Colors for quilts

After I made this quilt, I fell in love with blue color and blue+green combination !

Dupa ce am facut acest quilt, m-am indragostit de albastru si mai ales de combinatia albastru+verde !

Don't you know what colors to use for your next quilt ? Just pick up a fabric you like !
Look at its colors and choose some fabrics in those colors !
This fabric was the starting-point for my color scheme:

Nu stiti ce culori sa folositi pentru urmatorul quilt ? Alegeti o bucata de material care va place !
Uitati-va la culori si selectati cateva materiale in acele culori.
Eu am pornit de la acest material:

And these are the fabrics I selected from my stash; I don't have a big stash at all so I felt very lucky that I found these:

Si aceste sunt materialele alese din micul meu "stoc", n-am avut prea multe posibilitati de alegere, dar din fericire ce am avut s-a potrivit:

I paid attention to a few details, like having a light color, a dark one, some medium colors and a bold one .

Also it' s great if you can have different textures or patterns, as well as different scales of print.

For some people maybe this is a too cool color scheme. But I like it.
I would have chosen an yellow (or an orange ) if I would have want to warm the colors. Or I could spread warm colors in other places in the room.

Am acordat atentie catorva detalii: sa am o culoare deschisa, una inchisa, cateva medii si una mai tipatoare !
E bine daca se poate sa ai si o diversitate de modele (nu doar materiale simple, uni) sau materiale cu imprimeuri diferite (mai mici si mai mari).

Schema aceasta de culori e cam rece pentru unele gusturi, poate, dar mie imi place la nebunie.

Se poate adauga un galben (sau portocaliu) pentru a o mai indulci, sau se pot utiliza alte obiecte de aceasta culoare imprastiate prin camera.

Regardless of colors or rules , I think all the quilts are beautiful !

Dar indiferent de culori sau reguli, eu cred ca toate quilturile sunt frumoase.

Sample #2 of my shadow trapunto quilts...

...reached it's recipient, in Hungary !

I hope sample # 3 will arrive safely in USA.

Tutorial strip quilt II

Make this quilt with me !
I pieced it in a day, I quilted it in the second day and I added the binding in the third day !

Quilt size: 62 x 86 inch;
Finished block size: 12 x 12 inch;
Number of blocks= 5 x 7 = 35
(if you need a larger quilt, piece more blocks ).

This quilt don't have borders; if you need a larger quilt, you might add borders; because you use narrow strips for blocks, add narrow borders too !

You will need :
18 "A" blocks, 9 "B" blocks and 8 "C" blocks.

How to piece bloc A:
-----------------------------
Sew all the strips with 1/4 inch seam allowances;

How to piece block B (and C):
-----------------------------------------

Arrange the blocks any way you want and sew them together
(you will have 7 rows of 5 blocks).

Example of quilting:

After I pieced the blocks and I finished the quilting, my quilt was with 2 inches smaller than the size I needed.
Keep in mind: made the quilt a little larger than the size you want !

In order to bring it to the size I wanted, I added a wider binding. I made a double folded binding and I started cutting strips of 6.5 inches wide (you will need more fabric for such a wide binding - I was lucky because I had a fabric I didn't like anymore !).
At the end I had a 1.5 inch binding (and seam allowances of 1.25 inch under the binding- for batting and backing ).

Binding on front of the quilt

Binding on back of the quilt

At this quilt I especially like the colors.
Next time, I will post a short tutorial : "How to choose colors for a quilt".

I made this quilt for my sister Oana, but Pepe use it as well.

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Would you like to try something new ?  

 Retro Fun bags

Pockets with Love - fabric origami

Building Fun quilt

 Nina's Garden quilt

Samples of my shadow trapunto quilts

This is the first from a series of 3:

It's 8 x 8 inch and I really loved to make it.
This is a better picture:


Pictures of the samples #2 and # 3 - after they will arrive to their new owners.

Wasted time (and fabrics too) ! Timp pierdut (si materiale de asemenea ) !

A few days ago I pieced 4 blocks for 4 pillows.I made simple blocks and I wanted to enhance them with trapunto.
I don't have a dense and thick batting so I used for trapunto 2 layers of batting, just to be sure that the motifs will show well.

Acum cateva zile am pisuit 4 blocuri pentru 4 pernute. Le-am facut simple si am vrut sa le infrumusetez cu trapunto pe centru.
N-am avut vatelina foarte groasa, asa ca am pus 2 straturi, sa fiu sigura ca modelul se va veda bine.

In the past I used 2 layers of batting but now I think the batting was too thick so it was very hard to cut away. I ended up clipping the fabric...

Cred ca vatelina a fost prea groasa, ca a fost groznic de greu sa o decupez (foarfeca nici nu mai taia), asa ca am terminat prin a gauri materialul...

and I am so bored... I gave up to finish them...

m-am plictisit, si am renuntat sa le mai termin....

The background is a light cream so I can't switch to my shadow trapunto technique.
I miss the thin batting from shadow trapunto, it' s so easy to cut away.

Materialul de fond e foarte deschis, altfel as fi schimbat trapunto cu shadow trapunto.

