Tuesday, 29 March 2011

The Insanity continues

Here's the pic (finally) of block 18 - under construction as well as the final product.



(It doesn't look so square here, but it is... hmmmm..... perhaps I need to set up a mini-studio to get some better pictures)

The off-cuts pile...


Another finish! (well, of a block, anyway)

Saturday, 19 March 2011

More Redwork

*Newsflash* block 18 complete - all 229 pieces of fabric.  Pics to come : )

Friday, 11 March 2011

Redwork Insanity

My other project is a red and white version of Nearly Insane.  I'm über-excited about this one - at last I'm delving into my rather extensive red stash!  Sometimes, if I have a stash I'm particularly fond of, it can take a while to find a project worthy of it... and anything with red & white is my current obsession.  I'm also going through a bit of a scandinavian/nordic design phase. 

Here are a couple of my favourites so far:











Friday, 4 March 2011

Dear Jane

I started working on a Dear Jane about four or five months ago.  I thought it would be a fun way to use up a lot of the scraps I have left over from other projects that are too small to use in 'something big', but that I am much too attached to to merely throw out. I'm using quilter's muslin as my background and a variety of fabrics for the top - some with stories, some not.


The yellow in the star block and the green in the circle block are fabrics I used in a 'farm' quilt I made when I was about 15.  So nice to be able to put the leftovers to good use.


The pink is also from the 'farm' quilt, and the yellow in the star is leftover from a quilt I made for my brother and sister-in-law as a wedding present.


This block took me ages to finish - so fiddly.

I also signed up to a DJ mailing list and it's been really great to see what other people are doing with their    'Jane Journey'.  Being a part of the 2011 Secret Pal is also proving to be fun!

Two sites I really find useful for DJ are:
http://www.dearjane.com/
http://thatquilt.blogspot.com/

Amsterdam

Wow, I can't believe it's been so long since I posted on here last.  Since my last post I've spent a few weeks in Europe and made a tour of some of the fabric stores I came across : )

I arrived in Frankfurt in the middle of the snow storms in mid December, and headed straight for Amsterdam.  Well, I tried to anyway.  After two cancelled trains, endless delays, a side trip through Belgium, another train, a bus, yet another train - that broke down, and finally a taxi crash, I arrived.  A trip that should have taken about 5 hours ended up taking more than 13...

Anyway, it was well worth it.  Now, I know that when most people in my age-bracket think of Amsterdam they generally think of pastimes which may be restricted in their homelands due to local laws.  Not me.  When I think of Amsterdam, I think of dutch chintz and Den Haan & Wagenmakers!
The store in the central part of the city is lovely and has a nice range of fabric on offer.  Naturally a purchase or two was made.  The ladies who run the store are very helpful.
There's also a website: http://www.dutchquilts.net/
and an online store: http://www.dutchquilts.net/shop/home.php?sl=US