NeedleNecessities

Goodbye's...

2009-06-15T12:03:00.002+02:00

...and hello's! My blog has reached full capacity and I decided it was best to start over again with a clean slate and some new ideas. I am no longer posting on this blog but will not delete it for the time being. I do hope you will come over to join me at my new blog called All My Scattering Moments. Please take a moment to stop in and let me know that you found me there. I will look forward to hearing from you.

Teatime Tuesdays ... oops ... Thursday

2009-06-11T20:57:00.006+02:00

Here I am very late with my Teatime Tuesday. I had a day out with a friend on Tuesday. She came and got me so I had a day out of the house. I was so tired in the afternoon when back home that I did not post my teatime recipe. So here we are on Thursday and I hope you will forgive me but I wanted to share the next recipe.

What is a tea without the English tea sandwiches? They are so very good too. There are many kinds but this is the one I used for my last tea.

Cucumber and rocket tea sandwiches

Sturdy white bread
Cucumber
Rocket salad leaves
Butter
Salt and pepper

Spread butter on one side of two slices of bread. On one slice, cover with rocket leaves and then add a layer of sliced cucumber. Don't slice the cucumber paper thin as you want to be able to really taste the cucumber. Salt and pepper the cucumber to taste. Press the next buttered slice of white bread on the sandwich and cut off the crusts with a sharp bread knife. Slice the sandwich in half diagonally and wrap tightly in cellophane. Keep in the fridge until using. These sandwiches can easily be made up the day before a tea and stay fresh and crispy in the fridge.

One sandwich per person for a tea table.

I have been doing many bigger projects lately and really needed a finish. I decided to pick up a project that I put aside a year ago. I designed a little sampler for one of the hornbooks that my step father made for me. I finally decided what thread to use. I did the entire design in Carrie's Thread "Thanksgiving". I have to start working on a design for the next hornbook he made which is a very special one.

My mother and I have come up with another fun idea for a hornbook and now I just have to convince George to start making it. He said I still had to do the other ones so here is a finished hornbook George! *grins*

Edit ~ There have been a couple of questions about what a hornbook is. See an old blog entry I did about hornbooks here.

I'm in the garden...

2009-06-08T13:05:00.007+02:00

Yes, that is where I spent my weekend! Not here through the garden gate at Cranberry Cottage but looking out the window at our city garden. It was a bit too chilly for me to sit outside and stitch but think of the garden I did...

This is because as I mentioned in my last post, I was starting my Nobody Love Me sampler. Now I decided to join Annemarie's Lovelorn Sisterhood as I sang this child's song when I was young and still sing it today. I love teasing my mother by singing it to her! *grins* I have understood that some have never heard this little ditty so check out this adorable version here. How cute is this little boy!?!

Well, when a sampler is dedicated to this, you just have to stitch it, right? That being said...the only worm this girl would put in her mouth would have to be made of yummy pure chocolate but don't tell my mother I said so. I would not want her to no longer take my song seriously of course. *wink*

So here are the fruits of two days of my gardening labors. Gee, this kind of gardening is great fun! It is really going quickly which I am pleased about since I already know how I am going to finish it. I am so excited to get started on the finish but that will have to wait for a couple more weekends of 'gardening'.

The linen is Wilchelt-Permin 32 count Star Sapphire which has a very soft blue hue although it does not show well in the photo.

Getting into trouble once again...

2009-06-05T17:31:00.008+02:00

What's a girl gonna do? I came back from my check up at the hospital tired and weary of some news. I have to have another biopsy for sure this summer and my thyroid is hardening from the treatment so it is 'perhaps', as the doctor put it, going to be more uncomfortable this time around. Humm...her way of saying it is going to hurt? I am hoping it will be okay and she gave me some medicine to take starting the day before I go in. Okay, enough of that...it is now out of my mind.

So I came home minding my own business and that business this week is stitching on my French Abecedaire SAL which is very sadly behind.....

When the latest issue of Sampler & Antique Needlework Quarterly dropped on my front door mat. I opened it to have a little peek. I was really only just going to peek and then get back to my stitching. First, I started reading a wonderful article about a simple little sampler which had me salivating (I think I want to reproduce it and add a copy of the letter dating the sampler to the back of the framed piece) and then...

I browse through the rest and see this! Why did I look??? Now I have to start stitching this wonderful sampler! I remember this little verse from my childhood. The colors are wonderful on it and best of all...look at all those cats! Why did I look???

On top of that, I had planned to get a start on my new project this weekend. I have become one of Annemarie's Lovelorn Sisters and was the first on the Traveling Pattern list. There are 19 of us in the Lovelorn Sisterhood if I remember correctly. I have my marking copy run off so I can start stitching. I also have a fun idea for the finishing which I hope I can make work when it is done.

I pulled the colors today. This however is not going to be the fabric. I have decided on Wilchelt-Permin 32 count Star Sapphire. I hope to have enough of a start to share it with you this coming week.

So as I said, why did I look??? I want to start my next red and white sampler soon too. I really do have more than enough projects in my basket. And we won't even discuss how many other are hidden around my house. And with all this...I really do have to start on a few quilt UFOs as soon as I feel up to it. So here is me getting into trouble once again.

Teatime Tuesdays is seeing letters...

2009-06-02T14:01:00.006+02:00

I only just realized a few days ago that I missed the last Teatime Tuesday. Sorry about that. We are trying to find humor in my forgetfulness right now and blaming absolutely everything on my silly thyroid gland. You hear us going around the house with any mishap exclaiming "Oh it's just that gland again!" whether I am the cause of the mishap or not. *grins*

This week, the recipe is one that is good for a refreshing end to a tea but also just a fun summertime treat to be enjoyed anytime.

Strawberry Buttermilk

500 gram (1 pound/2 cups) Fresh strawberries
500 ml (2 cups) buttermilk
1 tablespoon sugar

Wash the strawberries and puree them with a stafmixer or blender. Add 1 tablespoon of sugar. I taste a strawberry first as you made need more if they are not very sweet. Do this according to your own taste. Now add buttermilk. I used probably about 400 ml. Buttermilk seems to be very thin this year while we are used to a thick buttermilk normally here in Holland. You don't want this drink to become too watery. Taste a spoon of it as you go to get it just right. You can use it as a summer drink at this stage or add a scoop of vanilla ice cream for an extra creamy treat. For a tea, I place a small scoop of vanilla ice cream in a wine glass and pour the strawberry buttermilk over to fill the glass. Serve with a spoon. Even if you don't normally like buttermilk, give this a try as I think you will be surprised.

I can finally share an update again on my French letter sampler. This is a project I am doing with two friends. We will be using it on a wooden sewing box. It is great fun to let this sampler develop as I go along. Each time I pick a new letter H or symbol that I want to use on my box. I have used scissors and plan on stitching a few more sewing symbols.

I want to include things like my DHs initials but also a silhouette of a cat to symbolize Dagi. Thanks to SS for her help with this but I now have found the purrfect cat! This just looks so much like Dagi. He sat on my lap this weekend while I stitched it so there are even a few of his cat hairs worked into the piece for good luck.

I finally pulled out the stitchs of this little H that were in the very light shade of pink. It did not work well on my linen so I have restitched it in a brick red now that works well on the linen but also with the fabric I will be lining my sewing box in. I am off to search through my charts again for some more motifs. Gee, this is such great fun 'designing as you go' that I would highly recommend it! If you have ever wanted to create your own French letter sampler, just get out your needle and thread and start. You won't be sorry.

Needle in hand...

2009-05-24T21:30:00.005+02:00

That is how I have been spending my time when I was not sleeping. I am happy to say that I fall asleep less now during the day and today did not feel so cold until late afternoon when it was back to my clothes closet to slip on a sweater. I do feel while it is slow going that I am improving a little. My doctor felt she was perhaps increasing the dosage of my medicine too quickly which was giving me strange headaches in the middle of the night. She is slowing the pace a little and still assures me to just be patient.

So what do I do to be patient? I sit with needle in hand of course! It has been my best friend through all of this. I don't have the energy to quilt so I am working on my stitching projects and making slow progress. So slow, in fact, that the tortoise would look like a speed demon beside me but that is okay.

We had a long holiday weekend here in Holland and drove up to Cranberry Cottage on Thursday. We stayed through Saturday and decided to drive home last last night as it seems that Holland has discovered the beauty of the north. They were 'all' up there this weekend. Traffic was terrible. By coming home on Saturday night, we were able to avoid the traffic having to return home on Sunday.

So we decided to enjoy our Sunday here in our city garden. I sat in the shade with my stitching while Jos was refinishing an old iron garden table. It has turned out to be a thing of beauty by the way! I tried to spoil him while he worked and made him a fresh fruit salad of Galia melon, banana and strawberries for lunch and then a break later with Ice Coffee. Yep! You can see them next to my stitching. *grins*

My 10 Virgins is coming along nicely and I actually finished 5 more letters from the moment I took this photo. Alas, it is at the neglect of other projects! I need to get back to my French Abecediare SAL very soon. I am so behind on it. I just cannot seem to get away from these 5 giggly gals as my friend Angela has dubbed them. I have decided I am not allowed to work on them this week so I can try and catch up a little on the SAL.

I am also hoping to spend some time visiting many of you this week to see what you have been up to lately. For all our American friends, I hope you are enjoying a happy Memorial Day weekend.

What are you working on???

Primitive ornaments SAL - Candy Canes

2009-05-15T11:31:00.009+02:00

Our next ornament is something that every child delights in on a Christmas tree ~ candy canes. A candy cane is a simple way to add festive cheer to even a glass vase during the holidays and I am hoping you will find this primitive ornament adding holiday cheer to your month of May as you stitch your set of ornaments.

Enlarge the hand drawn chart and copy to Word or an email to print it out.

I received the following photos of ornaments finishes. My mother, Nancy, surprised me when she stitched up the Let It Snow ornament. She has said she was not going to stitch them but being a snowman lover, she decided she did need to make this one. She did not tell me and surprised me with it on her blog. I loved the addition of the sweet little snowman button.

Letty finished her ornaments from April and they are both beautiful as ever! Her version of Peace On Earth is just that ~ peaceful and calm in white thread. It reminds me of a snowcovered Christmas eve...

Goodwill to Men works so well with her pretty trims she is using.

This month's winner of the giveaway drawing is Nancy. I will be sending out a little gift this coming week.

Teatime Tuesdays and a finish

2009-05-12T16:50:00.015+02:00

Tuesday is here again and this is the next recipe...Italian ham rolls. These are just so simple to make. They are great for a tea table but also if you want something to serve when people stop by. You won't believe how great they taste!

Italian Ham Rolls:

Frozen puff pastry
Pesto
Grated cheese
Raw ham such as Parma ham or Spanish Serano ham

Allow the puff pastry to thaw. In Holland, we can buy it in little squares of approxiametely 5 inches. If your sheets are larger, cut it down to work for you. Spread the pastry with pesto.

Sprinkle on the grated cheese. You can use any cheese you wish but I use Dutch old cheese as it has a fuller taste.

Now lay enough ham over to cover. Be sure to use a ham that has a good strong flavour such as any Italian or Spanish ham. Regular ham slices will not taste good with this recipe.

Now roll up your square of pastry. I use a little of the pesto residue to help close the end.

Cut each square in 8 slices.

Lay on a baking sheet covered with foil. This helps make for an easy clean up too once they are baked. Don't worry about making these perfectly neat and round. Some may even pop open as they bake but they look great and taste even better. Place for 15 to 20 minutes in a preheated oven - 200C/400F. Enjoy!

And now a finish...

With spending much time on the couch resting and keeping warm while I am recovering, I am using my time with my needle. This is the Blackbird Design freebie Petite Letters Rouges that I think the entire stitching world is working on. I did not make mine to enter their contest but as I thought it was a sweet way to honor my grandmother who was very magical to me. I have a number of little samplers in mind for names of family members and this is the first of them.

I have finished this framing it first with vintage lace from Brugge, Belgium and little vintage buttons and then using a wooden frame that I have had for over 20 years. Fun to see that something I have had so long now came to great use again. It was just the right size.

My grandmother grew up thinking her name was Bertha Alverna but only after asking for a birth certificate did the family find out that she was named Bertha May on the certificate. Even this is odd as the name is spelled Mae in her family but May on the certificate. I decided to use it exactly as is on her birth certificate. She was born in 1902.

I loved being with her. I loved helping her out as she could not get around well. When I got my driver's liscense, I enjoyed stopping it to see her, run over to help when she needed it or come get her in her wheelchair and take her shopping. I enjoyed her stories of the old days when I asked her about things for a school project. I remember her making us a wilted lettuce salad that we don't know how she made. I remember her always telling my little brother and I, as soon as we came in the door, to go get a piece of candy from her candy dish. We broke the lid once and she got the same candy dish in plastic afterwards. I rescued that candy dish as my aunt was going to throw it away when she died. She exclaimed it was plastic and trash when I asked it I could have it. Not to me it isn't and I still have it in my quilt studio!

