50th post

Well today is the day....Today a little milestone, my 50th post! If you would asked me a year ago what a blog was, I would say; "excuse me...a what"? It was purly a coincidence that I discovered this amazing world of blogging! And I never expected how much fun it could be! I've met some wonderful new friends and recieved the most warm and supportive comments.
Thank you, thank you'll for that.



So....for celebrate my 50th post I have wrapped a little present for a lucky winner. Just leave a comment and I'll draw out a winner next tuesday.

p.s. I would also like to invite the non comment readers to feel free to join in too!

I finish this post with a wonderful book I want to share.
It's published in 2003, but I just recently found it!
The ISBN number on the back is: 2-84831-004-9



It's full with the most gorgeous quilts and quilting projects.







Lots of pages full of inspiration! Myself....I like the teapots applique!

What's in the box (five)

I've got an urge to finish some of the unfinished things hanging around my craftsroom. The logcabin quilt, the knitted blanket in progress, the embroidery works, the applique quilt......I can go on and on! And not to forget..the secret santa christmas swap project!! I think it's best to finish of my SSCS project first so I can send it of to my parner on time! Sorry, but I can't reveal that much of it here because its secret!! So instead I will open a box for you.


In this box I keep selfmade crafted ornaments for in the christmas tree.



I personal like the little angel and the embroidery heart with all the buttons on.



And of course my cat!



I was so proud of my little cat until my friend said; "oo.. what a lovely RABBIT"!! It's a CAT, a cat with big ears!! So what!!

A big thank you... UPDATE!

The smile on my face is getting bigger and bigger! See this beautiful "gorgeous" bag?
It's a present for me from my sister Heleen. She made this bag from our mothers vest, read about it here.Thank you, thank you Heleen! You are my most favorite sister in the whole wide world!

************************************************************************************
I've got so many lovely comments on the tea cozy, thank you all!
I love receiving comments! And that was not the only thing I received this week!
There were some lovely surprises.
The first one came from Guðrún. She made me this beautiful little bag.
I love it!



She also send me these lovely gifts. See the bag pattern? I'm anxious to try that one out!
Thank's again Guðrún



Then another parcel for me!!
Two gorgeous fabrics send to me by Jeanne from "luv to stitch"....so pretty colours! Thanks Jeanne.



My cousin Wendy made me this little crocket afghan square. It's so sweet...thanks Wendy, I love it!



And if that wasn't enough... there was one more gift! This beautiful applique quilt kit. It's called'"tree of life". Tante Anneke, thank you so much!



I think it will be a five year plan....but when it's finished it will look like this!!


And if you wonder, after seeing all these beautiful presents, how my face will look like! I'm walking around with a big smile on, all day long!

tea time

It’s four o’clock, time to sit down, put my feet up and enjoy a nice cup of tea.
Usually I drink tea only in the morning when I’m having breakfast and then drink coffee for the rest of the day.
But I’m trying to cut down on coffee so that’s why I’m having tea now! Rooibos ( red bush Tea) or earl grey, those are both my favourites.
Just wondering what is your favorite tea? I like to try more flavours, so do you have any recommendations?
DS baked cookies...hmm.. they taste better then they look! You should see my kitchen now!


A row of tulips under a window.


I made this tea cozy from the Dutch fabrics I recently bought. The pattern is my own design and it fits perfectly around the teapot keeping the tea warm!
Well, I pour myself another cup and eat another cookie before they are all gone!
Have a nice day!

polaroids

Next weekend the clock will switch from summertime to wintertime. And for we know autumn will go over in winter. Just eight weeks before it's christmas....wow time goes fast! Days will get shorter. And we are all spending more time in the house, making things cozier. What I like most about wintertime is that the evenings get longer, so there is more time to do crafts.


I was playing around on this site and made these polaroid photos.
"Oeps" the one below gives a glimps of my SSCS project.
Who likes green and pink?

sewing necessities box

A few years ago, I made this box at a workshop. It's made from cardboard and fabric. At that time everyone was making boxes for all kind of purposes. This one is a sewing necessities box.



See the inside It has a little holder for spools. And a wooden spool with a magnet attached on it for holding needles.



Do you see the little doll... she has a ribbon around her waist with on the other end a small pair of scissors. I can hang her around my neck when I'm sewing. The dolls dress can be used as a pincushion.



Here a photo of what's becoming a small sewing necessities bag. Is this the right word for it?? The little bag is for holding the spools etc.



I managed to do some shopping last week. One of my favorite things to do, as you now know from my previos post!
This is what I bought. Lovely Dutch folklore fabric and some ribbon!

tagged!

This halloween sweet treat was given to me by JJ from nature nut.
Thanks JJ.

Now it's my turn to give out a sweet treat to three random bloggers.
So the sweet treats go to these three wonderful bloggers....

Karol-Ann from: sew much fabric, sew little time, sew true
Belém from: de ponto em nó
Linda from: all stitched up

Feel free to pass it on!


Also this past week I've been tagged by Sue from the magpie's nest and a while ago by Leanne from the stitching room to do a meme about 7 true things.
So here it goes.....

