Sunday, February 20, 2011

QUILTING INSPIRATIONS

Hello my friends  !! I wish all is well with you , I am posting a photo of my good friend Zaharoula with a pillow I made for her since she is a great admirer of my work .  It happened to be her name day a couple of weeks ago ,it was saint Zaharias day and here in Greece name days are celebrated even more than Birthdays .  Many families prepare big dinners for friends and family members all come over and offer gifts and well wishes .   Since life has become a bit more Westernized it has become less and less frequent .

And here is the pillow I made for her ,isn't it just sweet she was so thrilled with it she said she has a special place for it in her home.

Do you see this print ? well I must tell you it is from a little girls skirt that someone had thrown out that  I happen to find ,I took it apart.     I happened to be talking  on the phone with my friend Kristine and I mentioned to her that I ripped apart a garment for the fabric ,she laughed and said that is pathetic and she is right I was in love with that fabric I just had to make something with it ,and the right word is pathetic LOL !!.

This is the close up of the flower I made ,the white is circles diff. sizes and clipped and the top I didn't make ,it is a flea market find I got a whole strand of about 30 of them for .50 cents is that a bargain or not?
I had been playing around with the idea of making applique tea cups ,so I drew some and made a template .
Then I got out my vintage stitchery finds and sort of placed one by one to see which one is most pleasing to the eye,and  I think this one above is my favorite ,but I took photos of all my various choices .
I have a blog friend by the name of Sunny and she has mentioned on her blog  a while back that she would like to make a wall hanging of pitchers ,so I thought I would make a couple for her,  Sunny had also sent a real cute baby quilt for my friends charity project  quilts for orphans ,Quilting for a purpose and I again would like to thank her so much for her kind generosity .  So I made some real rough sketches and I thought maybe make different shapes of pitchers ,so this is what I got for now now remember these are just a rough draft I will clean them up and bit when I get back to the drawing board , make  the final templates and pick out the fabric which is the most fun and cut them out and probably do a zig zag stitch, Sunny what do you think ??
I got in the mood a couple of weeks ago to make some boats ,I had cut out the template patterns with regular paper .
Then after playing around with the size of the pieces ,I took the final one to my shop and cut out the template patterns with  thick matting board which I have loads of , I got some clear envelopes and put the completed block with the template pieces inside so that way I can see the pattern and have the pieces to make it again in the future, So that is what I have been up to these last couple of weeks.
By the way a couple of weeks ago a got an e-mail from Angie which happens to live in  Ecuador ,she is doing a series of interviews of International quilters and the challenges that they face ,and she is right it is a challenge , and can you believe she wanted to interview me of all people I guess now I am famous LOL ,since I am not patient or maybe just to lazy to make a link I just copied and pasted the link ,I am sure I can do a link ,,but I am sure one of these days I will get the hack of making links, I have said that before ,and another thing every time I do a spell check I get the Greek alphabet so I haven't been able to do any spell check ,I am sure somewhere there are some  I have to look into that it is frustrating, and loading  photos I can only do one at a time then save and click back it has taken me all morning to make this  post,.   .I have some finds I got to post and they are woozies is that a word?? anyway I am going for a walk now, wish all of you a wonderful Sunday and hope the weather is nice enough to get out I know some of you have plenty of snow by for now,xoxo theodora

15 comments:

Maria said...

I think your Pillow you made for your friend is beautiful.
You are a very thrifty lady using recycled fabric not pathetic.
Your vintage teacups are delightful too.
I am sure Sunny will just love her gift from you too.
Have a great week Theodora.

Quiet Quilter said...

You are so inventive! Love the pillow! And your teapots with their hankerchief tables are so pretty.

Kelly said...

Love the pillow! And you should be famous! You are spreading the quilting love in Greece!

Oops-Lah said...

So nice to "see" you again. But it seems you have been busy with making a lovely pillow and designing other super projects. Lots of Love Vreni x

Angela said...

Your pillow is fabulous! I love how you've made it by salvaging the fabric from another item! One of my favorite purses was made after I de-constructed a skirt I bought at a thrift shop for $2.00!
I also love the tea cups. I'm partial to all things tea pot related!
Have a great day!
Angela
PS. I think we should start the Name Day tradition in the States!

sunny said...

You are awesome! I cut up fabric, sew it back together, and make quilts, but everything you make is ART! I just love your creativity. Your pitcher designs are great - can't wait to see what they turn into.
HUGS, Sunny

Sammy said...

Hello friend. How are u? I love the pillow, and most of all I love all the thrifty things you have. It is lovely.

take care my dear friend, and lots of love,

-Samya :-)

Cyndi said...

Hi my sweet, wonderful friend! I LOVE the pillow you made for Zaharoula...it is a beautiful piece of art! And I agree with Maria, being thrifty is very smart and earth-friendly, not pathetic at all!

You have been busy, as usual, doing all sorts of fun and cool things. I love reading your posts, Theodora...they are so full of life!

Have a wonderful week, and I will be writing you soon!

XOXO,

Cycndi

Wacky Woman said...

I love that pillow. I hope people take notice of any scissors you may be carrying when they walk in front of you. :-))) I love snipping that perfect inspirational fabric from odd unexpected sources.

Sally Tharpe Rowles said...

Wow you have been busy. I love the pillow & most of all because you used the found fabric .... to me that makes it that much more special. My favorite are the tea cups though. I hope you will do a whole series of them because I love each one of them. Such a great idea for a large quilt.
I am really impressed with your creativity & your ingenuity.

Nifty Quilts said...

Hi Theodora,
I love everything you make. You are so creative! It's not pathetic at all to cut up a piece of clothing. I do it all the time! Maybe we are BOTH pathetic. Thank you for sharing all your inspiration with us.

Browndirtcottage said...

Oh Oh...w-a-y too cute pillow!!! I'm sure she just LOVED it!
You really have some great inspirational projects going on over here!!

Micki said...

The pillow is just lovely! It is just so adorable!
Micki

Anonymous said...

Dear Theodora, this was a special post! Wonderful and interesting interview - I agree with everything! I love your new cup blocks and those old treasures you are going to match with them!
Could you please tell me the shop in Athens where you find now the thing and soft batting. I made one quilt with the thin Ikea blanket and it's perfect - so soft and light!
I wish you lovely weekend! xxx Teje

Anonymous said...

Dear Theodora, this was a special post! Wonderful and interesting interview - I agree with everything! I love your new cup blocks and those old treasures you are going to match with them!
Could you please tell me the shop in Athens where you find now the thing and soft batting. I made one quilt with the thin Ikea blanket and it's perfect - so soft and light!
I wish you lovely weekend! xxx Teje