PATCHWORK MILL

Autumn Leaves Table Runner

2011-10-17T00:26:00.004+02:00

When I quilted this table runner I used my own design for the big leaves in the middle and the smaller ones and tendrils on the side. On the back side of the runner the quilting is clearly visible.

I just checked it, I was already making the binding on the 21st of September and I was planning to finish this autumn quilt on the next day. And still, I can only show the finished table runner now, when every good quilter has been long working on the winter quilts already. ☺

By the time I was finished with it (a couple of days later of course) the sun went into hiding for some time and it only came out yesterday. I started to take pictures instantly and all the while I had to acknowledge that much like the weak counterpart, the very strong sunlight is also not very advantageous. Hobby photographers have a hard life!

I’d like to upload it tonight on Etsy, maybe someone would still like to decorate their home this autumn!

And you won’t believe it but I’m making the bindings for the matching mug rugs. Maybe I’ll finish it in the next couple of days, but who knows?

We Are

2011-10-08T00:10:00.004+02:00

I wrote a long post for this treasury, but then I deleted it without any worries, as these wonderful women talk to us anyway, no need for my essay.

Clicking on this small picture will direct you onto my treasury on Etsy:

I’m Thinking In A Blazing Knife

2011-10-05T00:48:00.002+02:00

Search engines are gonna love this title!

Actually on the encouragement of my teammates I started to work on finding a packaging method for my fabric boxes that protects them on the long road – even if they are headed overseas.

For this I would need to cut expanded polystyrene foam sheets in a way that the small white beads don’t flood our home. We had several ideas so far as we’ve been thinking about this with my husband for days, and now I’m starting go get a little angry at these sheets.

So that is why I’m back and forth, thinking in blazing knives. ☺

Fried Egg :)

2011-09-26T01:36:00.005+02:00

Can you see my Sunday breakfast? :)

Clicking on this small picture will direct you onto my treasury on Etsy:

And what did you guys eat for breakfast on Sunday?

Autumn, Autumn

2011-09-21T23:43:00.002+02:00

It seems Autumn is getting closer, soon I’ll be switching up my blog’s clothes as well, as I’ve already arranged the first page of my shop into its colors. All my current quilts are fit to Autumn in their colors as well.

This is the table runner I’m working on right now. You can see the backside, but if I do things right and finish by tomorrow then I will take a picture of the top as well. In the meanwhile I’d like to highlight the quilting that I designed. :)

I cut out the pieces of the matching mug-rugs today and I would like to sew those tomorrow as well.

Busy Wednesday.

Something Old And Something New, Something Borrowed And Something Blue

2011-09-16T02:21:00.005+02:00

I like this saying a lot! When we got married back in 1987, I didn’t know it but I did in fact wear something old, something new and also – as a coincidence – I wore a beautiful pair turquoise earrings. Alas, I can’t remember anything that was borrowed. :)

The picture above of this beautiful wedding dress is borrowed though, you may find it in the shop of SwankUnderpinnings.

Anyway, when my close relatives ordered a photo album from me for a wedding (of one of my distant relatives), I knew it right away that it will have the colors of white and blue. This fantastic fabric with blue roses popped into my mind and this huge album had enough surface to let the roses to prevail on it.

During the work I took good use of the embroidery program of my sewing machine as well as the advices of my favorite neighbor! :)

Both my clients and the newly weds liked the result a lot, which made me very happy as well!

Since I was giving so much thought on weddings I took a look around on Etsy and created a treasury in this topic as well. I found such fantastic items that its worthwhile to take a closer look at some of them. You’ve already seen the wedding dress at the beginning of the post but now I highlighted two more pictures. Oh, and since we need something borrowed I gave this treasury something from my own shop. Can you find it?

A real princess – or flower girl from the shop of Vintageprecious.

I absolutely adore these fantastic jewelry, this medal is just one of many in the shop of LarimarAndSilver!

Clicking on this small picture will direct you onto my treasury on Etsy:

Monday Moodboard – Photos In Green

2011-05-24T01:24:00.005+02:00

Do you remember how often we craved in March for the warm air and the feel of sunshine?
Well we got it now, at least here in Hungary we did. The sun is shining so hard, the lights are so sharp that I spent the whole last week trying to take pictures of my new stuff but every single shot I grab of them give back catastrophic results. Truth be said, the colors of the nature are sharper, the green is greener so that is also part of the reason why I got into such a greeny mood.

The creators are all members of the European Street Team on Etsy:

blathdesigns
MGMart
ClareBears
vadjutka

Finally I had success with the photographing today: the sky got filled with cloud (indeed it seemed that there would be a storm) and even though they were gone by nighttime I could take some pretty good pictures. They finally give back the original colors of my new camera case that was made from one of my favorite fabric.

This beautiful Blue Hydrangea fabric was the summer tablecloth of my Grandma. As I was sewing this camera case (and previously a fabric cover for a notebook) I was constantly reminded of the wonderful summer family mealtimes. Maybe that is the point of vintage and recycling: to save and share.

I took a picture of the notebook together with the new camera case, I think they are looking great together.

Here are my "photomodels" – waiting patiently.

I took a picture of our strawberry field as well which also looks sparkling green (as we ate all the red strawberries yesterday). ☺

And finally some buttons for my Green Monday Moodboard:

The Magic of Colors

2011-05-20T01:10:00.005+02:00

Back in the day of high school we learned a lot about colors and their connections. Johannes Itten wrote some fantastic books in this topic as well. He made the Color Star, a beautiful tool to study complementary colors and the color tones. Us quilters can use this as well when we design our quilts.

I have one of his books as well: “The Art of Color”.

In this book he studied the interaction of colors, how they change when they are placed next to each other. Even by looking at its cover we can see right away what Itten meant by this.

His book reminded me when I saw today the treasury that was made by Diohej. She sorted in my “Bias Tape and Buttons Combo” as well:

Into this beautiful treasury:

Click on this little picture to reach her beautiful Treasury!

I think its wonderful that Diohej saw the pink inside and placed this (a bit chilly) picture among the warm pink ones – I like the way its colors changed in this context and how it actually became warmer toned as well!

I believe its worth to put aside our good old and proven fabric combinations to check out certain fabrics in some unexpected surrounding, so we might find something new, exciting and beautiful!

As a bonus, here is a treasury that I made:

Look at those fantastic picture frames! And all of these items! I love them.
Click on this little picture to reach my Treasury!

My Fabric Boxes

2011-04-23T01:35:00.003+02:00

I saw the first fabric box in a Fathers Day collection inside a quilting magazine from the 80’s that I bought in a Thrift Store. It was really funny as on the top cover they sewed a half-length portrait of a man in a suit and tie in a way that you could open the box with his tie.

Years later, after reading through a Hungarian tutorial collection I finally understood how to make it. Of course I had to do some trial and error myself while I was making them, but by now I’ve made quite a lot already.

I keep my jewelry in a box like these (its soft fabric inside protects even the amethyst earrings and pearls from abrasion), my husband’s mother keeps her medicine in another one near her bed and a friend of mine keeps her sewing kit in it. Probably there are many other ways to use them as I’ve sold quite a lot of them on various fairs, I even had some returning costumers who wanted to buy some more as gifts to their friends and family.

These boxes were just sold, a girl graduating from her high school will give them to their teachers.

I don’t want to risk them on the hands of the post offices, so I only sell them personally and use them on Etsy only as the picture of the Reserved Listing items. Like a small treasury box. ☺

The Three Graces

2011-04-06T10:13:00.004+02:00

These notebooks are small, their sizes are only 6 1/4” x 4 3/8” (15,8 cm x 11,2 cm).

Any one of them is perfect to take it with you in your bag and write down all of your ideas and daily tasks or even recipes instantly as you get them. I always carry one with me for this purpose, but I also have one near the bed, as I often get my best ideas right after I wake up, so I can quickly note them down.

The thin batting makes the journal soft and pleasant to hold. The journal cover is separate from the notebook so once you have filled the pages you can replace the journal with a new one while keeping the cover.

I believe these notebook covers are looking neat on their own (I really like these fabrics with roses), but there is something more when you look at them together.

Just like the Three Graces.

Euro Week on Etsy

2011-03-22T02:11:00.003+01:00

The Euro Week started on Etsy today, which is a great opportunity for Europe to really show itself in this international community.