Health update: Last Friday, what I thought was a cold got so bad it made it impossible to breath and Jos took me over to our emergancy doctor's post by the hospital. The doctor there put me on antibiotics to help with the slime building up which was making me feel like I would sufficate because of the enlarged thyroid. I had a severe sinus infection. The antibiotics are helping and I feel much better in that respect. I just have to be patient while I get started on the thyroid medication as the specialist said my thyroid is not working anymore. That means allowing time for my body to respond to it all. Still cold, tired and in a good deal of pain but happily stitching away with my charm quilt keeping me warm.

Still cold....

2009-05-08T17:27:00.006+02:00

...so lets talk Christmas. No I have not lost my mind (well maybe I have but I will find it laying around here somewhere!) but am working on a StockingAlong with a few online friends. I wanted to share a weekly update. I mentioned I was making this with charms using the hexagon shape. I had basted a number of fabrics I pulled from my stash. Believe it or not, this will be a Christmas stocking when it is put together. I have an idea how I am going to sew it and only hope that it works as I start sewing it.

In the meantime, I decided on the size I want it to be (I hope) and will be adding these yummy fabrics which I took from the basketful of them waiting to be traced with the template of my second charm quilt. Now I can add fabrics given to me by ladies in my quilt group which is fun too.

And yes, I am still very cold. I am in a turtleneck again and have the heating on but just cannot warm up. In the meantime, on Wednesday, my doctor called from the hospital and told me that I have complications from the radioactive therapy I had done in March. 30% of patients are at risk of their thyroid slowing down in the first five years. Mine has slowed so much so fast that she says it is no longer functioning which explains being so ill since last Thursday. I am afraid I am making only baby steps with my stitching and quilting but do what I can. It will be a few weeks yet before I start to feel better as I started the medication on Thursday. She said while my complications are extreme, it will be set right with time. It will mean a very bad couple of weeks yet. We get very little sleep now as I am experiencing heart problems and pain both now as well as breathing problems. I caught a cold now after coming back from the hospital which is making it worse but I am so tired that my immune system is not working either. It is like your body is just shutting itself down. But I have hope and know I have to be patient. So I am off to sit on the couch with a quilt over me for warmth of body, a DVD of the Brontes for warmth of the soul and stitch on my sampler for warmth of my blood.

Thank you all for your kind thoughts, comments and emails. I am slow on blog visits but know you are always in my thoughts!

Teatime Tuesdays

2009-05-05T15:06:00.005+02:00

I have had so many requests for my recipes I used for the High Tea that I thought it would be fun to have 'Teatime Tuesdays' for the coming months and give you a recipe from my teatable. These are fool proof recipes (definition of fool proof ~ if I can make them, you can make them!) and I hope you will give it a try.

I will start this new item today with Zucchini Soup which I renamed Green Goo Soup for Barbara to make for her kids...lol. For the High Tea, I serve it in a little liqueur glass which makes it that little bit special.

Zucchini Soup

2 zucchini, cut in slices and then quartered
1 onion, diced
1 liter (4 cups) vegetable bouillon (you could also use chicken bouillon and I use cubes)
olive oil
salt and pepper
pesto (I used the dried pesto mix as one of the ladies has a nut allergy. It gives you the great taste but there are no pine nuts in this dried mix.)

Saute your onion and zucchini in the olive oil in a soup pan. Place on a low heat with the lid on the pan and allow the onion and zucchini to become soft about 5 to 10 minutes. Make vegetable bouillon and add to the vegetables. Let simmer for a further 15 to 20 minutes. Puree the soup. I find a hand held staffmixer works very well for this but you can use a blender or food processor if you prefer. Season with salt and pepper and a tablespoon of pesto. This soup can be served hot or cold. It also tastes great reheated.

I had to run over to the hospital unexpectedly this morning to have new blood work done up. I am having side effects from the therapy I had done in March and not feeling well which took a turn for the worse since Thursday. The doctor had me come in and will call me tomorrow as she is having the blood work rushed. As I sat in the waiting room with a turtleneck and fleece on while everyone is dressed for spring, I felt like a blizzard was on its way. I simply cannot get warm so it is a warm fire in the woodstove kind of day. I am going to sit with a pot of hot tea by the fire to warm me inside and stitch.

My mind went to winter as it does at moments like these and I pulled out a very old UFO to complete that winter feeling. Why not? I might as well go with the flow right? So I am going to pretend I am not feeling cold because I am unwell but because it is winter and I am out 'Gathering Holly' as the pattern is called. *grins* I love this sweet little pattern and don't understand why it even became a UFO.

Sip 'n Stitch Sunday

2009-05-03T20:28:00.004+02:00

Today, we had the Sip 'n Stitch at my home. It was the first time I had Harmien, Barbara and Annemarie to my house. I really enjoyed the day together and preparing a High Tea for us all. It took us a while to get to the table as I showed them my home and then we looked through a number of my quilts and quilt tops.

Our menu was:
Zucchini soup
Stuffed vine tomatoes
Italian ham rolls
Cucumber tea sandwices
Friesian smoked 'droge worst' (sausage)
Oreo truffels
Fresian sugar bread

Pot du Creme au Chocolat

Strawberry buttermilk floats

As table favors, I had asked them a favorite color before they came and made them each a beaded scissor fob which I laid at each plate along with a strand of Carrie's Thread. I kept the table favor stitching themed.

I felt totally spoiled as if it was Christmas as I received a pinkeep made for me by Harmien, two speculaas moulds to add to my collection from Barbara and a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a package of quilt fabrics in chocolate brown and pinks from Annemarie. Thank you all three so very much, first for the company to brighten a Sunday and then also for your wonderful gifts!

You can enlarge the slideshow by clicking on a photo.

French letter samplers update

2009-04-27T21:28:00.003+02:00

Once a month, I get together with my two lacemaking friends for an afternoon of tea, chatting and handwork. These are the two friends I gave the wooden boxes and fabric to last year for their birthdays. We have now all three started our letter samplers using threads to match the fabric we will be using in our boxes. Here is the start to the three samplers.

I was able to get alot accomplished today on my own piece. I finish the lower case H I had started and started another H which is now almost half finished. I then need to stitch a few more symbols. I am searching for a shillouette of a sitting cat. I also want to include more sewing symbols. I will share photos of our samplers after we add more to them each month.

I was asked about the printed hexagons I showed on my last entry. There is a free online program you can use to print out any size hexagons by changing the settings. I used a double thickness computer paper to print them on. It was a bit tricky to get the thick paper through my old laser jet printer but it worked. You can find the link here.

A full load...

2009-04-24T11:57:00.008+02:00

And why? Well, obviously I have no will power when it comes to a needle and thread. I just love a project and get started. Never mind that I have a stitching basket sitting there filled to overflowing.

So my French Abecediare SAL is taking a backseat this month but I plan to remedy that this weekend. We are off to Cranberry Cottage as our new firewood shed is being built and I should have lots of stitching time between making coffee. I do have a start on the latest part as you can see.

I blame Gigi for my problems. *grins* She came up with yet another amazing free design on her blog and I fell head over heels in love with it. I started my version of 10 Virgins the same day I saw it. I am using four DMC color that will work well with my other works on my sampler wall in our bedroom. I am using DMC 730, 3781, 3750 and 3858 on Sandstone 40-count linen. I love how it is coming along.

I joked on a homekeeping list about holding a Stocking Along and we are starting it today. I printed some hexagons and will be making a charm hexagon stocking that fits in very well with my quilt group's theme for this year.

I added two more motifs to my Beatrix Potter Quaker sampler. Then I ordered two more books about her to add to my bookshelves. I thoroughly enjoy reading more and more about this amazing woman!

I have, last but not least, finished scissors on my French Letter sampler for my sewing box. I still need to rip out the tiny H in the light shade. It just does not work on my linen and need to decide if I am gong to add another shade instead. I don't think any light shade will show up well though so I may end up having to go with just the two shades I am already useing. For now, this one will be set aside while I catch up with my Abecedaire SAL.

Yes, I do have a full load but I think it is the way I like it. I seem to find a creative energy in working on each and every one of these projects. Now we won't even go into how many quilt projects I have going...lol!

Note: I did not iron these projects before I photographed them as we are leaving early for Cranberry Cottage. I hope my online friend Joni enjoys seeing my unironed projects. See Joni, I am not so obsessed!

Have a wonderfully creative weekend dear friends!

Primitive ornaments SAL - Peace and Goodwill

2009-04-15T13:16:00.007+02:00

I could not decide which ornament chart to share this month and then decided to give you two at once. To me, these two go together just like the Christmas Carol. I could just see and hear Victorian carolers in my mind as I stitched these. Enjoy!

My photo seems like the linen is light instead of the dirty look hand dye. All my ornaments are being stitched on 30-count Old Mill Java hand dyed linen.

I used a star eyelet stitch for on top of the pine tree. You could also use a small button or large bead. For the holly berries in Goodwill, use either a large red bead or 3 small ones. You could also use a small red button for the berry.

Goodwill To Men is slightly blurred as the beads are too large for me to scan this well.

Here are the two charts for this month...

Enjoy the slideshow of the photos I have received since our last SAL entry. Keep these beautiful photos coming in as each month, I draw a name from that month's photos. It doesn't matter which ornament you send a photo in from as they are all entered each month. This month's winner is.....Letty. Please contact me with your snail mail address Letty so I can get the gift out to you right away. Congratulations to you and everyone for their wonderful ornament finishes.

Easter is a time of.....

2009-04-12T12:27:00.008+02:00

.....tulips.....

.....Easter bunnies.....

.....Easter eggs.....

.....baby chicks.....

.....and nests.....

I wish you a very Happy Easter and a color-filled and joyful spring!

Note: Please send your photos of any of the Primitive Pillow Ornaments to me before April 15th to be included in the next giveaway.

Afternoon tea anyone?

2009-04-09T20:51:00.004+02:00

Today, I took my quilt group out to a beautiful old Dutch farm for an Afternoon Tea. We all had a really fun afternoon together. Here is a slideshow of a few of the happy moments from this afternoon...

Note: If you click on the picture itself on the slideshow, you can see the photos larger.

Coloring Easter eggs?

2009-04-07T10:22:00.007+02:00

Remember the sneak peek photo in my last entry? I used the various fabrics in purple, yellow, green, pink and blue to make fabric Easter eggs.

On April 1st, Letty had an April Fool's Day surprise hidden on her werbsite. It was the pattern for these eggs. I love the old fashioned look to them with the stitched seams. I think it spoke to my love of 'crazy quilting'.

Placed with a simple twig wreath in my creamware dish and I have a sweet new Easter decoration. I just love it and want to thank Letty for sharing this pattern.

I also want to thank you all for your comments about my charm quilt. I enjoy linking history to the quilts I make and try to use a great deal of symbolism in them. I am so delighted that you too enjoy hearing these precious stories from the past too. And thank you for the sweet anniversary wishes too...

Note ~ Please be sure to email me photos of your Primitive Pillow ornaments as the latest ornament is coming up next week along with the drawing for the giveaway.

Old tales made new...

2009-04-03T14:27:00.008+02:00

I am so glad I can start my weekend knowing that I have finished my charm quilt. This is the first of two I am making this year for my quilt group's theme. In case you are new to my blog or missed the entry about this...my quilt group is making charm quilts this year. We are swapping pieces to have enough to complete our projects. A charm quilt is made up of all different fabrics using a one-patch block. My quilt is made up of fabrics in shades of creams, beige's, browns, pinks, blues, greens, yellows and grays.

I decided I want to become better at machine quilting and will practice on a few of my quilts this being one of them. I am really pleased with the results this time.

At first, I debated about using blues in the quilt, but later as it came together, I found the blues added an exciting element to the whole quilt. I wanted this quilt to have an old fashioned look to it. There are 390 pieces of fabric in this charm quilt.

You can see the two directions that I quilted from the back. I quilted horizontally first and then went back and did the vertical zigzag lines of the hexagons.

Now why is this an old tale made new? I named this quilt 'Vintage Brain Training' because when you research charm quilts, you will discover that some woman made these quilts to use for their children when they became ill. They would repeat a fabric which would entertain a child who was sick in bed searching for the two pieces of like fabric print. I thought this was such a sweet story and could imagine a child searching along the patchwork for these matches. It was like the memory games or the modern day brain training computers. Why use a computer when you can sit and stare at a quilt instead? My quilt has 7 repeated fabrics and, believe me, they are not that simple to find. I love being able to tie stories of quilt history into my own quilts.

Here is a sneak peek at my weekend project. If you are curious to see what these fabrics become, stop by and visit me next week. We are off to Cranberry Cottage for the weekend. It is our 22nd wedding anniversary and we want to go out to eat at a favorite restaurant near the cottage. This will be my first stay since the New Year as my breathing problems were making it too difficult to stay there. I am looking forward to going again.

Whatever you do this weekend...enjoy it!

Something old, something new...

2009-03-31T18:19:00.008+02:00

Something old, something new, something with pink to share with you...

Here is my French Abecedaire SAL part four is finished and I have started the new part. I am really enjoying this sampler and it seems to get prettier with each part that Claire shares with us. So this is my 'something old'...

...and for 'something new'...

