Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

“Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.” 

- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 

http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/stars

This here is a very lovely video, showing stars and meteor showers and shooting stars… enjoy!

https://vimeo.com/76418903

Stars are Wishes

He believed the stars were wishes,

and that one day they would all come true.

- Daniel Wallace, Big Fish

www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/stars?page=13

Traveling Patterns

This picture shows a section of my light quilt, which I take with me when I'm traveling,

the pattern is a lovely one I think:

depending on how you look at it, it shows a couple of "Six-pointed Stars" or 

"Tumbling Blocks".

… and I had been very surprised and delighted when I discovered - when I stayed in Weimar/ Germany for a couple of weeks - that the very same pattern can be found on the floor of the entrance-hall of the very lovely Anna-Amalia-Library, which was founded in 1766 (I don't know when these floor-tiles were built in.) 

More information on this fascinating pattern can be found here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhombille_tiling

I always love to see that such patterns occur in multiple situations and places, that they are rooted in different cultural traditions and crafts…and that these patterns are building silent links between them.

"Big Magic", by Elizabeth Gilbert

Since I love all her books, I was very interested to read this one here as well: "Big Magic", by Elizabeth Gilbert. It's not a novel or a collection of stories like the books she has published before. This time she writes about what is standing behind her career as a writer, she writes about creativity, about "Creative Living Beyond Fear". She looks at this subject from all possible angles and in doing so she is witty, thoughtful and very very helpful. She shares stunning stories about some of her friends, describes experiences from her own life, provides some interesting background information on her stories and novels she has published before, and when I read her book it was like she was sitting like a friend with me over coffee at my living room table. I hung on every word of her and learned a lot. When I feel that way about a book, I know it's a good one (for me).

Here is a lovely quote, the first lines of a chapter with the headline "Stubborn Gladness":

"All I can tell you for certain is that my entire life had been shaped by an early decision to reject the cult of artistic martyrdom, and instead to place my trust in the crazy notion that my work loves me as much as I love it - that it wants to play with me as much as I want to play with it - and that this source of love and play is boundless."

Yeah! 

I do feel that way when I make my quilts! And this is what I wish to share when I give a quilt away.

Funny Quilt Patterns

Is there any such thing as a funny, humorous quilt pattern?

Well, yes, I find many of the quilts by Freddy Moran very nice, light-hearted and funny, if you are interested, just google her name and lots of colorful fine quilts will

come up which will make you smile.

But other than that?

Quilt patterns usually show finely arranged lines and pieces,  and often I stand in awe of the grace and rich cultural and historic tradition they reflect...

but I don't know many patchwork-patterns which are really telling FUNNY stories, but maybe that's just me, I'd be grateful for suggestions.

So I created my own pattern, which is hopefully SOMEWHAT funny, 

I called it "Funky Doo", 

and this is my first attempt to make a quilt with this pattern:

And since the Christmas season is not too far away anymore,

I added a "Happy Reindeer"-pattern:

So this is now a "Happy-Reindeer"-Quilt:

(… it's on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/lupinequilts)

Doll Quilts

"Sewing was an essential task for women in the 19th Century. Little girls were taught their first sewing skills at the age of three, and many of the initial sewing projects were doll quilts. The child was able to choose her fabrics from the scrap bag, measure and cut the pieces for a simple quilt block, and hand sew with small and regular stitches. This "practice" was made more enjoyable by the prospect of having a cover for a beloved doll.

During the pioneer era, quilting was popular due to the expanding textile industry and the availability of inexpensive fabric. Quilts were needed for the westward journey and would adorn beds once the pioneers were settled. Young girls brought their treasured dolls for the journey while the women packed quilts made by friends and family as going away gifts."

http://www.quiltingboard.com/resources/article-15.html

Under this above link you'll find more interesting information on Doll Quilts, the article is called "The History of Doll Quilts in America" and is one of the rare really nicely written articles upon Doll Quilts… rare, because we all think it's clear what that is… and essentially it is true, yes, but there is more to say on this subject because Doll Quilts reveal so much about the role of a child in a household over the centuries, and also about the history of quilts in general.

I love Doll Quilts, very much so. I think they give a cozy bright light to a room, when they are seen with the eyes of an adult, and a cozy warm feeling to your family of teddies and dolls, when they are seen with the eyes of a child.

I started to make a few, some I keep here, some I offer on Etsy:
hhtp://etsy.com/shop/lupinequilts

Put variety in white.

Charles Hawthorne

www.art-quotes.com

Etsy

This is the symbol of my newly opened shop at Etsy.

I started with some bookmarks,

and added some Folk-Art-Miniquilts.

You are very welcome to browse!

http://etsy.com/shop/lupinequilts

As is described under "Philosophy of My Work" at the right hand side here, all other quilts or quilted objects shown on this blog, which are not on Etsy, are made and given away (if available) against a donation to worthy persons or organizations.

