"The blue hour"

Every year, the European Quilt Association, the association of European national quilt guilds, issues a challenge. A number of quilts from each country will be on show at Festival of Quilts in Birmingham and then tour different countries for 3 years.

The theme this year was “Greetings from...”, a quilt looking like a postcard, measuring 25*35cm (10”*14”), including a post stamp and no visible binding. For a while I wasn’t sure I could finish a quilt in time, but I had to try.

“The blue hour” is inspired by the fjords up north at winter time when the light is blue. I love this part of Norway. The title is a nod to a painting we have at home.

I started with a pieced background 

which I covered with layers of sheers to suggest water and sky. 

The mountains were sketched roughly and transferred to a translucent paper. 

I did not take any pictures during the next steps, but the mountains and their shadow were made from layers of sheer fabrics and appliquéd onto the background.

The snow/ice gave me some problems. It was too white, so I tried a few overlays of blue.

The orange represents the light and warmth from the houses, and is made from gorgeous sari silk scraps. I arranged and rearranged those little pieces more times than I care to remember, but I love the texture of the fraying silk.

My post stamp is the silvery moon. The text is written with a permanent marker and says “Up north, Norway, January 2016”.

I was planning to free motion quilt the piece, 

but in the end I had to add lots of horizontal lines. It did not look right without.

I love how all those quilting lines look and how they blend the different colours and textures together.

Usually I would do the invisible binding from my tutorial here, but with time being an issue, I tried something new. It worked well enough, but I learned a few lessons for next time.

I cut a piece of fabric with the same measurements as the quilt, marked lines on all 4 sides, 

and cut out the centre.

Pinning it to the quilt, right sides together,and stitching all the way around.

Clipping the corners, and folding it over to the back. Folding in the raw edges and stay stitching around the edges with machine.

The edges were then stitched down by hand as for a regular binding.

The quilts were shown at the annual meeting of the Norwegian quilt guild last weekend, and the 16 quilts with the most votes will go to Birmingham.

I’m looking forward for my little tribute to a part of Norway which I love to return home – whenever that might be.

You can see some of my previous EQA challenge quilts here, here and here.

"iMusic"

The annual challenge from EQA (European quilters association) this year was “music with a touch of red”. Each country was given a specific red shape, and the Norwegian shape was to be a 15mm circle (hence the bobbin template in this post).

My initial idea was interpreting Moldau by Smetana. I spent a year worth of music classes working with this particular piece back in middle school, and have loved it ever since. My sketch was done and I was ready to go and then I had another idea – iPods in different sizes and shapes.

"iMusic" measures 12"*12" and the dark grey in the pictures is my couch, not a part of the quilt.

Using solid fabrics, it certainly has a more modern look to it. I kept the colours on the dark and cold side to make the red pop.

The machine embroidery is done with the batting as a stabilizer, and the hand work is done through all three layers. 

Artist statement: “The way I listen to music may have changed, but the beat is pretty much the same.”

I had lots of fun adding details. So much fun that I did a lot of restitching of areas that didn’t work so well. What can I say, I needed some hand work and besides that, a house is not a home until you’ve decorated at least half the rooms with little pieces of thread I'd say.

All the entries were on display at the annual meeting of the NQF (our national quilters association) this weekend, and usually the 16 quilts that get most votes will be on show at the Festival of quilts in Birmingham and then included in a three year suitcase exhibition. This year there were only 15 contributions, so they will all be included.

It will be interesting to see all the quilts on display as I am sure there are many ways to quilt music with a touch of red. Maybe someone else quilted Moldau...

"Winterberries"

Each year the European Quilt Association issues a challenge to all the members of the European quilt guilds. Each country will provide a number of quilts (16 this year) to the “pool” which will be distributed into suitcase collections, 1 quilt from each country in each suitcase (or cardboard box, really) and travel through Europe for 3 years. Unfortunately we will not see them here in Norway dues to high custom fees.

The theme for 2014 is seasonal gardens and our season is winter. The Norwegian contributions were on display on Norsk Quiltetreff this weekend, and visitors would vote for their favourite. The 16 quilts with most votes will be on show at The Festival of Quilts in Birmingham in August, and travel on from there. I am happy to report that all my friends’ quilts and mine were picked.

I have posted little glimpses of “Winterberries” in progress earlier. It is a layer upon layer piece made in painting with fiber technique.

I have been having a thing for quilts that you have to look closer at to see the full picture lately, and this is no exception.

It does require proper lighting though, so a lot of the details will get lost otherwise.

I thought I would show you what difference the little hand quilting made.

Next time you feel something is a little bland – try adding some chunky red stitches and say goodbye to bland!

You can see some of my earlier EQA challenge pieces here, here (not picked) and here.

Thanks for stopping by!

"The Nameless"

I have made a little quilt for a challenge, and as the deadline was a couple of days ago, I can finally show you the quilt I was showing pieces of here and here.

You may also recognize the background which was the background I made Victoria style (all that cutting and angles and head scratching hardly show at all!) and the heads from “Small talking heads” (which happens to be a test run for this project).

The quilt is made in honor of my friendly little quilting group; 8 ladies with different personalities and with the love of quilting and appreciation of each other in common. It has a diameter of 12” and got its semi-perfect circular shape by the use of a glass plate with an added ¼” all the way around.

The heart is made of yarn, stitched together between two layers of water soluble stabilizer. Super simple with lots of visual impact and texture.

I love how quilting and embellishments can transform this to this.

Welcome home, honey!

After more than 3 years my quilt has returned home. It has been a part of the European Quilt Association’s Suitcase (well, more like a cardboard box) exhibition “Hot & Cold”, and has travelled through Europe for 3 years. It was the first quilt I ever sent out in the world, and it’s so nice to have it back.

The challenge from the 17 national quilt associations (that make up EQA) to their members was: Make a quilt 60*60cm with the theme Hot & Cold.
All the quilts were shown together at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, England August 2006, and then distributed (one quilt from each country) in 17 suitcases, one to each country, and then swapped once a year.

A file has accompanied each quilt where all the places it has been shown have been noted, even with some nice comments from some countries. My quilt has travelled the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Denmark. It even von two prizes at exhibitions: a judged competition in Scotland, and a visitor’s choice in England. I feel like a proud mother!

Some quilts are not easy to make though…