I have started a new project. Last year, I gave my two lacemaking friends a box and half meter of fabric as a birthday gift. It was for us to make sewing boxes. We are first each designing our own French letter sampler. I will be stitching not only Hs on mine but also sewing items like the scissors I have started, my husbands initials and a cat to symbolize Dagi. I am having lots of fun adding letters to this but am very unsure about the lightest of the three pink shades. It does not show up well at all on the fabric although it matches my fabric choice perfectly. I am going to have to change this shade and rip out the small H I already stitched.

We will be lining the box in fabric and making a few accessories for in the sewing box. I will share progress as I go along and hope to show you the other two boxes also. This is going to be fun to do since they are going to become very personal to each of us.

A tale of UFOs

2009-03-26T15:01:00.005+01:00

This is a tale of some UFOs. Just some mind you as I could never even admit to how many I have. That is what happens when you used to teach patchwork and lead a quilt group. You have to keep coming up with new things meaning the 'old things' never get finished. But I am going to share a few tht I have been concentrating on this month of March.

This is the first of my two charm quilts that I am making this year. Each year, I create a theme for our quilt group to work on. In January, we started on charm quilt. These are quilts using a one-patch block and in which all the fabrics are different. This type of quilt became popular in the Victorian period while women saved a scrap of fabric to use for making this quilt. You can read more it about it here.

We are swapping our scraps to help each other get as many fabrics as possible. My top is now ready to be sandwiched and quilted. I have made this charm quilt with a twist in its tale but I will reveal that when I show you the finished quilt next week. Did I say next week? Yes, I really want to get this quilt finished before my next quilt evening on the first Wednesday of April. Crunch time for the deadline!

I will keep the tale of this second quilt (sorry for the wrinkles) a secret until I am farther along with it. I am again making this quilt with a historic connection in mind. Are you intrigued? I hope so and I will tell you the tale soon...

Finally, this applique block has a tale. I have never been a lover of needle applique so I decided to start this Bunny Hill BOM to make myself practice the technique more. I am very behind as this is the January block and I have yet to start on February or March. I will start the next one after I get the quilting done on my charm quilt.

Next post, I will share my stitching projects. I just started a new project which is going to be a very fun one to work on!

Birthday party for a blogger!

2009-03-25T08:12:00.004+01:00

Today is a friend of mine's birthday. This very blog brought her into my life. She commented one day saying "Hello from another 40-something woman from Amersfoort". I commented back to her through my blog. We not only were the same age but from the same city. Later she started her own blog and we met for real.

She is a warm and caring person and I am so glad that this blog brought me her friendship. It is her birthday today and she is very busy now working so does not have time to blog as she used to. So I thought it would be fun to hold a birthday party for her here on my blog. Please help me to wish Carolien the most wonderful day today!

Happy birthday to you my dear friend! Time to get together soon so I can give you a little birthday gift...

A thread box

2009-03-22T11:27:00.009+01:00

So often I see something in a shop and instantly imagine what it will become when I start working on it. This happened one afternoon when I went to a little discount shop to buy my shampoo I use. I saw this box and opened it.

When I saw the inside, an idea I had was confirmed and I knew I had to buy it to start on a gift for a friend.

So I measured out the raised space on the top of the box and worked on a design that would fit just right. When finished, I mounted the stitched piece.

I then attached it to the wooden box to create a thread box for Diane. I finished off the edge with a piece of trim. This sweet little box has a removable tray and little places to hold special threads. I enjoyed trying to turn this box into something just that little bit special.

Monogram fun

2009-03-20T12:11:00.005+01:00

I just love stitching these French monogram letters. They are just instant beauty and who doesn't love a gift with their own letters on it?

These are a birthday gift for a friend of mine. She loved the ones I made for our bedroom at Cranberry Cottage. I have been wanting to make her a set.

I stitched the letters S and T for her and her husband's first name and L for their last name.

The frames where ones I found a couple of years ago in IKEA. I fell in love with them right away. I often see a frame and immediately get an idea of how to use it. The funny thing is the this same friend has seen these frames and is always telling me that she wants to buy them from me. How can she when I meant to use them for her own gifts. *grins*

She does not do any kind of crafts herself but loves things like this and I cannot wait until I see her next week to give them to her.

Primitive ornaments SAL - Noel

2009-03-15T17:03:00.005+01:00

The 15th of this month came very quickly with being at the hospital most of this week. I am sorry to be so late in the day but here is the third ornament of the SAL. This month, we are doing a universal Christmas word - Noel.

Once again, you can click on my chart photo to enlarge it and print it out. This ornament uses beads under each of the three bells.

Here is a slideshow of all the photos I have received so far. I am thrilled to see the various results and have really enjoyed seeing how everyone is finishing their own ornaments. Another idea for finishing is to complete each ornament and save it until all the ornaments are stitched at which time you can sew them together into a little quilt.

I have also decided to hold a giveaway each month from the photos entries received. Jos has just drawn the name of the first winner. Susan will be receiving a little gift in the mail very soon. I will look forward to next month's ornament and giveaway. I can't wait to see your results.

More swap blocks...the US blocks

2009-03-13T14:37:00.015+01:00

I am out of the hospital and back to trying to pick up my handwork once again. I am very tired but the treatments went well. They gave me three days of isolation at home. That is very short compared to normal as my body is releasing all the excess radioactivity very well. I now have to play the waiting game. It will be a year before they know if the treatment is a success. With lots of luck, I may find a 15% reduction in the swelling by about 4 months. I do have to have everything tested once again in 6 weeks as it is almost certain that the treatment will result in my thyroid no longer functioning properly and I will have to take medication. I just pray the treatments are successful so I can breath and eat well again.

These are the quilt blocks that my quilt group received from the ladies in the US. They all live in and around Fergus Falls, Minnesota. Karen led the group on that side. She and I have been visiting each other's blogs for some time now. She asked me if we could maybe organize a swap. It has been great fun!

Here is Karen's block - wool pennies made from cotton fabrics...

Paulette's block - Pinwheel made of MN State fabrics by Moda

Jolene's block - Old Maid Puzzle

Kari's block - Northern Lights

Carolyn's block - Stripes and Star

Joyce's block - Lady of the Lake

Mary Ellen's block - Kaleidoscope

Carri Jane's block - Hole In The Barndoor

Marcia's block - Friendship Star

Ruthie's block - Fall Strip Piecing

Gail's block - Card Trick

Liz's block - Buggy Barn Star

If you missed the entry about the Dutch blocks sent over to the US, you can still see them here. I will be back sometime over the weekend with an update on some things I am working on. Hope you all have a fabulous weekend.

Letters of life...

2009-03-10T21:54:00.005+01:00

As many of you know, I am having radioactive treatments at the hospital this week. I found out on Monday that I am not allowed to bring my needlework if I have to be admitted. Just in case I did have to stay in the hospital, I started these French monogram letters for a birthday gift for a friend. Her birthday is towards the end of my isolation period. I had planned on working on these while in isolation. Here are the letters 'S' and 'L'. I will have to stitch the 'T' when I am re

I was told this morning that my dose will be too high and I will be admitted tomorrow morning. I hope to be at a low enough radiation level to be able to leave the hospital during the day on Thursday. I have found it all going very easy for all the tests and measurements yesterday and today. Anything I take along will become radioactive and will be disposed of. I am wearing old clothes that can be thrown away when I am discharged.I do however not feel very good about coping with being without my needle and thread for even 24 hours. I am definately addicted! But I am also grateful for the good care I am getting at the hospital.

For now, I am off back home to cuddle my cat and get some sleep for tomorrow morning.I am writing this blog entry from my friend Sonja's house now as she wanted to cook for us tonight. Thank you Sonja!

I will be back in a couple of days and visiting you all once again.

Sweet dreams...

2009-03-06T17:31:00.006+01:00

This sweet little child's bed really caught my eye at the quilt exhibition in the Fries Museum. I love things like this along with little quilts made especially to fit these elegant girl's toys. It is a special piece of social history.

It made me think of the antique cradle I have and decided to show these old photos once again. I had just given a workshop for a tabletopper quilt and had lots of triangle corners that were cut off. Instead of throwing them away. I sewed them together and created a little doll's quilt. I was very happy with the results of this tiny pinwheel quilt. I had been dreaming of finding a doll's bed or cradle one day.

While out shopping one day with a friend, I found this antique cradle in a garden center that also sells antiques. I just knew it was the one I wanted even though it is tattered and worn. I loved the primitive looking paintings around the cradle. I said to my friend as I place it in my car that I was sure it would be just right for my quilt. She laughed but was amazed when we got it home and it was a perfect fit.

"Sweet dreams form a shade,
O'er my lovely infants head.
Sweet dreams of pleasant streams,
By happy silent moony beams

Sweet sleep with soft down.
Weave thy brows an infant crown.
Sweet sleep Angel mild,
Hover o'er my happy child."

~ William Blake

Shamrock fun!

2009-03-04T11:24:00.009+01:00

Last year, I wanted to make something for St. Patrick's Day but just never got around to it. This year, I am ready for March 17th to arrive as my house is all in clover...

I saved this sweet pattern and it was so much fun to make these shamrocks. I did not 'grunge' (dirty look) them as the pattern suggested. I like these fabrics from my stash as they are.

I used gold safety pins instead of the rusted ones. To me St. Patrick's Day says leprechauns and the pot of gold. Still looking for both by the way...

I wonder if anyone will believe this when they come through my front door? *grins*

It was fun making these muslin tags to attach. I had to draw the letters freehand as I don't have a stamp but am pleased with how they have turned out. Having learned calligraphy as a girl really does come in handy.

Note to all who have been supporting me through the health problems with my thyroid, I wanted to let everyone know that I just spoke with the doctor and the biopsy was okay. She is not happy with the amount of cells removed and wants to repeat it in 4 to 6 months to be sure but says I can go ahead with my treatments starting on Monday. I will not know until Tuesday whether I am able to go into my isolation here at home or start it with a hospital stay. I also have no idea yet how long the isolation will be but it is a maximum of three weeks. Thank goodness for blogging as it will keep me in touch with the world. I am used to seeing my stitching and quilting friends here and while I am allowed to have visitors it is with restrictions. I will leave them the choice as to whether they want to come or not. Thank you so much for your supportive emails! I really do appreciate it and all your thoughts and prayers over the past month.

History thread into patchwork

2009-02-28T11:17:00.010+01:00

If you do nothing else this weekend, take some time to look at these beautiful patchwork skirts. They are not just any skirts but garments that tell a story of people's hope and courage. At the Fries Museum, they exhibited a few of what is referred to in Holland as a Nationale Feestrok or National Celebration skirts. These patchwork garments tell a very deep story about a country that was torn apart but not defeated by a war as well as the story of a courageous woman named Mies Boissevain-Van Lennep.

You can read her story here online and also see another skirt here at another museum. I think after you have read this story, you will not help but to be inspired by the fortitude of those who went ahead of us in history. For Dutch readers, another interesting article here.

1940 - 1945 "Bent, not broken"...

The Jewish star...

Red cross patch...

I am always touched at how woman turn to needle and thread to leave an imprint of themselves in history. Remember as you perhaps sit down this weekend to stitch or quilt, that your piece is not simply something for today but can also have an impact on your family as an heirloom for coming generations.

It's laundry day...

2009-02-25T16:02:00.005+01:00

...and that means work is being done on my wash day quilt. I have lots of fun while I wait for my washer to switch off. I am pulling out fabrics from my stash to add more colors and textures to this quilt.

Here is what I have come up with so far. I hope to get most of blocks sewn together now this week as I have it all laying out on my cutting table. While trying to find enough reproduction background fabrics, I started borrowing the fabrics I am using for my Centennial Sampler. They are melding very well with the other fabrics. I want to use many of my purple fabrics in this quilt.

It was a fobbing weekend this past weekend for me. I got started as I needed to make a fob as a gift. I think I got a little carried away. I made key chains this time too. They are birthday gifts for my grand nieces and nephew.

And finally, here is my French ABC sampler all caught up. My goal was to be right on track with everyone in the SAL by the end of February and I finished it with a week to spare. The new part should be out this week and I am excited to print it out and start it because there is a sweet little squirrel this time.

I had many questions about what color I was using for my sampler. I am using DMC 3787, DMC 3721 and DMC 223. I am enjoying balancing these three colors throughout the sampler.

For the love of old quilts...

2009-02-21T21:56:00.014+01:00

I just love old quilts. I love the feeling these special textiles give when you see them. So I arranged to go to a quilt exhibition with some of my quilting friends this past week. There is even something here for stitchers so keep on reading...

Imagine our shock at seeing this color, among others you will see later, as a backdrop to these incredible pieces of history! I must admit I would like to see them all over again simply because I see that I was so distracted by the walls and the way they were hung. More on that with the next photo! I hope you will be able to enjoy that photos regardless and remember that they can be enlarged by clicking on them. I have purposely left them as is instead of cropping the walls away. Get ready for a clashing colorful ride...

This wall 'hit' us as the first thing when we walked in the room. We were all horrified that they hung these quilts so high. You had the urge to want to pull them all down again to wear a normal human being could see them. I felt like I could not make contact with them even visually.

I felt like Little Sprout from the Jolly Green Giant commercials but still loved seeing what I could of these beauties. These are my kind of muted colors in a quilt!

This looks very Amish ~ a log cabin quilt in the Barn Raising setting.

