I feel very welcome in my adopted country of Belgium. Not only are they really nice people, I have won two prizes in quilt shows since I came here in September!
At the beginning of October, I introduced myself to a local quilting group, led by Monique Gilbert. I brought along a couple of quilts to show them. Since she was teaching a class on machine quilting, I brought along my "Four Star Quilt", which is covered with lots of free-motion machine quilting (you can see it here: http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/1169461769053918641NEVuOk). Monique invited me to enter it in a local quilt show. The winner would receive a Bernina sewing machine. So, I entered. I didn't win the sewing machine, but I did win 3rd place, which was a nice box of 48 different-colored spools of thread. I had only been in the country for a few weeks at that time.
Monique keeps us quilters up-to-date on quilting events in the area. Not too long ago, I got a notice of a Hobby Expo being held in Antwerp, which is about 50 km away. They were sponsoring a quilt contest. The only rules were that the quilt must measure 20cm square (about 8"), and the theme was "houses". The winner would receive a Singer sewing machine, and runners-up would receive a gift certificate to a quilt store in Antwerp. By the time I received the email, I had about a week to get something made and sent in.
I chose a block in EQ6 that looked similar to the townhouses or row houses that are so common here in Belgium. I sized the block to 8", printed the foundation piecing templates onto printable fabric sheets, then foundation pieced it. I did it this way so that I wouldn't have to deal with ripping the paper off, and the tiny pieces would be more stable. I had fun choosing the paint colors, roofing, windows, etc.
Next, I decorated. I cut bits and pieces from other fabrics, using some weird pictorial fat quarters that I thought I'd never use! My favorite was the flower boxes. I also found some lace that I had bought for making a slip (like that will ever happen), and made very traditional Belgian half curtains for one of the houses. Flowers, plants, and even a cat curled up in front of a door finished it off. All of these elements were glued on with a glue stick, then zig-zagged with either monofilament or matching thread.
To quilt it, I mostly just stitched in the ditch around the major parts. I did put some texture in the sidewalks, but most of it was very simple. When I finished the quilting, I added a backing with all of my information on it, and bound it. After I finished binding it, I realized that I had forgotten to quilt around one of the windows! I couldn't do it then, because the backing was not quilted. Hoping no one would notice, I took out my black fine point Pigma pen and drew in the quilting line around the window. I dare you to find which one it is!
So, I took it to the post office and mailed it on a Wednesday. It had to be there by Saturday, so I paid extra for quick service. I just kept my fingers crossed, because I never heard if it was received or not. The show was March 7-9. I was not able to go, so I just waited. A week after the show was over, I hadn't heard anything, so I assumed I just didn't win. And they were keeping the quilts (they are going to make the world's largest quilt), so I didn't even get my little quilt back.
Another week went by, and Monique sent me a copy of the newsletter from the quilt shop that sponsored the event. The newsletter announced that I was the winner of the sewing machine! Woo Hoo! I was surprised that they had not contacted me in person, but I won! The next day, I got an email from the quilt shop congratulating me.
So, we took a trip to Antwerp on Thursday to pick up my prize. Since we were going there, we made a day of it and took our kids (who are homeschooled) to see the diamond museum and Peter Paul Ruben's house (a famous Flemish painter from the 1600s). The Calico House was the first actual quilt shop I've seen since I've been here. There are a couple of fabric shops in my town, but very little fabric suitable for quilting. Now I know where to go when I just have to buy something. Although, it's still cheaper to order fabric from the U.S. and have it sent here, even with the postage. Here is a picture of me at the quilt shop, picking up my prize.
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And here is a picture of my new baby, at home where she belongs.
So, like I said, I feel very welcomed. I now have a machine that doesn't need a transformer to work with the electricity in my house, and it even has more features than the one I was using. I've just been admiring it for a couple of days, but I finally did a little sewing on it today. Here's to more quilts!
