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Bushfiretop completed and other beauties

2009-02-14T11:17:00.000-08:00

I've been very busy these last days, very very busy cause I wanted to complete this top as soon as possible. (I only used scraps for this)

Now I show you the final result, I really like it, so full of life, so happy, just what these people in Victoria, Australia need right now.
I had so much fun with this and I think I have to do more, as it is also a great stash burster.

Now to something else, completely different, a mini Gee's bend style quiltie.
In this I used some vintage fabrics, the blue with the roses is a fabric my mum used to make one of my favourite pyjamas. There is also some blanket fabric from my baby bed (that's a long time ago), some upholstery fabric from my grandma, my dad's jeans and the blue one with the stripes was used to cover very old pillows, I think their filling was a kind of straw.

And the last, a pattern I designed on EQ5, I called it millenium.
The set-in triangles seem a bit too small, don't understand why cause I respected the mesures given by the program, so I think I have to redo them.

Normally I don't like this kind of colors, but I had them in my stash, so why not use them. But when I look at the star now, it really seems to shine, so not too bad.

Ok, now I watch a movie on tv and then, sleeping time as I need to get up at 5:30 am to go to work.

Have a nice weekend.

Please be patient winners

2009-02-12T09:36:00.000-08:00

As you can see at the new button on the left I joined a new project.

I am deeply touched by the fire victims in southern australia and wanted to do something that could bring them a small relief and that's why I joined Tia's quilt campaign.

I think this is a great idea and I beg you to join, I'm sure you have scraps, even plenty of them and how could you use them better.

Here you can see some of my blocks, but there will be more, I plan to make a whole quilt top, so go ahead girl.

This is also the reason that I did not yet mail the packages to the Stash winners, I hope you will forgive me, but I didn't forget you.

I promise, you will get your package.

Here they are, the WINNERS

2009-02-05T11:22:00.000-08:00

But let me explain some details first.

There have 89 comments

- 20 without preference

- 36 for the african fabrics

- 12 for the earthy palette

- 21 for the scrap bag

I decided to split the 20 without preference and added radomnly an almost equal part to the 3 choices, I didn't want to choose one precise selection.

After having selected all my fabrics to give, and after having seen that amazing pile, I decided to choose 2 winners per item, so there are 6 winners in total, isn't that cool, ;o))))

I needed some hands to help me pick the winners, so I took all the comments to my niece and nephew. They helped me with enthousiasm as each one could pick a winner from every box.

And here we go, the names shall be revealed

African fabrics:

1st give-away goes to Lisa S (who wrote: Stash 1 for me, but I'm not picky.Lisa)

and the 2nd to Maria (who wrote: I'm loving that first package. What fun!)

Earthy palette:

1st give-away goes to Sherry (who wrote: Great patterns & great fabrics!! Thanks so much for the chance to win!)

and the 2nd to Connie (who wrote: From snowy Ohio USA...I like all your patterns. Also I like the music with your website.)

Scrap bag:

1st give-away goes to Mary Ann (who wrote:Hi Lil! Wow, look at all these comments!!! Your patterns are, of course, all very lovely!!! (I have personal experience with this!! LOL!)Very hard to choose, but I would probably enter your draw for prize number three! Just so I could win TWO patterns!! And I like anything country-ish, kaffe-ish or blue-ish!!!PS Thanks for your email...need to install "the" program again...will get back to you ASAP!!! All the bestMary Ann)

and the 2nd to Sam (who wrote: Hi I think your patterns are amazing; I hope I am able to make them successfully. I would be happy with any of the giveaways. I tend to go for autumn/earth tones, but I would really like to get out of my comfort zones - and so would my kids. So any would be fine. Thanks for doing this. Cheers Sam)

Congrats to the winners and I'm so sorry for all the other ones, but sooner or later I will do this again, you only have to look sometimes at my blog.

Oh yes, I also planned to send a package to Katy as a thank you for this amazing idea.

(and a little excuse because she wasn't lucky enough to win "africa")

Sam and Connie, please send me a message, your email is missing or your profile is enabled, so I can't contact you.

If these 2 don't contact me within 3 days, I will choose 2 other winners.

It's over

2009-02-05T05:16:00.000-08:00

Ok, I close this stash-bursting give-away officially, a bit later than announced but that's ok

You have been incredible, thanks for your interest.

Now I have to sort out all these comments and choose the winners.

Good luck to everyone of you, I'll announce the winners probably later today.

13 more hours

2009-02-04T15:57:00.000-08:00

Just a quick reminder, you have 13 more hours to go till I close this give-away.
The end will be on feb 5th at 2pm in Luxemburg, that makes 11:30 pm in Adelaide, 8 am in New York and 5 am in Vancouver and San Fransisco.

So you've got some more hours.

This is the day

2009-02-04T01:46:00.000-08:00

Ok, girls and boys (as I don't want to discriminate someone) this is the day, the great stash-bursting give-away day.
As I had a bad night and being on vacation I stayed in bed till 10 am, lazy, lazy me.

So the first information is about the running time of this swap.
As there will be readers from all over the world I decided that you can reply from the publication of this post till feb 5th 2pm (local central european time)

And now to the prizes, I have 3 in total and you can choose one of those

I have plenty of african fabrics cause I had to buy every time a piece of 9 yards (they are sold like that in Paris, the reason is that this is needed to make the traditional bubu's, the african women clothes)

This package will contain about 5 yards of fabric of my choice and also this pattern

Thought it might be stunning done with african prints.

This is another pattern I created with EQ5 and it is a part of the second prize.

The batik with the leaves is about 1 yard and with that you get these scraps and I will add more of the earthy color way. At the end you could create this project with my stash.

Gosh, I have so many fabrics from early patchwork days and they remain in my cupboard being ignored, what a pity. Maybe you are attracted by them, just tell me.

You get both patterns and a bunch of different scraps, still have to choose, but you can be sure, the bag will be filled.

(UPDATE 3PM : those who have chosen this prize contact me again please and give me your favourite colors or color combos, idem for the newcomers)

Ok, mystery revealed. All you have to do now is decide which one you want, reply to this post and tell me what you think of my patterns.

Oh yes, make sure that I can find you, I need your email, otherwise I won't be able to contact you if you win.

I will draw the winners tomorrow evening (random number). Probably I make a new post with the winner names on friday, as it might get difficult to make a list with your names for each one of the prizes.

And don't forget to check all the other blogs overhere

Have to leave you now, as I have to write comments on the blogs, otherwise I won't win anything.

Have a nice day.

Second hint

2009-02-03T07:49:00.000-08:00

Just some more hours to go, exactly 8 of them till you can participate in this on my blog.

Let me give you a second hint: you have to think about 3 of your favourite colors (or color palettes)

I need to do some "stash diving" now, to be ready for tomorrow, ;o)))

Back after the troubles and give-away

2009-01-31T09:57:00.000-08:00

Hi there, yes I'm back as you can see. My pc got repared and it's working properly again, so relieved that there was nothing too bad to get fixed and that all my pics and documents are still there.

So, what did I do meanwhile, what do you think, .........................., lol, stitching and creating.

