafil, from Wonderfil which I bought at the Wonderfil stand at the AQS quiltshow in Lancaster, PA. I quilted it on my Pfaff Quiltexpression 4.0.
The quilting is difficult to see, but that is okay for me. I like it for practicing and on some quilts I don't want to see much thread.

After some advice from my friend Teri, I started quilting along the squares in straight lines. After all the fabric was secured, I quilted the feathers in the borders.

I used a batting made out of 80% cotton and 20 % polyester. The quilt is already been in the washing machine.

Happy with the result!!!

 Groetjes

Annemieke