Bronwyn Bear gets a pillow.....

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.

A Halloween hornbook

I have returned from our time at Cranberry Cottage and what a great time we had. The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed some wonderful peace and quiet there. I am feeling much better after having let myself become totally exhausted. I do want to take this moment to thank everyone for their sweet and supportive comments about my sharing my chronic illnesses with you. I see that there are others who unfortunately share some of these problems with me. I hope that our talking about our lives will encourage others to look beyond the physical problems and enjoy life.


I pack my bag with my hobbies first thing when we leave for the cottage. This week, I had packed two bags. The first was containing two stitching projects and my tablerunner which I am hand quilting. The second bag contained all the items I needed to work on some more patchwork blocks for the Centennial Sampler. That bag came back home today packed just as it had been when I left for the cottage. I am afraid I did not even unpack it to work on a single block.


I decided I really wanted to get my WIP Silent Sampler finished before touching anything else. I will be sharing that finish with you this week too but I also took along a new project which I like to do when we are on vacation.


I pick an easy project that I can try and finish while away. I found it this time in Tanya's (The Sampler Girl) new freebie called Quaker Boo. This came out just the week before we left. Thanks Tanya once again for an adorable chart!


I love it when things seem to just come together. I had found an outdoor chalkboard in a garden center a couple of months ago. I immediately saw that if I turned it upsidedown, it would become a fun hornbook. I bought it thinking I would eventually find the perfect design to use for it. When I saw Tanya's latest freebie, I knew right away that this was the right one for this hornbook. Since the chalkboard slides out, I was able to simply attach the stitching to it.

A blogger's break...

I promised to try and get a better photo of the quilt and I think you can see the patchwork better now on this one. If you have not done so yet, read my previous post to hear the last part of the story behind my medallion quilt. Thank you so much for your comments so far and also the enormous amounts of sweet comments about my Autumn Leaves stitching and quilt. I really appreciate your taking a moment to comment and find it all very encouraging to read. Thank you!


I am afraid the quilter's exhaustion was more real than I even realized. I awoke this morning having a very bad flare up and am spending most of the morning resting. We have planned a week's vacation up at Cranberry Cottage as of tomorrow. It could not come at a better time. I really must learn to slow down. I just want to do all I can to welcome people into my home and my quilt group is very special to me. I do all in my power to encourage and inspire this amazing group of ladies. I love them all so much! I felt I had to get this top finished on time and pushed myself too far.

I don't normally talk about my chronic illness on my blog. I have indicated it but only talk about it to people who have emailed me and directly asked about it. You can skip this part of the entry if you would like as I am sure not everyone is interested in reading about my aches and pains. I just decided it was maybe time to explain why I need to slow down.

About 12 years ago, I developed Reflex Symathetic Dystrophy in my foot. I was very fortunate to be in the 50% margain of patients that was helped in time and responded to medication. It is in remission or rest phase but I have been warned to always be careful as simply knocking my foot hard against a door could bring it back. I do have problems now and then but am really pleased that it has gone away. It did however leave me with very bad and painful feet. I now have to wear specially made orthopedic ankle boots which fix my foot's movements and correct them as they are no longer supported by my muscles. These shoes are a Godsend and make it possible for me to walk well. Having discovered these problems led the doctor to look more seriously at some other problems I was having.

I have degenerative disc disease which leaves me to back pain 24/7. Now that would be a livable thing if it just stopped there. I have been taught exercises to help keep my back muscles in shape to avoid surgeries. In Holland, they no longer operate for this condition if possible. I also have progressive Fibromyalgia. This leaves you feeling like you have the flu coming on each day. It is a burning pain in your tendons, ligaments and muscles. It was likely brought on by the disc problmes and complicates my back problems in that I need to strengthen my back but can only do so much due to the FM. I thought Fm was not progressive and was recently told yes it can be and that is why I am developing new symptoms regularly. They have tested me twice for rheumatoid arthritis and I remain just on the edge of it starting to develop. Just recently a physical therapist said I should have my hip looked at again but I must admit, I am not ready to go back for all that. It cannot be stopped and I am sick of the hospital thing, if you know what I mean.

