Mother of Pearl

Yesterday I witnessed an amazing weather phenomenon: It was a stormy afternoon and I looked out of my window and saw this amazing cloud in between the dark, lower clouds. Later I found out that it is called a Mother-of-Pearl cloud (or Nacreous cloud).

It had the most fantastic shifting iridescent colors and I ran to get my phone and camera to capture pictures of it.

The two photos above are taken with my Canon through the window.

For the two last pictures I went out on my porch in the strong wind. It was an amazing weather phenomenon where the cloud was blazing with the shifting colors. A few minutes later it was gone...

Remark: None of these photos are filtered, this is actual footage!

I am so happy I managed to catch it on camera, it was a live show I will never forget. I beats the fireworks on New Year's Eve!

 

Edit: This morning I caught another view of the same type of clouds, not obstructed by trees this time: Beatuful, vivid colors! And you have to be quick to catch it, it disappears in minutes.

With this post I wish you all a Happy New Year in 2017 !

 

This Year's Last Bee Block(s)

This year I have very much enjoyed being a part of one of the BeeHive groups organized by Alyce of Blossom Heart Quilts. Our group, the Beehiveinterquiltinentials, with members from three continents have had a fun time making blocks for each other.

My month was September, and I received a bunch of blocks as decribed in this post . I will have to make a few more blocks to make a decent size quilt, but I haven't had the time to do it yet. My problem is that I committed to way too many projects and BOMs during the year. My first priority for 2017 is to complete this quilt.

For the month of December, Ileana chose the Wanta Fanta block in off white and dusty blue tones, florals or geometric prints. I had several prints of the right colors, so I went straight to work and made her block. When I had made one, I couldn't stop, and had to make another one. Below you can see the two blocks.

I know that Ileana is going to assemble these blocks into a beautiful quilt!

Keep on quilting!

December's Charity Quilt

The last charity quilt I completed was in November/October this year, and that one has already been donated to the hospital.

One and a half weeks ago I got the sewing mojo again to make another one. I have a few packs from my quilting guild with coordinating fabrics to make charity quilts from. After looking through the selection I chose the one with farm animals and coordinating prints.

The Debbie Mumm panel was way too pretty to cut apart, so I let that be the focal point of the quilt and started building up the design around it.

I used the fabrics that were available to me and added some borders and squares, in what could look like Christmas colors. To make the quilt a little longer, I added a few pinwheels on top, plus an additional green border. The picture above shows the quilt prior to quilting.

Then I took the quilt outside to catch the last daylight of the day. This picture is taken around noon, and as you can see the light is very bleak; no filter here. The snow left us a few days ago, so everything is pretty dark. In a short while the days will be getting longer and I am really looking forward to that!

The quilt is approximately 37" x 58" after wash and dryer cycle.

Any small child could make up lots of stories with all the animals in this panel; Debbie Mumm's style is so perfect!

There was also a panel with "ordinary" farm animals in the bundle, and I couldn't cut that apart, either. So that one ended up on the back together with a green print.

I quilted it with loops and big stippling, using a green thread.

Here is a detail from the panel on the back, a happy farm, indeed!

This is my fourteenth charity quilt to the children's ward at the hospital, and I hope to make several quilts for them in the coming year. They are in great need for quilts to the long-term sick children. I hope the quilt will bring comfort and joy, and keep the illness at a distance for a while.

Keep on quilting!

2016 Aurifil December Block

The December block is designed by Amanda Herring, and is a beautiful  12" paper-pieced Flower Block.

Keep on quilting!

Status On The Splendid Sampler Blocks

The whole year I have been making the Splendid Sampler blocks. The event is organized by Pat Sloan and Jane Davidson, and two new  blocks are posted each week. I kept up with the schedule until I went on vacation in July when I didn't have access to my sewing machine.

I have been trying to catch up lately, and today I appliqued 4 blocks that I prepared last night.

I am still behind, as for now there are 82 blocks released. I have completed 65, and I am working hard to reduce the gap.

My blocks are mainly made from scraps.

