Not a dolly quilt...

but I had a quick start and finish this past week anyway! Bennie is a very sweet cat, but he leaves his strawberry blonde hairs all over the place. And because he seems to prefer my very dark purple foot stool to most other lounging spots, that's where most of the shed hair seemed to accumulate: exactly where it shows the most. My sister's cat Tejo was white and loved taking naps on her black clothes. It must be a cat thing...

The best way to make sure Bennie could keep his lounge seat and I would not have to vacuum it every day, was - of course - to make a little quilt for him to sleep on. So I took some leftover fabrics from my previous project and started cutting and sewing. Bennie kept coming by to inspect the goings on and seemed very pleased with progress.

Yesterday evening, the quilt was finished and Bennie has his very own quilt on top of his foot stool throne.

Here's a full view of the quilt. The patches are 2" finished size, making this quilt approximately 34" or 86 cm square. I machine quilted it in diagonal lines. I think that's fine for a utility quilt like this and it works with the trip around the world pattern.

I love working on the big bed size quilts I usually make, but making large quilts has at least one downside: I can count very few finished projects in a year. That's why it feels so good to start and finish a quilt in a short time once in a while: I need that sense of accomplishment. And while I sit at my computer, Bennie dozes off on his special kitty quilt. What a wonderful feeling!

Lady of the Lake top finish

No, I did not start a dolly quilt just yet. I'll ponder that a little while longer, until I have a clearer idea of what I want it to look like.

However, I finished my Lady of the Lake top. I had been having doubts about my color choices. I usually go for bright colors in my quilts, that's what I feel comfortable with. For this quilt, I wanted to challenge myself, so I chose batiks in colors I don't usually work with. There are lots of browns and greens in there, definitely not my favorite colors. And then I even put in some pinkish background fabrics... all fine, but I was starting to get worried if I could make it work. Now you can see for yourself:

Now it's all together, I think I like the colors and the simple repetition of the block pattern. The top is quite large, like most of my quilts. It measures 69 by 91" or 175 by 228 cm. I can't get a full picture of it in my sewing room because the walls are too close together, even when I use the wide angle setting on my camera :-) I'll have to take the top to someone's garden to get it all in one shot. I wish I had a garden - and a larger sewing room would be really good too!

Open European Quilt Championships in Veldhoven

Today I went to Veldhoven for the OEQC and had a wonderful time. I was there early and made a point of viewing the quilts on exhibit. The vast majority looked wonderful, and the quilts were exhibited a lot better than previous years (there have been lighting and placement issues at the current venue). I also think there were many more quilts on show than before - which in my book is great. Unfortunately, I had left my camera at home, so it's a good thing I have the catalog with color pictures of all the contest quilts.

There were lots of vendors and many people buying the goods. I joined in the fun by adding a little to my stash:

It looks as if there's at least one predominantly black & white project in my near future! Or lots of quilts with b&w details? I'm not sure yet, but I simply love these stripes and dots. I was also tempted to buy some King Tut variegated quilting thread, they come in so many yummy colors. However, I'm still a novice machine quilter and I decided to hold off on those. There will be plenty of opportunities yet to invest in beautiful threads ;-)

And for most of the day, I helped Merel in her booth. It's such a joy to help quilters find the right fabrics for their projects. You get to meet quilters with lots of different styles and tastes, it's so inspiring!

One of the things I love about going to quilt shows is meeting quilting friends. Today, I ran into Hilde, Shirley, Katrien, Inge, Inge, Erna, Evy, and many others. It was great seeing you all and I hope to see you again soon!

Something else I feel very good about is that I managed to reduce my stack of UFO's. I donated two projects that I have not worked on for years to Stichting Verdanda. The people of Verdanda make quilts for  handicapped people. The quilts are very well received and I enjoy contributing to their good works in this small way. Plus it relieves me of some of my feelings of guilt about all those unfinished projects hidden away in boxes and drawers!

So I've been a very good quilter today... does that mean I can now start a new quilt? I've been dying to make a doll sized quilt... it would be a quickie project - can I, pretty please???