what's in the box

I found an old project that was hidden in a box



It's a beginning off a quilt I made from a picture I saw in the book below.



It's a variation off the snowball quilt and it's great to use scraps in.
I was planning on making it a large quilt for a double bed. I always start new projects with great enthousasme but usually that enthusiastic feeling fades away quickly.
So today Thinking on all the work that still needs to be done, UGH!!... it just gives me a headache!
I need a new plan!



Well, that was simple just making a dolls quilt instead!



Next dilemma, quilt by hand or machine? What kind off yarn do I use for machine quilting?
Would anyone like to offer some opinions or advice? It is always welcome!

Good intentions!

In may 2007 I wrote about a schedule, a plan to help me finishing off this quilt before Sept. 2008.


(picture from McCalls superbook of quilting)

What was I thinking?? Oké, my intentions where good, I was determined to stick to it. And so I did...at least for a month or so. While making small stitches I was making slowly progress too.



But now today, it's Sept 2008 and sadly there's no finished quilt to show here!
Where did I go wrong....well, I blame it on blogging...just to many distractions! It's not that difficult to get lost on the WWW and to lose all track of time! So many wonderful things are outthere so easy to get inspired and start something new before the old is finished!
Does this sound familiar?
Last week I started to make small stitches again (with spectacles this time) and throwed away the schedule!

Also last week our DS left for a vacation to his Bolivian family in Cochabamba. I made some gifts he could take along. And I made a mess, seems like I can't do one without the other (lol)!



And I made another bird!





Happy monday!

Sunday bird

We had a really lazy Sunday wich I spent sitting around drinking coffee and reading old magazines. I tried cleaning up some clutter here and there but all I really did was moving things around. I watched the closing ceremony of the olympics..very impressive! And I sat behind the sewing machine for a while hoping something good would come out of it. This was the result. Is it a swan a or a chicken? Well, its a weird kind of bird...just named it the "Sunday bird".





Today my three weeks vacation also ended...that means tomorrow its back to work, so no more lazy days...snif, snif! No, I'm just kidding...I'm really looking forward to start work again!
Have a good start of the week too!

still here

Thanks to you all for your lovely warm wishes and welcome to our granddaughter Luca. Here she is, our sweet little girl. She is so fantastic and she does what all babies do (most of the time)...eat, sleep and grow!



Things have been a bit quiet lately here on the Dutch blue blog, but that does not mean I have sat still! I kept myself busy with searching for a new cabinet/ bookcase for the bedroom. We had an empty wall since our old cubboard moved out to Luca's room, see this post.

After seeing many, I mean "MANY" differant cubboards, cabinets and bookcases we finaly went for the Billy bookcase system from Ikea. It covers up the whole wall perfectly and the glass doors are making it almost impossible for dust to nest on the shelfs. This is certainly no superfluous luxury for a bookcase in a bedroom!


The bookcase looks still a bit empty now, but not for long, I'm sure!

baby news

On august 2, early in the morning our daughter M gave birth to a daughter.
She's our first grandchild..Luca is her name and she's the most adorable, sweet, pretty little baby you can imagine...so precious.
Mother and child are healthy and doing great.
I would love to show you a photo of her but I've to ask the parents for promision first!
So instead I have for you "beschuit met muisjes". It's traditional food served to celebrate the birth of a baby in the Netherlands, read all about this typical Dutch custom here.
I'm off, this proud oma has to go visit her granddaughter...(again!)

month 3

I'm on a roll...yeah! Rainbows and cows stitchery almost done!
Next in line...two kangaroos!

Happy stitching!

Summer?

Where's the summer? Today yet another day with rainy wet cold weather. It feels like autum!
Forced to stay inside I finally caught up with my mountain of ironing today, thank goodness!
And I managed to made the last stitches on this dove. I'm trying to catch up on this BOM as well. I'm months behind!



Don't know why I'm behind because this really is a lovely work to do!
Also made these cards. A quick and easy job...sewing fabric patches on cardpaper using gold thread



That's just what I like ....minimal effort, maximal result.



Have a nice monday!

recycled calico bag

Mom made this recycled calico bag. It's such a lovely and bright tote bag. The colors red, white and blue gave it that typical Dutch twist.
This morning she handed it over to me and before I even could think..wow...what a sweet gift, she said; "it's not for you, it's for in your shop"!!



Mom thanks!... maybe we have to order new labels with the text; "Dutch sisters and their mom"!

p.s: extra detail, this bag has a nice inside pocket!

Redwork

There's a research book on the shelf in my craftsroom that's absolute one of my most favorite books! Red & White: American Redwork Quilts and Patterns written by Deborah Harding. I had it on my wishlist for a while before I purchased it from Amazon.com. I made a good deal, especially now with the low dollar against the euro it's very lucrative for us living in Europe to buy books in the US!



