Quilts for babies

I don't often make quilts, but when I do, it takes me months to finish them!
Nu fac quilturi foarte des, dar cand fac, imi ia luni sa le termin!

However, when I do finish them, I get reports of 4-year-old boys running through the house using the quilt as a cape, then counting the cars repeatedly, then snuggling in the quilt, then counting the cars again. Are those signs of a happy customer? I think yes :)
Totusi, atunci cand le termin, mi se spune despre un anume baietel de 4 ani care a fugit prin casa folosind quiltul drept mantie, apoi a numarat masinutele in mod repetat, apoi s-a invelit in quilt, apoi si-a mai numarat o data masinutele. Oare astea sunt semnele unui client fericit? Cred ca da :)

This quilt was to go together with a Tilda bunny. Unfortunately, the neck seam burst when I was filling it. My hand stitched repair job was less than satisfactory, so Mr. Bunny ended up with an unexpected bow tie to cover up my oopsie. But shh, don't tell the customers, please let it look like I meant it all along! It looks good like that anyway, I think I might make some more elegant bowtied bunnies. 
Acest quilt a fost comandat impreuna cu un iepuras Tilda. Din pacate, cusatura de la gat a plesnit atunci cand il umpleam. Am incercat eu sa cos ruptura cu mana, dar reparatia nu arata satisfacator. Asa ca domnu' Iepure a primit un papion neasteptat care sa-mi acopere greshelutza. Dar shhh, sa nu le spuneti clientilor, lasati-i sa creada ca asta era intentia mea de la bun inceput! Oricum, arata fain asa, cred ca voi mai face iepurasi eleganti cu papion.

The above-mentioned happy customer's little sister, being newly born, had more pressing issues to attend to and refrained from commenting on her own gifts. But her quilt looked like this:
Surioara mai sus mentionatului client fericit, fiind nou nascuta, avea chestiuni mai presante de rezolvat, asa ca s-a abtinut de la exprimarea de comentarii cu privire la cadourile ei. Dar quiltul pentru ea arata asa:

It was extremely hard to find fabrics in the shades of orange requested, so I improvised! Using 3 thrifted pillow cases and some left-over fabrics I had in my stash, I stamped and painted and stamped until I managed to make all the blocks come together nicely:

Mi-a fost foarte greu sa gasesc materiale in nuantele de portocaliu cerute, asa ca am improvizat. Folosind 3 fete de perna de la second si ramasite de materiale din casa, am stampilat si am pictat si iar am stampilat, pana cand am reusit sa fac toate blocurile sa se potriveasca frumos:

The baby girl also got a colour-coordinated doll to go with her quilt:

Fetita a primit si ea o papusa asortata cu quiltul:

No, the lace flower is not there to cover up another oopsie, it was ordered like that! You just have no faith in me, do ya?
Nu, floarea de dantela nu e acolo ca sa acopere alta greshelutza,asa a fost comandata! Voi chiar n-aveti nici pic de incredere in mine, asa-i?

Mighty Pleased

I recently had to make a baptism gift for a friend of a friend. I was told that a brown and blue combination would be nice, and that it had to contain a quote and the baby's name. But apart from that I was given total freedom... which is not always helpful.

Mi s-a cerut nu demult sa fac un cadou de botez pentru o prietena de-a unei prietene. Mi s-a spus ca ar fi faina o combinatie de albastru cu maro, si ca trebuia sa contina un citat si numele baietelului. Dar in afara de asta, am avut libertate totala...ceea ce nu-i intotdeauna usor.

I racked my brain trying to imagine what the baby's mother (Whom I don't know) might like, and after going back and forth a few times, I came up with the following. Quilt...

Mi-am stors creierii incercand sa-mi imaginez ce i-ar placea mamicii copilului (mamica pe care n-o cunosc), si dupa mai multe pendulari, am ajuns la urmatoarele. Quilt...

 

 ...cushion...

...pernuta...

  

... and somebody to snuggle up with them:

...si cineva care sa se cuibareasca in ele:

The fabric came from a total amount of 8 thrifted pillowcases (I used every single inch of them!). I must say I am mighty pleased with how it all turned out.  I don't know what was the matter with me, but everything went so smoothly: perfectly parallel lines, no tangled balls of thread on the back, no twisted bias binding, no corner of the quilt being accidentally sewn under, no cursing...none of my usual quilting banes! Just placid, cheerful sewing.