All this being said, I love life. My mind is full of ideas and projects. I enjoy each day and feel my stitching and quilting are a special gift that get me through life. Because of that, I love stimulating others to also live by their needle. A great example of how healthy it is to do any kind of needlework are the two oldest members of my quilt group. They both turned 80 this year. They are sharp as pins and great fun to be around. They are physically not doing so well this year but they have excited and creative spirits.

So I am away to stay up in our cottage for the coming week. Hopefully there will be a stitching finish and some new patchwork blocks to show when I return. I hope you all have a wonderful and creative week ahead. I will be able to have a little online time and visit some blogs while I am there hopefully. It will give me a chance to catch up with some of you.

Quilter's exhaustion but life is a quilt...

That is what I am feeling at this moment BUT it is finished. I got my last border completed. Well, this will not be my very last as there is a piece of pretty floral chintz which also belongs to this fabric collection and I want to place a border of it around the patchwork. I used it a little in the quilt but it is a large floral and needs a large enough area to be visible.

Tonight is the quilt group once again and I really wanted to have my own medallion quilt ready in time. I am also getting the sampler prepared for our new project we are starting tonight. I snapped a not very good photo of the quilt top to share it with you between getting things ready. Click on the photo to see more detail after you read the story behind this last part. I promise you a better photo soon.


The last border was to be a symbol of your current surroundings and your hopes and dreams of the future.

My blocks have a constant path (tiny 1 inch squares) moving in and out of each block. This is the path we all walk in life. I changed the pink and red fabrics on this path as it travelled along to show how life is constantly changing as I walk. The fabrics are also all various beiges and creams as background symbolizing the backdrops of life are also constantly different - where I live, what my current activities in life are and who those are around me. Every once in a while, there is a star visible out of the background. Those are the major moments in life which, good or bad, create beauty in life. For this I challanged myself to use the blues in the series as it is not a favorite color of mine to use. This color shows that often times something beautiful comes of something that seems bad. I find that in life, the moments that are difficult most often create a positive and shining effect afterwards. So what starts off as negative (blue fabric) becomes a beautiful star when seen from a distance. I just need to stand back from the detail and look at the whole. The green stars represent the moments that are very positive from the outset and immediately beautiful.

Thus I have quilter's exhaustion. Is it bedtime yet? *smiles*

A woman possessed.....

An online friend of mine is having a craft along on our Yahoo list. She asked us to choose some Autumn or Halloween projects to work on in September. I decided that my projects would be two things ~ to finish the hand quilting on a tablerunner I am working on and to start completing an autumn UFO. Well, yesterday instead of listing my intentions on the group mail, I became a woman possessed. *grins*


Back in 2006, I led a SAL (Stitch Along) for the then new Prairie Schooler Autumn Leaves. Everyone finished their stitching and many completed this adorable design into wallhangings. I decided I wanted to turn mine into the center of a quilt. I started using my scraps and fabric stash.


Once I completed the patchwork around the stitching, I never went any farther. The season had passed and I thought I could wait until the next autumn. But autumn 2007 rolled around and I was so busy with my quilt group that I never got it back out to start quilting it. Now I have a huge amount of UFOs! I need to compromise with myself if I am to get as many UFOs done this year as possible. When I pulled this off the hanger yesterday, I thought to myself it was time to sit down at my sewing machine and machine quilt this to get it done and enjoy now. To me, machine quilting is foreign territory. I have done very little machine quilting and enjoy the process of hand quilting. But a girl only has so much time and I really wanted to enjoy this now as autumn starts. I told myself to get over my fears of working it on the machine and voila! I have a finished quilt now the next morning.


I always say a quilt is truly finished when it has a label so I made the label this morning and sewed it on. I am very happy with how this has turned out. You can click any of the photos to enlarge them for more detail.


Quilt size: 18-1/2 inches (47cm) x 24-1/2 inches (62cm)

A broken stash diet!

I have been on a stash diet all this year. It has been a year of trying to finish many of my stitching WIPs and quilt UFOs. And there are many to finish. Having taught quilting in the past as well as having to come up with projects for my quilt group means many things just sit unfinished on hangers. My goal this year was to finish as many as possible and not allow myself to buy any new stitching or quilting supplies unless I needed them to finish a project.