A blended quilt as those that inspired the books by Marsha McCloskey and Sharon Evans Yenter.

This one is similar to my wash day quilt.

This was a sweet display of little samples and an early fabric sample book.

A pretty sampler from an early day. Have you put on your sunglasses yet to hide from those walls? *grins*

I will be sharing more of the dresses this week over on my other blog but this one was set up so cute right in front of the pretty hourglass quilt. Can't you just imagine the little girl who wore this dress?

In the medallion center of the hoursglass quilt were the stitched initials and date of the quilter. The label becomes part of the quilt. Not only does this add to the intrigue of the quilt's history, I pondered how I get upset with myself if my points are not just right. I am redoing a block I just did as I noticed on the photo that I had it sewn poorly in the points. But this quilt is simply a labor of love and not perfection. And I find this utterly charming!

I only took two photos of the modern quilts in this room. I am never drawn to modern quilts. I do admire their workmanship. One of my friends loved this quilt and I wanted to be sure to try and get a photo for her in case hers did not come out. We were rightly not able to use a flash and it was difficult to get clear photos.

This modern quilt really does appeal to me as it combines the old and the new together.

I will continue sharing the quilt show with you later this coming week. I hope you enjoyed looking closely as some pretty old quilt!

A gift for Karen

2009-02-20T06:08:00.001+01:00

When I mailed the swap box to Karen, I decided to throw in some Dutch candy and cookies for her to enjoy. I also made her a scissor fob. I know she likes autumn tones as I do so I created the fob using an rust brown beading and a stork scissor charm.

Once the quilt group has seen the blocks at our next meeting, I will share the American blocks with you. That will be sometime after the first week of March.

International block swap

2009-02-18T21:45:00.017+01:00

My quilt group has just received a box of blocks from an American group for our patchwork block exchange. I set this swap up with a fellow blogger Karen. We had the ladies make blocks sharing something about our area, culture, history or ourselves. This is the results of the blocks made by the Dutch ladies...

"Windmolen" or Windmill ~ block by Nell

Some choices for our quilt blocks are very obvious as is the Dutch windmill. Holland has always been known for its windmills that were used for various purposes. There are windmills in polders used for irrigation or mills used for pressing seeds for oil or grinding various things from making flour to powders used for paints.

"Klompen" or Wooden shoes ~ block by Hanneke

What person in the world does not associate Holland with wooden shoes? They are still a useful item to this day for many Dutch people. You see people wearing them in a garden as they are a great way to keep your feet dry. You will even see a farmer on his bicycle wearing his wooden shoes.
"Tulpen" and "Bollenvelden"or Tulips and Bulb fields ~ tulips by Albertha

The Dutch are famous for their fields of beautiful color where they grow various flowers for their bulbs. Some examples are hyacinths, daffodils and tulips. These fields are like artwork until it is time to cut off the flower heads to prepare to harvest the bulbs. Blocks of color in perfect rows can be seen.

The Dutch brought the first tulip bulbs to Europe in the early 17th century from Turkey. It became a prized and expensive commodity.

Block by Elly (see description above)

"Botter" or Dutch sailboat ~ block by Heidi

Ship building remains an important part of the Dutch culture. During the Golden Age, the Dutch were leaders in ship building. So much so that the Russian Tsar Peter came to Holland with a group of Russians to learn the ship building trade incognito. In this day and age, sailboats are popular in Holland. The "botter" is a special wooden sailboat that is seen on the waters. It is noted for having brown sails.

VOC Golden Century period of Holland ~ block by Anita

The Dutch were leaders in the Golden Century in bringing many precious commodities back to Europe. They found and imported items like spices, porcelain, fabric, coffee and tea. We have two blocks representing this period. The first is teapots for tea import. At that time, tea was considered more precious than coffee. The woman of the house would keep her tea leaves locked away and mix them for the servants to make tea. The servants would then be allowed to make a pot of tea from the used leaves.

"Sitsen" or Chintz fabrics ~ block by Enny

The Dutch imported much fabric from India and the Far East. These Chintz fabrics were called "Sitsen" in Holland and used for the dresses. This block represents the idea of the colorful and heavily patterned fabric imported.

"Trapgevel" or Step gable ~ block by Joke

Dutch architecture of old is well loved the world over due to its various gabled houses in the major cities like Amsterdam, Haarlem or Amersfoort. Amersfoort is the city where the ladies of the Gouden Draad Quilt Groep are from. A gable is often named after the shape of its roofline. Here is the step gable named for its jagged roof looking like a step ladder.

Delft blue tiles ~ block by Bep

One tradition still going strong in Holland is the Deflt blue tiles being produced. They have seen a new found popularity lately. These tiles were produced originally in the city of Deflt. The technique using paints the turned the shades of blue while in the kilns.

Dutch tea towels and washing ~ block by Mieke

Dutch women have a love of order and neatness. They enjoy hanging their sheets and towels out on the washing line in the fresh air on a bright sunny day.

Dutch buttons and trims ~ block by Saskia

There used to be many wonderful haberdashery shops in Holland. Unfortunately, they are slowly closing but there are open air markets where a wide choice of buttons, trims and laces can be purchased. There used to be button factories around the country. As women started sewing less, these factories closed.

Dutch royal connections ~ block by Miep

The Dutch still have a royal family but there is a connection to a Dutch king in America. The Dutch king William III married the British queen Mary II. They gave a royal charter to the college baring their name in Williamsburg which is the second oldest college in America. The name of the college is College of William and Mary.

Wash Day quilt

2009-02-16T21:38:00.005+01:00

Mondays are often wash days in my home. I work on laundry over the weekend but often have an overflow to Monday. I decided while I was waiting for my dryer to shut off that I would start a long awaited new project on wash days. Normally I stitch while I wait but decided I would do my patchwork thus dubbing my new project the Wash Day quilt.

This photo is of an antique Dutch crib quilt dating to around 1815. I have seen quilts like this in museum collections and long wanted to reproduce this quilt in a small doll size.

First to choose a size to work with...I am making 2 inch blocks. The quilt consists of a center star block, hourglass blocks, 4 patch blocks and applique circle corner blocks. My quilt will end up 23 inches wide by 27 inches long. Starting the 4-patch blocks was very easy since I have a draw of cut scraps some of which were 1-1/2 inch squares. All I had to do was match some fabrics for an old look and start sewing. I then cut some half square triangles to start some of my hourglass blocks. The quilt is starting to take shape.

I will work on this project each time I work on my laundry. This will be fun to do this in the coming months. I like the idea that a job in our home will be marked by a pretty new, old quilt.

“We should all do what, in the long run, gives us joy, even if it is only picking grapes or sorting the laundry.”

~ E B White

Primitive ornaments SAL - Let It Snow

2009-02-15T08:47:00.008+01:00

I am excited to share the second Primitive Pillow ornament with you...

I decided to use Let It Snow this month only to find we have possible snow flurries in the forecast for today. I also know it is still snowing in places like Scandinavia, America and Canada. So celebrate that snowy blanket by stitching up this ornament today.

I will be using beads on a couple of these ornaments but although I considered enhancing the sides of this design with little while beads, I decided I wanted them to all stay very simple and primitive looking. There are a couple of the designs where the beads are necessary. Please feel free to add beads to your Let It Snow if you would like. There are also little snowflake buttons available which would also look cute.

I am using two fabrics that match to back my own ornaments but you could choose to use scraps making each pillow unique.

If you missed the first ornament and would still like to stitch them all, you can find the first one here. I am going to look forward to receiving more photos of finished ornaments in the coming weeks.

Here is a photo of the beautiful version of Believe by Barbara. She has made primitive go elegant. I love her twisted fabric hanger.

A large UFO project

2009-02-11T16:21:00.012+01:00

Recently, an online friend and I were discussing a couple of book series that we both enjoy. Barbara was talking about the Elm Creek Quilts novels by Jennifer Chiaverini which I have been reading since the series started. Back in 2005, Jennifer Chiaverini started putting the blocks on her website for the quilt in her novel "The Master Quilter". I started working on the blocks for Sylvia's Bridal Sampler as they came out but ended up having to work on other things for my quilt group and this moved to my UFO pile after the third row.

I promised Barbara I would show her my SBS quilt so I could not resist starting it back up once again. Here is the quilt up to now along with a few detail photos...

I am using an old fashioned background of cream calico print with a mixture of autumn tones for the blocks. My border will be a floral print which you can barely see peeking out by the background fabric in my box...

The blocks completed for row D of the quilt are...

Milky Way...

Orange Peel...

And completed today, Boy's Nonsense...

It has been a good thing that Barbara and I talked about this as I now have been sparked to start working on it once again. Almost 4 years of sitting dormant is just too long.

Heartfelt handwork...

2009-02-09T13:40:00.001+01:00

I thought it would be fun to share my handwork with a heart and/or Valentine's Day theme. I hope you enjoy seeing these stitched and quilted items...

Slow stitching.....

2009-02-07T17:36:00.006+01:00

Have you heard of the slow food movement? You know where you go back to the old fashioned values of taking time to cook and enjoy a meal? Well, how about slow stitching? Having developed another major health problem, I am trying to slow down in 2009. I still am on a partial stash diet and working through WIPs and UFOs to get some old projects done. I found last year very rewarding when I started this and decided it should continue this year. But this year, I want to really slow down enough to live in the moment so to speak with my stitching and quilting.

I have said many times how I love anything with an alphabet on it! Well, when an online friend shared a blog I had never seen before and this SAL started, I tried to tell myself I did not need to start this new project. My focus this year was to be my Ohio samplers afterall...

But I could not resist and started this only in January so most participating were already on part two. I set a goal to try and totally catch up by the end of February so I would be ready for part four as it came out. I am happy to say that I have completed parts one and two so I can start on part three this weekend. I should have my goal completed in time. I have not rushed this and tried to really enjoy each stitch.

Those letters are beautiful but I also love the look of this little block with the lace edge. I am stitching this sampler 1 over 1 on 28-count linen. The total width of the sampler is 6-1/2 inches which gives it such a dainty look. If you want to stitch this beautiful sampler just check out Gazette94.

The blessing of a friend!

2009-02-04T18:26:00.005+01:00

Before I start this entry, let me apologize for the quality of the photos. I wish I could get a better photo but wanted to try and capture the true color.

I just wrote a blog entry today on my other blog about a sweet surprise dropping on my doormat. I am feeling very blessed today! This evening, our packages postman (we have two - one brings the mail and the other any packages) rang my doorbell. He handed me two packages. First, I received a thoughtful box of tea from a dear friend Hazel in England. I am so touched by your sweet letter to me Hazel and thank you so very much for your thoughtfulness. I am honored that you feel I inspired you and wish you the very best of luck with your "Christmas Spice" demonstration. I am sure it will go very well and hope everyone enjoys making the little tabletopper quilt. I will think of you as I drink a cup of this lovely tea.

I then opened an envelope from a blogging friend in the US. Teresa made me a PIF gift which is just beautiful. I am wearing it now as I type these words ~ a knitted scarf in gem stone tones. It is so soft! I took this silly photo of myself wearing it as there is no one here now to take one for me. I almost thought it was too funny looking to even share it but want Teresa to see it. She said she wanted me to know she was praying for my health problems and I feel like she sent me a real hug while I wear this scarf! I love the colors in it. It reminds me of our heather fields here in Holland. Just perfect Teresa. Thank you so very much for the scarf and your friendship!

Happy Groundhog Day!

2009-02-02T12:51:00.005+01:00

Yes, my friends, it is Candlemas Day or as it is affectionately known in America, Groundhog day. On this day, we are informed by a sweet little creature called Punxsutawney Phil how long winter will be with us. The Groundhog comes out of his winter hibernation and if he sees his shadow he goes back for another six weeks, but if the day is cloudy he remains out, as the weather is to be moderate. Here Phil would not see his shadow. I will be waiting to hear from some of you across the pond what the results are today...

And so for Groundhog Day, here is the pinkeep I made back in 2007.....

"As the light grows longer
The cold grows stronger
If Candlemas be fair and bright
Winter will have another flight
If Candlemas be cloud and snow
Winter will be gone and not come again
A farmer should on Candlemas day
Have half his corn and half his hay
On Candlemas day if thorns hang a drop
You can be sure of a good pea crop"

Love a quick finish!

2009-01-30T16:37:00.010+01:00

I just love a quick finish! I decided to stitch up two of Stacy Nash's Ohio patterns between the larger reproduction samplers that I will be stitching over the course of this year. This is the first of the two. It feels great to stitch up these sweet little charts as they go so fast. Even for me they go fast and I am not a quick stitcher. *grins*

Now I did change the colors just ever so slightly once again because I did not have a couple of the colors and did not want to wait and have to buy new DMC. I so hope that Stacy does not mind. I am leary anymore after the last sampler. I used an overdyed linen and will frame this one instead of making a pillow. I want all the samplers to hang together on my Ohio wall.

Another finish is one I did as a little gift for a dear online friend. I have had the great fortune to meet some wonderful people online and Diane is one of them. She and I met through a Yahoo list a number of years ago and we clicked immediately.

So I decided to sew her a patchwork needlebook to send at Christmas. But this bad old elf did not get it done in time to send with a Christmas card so she got it just because instead. Just because I cherish her friendship! I was happy to hear from her last night that she had received it in the mail.