Sursa materialului au constituit-o 8 fete de perna de la second (am folosit fiecare centimetru!). Tre sa spun ca sunt tare multumita de cum a iesit totul. Nu stiu ce mi se intamplase, dar totul a mers ca pe roate: linii perfect paralele, fara bile incurcate de atza pe dos, fara binding sucit, fara sa prind din greseala vreun colt de quilt in cusatura, fara injuraturi...nimic din problemele mele obisnuite cand fac un quilt.

I also employed a trick for easy piecing, which I found here, and which is total genius! Thank you, Elizabeth, for enabling me to come up with the best aligned squares of my life. :)

Am folosit si un truc de unit patratele, pe care l-am gasit aici, si care e absolut genial! Elizabeth, multumesc ca mi-ai dat oportunitatea sa fac cele mai frumos aliniate patratele din viata mea :)

 The quote in Hungarian says  "I have become God's child". I'm very pleased with how my letter applique turned out too.

Citatul in maghiara spune "Am devenit copilul Domnului". Sunt tare multumita si de cum mi-au iesit literele.

 

As for this little guy, I'm sure he and Kristof will become very good friends.

In ceea ce-l priveste pe asta micu', sunt sigura ca el si Kristof vor deveni foarte buni prieteni.

 But above all, I loved working with this colour combination. I found it so soothing that I just couldn't stop staring at the fabrics. I must make something in these colours again.

Dar cel mai mult mi-a placut sa lucrez cu combinatia asta de culori. Mi se pare asa de linistitoare, ca nu ma mai saturam sa ma uit la materiale. Trebuie sa mai fac ceva cu culorile astea.

Stay tuned for more updates on my craftiness, coming soon!

Ramaneti aproape pentru alte noutati, in curand pe ecrane!

The Saga of the Twice Made Quilt

I promised you the story of how this quilt came to be, so here it is. This was the largest quilt I've ever made (130cm x 190cm) and also my first man-quilt.
V-am promis povestea facerii acestui quilt, deci iat-o. Asta a fost cel mai mare quilt pe care l-am facut pana acum (130x190), precum si primul quilt de barbati.

I had the idea in a flash of genius: hey, I could stencil those little dancing people he likes so much on some fabric, then turn the fabric into a quilt! His favourite colour combination being green and black, I went to search for some green fabric. The one below was the only green I could find that was cotton, and large enough. I wasn't crazy about the shade, but I figured it might look different once it was covered in LDPs (= little dancing people).
Ideea mi-a venit intr-o strafulgerare de geniu: hei, as putea picta omuletii aia care-i plac asa de mult pe un material, iar apoi sa fac un quilt din material! Combinatia lui preferata fiind verde cu negru, am plecat in cautare de verde. Singurul verde pe care l-am gasit si care sa fie si bumbac si destul de mare a fost cel de mai jos. Nu ma omoram dupa nuanta, dar m-am gandit ca va arata altfel odata ce va fi acoperit cu ODi (omuleti dansand).

I had a forest green fabric paint which looked quite nice, and I made stencils out of a plastic cover from one of my uni folders (what, it was all I had on hand at the time). And I started painting.
Aveam o vopsea pt textile de un verde-brad care arata bine; am facut sabloane din coperta de plastic a unui dosar pe care-l folosesc la scoala (ce, aia aveam la indemana!). Si m-am apucat de pictat.

1270 done, 2348 to go....
1270 gata, mai am 2348...

To be fair, I estimate about 5 LDPs per block, so that would mean I stencilled approximately 250 of them.
Pentru corectitudine, am estimat cam 5 ODi per bloc, deci asta ar insemna ca am pictat cam 250 in total.