1.) I'm a stay up late person, I usually never go to bed before 12 at night.
Of course I've to pay the prize in the morning!!

2.) I have a (new)bike but are still using the car for each time I go out. (Also for distances shorter than a 5 minutes drive) such a bad habit!

3.) Because of point 2.... I'm not getting any thiner!

4.) I've got an addiction or better I've got two.
"Sewing quilts" and the "computer", that is since I started blogging!

5.) I like sweets, all kind of...cakes, chocolat, candy, cookies, etc.

6.) I'm an aquarius and they say I've got all the characteristics that belong to
this astrological sign. Hope they meant good characteristics!

7.) I like shopping! Not groceries...but anything else will do!

Well now wasn't that interesting... Now I've to pass this along to 7 others to share in the fun!
Oke...I've changed the rules a bit....
So get ready....If you have 7 things to share... consider yourself as just been tagged!

Have a lovely weekend!

log cabin

Now that the nights are getting colder it's time to finish of this quilt.
It's a log cabin I sew on the machine, the fast and easy way! I quilt by hand and I'm half done, so far.



I quilt straight lines following the log cabin pattern.
In the borders I quilt a raster.




In the middle of each square I sew a little button.
These are old vintage ones!




This would be a nice warm quilt for winter times. And the combination of this quilt with white bedding is lovely. I do love clean, fresh white bedding! So I better hurry up and get quilting!

It's not my birthday....

It's not my birthday..... but it sure feels like it is!
Today the mailwoman delivered a nice brown envelope on my doormat. In it was this beautiful pattern. I won this wedding star pattern at a drawing held at Patti's blog. Isn't she lovely...I'm so happy, thanks!


The second gift I received today is one my mother made for me. She knitted this so colourful scarf. I love it! Thanks mom!



And for all the Quilt bloggers among us... see this post. She recently start blogging and it gave her so much inspiration, she just can't stop!
Have a very nice weekend everyone!

what's in the box.. (two)

Another week past by. This week was one of working nights and sleeping at daytime. When I work nights I never have much energie or time to do anything creative. It Feels a bit like being a mole! Almost no social life either!
I do like working nights though, it's quiet and I can follow my own routine.
And if there is time left, I do some knitting. Or my other favorite; glance through magazines and cut out 'clippings'.


I cut out clippings of pictures, patterns and other things I find interesting. I collect them in a box and when the box is full I sort the clippings out and put them in binders. This way I have my own books of inspiration!





Oh, and my knitted blanket is still growing!



ps; I've been terribly behind in answering my emails. So if you haven't received a reply from me.....I'm not ignoring you! I'll open my mailbox tomorrow and start answering, that's a promise!!

dollquilt

Yesterday I made the binding around this little dollquilt. It was fun and easy sewing the blocks for this one. Maybe I'll make a big quilt too, some time?


Isn't this sweet! I bought these fabrics last saterday. My sister and me bought the same package. We both gonna make something from this fabric and don't show it to the other until it's finished. I can hardly wait to see what she's gonna make!
I also have a new toy, this easy to make yoyo's thing. And easy it is! The photo is a bit blurred, but believe me, the hearts really look great.

what's in the box?

A few posts back I showed you a box with it's contents, a "work in progress". I don't know if I told you, but I have many, I mean many boxes stuffed with WIP's. So I thought to bring in a new item on this blog called; "what's in the box".
Today box 2.

In it are two little embroidery works on linen. I bought the patterns in a shop in Antwerp (Belgium). A very beautiful shop that we had discovered on one of our shopping days. Sadly, the shop was gone the next time we visited Antwerp!
Full enthusiasm I started stitching until one day this little project wasn't in my head anymore!
Knowing me, I probably started something new, leaving this project in the box, forgotten!


This is the reason why I started this adorable embroidery pattern; the clothesline with all the quilts hanging on it! Isn't it lovely? A nice little cottage, Amish people picking blueberries....



My mother-in-law started to work on this pattern in the same period. I gave it to her as a present. But when she finished it, she gave it back to me so that I could hang the two of them together.
I feel ashamed for the fact that it's ten years (or more?) later and they still are in the box!
So I made a promise to myself, to have this finished and framed in the next month.
Hope I can keep that promise!

Note: I found this link on the internet with the original photo of the blueberry homecoming pattern. I changed the words into an alphabet.

let's quilt!

Just a little update on my last post.
As you can see I'm busy quilting. I like quilting by hand, using a hoop. With a hoop I find it easier to rotate and handle the quilt. Another reason is; my stitches become more even. I quilt a heart pattern in each triangle, I like to keep it simple. Hopefully I can show you a finished result next time I post!



This is what I came home to on friday! My Moo cards... they were waiting for me on the doormat. So cute...don't you just love them!

For I forget.... I have two more new fabrics added to my Kaffe Fassett collection. I particularly like the purple border fabric!
I hope to make a quilt out of my "Fassett's" some time! That's after I've find a nice pattern and my collection is grow out of its box!