In August 2010 I opened a patchwork- and quilting- studio at my home in Dortmund, Germany, and meanwhile I have another one in Weimar, Germany, where I live for the most part of the year now.
I called it "Lupine". Why "Lupine"? This has to do with "Miss Rumphius", a children's book (story and pictures by Barbara Cooney, 1982). I found that lovely book at a children's bookstore in Oak Park, near Chicago.
You can see the book in this picture:
As you can see on the front cover, Miss Rumphius is planting Lupines. She does so because she wants "to make the world more beautiful".
Well, by sewing all kinds of fabric pieces together so that they form a new, warm object which I use for myself or which I give to another person, I try to do the same as Miss Rumphius does with planting her Lupines.
In addition to that, there is another connection between my quilts and Miss Rumphius' Lupines: both are not only "planted" to be just nice, they also should be useful. Sweet lupines are very nutritious, and my quilts and quilted objects are often designed for daily use and for creating warmth in everyday life.
But I do not only try to design and to offer quilts and quilted objects, I also provide a place for a person who wishes to be creative by herself/himself. I'm really not a master quilter, but I love to give encouragement, support and material to everyone who would like to find individual ways to use fabrics, patterns, thread and needle to create something which is ... well, unique, beautiful and useful. Everyone is welcome, beginners and experts, to work at my "Lupine"- studio on his or her own ideas. The only important thing for me is, that the whole process is experienced as a delightful activity (so please don't try to be perfect all the time, it's just fun! ... I had to learn that myself.)
Here are now some examples of my work. Some of these items are available,
others are already given away, but maybe they still provide ideas for your own quilting work (just like I received so many good ideas from other quilters!) or for quilted objects I can specifically design for you.
Please pardon the sometimes poor quality of my snapshots!
My advice is: You can click on each picture for a better view.
others are already given away, but maybe they still provide ideas for your own quilting work (just like I received so many good ideas from other quilters!) or for quilted objects I can specifically design for you.
Please pardon the sometimes poor quality of my snapshots!
My advice is: You can click on each picture for a better view.
quilts:
a quilt with some knitted pieces:
Quilt "Kiano", also with knitted pieces:
Quilt "Tulani", again with knitted squares:
a quilt made after the bed throw created by the English novelist Jane Austen in the 19th century:
small and light Travelling Quilt, also for at home (with bag):
winter quilt:
Lone Star Quilt:
... and a cushion to go with it:
a Yoga Mat:
Tabletop Quilt:
Maltese Cross Quilt (63x3 cm, 25"x25"):
Quilts as Board Games:
"With a Little Help From My Friends"
(see post from May 26, 2017):
"Round Morris"
(see post from June 18, 2017):
"From Color to Color"
(see post from June 30, 2017):
Backgammon
(see post from July 30, 2017):
wearable small quilts:
mini- quilts:
"Blue Flower" - Wallhanging,
63 x 63 cm, 24,8" x 24,8"
a Star:
wallhangings showing ladies which say : Hey, I'm alright! :-)
wallhangings with birds:
improvised wallhangings:
quilts as wallhangings, with a literary theme (for more information on my Literary Quilts, please see several posts from February 2011):
Where The Wild Things Are (by Maurice Sendak)
The Color Purple (by Alice Walker)
Siddharta (by Hermann Hesse)
wallhanging Pino:
wallhanging Pina:
wallhanging with an Haiku-poem:
honeycomb wallhanging, 69 x 78 cm
wallhanging with stars:
wallhangings 64 x 64 cm, 25" x 25",
BIN IM GARTEN (means: I am in the garden)
BIN AM MEER (means: I am by the sea)
IM CAFÉ (means: At the Café)
quilt showing Ginkgo leaves, for wall or table,
60 x 60cm, 23,6" x 23,6":
Wallhanging (102 x 25,5 cm, 40 1/2" x 10") with four blocks showing Ginkgo leaves and petals, it's the same pattern as above:
A wallhanging which shows a block for every month of the year 2014, like a diary,
it's 96 x124 cm / 38" x 49" :
small quilt for wall, table or chest
(29 x 29 cm, 11.4" x 11,4"),
I call this pattern "Evergreen", I make them in variations, here is one example:
… and a small quilt for book-lovers
(25 x 25 cm, 10" x 10"):
flowers, leaves, in various sizes, for different purposes (for hanging, as a coaster or table-mat, as a potholder, to attach them to bags and purses, for flower pots...)
filled with lavender:
small quilts for windows:
"Unruly Flowers" on clothes pins:
papiermâché-reliefs with patchwork-patterns (more about my reliefs: see the posts from August 21 and August 29, 2011):
little Folkart- Quilts for kids: ...
and I always have lots of little flower quilts (8cm x 8cm)...