There are many treasuries in the making that contain only European items and several European shops started to offer discounts in the form of free shipping or percent discounts on their items.

I am among the latter: you may find all of my items with 10% discount this week, you only have to enter the discount coupon code at the end of the purchase!

Like this notebook:

Or this camera case:

Let’s celebrate the Euro Week (from March 21 through March 27) together on Etsy!

My Spring Mix

2011-03-17T00:41:00.004+01:00

In my newest treasury I suggested gardening for everyone who can finally feel the warmth of spring time after the long and cold winter. I’m sure most people appreciated the idea (and the items I sorted in were all pretty amazing), as my treasury got the third place on the hot list and it stayed there for quite some time as well (more than a thousand people has seen it)!

Click on this little picture to reach my newest Treasury!

And these are blossoming in our own garden. It’s wonderful that only a few days worth of sunlight was enough for them to come out and start blossoming!

The third part of my mix is a fashion show, the 2011 spring/summer collection of the French designer Alexis Mabille, which opened this season’s Paris Haute Couture week. It was only an accident that I saw this as I didn’t know about the designer before, but these clothes really amazed me, they are simply wonderful! Simple And Beautiful.

If you have bit of time than turn YouTube into HD mode and check it out in full screen, it’s worth the trouble and time!

New Treasuries On Etsy - Flowers and Trees

2011-03-03T21:14:00.004+01:00

By me:

Trees... Waiting for the Spring

Spring Brings the Fragrance of Flowers

With me:

By Kraplap

By Arcoiris

Blocks for Charity – Status Report

2011-02-24T16:51:00.003+01:00

Today “The Blocks for Charity – The Lantern Project” appeal appeared on the Quilting Gallery website (Thank you very much Michele!), so it’s just about time that I write a post about what’s been happening since the beginning of the project in autumn.

First things first, the wonderful blocks are continuously arriving:

The project has started, in which the children are trying out several creative handicraft techniques at the moment (with quilting techniques to follow). There are 15 children from the foster cares in the project (6 boys and 9 girls). This Saturday was the first occasion. Each child made their own treasury chest, which they will use to collect their artwork for next three months. They also made their own badges and several other items made from beads.

The team had huge pizzas for lunch at noon. They left some for the project leaders (and teachers) as well.

You may read about this in Hungarian at Melinda’s site, and you may find a nice picture there as well. :) http://textilfantasy.blogspot.com/2011/02/lampas.html

Once again, they are continuously awaiting for blocks, as you may see in the appeal that appeared on the Quilting Gallery website as well:
They are expecting 10 x 10 inch (25 x 25 cm) (+ seam allowance around it) blocks, with any kind of pattern. There is no restriction at all. They only asked one thing: if possible, use the color yellow in the blocks (as that color represents sunniness, cheerfulness and optimism). The creators should write their name on the back of the block (or attach a small piece of paper to your work with a pin), so they will know who the finished quilts can be thanked for.

The address:
Trestyánszky Melinda
Tatabánya
Puskin u. 7/b.
2800
Hungary

The Blocks for Charity – The Lantern Project previously at Melinda’s (in Hungarian)
http://textilfantasy.blogspot.com/2010/10/van-egy-almom.html
http://textilfantasy.blogspot.com/2010/11/elso-fecske.html
http://textilfantasy.blogspot.com/2010/12/adomany.html
http://textilfantasy.blogspot.com/2011/02/dula.html

Four Seasons Trees – Finished!

2011-02-21T18:57:00.000+01:00

I’ve finished this huge wall hanging, Four Seasons Trees! I am so happy now!
There is a picture of it in our terrace:

And there is another photo taken after the Four Seasons Trees was hung on the wall made by the owner who is also very happy. ☺

Older posts about the process of creation:

http://patchworkmill.blogspot.com/search/label/wall hanging

Now I’m working on quite small projects which I’m able to quilt without the need of my lovely husband holding them next to the sewing machine (the book expansion was not enough when I had to do the final large quilting). ☺

Continuing the Colors of the Rainbow: Violet and Blue!

2011-02-18T00:20:00.005+01:00

I’m constantly advancing in creating rainbow colored Treasuries on Etsy. We may find so beautiful items on Etsy, that it’s not hard at all to make the lists, quite the opposite actually, I had a really good time. Look at the Purple one, I just got to smile whenever I’m looking at it. That is why I will show them again and again as so far no one complained about them. :) (I can only think of Sheldon’s laugh when I type this.)

And there is another favorite scene (if someone is not familiar with the show, Raj is unable to speek with women):

Well you may have guessed by all of the above that we are re-watching The Big Bang Theory, one episode a day. 23 minutes of laughter, it is a serious life-threat to watch it while eating or drinking.

Status report: Wolowitz just got the mars rover stuck in a ditch on Mars.

Wow, I almost forgot blue!

And finally a bonus track just for you. Raj a little bit tipsy at this time.

The Colors of the Rainbow – Red!

2011-02-13T16:25:00.005+01:00

This is my 4th Treasury, I love these items! Valentine’s Day is coming, so the red colors are just timely anyway!

Click on this little picture to reach my fourth, red Treasury!

It seems I am not as modest than I thought before so here are some Treasuries made by other Etsians including my items. Take a look and find them! ☺

My Rainbow Treasuries before:

Rainbow in January

The Colors of the Rainbow – Yellow!

The Colors of the Rainbow – Orange!

Blocks for Charity

2011-02-10T02:50:00.002+01:00

When I was still sewing the large wall hanging I probably made too much rounded down patches and I really missed the good old triangles, so I made the three blocks from triangles on Melinda’s appeal. You may read that in her blog (in Hungarian), I just copied some of it out here.

Melinda, who posted the appeal is one of the leaders of „Nazareth” Social Service institution and she is a social worker herself, who helps families.

They are taking care of about 500 children from all around Komárom-Esztergom county, whom get support in multiple forms of nurturing. The luckiest ones already got to foster-parents, but there are children homes with 20-20 children living in each and “Apartment-Homes” as well with 12-12 children living in them. They want to make these Homes somewhat friendlier by decorating them with quilts.

They are expecting 10 x 10 inch (25 x 25 cm) (+ seam allowance around it) blocks, with any kind of pattern. There is no restriction at all, they only asked one thing: if possible, use the color yellow in the quilt (as that color represents sunniness, cheerfulness and optimism). The creators should write their name on the back of the block (or attach a small piece of paper to your work with a pin), so they will know who the finished quilts can be thanked for.

Sewing the blocks together is done by both members of Melinda’s quilting group (Folt-Volt Klub) and the people who work in the Home. Another purpose of this event is to teach them the basics of quilting as well. By using the blocks from fellow quilters, even beginners can finish with amazing looking works and by experiencing the helpful nature of the quilting community, they might get the appetite to start doing patchwork.

Of course this wont go overnight, but it would be great if every Home had a sewing machine and someone who both knows how to use it, and enjoys doing so. Thus quilting would turn into an activity that creates both communities and values for them as well. It’s certain that the children would like to work with fabrics on a level that is appropriate for their age.

To have a pleasant start, they would also happily accept cheerful mooded wall hangings as well.

They constantly upload pictures and written posts about the help they get, the supporters and the current situation of the project on both Melinda’s blog and the Hungarian Patchwork Guild website.

So I created the three blocks for this appeal. I used a cheerful yellow fabric as a base for which I got some more fabrics with small flowers. I sewed with quick piecing the triangles and played around creating the three kinds of blocks.

It was pleasant to work with the yellow fabric as it brought up some nice memories: I bought it in Biloxi (USA, Mississippi) when we first visited a Jo-Ann store. Now we have some shops in Hungary with nice supplies and fabrics, but right then in 2000, when I saw how these quilting fabrics got their very own wall with a several yards long shelves, piling up the “green ones” and the “yellow ones” etc. – well I could hardly take a breath.

Back on topic: as I discovered, my math knowledge is pretty dusty, I probably miscounted when I tried to recalculate my plans into inches (I must plan in inches as all of my tools use them). So the end result: 22 x 22 cm (8 ½ x 8 ½ inch) blocks, so I was really glad when Melinda told me that they are happy for every block.

The group are constantly waiting for blocks so anyone can join anytime they want!

I wish happy sewing for everyone and if someone would like to join then I would be more than happy to write the address where you may send the blocks! (Melinda posted the address in her blog so you may find it there as well.)

The Colors of the Rainbow – Orange!