Wanted to upload the pics, but impossible for the moment, net too busy.
So you have to check my flickr account for the moment

By the way, as you can see in my sidebar, I joined this give-away hosted by Katy. See you on february 4th overhere for more details.

Update on february 2nd (as it was possible to add the pics, ;o))))

this is my ongoing project for the 4SQS5, it's a personal creation

you know I'm not too much into brown, but what can you do when this is one of your partners preferences

the project has to be monochrome, you only have the right to add some white or black

think mine is ok for these restrictions

as a follower of Linda's and Becky's blog I had to take this opportunity, you can read the post about this block overhere

Have to hurry, as they need a pic of the completed quilt by the end of february

this is also my own creation based on Gee's Bend quilts

it's a mini, about 8 x 12" I think

the name is Pyjama party as I have used only old (even some very, very old) fabrics

the pale blue ones are from my childhood duvets and the one with the roses my mum used for sewing me a pyjama (that's where the name comes from, ;o)))

the striped one is a very old thick fabric that was used for my mums pillows (filled with buckwheat)

and the yellow/white, also a very old one, an upholstery fabric used for the strawfilled bed bases, sorry but I don't know how you call these exactly (at some spots you can even see the rust marks of the nails)

it is handpieced and freecut, only the quilting was done by machine, as some of the fabrics are really thick

TADAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, and now to the first hint for my give-away on wednesday

I created this quilt pattern this weekend and a copy will be added to my stash fabrics

More information on february 4th

Warning, heavy stuff

2009-01-07T06:28:00.000-08:00

Wow, wow, what a long time since my last post

First I have to apologize, but in this post you'll find some explanations for my absence on the blog.

You know, I have major problems with my PC, don't know why, but quite often it crashes completely or it turns off just like that. Have to bring it to the store as my Virus scan is not working properly, when I scan, the system crashes and then I have to wait some minutes before being able to connect again. Seems that the monitor gets no signal, bizarre, bizarre.

I tried several times to post overhere, but no way, blogger didn't allow me to add pics, ............ until a had the idea to try again by using Internet Explorer, and ........... this seems to work (some time ago I switched to Firefox and there it was impossible)

So now I hope to get some pics posted, ............................. please blogger, let me do this

I've been quite productive though, but you'll see

First a christmas gift for my godchild, she is such a Minnie fan and my brother just told me that she takes her gift every night to cuddle to her bed (originally it should have been used as a floor mat)

Here is my creation for the Miniature Holiday Booty QS, my partner Gina wanted something not too traditionnal and with unusual funky colors. Apparently it was more than she expected, she's in love with the wreath and wants to leave on the wall all year long.

As you know, I was doing the Spring Fling RR2, this was an amazing experience and I've already planned to participate at the next round too. Maybe someone else wants to join, just check the blog, cause there will be a number 3.

Here is the last quilt that I worked on, I only did the handquilting and the finishing before it was sent to Alicia.

On the next pic you can see the back and my quilting a little better.

Now the ONE, this one got so many comments on my Flickr account, it was for the swap mum the very dear Margaret and it will hang in her daughters bedroom.

You have to read her post to know what she thought of my creation.

There was such a lot of empty white space when I got the block after round 1, I had to fill this space and add some girly color, so I created this applique pattern on the dotty fabric.

(all the applique is my work and it's needleturn)

And yesterday I finally got mine, you can believe me, it was hard to wait after having seen all those beauties.

See what I've found after opening the envelope, first this amazing tissu package (look at those tree ornaments, machine embroidered by Julia) aren't they lovely

And then, wow, wow, wow, this incredible quilt, peacocks paradise. (that name is more than perfect, lol) Normally I'm not too much into blue, but this is killing me. Look at the borders, they seem to be the peacocks tail wheel. The borders have been done by Sharon and Luisa.

Now a close-up of the peacock, as I said, incredible, thanks so much Tami, you're a wonderwoman with wonderhands.

Let's go on with some handpiecing projects, yes, don't tell me that you don't want to see, I warned you that this is heavy stuff, ..........

Some months ago I told you about my first handpieced project, and you know what, it's almost finished now. I still need to quilt the center with big flowers, add some appliqued flower buds and then off to the finishing.

Here you see the marked fabric and my stitches

And this is how it looks now, the border isn't sewn to the center yet, but you get an idea. I had to spread it on my bed, it's about 52" x52"

A close-up, don't these fabrics make you happy too, they are so fresh, just what I need now cause it's f.......... cold overhere actually.

And finally, my new 2009 12 months BOM, a creation from an amazing and very talented lady from Nancy in France, Bénédicte Maurin. You should see her shop, Atelier des Abécédaires, it's a Ali Baba's cavern.

The masterpiece, she called it "Old Glory" and all the fabrics are reproductions. This whole top is sewn by hand, can you imagine what lies ahead of me?

Now my first blocks, the applique ones (think that I have a new passion, it's just so relaxing)

I used Tracey's method for the applique, thanks my dear for the tutorial, it made everything so easy.

Ok, that's it, hope you still alive, ......... kidding

Hope to see you soon again overhere

Oh yes, I almost forgot

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY READERS

On vacation

2008-10-29T11:21:00.000-07:00

Hi there,

just wanted to let you know that I won't post during 2 weeks, maybe you wonder why ........

cause I will be in Marrakesh, Morocco, I'm just so excited, haven't been there for about 7 years

Have a creative time and see you soon.

Some new projects

2008-10-20T06:51:00.001-07:00

I had to finish some projects to be on time for my swaps and I'm still not up to date, grrrrrr, bad time managment, get to get more organized next time.

So here you see my little quilt fot the ALQS2, it's almost done, hope to do the quilting and binding tonight. The actual size is about 16" x 19,5" and the thumblers height 1,25", so you can imagine the tiny tiny applique pieces for the bees, pretty ticky.
It's all done in japanese fabrics, that's why I call it "bees in a japanese garden".

And don't worry, the blue marker lines on the bees will disappear, watersoluble pen.

Below you can see a close-up of my little bees, aren't they cute?

And now something for the season, it's a little wall hanging based on a picture from Art to Heart.
I made this for a friend, but I think I need one too.

My last border for the Spring Fling RR

2008-10-15T07:39:00.000-07:00

I participate in the second edition of the Spring Fling RR and I like it a lot, it stimulates my creativity and up to now I would have loved to keep all of those I worked on.

But I can tell you, this last border was quite thrilling, when I first saw the block that was sent to me I had no idea, so much empty space to fill, gosh.

Then I made different plans and decided to add some applique to fill up these spaces. I created the design myself and I think it matches perfectly with the rest of the quilt.

It is very hard to take a pic without revealing too much, ;o)))))).

Still have to wash the piece to get ridd of all those watersoluble marking lines, but at least you can have an idea.

And many thanks to Margaret for organizing this, I promise you to join for the next one, you're doing an amazing job.

Maybe you wanna see

2008-10-13T10:06:00.000-07:00

Hi there, I just thought that I need to show you my latest dear Jane blocks.

Up to now I made 51 blocks, that makes just 118 more to do to finish the center.