I used the patchwork block called 'Contrary Wife'. There are four wool felt pages for her needles and a tiny button and satin ribbon to close the book.

I enjoy making these little patchwork needlebooks and sharing them. It is a fun way to keep your needles and pins together when you are doing your stitching or quilting.

The charm of patchwork!

2009-01-27T16:12:00.007+01:00

I have been wanting to tell you about my quilt groups theme for 2009 and could think of no better moment than after my last entry. I received such a sweet comment from my friend Angela and it led to a discussion about needlework being a part of daily chores in days gone by. I recommended a few journals to her which I find inspiring. I don't think woman thought of doing their patchwork as a chore. I believe from reading the journals that it was a light part of their existence. Maybe I am dreaming and looking at it all to romantically?

I know they had to have quilts to keep them warm. They were even hung at the windows. I know they did not always have time to think of the beauty of the quilt and yet look at some of the antique quilts found today. It was not only function. And in reading the journals, you feel their excitement as they discover new patterns from friends, family and neighbors.

Our theme this year is charm quilts. Nowadays we think of charms as the packets of squares you can order from quilt shops. But a charm quilt is a quilt made with a one-patch block using a different fabric for each patch. It was popular back in the Victorian times and again in the 1920-30s when times were hard. People would share pieces of fabric with one another. I love the romantic notion the Victorians held...you collected 999 various fabrics for your charm quilt and the 1000th fabric would come from your beloved.

We will be swapping fabrics from our stash this year in our group to help each other gather as many different fabrics as possible. Everyone choose a one-patch block they will use and we measured what size charm they need for it. It will be fun to share with each other. I find this fitting also in a year that the financial crisis has finally hit Holland since this is such an economical project to work on.

I have chosen to make two charm quilts. This is one of them. I am using pinks, soft brown and beige, cream, soft blue, soft green and soft yellow as my colors. All the fabrics are floral, striped, spotted or checked. I want to achieve a romantic and nostalgic look to this quilt. I picked a half hexagon shape. This past weekend, I received an envelope after having sent one to surprise one of the ladies in my quilt group with her charms from me. She asked me what I needed for my charm quilts and in turn surprised me with some too. I have been working her fabrics into my quilt. It is great fun to do and you have no idea what others will share with you.

Now for my dear friend Angela as well as anyone who loves their needle, this quote is for you all! I have always been found of this quote from a favorite novel "The Mill on the Floss" (George Eliot) as it is very amusing...

“Oh, dear, oh, dear, Maggie, what are you thinkin'of, to throw your bonnet down there? Take it upstairs, there's a good gell, an' let your hair be brushed, an' put your other pinafore on, an' change your shoes, do, for shame; an' come an' go on with your patchwork, like a little lady.”

“Oh, mother,” said Maggie, in a vehemently cross tone, “I don't want to do my patchwork.”

“What! not your pretty patchwork, to make a counterpane for your aunt Glegg?”

“It's foolish work,” said Maggie, with a toss of her mane,—“tearing things to pieces to sew 'em together again. And I don't want to do anything for my aunt Glegg. I don't like her.”

Exit Maggie, dragging her bonnet by the string, while Mr. Tulliver laughs audibly.

Old friends.....

2009-01-23T11:49:00.004+01:00

During the cold month of January, it seems my needle and thread are old friends. I know many of my stitching and quilting friends feel the same. So I wrap up in a warm afghan that my mother knitted for me in the evenings and stitch each evening. After having spent the day with Carolien which you can read about here, I decided last night to finish the second of my two latest blocks from the Centennial Sampler. I had not quite finished while she was here. I then worked on my ABC sampler and will show you my progress soon.

I am displaying them here with some wonderful gifts that Carolien brought me ~ two wooden spools and two wooden thread winders. I love them and want to once again say a big thank you to Carolien for her thoughtfulness.

I have another Believe ornament finish to share with you. This ornament was stitched and sewn by Letty. Isn't the trim she used for the hanger just so country vintage? You did a wonderful job Letty and thank you for sharing your finish.

Believe ornaments revealed...

2009-01-19T10:46:00.002+01:00

Enjoy a few finishes of the first primitive pillow ornament. Thanks to Susan and Linda for sharing their stitching. I would love to include your finish if you decide to stitch along with us. Just send me your photo...

Primitive ornaments SAL - Believe

2009-01-15T12:44:00.010+01:00

Over the Christmas holiday, I was visited by my creative muse and got the urge to try my hand at designing my own Christmas ornaments. Now I am a needlewoman who believes that things become most beautiful when shared with others. I would like to share these ornament design with my blog readers. On the 15th of each month, I will put another of my primitive ornaments on my blog for you to stitch.

I have never done this before and don't have any computer programs to design with. For me, it was a pencil and graph paper. I have scanned the pattern for you. Enlarge the pattern and print it out by copying it to Word. I somehow think the idea of a hand drawn pattern fits the whole idea of these little primitive pillows.

If you would prefer a more traditional look to your ornament pillows, change the linen to a white or cream and change the threads to bright Christmas colors. Use a traditional fabric to back the pillow with a ribbon to hang.

Once your design is stitched, simply sew into a little pillow using jute string for hanging.

This design is stitched with two over two. I used 30 count Old Mill Java R&R linen. I used overdyed threads which add to the primitive look. I used red ~ Sampler Threads by The Gentle Arts "Cranberry", Carrie's Threads "Cocoa" and "Antique Gold". Choose your own favorite shades of red, brown and gold from your stash. DMC thread will also work fine for this design.

I hope you have fun stitching this primitive pillow. It is a perfect way to stitch something quick and easy between other projects. By the end of the year, you will have a dozen ornaments to use in a small tree or wreath or perhaps add to your own collection of ornaments. I would love to see a photo of your own finished version. Please email me (see my profile for my email) and I will create a gallery of finishes. Enjoy!

Beginnings and endings...

2009-01-14T11:56:00.007+01:00

I have a finish to show you. Well, it was finished for a little while now but needed sewn to fit onto the hanger which I finally did last week. Here is my Santa from 'Winter Fairytale' by Annette Jungmann. A book by Rico Designs. I must use the "C" word again as I changed the recommended browns of Santa's coat to two browns that matched my new couches perfectly. They are a cocoa powder brown.

I had to put this aside of the holidays instead of finishing it as I started something really exciting. I will be sharing that on the 15th of each month all this year so please come by tomorrow and have a peek!

And the beginnings...

Last year, an online friend shared this wonderful blog with our stitching list and I fell in love with this new SAL starting there. I told myself I really did not need to start this and that was that! But it kept swimming around in my mind. I really love anything with an alphabet as you probably know. I planned on starting the next Ohio sampler right away but needed a break after what happened. ** Don't worry, I will be starting my next Ohio project this month too. ** So I thought I would just go ahead and do this SAL. I have planned that I should be able to catch up by the end of part three. I had done the SAL for Alter Echo back in 2006. I loved the look of the colors I used at the time and decided to use the same grey (DMC 3787)once again and this time combine it with two pinks (DMC 223 and 3721). I am stitching this one over one on Lambswool linen 26-count.

I kept trying to tell myself not to start it even as I was putting in the first stitches. *grins* I must admit thought that I am very happy to be stitching it. It is such a lovely design!

Spools of thread

2009-01-09T15:50:00.006+01:00

What is it about spools of thread that attract all quilters and stitchers alike? Something that is a practical item used to wind thread for home use has become a thing of beauty! I am going to try and find more wooden spools this year for a fun Christmas project next year. I know this will be no easy task as so many search for them too. This year, I hung wooden spools in my sewing tree for the holidays. They are once again in my vintage sewing accessories cupboard.

But spools are sweet for yet another reason...
...they are a quilt block. I made this quilt back in 2005 to use for a quilt workshop. I was teaching how playing with simple half square triangles, you can create a wide variety of blocks including the traditional spools block. I called the quilt "Sew Many Spools".

These tabletopper quilts are wonderful ways to add accents to decorate your home. I have it in my laundry room now with my antique sewing machine and irons. I continue to use my little quilts throughout my home in various ways each year. By changing them off continually, the quilts all become new again when I get them out after not using them for a while.

My first finish for 2009

2009-01-08T15:17:00.010+01:00

I have completed my first stitching project for 2009. It is the Ohio sampler I was working on since this past autumn. I will not be sharing a photo of this finished piece as I have deleted all entries pertaining to the MB circa 1810 sampler I was working on after receiving an email from the designer late last night, who I do not know, sharing her opinion about my changing a color in the design. This was done not to offend but because the color was not visible on the linen. I am sorry that I fell I can no longer share the photos with my readers. I am however listing it in my blog sideline list as I enjoy looking back at what I have completed at the end of each year.

Instead, I thought I would show an old photo from an entry back in 2006. This sweet little chart was sent to me complete with thread by a dear online friend Joanne. I stitched it up into a pinkeep which is currently standing under my winter tree.

Edit note: Thanks for your supportive and kind remarks. She did thank me for buying her design but I felt uncomfortable sharing any photos after her correcting comments about the thread color. I feel handworkers for the most part have gracious and caring hearts. So that is what I am trying to be after feeling like a child being corrected when I received this email but feel that having photos of it on my blog is free advertising.

Medallion quilt project - part five

2009-01-06T13:55:00.014+01:00

Remember our quilt theme in my quilt group last year? I never shared the final borders with you. We are meeting tomorrow evening and will start out new theme so I thought I would share the medallion quilts the ladies made last year. They are all very special since each quilt tells a story...

Don't forget you can click on the photos to enlarge them and get a much better look at the detail.

The challenge for this last border was that each person received a fat quarter from me and they had to work that fabric into the last border. Now for some of them it was a real challenge depending on what fabric they were given. I wanted to stimulate them to have to work with something outside of their safe zone in some cases. It was great fun as I took all their quilt tops up to my studio and cut the fabric which I placed in the folded top. They all looked at their challenge fabric at the same time. Further, the last border was a symbol of their current surroundings and hopes and dreams for the future.

For anyone wanting to reread the previous stories, you can find them here and here and here.

Joke ~ Joke was given a fat quarter of her teal color but one with a more vivid leaf print on it. The challenge was to work in a totally different feel of fabric texture and make it work. She used a number of blocks offset from each other to create the symbols of her last border. You will notice first in the right corner the log cabin blocks which stand for a warm and safe home. The two corners across from each other have the block Card Trick and this shows that life is unpredictable while the Flying Geese in each side are the fact that you sometimes want to get away from it all and escape. Delectable Mountains (top left corner), Compass and Broken Band (either side of Card Trick) stand for the hope that in spite of all the obstacles in life, she hopes to come to calm waters and restore a broken band with her son.

Jacomina ~ Jacomina's fat quarter was a major challenge for her. I gave her a soft blue homespun plaid that was the perfect color for her choice of fabrics. Her challenge was using a plaid which she absolutely loaths. I hoped this would help her to use plaids more. I don't think she will but everyone agreed that the plaid really stood out and made the border come together well. I hope you can get an impression of this in the enlarged photo. Her border was a coming together of everything in her previous borders along with more of the toile fabric of the little boy and girl which are a symbol of her twin grandchildren.

Miep ~ Her fat quarter was a dark green plaid which gave a contrast to the prints and florals she was using. Her borders is a series of "mountains" which represents the highs and lows of life. She used red and black corners to show life's natural cycle of life and death.

Elly ~ Elly's challenge was to use a fat quarter that was biege with pink rose buds which is a bit more romantic than she would normally choose herself. I must say her challenge fabric ended up blending in to her quilt perfectly. Her border is the Cracker block creating a wave around the quilt which stands for the wave of life with all its ups and downs. Her four feature blocks are (starting from the top middle): Dove symbol for peace in the world and among men, House symbol for a safe and happy home for herself and also her 4 children, Wedding Ring symbol for her hope that she will one day marry again, and Grandmother's Flower Garden for her hope to have a beautiful flower garden.

Enny ~ Her challenge was to use a darker shade of mossy green giving a little extra dimension to the last border. She used the fabric in the four corners. She says she just did not have any story behind this assignment other than to do something she thought was pretty. They are interlocking squares. She was so excited to work on it and did not wait so had her last border ready ahead of time.

Saskia ~ Her fat quarter challenge was a piece of blue fabric. She, like myself, is not really fond of blue. She used Flying Geese in all four side of the border to show life is all the corners of the world. The 4 cornerstones symbolize for her (starting top left going counterclockwise): Fortune or CrossRoads meaning prosperity and fortune, House meaning finding her dream house, Pineapple for friendship and Heart for love.

Bep ~ Bep's border is full of various symbols behind the use of Flying Geese. She used the block and the color variations to mean a need for freedom, flying through light days or dark days, the nature and then light days returning home. Home is symbolized by the four cornerstones.

Setting the tone.....

2008-12-31T14:13:00.006+01:00

There is a New Year's superstition that says what you do on New Year's eve and most especially on New Year's Day will set the tone for the entire coming year. Now this might be a frightening thought to some people but to me it is a great excuse to spend both days doing what I love to do best...

