It's beginning to look a lot like...

Christmas! This morning on our way to school  there was so much rain, thunder and lightning that it definitely felt like at least October, so making the block of Dec 21th - shortest day of the year - was quite appropriate. It was not a big block, a little sheep, but with this one the whole left section is finished!

So like a big puzzle I'm just a few steps away from a finished top... you see the white spots in the picture below:

And it really was a good idea to paint our diningtable white, so good for the pictures (and not so good for me, after every meal I can see every little spot on it - although that forces me to be a good housewive :) )

Have a nice day!

The Nativityquilt - so far

It's Sunday-evening and after a busy but nice weekend I'm glad to show you a picture of the Nativityquilt so far. Yes, the camel is finished!

The left side with the shepherd and sheep looks a bit messy, but that's because I used a few pins, the parts are not sewed together yet. Next step is the missing sheep, so I can finish the whole left part.

It's still a quite exciting project, I'm looking forward to make that sheep!

back to school

I had some pink plans for this day, since the pink hexagon quilt is still not finished yet. I started very well:

But... (of course there's a 'but', it's friday and my boys are still busy with their holiday) there was a little job to do before they can start next week at school. So at the end of the day, the project I finished had nothing to do with pink:

De boeken zijn gekaft!

And since it's fridaynight right now, I'm sure there will be some sewingtime in the next few days. Everything is ready (even the camel without legs)!

Fijn weekend!

 

more www - quilting fun

Today I discovered a new internetmiracle, although maybe it's not that new...

If you wanna see my boards: take a look here

So I wonder: has anyone of you some nice pics of quilts and other sewing projects on Pinterest?

En zijn er ook al nederlandse quiltfoto's te bewonderen?

Have a nice day!

Anita

only 4 months...

... before it's christmas! Time to go back to business: the Nativity quilt. But oh dear oh dear I really had to find some courage to start. But after a little while I sorted things out like this:

Before the summer I started with the king and his camel (optimistically I posted Back on track - but it seemed to be a very short track I was back on!) It was a big block with a king (finished) and his camel (paper coloured - okay it's a start). And although my plans were bigger than this, I'm glad I made a new little step in this christmasproject:

So the camel is growing, and I left every piece of fabric at my desk so I can start as soon as I find som time to give this animal a pair of legs!

As you can see, my china cabinet is still there, waiting for a finishing touch.

Have a nice day!

Back home with blue french stars

It's been a while ago, but we've been caravanning in France, from the westcoast - Juno beach - to the Mediterrannée. We had a great time together, enjoying the land, the food, the sunshine, the landscape, and sometimes even a little patching!

I made 6 big blue stars by hand, nice job to do, in the morning when the kids were still asleep.

Here are the first 3 blocks (and there official names as far as I know, please let me know if you know better names!):

Snowbound

Union star (with a little different colourscheme)

 Sunflower (made while we stayed next to a field full of the real ones)

I have no pictures of the making-of of this blocks, but believe me, the circumstances were great - with much better conditions than here back home (it's like autumn outside, the quilting season starts early this year!)

Have a nice day!

Anita 

big blue plans!

Since the pink hexagon one is almost done, it's time to think about a new handsewing project. I like to sew by hand, it's soooo relaxing. Of course it takes lots of time, but when you've accepted that fact, there's no stress (for me) in finishing it.

So here's a first idea: I proudly present (trrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr) the blue stars!

very basic design method with colourpencils of the kids and a piece of paper

and a little overview of the patterns of the stars and the fabrics I want to use, on a background of plain white cotton.

I really really want to make the first star. It will be my holidayproject, so in fact it's gonna be a French blue star quilt!

Have a nice day!

Anita

Little crochet trip

Last week a friend and I talked about crochet blankets. I tried it myself a few years ago:

I used different left-overs, 2 different patterns (no granny squares!) and quilted it, because I used it as a playmat)

I found more crochet-inspiration here, lovely coulours!

I go back to the fabric-patchwork thing, more my cup of tea...

Have a nice day!

Anita

Hexagon fever

I'm not the only quilting lady in the family anymore... my mother is infected by the hexagons too!
I love the fabrics she has choosen, different blue patterns.

I/m very curious about the way all this blue hexagons will come together in one quilt.

Have a nice day!

Anita

time for pink paper piecing

Tweede Pinksterdag, druilerig buiten, binnen gezellig aan de slag! Sinds lange tijd de serviesdeeltjes weer uit de kast gepakt. Ik ben er vorig jaar in Denemarken mee begonnen, om deze techniek uit te proberen. Het leverde leuke blokken op waar ik er zo af en toe eens wat bij maakte. Vandaag heb ik er nog een paar bij gemaakt en ze aan elkaar genaaid. De eerste contouren van de kast worden zichtbaar!