I didn't use any of the fabrics twice, but maybe I have to reuse my fabrics for the triangles, that's why I decided to create these only when most of the center blocks are done, all depends on my fabric stash.

I think I'll love it once finished, it's so colorful, it will be so me.

And now to the pic

Win a handbag

2008-10-02T12:03:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, women always need handbags, me too.

So go here and maybe you will be lucky.

As promised

2008-09-25T02:07:00.000-07:00

Ok, as I promised some days ago, I want to show you some of my handsewn projects now.

You know, after having completed some of the Dear Jane blocks by hand, I decided to do a major project by hand, it is so easy to take along, you can almost sew everywhere and I find that it is very relaxing.

The more complicated part is done, I mean the marking and cutting and now almost everything is ready for the handpiecing.

this kit is from Kristel Salgarollo, an incredible woman, it was published in this year's Summer Special of Quiltmania magazine
if you live close to Belgium, of course the one in Europe, go and see her, the shop is like Ali Baba's cavern

I even finished another handsewn project, Gwen's second lady of R de rien in x-stitch, way too cute and I've got some more of her patterns, so you might see the finished stitcheries soon

And see what I've got from Andrea in Greenwood Lake in NY
Incredible swap, don't you think so too, this woman is awsome, thanks so much my dear

Have a nice and creative week or better weekend
Till next time my friends

Back again

2008-09-21T00:51:00.000-07:00

Ok, think it's time to show up again.

Where have I been, is that your question?

First of all I went for a week to Portugal, I just loved that, a very pretty country, or at least the part I've seen. I even decided to return one day to Lisbon, one day was not enough.

And then, there was a huge world music festival in Belgium and different other happenings overhere in my tiny country.

I started work again after all that and you can believe me, I had a hard time, still now, too many collegues ill and so my working hours were and are still terrible. But I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, in one month I have my big break, a whole month off, ouffffffffff.

There's just one problem, I don't know where to go as apparently I have to travel alone, do you have an idea?

Now to some of my works, beside my Dear Jane blocks (I show those in a separate post)

A plaid for my friends new baby boy

A Mini quilt for the 6-12" Flickr exchange (in the center of the yoyos I added some beads to make it sparkle)

I added the first border to the center for the Spring Fling 2 project
(really wish I could have kept that one)
I can only show a glimpse, have to keep the secret till december, lol

And yesterday I created another little beauty for the 6-12" group, I have to do one like that for myself too, just my kind of colors and they remind me alot the actual nature colors, that's why I called it "autumn approach"
Hope my partner will like it.

That's all for the moment, but some more post will follow soon, one with my Dear Jane blocks, one about the "Euopean Quilt Festival" I visited 2 days ago and for sure another one about my handpiced project (especially for Belem, ;o))))), as she is very curious.

Take care and till soon.

What a long travel

2008-07-29T03:55:00.000-07:00

Wow, sometimes I don't understand why postal services can take sometimes that long.

My very dear friend Lisa sent me a package for my birthday, she posted it on may 29th in her town (close to Pittsburgh). We already thought it got lost, last week I had even to sign an inquiery where I declared never having been delivered this package and now ........... or better yesterday I had a notification in my letter box that some package was waiting for me at the local post office.

I went there to get it this morning and look what was inside

She's crazy, sorry my dear, all these goodies just for me, I liked everything, but my favourie item is the center fabric, the repro one with the red flowers.

Thanks a lot love, you're a true sweetheart, glad I've met you and honored being your friend

Cherries for my honey

2008-07-27T11:23:00.000-07:00

Yes, sure, ......... but not my honey, by the way, hmmmmmmmmmmmmm, do I have one, ;o)))?

And no real ones, just little tricky colonial knot cherries.

Ok, I tell you the secret, it's the name of my summer quilt for the 4SQS.
Still have to iron it and tomorrow I'll run to the post office and post it to my secret partner.
I hope it will be appreciated, as I had just very little information about that person's likes.

Here's a full view, taken this afternoon on my balcony.

And for the very curious ones, one where you can see the details and embroideries a little better.

I want it, I want it

2008-07-18T04:09:00.000-07:00

Go and check overhere, Dana is giving away an incredible quilt.

Yes I know, by posting this on my blog, I attract more people, but that's part of the game.

Mr Random picker, lol, maybe you want to be very nice and choose me, please, ;o)))))

Some little handwork

2008-07-14T23:45:00.000-07:00

I am a member of the 6"-12" mini quilt trading swap on flickr and this month's theme is triangles.

In this post I told you about Ruth Tschudy, a swiss lady who is an expert in Korak quilting, a very special technique (The word «Korak», meaning «patch», is today’s applied word of an old technique from Central Asia, mainly Turkistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan.)

She sent me her book and now I'm proud to present you my very first little Korak, I thought it would be the perfect choice for this month's swap, as there are a lot of triangles.

Here are some pictures of the making

first I had to trace a grid on the background fabric, cut little squares of fabric , fold them in rectangles or triangles and choose the color layout

and then, add pins, some pins, ......... no lots of pins before sewing these little pieces by hand to the background fabric

ok, all the strips are sewn to the background, ........ and yes, I like it

and tadahhhhhhhhhhhh, here it is, pretty colorful and I'm in love

but it's not for me, last week I posted this quiltie to .......... someone overseas

hope she likes it

I think I have to do one like that for myself, it was so much fun and it is a perfect technique to use all those very small fabric scraps that accumulate in the scrap bin

you're interested in this technique? go and get Ruth's book, the explanations are described in german and english and easy to understand, have fun like I did

PLEASE, PLEASE sign

2008-07-06T02:49:00.000-07:00

Hi folks

Today something really different, maybe you've heard of this horror already, it's just unbelievable, disgusting and criminal, how can someone be that cruel?

There'a a so-called artist who is nominated for the "Bienal Centroamericana Honduras 2008", Guillermo Vargas Habakkuk (http://www.marcaacme.com/blogs/analog/index.php/2007/08/22/5_piezas_de_habacuc)
In one of his exhibitions, he tied a dog with a tight rope to the gallery's wall and led to the death of that dog by starvation during the event and this was intentional.

I don't want to show a picture of this poor creature, my stomach is revolting and my mind gets mad just by thinking of this. Where does our world go?

I beg you now, PLEASE, PLEASE sign this petition, in the name of that poor dog

It's overhere, already 1.416.222 total signatures up to now
Boycott to the presence of Guillermo Vargas "Habacuc" at the Bienal Centroamericana Honduras 2008

Thanks

Look what I've got

2008-07-04T07:46:00.000-07:00

You remember, sometime ago I won at Stacy's give-away and now I got that package.

Already opening the package was pure delight, everything just smelled awsome.The wool is great, the ribbons cute, the jam perfect (didn't know that), the ice cube maker cool, the little angel amazing, the chocolate yummy (already gone, ;o))))))), the batik fat quaters very nice, ......but the best of all are those vintage fabrics, gosh, they make my heart sing, such happy prints and colors.This package was way more than I expected, girl, you made my day.

Stacy, look, the little angel is always with me when I sit at my pc desk, he's protecting me, thanks so much.

