happiness

Yesterday I received my first Etsy purchase. This lovely creature made by Fluffy Flowers.
Her name is "Carolina". She came together with her little friend the mouse.
And I can tell you; It was love at first sight! They are adorable! Thank you Felicia!

Another creature that made me real happy is "calico cat".
She was an unfinished project that I have been finished of this week. I'm so happy with the way she turned out, and I can't say that of everything I make (lol). I used a nine-patch pattern, one of my favorite patterns. And I like the combination of the colors red & white.

sampler

Pfff.. The ironing is done!
And because I haven’t done anything else, their is nothing to show here.
So I took a photo from a sampler I made in 1996, sorry not the best photo!
And thought to share it with you.
It’s in cross-stitch and shows a little family history.



Maybe one day this will be a family heirloom, or it ends up somewhere on a
dusty attic? Who knows?

Busy

I don't have much time for blogging this week. There are to many other things that have to be done.
I'm busy working in and out the house. I'm behind with ironing, so far behind that my household members are beginning to be a little bit desperate by now! They all got empty closets.


This is just one of the...... baskets!!
Isn't ironing just one of the things to hate most about housekeeping?

But I'm making good progress on the applique quilt I'm still on schedule!!

polka dots

First I want to Thank everybody for all the lovely comments on my last post. Blogger doesn't always send a persons email-adress along with a comment, so I didn't got the chaince to thank everyone personal.
When I was taken the pictures of the quilt at my daughters home I also made a picture of her Oilily servies. I find this so lovely and colourful with all the polka dots. It makes me happy just to look at it.



M is collecting this servies piece by piece at Douwe Egberts with coffee-points. Those points come with the coffee and tea you buy from Douwe Egberts. Lots and lots of points are needed. Luckily M has the whole family saving for her, otherwise she was a nervous wreck by now from drinking all that coffee!!

vogeltjes (birds) quilt

Here are some pictures of the quilt I talked about in my previous post.
The books of Jean Ray Laury inspired me to make this quilt. I started with one little bird, I just had followed an appliqué course and really liked the technique. I had no intention to make a quilt out of it. But after bird one was done I made another bird and another one. I just could'nt stop. Slowly it became a quilt. I planted a appletree in the middle. The border with the flowers was real fun to make. I love all the round shapes.
The fabrics I used for the triangles and the border are a replica from an old dutch chintz. I bought these by “the Haan en Wagemakers’. Applique, sewing and quilting is all done by hand.
This quilt was also shown at the yearly quiltshow of the Dutch quilters society. I was so proud!!



My daughter gave the quilt a beautiful place in her home.



detail of the border



The light green leafs are cut out an old blouse of mine



I made a personal label on the back of the quilt in cross-stitch.

leftover bird

Full of new energy that I’ve got from last week break, I made this book cover today.
The little bird was a leftover from an appliqué quilt that I made for our daughter. I always thought she wasn’t interesting in quilts because she didn’t showed much of attention for what I was doing. But she likes the quilt with the birds, it hangs in her living room now. Next time I will make some pictures and show it here.
I'm making good progress on the appliqué quilt (last post), I'm still on schedule!!

mini break

In case you wonder where I was last week? My husband and I went to Lanzarote for a mini break. We stayed in a nice hotel. During the day we relaxed by the pool had a little sunbathe and discovered the island. In the evenings we had some delicious dinners.
It was wonderful!!



room with a view

"Bold and almost beautiful"

I already wrote in a previous post about all of mine unfinished projects/ quilts. They are stock away behind closed doors, out of side out of mind? No, not really.
When I think of some of these quilts and on the number of years I’ve been working on them, I get a bit desperate. Will I ever be able to finish even one of them??
It’s about time to do something about it, so I made a schedule. Started with this Quilt.


I've got three of these blocks to go!

It’s an appliqué, all done by hand ( that alone takes time).


back of the quilt

Each week I have to do a certain amount of work on it. And if I do so according to my schedule I will finish this quilt next year September. That’s something to look forward to.
So, I better start working than!!