2011-02-07T12:47:00.003+01:00

I know, I know…

But look at these oranges!

Click on this little picture to reach my third, really orange Treasury!

My Rainbow treasuries before:

Rainbow in January

The Colors of the Rainbow – Yellow!

2011-02-03T17:26:00.003+01:00

If you guys remember my first Treasury was about Rainbow and I had the idea to go through all the colors of the rainbow, one by one. I started with the yellow one of course, look how sunny and cheerful it is!

Right now we have an ugly, foggy and cloudy weather so it is really good to look at these items! Looking at some of them you just can’t help it and have to smile. :)

Click on this little picture to reach my second, sunny Treasury!

Four Seasons Trees – Work in Progress 3.

2011-02-01T02:50:00.003+01:00

The following picture shows a great comeback to all who told me that I collected too many home decorating and gardening books in the past years. It really shows now that they can be quite useful in numerous situation! I expanded the sewing surface with them (and the ironing board), making it easier to move the larger sized “trees” during quilting.

This wall hanging was pinned with straight quilting pins, as even though my curved safety pins are less dangerous they leave too big holes afterwards. I was afraid that they would leave their marks on the light area around the trees. As a result I stung myself quite a few times during work. Nothing is perfect.

I was planning flowers and fruits under the trees but as I’ve done very little free motion quilting so far, I was afraid to just “draw” with my hands all loose. Instead I used a very thin paper to draw the pattern for myself that I could use later for the free motion quilting. Of course it was not easy to rip off all the small pieces of paper afterwards (I had to use a brow clip also ☺), but looking at the result I believe it was worth the trouble.

Four Seasons Trees

2011-01-22T02:46:00.004+01:00

Oh my! Winter almost got left out!

The whole wall hanging will be done in the following days, and I’ll show it to you guys!

But I’m doing some other things in the meantime as well: a very kind Etsy costumer liked my Vintage Rose camera case, but she has a camera that is a bit larger, so I’m sewing one for her with the right measures.

I had this fabric with the roses and stripes for a very long time. I bought them together with the fabric of my “Florence” camera case, in the textile factory of Kispest. In those times the Hungarian textile industry was still up and running. Pure nostalgia.

My First Treasury List on Etsy

2011-01-20T02:50:00.000+01:00

I made my first Treasury on Etsy! What I mean is that this is not the one that I’m in, but I have sorted from other peoples work (but I’m happy to say that several one of my items got into other Treasuries as well!).

I’m certainly one sided a bit, but I think it turned out pretty great. It’s theme is Rainbow, or “Rainbow in January” to be exact, as in this foggy, dark January, I really miss all the colors and I guess I’m not alone with this opinion.

Click on this little picture to reach my first Treasury!

Bright Red Poinsettia Table Runner and Table Topper for Christmas

2011-01-16T23:56:00.005+01:00

A little Christmas looking back (better now in January than in May). ☺

Maybe it’s not too late to show the two tablecloths that I sewed for Christmas from these beautiful fabrics. One of them to my grandmother: she got the table runner as she has a long table.

The other one was for my husband’s mom. Her table is square shaped, so I made a fitting table topper for her.

For this Christmas I made some gingerbread as usual, but as time was too short so I didn’t shape them into different shapes. I just focused on the decoration.

And I embroidered this nice monogram on a snow-white towel for my father. I believe it turned out to be very pretty.

Work In Progress 2.

2011-01-09T02:57:00.005+01:00

Well… I’ve taken a bit longer break then I originally thought so, but since then our son graduated (with excellent grades), we had Christmas of course, I sewed some presents and – as probably every other family in the world – we had guests or went to someone else’s place to be guests – during the whole holiday.

But now I’m back again and I’d like to start with the answer to the question I asked before (so none of you will start to worry that I forget it). Snowflake wrote me the solution (four seasons) in email during the holidays, as she couldn’t log in to leave a comment. I’d like to congratulate her hereby! And thank you.

Well, lets start:

I’ve been thinking about how beautiful a large wall hanging (with four trees representing the four seasons) would look in our finished bedroom for a long time. The four seasons theme has been always close to me: I already have (an unembroided) pattern with the four seasons and an almost finished wall hanging collection as well (it’s a shame but Spring is still not ready as I’m still looking for the right frame). I already wrote about them twice (My “Grandmother’s Flower Garden” Quilt, and Winter Officially Started).

Even though the house-building project has been going really well, our bedroom is still not ready. But. My relative – I wrote about before – has dreamed that they have a huge wall hanging above their bed: four trees and four seasons. Strange things happen in life, right?

So right now I am sewing trees, cutting and ironing leaves and berries. I am sewing them on a paper template in English paper piecework style (folding their edges), then I attach them on the base with the help of some glue. (The folded edged application is no mistake: I work a bit more now for the far future, but I’ll be writing a separate post about that later.)

I sew the fixed pieces on the base with my sewing machine. I was really nervous as this is a brand new technique for me: I programmed a series of stitches into my machine, resulting in the feel and look of sewing all that trees, leaves and berries with my hand.

The berries have to be rotated all the while, which is quite hard, but I am really good with the leaves now. There was a moment when I even felt like someone was leading the fabric in the machine, the leaves were almost sliding under the sewing needle on their own.

I’m already finished with Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, so I’m currently working on the four pictures into one large one, while framing it as well.

When I told my husband how strange it was that I was asked to make a huge wall hanging that I’ve been wanting to make above our own bed, I found out two things: 1. I’ve been fantasizing about this plan so deep inside, that I didn’t even tell him about it. 2. He is not sure that he wants to see the four seasons flow through our home. He liked the four seasons wall hanging collection (almost done) that I designed to the living room before, but he thinks that I should work another one of my many future plans for the other parts of our house. Well… this is where I am right now.

Takin’ a break

2010-12-04T23:46:00.005+01:00

I really did take a break in sewing the wall hanging, as I was creating a birthday present. (So you got more time to think about the answer for my question. ☺)

I was sewing a cellphone case and a wallet for a friend of mine. These wild red roses are so fantastic, I simply have to show them to you. (I don’t have to keep them secret anymore, as I already gave them to my friend.)

Among my Camera Cases, there is one that I made from the same fabric with these glowing roses (which I already added on Etsy), and I’ve already made buttons of them as well, come and take a look!

I know this zipper charm doesn’t really match these roses, but I knew that my friend will love them, and this is actually what really matters, right?

Work In Progress 1.

2010-11-26T00:21:00.001+01:00

I am working on a really big wall hanging, it is for one of my distant relative. To be exact: I make it for the cousin of the husband of the sister of my dad.
Here are the fabrics that I’m using. They are sorted into four groups for a reason. ☺

I wonder if you guys can figure out what the wall hanging is about, just by looking at these... ☺

Creative Work in Summer – With Relatives

2010-11-21T23:46:00.006+01:00

My nieces were spending some time with us in the summer, and while we visited the Zoo, the Hungarian Natural History Museum and went to see some movies, we also took some time for creative work.

The girls draw a lot and painted T-shirts as well. They could wear those T-shirts on the last day that they spent with us. They were both thorough: they planed the paintings, by drawing them on paper first, and only painting afterwards, using textile dyes so they could wear their creation later.

Zsóka was the first to paint, her T-shirt was going really well up until one drop of orange dye created a small orange dot on the edge of the picture. She didn’t start to worry, instead she had a nice idea, painting small orange dots all around the T-shirt, creating a neat background for her butterfly. Smart, huh?!

Maja liked the idea of dots so much, that she created fully consciously a similar background for her T-shirt, by placing small green dots all around the princess and the prince.

Zsóka got into a large project one afternoon: she tried the fabric weaving. She was very skillful, as you may see on this picture as well she was doing everything on her own after I showed her how to do it.

In the night I sewed with the “button for the coat”: I finished the small handbag, that had Zsóka’s creation as its main attraction. This bag was with us all the time afterwards, it was perfect to carry some tissue papers and – just in case – some cookies.

The Handbag was on the Heroes’ Square (in Budapest, Hungary):

and in the Hungarian Natural History Museum, where we visited an exhibition about insects (the girls found it very interesting).

We gave several board games a try.

The bee looked very real, only it was a bit bigger than the usual. ☺ At least this way we could have a closer look and thoroughly examine it.

We spent the last day in the Tropicarium, here the girls were wearing the T-shirts that they made.