De quilt-in -wording hangt even op mijn ' echte' servieskast. Leuk plaatje!

Fijne dag!

Anita

a little pink progression

So much to do in this last weeks before the summervacation... but today some stolen minutes brought me a little step forwards:

Hope to be back soon with more news!

Have a nice day,

Anita

Danish hexagons

We are back home from a familytrip to Denmark. Lots of time together, sun&see ánd a little sewing!

The plan is to finish the pink hexagon one soon, I want two borders of hexagonsflowers on each side.

It's the first time I've done this kind of sewing, thanks to all the quilting-experts on you-tube!

When I started I just wanted to make a row of flowers, but of course there must be a connection between the flowers... I used parts of the hexagons and I like the effect.

Have a nice day!

Anita

happy easter

Today it's Good Friday, and in the Netherlands it's a custom to have easter branches with little eggs, chickens or other easter-ish things in it. Today I took some branches out of the garden, and made little hearts to hang in it. I used thick felt (left-overs from Christmas :) ) and different colours of embroidery silk.

Here in the Netherlands we have the highest temperatures ever in april. I guess there will be lots of bbq-ing this weekend!

Have a good, happy easter,

Anita

pink news

This weekend I bought some fabric for the pink hexagonquilt. I want to make some quilted binding in the same way I made the hexagons. It's gonna take some time, I sew it all by hand, but it's quite relaxing...

Here's a little preview, lotssssss of stiches to make!

To be continued,

have a nice day!



Big Quilted Bag

Next time I go shopping at the market, go to the library, beach, swimmingpool, or other place where you need lots of stuff (or will buy lots of stuff):

And to show you that it is really a BIG bag here's a pic with my favorite topmodel:

Als je heeeeel goed kijkt zie je de lente in de tuin: de rodondendron staat in bloei!

 

Have a nice day!

Anita

trying to sew

After a flu-ish week I had no courage to sew a camel or a king, so I did some free-seewing today. Months ago I made a few blocks, sort of  log cabin, and today was a good day to use those blocks for some freestyle practise with the sewing machine!

The plan is to make a bag of it, I'll show you when it's done, here's a collage (yeah my first Picasa-collage!) of the quilting:

I tried different patterns (and sometimes it felt more like surviving to synchronize hands and feet, I'm quite sure I'll feel the muscles in my arms tomorrow, no gym for me anymore!). Practise makes perfect I guess....

Thanks for all your comments and emails about the Nativityproject, it really helps me to go on with it!

Have a nice day,

Anita

Stars in spring

Today I had a few hours to spend with my Singer and my Nativityproject! Outside it really felt like spring, inside I worked on the starry night. I wonder if this is what Bianca Ryan means with "Why couldn't it be Christmas every day...

and in the overview of the sky:

I love them!

Next part to handle: the shepherd and his sheeps, here's a little preview:

I promise next picture of this group will be more interesting :)

Have a nice day!

Anita

The pink hexagons so far

Today I have a pic of the pink hexagonquilt so far. I made lots of the quilted hexagons, I stopped counting it....  Now it's time to make it a square, and then I have plans with little triangels and stripes.

En voor de oplettende kijker: zie je dat ik één half zeshoekje klaar heb? Het was een puzzel dus ik hoop dat de volgende sneller gaan!

Have a nice day!

Anita

little time for a little block

We had a busy weekend with a birthdayboy, so very little time for sewing - but much familytime, also very nice!

 And what a coincidence: the block of ec 18th is a very small one, a little candle in the stable.

And although this little flame is quite cute, it's more interesting to see it with another blocks:

I'm looking out for a whole day of nothing else but sewing Nativity-blocks... or at least a few hours and one big block!

Have a nice day,

Anita

The little angel of Dec 17th

Today I made the block of Dec 17th: a little angel and a palm tree. In fact this block contains 2 blocks, but I guess that has something to do with the idea of 25 blocks in this quilt. This block and the block of Dec 12th belongs together, and I had to sew the 17th block in parts to make them fit.

Sounds a bit fuzzy, I'll show you the pics:

So forget about which part belongs to which day, don't you love the result?

And since I really wonder how this quilt is going to look I sewed this angel and tree together to the first block I made, the Star of Bethlehem. I'm very glad with the overview so far!

I can't wait to make the next blocks... if only a day had 36 hours!

Have a nice day,

Anita