I have started another quilt. It is one that I had planned on starting when I finished more UFOs but I decided it was time. I had the fabrics all picked out and set them aside so I grabbed them and to start cutting strips. This block is called "Merry Go Round". Sorry the photos may seem a bit dark. It is a grey and misty day here in Holland.

I have 8 blocks done. Each set of strips gives you two blocks when cut, a positive and negative version of the three fabrics you use. I have a good deal further to go but will share progress as I move along. I love the vintage feel of this block and am using creams, beiges, pinks, reds, greens and blues for it.

Now doing my patchwork set the tone for my quilting in 2009 but how about stitching. I am going to work on my Ohio sampler which is close to being finished. I have a number of stitching goals for the coming year. And I am helped along by my sweet little Zoe Pickle back home. She sent me this gift of DMC thread and all in my favorite yummy autumn shades. Very good for a 6 year old right?!

Playing Secret Santa...

2008-12-28T16:43:00.008+01:00

We held a Secret Santa swap this year on my stitching list. Here are the items I sent playing Santa to Roberta...

We were supposed to handmake an item and then send along any little things we wanted. I did not upwrap the one gift for the photo since it had been nicely wrapped at a little shop up north. Roberta has chickens and roosters in her kitchen so when I found a set of chicken teaspoons, I knew they had to be included. I also sent along holiday hankies and a Christmas tree hanger as Roberta is a stitcher and quilter. I knew she could find the perfect project to use this hanger for.

My handmade part of the gift was a crazy quilt stocking doorhanger. I used a different ribbon or trim on each seam that we all handsewn on which you can see if you enlarge the photo by clicking on it.

The velvet ribbon hanger is attached with a vintage looking button.

My own Secret Santa was Clare who spoiled me with a box of goodies from England. There was a fabric bird which is now nestled in my Christmas tree at Cranberry Cottage. I use birds on that tree. She also gave me a wooden toadstool which is on the bookshelves at the cottage. Further, there were two fat quarters which already have a use that I will share one day soon, Santa tealights, bookmark calendar, notecards and a chocolate tree.

The handmade gift is this lovely pillow. She used my favorite kind of linen ~ hand dyed and spotted linen. I love it so much and it is going to make a lovely way to welcome spring in my displays in the house when I put my Christmas things away. I am looking forward to using it and will treasure it always. Thank you so much Clare!

Wishing you a Merry Christmas!

2008-12-24T12:05:00.002+01:00

Burr ..... cold!

That is what our forecast is for the long Christmas weekend. So I am packing to leave for Cranberry Cottage and my brother knitted me this hat and scarf which must go along for our walks in the woods! I wanted to stop in before we leave to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! Thank you all for reading my blog and leaving such wonderful comments. I appreciate each and every comment I receive. I love the friendships that have grown through blogging.

Merry Christmas to all!

My sewing tree...

2008-12-23T09:22:00.002+01:00

This is my sewing tree. I have talked about doing this for the last couple of years and decided it was time this year. It is in my quilt studio. I spend a good deal of my time there so really do enjoy seeing this tree.

I used my lighted branches in a vase. The decorations are my actual sewing items ~ thread winders, scissor collection, strawberry emeries, wooden spools and a few handmade ornaments. Some are button ornaments, a crocheted wreath and some patchwork ornaments. I have received these from friends in my quilt group and some online friends. They are now being displayed on this sewing tree. I used red organza ribbon and vintage lace to hang everything.

I already have an idea for decorating my wooden spools which I cannot wait to try out and will have to try and find more of them by next Christmas.

You can view the slide show here or click on it and look at the photos individually. I hope you will enjoy seeing my sewing tree. I had so much fun creating it.

My white Christmas is.....

2008-12-21T23:39:00.009+01:00

...here in my reading corner. I have a small tree there which is filled with my handmade bobbin lace ornaments.

Each year, I have been making an ornament to use in this tree. I did not make one this year and wish I had. I will definitely add one next year!

Have a closer look at a few of the ornaments. There is everything from a nativity...

to candles...

and snowmen...

stars...

...and pretzels.

Making these ornaments are fun and each is unique. It gives a pretty white glow to the room. We are discussing homemade items for the holidays on my stitching list and I enjoy things like this which I can add to each year.

Quilt group Christmas party

2008-12-19T13:10:00.001+01:00

Our Christmas party on Wednesday was lots of fun. We share an evening of laughter which to me is what Christmas spirit is all about. I put together a slide show for you since there are so many photos. I hope you take the time to look and share our fun evening...

'Twas the night before...

2008-12-16T21:48:00.013+01:00

.....when all through the house, this creature was stirring and busy as a mouse.

She was not altogether ready and wanted to sit and stitch, but tomorrow is the Christmas party, a quilt evening not to be missed...

As you see, my progress on the Santa banner is poor indeed.

I took it along this past weekend but we were busy helping our neighbors as some of their trees were taken out. We now have alot of work ahead of us to get this wood they gave us into firewood.

But finally, my tree is up and ready...
I have almost all the gifts wrapped for tomorrow night...
The newsletter is finished and just needs printing...

The pickle is in the tree waiting to be found by one of the ladies...

...who will win this extra gift...

My Christmas cards are waiting to be passed out...

And I even had time today to mail a package to Joni as a belated birthday gift and sew the last set of coasters for Barbara...

She asked for red, green and white. Barbara is a big snowman fan so what else could I made but snowmen!

I will be up late tonight doing more things for tomorrow. There is little sleep for elves at this time of year!

Colors in my corner of the world

2008-12-12T14:37:00.015+01:00

I promised (or rather Dagi did) an undate on my Ohio sampler ~ MB circa 1810 sampler. I finished the top of the sampler and just love all those alphabets.

Edit - January 8, 2009 - I have deleted all entries pertaining to the MB circe 1810 sampler I was working on after receiving an email from the designer, who I do not know, sharing her opinion about my changing a color in the design. This was done not to offend but because the color was not visible on the linen. I am sorry that I am no longer able to share this with my readers.

And more about color...Am I putting you to sleep with all these coasters? I have just sent two sets on their way to the giveaway winners. Both of these ladies not only comment regularly on my blog but also have blogs of their own. It made it easy to work within their given colors but do coasters that I thought looked like them.

For Linda, who wanted red and green, I choose something that I felt gave a vintage look together. She has such pretty vintage holiday decorations and thought this was really her.

Pondside asked for red and white. I wanted to use this red fabric with Christmas postage stamps on it but white did not work right with it so I used a red holly print instead. This does not come out in the photos but this combination looked so pure Christmas. I choose the light green pinecone print for the backing for a reason. Pondside lives in an incredible place and has a love for the nature and woods around her. To me, she lives daily in the Emersonian surroundings that I get to experience on weekends at Cranberry Cottage.

I hope you both will enjoy your coasters during this holiday season!

We are off to Cranberry Cottage soon and I have decided to only take my Santa banner along so I can get him moving along. I wish you all a cozy and warm weekend!

Margaret, Barbara, Harmien and Annemarie ~ Enjoy your Sip 'N Stitch tomorrow! I will be thinking of you in between yelling 'Timber!' LOL!

Call me Zwarte Piet

2008-12-09T17:00:00.006+01:00

This year, I decided to play Zwarte Piet in every sense of the word. I sewed a set of five coasters for Carolien and her family. You are supposed to wrap it up to make it a surprise. So I merged two cultures and it went secretly on its way to their house. Guess the mailman thought their house was the North Pole. *grins*

Now, a surprise on Pakjesavond always comes with a rhyme and this was a challenge for me. The poem connects what the gift is and her home. She lives in a pretty house connected to the church which is where I secretly put them in the mailbox. Here is my poem which I will translate. Keep in mind this does rhyme in Dutch although not in English...

De Sint had een mooie naaimachine,
Maar wist niet hoe je hem moest bedienen.

(The Sint had a beautiful sewing machine,
But did not know how to use it.)

De Pieten zaten aan de thee,
En hadden in eens een brilliant idee.

(The Piets were having tea,
And had, all of a sudden, a brilliant idea.)

Bij een mok thee hoort er iets onder,
Want een vlek op tafel is echt zonde.

(There should be something under a mug of tea,
As a stain on your table is really a shame.)

Ze pakten de stofjes en gingen aan het werk,
Het kado moet nu af en snel naar de kerk.

(They grabbed fabrics and went to work,
The gift had to be finished and rushed off to the church.)

Dus de pieten werkten zich te pletter,
Op deze mooie ……….

(So the Piets worked themselves to the bone,
To make these pretty ..... )

Van de handwerk Pieten!

(From the Handwork Piets!)

Carolien says she has them around her living room now to use when they drink their tea. I had so much fun playing Piet for her!

Hi! It's me again.....

2008-12-08T10:47:00.006+01:00

Well, someone has to let all our blogging friends know about our weekend so I thought I would once again. My mommy has had a bad turn in her cold which seems to not want to let go. She has had it since October but now it is really bad. I could have told her so after she did that decorating at Cranberry Cottage.

But does she listen to me?

It looks fine and you have done enough so would you please come back inside and sit down to stitch so I can crawl up on your lap where I belong? By the way, she did finish another alphabet on her Ohio sampler. I will remind her to take a photo soon of the progress.

I got to chat with my grandmother this weekend while at the cottage. Always nice to stay in contact with family, of course, but all this typing makes me tired. *grins* At home, we can actually talk and I love to come and sit in front of the computer and tell her lots of things.

Right now I would tell her about how I took care of my mommy last night. She has been having trouble breathing when she lays down. Last night, she thought she quietly got up and went downstairs to have a cup of tea. I kept watch over her but decided to sneak back upstairs and paw my daddy's face until he got up. Who is he to sleep when mommy is downstairs not feeling well? Well, I took care of that and he came down to see how she was. *grins* I was rather proud of myself and curled up in mommy's lap purring once I had them together.

Mommy did pull the winners names for the second round of the giveaway and here they are ~ Linda, Pondside and Barbara/MO. Congratulations and please be sure to email her and give her your address so she can mail them as they are made.

Until my next entry, I hope all my blogging friends are having a great December and find time to sit and stitch or quilt between all the holiday preparations. You do have to remember us four~footed friends after all and sit down to cuddle once in a while!

A real Dutch day!

2008-12-05T12:57:00.005+01:00

Today is the day called 'Pakjesavond' here in Holland. SinterKlaas is bringing good little boys and girls a burlap bag full of gifts this evening. I love this tradition as it gives me a chance to celebrate the feeling of Christmas twice in our two cultures. If you would like to read more about SinterKlaas, go to my other blog for today's entry.

This is a time of speculaas which is my favorite Dutch cookie as well as my passion for collecting Dutch speculaas cookie molds. The one above it St. Nicolaas from whom the story of SinterKlaas comes.

I have also finished my first patchwork ball. I want to make all of the balls in this book in Dutch chintz ('sitsen'). I have had a good number of these historical fabrics in my stash for a number of years and never had the time to get started on a quilt with them. 2009 will see that finally coming about too as well as these stuffed patchwork balls.

Santa's workshop...

2008-12-02T21:47:00.015+01:00

The workshop is open and things are very busy here...

I have finished all three sets of coasters for the winners of my giveaway. You can click on the photos to enlarge them. I hope I interpreted their color choices well for them. First there is DonnaTN who asked for country reds and greens. I thought using four fabrics on the front gave a real country patchwork feeling.

Her backing fabric is a country barn red with little trees.

Margaret asked for traditional deep red and hunter green. Now I took the liberty to use a fabric with a good deal of cream in it also as I thought this combination of fabrics gave a true traditional Christmas feeling.

I choose two backing fabrics simply because I liked them both. Two coasters have snowflakes and two spots.

And last for Marie, I used a red print with berries on it combined with a green with branches. Just pure Christmas I think.

Her backs have a combination of both colors with a festive look. I hope they will all three enjoy their coasters. They are on the way ladies as I just received the last address this evening.

While sewing these coasters, I am also stitching my Santa banner. It is coming along nicely. I changed the colors just ever so slightly to match my new couches.

So many of you asked me to give more details about this book in order to look into ordering it. I really can recommend it with a warning. It is so adorable that you may want to stitch each and every design in it! *grins*

The book is from Germany and by Rico Design Book #108. It is called 'Winter Fairytale' by Annette Jungmann. They do have a website listed on the cover of the book but I checked and cannot find the book there. It is www.rico-design.de. The linen for the banners is also from this company.

I am including more photos of items contained within the book. You can also contact the shop where I purchased my book here. This shop is owned by a very friendly couple who are willing to help and do mail order for countries all over the world. Just send her an email with a request for this title and/or the linen for the banners.

Christmas coasters winners!

2008-11-30T19:56:00.007+01:00

Yes, I said winners. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for the response to my blog. I love your comments and look forward each day to reading them. Because of that and in the giving spirit of the Dutch SinterKlaas, I have decided not to pull just one name but three.

I placed them all in a bowl and pulled out three pieces of paper...

And the winners are:
Marie (Proverbs31)
DonnaTN
Margaret (Solstitches)

I am going to go through the comments and look up your color choices. I am looking forward to making these coasters especially for each of you. Marie and Donna, will you please email me (see my profile) and let me have your address? I know yours, of course, Margaret.

Thank you again for participating and please stop in to say hello often as it makes me smile!