As we all know, Murphy never sleeps! I soon ran out of fabric paint. I ran to the store to get some more, but it was that exact shade that they had run out of. I decided to take the next closest shade. I mean, it was just one number down, how different could it be? This different!
Dupa cum stim, Murphy nu doarme niciodata! Mi s-a terminat repede vopseaua pt textile. Am fugit la magazin sa mai iau dar exact nuanta aia n-o mai aveau. Am luat nuanta cea mai apropiata. In fond, era diferenta de doar un numar, cate de diferita putea sa fie? Asa de diferita!

I mixed it with white and yellow and brown and light green and blue and purple in an attempt to get it closer to the original shade, but what I ended up with was a sort of rancid furry mold colour. Oh well, I went on with it, waiting to see what it would look like when cut into blocks. I ended up with blocks that had both shades, and some blocks that had only one of the shades:
Am amestecat-o cu alb si galben su maro si verde deschis si albastru si mov in incercarea de a o aduce mai aproape de nuanta originala, dar am ajuns la o culoare de mucegai blanos ranced. Ma rog, am mers mai departe, hotarata sa vad cum va arata odata ce mterialul va fi taiat in blocuri. Mi-au iesit blocuri cu ambele nuante, si blocuri care aveau doar una din nuante:

I laid out the blocks on the bed...
Am pus blocurile pe pat...

...and YUCK! Nothing worked: the three greens smashed together, with the black border, it all looked awful to me. There was no way I would offer this as a birthday present. Maybe to a half-blind dog to sleep on.
...si BLEAH! Nimic nu se potrivea: trei nuante de verde trantite impreuna, cu marginea neagra, arata groaznic. N-aveam cum sa ofer asa ceva drept cadou de zi de nastere. Poate unui caine pe jumate orb, sa doarma pe el.

Not sure what to do, I left it aside and went to look for fabric for the other presents.
Nu stiam ce sa fac, asa ca l-am pus deoparte si am plecat sa caut materiale pentru celelalte cadouri.

And what do I find? A huge, oh-so-soft sheet in the perfect shade of green! I'm sure Murphy was snickering down at me while I was standing in the shop, wandering if I should laugh, swear or just buy the damn sheet. I bought it.
Si ce gasesc? Un cearsaf mare, super-moale, in nuanta perfecta de verde! Cred ca Murphy se prapadea de ras in timp ce eu stateam in magazin, intrebandu-ma daca sa rad, sa injur sau sa cumpar naibii materialul. L-am cumparat.

So off come two more plastic folder covers, to be turned into larger stencils, and the process begins again. This time, though, I decided to pre-cut the blocks and only put one large LDP in the middle of each, to save me some time. Also, no more green paint. Black will do, thank you very much. Here's what the first blocks looked like:
Asa ca sunt sacrificate inca doua coperte de dosare, pentru a fi transformate in sabloane mai mari, si procesul reincepe. Insa de data asta am decis sa tai blocurile dinainte si sa pun numai cate un OD mare in mijlocul fiecarui bloc, ca sa mai economisesc timp. De data asta fara vopsea verde, e bine si negru. Iata cum au iesit primele blocuri:

Excited about the obvious improvement, I almost forgot the drudgery of having painted and ironed another 45 LFDPs (little friggin dancing people). I got some pretty well aligned seams too:
Entuziasmata de imbunatatirea evidenta, aproape am uitat efortul si plictiseala de a fi pictat inca 45 de OND (omuletii naibii dansand). Am nimerit si cusaturile destul de aliniate:

Being such a large quilt. I had nowhere to stretch it out in my house. So off I went to take over the landlady's porch: (don't worry, I swept and mopped it 3 times before laying out the quilt)
Fiind un quilt asa de mare, n-aveam unde sa-l intind in casa. Asa ca am ocupat terasa gazdei: (fiti fara grija, am maturat si am mopuit de 3 ori inainte sa-l intind)

Sandwich, pin, quilt, border and the quilt was done in the nick of time.
Straturi, ace de siguranta, quiltuit, margine, si quiltul a fost gata la tzanc.

End results:

• a much improved night's sleep
• lots of leftover rancid mold coloured paint
• lots of ugly LDP quilt blocks I don't know what to do with. Any suggestions?
  