Keep on quilting!

2016 Aurifil November Block

This month's Aurifil block is designed by  Kim Niedzwiecki and it is called Geese Tracks.

This is the first quilt I am making that is mainly in two colors. Now there is only one block left to make before we get the block setting layout.

I laid out the blocks on my porch on this cold November day to get some rather poor daylight for the photo session. Thankfully there is no snow yet.

Keep on quilting!

November Crafting

When I saw Heidi Staples' tutorial for the Trinket Case on her blog FabricMutt, I knew I had to make it.  I am working a lot in 3D, 2D projects are more my kind of work. But, I have to challenge myself from time to time, so this was the right project. With an excellent tutorial, this turned out to be a piece of cake!

Here are the side panels, I used a mini charm pack of Daysail by Bonnie & Camille. In addition I used Chambray for the exterior.

For the lining I used a fun print that I bought at Hancock's Fabric a few years back.

Here is the finished Trinket case.

It is nice to make small items once in a while, so I decided to make a pair of potholders for my son's apartment. I am trying to keep the colors in the masculine range, and what is more natural than blue and green? (That's by the way my favorite color combination). I used (big) scraps in this crazy log cabin/improv-style set of potholders.

The back is also masculine, like a lumber-jack's shirt. The quilting in the ditch shows off well on the back.

It is very fulfilling to finish quick projects, I have to do that more often!

Keep on quilting!

Prairie Flowers Going South

A table runner was needed as a gift for friends, and I chose the classic block Prairie Flower. Here the runner is resting on an art-sofa looking like polished rocks. (I can assure you it is better to look at than to sit in!)

Taped to the brick wall. (Seconds later the office tape gave in and the runner ended up on the floor...)

Outside on an overcast day.

A park bench is a good place to stay, the corner had to be tucked in due to a windy day.
 

The backside of the runner is a print I found in my stash, an Ikea print from 2008 according to the selvage.

I needed an artistic rolled-up picture...

And why not one to show off the beautiful landscape around?!

The last picture shows the fabrics and the quilting. I used batiks for the flowers and the corner stones. Quilted with large stippling. The fall colored binding makes the table runner perfect.

Keep on quilting!

Modern HST Sampler - Third Quarter

The third quarter of the Modern HST Sampler quilt along is passed, so it is time to show off six more blocks, #13-18:

I am getting to be an expert in half square triangles in this quilt along. Alyce of Blossom Heart Quilts are showing us several different ways to make HSTs, and I think the designs from Alyce and other designers are beautiful. My favorite so far is the one on the bottom left in the picture above, Whirly-Gig designed by Keera Job.

I have made two more blocks, so here are all the 20 made until now. Just 4 left to go!

I am using Good Neighbors fabric by Amanda Jean Nyberg of Crazy Mom Quilts, with an aqua/grey solid in the background. I love the look of the blocks!

Keep on quilting!

The Cutest Baby Quilt

We got news that the baby this quilt was made for was born last Saturday, so now I can post pictures of the quilt in all its glory. I used a tutorial from A Quilter's Table . The only thing I didn't follow was to round the corners and use bias binding.

The fabric I used was most of the collection from Birchtree Lane by Connecting Threads. At the time I made the quilt I did not know whether the baby was a boy or girl. I felt that the colors were pretty unisex, lots of leaves and birds in different colors are scattered all over. My favorite fabric is the feathers on white background.

I quilted it with spiral quilting, above is an in-progress picture at the start of the process. This was my first attempt of this quilting, and I am sure it will not be the last.

This picture shows the completed spiral, the natural light  cooperated very well to show off the quilting. The binding was not sewn on at this point.

My quilt holders (aka sons) helped me with the photo session. The sunlight makes the quilt look transparent.

The backing fabric is Britten Nummer by Ikea. It is my favorite, and I bought a lot of that fabric when it was on sale. You can see the front through the Warm and White cotton batting.

Last, but not least: The baby is a girl, and the parents love the quilt!  I guess the baby girl will cherish the quilt for years to come.


Keep on quilting!