It's a cardboard box that contains two beautiful bound and wonderfully illustrated books. The first book features the history of redwork embroidery along with illustrations of exquisitely executed quilts. The second book supplies instructions and a lovely collection of redwork patterns.
It's one of my goals to one day make a redwork quilt!



I choose some gorgeous redwork photos from Flickr and made them into a redwork mosaic to inspire me.
The work on the photos is made by others, very creative people....just click on the titel below for further information.


1. REDWORK friday, 2. redwork birdies drawstring bag, 3. Redwork girl & boy dancing, 4. ratinha1, 5. February Valentines, 6. redwork doll, 7. Redwork linen cloth, 8. environment friendly giftwrap - detail, 9. Redwork, 10. Redwork, 11. Stickerei, 12. Lou's Redwork Quilt, 13. Stickmustertuch, 14. QW0004-01, 15. redwork 1, 16. redwork (1)

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

labels

This is looking so cool...our own "dutch sisters" labels!!


And what do I want most with new things...use it immediately! So, that's what I did today... It was about time I sew some new tea cozies for the etsyshop anyway.


I put the new cozies in the shop tommorow. Sorry, for this short, quick post, but there is realy nothing else to tell!
Still no news on the babyfront... (waiting very patiencly here ,lol)
Promise I'll keep you posted!

pink and blue

The crib quilt is finished. The sheet with the little birds on is one made by my mother ages ago. I slept underneath it when I was a baby and so did DD and in just a few weeks time a newborn baby will too!
DD worked real hard on decorating the baby's room and it's ready now! She did a great job...the room turned out beautiful and oo so sweet!



The diaper basket on top of the cupboard is an old family piece and so is the cupboard. (There is an empty spot in my bedroom now!!)



Auntie Heleen made this little heart.



And above the crib hangs a music mobile from Kathe Kruse



I love the sweet pink and blue DD used for color the room...it's so fresh. Is it for a "baby boy" or "baby girl"?? Only a few more weeks to go and we will know!

hello again

Just a little post to say hello. There is not much to tell here. No creative thoughts to share. In fact my sewing machine had so much sleep lately...its completly covered with dust!!
Time to blow the dust off and get crafty again. First atempt this pincushion.


Oké this realy is a short post but I hope to show you more next time!

building an ark

The titel sounds like a lot of heavy work is going on around here!
Well, not yet... I don't hear any hammering and sawing at this very moment but....there is a slight possibility that this can change real soon!! That is if I can convince DH how much fun it is to make this arc and its animals!
I saw it in this book; and I love it.



And now a little update on the other arc!
As I told you in March, I joined the stitch-along Noah's Ark BOM from Lynette anderson designs.
The first month "two rabbits" is finished. Please keep in mind this was my first stitchery attempt.


I'm still working on month 2 "the dove".
Month 3 "rainbow and cows" and month 4 "the kangaroos" are waiting patiently to be next.


I'm in no hurry, its a pleassant little work to do in between and its lovely to see it grow.
I'll keep you posted, till next time!

squares

It happen to me all the time.....when I don't have a clue on what pattern to use..... I always end up making squares.
It must be my favorite figure! I think because a square is nice and simple and has four equal sides. And by using different colours and fabrics all kind of patterns can be made. Plus it's easy to sew, no difficult curves.
So guess what pattern I use for the cribquilt???
The fabric with the roses comes from Biggiebest and was also used to make the curtains from.



This is the old cribquilt from my daughter. It seems that even back then I already developed a soft spot for squares! I had the whole babyroom decorated in Laura Ashley. I was a big fan of all their fabric and wallpapers.



I'm curious, what is your favorite shape/ figure to use in quilts? I'll bet we all have one!
DD is checking up on me every now and then to see how much the cribquilt is progressing.....so I better get back behind the sewingmachine!

Hello

Hello, remember me?
I know it's been a loong time,...two whole months!
I never had the intention to step away from the computer for that long, but let's just say I've got lost!!
I lost myself in many things going on at the same time. And those things gave me stress...lots of stress.
I had to make a choice....that's why blogging came second. I also wasn't all that creative, so what was there to tell?
But now things are calmed down and I try to work my way back. I've got a lot of blogreading catching up to do and try to find some inspiration again.

There is a stash of Fabric in front of me waiting to be transformed into a cribquilt.
It's a quilt for our first grandchild, DD is due mid-July. We are so excited!
The baby's room is almost finished and is oh so sweet.
Aunt Heleen was a big help. She made the curtains and helped with the crib. I'll post some photos of the crib next time. It's an old one, Heleen and I slept in it when we were babies and so were our children. And now it's going to be used by the third generation.
I'm off now...see if I can find my scissors and start on cutting this fabric and make it a quilt!