I am going to answer the questions about the designer and company of the book and banner linen in my next entry as many of you inquired about it. I want to share my progress on the Santa so please stop in then.

Edit ~ I am going to have a second round of names drawn again next Sunday. All those who did not win in the first round are getting a second chance. Please check back again on Sunday to see if your name was drawn as I will need your address to mail them to you. I have the first set all ready to go and will show you them tomorrow...

What did I do???

2008-11-28T15:55:00.006+01:00

Well, it is official! I fell of the bandwagon! Remember that stash diet I was on for 2008? Remember how I was not allowed to buy anything but thread or linen if needed but nothing else?

OOPS!

I went to a needlework shop with a friend on Tuesday. We had a wonderful time which we always do when we go there. I think that must have been it because I lost my head. I had a full customer coupon card and was able to spend 31,40 euro. Now you would think that was enough. I started buying the DMC overdyed threads. Okay, I was up to 21+ euro and still had more to spend. I was looking around and saw a new banner linen from a German company and loved the red color the minute I saw it. Only problem was I loved the cocoa brown and cream color too. I decided to buy the red and then happened upon a pretty black metal hanger made just for the banner. Oh no! Without thinking I bought it! Then I was paying for my purchases which at this point I had not really thought more about and was over the 'free money' from the full card. My friend Sonja (who is very bad at tempting me) showed me some DMC scissors which are a huge weakness of mine. There they went on the counter. Only when I pulled out my money and got my change did I realize what I was doing. I WAS ON A STASH DIET! I am not allowed to buy all this stuff! Does it help that the man gave me the DMC Home Sweet Home book for free?

Did I stop there? No, the story gets worse! We left the shop and Sonja said she thought we needed to sit and have a cup of tea. Maybe I needed a good stiff drink but instead we ordered our tea and then later ordered a warm apple strudel with vanilla sauce and whipped cream. There must have been something in that whipped cream because after we finished we went BACK to the needlework shop. Yes, you read that right! We went back and I bought the cream and cocoa brown banner linen too. What was I doing???

I came home to relax and was not feeling well for two days after so I have made a pitiful start to my first project from this book. I hope to work on it over the weekend.

Sonja's sister made me these house socks. They are so much fun! They slip on over your socks to keep your feet warm. I just love them and have been wearing them since Sonja gave them to me this week. Irma ~ thank you so very much for your thoughtfulness! I really appreciate it and so do my feet.

Thanksgiving giveaway

2008-11-27T19:26:00.002+01:00

Thanks for stopping in on this holiday. I want to wish everyone is the US a very Happy Thanksgiving Day!

Do you remember the coasters that SinterKlaas left for my friends on my last post? If you leave a comment on this entry and tell me what colors you love to use at Christmas time, I am going to sew a set of coasters for the winner. I will draw a name on Sunday evening since that is the first Sunday of Advent. I would love the winner to have them in time to use for Christmas. Good luck!

SinterKlaas has come!

2008-11-25T08:31:00.005+01:00

Every Saturday, SinterKlaas comes to Dutch homes and leave a gift in the shoes of the boys and girls.

This past Saturday, I found these gifts left at the wrong house. They were for my friends who I make lace with but he left them here. I guess the Sint thought I could be a good 'help Piet' and deliver them. And of course, I will today!

They are each receiving a set of snowman mugs with handmade coasters to go with them. A fun gift to be used all winter and enjoy a cup of hot chocolate. I hope you like them Sonja and Jannie!

The ABC's of busyness

2008-11-18T17:06:00.009+01:00

It a busy workshop here in my house for us elves. I have finished three gifts and wrapped them. One gift is for my quilt group Christmas party. We use a theme each year and this year the theme is winter. I will share the gift later in December after my gift has been opened. It feels so good to have it finished and ready. I am still working on wrapping the 12 gifts that each member gets that night too.

I have also finished SinterKlaas gifts for my two lacemaking friends as we get together again next week. Sonja and I talked yesterday and she was trying to get me to slip and tell her what I was making. Here is a little peek Sonja! Guess you have to wait until next week. *grins*

I pulled Brigitta's name on my stash giveaway and put the package together today. I decided to put a few items for the holidays (holiday buttons for scrapbooking or sewing, a Lavender and Lace angel, and a Santa bottle stopper) and some thinking ahead to spring (Polstitches Jobelan cloth with a matching DMC thread and half meter matching quilt fabric) in the gift. It is on the way Brigitta and I so hope you enjoy it!

Now while it is busy right now, I am still doing some stitching. I worked on my Ohio ...

Edit - January 8, 2009 - I have deleted all entries pertaining to the MB circe 1810 sampler I was working on after receiving an email from the designer, who I do not know, sharing her opinion about my changing a color in the design. This was done not to offend but because the color was not visible on the linen. I am sorry that I am no longer able to share this with my readers.

What is it about alphabets and stitching? An alphabet makes any chart so wonderful. Even a simple chart with just A, B, C is charming. This sampler has three alphabets on it and I am really enjoying stitching them.

My heart is blue

2008-11-14T13:46:00.006+01:00

In June, I had made some fabric hearts to hang on a rack that I had bought for my mother's bedroom. A friend of mine saw them as was so crazy about them that I asked her if she wanted me to make her a set.

I told her she could look through my fabric stash and choose some fabrics she liked. She wanted them to be blue as her bedroom is blue and white.

I used a mix of various ribbons and laces with a vintage button on each heart.

I am looking forward to giving them to her next week when I see her. Even though she knows I am making them for her, I am going to wrap them up in a gift bag with tissue paper. Now that this project is finished, I have to get back to my Secret Santa gift for an online friend and some SinterKlaas gifts for a couple of other friends.

A note from Dagi...

2008-11-11T14:42:00.005+01:00

Hello my friends! My name is Dagi and I thought I would stop to say my mommy is very busy with redoing things in the house so very little stitching or quilting is taking place. She is working on a few gifts but cannot show those without spoiling the surprise. Later this week, she has one gift that she can reveal so I hope you will come back to see that.

In the meantime, here I am modeling the knitted patchwork afghan my grandmother (Nancy) made for me since a blogging friend was shown some photos of it. It is a nice, soft and warm place to nap when my mommy leaves it folded up on the bed. Hey wait, she is taking it away to be used downstairs.....

A finish and a win

2008-11-06T23:12:00.009+01:00

My momma always said, "Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."

~ Forrest Gump

The name of my project I gave you a peek at is.....

....."A Box of Chocolates". When I picked the raspberries, cherries, carmel and chocolate fabrics from my stash, I knew right away what I would name this quilt. I love the lined up 3D stars looking like little chocolate bonbons. I even used a different red bead for each star.

My 'baby' brother was the closest with his guess of Whitman Sampler which is a box of assorted chocolates that we used to give my grandmother as a gift almost every year.

Since noone guessed the actual name, I placed the names of everyone who guessed in a bowl and the winner is.....

Please email me Brigitta so I can get your address and send you your gift.

I so enjoyed reading the names you guessed! I need to make lots of these quilts just so I can name them all the wonderful titles you gave me. Thanks for participating. It was fun! I do apologize if reading this post has made you rush to the cupboard to get out some chocolate. *grins*

Do you remember the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland?

2008-11-04T13:17:00.013+01:00

Well, I am feeling a bit like him this week...'Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!' I just seem to want to get so much accomplished lately and there are never enough hours in the day.

Lots of things to catch up with you on that I have been doing. We came back from Cranberry Cottage on Friday as we had to pick up a few things for our kitchen remodel to be started hopefully this week and Jos had to sign some paperwork for the sale of his car. Boy, we don't even want to think about that any longer as he really lost money on it. I hope his new job is so great that it compensates for that. Anyway, Jos sanded our nightstands all Saturday and then I repainted them which was the easy bit. I wanted that finished before Sunday as I went to visit Annemarie for a Sip 'N Stitch day at her house. I really enjoyed meeting her face to face for the first time along with Margaret, Barbara and Harmien. And look who else I ran into there! Some of the white rabbit's friends.

It was Annemarie's birthday on Sunday too so I made her this project basket (which is already coming in handy I see) and gave her some Carrie's Threads. I love giving gifts to people and took a little blue tractor with a trailer for her son Pelle. At one point, I suggested to Pelle that he could put his peppernoten (tiny Dutch ginger spice cookies) in the trailer. Mommy helped him out with loading his trailer. Well, what do you do when the cookies are gone? You go take some from the plate Mommy put out to load the trailer again. We laughed as he walked between us with the cookies which Mommy had put out for us to have with coffee and tea. *grins* Hope he is not stealing cookies still Annemarie? Thank you for an enjoyable day!

I still need to update you on my projects progress while I was away. I started out the week by stitching two more motifs on my Beatrix Potter Quaker sampler. That was my first goal before moving on to other things. My previous photo can be seen here.

Oh my! Why does this still look so unfinished? I counted the motifs left and was so happy that I am moving along but now seeing this photo makes me feel there is so much left to do.

I did not spend much time stitching my Ohio sampler but did get more letters and a motif finished. The last progress photo is here.

Edit - January 8, 2009 - I have deleted all entries pertaining to the MB circe 1810 sampler I was working on after receiving an email from the designer, who I do not know, sharing her opinion about my changing a color in the design. This was done not to offend but because the color was not visible on the linen. I am sorry that I am no longer able to share this with my readers.

I kind of broke my stash diet. I had not included books in my diet but this is a patchwork book so should be included. I just could not resist when I saw Marianne's blog entry about her patchwork balls. I decided I had to get this book so I can use the Dutch sitsen (chintz) fabrics for a set of these.

The majority of my time at Cranberry Cottage was spent working on this new quilted tabletopper. Here is a little peek... It is a new version of my Christmas Spice tabletopper. I need a quilted sampler to use to demonstrate creating the 3D stars tomorrow evening. Let's have some fun with this...can you guess what I am naming this quilt? Hint ~ Valentine's Day and chocolate. The first person to guess the actual title will win a little stash gift. Good luck!

Edit: If noone guesses the actual name, I will put all those who guessed into a hat and pick a name. So go ahead and give it a try.

Taking a working holiday.....

2008-10-25T00:48:00.000+02:00

Yes, you read that right. There has been so much going on for us this autumn. Jos quit his job and yesterday was his last day. He will be starting a new job in November. We are now taking this coming week off to relax at Cranberry Cottage and it will be a working holiday for me as you can see by my packing. I just cannot be without my handwork. I had spent a good deal of yesterday helping a quilting friend with her swap blocks so ended up trying to pack my hobby bag later in the evening. I just could not decide what to take so I am taking everything. I did leave the kitchen sink. *grins* I have my Centennial Sampler and a new version of Christmas Spice which I have to sew as a sample for the next quilt evening. I have my Ohio sampler and Beatrix Potter Quaker sampler along also. When I get back at the end of the week, I should have some progress photos to share.

I have received a couple of awards that I have seemed to kept hidden away for a while. I think it is time to bring them back out and pass them along to a blogging friend or two...

This award was given to me by Meari. Thank you so much and I would like to pass this one along to Lucy who I think is a kindred spirit who knows that beauty is in the image of an old quilt.

This award was given to me by Linda and she is someone I have discovered through my mother. They have visited each other for some time now and she is such a nice person. Thanks Linda! I am passing this award on to again one blogger and that person is Carolien. This was easy as it was because of Carolien commenting on my blog that I 'met' her. She decided to start her own blog after that and eventually we actually did meet since she lives in the same city as I do. Commenting on blogs can lead to things and I will be meeting another blogger, Annemarie, next weekend. If we hit it off half as much as with Carolien, I have a wonderful new friendship again.

And finally, I received this award from Mary Kathryn just this week. Thank you very much! I am passing this award on to another friend of mine who started blogging. Her name is Saskia and she was my very first member to join my quilt group. She has become like family to me along with the other ladies in our group. Stop in and say hello to her...

Ohio ~ new beginnings...

2008-10-19T19:45:00.005+02:00

After so many finishes, it is time to share a new beginning...

I mentioned that I planned to start one of my Ohio samplers after I finished Silent Sampler. I decided this weekend would be a great time to devote to beginning the first of a series of samplers that I intend to make for an Ohio wall in my home. I thought this would be fun to do since I am originally from Ohio. I got the initial idea a couple of years ago when I bought the book "Ohio Is My Dwelling Place" by Sue Studebaker. This book is eye candy for any stitcher but a must have for any Ohioian whether you live there or elsewhere. Ohio never leaves your heart!

Edit - January 8, 2009 - I have deleted all entries pertaining to the MB circe 1810 sampler I was working on after receiving an email from the designer, who I do not know, sharing her opinion about my changing a color in the design. This was done not to offend but because the color was not visible on the linen. I am sorry that I am no longer able to share this with my readers.

Have you ever considered doing a series of samplers dedicated to your own area that you are from?

A yo~yo diet this week

2008-10-17T14:06:00.007+02:00

In September, we did a quick and easy new project in my quilt group. Our medallion quilts are done and need to be sandwiched and quilted so we had time this year for two small extra projects. Making folded yo~yos was the first of them. I actually don't understand why they are called folded yo~yos and I think they look more like a folded hexagon.

So this week, I wanted to get these put together as a tablerunner. The cat on your lap as you sew is not necessary but very helpful. *grins* Can you spot Dagi?

