Ritorno da Cervia

Eccomi tornata da Cervia, sono stati 4 giorni lunghi, a volte difficili, ma densi di idee, impegni, e amiche vecchie e nuove... ora Quiltitalia ha un nuovo direttivo e nuove sfide...
È ancora presto per sapere quale sarà la direzione in cui ci muoveremo, la cosa veramente importante sarà non dimenticarsi che, anche se con idee diverse ed a volte in contrasto, tutte noi eravamo lì perchè amiamo il patchwork e questo, piaccia o meno, significa che ci assomigliamo.


Here I am, coming back from Cervia and the Quilting WeekEnd of Quiltitalia (our national guild). We all had some difficult moments and some wonderful ones. I found old and new friends... Now we have a new President and a new board. It is too soon to know where we will go, but the very important thing is that we can fight and bicker, but at last, we all love patchwork and this unify us.

Color Palette Challenge - Done!

Here we are, with the Color Palette Challenge of January:

I think I has not been very "daring" with this one, but I was afraid I didn't have enough time this month to do all my duties. I have a retreat, starting tomorrow (I can't wait!!!), and usually I come home with my head full of projects and new techniques I want to try and never-ever enough time to do it!!! So I thought it was better starting with a little project, but actually made it! :)

2012 Free Motion Quilting Challenge - January

Hello everybody!
This year I am really really serious in trying to improve my FMQ-skills!
I signed up both for The Wednesday Quilt-Along with Leah Day and this FMQ Challenge, hosted at SewCalGal. To me 2012 will be the FMQ-year!
I completed the January tutorial, doing something very small, just a quick sampler with the threads I use in my quilts:

So the red thread is Rayon 40 Madeira, the multicolor one is Cotona 30 Madeira, the white on your left is polyneon Madeira, the last one (it seems white, but it is really a very light green) is Gutermann polyester.
Bobbinfil in the bobbin and a Universal 70/10 needle.

Rayon and Polyneon both stitches beautifully: no need to adjust tension.
Polyester seems "stiff" and rigid and does not curve smoothly.
Cotona was a nightmare, but it was my fault: I decided to try with the same needle, bobbin and tension and this has been a mistake: Cotona needed definitely a different needle and some trial-and-error in the tension department!

Quilt Along Wednesday #1

Ta-daaa! It seems I managed to did all my homework, so far, this month!
I'm busy tearing away the quilting in my Second Course Sampler (that's my UFO Challenge number 5), I'm a good point with my Color Palette Challenge of January and I did the exercises for the first Wednesday of this Quilt-A-Long, hosted by Leah Day. Next will be the 2012 Free Motion Quilting Challenge, but I definitely think I can manage (so far...)
So here's my production... ok, not so much of it, but it is a start!

 Here is a close-up, I'm very proud of me: I used to think that stippling was not my piece of cake, because I'm a sort of "control-freak" somewhat and this smooth transition of forms that freeely blend together was too anarchy for my tastes... well, I think things are changing!

 

Let's go to Free Motion Quilting Project to see all the Quilt-Along Wednesdays! 

Orme sulla Spiaggia - Footprints on the Beach

Ho chiamato Orme sulla Spiaggia questo quiltino (65x65 cm), fatto usando il gioco "Musical Chair" dal libro Quilter's Playtime di Dianne Hire, visto l'uso dei colori, così "sabbiosi" appunto. Ho messo questi improvvisational nine patch "on-point" e infine l'ho quiltato con un semplicissimo stippling:

I called this little quilt (25 1/2 " square) Footprints on the Beach, I made it following the "Musical Chair" play from Quilter's Playtime by Dianne Hire. I set the improv nine patch on-point and quilted with a simple stippling (never miss a good session of FMQ practice!):

Design Wall Monday

Here we are! Another Design Wall Monday...

There's not very much to see, really: just one top, but completely quilted and couched, and 4 black squares with my quilting exercises: I want to try all (or most...) the designs in "From Daisy to Paisley" by Leah Day: she is such a talented quilter!
For more Design Wall Mondays, as usual, there is Patchwork Times!