And now, gosh, you should have seen my face opening this package, Kathie told me that she had posted it and I got already excited by the idea of discovering what was inside.

I sent her some african fabrics a while ago and I got all these beauties in exchange from this incredible woman. There are some fabrics from her stash (lol, wish I had such a stash) and some very new ones she bought especially for me.

Kathie, you're a sweetheart, many thanks for all that.

I wish ...... and more

2008-07-04T06:33:00.000-07:00

I wish all of my my friends in the US a happy 4th of July

And now, look at this, I got it from my Partner at the 6-12" Mini swap at flickr, it's so cute and love the postcard as well. She even joined some fabric scraps in turqoise, gorgeous.

I've also worked on the last Dear Jane blocks, I can tell you, the last one was tricky, such tiny tiny pieces but I'm glad with the result.

G-8 Justin's Comet (handpieced, too many Y-seams to do it by machine)

D-10 Battlefield

Something different

2008-06-29T10:01:00.000-07:00

As you know I love x-sitch too and when I saw this pattern I told myself that one is for me, lol.

It's from a french designer, R de rien, all her stuff is just too cute.

This is the first from a whole collection that I want to make and I smile everytime I look at it. Now the stitching is finished, I just have to frame it with the fabric.

And a new picture of my everlasting project, the houses of Hawk Run Hollow, it grows, but slowly. Each square is about 3x3" and 90x90 crosses, can you imagine, I have to be at least a little mad, don't you think so?

See you soon overhere

Wish I could keep this

2008-06-27T06:01:00.000-07:00

As promised yesterday I tell you a little story of a very special quilt.

Some time ago I took a class on doing applique mosaic style. The woman who told us this technique is a friend of the amazing Yoko Saito from Japan and explained that this is commonly used in japanese quilts, very often in borders, but also on bags.

Here I show you a picture of one of Yoko Saito's bags made that way

First I was a little stressed, that much applique, wonky effect, little pieces, whaw .............
but decided to give it a try. It's true, it looks quite scary, but knowing all those little extra tricks like using a hera marker instead of freezer paper made life that much easier and after a while it was pure fun.

My class project is still not finished, lots of little triangles to applique, but I needed a finished project as I had to teach a class myself on this. That's why I started a second one, much easier, only rectangles and squares (some of them are just 3/8"), I didn't want to frighten my students, lol.

The class was a pure success, all the women just loved this kind of doing applique, the hardest part for them was avoinding straight lines and creating like this the essential open spaces between the appliqued shapes that give the mosaic effect.

As my project was quite small, about 18"x18" I thought I could use it as my contribution for the ALQS, I just needed to fill some of the empty space and then I had the idea of adding some silk ribbon flowers around the center and embroidered colonial knot flowers on the border.

And know it's done and I have to confess, I would have loved to keep this little beauty for myself, I just love it, the embroidery added the last special kick and I think it's a pure beauty.

You know, sometimes it's amazing, you choose some fabrics for a quilt and you think, ok, not too bad. Then you do all your piecing or appliqueing work and the first bizarr ideas appear, "do I still like that or not" and then you add just a little detail and the ugly duck turns into a white swan.

Do you know that feeling?

OK, , stop talking girl, they are waiting

taaaaaadaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, here it is

Isn't it pretty? And it's on the way to ................., lol, I just say overseas.

Have a nice weekend and see you soon.

Back again with Jane

2008-06-26T08:45:00.000-07:00

Hi my friends, well, well, that's been a long time since my last post.
I had a very busy month of june, lots of work, quite some stress and not that much time for sewing or blogging, but now I'm back, hurray.

First I have to tell you that june is a busy birthday month for me, 10th my nephew's, 15th mine, 20th my niece's and finally 25th my other nephew's who's also my godchild, so you can see, there was a lot of partying.
On june 23rd was also the celebration of our national day, huge party all over the country with lots of free drinks and fireworks. Busy, busy, busy, as you can see.

Yesterday I found some time to work on my Dear Jane blocks, had to do 4 to catch up and yes, finished 3 and the 5th is almost done. Welldone girl, lol. But oups, today is thursday and that means that a new block is being displayed at Anina's blog, so I'm again a little behind our "mistress".

Here now the pics of my Dear Jane's

First a pic of all the blocks done before

Now the new ones

C-1 Trooper Green's Badge

K-11 Columbine

K-8 Springbrook Park

And the ones I've done yesterday

H-11 Piercing Rays (first try on hand quilting, because of the Y seams and I'm pretty happy with the result)

M-11 Rickshaw

and H-13 Farm Fields

Now back to my sewing machine, as the last 2 just wait for me.

Oups, no machine for E-1, all applique, but I love that.

More news and pics soon, I promise.

Take care

Perfect beginning

2008-05-28T02:50:00.000-07:00

Girls, got a huge surprise this morning when I read this post, look at the names of the winners, lol, that's a perfect start for the day, thank you Stacy, or should I say George .........

Yesterday evening I started assembling the last Dear Jane block on the to-do list for this week and after such great news I was really motivated to finish that one.

It's F-5 Parcheesi, I did the whole block in applique, just added the corner triangles by machine

I tried also to reconstruct the color fabric as it was before cutting, pretty easy, you still can imagine the whole flower

oups, I forgot to show you the other block I made some days ago

I-8 Pete's Paintbox, thought this block would look nice using striped fabric and I'm more than happy with the result

Now I do some more fabric cutting, I have a class on thursday and I have to cut tons of fabric triangles for that project, just a little hint, all the fabrics I use are Kaffe's, maybe I show you later.

Take care, wherever you are

Now I can show you

2008-05-27T13:21:00.000-07:00

This is the little quilt I made for Annette for the MiniatureBooty swap.
I know, it's a bit funky, but she seemed to like it, that's at least what she told me.

It's always good to hear that your work is appreciated, that's what makes swaps so interesting.

And now I return to my Dear Jane block, lots of applique to do.

Todays blocks

2008-05-20T09:22:00.000-07:00

I had to do 2 blocks for my Dear Jane and as I had some time this afternoon I did what I had to do to catch up the leader Anina.

Here they are

the first triangle in the bottom row
I know, it's not mirror image, but that's ok for me, no one will see when the quilt is finished

H-1 Peek-a-boo

Another giveaway

2008-05-20T04:59:00.000-07:00

This morning I checked all my favourite blogs and see what I've found overhere.
Stacy is having a giveaway, loved the post especially because of the amazing yarns.
Can you believe that, yarns made out of milk and corn, sounds pretty weird, but they look very nice, maybe I have to check that online-shop and begin knitting again.
Yes, I knit too, I even used to knit for a shop on order, but that's a long time ago.

Giveaway

2008-05-17T11:57:00.000-07:00

It's overhere, the story's just a dream, but this one would be great, let's dream together with our friends.

2 amazing surprises and a little finished one

2008-05-16T12:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I checked my mailbox very early, wanted to know if my 4SQ would be there and ......... yes it was. I was very excited, couldn't wait to open the envelope.
First I just saw the border fabric and I was alredy delighted, perfect, how could she know that I love this one so much? (have the same one in red)
Then I discovered a beautiful magazine, Australian Patchwork and Quilting, quite hard to find overhere and some cute kitties transfer patterns.
I had to open the quilt imediatly and discovered this beauty

Isn't it just pretty? Thanks so much Christine, you're a sweetheart.