The quality of these pictures are not that great, which is because we had to turn the flash off (to not disturb the animals there).

We spent one evening at Granny, where we had a delicious meal. The shoes had some time to rest as well. The smaller is Zsóka’s, the bigger is my sons.

Show and Tell Friday 4. - Zsóka’s Baby Quilt

2009-03-06T11:25:00.009+01:00

This was the first “baby” quilt (larger than the usual ones) that I made from really tiny little pieces back in Naples. The picture was taken there in our terrace as well. That happened quite a few years ago, Zsóka has grown up a beautiful kindergarten girl, you can see her to twirl and whirl in the “Skirts of Little Fairies” post, next to her smaller sister.

When I started making that quilt, my sister was still pregnant, but it could be known, that she will be having a baby girl, that was why I choose these cheerful colors. I finished with it just in time. To tell you the truth, my old machine couldn’t handle the quilting work, so I had to do the quilting with my hands. I was sewing it inside the car on the long way home. It was the first time when I wasn’t annoyed by the famous time assuming traffic jam near Bologna.

We were actually heading for Poland, to a conference in Krakow, but we stopped on the road to visit my sister and her family. We spent a peaceful warm september afternoon with them in their garden, under a huge cherry tree. We gave them the baby quilt for the unborn baby, and we left in the evening to Budapest, then Krakow.

By the way Krakow is a wonderful city with full of beautiful details and good restaurants. We had long walks, visited lots of places and had a great time there.

While we were in Krakow Zsóka was born in

Hungary

, who was a very cute baby back then, and since as you could have seen she grew up to be a beautiful, smart and cutie girl.

Where Is Our Spring?

2009-02-18T21:56:00.002+01:00

In the last couple of weeks my desire for spring grew on, I was happy for every sunshine, every snowdrop growing out of the ground. And what happens? Yeah, the answers are on the pictures: in the last few days it snowed as much as it did whole winter. Sadly I couldn’t take a picture of the snowdrops in time and now they are fully covered in snow.

Both of these pictures were made by my husband. This small forest-side street is ours, and is now looking really fabulous.

While waiting for spring I have sewed as well of course. Among a few smaller things, I have started this tablecloth. You can’t see much of it now, but I’ll keep taking pictures as I am going on. As you see I definitely need a larger table to work on it.

Don’t bother searching for my new work on the sidebar, where I collected my plans, since it was just a sudden idea. As I have said before I know that I am a hopeless case.

Late nights (the Progress Chart on the sidebar is working on very well) I am sewing supplementary blocks for my “Grandmother’s Flower Garden” Quilt.

After all I’ll have snowdrops here in my post, but this is not my picture. I have discovered it in Wikipedia. It is taken in March 2005 in a garden under the Beskydy mountains in Czechia by Caroig (David Paloch).

Show and Tell Friday 3.

2009-02-06T17:41:00.001+01:00

My husband’s old desire was to sail, and when we were living in Naples we fortunately had the chance for that. He and my son entered a sailing course in a small closed down gulf. Even though the Hungarians are not really born on sea people (like the Dutch for example), they tried to learn as much as possible. The instructors even taught them how to deal with capsizing and helping people out of the water.

To tell you the truth, it happened a day before it was planned, since as my gallant Hungarian men were trying to help two ladies swimming beside their already capsized sailboat, they joined them shortly after in the water as they have capsized as well. So the instructors had the chance to teach two teams right away how to set the dinghy back while crawling back in (and all this in a life jacket, it’s not easy at all).

After they had their exams, we spent a lot of time on water, they took me out to sail too, we all liked it a lot. Of course it wasn’t a large sail cruiser, this was a small dinghy, designed for 2–3 person. One day I was going with only my husband, with the aid of the wonderful wind we sailed deep into the gulf, fast as light. But when we turned back to head for the coast, the wind suddenly died out. And there we were the two of us, pretty far from the coast, with two oars. And since we had an engagement for the afternoon we had no choice but row as long as we had breaths. I’ve never rowed so much in my life. And the following muscle strain was, uhh, better not to even mention. But it was still an amazing afternoon, the sunshine, the wind, the speed, the smell of water, our laughs, it’s a really pleasant memory.

With all the equipments this sailboat looks really cute, right? I bought it with my son in

Belgium

for my husband, when we went with him for a conference, and had the time to look around while he was working. The embroidery that is under that was meant to be a present for my husband as well, but in the daytime I didn’t have chance to embroider since I had to wait for him to sleep before working on it. I often spent hours in the night embroidering, which made me really drowsy at daytime. Finally I decided that it wouldn’t work longer in this way and gave it to him as a Christmas present. Even though it wasn’t finished yet, he liked it a lot. There is only a few contour stitch back, and then it’s ready to be framed. I would like to put it in a blue wooden frame, and finally it will get next to the sailboat on the shelves.

I imagine this is what a teeny-weeny sailor would see, if he would climb up to the top of the mast. ☺

My boys also joined boat races, and those were always very exciting. Of course they didn’t really have a lot of chance against the Dutch, British, American and Italian teams, but on this picture they are just then on the second place! (I know it’s hard to see, so just believe me!) ☺

My UFO Factory

2009-02-02T02:06:00.002+01:00

I am frequently reading quite a few creative and quilt related blogs and I can already see that 2009 will be the year of final settling a score with the UFOs (Unfinished Objects), all around the World.

I have seen a nice initiation at Abyquilt, which could help anyone who participates in: „Participants will try (we know life interferes sometimes!) to complete at least ONE craft project by the end of each month. This can be something you've had partly done for a while (a WISP!) or a pattern or a kit you bought ages ago that you finally get around to making.”

You may join anytime, which is good, since it holds me back that my UFOs are all huge, usually big wall hangings or unfinished king size quilts. I am unsure whether I could show a finished piece in every month. But I will start a lighted version for myself. Jannimary has her plans listed on her sidebar, her started works and the finished ones separated (she participates in the “One Project a month Challange” as well). While Karen shows what she is making in her actual project. I like both methods, so I mixed them in my blog and the result can be seen on the sidebar.

However for now (in defiance of the world’s currents) I’ll just continue to create UFOs. While we were sick, I couldn’t do else but sit in the couch and embroider. It was somehow important for me to do definitely small pictures, hence I sewed parts from one of my previous work.

Last year I got a whole roll of home made linen from my grandmother (her mother and grandmother wove it at home by their hands!), which is a big treasure. It’s rough weaving, natural-colored (self-colored) and I thought that a similarly beige, tan embroidery would look good on it.

Back in 2007 I designed 12 redwork pictures based on William Morris’ art, and embroidered those. I designed them to be a Duble Irish Wall Hanging Quilt. Since this has been an UFO, it waits the red blocks, but just to be sure I sewed them with blue ones too, and these await the Hungarian bluedying blocks. I know I am hopeless case.

I “cut out” from these designs six parts now. By the time we got better, I finished with all of them, but since I only made them for the embroidery, now I really stop short before continuing. For now I only know that I want to make a wall hanging from them, but similarly to the thread with natural and beige (maybe some tan) fabric blocks.

However I don’t have these kinds of fabrics at home, so I have to try and buy some, or do something new: paint for myself. Up until that, my considerable UFO collection has grown with new ones.

Though I may look at it as these are started wall hangings, and for those the fabric casting is ongoing. ☺ It’s all about the point of view, isn’t it?

Show and Tell Friday 2.

2009-01-30T23:00:00.002+01:00

Since last week cloudy Show and Tell Friday entry so many of you wished some sunshine for me, that on that weekend the air actually got clearer and the sun came out of hiding. Thanks!

But by now the old and sad weather returned, and the best you can do is get wrapped into a warm blanket by a warm lamplight with a cup of hot chocolate. Or: back to the Naples’ memories!

I started making this wall hanging quilt in Naples, following the instructions in Dina Pappas’ wonderful book. It’s not always easy to find fabrics with large roses that have contrast as well, but I succeeded. In Monterusciello (small neighbour town) there was a market on every Wednesday, where – in the large bustle of goods and people – everything that we could imagine was there for sale.

On the above picture it is only a small part of the market, as it went on long into the streets to infinity. New clothes, bed clothes, pictures, candles, curtains, tablewares, so many things I can’t even write it all down! I found lots of treasures (there were a few thrift store alike tents as well). On the other huge area they were selling delicious fruits, vegetables, cheeses (amazing fresh buffalo mozzarella and parmesan etc.) different kinds of olives (that we had to taste all the time) and sea fruits.

