May there be Peace!

May there be Peace!

Montag, 29. Februar 2016

Cushion (Sampler)



I so much like the names of these patterns, sometimes they sound like pure poetry:



LeMoyne Star





Scrappy Star & Stepping Stones





Waste Not





Star Center Log (Variation)






Monkey Wrench or Hole in the Barn Door






Double X No 4






Hovering Birds






Shoofly (Variation)






Mother's Favorite






and that's the back of the cushion:



Dienstag, 23. Februar 2016

Flying Geese



This is a daybed, covered with my latest quilt.
It's my first quilt that is not made for lying beneath it but for sitting upon it.
It is made in a non-delicate manner, that means this quilt is a robust one, it consists of strong fabrics, is padded with a rather thick cotton batting and the quilting is done with an extra strong thread.
The pattern is a Flying Geese variation.


It's also the first time that I tried out the "quilt-as-you-go"-method, 
that means I completed each patchwork block, added the batting and backing, quilted the center line, and assembled the finished blocks one by one by sewing the edges of the layers together, rather than working on the top first and adding batting and backing as whole pieces later, in order to quilt them afterwards.
It was crucial here to not quilt in close proximity to the edges, because then it would have been almost impossible for me to assemble the sandwiched blocks.
This method is a bit tricky, I didn't find it easy to sew together the different layers, 
but the beauty of this process is that I didn't have to deal with the painful process of assembling these super large pieces of fabric, I almost always had ended up doing so lying on the floor for hours to stretch out and to baste top/ batting/ backing and this is simply too much for my back these days. :-)


I'm glad I made it!!



meinketoy.com/blog/

Mittwoch, 3. Februar 2016

Quilts and Books




I always think that there exists a natural bond between those two,
a book and a quilt.
So it's just a natural thing for me to make such bookmarks,
it feels to me as if they call for one another.
It's all about searching for patterns.
The pattern I used here is a double version of a "LeMoyne Star".
The book shown here is by Henry James, "The Portrait of a Lady".


To understand is to perceive patterns.

Isaiah Berlin

quotesgram.com/pattern-quotes


Sonntag, 17. Januar 2016

Things with Wings



This was a Christmas gift, I love that piece, it is super sharp, but the best is the idea, that it helps to produce things that have "wings". :-)


Donnerstag, 24. Dezember 2015

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!



Freitag, 18. Dezember 2015

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






Donnerstag, 3. Dezember 2015

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:

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.




Sonntag, 15. November 2015

"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.




Sonntag, 8. November 2015

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:



Mittwoch, 28. Oktober 2015

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




Donnerstag, 15. Oktober 2015



Put variety in white.

Charles Hawthorne

www.art-quotes.com

Dienstag, 29. September 2015

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!








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!! :-)


Samstag, 26. September 2015

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!


Samstag, 19. September 2015

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

Dienstag, 8. September 2015

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

Montag, 24. August 2015

Samstag, 15. August 2015

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.