Today, after coming home from work there was another package waiting for me. Got really confused, posted in Finland, hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, I don't know anyone from there.

There are some strange things going on, I didn't have any idea what the package would content.

Did I win something on a blog without remembering that I made a comment for a give-away?

You know when you get older your brain sometimes gets damaged, lol.

I had to check that package and discovered a second little quilt. Gosh, my Miniature Booty swap arrived, didn't expect that so early.

Can't hide it from you, another beauty, the perfect sister (or brother) for the other one.

You have to confess that it's beautiful, don't you and it was made by Jen

Thank you, thank you so much, I will cheerish it forever.

Now I had to finish mine and get it posted to .............................................

Oups, my hands refuse to write the name.

Here's a little teaser of the finished project, enjoy it.

Not quite satisfacted with this one

2008-05-14T04:01:00.000-07:00

This is my last Dear Jane block and I have to confess, I'm not really satisfacted how it looks.
Maybe I shouldn't have made the strips the same width, but I wanted the block to look like Jane's. I think also my appliqued shapes are a bit to long, maybe I just shorten these.

I'll see, for the moment it stays like this.

More pictures from the quilt festival

2008-05-14T01:36:00.000-07:00

As requested by several of you, I post some more pics from the Quilt Festival

These shots represent some of my favourites, done by various artists

done by Ineke Van Unen, she combines very unique textures like velvet, silk, batists, metallics, sometimes even fur....., something I would never do as I hate metallics, but here they are amazing

By Dirkje Van Der Horst, the lady with golden hands, love all her scrap works

by Ruth Tschudy, a swiss lady who is a worldwide expert on Korak quilts, which have their origins in Central Asia, stunning works and all done by hand

these 3 were done by Mien Boerekamp, a dutch artist who works most of the time with african Vlisco fabrics, unfortunatly she doesn't have a web page

works by the Mandalaquilter group from Germany

love especially the puzzle pieces, you can arrange the different blocks and create various designs

and the curtain using lace is truly stunning

works by the members of the local quilt group

another one from the Quilts for Africa exhibition

can't remember who did this one, but look at the next pic, I think these are sisters

displayed at a fabric vendors stall, that one touched me especially, love the red squares in here

there were many many more and I continue my tour in a next post

I get mad with this post, I try and try to get some empty space between the images, but impossible, does someone have a clue for that?
I have redone this post several times, saved, but then when I publish it, bong, the empty spaces are gone again

Still there

2008-05-11T02:37:00.000-07:00

Oh, days passed so quickly and now I realize that I did'nt post anything yet in may.

You know, actually we have plenty of sun overhere and staying in the house would be a shame, that's why I didn't do too much quilting, there were even days without touching a needle, lol.

But I'm still up to date with my Dear Jane, here are the last 3 blocks

B-8 Water Lily

B-9 Tinker Toy

B-10 Jud's Trophy

I finished also a little block for an exchange on Flickr and it seems that my swap partner likes this one

Last weekend we had a Quilt Expo overhere, it was well worth visiting, some stunning arts and quilts and there was on exposition I just adored, it was called "Quilts for Africa"

All the quilts shown there were to be sold and the money collected is used for an orphanage project in Burkina Faso.

Here are some pictures about that show

and the last pic from this expo, for me a special piece of art, loved the african fabrics and the Kaffe Fasset layout, perfect combo and the end result of that was .................................

I bought it, yesssss

Now just some pics of the valley where that little festival was happening, such a gorgeous place, especially in spring having that much sun

this little lady came along with me, she even used for the first time a sewing machine and created a little bag

we'll see what happens in the future

B-7 World Series

2008-04-29T11:42:00.000-07:00

My corner applique shapes are not perfect, but I do like this block

not able to put it on Flickr at the moment, troubles with my internet connection, hope it will be fixed soon

Red peas, flowers and a cow

2008-04-26T08:51:00.000-07:00

Today we had a wonderful sunny spring day, finally, stayed outside quite a lot, I was just soooooooooooo cool after the long winter period.

That's why I didn't do much sewing, just my Dear Jane block and worked also on a funny little project. And Thursday I had a class, nice project too and so easygoing, pure fun.

Now to the pics

B-5 Hot Cross Buns

Doesn't this look cute?, I just love the springy touch because of the little flowers, they are machine appliqued, easier and quicker

Here some squares for my class project, a reversible quilt, I fell in love with the cow fabric as soon as I saw it, there will be also some plain cow squares and all of these will be joined with striped sashing strips. I make you curious or not, lol? By the way, get curious myself too, wonder how it will look at the end.

Take care girls and wish you as much sun as we had overhere today.

My last Dear Jane's

2008-04-23T08:28:00.000-07:00

Yes, still very addicted to that project

here's B-12 Starflower

and a much more challenging block
B-6 Wild Goose Chase

oups, maybe I need to clean my iron

This will be a long post, lol

2008-04-23T06:31:00.000-07:00

Here's a little tour of my adorable capital, on request especially for Bonnie, but maybe all of you want to take part and discover this little but beautiful town
Information: I live about a 30 min drive north, more on the countryside

this is the Grand-Duc's palace, only used for official ceremonies, he's not living here

one of the little streets with plenty of stylish restaurants behind the palace

the oldest part of the city, this place was built in 963 AC

the wholes you see in the rock are caves, an underground labyrinth that you still can explore (you see some people) there's even a theatre in this rock, spooky spooky

nothing to say here

this is an old monestry, and military hospital, part of it was used for a certain period as prison (I still remember that)

now there are a lot of exhibitions and concerts

the museum of nature, always very interesting features, lectures and exhibitions

a great place for kids

at the bottom, again the museum of nature and the new buildings on top will be the new "city of justice", all the courts will be at the same place

in real this city is quite big, you wouldn't say that from this pic

the long building in the middle is the national archives, thousands of documents are stocked there

this is one of the many bridges you can find in Luxemburg city, it's connecting the 2 parts of the town, split in 2 because of the 2 rivers

the entry of another museum, yes, we have a lot for such a small city

it's an old building with a new glass entry, good combination of old and new I think

the most important church in town, the cathedral, where all the official ceremonies are hold

at the moment they celebrate a pilgrimage, called "Octave", lots of people showing up

this is the south entry, the main one is hidden in a narrow street, not easy to take a pic

yes, we have fountains too and this is one of my favourites

there's a whole story behind this one, but too long to explain now

this is a very recent project, you can loan them for the day and drive around town, there are plenty of spots like this and when you don't want to ride them anymore you just leave them at the next spot

here my virtual tour takes an end, what do you think of that, my mouth is watering, yummy yummy

Miniatire Booty Swap Quilt update

2008-04-17T08:53:00.000-07:00

Oh yes, I've worked on that one quite a lot yesterday and now I just need to add the border (s).

It's the first time I do something quite modern, but when I look at it now, ........ yes, I can say that I like it.

