Landscape Quilts

Let It Snow by Renske Helmuth (center is 73/4 by 43/4 inches) Hand appliqué and machine embroidery. The inspiration for this landscape came from an old postcard I received years ago. It took a while to find the right blue fabrics, but it was a fun piece to make, even the countless French knots for snow. Springtime in the hills by Renske Helmuth (center is 9.5 x 7.5") Hand appliqué and hand embroidery. Threatening skies by Renske Helmuth ( center is 71.5 by 6 ") Hand appliqué and machine embroidery. I made this small piece for a Christmas gift. After the appliqué and embroidery I took it in and had it mounted behind glass. This will show one of these small pieces of really well. The drawback is that they are hard to transport to workshops and trunk shows. Evergreens by Renske Helmuth (center is 9 x 7") Hand appliqué and machine embroidery.

Quilt: Waterloo Landscape

Waterloo County by Renske Helmuth (20 x 26") Hand appliqued, hand embroidered and machine quilted. Over the years I have co-ordinated quilts for the Mennonite Relief Sale. The latest quilt , A Bird's Eye View/Interpreting the Aerial Photography of Carl Hiebert, was made in the beginning of this year by members of the Waterloo County Quilters Guild and the Listowel Mennonite Church. I talked to Carl Hiebert and got his permission to use the pictures out of his books. After I had the idea I wanted to know how difficult a project like that would be. I tried to find one of the hardest pictures in Carl's books and tried to interpret it in fabric. This wall hanging is the result. The hardest part was the making of the pattern. In a painting or drawing there are limitless possibilities, but when you work with fabric you have to make the pieces big enough to work with. Once the master pattern was constructed, I started the hand applique from top to bottom, This piece was machine quilted. After making this piece I was convinced that it was possible to come up with a quilt, using Carl's pictures and that's how A Bird's Eye View came about. Here's a detail shot of this quilt:

Quilt: Irish Seascape

Irish Seascape by Renske Helmuth (24 x18") Hand applique and a minimum amount of machine quilting A member of my quilt guild showed me a picture of a painting that her mother got as a gift in Ireland. She wanted to make a small quilt out of it, but did not know how to go about it. I took her picture with a promise to give it a try. The hardest part was to make the pattern. With a painting you have limitless possibilities with your brush strokes, but working with fabric you have to make the pieces big enough so it is workable. Once the pattern was made and some more fabric had been bought it was time to go at it. The actual applique did go fast. I would like to mount this landscape at some point, but for now I have put a border around it. It has been machine quilted, just enough to hold the layers together. Here's a closer detail:

Quilt: Abandoned

Abandoned by Renske Helmuth (22.5 x 20") Hand applique and machine embroidery/quilting This quilt portrays what is happening all over the country. Where there were once thriving farms, there are now weeds and some left over buildings. The few farms left over are getting bigger and bigger. In this prairie scene the buildings are gone, except for some grain bins, the last sign that once a family tried to make a living here.