Well on this market around the new bed clothes once I discovered two lonely pillowcases, that somehow lost their duvet covers, so I got them at a very low price. They had wonderful small and large blue roses. I knew it instantly, that I would learn Dina Pappas’ methods on this fabric.

I finally did it, and the making was a lot of fun too. It was put aside for some time though, because I knew that I wanted a blue and green frame on this wall hanging quilt. I already had the blue fabric for that, but couldn’t find a matching green. You wouldn’t guess where I found it in the end. At our move I had to go through all of my fabrics to empty our wardrobe and in the bottom of my owns I found this green one, which fits the picture very well in my opinion.

I learned the free motion machine quilting on this picture, so it became a very personal and valued piece: it has the hot Italian summer’s feeling, a walk on the market, the many things that I have learned in the making, and – on behalf of the green fabric – our move as well.

Show and Tell Friday

2009-01-23T23:57:00.002+01:00

The weather is terrible in Hungary for days now, dark and clouded, it’s a bit depressing. I am desiring some sunlight. So Show and Tell Friday was a good occasion for me to look for our old pictures made in Naples, Italy, and show you some of them. What do you think this is?

And this one?

Before I tell you (more time for you to think about it), I will share how we got to Naples. My husband’s job needed him there for 3 years, so it was natural that the whole family moved with him. We rented a house in a village near Naples, which had a huge terrace with a view of the sea. This was very important for us, since

Hungary

has no sea, so we wanted to have a sight on it as much as possible.

We regularly watched the sunset from the upper balcony, with a glass of port-wine in our hand, to watch the red sun disappear slowly in the sea. Shortly after our bats showed up (we had two ones) flashing around with lightning speed, and then the show ended (until the next evening). This was the view from the balcony:

And this was how it looked like when the night was falling:

And here is a picture that might help with the clue:

Maybe you may see that the first two pictures show the same thing: a stopper for the shutters, to stop the strong wind constantly blowing from the sea from slamming our shutters in (that is when the hard-face gentleman is on top). To set the shutters loose, before closing them you have to turn the gentleman down revealing the nice-looking lady. Then you may close the shutter. This is shown on the last picture, though from a bit far I know. I really liked how the Italians solve even this everyday task in such an esthetic and witty way. It was quite common that if we payed attention we could discover really small but beautiful details wherever we went.

We loved living in Naples, and on such cloudy gray days we miss it maybe even more. Someday I will tell about it more.

In Recovery

2009-01-18T22:23:00.001+01:00

My whole family got beaten down in the same time by some kind of a virus (according to our doctor), high fever, stomach ache and other similar “bonuses”. We were just laying around our living room, could barely move at all. Now we’re coming out of it though, getting better.

Of course we stricted ourselves to complete diet, and all we did was just sit in front of the television and watch movies. Finally we had time to watch a lot of movies together. ☺ It would have been better if we were healthy though, but since we saw good movies, it was totally bearable.

Die Hard and Die Hard 2 (I have two men in the family, though I like these movies too) and some other comedies before and after, like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang or Music and Lyrics (Hugh Grant already showed his amazing dance moves (dazzling hip actions) in Love Actually, but I think he managed to top that in this one ☺)

And it was nice to hear them sing as well:

Before we saw some episodes of the fantastic British comedy series “You Rang, M’Lord?” however we finally started watching them in order on DVD, one after another. It is a funny and interesting series, we like it a lot.

Here is two short scenes, and yes there is a connection between them:

Ivy is learning to serve:

We saw quite a lot funny and exciting movie together, and when the guys went to sleep I stayed up and watched a french movie called Palais Royal. It has a special atmosphere, I liked it a lot. I’ve known since the movie “Amélie” that we should be watching more french movies, because they are all very good – like the old ones from the past.

Looking Back II. – Home Blessing

2009-01-11T23:32:00.001+01:00

My cousin and his family have a little farmhouse in a small village in the northern part of Hungary close to the border.

When they bought this house it was ruinous condition, however since then they’ve been working a lot to rebuild and build on an extension to it. The work hasn’t been finished yet, but it is coming on well. They’ve been blogging about their life of that place with lots of pictures mostly about the phases of rebuilding, big bike tours and the funny side of living in a little village (this is in Hungarian language, http://enkisfalum.blog.hu).

When they first set their eyes on the old building in a romantic and prolific garden.

And here it is today.

And this is a bonus picture for you guys: a printed–painted pattern calendered with a rubber roller on a white basic that came out during the dismolition–excavation. Unfortunately the condition of the plaster was so bad that it was impossible to save the original pattern, so only a picture of it will remain for the posterity.

Even though we cannot visit my cousin and his family in their farmhouse so often that we would like to, we always spend good time there together. At the end of the garden there is a babbling creek on which their ducks with noisy gaggling swim about in all the summertime (they are always really cute). Over the creek there is a small forest just beginning.

Because they are running a second household there, for Christmas and other family occasions we often give them presents that suit for their little farmhouse and they can also use them there (for example self-made tablecloth or bedclothes). For this Christmas we figured that it would be nice if I made a Home Blessing for them.

In the usual old Hungarian farmhouse there was always a Home Blessings on the wall. As far as I know it is also used by other nations, however when I googled on the Internet I found the Irish people have a bunch of Home Blessings with different texts. In Hungary the text is always the same with only some difference in the design at most. Of course the Home Blessing is almost always embroided with all the regions having their own style and pattern. This is the text in English:

Home Blessing

Where belief is, there is love
Where love is, there is peace
Where peace is, there is blessing
Where blessing is, there is God
Where God is, there is no dearth.

This Home Blessing embroided in Kalocsa style (pronunciation: Kalocha). It is a traditional Hungarian embroidery named after the town of Kalocsa, where it originated. "Writing women" in this town on the Danube in Southern Hungary draw their designs on white or pastel colored fabrics. Daisies, marigolds, cornflowers, poppies, lilies, tulips and roses furnish the colorful motifs.

This is another example made with “written embroidery” from Kalotaszeg. Kalotaszeg is located in Transylvania between the River Körös and the River Kalota. The “written embroidery” is made on homespun canvas with thick cotton thread which is red, blue, black or white monochrome colored. Its motifs come from the nature: tulip, marjoram, poppy, apple and pear.

I’ve found a nice Webpage which is about a Transylvanian village in Hungarian language, you could find further embroideries there: http://magyarvalko.mlap.hu/?gallery#.

So back on the subject of my Home Blessing. In my cousin’s farmhouse there are old and traditional furniture, stuff supplemented with some modern ones. So I did not choose a fancy and complicated embroidery, but based on a „blue-dyeing” (Hungarian „kékfestő”) cotton I made a relatively simple structured Home Blessing.

I embroided the text with my sewing machine. It was the first time that I used it for that so I suffered a lot with it. But I didn’t give up and finally I finished with it, and it turned out to be just as I’ve imagined.

The „blue-dyeing” (Hungarian „kékfestő”) with blue and white color patterns are typically Hungarian cotton fabrics. Here are a few English-written sites about them.

http://www.blaudruckerei.hu/angol.htm

http://www.kekfestokovacs.hu/ivy.91912AFB-17CA-4F59-9647-6DEF67E1A7EB.html

http://www.kekfestomuzeum.hu/eng/index_eng.htm

http://www.freeweb.hu/bluedye/english/

Have fun looking around!

Looking Back I. – Skirts of Little Fairies

2009-01-08T22:38:00.001+01:00

I had written before Christmas that even though I sew a lot, I couldn’t really show my works, because they would be presents.

By now all the people got their presents, so I will not ruin any surprises if I show a few. (Not all because during the big sewing madness I didn’t have time/mood/sunlight to take picture of all of them.)

So. My sister has two beautiful daughters, two little fairies. They are both going to kindergarten. Zsóka is the older of the two, she learns to ballet and she is very good in it. Maja is smaller, but she likes to dance as well. I think all the fairies with dancing feet deserve a real twirly princess/fairy/ballet skirts, so I sew those for Them.

I used two layer (believe it or not, that was my husband’s idea) of thin and silky fabric, from which I cut whole circles. They were enough big so that I could wrinkle the waist of the skirt for the nicer twirl. An elastic band pulls it together even more (they became a bit too large for the children, so my sis will have to pull the elastic band tighter at the waist).

