Playing with cubes

I am playing with cubes- this is a first try. I will make for sure two quilts with cubes!

I just can't decide which line to choose to work with:

Fusions

Kona Cotton Fossil Fern

I should make three quilts!

Washing Fabrics

In the last few days I organized my fabric stash. My bedroom is my “studio” and because it is so convenient to have the fabrics on hand, I kept some of them there. But now I moved them all.
Last summer I became allergic to the chemicals contained by fabrics. How ironic is that: a quilter to have allergy to fabrics! Before this I wasn’t allergic to anything, or, at least, I did not have any sign of allergy.

I think over the years I made some mistakes. And the most important one was that I did not pre-wash the fabrics. I did it in the first years but after that I noticed the fabrics are of good quality and I did not bother with this.

I order most of my fabrics online and it is such a joy when I open a box! But the first thing I have to do after a quick look it is to wash them. This and the medication I take every day help me feeling better (and allow me to still quilt).

Well, in spite of all these problems, I enjoy fabrics more than anything else.
Santa was good to me and brought me many fabrics- beautiful prints to bring to life my boring tone-on-tone fabric stash. I love dots and now I have a stash of dots but other wonderful prints too.

I bought for the first time a fat quarter bundle (I wash them too)! I just couldn’t resist to the beauty of this line (Quite Contrary by My Mind's Eye for Riley Black Designs) so I ordered them all.
For a while I couldn’t decide what to do with them, a quilt or little purses, but yesterday I cut them all in small pieces and soon I will show you a collection of pretty little things.

Isn't this collection beautiful?

Do you know this way for folding fabrics and keeping them organized? I think I am the last one who learned about it!

Happy weekend to you all!

Quilting in "non-quilting" countries

Ever wonder what it might be like to be quilter and to quilt in a country with no quilting tradition?

Angie Padilla is a quilt designer and teacher living in Quito, Ecuador. She designs and creates whimsical, creative and fun to sew quilt patterns (if you are an applique lover or EQ user I am sure you already know her).

She is doing a series of post on her blog about the needs and challenges that quilters in different countries experience.
I shared my story here. And here is Angie's.

There is a lot we can learn from each other and I am anxious to find out other stories. If you are interested, too, follow Angie’s blog for the next weeks.

If you are an “international quilter,” too, and would like to share your story, please let us know. Email Angie at ajpadilla dot com!

I took a break from quilting in the last two weeks so there is nothing new I could show you.
I did not quilt but of course I couldn't stay away from the quilting world ! Next week I will be back to work!

Lots of babies came into the world last year in our family ! And others are expected in two weeks: at least 7 puppies ! My youngest sister Nicoleta is very busy! She took these pictures.
I let them to say you: "Happy Weekend"!

The winner

The winner of "The Art Quilt Collection" book is:

Aart said...
this book looks great. Today I visit a exhibition of European art quilts VI in a little city called Woerden, in the Netherlands. Magnifique!!!http://quiltaart.blogspot.com

Congratulations Aart! Please send me your address.

Thank you all for participating!
Have a wonderful Sunday!

New Giveaway

A few days ago I received the book The Art Quilt Collection: Designs & Inspiration from Around the World published by Sixth and Spring Books.

The book profiles more than 100 quilt artists —many of them award-winning—along with their stunning works. It also includes photographs and instructions for explaining some of the techniques. A lot of inspiration!

Hard to say which quilt I love most, but here are a few of my favorites:

Tulips by Ineke Berlyn (United Kingdom)

Structures #98 by Lisa Call (USA)

Ikat Kaftan by Judith Ross (New Zealand)

Would you like a chance to have a look yourself?
Sixth & Spring Books offers a copy of The Art Quilt Collection to one lucky reader of my blog.

To be in the draw all you have to do is leave a comment on this post.
Visitors from around the world are welcome !
The book will be shipped directly to the winner by Sixth and Spring Books.

I will pick a winner on Saturday morning.

Good luck everyone!

Puff Quilt- the last quilt of 2010

Happy New Year! I wish you a wonderful 2011, with lots of time for creating beautiful things!

Here is the quilt I finished a few days ago. I made for the first time a puff (biscuit) quilt and now I am in love! I see many quilts like this in the future.

I planned to make it for my little nephew, Alex, but in the last moment I changed my mind.
Just before to wash it, I noticed that some fibers migrate through the top fabric (bearding). It is almost invisible but probably it is not a good idea for a 4 month baby.

Maybe it is because of the quality of the poly fiber I used for stuffing the little pillows. Or maybe it is normal as the stuffing is loose and not like a bonded batting.
Did some of you make such a project ? Did you notice bearding ?

My godson is 5 years old and I am very happy to offer it to him. When Alex will be a big boy, I will make another quilt like this for him.

On Internet there are many tutorials on making puff quilts, type on Google "puff quilt tutorial" if you want to learned the technique.
I made my little pillows out of 4" and 4.5" squares.

All the family worked on this project: my sister Nina helped me with pinning (the pieces can be stitched very easily without pinning though), my sister Nicoleta (Alex's mother) stuffed the little pillows and my sister Oana helped me to stitch the binding on the back by hand.

I stitched first all the pillows on three edges then I stuffed them all then I finished them stitching the fourth edge.

It was easy to piece the pillows in blocks and to join the blocks in rows.

It was a little harder to join the rows.

I wanted to make it large enough so that Alex to play on it...

and I added even borders.
I used 256 little pillows and the final size is 52''x52''.

One week was needed to courage myself to add the batting and backing. Because I knew that binding is not too much fun and I knew I have to tie the quilt. I did it, but in my own way :)

Yes, I added even batting, a layer of fluffy and lightweight polyester batting.
I received a few comments and I read on Internet that this type of quilt weights a lot.
I thought that because my quilt is not too large it will not weight too much. After I added the batting and the backing it weights much more than a regular quilt. But I am happy with how it turned out.

I covered myself in this comforter and I was in love! I want to make such projects for my entire family! But I don't like to tie quilts. I don't like to add binding by hand. I want quicker projects... so I already thought to make some changes...

Come back for new projects! Soon...14th of February is soon enough ??

Have a wonderful Sunday !