• most of my uni folders now have no covers
• I don't want to see another LFDP for a long long time
• painting polka dots on a square of fabric suddenly doesn't seem such a big feat anymore

Rezultate finale:

• un somn imbunatatit
• o gramada de vopsea de culoarea mucegaiului blanos ramasa
• o gramada de blocuri urate cu OD ramase, si cu care nu stiu ce sa fac. Sugestii?
  
• majoritatea dosarelor mele de la faculta nu mai au coperta
• nu vreau sa mai vad nici un omulet dansand pentru foarte foarte multa vreme
• brusc, pictatul de buline pe un patrat de material nu mi se mai pare asa mare lucru

Little people dancing on my brain

Somebody used to complain of the thermal inadequacy of the bedding available at my humbe abode.
Cineva se tot plangea de ineficienta asternuturilor puse la dispozitie in umila mea casa.

Somebody also fell (a little bit obsessively) in love with the design of a plate belonging to our friends.
Cineva s-a indragostit de asemena (un pic obsesiv) de modelul de pe o farfurie a unor prieteni.

So I, the generous, creative, patient and thoughtful person that I am, had the brilliant idea to combine the wish and the complaint into one dancing-people-themed birthday present.
Asa ca eu, persoana generoasa, creativa, rabdatoare si grijulie care sunt, am avut ideea geniala de a combina dorinta si reclamatia intr-un cadou pe tema "omuleti dansand".

I started from the design on the plate, turned it into stencils of various sizes, and stenciled the living daylights out of everything that came my way. Thus, somebody received the following:

Am inceput de la modelul de pe farfurie, pe care l-am transformat in sabloane de diferite marimi, dupa care am pictat tot ce mi-a picat in mana. Astfel, cineva a primit urmatoarele:

A little-dancing-people quilt. This is actually the second one I made, as I hated the first version. I will give you the entire saga in a future post.
Un quilt cu omuleti dansand. Asta e de fapt al doilea quilt facut, nu mi-a placut deloc prima versiune. O sa va povestesc toata saga intr-un post viitor.

A little-dancing-people cup. This was funny. I handed it to him casually to drink from, he uses it just as casually and, about an hour later, goes "wow, check out that awesome cup! Where did that come from!?" Duh! Talk about a man's spirit of observation!

O cana cu omuleti dansand. La asta m-am distrat. I-am dat-o foarte nonsalant sa bea din ea, el bea la fel de nonsalant si, dupa vreo ora, zice "uau, fii atent ce cana faina! Asta de unde-i?!" Poftim! Spirit de observatie de barbat!

A little-dancing-people scarf:
Un fular/ esarfa cu omuleti dansand:
...as well as other things which (miraculously!) did not have any dancing people on them.
...precum si alte chestii care (in mod miraculos!) n-au omuleti dansand pe ele.

After a silly beer-and-popcorn party, somebody had a very good birthday sleep:
Dupa un chef zapacit cu popcorn si bere, cineva a dormit foarte bine:

The making of a friend

Last month I caught up with an old friend from highschool, come to spend a holiday in Romania, together with her English husband and in-laws. And it was a lovely holiday, except for the car crash they had on the very last day. They were not very seriously injured, but the accident kept everyone in the country longer than previously planned.

Luna trecuta m-am intalnit cu o veche prietena din liceu, venita in vacanta in Romania, cu sotul si socrii ei englezi. Si a fost o vacanta minunata, cu exceptia accidentului de masina din ultima zi. N-au fost raniti foarte grav, dar accidentul i-a tinut in tara mai mult decat era planificat.

Which gave me the chance to spend more time with Maureen, who is a quilter! Can you imagine that? A real, flesh-and-blood quilter, who owns sewing machines and buys fabrics, organises tea parties and is part of several (several!) quilting and embroidery clubs. Such a character might sound like a myth to someone living in a country with no fabric shops and no "quilt" in the dictionary. But mark my words, my crafty Romanian sisters, they do exist!

Ceea ce mi-a dat ocazia sa petrec mai mult timp cu Maureen, care face quilturi! Puteti sa va imaginati asa ceva? O persoana in carne si oase, care are masini de cusut si cumpara materiale si organizeaza serate englezeti si face marte din mai multe (mai multe) cluburi de quilt si broderie. Asa ceva ar putea parea un mit celor ce locuiesc intr-o tara fara magazine de materiale si fara cuvantul "quilt" in dictionar. Dar luati aminte la vorbele mele, exista!