When I trimmed and folded the bottom the fabric stretched a bit, but maybe it was even better this way, as it gave an even more loose falling to the skirts.

I got quite used to the 100% cotton, so it was weird and hard to work with such slippery fabric that tends to get threadbare (it had been long since I used so many pins!).

But eventually I did finish with the skirts, and the girls liked them a lot! They didnt get out of them the whole day, and even more, my sis told me on the phone that they were wearing them in the next couple days as well. I am very glad that they like their skirts so much!

About the pictures: if you ever tried to take a picture of two constantly moving, twirling and whirling little girls, than you might understand why the pictures turned out the way they taken.

Additionally because they are so beautiful girls, I’ll add the two pictures that their father made from them at a summer wedding in the last year, where they had an important task (Zsóka sprinkled the rose petals, Maja was carrying the rings) so they looked very ceremonial. (And they were slow enough to take good pictures. ☺)

My PIF Gift

2009-01-03T23:25:00.003+01:00

Finally I’ve had some time and got to our computer, so I can write down all the things that were left out at the end of last year. Just before Christmas I obtained HEra’s PIF gift. It was a big surprise for many reasons. First of all I wouldn’t have thought that there will be a Christmas gift since we’ve just started the game in the end of November.

Then the fact that beside the beautiful, purple silk-painting, I also got a wonderful jewel set. I have no idea how HEra might have guessed that I have green eyes, hence making this green colored earring and the matching chain with pendant suit me so well. ☺

My whole family liked the gift as well because I was wearing it on the Christmas lunch of course!

I thank to HEra for this wonderful gift once more and I would like to remind everyone that it is still possible to play with me as well. I would send a gift to you guys with pleasure.

My Exhibition is Open

2008-12-21T23:48:00.000+01:00

Seriously.

Okay, okay, this is not. It is just a funny little thing showing how much energy I have after the sewing and preparing by the time I get to sit to the computer. (Not much.) Just a bit of fun, nothing else.

The preparing of the Christmas presents are coming along on fine, but I don’t have the strength to take pictures, so I will remake the good ones again in January and take photos then.

I found the site of the exhibition on a few Hungarian quilter’s blog pages (it is possible that you also know this site), my pictures were made here:

http://dumpr.net

Give it a try! Have fun!

Christmas Fair Update

2008-12-17T22:23:00.001+01:00

Just a nice winter-picture from Debbie Mumm

I can’t go to the Fair this year, but this is not a big problem now. Sure I’ll miss the bustle of the Fair, talking with the customers and the people who are just looking around, but at present I am not sad because of it.

It so happened that my stocks simply had been run out. A lot of my older customers took some of them and a few smaller shops did the same as well. Then the reason of my final decision: I have a friend, who offers business presents to various companies for every occasion. It was back in autumn when I gave her one album about my things, then long silence. Then suddenly she called me last week and took so many things for some bigger companies. So now I simply don’t have enough stuff to be worth going to the Fair even though I really wanted before.

I think every craftsmen have two kind of nightmare: when she or he works a lot, but nobody is buying anything, and there is the other one but also similarly scary (though a lot more pleasant), when suddenly the customers take just about everything in a day, and she or he is stuck on a fair with an empty table. I think everybody agree these crafted things are not made by simply pushing a Big Red Button and they come off the production line immediately. ☺

I’m still sewing anyways, but these are mainly going to be presents, so I can’t really tell you a lot about them, maybe after the Holidays.

A wreath for quilters from Debbie Mumm

Coaster Shower In Blue

2008-12-12T00:25:00.003+01:00

I don’t know about you guys, but it happens to me a lot that right after I start into a realization of an idea, I can hardly disengage from it. While I am working I start to wonder, even though for example this tissue holder looks nice, but what would it be with some different colors? And I start again that with new fabrics. Or as I’ve written in my Etsy shop before I usually think in “families” (in whole product lines), so everyone finds matching things. But it’s always true and it also makes me wonder every time I finish a pouch or a wallet (and they are successfully done), how for example an eyeglass case would look if I make it from those same fabrics.

So this happened again with the coasters. While I was working on the Cartography Coasters order (remember, the Little Mariner’s Compass) it came to my head how good they could be for sailors in blue.

So I made them and what is more one set will be sent tomorrow to

Canada

for my good friend.

While I was embroidering the blue ones (I had plenty of time to think) I thought that the Cartography Coasters have really good land colors and garden colors. My father has a small vineyard where he makes delicious red wine. I thought that a Green Garden set of coasters would be great gift for him, as I would change the Mariner’s Compass embroidery with a bunch of grapes. As this idea didn’t leave me alone, I started to make these new coasters, with Cozy Brown and Green Garden colors, and for them I embroidered the grapes.

I still have to make the batting and backing and sew the bindings, and they will be ready. But then I really finish with the coasters, since I am already thinking of new kinds of pouches, and can’t wait to start making them (of course this might be only next year because of the Christmas Fair and the Holidays).

Charms for Charity Contest

2008-12-07T22:15:00.000+01:00

I found this on the Quilting Bloggers site: Charms for Charity Contest. I think it’s a good thing, because this is an opportunity for both charity and to play a little. Here are some parts of invitation:

“A friend and I, along with her mom and several other friends, will be getting together in the new year on a regular basis to make quilts for Victoria’s Quilts Canada. We need fabric. … Send me six 5-inch charms of 100% cotton fabric. Three of the charms will go directly to making quilts for charity and the other three will go into a pile for a contest. Once I have 36 charms in the contest pile, I’ll do a random draw and one lucky sender will win the entire pile of 36.”

The detailed post and the address you need to send the charms are found by clicking “Charms for Charity Contest” icon on the right sidebar on my blog.

To participate in I chose three kind of fabrics with tiny flowers and I hope they’ll be easy to fit into any kind of quilt.

The deadline is 31 of December, 2008, so it is still not late to get into!

Coaster Shower

2008-12-06T23:59:00.003+01:00

The already mentioned coasters for our cartographer friend were completed. I made more than he asked for, so I take a few to the Fair with me and also put some up on Etsy.

This was the first time I “embroided” with a sewing machine. It was an interesting experience for me how the embroiding is kind of eating up my thread. By the time I finished with all the mariner’s compass patterns, I used up about 400 meters (440 yards) of strong red thread.

I have a good progress on the “Coasters for Sailors” as well, you could have seen some of them on the previous post’s picture. I still have to sew the binding, then they will be packed and ready to set sail.

Preparation for the Fair

2008-12-04T23:10:00.002+01:00

A lot of things are ready to sell, but since it turned out pretty late that that I am able to go, I really have to hurry up now, so I am just sewing, sewing and sewing in the next days, weeks. Fortunately my family is very understanding and supportive about it, they take most of the housework off my shoulders, even more, they help me a lot in the packing and the making of cards as well. I am very lucky to have them.

At these times I focus on the smaller usable things, the ones that I would like to get and give as presents: pouches, holders, coasters, wallets, boxes, etc. As decorations I usually take some wall hangings and baby quilts with me, since they give a nice background for smaller things and more ideas for the customers.☺

Winter Officially Started

2008-12-01T22:25:00.003+01:00

Today is the first day of December and from now in the northern parts of the world winter has officially started according to the meteorologists (I have one right here☺). Here in Hungary (at least at Budapest and the area) we celebrated the start of wintertime with a huge amount of warm rain, that made the only remaining snow disappear as well.

Till snow and ice return and we can build the first snowmen, here is my Seasons Wall Hanging Set’s “Winter” piece for you.

I still haven’t found the right frame for “Spring”. So I better hurry up if I want to show it to you guys on the first day of Spring (it is officially on first of March isn’t), since I have got only three months left.

I was thinking about making the blog get some winter style look as well, but I have realized it’s enough that it’s cold outside, better keep the inside warm. Remain the glowing leaves like the flames inside the fireplace.

Christmas Fair 2008

2008-11-30T22:25:00.003+01:00

It is certain now that I will be able to participate in this years Christmas Fair. It wasn’t sure before, since the Fair starts on 1st of December however I can only join in the last 4 days, from 19 to 22 of December. The organizers preferred the people, who are willing to be there for the whole duration – which is totally understandable – but finally I was able to fit in as well. It’s very important that only craftsmen, artisans, people who make the jewelry, the wooden toys, quilts, bags, gingerbreads and all similar things by themselves have been invited. And my favorite beekeeper with his delicious honey will be there as well.