... some of them are nice for being fixed on sweaters or bags:
bookmarks:
"Baloo" - Bookmarks:
... and a Teddybear-Bookmark:
bookmarks in the style of Civil-War-Era-Quilts:
bookmarks showing a variation of the traditional "spool" -pattern:
The book shown above is a wonderful one:
"The Signature of All Things" by Elizabeth Gilbert
bookmarks in the manner of Hawaiian Quilts:
Mola- Bookmark:
these bookmarks here are also made with this Mola-technique:
bookmarks with two Ginkgo-leaves forming a new figure:
"Unruly Flowers" as bookmarks:
more floral motifs in bookmarks:
cow-bookmarks for kids:
Here is an overview of some bookmark-types I made:
bookmarks after Sanzo Wada and his "Dictionary of Color Combinations":
… here are other ones:
Set of bookmarks: Four Seasons
bookmarks inspired by Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass":
(the book shown here is: Lewis Carroll, "Alice im Wunderland" & "Alice hinter den Spiegeln", Gerstenberg 2015, illustrations by Floor Rieder)
(the book shown here is: Lewis Carroll,"Alice im Wunderland", insel taschenbuch 2161, 1998, illustrations by John Tenniel))
A Windmill-Bookmark:
... and these are about trees:
... reading is like climbing up the stairs:
book medallions as a clip:
a bookbag, that holds larger books as well as smaller ones when folded:
A Quilt-Book (see more in the archives, post from January 25, 2015):
… and while the one above is about patchwork-patterns, here is one with some appliqué -patterns, each coming from a special cultural context, more in my post from April 27, 2015:
"Quilt Book, Vol.2":
bookend:
box and bookcover:
mini-quilts showing single letters, they can be grouped to form individual messages:
some letter cubes, each cube shows a word with four letters in itself, like BOOK or JAZZ or PLAY,
and can be combined with other cubes to form new words:
cushions:
Christmas cushion, front
... and back:
placemats:
tablecloth:
tablecloth, placemats, napkins, coasters and a tablemat:
table mats:
tablerunners:
potholders:
a kitchen quilt:
kitchen quilt/ potholder
... plus a towel with appliquéd cutlery
lavender-filled coasters for hot beverages:
plain coasters for cold beverages:
my cat :-) and hearts:
greeting cards:
personalized cards with individual motifs:
Hawaiian style (ironed-on motives):
Hawaiian style (Patchwork or Appliqué ):
more cards and a mailholder:
... there is room for messages in the back pockets:
Bird Tags (5x5 cm, 2"x2"):
snowman & scarecrow & Easter Bunny:
an Easter Egg- mini-quilt:
Folkart - dolls and doorstopper
a group of stuffed bears :
pincushion:
Owls:
Cats
Doll Quilts:
Juggling Balls, partly filled with dried lavender:
buttons self-made:
this and that .....
Teddy Bears (20cm, 8") :
a butterfly (patchwork-quilt with heavy paper, on a clothes pin):
a lucky charm and paper clip:
an Origami folded purse and another butterfly, Origami:
two bags:
a basket with a lid:
a basket "Pompadour" with a string:
boxes with lids:
baskets:
and an Origami Purse:
for Easter:
little bags, the one with the red beautiful button was a lovely gift
a bag to keep little things handy:
a mailholder:
hanging organizer pockets:
A vanity bag:
two small round bags with zippers and quilted zipper-pulls, (18cm, 7"):
a case for a cellphone:
Macaron Purses:
bags for Christmas:
ovenmitts, shaped like Christmas-coffe-.mugs:
a bag to keep bread fresh in the kitchen and a bag to keep warm rolls warm on the table:
Amélie (she keeps this and that):
Christmas bags and wreaths for the table or the wall
tote bag and tea warmer: ...
... and a key tag:
to make it complete, a door roll:
And yes, I make paintings, too. I have pictures of some of my paintings posted on March 30, 2011, "My paintings".
A picture of my Lupine-Studio in Dortmund, it's a small place, but there's room enough for two or three persons, and in Weimar my studio is at my home in a historic building from the 18th century, also small, but nice as well!
What's maybe good to know:
* the idea of my work is to I give and receive gifts. So I usually don't have a price list for most of my objects or for the time I spend with persons working on their projects. For more information please go to "Give And Take" at the top of this Lupinequilts.blogspot.de- site.
* Also: whoever is interested to work with me should bring fabrics he or she likes best, because of the feel or the aesthetic expression or because these fabrics evoke certain memories. I provide additional fabrics and thread and needle and so on, also: I love to make cakes and cookies!