And 49 yo~yos later.....

I decided on a diamond shape for my tablerunner. What is fun about making these is not only are they simple but can be used in so many shapes.

The back of the tablerunner is almost as pretty as the front. It was strange to use these very springlike colors now that autumn has arrived. This little quilt will now be stored away and brought out again when the spring bulbs come into flower. Now I can move one more item from the UFO list to the finished list.

Have a creative weekend!

Yeah! I did it again!

2008-10-10T11:51:00.005+02:00

I had an unexpected telephone call yesterday as my friend Sonja had a day off work and called to see if we could get together for tea and some stitching. Well, of course, I said yes and she came over for the afternoon. I wanted to get my latest UFO finished and finish it I did!

I had my trusty quilt tester helping out. Dagi not only tests the quilts but supervises my work. Sonja ran upstairs for my camera and took a photo of my helper. I mentioned while she was doing this that normally I would have already thought of a name for the quilt but had not so far. Then we thought since Dagi was sitting on the corner of the quilt and this quilt block is called "Puss in the Corner", well just wait and see...

I machine quilted this one. To me it still feels like I am cheating even though I know the machine does not work without me there guiding the quilt along, but still. I am however enjoying the fact that I can reduce my UFOs. I am back to a project by hand this weekend so that will help me feel better perhaps. *grins*

I found this fabric in my stash cupboard that was large enough to use for the backing. Today I am working on the label so here it is...

I am calling the quilt "My Puss in the Corner: Dagi's Flower Garden". Do you think Mr. Dagi approves?

Have a creative weekend and I hope to share another finish when I return from Cranberry Cottage.

A Beatrix Potter weekend...

2008-10-05T17:37:00.003+02:00

I had a weekend filled with Beatrix Potter. We spent the weekend up at Cranberry Cottage as usual. I decided to leave my quilting at home and just take along my stitching. I worked on some more of my Beatrix Potter Quaker sampler. I have almost finished another whole motif from when I took this photo yesterday. I want to have this sampler completed by the end of the year if not way before that time.

While stitching, I watched "Miss Potter" yet again on my laptop. I have seen this DVD so many times now that I start to notice many minute details of the houses and surroundings now as I watch. For example, I was examining the shelves in her upstairs room and all the wonderful items they contained.

The latest Beatrix Potter mystery is out and I want to finally catch up with my reading so I took a Susan Wiggit Albert book along to read. I bought these books each as they came out but have such a backlog of books to be read. I decided to move these to the head of the list.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. It was raining here which to me is the perfect weekend weather for sitting indoors and stitching or quilting!

I have added another of my UFOs to my list as I will be working on it this week ~ my folded yo~yo tablerunner. I also am half finished with another UFO and should have it ready to show you later this week. It is just wonderful to watch my projects list getting a little less each time.

Weekend project idea

2008-10-03T11:50:00.003+02:00

We just had an Autumn Days swap on my online stitching group. The rules were to make a handmade object and purchase an autumn themed gift for a secret swap partner. I had Christine in Canada's name. I wanted to make her something very unusual. My own fall decorations gave me a cute idea.

I made her 'plumpkins' which are little fabric pumpkins. Along with that, I sent a vine, toadstools, a little mouse and autumn napkins.

Here they are set up together on her table. She says it is her own private pumpkin patch. I am so glad you liked them Christine as I had alot of fun making them for you!

I made them for her as these remain some of my own favorite autumn decorations. I used this as a project for my quilt group many years ago. They are very quick and easy to make and the perfect weekend project. I made two sets, one for home and one for Cranberry Cottage, since they are so adorable. I thought it would be fun on this autumn Friday to share the link to this project which is still available so you can maybe make some this weekend. It is a Debbie Mumm free project and you can find the link here.

Have a color~filled autumn weekend all!

Another UFO flies away to a finish!

2008-10-01T08:52:00.007+02:00

A couple of years ago, I invited a quilting friend to spend a long weekend with me at Cranberry Cottage. We spent our time with our needles making a little miniature quilt. Every once in a while, we needed a distraction and one day that meant driving to a quilt shop I shared with you here. They had just received some new fabrics that I simply fell in love with right there on the spot. I had no idea what I would do with them and only bought a small amount of each as they were rather costly.

I got home from the cottage and immediately that day started working on a quilt top. I knew I wanted to make a quilt that would be all warm and snuggley which I would use regularly. I decided on the Turning Twenty patchwork so it could really show off how pretty the fabrics are. Cutting these up in too small of pieces would have been a shame.

They are a combination of various florals in baby rib cord, silks, pleated silks and beaded rib cord.

I had left this quilt top sit for a couple of years and did not want another winter to come and go without being able to snuggle up under it. I planned on tieing the quilt but on Friday after doing my blog entry, I thought I wanted to try machine quilting this since it will be very used and it quite heavy due to the fabrics. It needs to be durable. A couple of hours later...a finished quilt! Why did I wait all that time to quilt it?

For the backing fabric, I wanted to stay with a warm and soft aspect and decided on a mustard color floral flannel by Moda.

The name "Snuggles" for this quilt seemed the only possibility. If you need me this winter, you will find me snuggled up under this quilt on my chair with a stitching or quilting project. *grins*

UFOs: True confessions

2008-09-26T00:01:00.000+02:00

I have VERY many UFOs. I used to teach patchwork and quilting as well as hosting a monthly quilt group. For both things, I needed to prepare samples of my ideas. You have to always stay a step ahead of everyone and this meant often letting those samples sit unfinished while I moved on to the next idea. As a result, I have hangers full of neglected quilt tops in various stages. I also let quilts I wanted to make for myself sit as I was too busy with other quilts.

When I was talking to Heidi over at BetweenStitches a while ago, we discussed UFOs. We had decided we should confess what we have with the hopes of concentrating on really finishing them. 2008 has been a year of concentrating on finishing many stitching and quilting projects I have sitting around. So far, I am really happy with my progress. I put myself on a stash diet for this year and also a start diet. I did do a fun thing in between with my Quaker Boo hornbook but have been really good about not adding to the list with lots of new starts. I will show you a new start I am doing for stitching next week. That is my reward to myself for finishing Silent Sampler, but I am still putting off a new quilt idea I have until I finish at least one more UFO.

I listed the WIPs and UFOs on the side bar of my blog. Now I do confess that it is not a totally complete list. Why? The list is simply too big to list them all. And if you take a look, you will see that there are more than enough on this list as is. *grins* I am going to spend the last few months of 2008 concentrating on a select few of the UFOs. Here they are.....

Puss In The Corner quilt. This needs sandwiched and quilted. I am considering giving machine quilting a try again on this one but not sure yet.

Roses quilt (Turning Twenty) in baby rib, satin and silks. This quilt has too many thick and unusual fabrics so I have decided it is best to tie this one. This is going to be my first project to turn to now. I will be sandwiching it today so I can get started. It is already laying on my ironing board ready for some love and attention...

Zoe's quilt is in the process of being hand quilted. For some reason, I keep getting bored with the quilting process and stopping. Only two more blocks to go and I can start the borders.

Bethlehem Star quilt which I would really love to have finished in time for the upcoming holidays. I even pieced the backing on this quilt. I think I am going to use gold metallic quilting thread for this one. One advantage to this is to see the thread well, you have to use large quilting stitches making it go a bit faster.

I sincerely hope that by the end of December I will be happily telling you that I have finished all four of these quilts. Perhaps you can prod me along every now and then?

A finish, a win and a gift...

2008-09-24T15:51:00.008+02:00

I am very happy to say that I can cross another UFO off my list! This tablerunner has been hand quilted. I kept the quilting simple as the patchwork is also simple.

I love toadstools as anyone who follows my home and garden blog CelebrateTheSeasons knows. I have a basket of them sitting on the new tablerunner along with adorable acorn salt and pepper shakers. I received these as a Christmas gift from my friend Diane last year. I keep them on display in my hutch but am thrilled it is now the season to bring them out. Thanks Diane!

Since a quilt is finished for me only once the label is attached, I did that first thing this morning. I was unsure until last night what I would call this quilt. It is the colors of autumn but flowers of summer thus "Summer's End". I drew a flower based on the flowers on the rust colored fabric for my label. Handmade labels are so much fun to make!

Thank you for your comments on my last entry. I drew a name from them all out of one of my quilt studio's mugs. And the winner is...

Nancy! If you have never visited her before, Nancy is my mother and she is the gene pool where my needlework comes from. This is now evident in her stitching and yes I am bias since she is my mother. *grins* She swore she would never start cross stitching but she has. And how! She puts those of us who have been stitching for years to shame. You can see her blog here. I will send your cards to you soon mother.

I also received a gift in the mail yesterday from my mother. She has a fancy embroidery machine and she made me two more ornaments for my Halloween tree and a hand towel.

She also knitted me two dishclothes for Halloween and autumn. See the Jack o' lantern?

And here is a squirrel. Thanks for my autumn "just because" package!

Ties that bind.....

2008-09-22T13:13:00.024+02:00

While reading Lucy's blog, a Dutch quilter, I found out there was a quilt show up in Friesland. I was happy to find out that I was just in time to still be able to visit it. This quilt show was small but very special for two reasons ~ it is about a very couragous and special woman who worked during WWII to refugees and it gave me ties that bind me back to my home in Ohio.

The quilt show was in a tiny church in the village of Witmarsum. It is the birthplace of Menno Simons who is the founding father of the Mennonite faith. These were the ties that bind back to Ohio where there is a large Mennonite community. It is seeing quilts in Amish country as a girl that got me started as a quilter.

This is the story of An and Lynn. It is story of Lynn discovering some old American quilts in the Dutch countryside and then discovering an amazing story behind those quilts. You can find the English version of this book here. I can recommend it for anyone interested in quilting or in stories connected to WWII.

The quilts were sent to An during the war to help keep refugees warm through the Mennonites back in the US.

The show was nicely presented with historic information hanging throughout the quilt racks.

It spoke of the sewing circles working to make these quilts and this photo is of a group of girls working on quilts in Lima, Ohio. Don't forget, you can click on the photos to enlarge them.

It is a very precious thing that these quilts have survived the years for us to see and connect to the stories of people searching for freedom from the violence of war.

If you visit Ohio Amish country, you can hear the story of how the Amish and Mennonites came to America. There you can view a painting of the very ship shown on this photo - HMS Volendam.

Holland became a refuge for those fleeing the oppression of communism in many Eastern European countries especially the Ukraine. Here you see the special pass they received.

I must admit that I had two favorites among the quilt shown. The first was the indigo blue nine-patch quilt shown above. The second was this log cabin quilt.

Look at all the beautiful vintage fabrics! This quilt was believed to have been made up of two quilts being sewn together as the barn raising pattern is not quite right when it is seen in its totality.

I fell in love with this photo of the little boy. He has the sweetest smile! If you look closely, you can see his very broken wooden shoe.

We went to visit the Menno Simons monument after the quilt show. I photographed the guide for you to read. This steel construction stands like a shadow of the old brick church. As you can see, it was a beautiful autumn day!

Some of the original bricks from the church were used for this part of the monument.

This day left a lasting impression on me which I would love to share with you. I purchased a set of these gift cards to give away to one of you. Just leave a comment on this entry and I will draw a name by the end of this week. Please leave your email address if you do not have a blog so I can contact you.

Bronwyn Bear gets a pillow.....

2008-09-17T14:52:00.004+02:00

Here is my other finish from last week. I finally finished Silent Sampler. For some reason, I did not enjoy stitching this and that is why it took me so long. It is not a large design and I should have finished it much sooner. BUT...now I love how it has turned out. It is just such a sweet and vintage looking stitch.

I knew I wanted to turn it into a little pillow for my bed. It would look perfect with the patchwork quilt I made. So then it was time for my thinking cap about how I wanted to make the pillow. I had intended to do tiny patchwork around it. The more I dragged out of my stash cupboard, the more I doubted it would be right. In the end, I realized that I needed to keep it simple. This design has a 'hidden' alphabet and using patchwork would distract from seeing that. The advantage to a huge (and I do mean huge) stash cupboard is that you can eventually find that perfect piece of fabric. I used a fabric from Mrs. March's Collection which kept the vintage theme. It reflects the colors used in the stitching too.

I will go back to concentrating on my Beatrix Potter sampler for the time being although I am going to also reward myself for finishing another WIP by starting one of my Ohio samplers. I will share the start when I get it out and organized.

In the meantime, I am going to sit on my rocking chair in my bedroom and enjoy looking at this pillow which Bronwyn Bear is happily holding...

I was given the Brillante Weblog award some time ago from Heidi over at Between Stitches. Thanks for this award Heidi. I am going to pass it along to two bloggers as I have other awards yet to pass out. I am going to pick a stitcher and a quilter for the award...

The award for a stitcher is Annemarie at Orts and Ends. Annemarie started blogging again and I have really enjoyed getting to know her more. She is a wonderful stitcher who fits in the needle and thread between working and raising her cute little boy Pelle.

The award for a quilter is Jo at Vintage Lane Stitches. I discovered Jo's blog shortly after she started it. I love her quilting style, her sewing room, her adorable dog Charlie and her love of family and home. She has a true quilter's heart.