Friday 28 September 2007

I Spy...

I've made a start on the I Spy-quilt for Ernst:

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I want to make 20 or 24 blocks like this, but it'll have to wait for a while, because tomorrow we're going off on holiday to Noosa!

A few lovely ladies have mailed me that they have some I Spy-fabric for me - Shirley and Helen; thanks very much! I really appreciate it!

On October 10th my beginners quilting course at The Quilters Corner starts - I'm looking forward to that. I've more or less taught myself to sew and to quilt until now and I'd like to have some lessons. I also really want to learn to applique - something I haven't dared to try yet.

But first a week without fabric - but with a tent, a beach and 'An Elm Creek Quilts Album'!

Friday 21 September 2007

Birthday presents

From the Dutch birthday lists that I belong to I got a lot of lovely fabrics (all fat quarters):

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A lot of rose fabrics for the queen size quilt I want to make for our bed, some gorgeous blue fabric and some very nice boys' fabric. These last ones come in handy for the I Spy quilt I have decided to make for Ernst's 3rd birthday in October. I found a world map panel for the backing on which we can point out to him where we live now (Brisbane) and where we come from (The Netherlands). I have done some cutting for the I Spy quilt last week and ordered an I Spy charm pack from an online store, so I should be able to start sewing soon.

DH gave me a dvd as a birthday present: part 2 of the series The House of Elliott . I got part 1 last year and spent some delightful hours watching it with my newborn baby in my arms (Koen was born 3 days before my birthday; he just turned 1!). Don't you just love that series!

Thursday 6 September 2007

Finished the babyquilt

Today I finished the railfence babyquilt,so DH can take it with him to The Netherlands tomorrow. I am quite sure the baby's mother won't look at this blog, so I can show the pictures here:

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When I finished the top I thought it was rather pale and maybe not very suitable for a boy, but with the bright backing and the green binding it is much better. The dark background on the photo doesn't do it right though.

It's funny; without meaning to I made a purple and green quilt again! (well, lilac and dark green, but still)

I think I will take a couple of days off from sewing and finish the book I just started (Jodi Piccoult, My Sister's Keeper - very good!). After that I may start on another bag or maybe on a quilt for Ernst's birthday; he'll be 3 on 31 October. I ordered some chalkboard fabric and intend to make a little quilt with that at the center. Maybe I'll use some of the Bob the Builder fabric that's still in my stash...

Meanwhile the envelopes for my birthday (18 September) keep arriving, I have 9 envelopes already waiting for me! So far I've been able to withstand the temptation to peek inside.

Did I mention that I am so very content with my carpetbag? It truly is a wonderful bag - have you seen the movie Mary Poppins? (one of my favourite Disney movies) Remember how she takes lots of things out of that bag you'd think would never fit in there? Well, it really is like that! It looks like a small bag, but you can put such a lot of things in it! Like all the usual things (mobile phone, keys, wallet, lipstick, chewing gum, sunglasses, pen) and also an umbrella, pack of sandwiches, apple, diary, battery charger for the mobile phone, book you're reading, present you bought for your eldest son, etc etc etc!

Monday 3 September 2007

Carpetbag

Yesterday I finished The Carpetbag:

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It wasn't as easy as the other bags; I've had to do quite a lot of frog-stitching ('rip-it, rip-it'), but I'm very happy with the result! I took it to work today; it has a lot of room for all sorts of things:

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This weekend I bought the backing, binding and batting for the railfence babyquilt. I have to finish it this week, so DH can take it with him to The Netherlands on Friday. He is going there to defend his thesis and will be away for 11 days.

I had really looked forward to going to the quiltshop last Saturday, but it was a bit of a disappointment. I had hoped for some advice on the fabric for the backing and binding, but the ladies in the store obviously didn't feel like helping, they just wanted to cut the fabric and cash the money, I think. A pity, part of the fun of shopping for quilty things for me is looking at fabrics and discussing the possible choices with friendly shopowners...