* I focus on working with my hands, I seldom use my sewing machine. I like to give some time for a process to evolve and I love all the unexpected and irregular things which happen on the way from start to finish. The finished object then always gives an impression of individuality and uniqueness that can hardly be achieved when working with a machine.
* the philosophy of "Lupine" is: having FUN! :-)
And here are some of my posts which give some essential information on how I work and where I get my ideas from. It's not a tutorial, here are just some writings on my favourite subject:
(My) Quilts and everything that has to do with them.
If you are interested:
You can find these posts by browsing the archive on my main site (scroll down on the right hand side please),
or by trying a Google-search, write the title of my blog and the title of the post, like this for example:
lupinequilts, Doll Quilts
… this does not always work, but mostly it does. Thank you for being interested!
Enjoy!
February 12, 2011: My Lupine Studio: Welcome!
February 13, 2011: A Short History of Quilts, Literary Quilt
March 8, 2011: How I Make A Quilt
March 22, 2011: Kid's Corner
March 23, 2011: Ideas and Inspiration (good books!)
April 2, 2011: Label
April 6, 2011: Binding
April 7, 2011: Quilting Adds Dimension
April 14, 2011: Male Quilters
May 1, 2011: A Compilation Of Traditional Patterns
May 11, 2011: Buttons, self - made
May 15, 2011: Learning
September 9, 2011: Bird Tags, mini - quilts (5x5cm, 2"x2") which can be used for greeting cards, or as tags for presents, sometimes I sew one on a small bag...
December 6, 2011: St. Nicholas' Day (about working on a Christmas-quilt as a ritual)
December 12, 2011: Christmas cards
January 5, 2012: Sleeping Under A Quilt
January 6, 2012: How To Take Care Of A Quilt (storing/ airing/washing), the same text also on the right hand side of my blog
January 11, 2012: "Greeting Quilties"
March 3, 2012: In and Out, a Blue Underground Pattern (and a link where to find modern patterns for patchwork and quilting) , the finished quilt is shown on April 25, 2012 (Finished!)
March 19, 2012: Fragrant Coaster
March 31, 2012: "You never forget a beautiful thing... (about cooking and a made-to-measure-potholder)
April 5 and April 8, 2012: Easter Bunny
May 8, 11, 16, 17, 22 and 30, 2012: Jane Austen's Quilt
June 5, 2012: Haiku-Quilt
July 29, 2012: Honeycombs (as a quilt pattern)
August 2, 2012: Butterfly ( a butterfly as an object to clip onto edges, it's a butterfly-patchwork- quilt with heavy paper inside and a clothes pin at the back)
September 2, 2012: Travelling Quilt / Reisequilt (also in German)
September 12, 2012: Honeycomb / Bienenwabe (mini-quilts for the wall, the table, the bed, the armchair)
January 18, 2013: French - Star - Quilt (about the stories that are interwoven in an individually designed quilt and about the steps to go from start to finish)
February 9, 2013: Utility Quilts (practical household quilts as opposed to fancy quilts with an artistic aura)
February 13, 2013: Spring is Coming Soon! (about flowers in various sizes, for different purposes: coaster, table-mat, potholder, just for hanging or to attach them to a bag...)
March 5, 12 and 21: Quilts (wallhangings) with patchwork-letters in German about nice places: Garden / Sea / Café
April 3, 2013: Cat (a pattern from a Texas Quilt from 1910, good idea for a quilt block or a small wallhanging or a potholder)
June 4, 2013: Bookmarks - Reminiscent of the Civil War Era
June 23, 2013: International Quilt Festival in Chicago (with information on the "Project Linus")
July 3, 2013: Three Ladies - Young at Heart (wallhangings, somewhat humorous)
July 10, 2013, Letters (mini quilts showing single letters so that they can be grouped to form individual messages)
July 28, 2013: Basting my Windmill Quilt ( a good method to do it I think: to roll it up)
August 7, 2013: Bookends (patchwork, filled with heavy granulate material)
August 28, 2013: Garden Table ( a butterfly-quilt as a table mat)
September 7, 2013: Tessellation Quilt - Minis (about Tessellation Quilts and a beautiful book on this subject)
October 26, 2013: Spools (about an interesting fine and rare pattern)
November 8, 2013: Simplicity (about easy ways to make a quilt or a patchwork object)
November 26, 2013: Windmill Quilt (finished finally!)
December 1. 2013: Wearable Small Quilts (flower or twig, for sweaters or shirts)
December 9 and 10: Happy Christmas Time! Stars as little quilts, can be used for cards or tags.