I decided a couple of months ago that I would break my stash diet when a few of the ladies in my quilt group and I went up north to an open day at a quilt shop. I set a limit for myself on what I could spend and stayed well within what I had planned only buying 5 half meters of fabrics. The second fabric looks like a plain white but it is a really sweet cream tone-on-tone fabric with a pretty floral motif. The letters I will use to applique onto something for my grand niece.


I bought these fabrics at a second quilt shop that we went to. It is only 15 minutes from the first and we rarely go there since it is far away but all wanted to take advantage of being nearby. This shop is set up in an old Dutch farm and has very honest prices on their quilt fabrics.


One of the things about this shop is that they have set it up in a way that they are able to always have quilts exhibited on the walls. Being a farm, it has the advantage of space. You can see the shop on this link.

I loved the quilt above as it is a clever way to use lace, knitted items and various sewing accessories. Click on the photo to enlarge and really see all the fine details. I would love to make something similar to place my bobbin lace practice pieces from my classes on.


I adore the autumn as I am sure you know as a regular reader and loved this quilt not only for the pattern but for the color.


Sunbonnet Sue's washing day. It is mine too come to think of it. *grins*


Isn't this a great use of pattern!


Cheerful and nostalgic Dutch plaids.

If you enlarge this photo, you will find a playful way of breaking up this simple pattern with tiny sailboats.


Historic Dutch chintz (Hollandse sitsen)! I have all of these beautiful fabrics waiting to be made into a quilt. Another part of my stash diet is also a start diet. I am not allowed to start a new project until I have finished a certain amount of the UFOs. This is on my list of new starts though.


And finally, I took this photo after we sat and had a cup of tea. We talked about how cute the little kimonos are around the center block.

Having driven up north on Friday with my friends, Jos and I decided to stay home this weekend. I really missed Cranberry Cottage and sewing a new quilt block by hand. We worked very hard to redecorate our laundry room and I tried my hand at creating a large wooden rack for the wall in there. It has turned out really well and I will be sharing that later this week. For this reason, I am behind on reading blogs and hope to catch back up with all of you this week. In the meantime, I am now off to my quilt studio to trace the templates for the next block which I am going to put together tomorrow. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend?

Needlework friends...

I just love getting together with my needlework friends. I am so fortunate to have a number of ladies that I enjoy spending time with, often with our needles in hand while we chat. Today I got together with someone I met through my blog. She used to come visit me here and later started her own blog. Carolien lives in the same city as I do and I am sure that, without blogging, our paths would never have crossed. She is such a nice person and I enjoy spending time with her. I have had the good fortune to meet her husband and youngest daughter already but still had never met her twin daughters.

Today they came to my house for a girl's chocolate party! What is more fun that eating a brownie rock sundae in the morning? Well nothing! Yes, there is a brownie under that ice cream, hot fudge sauce and whipped cream. *smiles*


I even made them wait for the first bite while I snapped their photo. We then took a walk in the woods by my house to see a farm dating to the early middle ages to walk off the sundeas. We could not go up to the farm buildings as they keep it locked when not open but walked around them and in a butterfly garden. We also had fun talking to a goat that thought we tasted pretty good and licked each of our hands. We then returned back to my house for a wonderful lunch that Carolien had arranged for us.


Carolien brought me a French lavender soap from her summer holiday and I also received a beautiful bouquet of orange lilies. I was given a pretty handmade necklace from the girls. Isn't it pretty? I took a photo of me wearing it. I had to use my mirror to judge I had the camera right. I really like it and will enjoy wearing it. Actually I am wearing it right now. I put it on right away after you had left.


Valérie en Sofia ~ Bedankt meiden! Ik heb hem meteen aan gedaan toen jullie weg ging en hij staat erg leuk. American hugs!

Life really is a patchwork quilt!

Any of my regular readers know that I am working on a medallion quilt that is full of symbolism of my life and family. We are waiting for the summer to end and vacations to be over before sharing the last borders of this project. I will share them with you this fall. I love using real things in life that translate into my patchwork and find myself doing it once again with the Centennial Sampler.


There are my three latest blocks. I have choosen each of these blocks for a specific reason this time.


'Patience' was choosen as I feel I need it right now dealing with my own emotions over that personal issue I mentioned in my last entry. I decided on all different red and pink fabrics. They blend and clash at the same time. This is something a quilter uses to add depth to a quilt. I also like the symbolism of this being a picture of how life moves sometimes in different directions and yet still makes one beautiful whole when put together.


