Wednesday 26 June 2013

Let's Get Acquainted

Welcome to my stop on the Let's Get Acquainted New Blogger Blog Hop! Hopefully you're enjoying becoming acquainted with some other new bloggers, as I am! You can find the whole list here, or by clicking on the button in my sidebar to the right.

I struggle now to remember how it was exactly that I started quilting. I've sewed since high school, making some of my own clothes, not very well, though there was always the odd project that was good enough to inspire me to make something else; and there have been years when I haven't done anything, but when I had little kids (they're teenagers now) I enjoyed sewing a few clothes for them.

A recent finish- a Baby Cross Quilt

My mum isn't a huge sewer- really sewist is a much better word isn't it! But she has definitely sparked my interest in sewing, shown me how to follow a pattern and given me those little skills and pieces of knowledge one tends to take for granted. She has made me some lovely things over the years.  One of the most ambitious must have been my school graduation dress, an 80's confection in soft silk with ruffles and a boned bodice! And Mum and Dad gave me the sewing machine I still sew on for my 21st. Read all about that here. There's also a link to a post about the perspex extension table Dad made for my machine.

I think the quilting passion started when, for some reason out of the blue, I decided to make a quilt for my Grandmother's 90th, either that or it was when my son needed a new duvet cover and I spotted a log cabin design I liked and it turned into a quilt instead. No photos of that one, my son has it away at Uni. Actually I think he's close in the line up for a new quilt, since both of our styles have changed since then. But there's something special about those early projects, even though I don't love either of them now. In the mosaic below there's a gratuitous shot of that first quilt for my Granny...


Another significant early project, in terms of inspiration, were these very simple cushions, I saw this fabulous Marimekko fabric and just bought a little of each. They were hard to cut into I remember, but an example of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts I think! Besides, I could never have chosen just one or two! We've had these on our sofa for over ten years now I'd guess, but I still love them.

I have an American friend in NZ where we lived then and I think she has more sense of the quilting heritage, which in turn influenced me and we used to get together to sew from time to time, which was great. We also went to a weekend workshop, with different speakers and classes. That was really inspiring and although we were feeling our way into something that seemed like there more older women doing it, there was an undercurrent of freshness and some new fabrics that were the beginnings of the Modern Quilting movement. It felt like the edge of something new.

L-R Top to Bottom: HST Quilt, Improv in Pyjamas ; Gum Tree Quilt, My First Ever Quilt -for my Granny, Close up of Gum Tree Quilt, StripQuilt for my Sister, Baby Crosses, Mum's Quilt and Sophie's Vintage whole cloth Quilt


But quilting has really grown for me as a hobby in the last few years and especially since I started my blog last year. Since I've been in Australia I've loved the chance to sew regularly with my friend Liz. We were chatting at an MTB event both our sons were involved in and both said we wanted to make time to do more creative things in our life, so agreed to meet on Fridays whenever possible to carve out time for that. It's been gold. Once the machine's out at the end of our dining table;  and the cutting board and piles of fabric are erupting further along, they tend to sit there and it's easier to do a little. We do have a long table fortunately, so it can get shoved to the end half and there's still room for the family to eat! I love to sew while people are around and about, but I think the ideal solution is a room close to the action, where the door can also be shut!

L-R Camera Case, Liberty Zip Pouch, Table Mats, Table Runner, Zip Pouch, Computer Sleeve


Blogging for me is the other part of carving out a creative space; really a kind of accountability to myself for making something and a way of contributing to this amazing online world where I gain so much inspiration. If you like you can read more about my reasons for blogging and how it got its name here.

I'm off to read some of the other posts now and discover something about others' inspiration!

Camilla

42 comments:

  1. Nice post Camilla - it was nice to find out a bit more about your quilting journey, and see a few more of your past projects. I still feel like there are far more older women quilting in New Zealand, which can be kind of intimidating for someone younger starting out, but now I have a group of quilting friends I don't mind being the youngest (or nearly youngest) person at guild meetings so much. Having real life quilting friends does make such a huge difference, as do the connections through blogging.

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  2. Nice to meet your! Wonderful projects. You seem to really have an eye for color.

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  3. hi Camilla,
    Nice to meet you. I love all your projects. The String quilt is gorgeous. I am a new follower :)
    jan@
    http://sewandsowfarm.blogspot.com/

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  4. wonderful to meet you Camilla! I absolutely LOVE your header picture. The quilt just looks like it belongs there. I can only assume that you took inspiration from that beautiful scenery to create it. The colors are perfect! By the way, I've added you to my Bloglovin' feed, since I don't see a button (maybe I missed it!) so I'm following!

    :) Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation

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  5. Thanks for sharing a little about you, Camilla. It has been a pleasure to meet you through the New Blogger Hop! I enjoyed seeing your beautiful quilts and projects and being able to click on the links to read more about them. Great pictures, too!

    Lorna:)
    http://sewfreshquilts.blogspot.com

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  6. Just to say hello and how nice it is to meet you. You're showing some lovely quilts and projects, and I love your photographs!

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  7. Just love the Baby Crosses quilt! The quilting looks perfect too. Great to learn more about you:) See you soon.