How much I love my work!! :-)

Center Point

Every beloved object is the center point of a paradise.

Novalis

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/center.html

This is a painting I once made. 

Maybe someday I will make a quilt after it!

Looking Upward

I try to avoid looking forward or backward, and try to keep looking upward.

Charlotte Bronte

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/upward.html

Ginkgo: A Tree That Time Forgot

… something I did recently.

"Ginkgo is now the most widely recognised of all botanical “living fossils”: a tree that time forgot and an increasingly familiar living link to landscapes of the distant past."

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/21ffa6f0-b1b6-11e2-9315-00144feabdc0.html

a Malva and a pattern called "Sunburst"

Broken and Reassembled

"zerbrochen und neu zusammen gesetzt",

"Broken and Reassembled",

wallhanging,

79 x 49 cm, 

31"x 19",

sewn by hand and machine,

hand quilted

I can only say that I could never have planned it to come out that way, it just so happened that I had to follow several turnings and yes, the whole process of doing that involved a lot of measuring and assembling tiny pieces over long hours of work, and then, most importantly, something I never did before, 

finally cutting a nearly finished handmade top into several pieces again, which was a spontaneous decision and done in minutes.

In order to sew these strips together in a new way then I had to use the machine quickly or all my handmade seams would have come loose and the pieces would have been scattered around on table and floor.

It was quite an adventure and I feel the outcome is not a smooth but an interesting one, and it somehow looks right to me now.

Funny Houses

I guess when you turn off the main road, you have to be prepared to see some 

funny houses.

Steven King

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/houses.html

well, these "funny houses" can be used as bookmarks, that's what I do, but they can also be hung up, and they can hold little items like notes, too, because they each have a small pocket at the back…

The book shown here is a very lovely one:

"Forgotten Bookmarks-

A Bookseller's Collection of Odd Things Lost between the Pages"

by Michael Popek

Home

Recently I came across a very nice article in the New York Times.

It was written by Walter Mosley, the title was:

"Patter and Patois".

He writes about the "Literary Landscape" of Louisiana, where his family comes from.

What I like most:

I found in his lines a definition of the idea of "home",

and these are my own words but I used some of his:

A home holds my history, waits for my return, remembers my stories and there is a road that brings me back again and again.

Here is the article in full:  

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/09/books/review/walter-mosley-on-louisiana-literature.html

(Not) Forgotten Bookmarks

Bookmarks - how much I like them, in all variations, I love to make them and I like to use them and I like to find one in a rare or used book…

and here is something very lovely:

a site on which a used and rare bookseller shows us all the "personal, funny, heartbreaking and weird things" he finds in all the books he deals with!!

What a collection of findings!!

Yes, there are "real" bookmarks, but also receipts, letters, photographs, inscriptions and tags and the list 

goes on and on! 

Very very touching.

There are so many stories woven around one single book!!

Even more so if it is a rare and used book!

There is even a book about these findings,

and his site is here:

http://www.forgottenbookmarks.com

This is my complete set of bookmarks I've done so far, 

I keep on doing those in all kinds of variations 

because I like so much the combination of a book and an individual item 

that accompanies the reader on his or her journey through the story.

Macarons

Macarons! Hmmm! A French sweet confection:

two almond meringue discs with a lovely filling (jam, buttercream, spices…),

and they come in all kinds of nice colors…

well, and there are Macaron purses!

They have just this circular form, are small, 

and have nice innards, too…

They can be used as key tags, they can hold coins, 

they also keep sweet little somethings like rings or a bracelet or whatever small item one wishes to hold dear: the zipper keeps it safe.

There is a very helpful tutorial on how to make a Macaron purse here:

http://gkkreativ.blogspot.de/2014/07/macaron-taeschchen.html

Mine are made a bit differently:

My tops on both sides are little round quilts, with three layers, the batting being a fluffy piece of fleece, with quilting stitches for decoration and stabilizing.

The inner pieces are made with plain pieces of fabric, 

and are also filled with the same fleece.

I love to use these lovely traditional quilt patterns for the tops, thus there are endless possibilities to create different, individual purses which carry all the charm quilts naturally have.

Also, the two sides of one purse show the same pattern, but I arrange the pieces in a slightly different way.

My Macaron purses are 6 cm  (2 3/8") in diameter, 

and handmade.

With the attached hanging loop, 

a Macaron purse can be hung up also.

Summer Days

We are in for a couple of really hot days here - perfect time for washing a few quilts! I love to dry them outside then, in the shade, since protection from sunlight is a good idea in order to keep the colors from fading. 
Since mine are all handmade I wash them very carefully, and they take it very well. I love how they smell when I collect them in the evening!
I talk about how I wash my quilts in detail in a column at the right hand side here: "How To Take Care Of A Quilt (storing / airing / washing)"

Happy Summer!

"In summer, the song sings itself."

William Carlos Williams

http://www.quotegarden.com/summer.html