This Christmas Fair will be held in a hotel (Hotel Queen Elisabeth, Gödöllő, Hungary), a beautifully renovated old building. It will be the first one there and I am very curious how it will all turn out. Last year we had a fair like this one in the Royal Palace of Gödöllő, at two weekends, which was a big success and we all had a great time. It was the first fair in my life and I was very nervous before that, hadn’t really slept a lot, but finally it overcame all expectations. The organizers and the other sellers were all very nice and a lot of interested customers came. My portrait picture was made there as well. (My friend thought I look like my own grandma as I was sewing there in glasses.) ☺

It was very nice to talk with all the people looking around, and also it was a pleasant feeling how others liked my work. Many people purchased my items as well, which was also a good thing. You could ask why I changed location then. The reasons are mainly financial since all of these occasions are business ventures as well. With the invite-only system the organizers ensure that only real craftsmen sell, and don’t have to fight with the mass-producted shoddy stuff. But for the place and the opportunity to sell you have to pay quite a lot. And from that point on not only the number of visitors or interested peoples, but the number of purchasing become very important as well.

Last year we experienced that the most of purchasing were at the weekend closest to Christmas, up until that people were just looking around. This year however the Palace fair’s two weekends are on 6–7 and 13–14 of December, which are pretty far from the Christmas holidays. However on the new location (at the hotel) people who work all December and have to postpone the buying of Christmas presents for the last minute I think will be able to do that. The same applies for the others who want to find something extra for their loved ones fast.

So keep your fingers crossed for me please and I promise after the Christmas holidays I will make an entry on how the fair went down.

My Etsy is open

2008-11-29T22:21:00.010+01:00

On the 23th of this month, I have opened my little shop on Etsy. I constantly keep uploading my work, so if you feel like it, come and take a look around!

http://patchworkmill.etsy.com

Unfortunately at the moment I have no idea how to link my Etsy shop on my right sidebar like others, but as soon as I found out I will make it. I think the header of my shop should be familiar for you. ☺

And here is a group picture of the Cozy Brown Family:

Just after the opening I had a very pleasant surprise: on the second day my shop went online an artist from New Mexico, Frank, checked it as one of his favourites. As the newbies, I was just playing around with my new shop page, checking out all the functions: what happens if I click this or that. And suddenly there it was: someone liked my shop! It felt great! Here is a picture made by Frank:

Prewash (Part Two)

2008-11-26T23:18:00.003+01:00

I do the prewashing of the full fabric in one large plastic basin in 45-50 º Celsius (113-122 º Fahrenheit) water using very little mild soap. I don’t put too many fabrics in the basin so they don’t instantly cool the water down. I always open the fabric completly before placing it in the basin, because any fold is likely to develop an abrasion line during the prewash. I have them cool off in the water. I gently squeeze the water out of them and spread them out to dry (not on the sun!).

If I want to prewash a long fabric, that simply doesn’t fit into my basin I use the washing machine on a very gentle programme. I use the spin dryer in a similarry gentle way, then spread the fabric out to dry. It’s a good idea to sew the fabric together at 2-3 cm (about 1 inch) from the two cut edges, so it won’t turn into an unmanageable sea snake.

There is a recommendation to quilters iron the fabric right after, but there is no way that I iron and fold up such huge fabrics. So I always iron just that I actually need right before the work. And this way that fabric stays smooth.

If you have any more good ideas, please share them with me! I enjoy learning. ☺

I used to keep these big fabrics in full on the shelves, but it started to become a bit hard to manage them, and they also took up way too much space. So I cut off about a meter (about one yard) long out of each one (it would be a lot of trouble to work with pieces bigger than that anyway), so they all fit in one place, arranged by colors. So I never forget about them anymore (it had happened before). This small open cupboard with shelves for the fabrics was made by my lovely husband.

Writing a blog is good, because knowing that I would like to take a picture of a part of my fabrics on the shelves sometime later made me keep organized, waiting for a sunny day. I hope this order will finally stay that way later on too.

Pay It Forward

2008-11-23T23:47:00.002+01:00

Welcome to everyone, who likes playing!

See the “Pay It Forward” button on the right side of my blog? Here's how it works.

I am one of the three people who committed, which means Csarab will send me a hand made gift sometime in the next 6–12 months (or sooner if she can).

In turn I promise to send a hand made gift sometime in the next 6–12 months to the first three people who comment and commit themselves to playing.

In order to play you must post it to your own blog, and promise to send handmade gifts to the first three people who leave you a comment committing themselves to playing along. (I hope that makes sense – if it doesn't and you're not sure how this works just ask me.)

So if you would like to receive a handmade gift, leave a comment!! I am very curious to see who wants to play!

The button on the side of my blog links back to Csarab's blog, where I committed to the Pay It Forward.

Prewash (Part One)

2008-11-22T22:04:00.006+01:00

Minyike asked before in a comment how I do the prewash. The answer would be too lengthy for a comment, so thats why I made a post for it.

For that we should take a look back. As I stated in the Starting post, I only buy 100% Cotton, because Polyester and hybrid fabrics may have issues with ironing. (As a matter of fact that is the reason why I use only 100% Cotton thread. Even though there are some fascinating multicolor threads, but all of them contain Polyester. Do you have no problems with that? I am curious.)

Cotton of course needs to be prewashed, because they always shrink when we wash them (and not in the same way!). In the other hand prewashing also helps by washing out potentially harmful dyes and chemicals.

I start with a test for color bleeding. There are some suspicious fabrics: the dark, saturated colors and lower quality fabrics are especially likely to bleed.

At first I soak a small piece of the fabric in warm, soapy water. After about 30 minutes, I remove the fabric and check for color in the water.

If I see colored water, it means the fabric has bled some of its dye. So I add a dash of salt and about ¼ cup of white vinegar in a pan of cold water, and soak the fabric for about 20 minutes. After soaking, I test the fabric in warm water again. If the water still gets colored I would rather not use that fabric.

If the water was clear, I lay the fabric to dry on a white paper towel. If the towel is still clean after the fabric dries, the fabric is safe to use.

I know this seems like a real hassle (and it is), but I rather fight with the fabrics in such a case than have a finished quilt go to waste.

My intention is to continue this post soon.

I couldn’t take usable photos of the prewash, so there are two photos of Budapest, Hungary for you. These pictures were not taken by me, they come from Myreille’s blog, but I really like her photos. To tell you the truth I like the World when I see it with her eyes.

Before the storm, Budapest

Restaurant Vapiano, Budapest

Tex-Mex Hat

2008-11-19T22:20:00.000+01:00

This short post was written because Matyofej previously asked in a comment about the Tex-Mex hat. So, this is the “famous” hat, that my husband is wearing keenly since we came home – from Autumn to Spring.

As far as I know (as a Hungarian woman), it is called Tex-Mex because it isn’t really a Texas-hat (like the “Stetson”), its form was rather influenced by being close to Mexico. I would appreciate it if somebody would check my knowledge about the matter. Please, make a comment.

Due to my husband being a meteorologist, he gave me this book for the picture. And because he is a Man (and lived in San Antonio for a while), he gave me this plate (“Don’t mess with Texas”) too. ☺

Biloxi

2008-11-16T21:16:00.000+01:00

Well, about Biloxi. The year was 2000, my husband went to study in the USA, first to San Antonio, Texas for 3 months, then he moved to Biloxi, Mississippi. Our son and I joined him soon after. The traveling itself was a huge adventure for us, with multiple transfers, and a big run all over the Zurich Airport, the kind you see in movies. We spend hours waiting there for our next flight, so we took a walk at the airport and look around. Then as we were sitting on a comfortable bench, I noticed (pretty late) the handwriting on our boarding card, which stated that we had to check in 3 hours before our flight, hence the running! By the way after the big run and spending some time filling of a long questionnaire we had to sit for another 3 hours in the transit lounge.

We traveled from East to West for 19 hours, following the sun around the globe, so we didn’t get to sleep the whole time. Our last landing was Gulfport. By the time we arrived with our small plane it already got dark. After Atlanta’s huge airport it was a bit strange to just walk over to the building where my husband was already waiting for us, in a check shirt and a “Tex-Mex” hat (these, and his strange accent did that a security guard thought he was an Australian☺).