On Flickr someone told me that , when looking at this, it seems strange that I have a new love for reproduction fabrics. Ok, maybe, I only have a very large spectrum of love for art in general.

Only by making you learn to love different techniques and layouts, that's my opinion, so why being shy, I've nothing to loose, :o))))))))

Here you can see the real colors, the salmon color strip appaers several times and it shines differently as it is silk, sometimes it looks pink and sometimes more golden

Thinking about adding a very thin frame in purple, just because the border fabric is very busy too. Tell me your opinion, you like that?

And now the back, looks so neat, yippy, welldone girl, lol

As you can see, it's almost done, add the border, layering and quilt it, machine quilting for this one.

What have I done lately

2008-04-16T07:44:00.000-07:00

Yes, what have I done lately, some many of you asked me about my ongoing projects and tahdah, here come the pics

First, just a little reminder, here my Dear Jane blocks, I like them pretty much up to now, just 157 more to do

oups, 156, here's B-2 Sweet Tater Pie

you remember this, some days ago I showed you a pic with the fabric for this border

now it's added to the rug quilt, just need to do the cutting of the seams, beurkkkkkkkkk, I don't like that, my fingers always hurt, too many seams

I'm also on the list for the Miniature Booty Swap and these are the first blocks

I always wanted to make a quilt with the help of Sandi Cummings book "Thinking outside the block" and as my partner likes modern stuff, my decision was quite easy, had to try that and I can tell you, it's so much fun

Now to the last pic, next week I take a class where we learn how to make a "double face" (I don't know if this is the right expression, you sew individual squares with the batting included and then assembly all of them with fabric strips and the quilt is finished)

no basting, that will be fun

Lisa, what do you think of this cow fabric, lol?

Ok, that's all for the moment, have to return to my sewing machine, she told me she needs to run a bit more.

This weeks Dear Jane blocks

2008-04-11T11:50:00.000-07:00

First of all many thanks for all your nice words, I really appreciated every single one.

I'm getting used to the new situation, I can handle it easier as I thought on monday, but the only one who's a bit confused is Zarah, my other cat. She's much more looking for attention as before, maybe because she's alone now, no one to play with anymore. Sometimes she seems to look for Bonnie, hides at her favourite spots, .....

Not much sewing for me this week, just worked on my Dear Jane blocks and finished the 2 planed for this week.

K-7 Rose of Sharing

and C-3 Rayelle's Fence

Hope to have more news and pictures of new projects next week.
Take care, all of you who read my blog, you mean a lot to me.

Lil

In memory of

2008-04-07T01:56:00.000-07:00

My dear friends, as you know I live with 2 cats, or should I say now with one cat.

I've been to France over the weekend and yesterday when I came back home I got so scared. Bonnie was lying in the entry and didn't welcome me, as she usually did. Something was not normal, I even kicked her a little with my foot because my first thought was "she's dead", but she wasn't.

She was quite ok on friday when I left, she even jumped on my knees to cuddle, but now she was so weak, so skinny, I had such a pain seeing her like this. What should I do?

She had some kidney problems for about a year, I had to give her liquid perfusions (is this the right word?) under the skin some time ago, so I decided to do that again, just to make it over the night.

This morning she didn't seem better, she couldn't get up anymore, her breathing was accelerated, no more voice.

I couldn't stand that anymore, so I decided to go to the vet and make an end to that suffering.

My heart was with her when I took that decision, she was a true friend for me for about 17 years and now I had to let her go.

Good-bye my lovely Bonnie, you had a great life, you will always be in my heart.

Here she is, on one of her favourite places and when I look out of this window now, I think of her.

News before the week-end

2008-04-03T10:59:00.000-07:00

It looked so easy, perhaps it was too easy that block, I think I open the last seam again and redo it
Yeah, call me crazy girl, but the center square is not square and the corners don't match at this M-10 "SIMPLE" Simon

here a pic especially for Karen, I told her that I made the same quilt as she did and she wanted to see my version
for the moment it's just the top, don't know when I'm gonna finish it

now I have to see how I can handle my problems with Flickr, I've reached my limit of 200 photos and I probably have to delete some
grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, life is sometimes so complecated when you don't have a credit card, impossible to buy a membership otherwise

Tomorrow I leave for the week-end, I go to this nice hotel in France and think I'll have a great time with great food
See you again on monday

Look at this

2008-04-01T10:20:00.000-07:00

Some time ago I ask a friend from the US if she could do me a favour, I wanted to have the Mc Calls Vintage magazine and as I don't have a credit card it was impossible for me to order it.

As she's a great person, she imediatly accepted my demand and a week ago she told me that she'd posted the package.

Today, when I left my appartment to do some shopping, there was a really big packet in the entry waiting for me and I had to open it right away

My mind went crazy, so many beauties, why do I deserve that? I just asked for the magazine

I felt really honored and very spoiled, inimaginable, what a lucky person I am to have a friend like that, don't you think so too?

Can you see this, I'm still shocked

Lisa, thank you so much, you are such a great person and I hope to meet you one day for real

Now something different.

A while ago I made a rag quilt for my godchild and now her mum asked me to add some fabric to make it bigger, hmmmmm, what shall I do, I don't have anymore of the fabric the original quilt is made of

I had to dig in my stash and , look what I found, I think these fabrics were waiting for this quilt, the colors are just perfect and the flowers give a little extra kick to the plaids and stripes.

Just to say, they are Judie Rothermel reproduction flannel fabrics, I realized that only when I cut them.

Todays work

2008-03-31T11:37:00.000-07:00

I finally found the time to add the label and the binding to my quilt for the 4 Seasons Swap, now I just need to wash and then post it. Who will get it?, .....big mystery, I cannot tell you, just a little hint, it has to travel quite far.

And now my second piece for today, the first paper pierced Dear Jane block, so much fun and so easy, but I think there are more challening ones waiting for me

For those who are interested

2008-03-29T13:46:00.000-07:00

I decided to join this swap after having been contacted by Lisa

Toni is the host and here you find all the information

And another one

2008-03-29T12:31:00.000-07:00

This is B-1 Batchelor Buttons from my Dear Jane Project, thought it would look funny cutting out the center of the swirl

I get really addicted to that project, I even have to say that on some days I could make more than one block, the group is such a motivation
Already now I have to thank Anina for this idea, without her I think I woudn't have decided to start this long project, at least not at the moment
Thanks my dear for this unique experience

there it is, B-3 Mirror Image

2008-03-25T06:06:00.000-07:00

I have to confess, I thought it would be more tricky this one

for the marking I used a new Clover pen which should disappear in some days, I tell you how it worked, but you have to wait

D-3 Jason's Jacks

2008-03-20T11:36:00.000-07:00

6th block finished, just a few more to do, lol

So in love with this

2008-03-19T09:52:00.000-07:00

Some days ago I wrote a post after my craft fair visit in Paris. In that post I showed you a book and told you that there is an amazing quilt project.

Now I want to lift that secret, here again the book in cause

And this is it, I don't know how many times at looked at this quilt after having bought that book and I never get enough.