Mi-e dor de vatelina subtire de la shadow trapunto, atat de usor de decupat...

New little things

Today I spent half of the day making flowers like these:

On the blog of Betz White there is a tutorial. Betz made her flowers with wool felt. I made mine using a kind of light polyester flannel.

Before Christmas I made other 2 baskets for dolls and for a new look I added some of these flowers:

I like so much to make these little things !

Mylene Farmer la NRJ Music Awards 2009

Aseara Mylene Farmer a castigat NRJ Music Award la categoria "albumul francez al anului", pentru noul ei album "Point de Suture".

A fost invitata sa cante si ne-a incantat cu superba melodie "Si j'avais au moins...". O avanpremiera la concertele din acest an:

Electric Quilt Tutorial: How to make wreaths

In the last months a few people asked me how I made the designs for my shadow trapunto quilts.
I used the "WreathMaker" tool from Electric Quilt software.
Here are some tips to help you make beautiful wreaths:

NOTE: At the end of this article there is some information for beginner users of Electric Quilt.

In ultimele luni cateva persoane m-au intrebat cum am facut desenele pentru quilturile shadow trapunto.
Am utilizat unealta "WreathMaker" din aplicatia software Electric Quilt.
Iata cateva indicatii care sa va ajute sa faceti coronite frumoase.

Start with: New Block > PatchDraw:

Incepeti cu un bloc nou : New Block > PatchDraw:

Draw a shape, select this shape, click the right button of the mouse and select the option :"WreathMaker".

Now you have to choose:
Number of clusters / Cluster spacing /Resize cluster.
All these numbers will affect the appearance of the wreath, so try until you are happy with the design.

Se deseneaza o forma geometrica, se selecteaza, se apasa pe butonul drept al mouse-ului si se selecteaza optiunea "WhreatMaker".
Apoi trebuie sa alegem niste numere:Number of clusters (de cate ori forma selectata se va repeta) / Cluster spacing (spatiul dintre forme ) /Resize cluster ( marimea formelor).
Toate aceste numere vor influenta aspectul coronitei, deci incercati mai multe variante, pana va place designul.

This is an option:

Iata o varianta:You can add a circle in the center, then go to the "COLOR" tab and color the background and the wreath.

Se poate adauga un cerc in centru, si apoi se coloreaza (vezi in josul paginii de desenat ).

Let's try a more complex design, so draw 2 shapes, select both and apply "WreathMaker". You can get a wreath like this:

Sa incercan un model mai complex, asa ca se deseneaza 2 forme, se selecteaza ambele si se aplica "WreathMaker". Se poate obtine o coronita ca aceasta:

Start to color it, you will end up with an interesting design.

Se coloreaza si se obtine un design mai interesant.

Add a circle in the center and color it;

Se adauga un cerc pe centru si se coloreaza;

or add 2 circles, color them and you will have a ring !

sau se adauga 2 cercuri si se coloreaza, si se obtine un inel in centru !


Do you want even more complex design ? Select the entire wreath then apply "WreathMaker" and color:

Un design si mai complex ? Se selecteaza toata coronita, se aplica "WhreatMaker" si se coloreaza :
The most important thing in designing a wreath is this: because the shapes might overlap you can select some shapes to be in front of others and this will make a difference in the design.
Here is an example. I started with 2 sets of shapes:

Cel mai important lucru in designul coronitelor este acesta: deoarece formele se pot suprapune unele peste altele, se pot selecta anumite forme care sa fie deasupra altora si acest lucru produce diferente in design.
Iata un exemplu.Am pornit cu 2 seturi de forme: Select the shapes you want to be in front of others (the shapes will be outlined in green), click the right button of the mouse and select "Send to front".


Se selecteaza formele dorite a fi deasupra (acestea vor fi scoase in evidenta cu verde ), se apasa butonul drept al mouse-ului si apoi se selecteaza "Send to front".


In the image below we have 2 different designs depended on which petals we want to be in front of others:

- on the left the narrow petals are in front of wide petals;
- on the right the wide petals are in front of narrow petals.

In imaginea de mai jos sunt 2 modele diferite, depinzand de care set am ales sa fie deasupra:

- la stanga petalele inguste sunt deasupra;
- la dreapta petalele late sunt deasupra

And this is another example:

Si iata un alt exemplu:
Designing a wreath is influenced by the orientation of the initial shapes.
Here we have the same shapes but different wreaths :

Designul coronitelor e influentat de orientarelor formelor initiale.
Aici avem aceleasi forme de pornire dar orientate diferit si deci, 2 coronite diferite.

For beginner users of Electric Quilt:

How to draw a patch:
Select the shape you want (from the menu on right side of worktable), move the mouse anywhere on the worktable, click on mouse and drag in any direction. As you drag, the shape will appear.

Pentru utilizatorii incepatori de Electric Quilt:

Cum se deseneaza o forma:
Se selecteaza forma dorita din meniul din dreapta , se muta mouse-ul pe tabla de lucru in orice loc, se apasa mouse-ul si se trage in orice directie. Pe masura ce se deplaseaza mouse-ul se deseneaza forma dorita.