January 14, 2014: Salve! (mini-quilts on greeting cards or letters)
January 28, 2014; "The Aloha Quilt" by Jennifer Chiaverini (about this book and how to make a quilt Hawaiian style, with examples)
February 14, 2014: Mark Twain, Letters from Hawaii (quotes and bookmarks made in the manner of Hawaiian Quilts)
April 14, 2014: Bookmarks showing two Ginkgo leaves which form a new figure
April 30, 2014: Quilt showing Ginkgo leaves, to decorate wall or table
May 15, 2014: "Different, but Equal" - a wallhanging showing four blocks with my Ginkgo- leaf -pattern
May 20, 2014: Red and White Quilts - a wonderful exhibition in New York in 2011
June 3, 2014: Octascope pictures of quilt- patterns
July 11, 2014: Teddy Bears
October 14, 2014: Source of Information
(wonderful: quiltindex.org)
November 9, 2014: Redwork ( a great technique of embroidery)
January 1, 2015: Ginkgo Garden Quilt
January 16, 2015: Katagami (about Japanese hand-cutted paper stencils)
January 25, 2015: Quilt Book (I tried to make a book that is telling five different stories about a variety of cultural influences on patchwork designs)
February 6, 2015: Mola Bookmark (about this very interesting appliqué technique)
February 11 and 20: "Between Winter and Spring" and "Secret-Garden"-Bookmark : about some new ideas for making bookmarks
March 8, 2015: Bookmark for Kids , it's a cow… :-)
March 20, 2015: Everything will be Owl-right …
April 9, 2015: 2014-Quilt completed
(finally the quilting is done and I could hang up my diary-quilt)
April 27, 2015: Quilt-Book Vol. 2 (this book is telling five different stories about a variety of cultural influences on appliqué - design)
May 10, 2015: Log Cabin and Virginia Reel Bookmark Added
(two new types of bookmarks and an overview of all the bookmark-types I made so far)
July 10, 2015: Macarons (about small purses, which are quite sweet … like Macarons, the French confection)
October 28, 2015: Doll Quilts (I love them!)
November 8, 2015: Funny Quilt Patterns (which are rare)
June 15, 2016: Boxes (consisting of small quilts, stabilized with card boards)
August 20, 2016: Kitchen Quilts/ Potholders ( in a larger size, for decoration and for using them comfortably)
September 20, 2016: Only One Time, about a tabletop quilt/charm quilt
February 15, 2017: Letter Cubes, about some patchwork cubes with words to play with
In the posts from
May 26, 2017 ("A Quilted Table Top Game")
June 18, 2017 ("A 'Round Morris'- Quilt)
June 30, 2017 ("From Color to Color")
July 30, 2017 ("Backgammon Quilt")
I described and showed quilts that may not only be used as decoration of a table, but might also invite persons to sit down and play a game together.
August 8, 2017: "Maltese Cross Quilt"
August 30, 2017: "A Little Bag", with pictures of two small round bags with quilted zipper-pulls
September 8, 2017: about a"Blue Flower" -Wallhanging
September 15, 2017: some new bookmarks I made, this one with "Baloo", the lovely bear from "The Jungle Book" in mind
January 23, 2018: "Espresso Maker", a kitchen quilt
February 2, 2018: "Book Clips", I made some book-medallions which come with a sewn-in clip, so that they can be used as a bookmark/ book clip.
April 8, 2018: "A Quilt with Knitted Parts", about my first attempt to include knitted pieces in a quilt
September 5, 2018: "What's a Quilt? Was ist ein Quilt?" - Texts in English and German which give some answers to that question.
October 2, 2018: "Kiano"-Quilt - a large quilt with knitted parts, "Kiano" is Kenyan for "joy" and "breathing new life into something"
October 23, 2018: Jane Austen - a quilt made after the bed throw created by the English novelist Jane Austen in the 19th century
November 6, 2018: „Tulani“-Quilt, a quilt which includes knitted pieces
November 22, 2018: „Our Exhibitionen Berlin November 17 and 18“, my friend and I organized a show
April 7, 2019: „Easter Logcabin Hen & Chicks“
July 25, 2019, „Human Tree Bookmark“
June 30, 2019: Quilted Rug, which also includes knitted pieces, can be used from both sides
August 11, 2019: „Young Tree“, a bookmark made with self-dyed cotton
October 15, 2019: „A Dictionary of Color Combinations“, a great dictionary made by the Japanese artist Sanzo Wada (1883-1967), some bookmark examples
From January 2020 on there is a Teddybear of the Month presented …
From January 2021 on there is a monthly star presented ...
April 29, 2021: "Yoga Mat" , about using the quilting technique for a floor mat