We have spent two and a half months in Biloxi, and we really enjoyed our time there. Our flat was in an apartment building near the shore, and if you think about that Hungary has no sea, you may understand how wonderful it was to step out the door in the morning to just admire at the endless ocean.

If you don’t mind I would like to make more posts about this lovely small town of Mississippi, and our adventures there, because even though it sadly didn’t last long enough, it became a very important part of our lives.

The little “Mariner’s Compass”

2008-11-12T10:23:00.002+01:00

We have a very good friend, who is a cartographer and runs his own firm. With the coming Christmas season closing he started thinking what kind of presents he could give his business partners. As he told me most usual formal gifts are all the same and a bit boring as well. He wanted something special, memorable, something that resembles him and his firm, but is also practical. In addition his partners are mostly men. So on his request I started planning the coasters, that he could give as a present, with a bottle of fine wine.

We talked about what kind of symbols are typical in cartography. His firm’s logo is a table globe, but that is too complicated to look good on a coaster. Then he got the idea of the compass, which is found on every map (even the really old ones). I think this is very exciting, since one of the most famous, most versatile quilt block is the “Mariner’s Compass”.

“Mariner’s Compass” from hgtv.com

Bbbut. As soon as I started to deal with this block thoughtfully, I realized there is a reason why they make large center for “medallion” style quilts from it, or king-size quilts that are made of big mariner’s compass blocks. Just try to imagine this pattern on a 4” x 4” coaster! See what I mean?

Brick Red Moss and Gold Compass Log Cabin Quilt from Amish Country Quilts, Pennsylvania, USA

Or this:

Compass quilt by Mary Benedict Baker, 1850

What can I do? I am sure I can’t sew a so beautiful but so complicated pattern on 4” x 4” (not to mention to make them in 6 piece sets!).

Okay, so I have to “cheat”. And that’s how I found the answer: Circular coaster made of 8 slices (4-4 different fabrics), that I embroidered the compass’ main lines with strong red. With this I already quilted the coaster and I only had to sew on the backing then to sew the binding. I never bound like this, constantly in a circle, but thanks to my bias binding I could manage good and easy. It cuddled up to backing perfectly, so it was very easy to finish the coaster with blindstitching by my hand. On the back I sewed a label with his firm’s logo instead of my own.

Luckily my “customer”, our cartographer friend liked it, he couldn’t even decide between the two (Cozy Brown and Green Garden) colors, so he requested two sets from each serial. I hope the receivers will appreciate – and use – this unique present as well.

Oh, right. Because this compass shouldn’t be only for cartographers or sailors (by the way I will create the whole thing in blue colors too, for sailors’ own sake), I will a few sets available in my Etsy shop as well!

Starting

2008-11-09T06:55:00.000+01:00

As I have written in the introduction, I believe it is very important, that the things we use be not just practical but fine looking as well. We surround ourselves with so many things, and we need so many more to stay alive (“It's my industrial strength hair dryer, and I can't live without it!” – do you remember which movie had this quote in it?). So if that’s how it is, we should at least have good looking things, that have a nice touch, right?

My first tissue holder was made for my husband in a great hurry, when he got cold and after some time I got full of the ripped up small plastic bags overflowing our home. And what is more you couldn’t even close those bags properly. This first dear clod-hopping tissue holder since has been become a bit overwashed, and though I made him a newer one, that is looking better and more elegant, his favorite is still that good old one.

I love the way how numerous fabrics may meet even on a small thing like this holder. I enjoy sorting together my fabrics for new works. It is interesting how some fabrics instantly get your attention the minute you look at them, but some other humbly hide in the background only to shine up when the matching fabrics are put next to them. It is a good game.

Of course there are technological needs for games like this. We can only play so freely that if we don’t have to worry about the fabrics’ conditions. There are two things I do from the start for that reason. Firstly I only purchase 100% cotton fabrics, so I don’t have to worry about what the iron might do with the mixed compounded fabrics. Secondly I instantly prewash everything I buy, so I don’t have to carry about the finished product shrinking or deforming. And because I do this right after the purchase, I don’t have to think about any fabric later on, whether I did prewash or not (it happened once at the very start, so I have some fabrics that are prewashed twice, just to be sure).

I have a very good book from which I have learned a lot, we bought it in the USA: Best All-Time Tips for Quilters (editor: Ellen Pahl). It has a lot of good advices about the handling of fabrics, ironing, timesaving techniques and tools, and so much more.

Photography

2008-11-04T01:40:00.001+01:00

While I am constructing this blog, I started taking photos of my finished works. I am preparing for Etsy, I hope soon I will be opening my little shop there. We have a very old table that was made by my husband’s grandfather. It is a strong, massive piece of furniture. I like very much that it is a bit worn, shabby and it has deep cracks. All of these tell us something about the past and how it was used regularly. A piece of a family’s history.

I think this is the perfect background for my quilts that made by traditional way and in every case finished by hand . After a lot of attempts, I discovered, that the most beautiful, and – even more importantly – the most color true photos can be taken at our terrace in strong sunlight, but with the shield of a beige loose fabric. This also gives me opportunity to take photos of other stuff as well: my blooming oleander, our strawberry plantation (the green spears among the strawberries are garlic, that were planted there to protect the strawberries, though garlic seemed to misunderstand this nice and sunny October), or my son as he is playing with the water drops while watering (the originally linked picture failed in the family censure process, so I had to replace it).

I am trying to take photos of my quilt from every angle. I know how people like to touch and feel these soft fabrics, but in an Internet shop you only get to see them. In the blog’s header is a part of one of these photos, about one of my wallets, because I like the little button that you use to close it.

My “Grandmother’s Flower Garden” Quilt

2008-10-31T06:09:00.002+01:00

My first quilting work has not been finished yet. I always liked challenges, so what else could I have started after reading my first quilt book, than a huge “Grandmother’s Flower Garden” king-size quilt?

We were on a vacation at the beautiful Lake Tisza in 1998 with some friends and a bunch of kids. We all had a great time. I started to make and sew together the first hexagons in those delightful summer evenings. The kids liked them so much, that they joined me in the work (the boys too, including my son). I have kept these patches, and – even though I am quite the perfectionist, and kids’ stitches were far from uniform, rather the opposite – but I am sure that those patches will be part of the final quilt. I hope it will be finished some day so I can show it to everyone.

My “Grandmother’s Flower Garden” king-size quilt’s design was constantly changing, as time went by. The biggest disaster for my family was in the first week of our three years spent in Naples (

Italy

), when our house got robbed. Which had quite the effect on my quilt, since a huge (HUGE) suitcase full of beautiful American quilt fabrics, which I collected in the USA (and made a great effort to bring them home with us, casting out everything else to fit in our suitcases) taken by bad guys.

To tell you the truth for some time I thought I would never be able to look at fabrics again, since they stole not only my fabrics, but the joy of working with them as well. And then my sweet husband told me that I shouldn’t grieve about it, he would buy me new fabrics, even better looking ones, than before.

And soon after in Naples I have started a new project as a therapy: I created 4 wall hangings (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter) from the small pieces of sample fabrics remained after the robbery (I have kept the samples in a different box) and from some blocks of the “Grandmother’s Flower Garden” quilt.

I am still looking for the matching fabric to create the border for Spring, but the rest of them are complete.

My blog

2008-10-25T21:00:00.003+02:00

I think it is quite an undertaking to start and then operate a good blog. After you open it there is the first impression, then a good blog should be pretty and be well arranged, and finally it comes the main point: it should be filled up with content which is important for me and what is more interesting and could be useful for others.

I make quilts and this is my work and my hobby as well. So I will write mainly about quilts in my blog. I work at home so naturally my posts will inevitably contain materials of our family, our building the house, cooking and every similar “delicacies”. Just as it should be.

I would like to record memories concerning some special fabrics – before they are lost forever. Maybe you agree with me that quilting is this kind of interesting thing. The movie “How to Make an American Quilt” is full of little episodes in which the quilters remember important events of their life, or just a moment, or a smile in the sunshine based on small pieces of fabrics. I found this really memorable photo from it.

I also have many fabrics that remind me of great memories such as a delightful city, a chance meeting or laughing together with a lovely assistant in a nice fabric shop.

I am Hungarian, so English is not my mother tongue. I am trying very hard to write in a decent way in English, with the least possible mistakes. I can not achieve that constantly though, so please be patient. I hope you will be able to understand what I am trying to say.