How to select a patch:
You need to use the Select tool (the first button on the menu on right side of worktable).
Click on a line of your patch; if you can’t hit the line , enlarge the area where the patch is placed . (using the button with a “+” (Zoom In) from the left menu of the worktable).
You can make multiple-selection by holding down the Shift key and clicking on each patch you want to add to the selection.

Cum se selecteaza o forma:
Se utilizeaza butonul "Select" ( primul buton din meniul din dreapta ), se face click pe o linie a formei respective ; daca nu se poate selecta, se poate face un "Zoom" pe zona care ne intereseaza (cu ajutorul butonului "Zoom In" din meniul din stanga).
Se pot face selectii multiple (se tine apasata tasta SHIFT si se face click pe toate formele dorite) .
How to rotate a patch:
Select the patch, hold down the Ctrl key and click in the center of the patch, then use the mouse on a corner to rotate.

Cum se roteste o forma:
Se selecteaza, se tine apasata tasta CTRL si se face click pe centrul formei; se utilizeaza apoi mouse-ul pe colturi pentru rotire.

How to add a patch in the center of a wreath:
If you want to cover the center of a wreath with a circle (or other patch), draw a circle anywhere on the worktable. Select the circle and move it in the place you want. (once a patch is selected it can be moved or resized).

Cum se adauga o forma pe centrul unei coronite:
Daca se vrea sa se acopere centrul cu un cerc (sau alta forma), se deseneaza un cerc oriunde pe tabla de lucru, se selecteaza si apoi se muta in locul dorit ( o data ce o forma e selectata ea se poate muta sau redimensiona).

The WreathMaker tool will place the wreath in the center of the worktable. This is so cool, you can overlap different wreaths and can end up with more complex and beautiful designs. Here it is an example:
Make a wreath from a patch:

Unelata WreathMaker va plasa coronita pe centrul tablei de lucru. Acest lucru e binevenit, deoarece se pot suprapune perfect mai multe coronite una peste alta si se obtin modele mai complexe.Iata un exemplu:
Se face o coronita dintr-o forma:
On the same worktable, draw another patch (I drew the same patch but with another orientation), select it and apply "WreathMaker".

Pe aceeasi tabla de lucru, se mai deseneaza o forma, se selecteaza si se face alta coronita:

This is the result:

Acesta este rezultatul:

IMPORTANT NOTES:

1. You can draw wreath using only closed shapes (like circles or squares). You can’t use a line or an arc.

2. When you want to color the wreath, do you think that some of your shapes are missing ? They are still there, but probably some larger patches cover them (the background is a large patch too). You need to change the layering order. Don’t forget: Use Shift+click to select multiple patches.

You can use these designs for appliques or trapunto.

I hope this article will help you to make beautiful wreaths.
As you can see, it's all about layers, shapes and the way you color them.
If you need more information , look in the “Help” section of your Electric Quilt software.

You can see here the wreaths I made for my shadow trapunto quilts.

OBSERVATII:
1. Se pot face coronite numai cu forme complet inchise (de exemplu, cercuri sau patrate), nu se poate lucra cu o linie sau un arc de cerc.

2. In procesul de colorare, se observa ca au disparut niste forme ? Nu au disparut, pur si simplu sunt acoperite de forme mai mari (si fondul este un patrat mare), trebuie rearanjata ordinea formelor. Nu uitati: utilizati tasta SHIFT pentru selectii multiple.

Aceste modele pot fi utilizate la aplicatii sau trapunto.
Sper ca acest articol sa va ajute sa faceti coronite frumoase.
Dupa cum se vede, e vorba despre straturi (layere), forme si modul in care se coloreaza.
Se poate vedea aici ce coronite am facut eu pentru quilturile shadow trapunto.

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Would you like to try something new ?
******Make Retro Fun bags******
****Make Pockets with Love****

My stained glass quilts

I learned to make stained-glass quilts after I bought a pattern by Brenda Henning (it's all you need for that). This is the quilt !

Am invatat sa fac quilturi-vitraliu dupa ce am cumparat un pattern de Brenda Henning ( e tot ce ai nevoie ). Iata quiltul:

After this, I made a few others using Clover Quick Bias tape.

Dupa asta, am facut cateva quilturi utilizand banda bias de la Clover.

I love to make this type of quilts because I have a little secret: I stitch the bias tape with free motion stitches , in this way I don't have to rotate the quilt under the needle (after I made the sandwich between top, batting and backing).
I use black thread or invisible thread.

Imi place sa fac atfel de quilturi, pentru ca am un mic secret: cos banda cu cusaturi free motion, astfel ca nu trebuie sa tot invart quiltul sub ac ( dupa ce am facut sandwichul cu fata, vatelina si dos ). Cos cu ata neagra (pe banda neagra) sau cu ata transparenta.

These stitches are from the back of quilt
Cusaturile sunt de pe dosul quiltul

Using a bias tape maker you can make bias tape from your choice of fabric.
I made these pillows with orange bias tape.

Utilizand un dispozitiv special, poti crea metri intregi de banda bias in orice culoare ai vrea !
Eu am facut aceste perne cu banda portocalie.