Color Palette Challenge - January

So it begins!
This is the January palette, choose by the talented Vicky Welsh of Field Trips in Fiber:

We can do whatever pop up in our mind (king size quilts, bags, wall hangings, table runners, pincushions,.. you name it!), and I choose this fabrics from my stash:

I think I will go small, for this first month, just a warm-up... :)

Hey, hey, Nigella-day!

Questo Natale, tra le altre cose, è entrato a far parte della famiglia anche questo golosissimo libro (appena tradotto in italiano):
This Christmas this yummy book came to live with us :) :

MammaMia! Quante cose buone!!!!
Fin'ora ho provato un paio di ricette e sono una certezza!
Davvero veloci, davvero buone! Lo consiglio!!!
Oh my! How many tempting things!
Fast and good, I have already tried 2 or 3 recipes and they're very good. I heartily invite you to try Nigella's recipes!

Definitely Crazy! - 2012 UFO Challenge

I mean... I have already joined a couple of year-long project (namely the Color Palette Challenge and the Free Motion Quilt Along), I have a few projects on my own (well, more than a few, actually, as usual...) and now... I read about the 2012 UFO Challenge and... I'm hooked! So here I am, with my list, but I'm following Judy's advice and I start humble and sensible (no Dear Jane, Judy, I swear!):

1. I will quilt (at last!) the RoundRobin 2009 made with the girls of Patchwork Caffè
2. at least 4 blocks done of the "Mistery-without Mistery" 2009 (definitely not my year, the 2009...)
3. add the border to Kate quilt, at last!
4. I will quilt at least 1 quarter of the Kate quilt (I really need to have this one done this year!!!) - if this number come before the n. 3, I will switch the goals, of course.
5. I will take away all the quilting in my Second Course Sampler...
6. I will quilt my Second Course Sampler...
7. I have prepared two tops for the Quilting Week-End of January, but only one will be done during the "How-to-Do a Perfect Binding" course, so I will need to bind the second.
8. At least a couple of blocks of My Whimsical Garden  (I really like this project!).
9. I bought (mmmh, let me think... it was 2006 or 2007? Mah!) The Cat's Whiskers kit by Material Rewards... I want the top done, this year!

10.  I started, some months ago, collecting large prints for "Carousel", from Cozy Modern Quilts by Kim Schaefer, I would like to cut the fabrics I have so far and start sewing some blocks together.
11. I will quilt one (another) quarter of Kate-quilt (see goal #4, for details)
12. And another quarter of Kate-quilt will be quilted! (Again, see #4 for details)... I really need to finish this (large!) quilt, but I'm so scared: it is sooo big!

Design Wall

Ecco cosa sta appeso nella mia design wall in questi giorni:
This is my Design Wall on these days:

Sono due divertissement che sto preparando in vista del Quilting week-end di Cervia: parteciperò ad un corso sul "binding perfetto" e l'indicazione è di portare un lavoro da bordare... Io ne ho approfittato per provare a "giocare" seguendo le indicazioni di questo favoloso libro:

A couple of divertissement I'm doing for the Quilting WeekEnd of Quiltitalia: I will follow a course for the "perfect binding" (I really need this one!) and I have to have, of course, a quilt to bind! So I decided to play with this absolutely wonderful book:

di Dianne Hire

Davvero, davvero, davvero, bello: uno dei pochi libri che sto usando dall'inizio alla fine...
E per altre Design Wall in giro per il mondo, c'è Patchwork Times!

Really, really a wonderful book: the lessons are easy to follow and the photos very inspiring! 

To see other Design Wall Mondays, let's go to Patchwork times!

Buon Anno

Tantissimi auguri per un sereno e magico 2012!

Come ogni inizio d'anno, la mia testa è piena di progetti e cose da imparare... Quali sono i miei progetti per il nuovo anno? Quest'anno voglio assolutamente imparare a quiltare come si deve. Poi voglio migliorare il mio "piecing" e quindi mi auguro che le mie cuciture siano sempre da 1/4 e che le mie punte non siano mai tagliate e che i miei incroci possano sempre coincidere :)

Happy New Year!