'Old Maid's Puzzle' was choosen to represent my friend Saskia (not because of the name...read further) who is also making this quilt. Each year at Christmas, we exchange gifts in our quilt group's Christmas party. There is a theme each year and one holiday we all made eyeglass cases. When your name was called, you are able to go the gift table and pick one package. Saskia picked mine and I made the eyeglass case using this pattern with blue and white fabrics. I asked her the last time I saw her if she remembered the pattern and she did. You can see her progress on her blog.


Last but not least, 'Clay's Choice'. This block is to honor my mother. Her father's name was Clay and she was very close to him. I remember having repeated dreams of this grandfather that I never knew. He died before I was born. She showed me a photo of him later and I told her that is the man who is in my dreams. I choose the color red as it is my mother's favorite color.

A sampler update

Sorry for the big gap in posting on this blog. I have been going through a personal issue that left me feeling a bit disconnected for a little while. I have even gone a couple of days without a needle in my hand which is very abnormal for me. I realize I really do need to connect with my needlework each day as it is a wonderful release and relaxation for me. My husband has been encouraging me to pick things back up again and move on. Good advice. I will be posting my patchwork sampler update again on Monday.

Here is my Friday update of my summer challange. I know I will be able to finish this before the official start of autumn. I may finish it before the end of August and can then pick up another project to focus on finishing. I am anxious to finish Silent Sampler for yet another reason...I will then start a new project. I am going to start a series of Ohio samplers. For my previous udate, click here.

Click on the photo to enlarge. This is a really pretty and unique sampler.


I hope you all have a wonderful weekend full of creative energy!

Sewing mends the soul. ~ Author Unknown ~

Summer's bouquet

"I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers."
~ Claude Monet

Could this also be perhaps the case for quilters? There are many vintage patterns that are based on flowers as is my latest block for the Centennial Sampler. This weekend I choose to only make one as I wanted to get some time in on my hand quilting. I sewed "Bridal Bouquet" and love the old fashionedness of this block. Okay, I know that is not a word but I like it. I was actually glad I had only prepared this one block as there was quite alot of set~in piecing (visible Y seams if you enlarge the photo) to be done and I would not have finished a second block. As you can see, I have now added yet another color which is pink.


I wanted to answer a question Joni asked in my last entry about using 3 purples and 3 greens when I sewed the spider web. I did this deliberately as in days gone by, they were less acurate as we are now. They used what they had not going out to buy quilt fabric for a project which is a modern day luxury. For this reason, I did not want the fabrics to be too well distributed among the design. I am making subtle 'mistakes' along the way to continue with that old~fashionedness theme. I have had humorous comments from ladies in my quilt group about not matching the stripes in my hourglass block too. They said it was 'so unlike Heidi'. *grins*

Hand stitched with love...

With having to post the tutorial, I was unable to share my latest Centennial Sampler blocks this past Monday. I sewed two more blocks over the past weekend ~ left is Spider Web and right is Crossed Canoes. Enlarge the photos to see them better.


I also promised in my last sampler post to share a photo of all the blocks so far on my design wall in the quilt studio. I am very pleased with the way they are coming together so far. I will still be using some pink in upcoming blocks so yet one more color to add. So far, I think it is taking on a pretty and vintage look seeing them all together.

Another great thing is the a quilting friend Saskia is also doing these blocks along with me. Hopefully, she will share a photo of hers too.


I received a fun 'just because' package in the mail from a dear online friend from Canada. Thank you so much Christine! I already have two projects in the magazine that I would like to make. Oh my!


I also received a belated birthday gift from Francoise in France. She made me this dainty little needlebook. It is just so beautiful and I adore acorns! Along with it came a little pouch of sea salt with a wooden scoop. I love sea salt and will put this to good use.


I can't decide which I like better, the front or the back?


And when you open it, there is a little pocket and a felt page attached with a pearl button. Isn't the lining fabric just the perfect compliment to the design. Thank you from the bottom of my heart Francoise!


I hope your weekend inspires you to pick up a project whether it is stitching or quilting and find yourself lost in creative energy. It is a great way to spend a summer's afternoon.