Here a more detailed picture, sorry for the flash

You have to imagine, this masterpiece was made around 1860, I don't want to know how many hours Susan Mc Cord spent on assembling this huge piece (80 x 85")

After doing some research on the net I found this, up to you now to decide, lol.

Take care all my friends and happy stitching.

Reiko Kato in Paris

2008-03-17T10:14:00.000-07:00

At the craft fair in Paris I saw some stunning quilts made by this amazing japanese artist, some of them were just incredible, like the one with the houses, so many little details and then the hexagone one, made out of 1/4 " pieces, can you imagine that work, When you look close at that quilt, you can see that even the border was made using these hexagons.

And now the pics, hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Flowers for St Patrick

2008-03-17T09:39:00.000-07:00

A new block for my Dear Jane, with a touch of green for St Patricks day

Just a pity that I have to work tonight as there's a big party in Luxemburg City, we have quite some Irish overhere and I can tell you, partying with them is always fun.

And now a view og my 4SQ, just have to add the label and the binding and it's done and ready to send to my secret partner.

What color would you suggest for the binding, I'm not sure about using the border pink.

Here you can see a little of my handquilting on the back, I like how it's looking, the quilting always adds the final touch.

A-7 Dad's Plaids

2008-03-14T05:10:00.000-07:00

Yep, seems to work that group, really motivated I can tell you and as the blocks are stiil easy to sew now I sometimes think I could do more in a week

Why????????

2008-03-11T10:40:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I'm a little frustrated when I want to reply a comment, I don't know why, but a lot of Bloggers choose not to show their e-mail adress
That means, it's impossible for me to say thank you, cause the sender's adress is
noreply-comment@blogger.com

Maybe some people don't know this, but you have to allow sharing your mail adress, I think it's in the personal information pages.

You would make me really happy

here a note from Stacy, she figured out why sometimes the senders adress doesn't show up in the comments
I figured it out! I thought it showed my e-mail, but after going through every setting on my blog I finally got to edit profile...and sure enough, the 'show email' box was unchecked. Hopefully it shows now, if not I'm stumped. Sorry about that hun. Maybe we all need to check that. I didn't see your either Jen. Crazy blogger :)

Stacy, you're such a clever girl

I killed my wallet

2008-03-11T07:17:00.000-07:00

Ok, there we go, yesterday I promised you some pics about my buys in Paris. I know, I'm crazy, no need that you remind me of that fact, lol.

But you know, I live in a very small place in a very small country and our quilt supply shops are limited or just carry the usual stuff.
It's almost impossible to find Repro fabrics overhere, I need to drive for about 2 - 2:30 hrs to get at a place where a can find quite a good collection of those.
The same for Fassett fabrics, very hard to find or just some out of the whole collection

Now you know why I had to kill my wallet, anyway it just happens 2-3 times a year, is that still reasonable?

this was a must-have since I had seen it at Ste Marie in 06, but unfortunaltly some of the fabrics were discontinued and it was not available for a long period, but now it's mine ........ finally

here a collection of my purchased repro fabrics, some are fat 8th, great when you want to have multiple different ones
and the book, I just loved it, there is one amazing project in there, but that's for another day

these are some hand-dyed fabrics from these ladys from Switzerland
they might be great for an Amish quilt, at least I bought them in that attention

as you know I'm working on a Dear Jane and my fabrics with smaller prints are limited, so I had to have those, because there are quite some blocks with very small pieces
now I should be prepared

and finally, just some goodies, ribbons, cross-stitch diagrams, flower pins, ......

now you know how I spent my money

oh yes, there's one thing missing, my Dear Jane book, no more excuse now not to finish that project

Who will be the winner

2008-03-11T05:01:00.000-07:00

I just checked this

Dana will give away a quilt for her 200th post and maybe you like to be in the winners list too.

Who know's, I might get it, have to try

My trip to Paris and another block done

2008-03-10T10:57:00.000-07:00

As you all know, yesterday I visited a craft fair in Paris, it was a long but stunning day and we even had time to do a little bus tour around town.

I think I have to return there, the sooner the better, I love that town and there are some new spots I haven't visited yet, like the New Branly Museum.

Now some pics, just to let you dream a bit, I know, I'm evil, lol.

First a glimpse of the fair at La Villette, at the basement only shops

and now some Paris pics

one of the main attractions, the Eiffel Tower seen from Trocadero

the roof from the Invalides, pure gold plated, in real it was so shiny, because of the sun

one of the many souvenir stalls around Trocadero, Eiffel Towers in all shapes and colors

and finally one of my favourite buildings, the Opera Garnier, a stunning place with an incredible interior

just bad that it was raining, but as soon as I return there I promise I take nicer pics

.....

and at the end, my new Dear Jane block, D-13 Field of dreams,

quite funny how it looked at the end, cause I didn't pay attention when I cut the colored fabrics and now there are 8 green squares that surround the center

Tomorrow I show you what I bought at the fair and some pics of stunning quilts from a japanese lady, Reiko Kato.

4SQS

2008-03-08T07:52:00.000-08:00

yesterday evening I finished handpiercing the center log cabin blocks

and now I have to choose a layout, there are 2 options

I think I go for the second one, because it's off-centered, much more interesting, don't you think so too

I probably add a small border of the fabric I used in the center of the log blocks and then a very pale pink

What shall I do?

2008-03-07T08:09:00.000-08:00

Oh my god, after seing the Lollypop blocks here and here and here, I thought, yes this one is for me too.

But, what happened, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, Glorious Color Shop announced this

And now I'm in trouble, which one is really for me? Think I wait a little and maybe one day I'll be able to decide.

But this last one is very tempting

Second block done

2008-03-06T14:07:00.000-08:00

As you know I try to use quite excentric fabrics, thought this one would be ok as you can see a lot of the fabric, not really easy with the large print
I'll see when the blocks with smaller pieces have to be done if I've got the right fabrics for those

Otherwise I have to start a second Dear Jane with a different fabric choice and use these blocks in a separate little quilt

Oh yes, probably on saturday I go to Paris and visit a big craft fair, maybe there I find some fabrics with smaller prints I could use here ...................................... and for sure some reproduction / civil war fabrics and many, many, many other interesting things

Maybe next week I'll show you some pics, but I'm not sure they allow that, so you have to wait and see

Ta-Dahhhhhhhhhhh

2008-03-03T09:03:00.000-08:00

Yes, yes, yes

it's done, my very first Dear Jane square and as you can see I opted for the crazy fabrics, at least for the moment

the colors in the picture are not the best, the background fabric is off-white in real

First stitches on my Four Seasons Quilt

2008-03-03T04:22:00.000-08:00

Yesterday evening I had to do the first stitches on my project, I've chosen to do everything by hand, little wonky dimensional log cabin blocks, it's a special technique and only after quilting you gonna see the real dimensional effect.

Up to now I think they look great, and there are some more rows to be added. There will be 9 log blocks in total, so my quilt will be square. Still have to think about the finish, 1 or 2 or 3 borders and maybe some applique.

Anyway, I'll see that, sometimes I have to let a project grow and the project tells me how to continue.

