Where am I?

Could anybody recognise my current location?

Vacationally yours

Sashiko Tutorial

A couple of months ago, together with some quilting friends, I took a class on sashiko. I have been admiring this beautiful technique for a while when I signed up for the lessons. Unfortunately, the instruction was "suboptimal" to put it mildly. We were left with a feeling of disappointment and regret for what it could have been .


Today, while browsing the blogs in my Google Reader, on  Sashiko Started It  I came across an announcement for a free online sashiko tutorial that will be delivered through the newsletter of Sashiko Stitchers  beginning July 14, 2010. All you have to do is sign up for the newsletter at  www.sashikostitchers.com or by emailing the organizer at sue@aboutfuroshiki.com. Then gather your supplies and we can enjoy a sashiko-along in two weeks time.


Until then, enjoy the good weather!

I've Got Mail ... Again

The postman came again and he didn't have to ring twice. Look what he brought me:

I love opening envelopes, especially when they contain goodies like that! 

Mary Anne Ciccotelli from Sewing and Beyond sent me a little present for taking part in a quilt quiz on her blog some weeks ago and I was not even the winner! Well, I think that in a way now I am. 

In all fairness, the quiz was not easy but I did work hard and got the answers right.

Mary Anne has free tutorials on cutting hexagons from fabric (no template, just a ruler) and on folding hexagons. Check it out - definitely worth trying! 

Now that I have a hexapin myself, I might try and make some for friends using her tutorial.

Thank you, Mary Anne!

I've Got Mail!

... and here is the proof!








The orange envelope lived up to my expectations - that's for sure!





















Out came a bag adorned with the cutest fabric collage and a sweet inscription.















And then out of the bag popped the top Emily from Em Celebrates! generously offered me a couple of weeks ago.

She posted about a couple of UFO's in need of a new home and I volunteered to "adopt" one of them. Thank you, Emily, for choosing me to take care of your flower children. I shall nurture them and let them blossom!





Here you can see me taking a picture of the top while profiting from one hour of sunshine (a rare commodity in the last couple of weeks) but for some reason I made a video instead of a simple photo (don't ask!), so if you want to see a better shot of what the top looks like you can peek at Emily's photo of it.

I think I'll let the top hang around while I make up my mind about adding some borders and raid my stash for matching fabric. I'll keep you posted.

BTW if you like looking at gorgeous nature and wildlife photos, do visit Em's blog and enjoy the sight of a mustang (no kidding!), an enchanted tree, majestic scenery, or if you feel particularly adventurous imagine yourself in this picture. Have fun!

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

The Beauty and the Beast

First things first - the Beauty...

No fairy tale, no Disney story, no! This is the story of a pattern by Helen Stubbings from Hugs from Helen. She was asking readers of her blog to suggest names for her new quilt.

"Belle of the Ball" was what I suggested and she liked it, so I got the pattern as a sweet "thank you" from her. You should have a look at this beauty. I envy those who can see it in reality but the pictures say a lot already.

So, where does the Beast come into play, then?

Well, this beast was an integral part of the birthday celebrations of a certain 6 year old little lady. A very tasty part, I may add. I think she and her little friends enjoyed the "Dragon Party" for this joyful occasion.

Many happy returns of the day, sweetie pie!

A Comeback

It has been a while since I wrote here last but do not despair, my friends! I hope to be back with a vengeance. Here is a little starter.

About two months ago I was lucky to be able to join the Great Hexagon Quilt-Along (GHQA) blog. They have a pot luck every two months or so and I joined in for the first time. The theme chosen for September was "Dots". I committed to one set of 2x6 hexies and here they are:

I fussy cut this one, so the flower could have either light, or dark centre. It is a very subtle difference in colour and the pics maybe do not do it justice.

I had already cut one more set of 2x6 when I found out that the deadline for announcing submissions  had past. I thought I'll send this set to the winner as well anyway since it was already prepared. My daughter, who closely followed the process of choosing the fabrics, thinks it is the better one of the two.

Today I am sending them to our winner Valentina who has already started assembling flowers with a central hexagon featuring the name and the country of the maker. It will make one beautiful garden, I'm sure.

Dear Valentina, some more work is coming your way!

Holiday Post

I am happy to report that the "Blogless me" family is now vacationing in the south. Beautiful weather - about 30˚ but dry (very different from Belgium) and with a light breeze and at night as low as 14˚, so absolutely perfect.

Thanks to all the ladies from Guute's Antique Quilt Club who offered help with my PDF files problem - you are so sweet!

Guute's Button

This will be a very short post and hopefully the last one without pics. It is just for those of you that have struggled to put Guute's button on their blogs.

When I tried it first time round I had trouble sizing it. It was awkwardly cut in half, so I asked some advice from my better half and here's what we came up with:

In the text you see on her blog between

alt="Guute’s Antique Quilt " 

and

src="http://i379.photobucket.com

add 

width="100" 

100 worked best for me, but you can experiment with other numbers to achieve the best size for your blog. 

Good luck with it!