Old book were I got the pattern from

Travel angels

Since a year or two I made several angels in all kind of colors and with differend type of wings. I used to called them my little angels. But now these angels have a mision, They are travel angels, here is why..
Our son travels in January 2006 (a student then), to Bolivia to do volunteer work at a house for streetchildren. While he was their he stayed with a Bolivian family who welcomed him in their home and in their lives. They treated him as if he was one of the family. He had such a good time over there.
He fell in love with the land, the people and his Bolivian family.
So, when he came home in June it was hard for him to pick up his old life again. He had left a big piece of his hart behind in "Cochabamba", Bolivia.
As his mother, I was happy he was home again, healty and safe. And I had good hope that his desire to go back slowly would fade away as time goes by.
I might have known better! Because, he graduated from school in July, found a job and with his first paycheck he went straight to the travel agency and bought a plane-ticket back to Bolivia.
So no discussion, that was that, he was going and it did'n matter if I liked it or not. Poor, poor me, I had to put away all my worries. It's such a long journey and so far away!
But he was going to a very nice family and I was sure they would look after him.
He packed his suitcase and I put in a couple of angels that I made. I thought they should travel with him as his guardian angels. Over there he could give them away as a little pressent. So of he went (and my angels too).
He had a great time with his Bolivian family and friends.


Now he's back home again, picked up his life and making plans for his future, he is planning on going back to school again in September. He still has frequently contact with his family and friends in
Bolivia. An he has an experience that last a lifetime.
So, that's how these angels become travel angels. They are minimal weight, fit easily in any kind of luggage and are ready to travel.

Notebook cover

We just had the perfect weekend. It's still nice weather, no rain yet, so we have to water the plants on time to prevent them from drying out.
I made this cover for a notebook last saterday, when I was sitting outside enjoying the sun. The little basket with apples are in cross-stitch from a pattern that I found in an old samplerbook. The fabrics that I used are from kaffe fasset. I had some leftovers from an other project. I think the result looks lovely, (though I say so myself).



notebook front




Notebook back

summer feeling

Wow, what a beautiful weather we had last week! And the forecast for next weekend sounds perfect. So, no time for blogging, I'm gonna sit outside with a cold drink and read the new magazines I brought home from the shop. Have a nice weekend too.

Wisteria

I just love it when the wisteria is in bloom!
It's a pity, no birds in the little birdhouse this year.




"April 2007"


"February 2007" What a difference!

felt cakes

Reading other blogs is one of my favourite things to do. Since I discovered them just a few months back, a whole new world is open up for me. Especially the blogs about crafts our such an inspiration. So when I saw some cakes on the turkeys feathers blog, I immediately wanted to make them. Her link to the tutorial on crafster made me very happy. These cute little cakes are the result! I wrapped them up and now they are waiting as a present to give away.
Sssttt, they don’t now yet, but they probably wait forever. I like them too much myself!!

new stockings

Today I went to a fair called "creative above 50". People show their hobby’s and crafts with real enthusiasm. It’s amazing how many different hobby’s are out there, and how creative the people are. I bought these stockings. I can tell that they are knit, but don’t ask me how! But they sure are lovely and warm on my feet.

Be charmed

I started this charm quilt about 10 years ago. I still working on it so now and then. But mostly it lay’s in the closet for months, or even a whole year. It’s not that I don’t like it anymore, but I have so much other projects going on. And I try to use every kind of fabric once. That means I need lots and lots of different scraps of fabric and sometimes I just don’t have enough. If I see a nice fabric I take the scissors and cut a little corner out. So everybody is warned!!
I use fabrics of the same colourrange to make the stars. And use the light fabrics to connect the stars together.



I sew the quilt by hand using backing papers, see photo above. It's real time consuming.


This is the back of the quilt. If everything is sew together I take the papers out.

Another little problem is that I haven't decided yet how exactly the borders should end. Do I use half stars to make it square? Our use a solid colour?



If somebody has any idea how to make an end to this quilt please let my know!