Fabric selection

2008-03-02T08:03:00.000-08:00

Oh, that's quite long that I haven't posted a message, have to confess.

I had some troubles lately, 10 days at work without any break and then ill, still not really recovered.

As you can see I participate in the Four seasons Quilt swap and I also planned to join all those Dear Jane maniacs, lol ............, hope I can follow, but still not sure how many blocks I will do, we'll see

Today I checked my fabric stash and here are the ones I want to use for the Four seasons Quilt, they really represent spring for me, don't you think so too?

And now to the Dear Jane project, hmmmmmmmm, what shall I do as it is not easy to find repro fabrics overhere, should I go crazy and risky, ......... had to dig in my stash and thought these might be interesting to use. In reality they are a lot darker than on this picture, maybe I wait till tomorrow and look at them again during daytime. Arghhhhhhh, ................... should I go risky ....... or should I change again, should I go japanese taupe, or ethnic .........?
Maybe I just wait for your opinion.

Amish style BOM and State Fair Sampler

2008-02-19T13:12:00.000-08:00

Just for those who might be interested, it didn't start yet, so we have to wait

here the link
http://sentimentalstitches.net/free-stuff/block-of-the-month-quilt-designs/shipshewana-amish/

waiting for the first post

but this one is complete
State Fair Sampler

Lil

Old ones

2008-02-18T11:07:00.000-08:00

As I had no time during the last days to work on my different projects, I want to show you some pieces I made some time ago

this one is a never ending project, still all the applique to do (a BOM here in 2006)

you can imagine what lies ahead of me when you look at the original

here I didn't use my funky color palette, thought it would be too much and I think it will look great in my choice of japanese prints and wowen's

this one was a christmas present for my parents in 2006, all their grand-children in a quilt

can you imagine their faces when they opened the present, ;o)))))

another christmas gift, for my brother last year, he wanted something blue, a challenge for me as that is not really my color

and the last one for today

a kaleidoscope table runner using Debbie Mumm fabrics, I think the result is pretty amazing

ok, that's it, hope you enjoyed the little show

take care

Lil

Tagged too

2008-02-15T10:12:00.000-08:00

Yes, got tagged too by Christine some days ago.

As you've seen I've been quite quiet these days, I had some problems with my network provider, but as it seems they have fixed the bug now.

Here again the rules:

1. Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.

2. Post THE RULES on your blog.

3. Post 7 weird or random facts about yourself on your blog.

4. Tag 7 people and link to them.

5. Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.

so let's go

1. My stomach is something like a trash bag, it accepts everything except liver and cooked spinach.

2. I've never been married and my longest relationship was 2 years, .................., don't know why, maybe I scare men, who knows.

3. Until the age of 19 I was very shy, I couldn't speak in public, couldn't stand the fact that others were looking at me, didn't really have my own opinion on things, etc

Then everything changed with an experience during my studies (psychiatric nurse), me made a role play at school and I detected afterwards thats the others determined my reactions and my behaviour, OMG, I had to change something cause I didn't want to be any longer a hand puppet.

And now, no more sign of shyness.

4. I always wanted to volunteer at "doctors without frontiers" and work abroard, but up to now I never did. It still remains in my mind.

5. People say that I have an amazing orientation capacity for a woman, I rarely get lost.

6. I hate organized trips, I want to discover other countries and cultures on my own and live with the people; at least I try.

7. The last clue

Yes, I know, I should do a little exercise, but in fact I hate that, ...................grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

and there are so many things to do that there is no time, ;o)))))))))

I know, it's a bad excuse, but it works for me.

Ouff, done, now I have to think who I should tagg.

And now some of my favourite pics of my last holidays

an amazing place

the floating islands on Lake Titicaca

and me (the blond) with my friend before hiking on Machu Picchu

And here the blogs I tagg, they mean a lot to me and I follow them closely

- http://csquiltdesign.blogspot.com/

- http://www.materialobsession.typepad.com/

- http://spamantha.typepad.com/

- http://scrappyangelquilts.blogspot.com/

- http://simplylibby.blogspot.com/

the last 2 I add them later

Playing around

2008-02-14T08:41:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know, I should have worked on my mennonite mosaic or do the "tagged" thing, but instead of that I surfed on the net and .......... saw an awsome quilt.

Most of you sure know that block, as it is an old one and I'm sure some of you have worked on a quilt with this design or have planned to create one like that one day.

I didn't find this block in one of my books, so I decided to create it myself, ............ and that shouldn't be a real challenge as I've got EQ5.

So I started by drawing the block and then added it to the quilt layout. The fabric palette I used was different Civil War motifs and ......... tadaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa ............ there is the result.

Lil

(it took me hours to insert this post and especially the picture)

Problems

2008-02-12T12:04:00.000-08:00

My friends,

just a little note, for the moment I have major problems with my internet connection
I didn't forget you, especially Christine, who tagged me

so you have to wait for the pictures; I'm sorry

Take care

Lil

Today's work

2008-02-03T12:37:00.000-08:00

Oh my god, strips and strips and strips, .....

Think I will dream about strips tonight, but half of the work is done and the end of block A is at sight.

Enough machine work for today, now I return to my handquilting project and have a quiet evening in front of the tv.

Lil

First strips cut

2008-02-01T07:54:00.000-08:00

As you can see, I've cut the first strips for my Mennonite Mosaic. When I bought the fabrics, I wasn't sure about the more clear red print, but now I think my choice is not too bad.
My colors are different from the ones in the Original, especially the brown that replaces the green from the Original.

I don't know when I'll get some moments to sew these strips, cut the rows and assembly these to get one of the final blocks, so you have to wait.
Maybe tonight, as the weather is really awful overhere at the moment, cold and since yesterday rain which turns into a rain / snow mix actually and I hate that.

Waiting for someone to send me some sun, ;o))

Take care

Lil

Not only patchwork

2008-01-30T08:40:00.000-08:00

Oh yes, beside quilting I work also on this project, it will keep me busy during some month's.

The crosses are over one threat and just to tell you, one square is about 3,25 inch and +/- 100 x 100 stitches.

The whole project is called village of Hawk Run Hollow from Carriage House Design and contains 12 squares in total, ............. now you can imagine what's waiting for me.

Lil

Mennonite Mosaic

2008-01-30T07:59:00.000-08:00

Yes, Lucy got me, the message on her blog about this quilt put a spell on me.
http://lucyquilting.blogspot.com/2008/01/im-sewing-again.html
Decided to join the round of quilters for this masterpiece.
But I had a hard time finding the special old fashioned fabrics as not many of the quiltshops overhere have them in their range.
I decided to visit a very unique shop and I was lucky, found some great repro fabrics, but I opted for different colors than the ones used in the original quilt.
If you ever go to Belgium, close to the border of France and Luxemburg, go and visit this shop, the owner is more than nice and there is an incredibable choice.
http://ks35011.kimsufi.com/atelier-patchwork/
That's all for now.
Lil

Hi there

2007-09-26T09:33:00.000-07:00

Hi girls and maybe boys, lol

I just created my own blog and now I have to think how to use it, hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
maybe I need some little time
so you have to wait a little for the first pigs and stories