She was kind enough to spend an afternoon at my place, and we talked and talked. I actually used words like "mitre" and "bias binding" and "applique", words which I knew but had never uttered in my life, for lack of anyone who would understand them.

A fost draguta si a petrecut o dupa amiaza la mine acasa, si am vorbit intr-una. Am apucat sa folosesc cuvinte cum ar fi "mitre" si "bias binding" si "applique", cuvinte pe care le stiam dar pe care nu le-am rostit niciodata in viata mea, pentru ca nu aveam cui.

Talking to her for a few hours was a sensory overload that only reading 5 new craft magazines at the same time could give you.
Vorbind cu ea cateva ore m-am simtit de parca as fi citit 5 reviste de craft noi, toate in acelasi timp.

This miracle made me decide to revive my Green Monday, so from now on I'll do a post every Monday, expressing my envy towards those more craftily endowed or fortunate than me. All in good humour, though! :) (more or less).

Acest miracol m-a determinat sa hotarast reinvierea Lunilor Verzi, asa ca de acum inainte voi posta in fiecare luni, exprimandu-mi invidia fata de cei/cele mai inzestrate sau mai norocoase decat mine din punct de vedere al craftului. Totul in mod amical, desigur! (mai mult sau mai putin).

Baby stuff

I'm expecting a baby.
Astept un copil.

Well, it's not mine, but that doesn't mean I can't expect him with all the crafty goodies I think he might need or enjoy. Oh yes, I plan to be an exemplary aunty! Here is some stuff I made for he who will be born tomorrow.

Ma rog, nu-i al meu, dar asta nu inseamna ca nu pot sa-l astept cu toate minunatiile facute de mana si care m-am gandit ca i-ar trebui sau placea. O da, planuiesc sa fiu o matusa exemplara! Iata niste chestii pe care le-am facut pentru cel ce se va naste maine.

Silly onesies are a must:
Era musai sa aiba hainute caraghioase:

Stylish cloths to vomit on are also very important (since we don't have burp cloths in Romania, I took the liberty to coin the term "vomitowels" -much more suggestive, don't you think?):

Carpe elegante pe care sa vomiti sunt si ele foarte importante:

Si, pentru un somn lung care sa-i ofere mamei pretioase momente de liniste:
And, for a long sleep which will provide mum with precious moments of peace:

I've been wanting to make a chenille blanket for a long time, but I didn't have a good enough reason. Well, now I did!

De mult imi doream sa fac o patura in tehnica chenille, dar niciodata n-am avut un motiv destul de bun. Acum am avut!

Baby furniture - check
Bedding and clothing - check
A healthy amout of panic - check
We're ready for you, little guy!

Chocolate anyone?

This is the result of another group project, entitled "Cafe ou chocolat". It was meant to produce quilts using materials we all received from Smaranda (thank you, they really were lovely!) and keeping to the theme "cafe ou chocolat".

Acesta este rezultatul unui alt proiect de grup, intitulat "Cafe ou chocolat". Acesta a avut scopul de a produce quilturi, folosind materialele primite de la Smaranda (multumim, au fost chiar frumoase!) si pastrand tema, "cafea sau ciocolata".

The choice was easy for me: absolutely chocolate! So this is what came out:

Alegerea a fost usoara pentru mine: absolut ciocolata! Si iata ce a iesit:
An 80x60cm large box of chocolates, which I dedicate to Teodora, without whose black Ikea pillowcase I couldn't have completed this project. Thank you! :)

O cutie de ciocolata de 80x60, pe care i-o dedic Teodorei, fara a carei fata de perna de la Ikea nu as fi reusit sa termin acest proiect.

I cut up said pillowcase in (more or less) equal squares. I then used acrylic fabric paint to make the golden chocolate wrappers:

Am taiat sus-numita fata de perna in patrate mai mult sau mai putin egale. Am folosit apoi vopsea pentru textile pentru a face ambalajele aurii:
When all squares were dry and extremely well ironed, I put the chocolate shapes within each wrapper. I played around until I got the positioning I wanted:

Cand patratele au fost uscate si ras-calcate, am pus formele de ciocolata in interiorul fiecarui ambalaj. M-am jucat pana am ajus la pozitionarea cea mai buna:
I used a double layer of batting underneath each chocolate shape, to make them pop out of the background.