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  8. Beautiful projects. Thank you for your beautifully serene blog. I feel like I got to know you well from the look and feel of your blog. Your quilts are lovely. I think I have seen that Baby Crosses quilt somewhere - I may even have pinned it, in fact. Thank you for making loveliness everyday! Your projects/aesthetic have inspired me today.

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  9. Your work is lovely....as is your blog! I love the color and fun patterns in your projects! How nice to meet you in this blog hop!

    Kathy

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  10. Hi Camilla, nice to meet you. You have made some lovely things.

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  11. It's fun to read about your quilting beginnings. Getting together to create side by side with a friend can just be so delightful! Your blog continues to be one I look forward to seeing. Happy faffling!

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  12. Haha, totally get you about the sewing on the dining room table!!! So nice to meet you via the hop :)

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  13. Beautiful quilts! The string quilt is my favorite :) It was great to get to know you better. I look forward to seeing more!

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  14. Great quilts. I love the HST quilt.

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  15. Lovely to read about your quilting journey. We all take different paths to quilting and I love reading about other people's! Just nosy I guess! I love your quilts, they are gorgeous!

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  16. Love to see all your projects, your string quilt is what really caught my eye.

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  17. Hi Camilla, lovely to learn a bit about you and see your projects together. My favourites would have to be the crosses with the amazing quilting and the wonky strips quilt, it looks great against that tree, I don't know if that was the inspiration. I thought I was following already, but wasn't..I am now!!

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  18. Great post! You have made some really great projects. It as so much fun to hear your "history of quilting". It is always really neat to hear such great stories!

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  19. That HST quilt really grabbed my eye and didn't let go - so beautiful! Nice to meet you through the Hop! :)

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  20. I love your projects, particularly that quilt in the top photo with all of the orange. And those Marimekko cushions are fantastic.

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  21. nice to get to know you a little better, camilla. that baby crosses is wonderful!

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  22. I think your baby crosses quilt is my favorite:) I love your idea of a dedicated Friday sewing day, maybe when my kids are all in school, I could start this, and so much more fun to sew with a friend:)

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  23. Throwing you some LGA love as a fellow hopper! I love your string quilt, nice and crisp, reminds me of autumn.

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  24. Loove the quilting on the first Picture. Hi from a blog hopper :)

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  25. Hi! Nice to meet you. I love the orange and pink place-mats! I think I need to make some =]

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  26. I'm late to the party but thanks so much for sharing part of you! It was wonderful to get to know you better :)

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  27. LOVE the quilting on the baby cross quilt! Found you via the Blog Hop and happy to be a new follower!

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  28. Nice to meet you! You have some lovely projects. I, too have felt that some of the guilds and quilting groups have a more older generation, but I have found the blogging community to bring in that modern freshness - and lots of inspiration!

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  29. Ok - CRAZY - my mom made my 80's grad dress - ruffles, boned bodice - too. Please don't tell me yours was electric blue??? Haha! Good ol' 80's. I really like the quilting you did on your baby cross quilt - one of these days I am going to get up the courage to try that!!!

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  30. The mosaiic of quilt photos you showed are in similar colourways- they look great all together like that! Visiting via the blog hop.

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  31. Hi Camilla! That gum tree quilt is absolutely gorgeous. Just so understated and perfect -- love it! I love the idea of a regular sewing date with a friend. I should try to do that too!

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  32. Oh your cushions and baby cross quilts are wonderful! Great blog hop post.

    Jenny @ Note to Follow Sew
    http://notetofollowsew.blogspot.co.uk

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  33. I love the HST quilt and the zipper pouches. The gum tree quilt is fantastic. Looking forward to following your blog.

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  34. So glad you have a real life sewing buddy. I finally met a Flickr friend in real life and we would sew together occasionally. And then, a couple weeks ago, I moved across the country. Will have to find new sewing friends ...

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  35. I'm glad to have met you! How did you do the lovely quilting on your baby plus quilt? Walking foot? It looks fabulous. I love the shot you used of it with the teddy bear on top!

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  36. Your color tones have such an earthy vibe - love! Beautiful work ;)

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  37. It's nice to meet you Camilla! I really like your plus quilt!

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  38. It's so nice to meet you through the blog hop! Like you, I was taught to sew by my mother and made mostly clothing at first (although I find I enjoy quilting much more :) I love the plus quilt and HST quilt you show!

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  39. I love the colors in that plus quilt, the blues and oranges really pop. It was fun to see the mosaics of how your style has evolved over the years. Nice to meet you!

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  40. Your plus quilt is beautiful! Did you quilt it yourself? I also love what you're doing with the shot cottons. I won a bundle and need something awesome for them!

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  41. I really love your quilting style! Your fabric choices etc are all lovely ♥ Your plus quilt is fantastic!! Every plus quilt I see makes me want one for myself even more; this one is hitting me especially hard, haha c: Great job on everything!

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  42. Great post Camilla! I am in the 2014 blog hop- just for a second I doubted myself saying "how did I miss her??" Then realised the date of your post is 2013 :D I found your blog via the do.good stitches Cherish circle- guess what? I am in the same circle too and you will be receiving the June blocks hopefully soon! Hahaha :D
    Love, Nurdan from Hug-a-Bit Quilts

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