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!

Rabbits and a winner

Wow...I was stunned by all the comments I received on the giveaway post. There were so many!!
Thank you each and everyone of you, you all make my day!
So this morning was the big moment. I put all the names in a box and asked dd (she's expecting her first baby) to pick out one name.


And the winner is: Katherine from sew me something good
Congratulations Katherine, there will be a package sent of to you somewhere next week!


Now, let me show you my little project for upcomming weekend. I decided to join the stitch-along Noah's Ark BOM from Lynette anderson designs. This is my very first attempt on making a stichery, I like doing it so far.
I choose the gingham fabrics to use between the stitchery blocks. I hope to show the result next week!



Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
Happy stitching!!

more tea cozies

Easter was cold, snow white, hail and sunshine...we experienced it all!
But it was warm inside so I spent some time behind the sewing machine to make two new tea cozies for the dutch sisters shop.



They were lots of fun to make and for a special touch I gave each one different curtains.



The one in the middle (above) is not finished yet.



And I made a little basket to hold teabags in. It's from the same pattern as the one from my previous post.



The post on which I received so many lovely comments, I feel overwhelmed. Tomorrow is the last day to enter this giveaway and the drawing and announcement of the winner will be on thursday.
So if you want to be in for this drawing, please feel free to leave a comment.
I'm of now, have to finish the pink flower cozy!

1 year anniversary

Hip, hip, hooray....my blog is 1 year old!! A year sure goes fast, doesn't it? I learned so much trough blogging, such as writing better English (lol) but best of all...I met you and so many other wonderful people!
Thank you'll for coming by and letting me share a little bit of my creative thoughts with you. It's so inspiring to visit your blogs too!
I really want to celebrate my blog's first anniversary with you so I made a little gift basket ( with suprise) to giveaway and I also made a tutorial on how to make one.
If you want to enter the draw all you have to do is leave a comment before wednesday march 26.
So feel free to join in also if you don't have a blog you are still very welcome!


Tutoriol "How to make a gift basket"

Step 1.)

Draw a basket like the one in the picture. You can make a larger or smaller basket by changing measurements.
Cut the pattern out.


Step 2.)

Pinn the pattern on the fabric add seam allowances and cut the pattern out.
Place the pattern for the outside basket on the fold.



you'll have three parts.

Step 3.)

place both lining fabric pieces on outside fabric piece with the right sides together and sew the top left and right, see picture.


This is how it should look.



Step 4.)

Fold the fabric with the right sides together and sew all around leaving an opening on the side of the lining fabric, see photo.



Step 5.)

Turn the basket inside out and sew the opening closed.



Push the lining into the outside fabric piece.



Step 6.)

Add cord, string or ribbons and sew them on the basket as you pleased.
Buttons, beads, you can use anything to make it a fancy basket.


For those who want to give this pattern a try, I hope you enjoy and please let me know how it turned out, I really like to know!

triftstore embroidery & Japanese fabric

These hand embroidery patterns were once part of one long piece that originaly was made as a wallhanger. I bought this wallhanger last july in a triftstore ( see this post). I thought they could came in good use for another project someday.



And these are my Japanese fabrics. I saved them for a special project too! Not yet knowing what project that would be!



But last week I had the embroidery patterns in my hand and saw how well the colors blended with the colors of the Japanese fabrics. Then I knew how to use them.... a quilted wallhanging!



I kept it simple by sewing stripes in different sizes around the embroidery patches and then cut the patches in six equal sized squares.
The finished top is ready now for basting and quilting, a lovely little work for doing this upcoming weekend!


Have a lovely creative weekend too!

take it slow

What have I been doing since friday...well not much really.



I sorted out my trims & ribbons box.
I spent two days in bed, sick!
I made two more flowers for the flowergarden dollquilt.

I found three house blocks made from scraps (they were hiding in the scrap box).


One day they will end up in a quilt like this one below!


Photo from the book "Little quilts all through the house"

Well that's about it, I'm not planning on doing much more this week!
Only one thing... reading blogs, many blogs, I'm way behind!

p.s. And for those who still wonder what the pink peek from a few posts back was, and haven't seen it on Nicolette's blog, yet. Inspiration came from a painting Nicolette made for me.

color splash

See these fabrics....I saw them yesterday and just had to buy them all! I had a picture of a tea house cozy in my head......



And voila...see here the result after an evening spent behind the sewing machine.
A pretty coincedent is that the colors are a perfect match with the new china!