Am folosit un strat dublu de vatelina sub fiecare forma de ciocolata, pentru a le face sa iasa in relief fata de fundal.

After the chocolates were all in place, I proceeded to quilt around the chocolate shapes, in the most uneven and haphazard manner known to (wo)man, and which I will not show you here. Still, the end result was not as bad as I expected.

Dupa ce formele de ciocolata erau toate la locul lor, am purces la matlasarea lor, in cel mai inegal si haotic mod posibil. Cu asta nu va voi arata poze. Totusi, rezultatul final n-a fost chiar asa de rau pe cat ma asteptam.

If you would like to see the other group members' interpretation of the theme, go here.

Daca vreti sa vedeti interpretarile celorlalte membre ale grupului, mergeti aici.

Update on my talents

Just thought I'd show you a mismatched array of things I have produced in the last month. First of all, I found a calendar- teatowel at a thrift store and loved the image on it,

Ma gandeam sa va arat o colectie haotica de lucruri pe care le-am produs luna asta. In primul rand, un prosop de bucatarie cu calendar pe care l-am gasit la un second si a carui imagine mi-a placut f mult,

...so I bought it, cut it and turned into a little quilt. I'll hang it in my kitchen as soon as I decide upon the location.
...asa ca l-am cumparat si l-am transformat intr-un quiltuletz. O sa-l pun pe perete in bucatarie, imediat ce ma hotarasc unde.

Secondly, I made a gift for my godmother. I knew I wanted to make some jewellery, but that was the only thing I knew for certain. So after drawing about 10 necklace versions, deciding on the winning one and starting to work on it, the new (and infinitely better) idea came to me, so I dropped what I had begun and started on this:

In al doilea rand, am facut un cadou pentru nasa mea. Stiam ca vreau sa-i fac ceva bijuterie, dar asta era singurul lucru sigur pe care-l stiam. Asa ca, dupa ce am desenat vreo 10 variante de colier si m-am hotarat asupra celei castigatoare, am inceput sa lucrez la ea, cand mi-a venit brusc noua (si infinit mai buna) idee, asa ca am lasat din mana ce lucram si m-am apucat de asta:

I had never done beading before, but with the help of a free book (discovered by Teodora), I managed a final product that I'm very proud of. It took me about 24 hours of solid work but hey, what are nights for? To me it looks Indian, to others it looks Egyptian. What do you think?

Anyway, I'll definitely make more stuff with this technique...but possibly less shiny :)

N-am mai lucrat cu tehnica asta inainte, dar cu ajutorul unei carti gratis (descoperita de Teodora), mi-a reusit un produs final de care sunt foarte mandra. Mi-a luat cam 24 de ore de lucru dar pentru ce sunt noptile? Mie mi se pare ca arata indian, altora li se pare egiptean. Voi ce credeti? Oricum, sigur o sa mai fac chestii cu tehnica asta...probabil mai putin stralucitoare, totusi :)

And last but not least, I made my very first item of clothing! Which took the shape of some very simple wrap-around pants, but I love them and have worn them a lot already. I'll be back with less pathetic pictures; here I had to edit out the messy room behind me.
Si nu in ultimul rand, am facut primul meu obiect de imbracaminte! Care a luat forma unor pantaloni petrecuti foarte simpli, dar pe care ii iombesc si i-am purtat mult deja. O sa revin cu poze mai putin jalnice; aici a trebuit sa tai afara camera dezordonata din spatele meu :)

Expo Craiova

My online group is currently exhibiting their work in Craiova. Over 40 original, pretty and very well received quilts. Just thought I'd brag. :) More pictures here.

Grupul meu virtual, Peticelul Romanesc International, are o expozitie la Craiova. Peste 4o de quilturi originale, frumoase si foarte bine primite. Voiam doar sa ma laud. :) Mai multe poze aici.

Daca aveti drum prin Craiova, mergeti si vedeti, e deschisa pana in 11 iunie.