Have a nice weekend! I'm of now, go to sew another teahouse cozy.

pastries, tea cozy and a dollquilt

Oké, maybe I wasn´t that busy with reading blogs and posting this week but I managed to do some crafting instead.
The pink sneak peek from last post is finished and brought to the post office. I'll post a picture of the finished project soon as it has reached its final destination.
I already started a new project, nothing else to do, haha! I make flowers for a dollquilt using these fabrics. I just love the sweet printed designs on them, perfect for a doll quilt!



And another almost finished project I did last week...this tea house cozy no2.



And I've got a mail from Mary, she did received my valentine swap package and she liked what I made for her..phew!
These two sweet pastries I made from felt were my gift for her.


What a big success this valentine swap was! I´ve spotted some beautiful selfmade presents on blogs all around! Lucy, if there´s gonna be a valentine swap next year...you can coint me in!

Valentine swap

Yeah...today I received my valentine swap gift made by my swap partner Mary. I'm so happy....she made me this beautiful cushion.



It has a polka dot back, Mary must can read my mind....because I love polka dots!



Mary also made this lovely valentine card.



And to spoil me completely she did sent me these wonderful presents along. Yummy, yummy chocolates in a box, the most gorgeous fabrics, paper handkerchiefs with printed hearts on and a quilt magazine! Thanks Mary!



This oh so fun swap was organized by Lucy from Lucy locket recycled her pocket
I can't show you a picture yet of what I made for Mary. Right now my valentine package for Mary is probbably in a plane flying over the ocean somewhere. So I'll wait for her to receive the package first.
Instead I show you this photo, a peak of a small gift I'm working on at the moment and hope to send it of soon to someone special too!



Have a great weekend everyone!

feels like spring

What a lovely weather we had this weekend! It felt like an early spring.
I know it's a bit previous for spring but if it was up to me than I would say, let's skip the rest of winter and let springtime begin!
Well it isn't up to me so all I can hope is for this lovely weather to hold on a few more days!



Have a good beginning of the week!

Knitted star tutorial

Ok, finally after promised months ago here my first attempt of writing a knitting pattern in English.

"A Knitted star"



What do you need to make one?

Yarn: To make a star with star points in different colours you need 5 colours. You can also choose to make a star in one or in two colours. There are many variations possible. The size of a star depends of the thickness of the yarn and the size of the needles. The thicker the yarn, the larger the star will be. I used soedan wool for this star and needles size 4.5.
Knitting needles: Size depends on the thickness of the yarn.
Needle: To sew the star points together.
Stuffing material: poly-fil or fiberfil or cotton.


Instructions:
1.) Knit 10 star points in five different colours, two of each.



One star point:

Row 1 : cast on 3 stitches
Row 2 : knit 3
Row 3 : purl 1, inc 1, purl 2
Row 4 : knit 1, inc 1, knit 3
Row 5 : purl 1, inc 1, purl 4
Row 6 : knit 1, inc 1, knit 5
Row 7 : purl 1, inc 1, purl 6
Row 8 : knit 1, inc 1, knit 7
Row 9 : purl 1, inc 1, purl 8
Row 10: knit 1, inc 1, knit 9
Row 11: purl 1, inc 1, purl 10
Row 12: sl 1- knit 1- psso, knit 10
Row 13: sl 1- purl 1- psso, purl 9
Row 14: sl 1- knit 1- psso, knit 8
Row 15: sl 1- purl 1- psso, purl 7
Row 16: sl 1- knit 1- psso, knit 6
Row 17: sl 1- purl 1- psso, purl 5
Row 18: sl 1- knit 1- psso, knit 4
Row 19: sl 1- purl 1- psso, purl 3
Row 20: sl 1- knit 1- psso, knit 2
Row 21: sl 1- purl 1- psso, purl 1,
Cast of by pass stitch over.

- sl = slip stitch from left-hand needle to right-hand one without knitting it.
- psso = pass slipped stitch over.

Slip stitch from left-hand needle to right-hand one without knitting it. Knit the next stitch. Insert tip of left-hand needle into the slipped stitch, pass it over the knitted stitch, and off needle.

2.) Press the ten star points carefully under a damp cloth with an iron.

3.) Sew the star points into two stars. Make sure you have a left and a right side, see picture below




4.) Sew stars together right side out. Leave one star point half open. Fill the star point with cotton or polyfill. Close the half open star point.
Note: Each star point has a short and a long side. Make sure all the short sides are pointed to the middle of the star.

You can decorate the star if you like. I used the bullion knot stitch. I did one in the middle on each side from the star and on the end of each point.



For those who like tho try this pattern out.....enjoy and good luck!