Parkrun capes

You may remember that I made a red '50' milestone cape for my local parkrun a while ago. I've now finished all milestone capes (10 for the juniors, 25 for volunteers, and 50, 100 and 250 for runners/walkers), and on Saturday, when I was volunteering as photographer, five participants were happy to model the capes for me. It was my 22nd time volunteering, so not long now until I get to wear the purple cape!



I took this photo of my eldest son, who was the first finisher on Saturday. On Sunday he and I will run our first half marathon here on the Gold Coast, while my husband will do his first full marathon. Very exciting! (more about this on my running blog)

Finally sewing again!

Today I started up my sewing machine for the first time since January 2018 (when I made the chair covers I showed here). Yes, it really has been more than 15 months!
I was happy to discover that I still knew how to thread the machine, and that it was still functioning well (I must admit it was a bit dusty).
So what did I sew?
Well...

Last month we spent a weekend in Warwick, and of course did the parkrun there. It happened to be my husband's 50th parkrun; a milestone that means you are eligible for a free, red '50' t-shirt. Here's mine - I did my 50th parkrun in February:



In Warwick they had milestone capes. My husband got to run in the red '50' cape, while someone else ran his 100th parkrun in a black cape (because the '100' t-shirt is black).



I thought that was a great idea, and asked at our home parkrun, Surfers Paradise, if they would like me to make some capes. They did, so I bought some fabric and today I made the '50' cape!







Very happy with how it turned out. And the fabrics for the other milestone capes (Junior 10; Volunteer 25; 100; 250) are washed and ironed, ready to be sewn!

Update

It's been very quiet here on the blog, because I didn't really have anything to share. But last week the quarterly magazine of the Dutch Quilters' Guild arrived, and it was a nice surprise to see two of my Lone Star quilts featured in an article about traditional blocks used in modern ways.

I made some more diamonds for my Lone Star Blanket, and also started a new crochet project that I hope to share here soon!



And other than that I have been working, reading a lot (you can see the books I read in My Bookshelf in the side bar), and running of course. Together with my eldest son and a friend I did the International Women's Day Fun Run 10km in Brisbane on March 3rd:



I also ran my 50th parkrun in February (in a tutu! See pic in sidebar) and brought my 5 km PB down by 2 seconds to 31:43. It's still very hot and humid here in Queensland, so I hope to bring it down further when it finally gets a bit cooler.

I have started training for my first half marathon (21.1 km) in July and am up to 14 km now! If you had told me three years ago that I would ever run that far, I would not have believed you...

Saty tuned for more crafty stuff soon!

Looking back on 2018

At the end of the year I usually look back at what's happened, but with the New Zealand holiday in the last weeks of December I didn't get around to that. So let's do it now...
A new year in yet another new house, in a new city, and most importantly: with a new family member - our beloved Barney, surely the best thing that happened to us in 2018!
Apart from that it wasn't the best year for us: my oldest son tore his ACL at the National Gymnastics Championships, had knee surgery, and is still not able to do gymnastics - although he can run again and joins us for parkrun most Saturdays. My middle son broke his left wrist (for the second time); a bad break that required surgery too. It has healed well, but he will need another operation this year to remove some hardware from the arm. And last but not least, I had to go to the Netherlands urgently in November to deal with a family health crisis.
But there were good things as well: my youngest son found a new dance school and a lovely partner, and together they danced  and danced, in the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, and brought home lots of medals and trophies. We can't wait to see what 2019 will bring for them!



My husband is happy in his new position, the kids have made new friends, and I have found a part time job that I love. We are happy in the house we currently live in, though we may look into buying a house of our own this year.
Looking back at my creative endeavours in 2018, I thought that for the first time in at least 15 years I didn't quilt or sew anything, and was quite surprised - but then I remembered that I made covers for our new dining table set. But that really was the only time I used my sewing machine this year...



I signed up for a pottery class, something I have been wanting to try for a long time. I enjoyed it and made a few nice pieces, but was happy to leave it at that.



Crochet was what I did most last year, and what I will continue to do this year. Here is a collage of my finished projects:



There's one project missing: a cushion that I designed myself. I still have to write down the pattern - once that is done I will show it here on the blog.
I also have to finish this Lone Star blanket. I started and worked on it very enthousiastically in the first half of 2018, and then forgot all about it when I discovered amigurumi...



The other thing I did a lot of in 2018 was running. Here is a collage of my running highlights:



In 2018:
- I ran 30 parkruns at 14 different locations in 2 countries, and volunteered 8 times, for a total of 40 parkruns and 9 times volunteering;
- I ran my first events: the Gold Run (5 km) at the Commonweatlh Games, the Gold Coast Airport Fun Run (5.7 km), and the Bridge to Brisbane (10 km);
- I ran my furthest distance so far (11 km);
- I brought my 5 km personal best down from 34:39 in 2017 to 31:45.

Aims for 2019:
- Complete 50 parkruns and 25 times volunteering;
- Run my first half marathon (at the Gold Coast Marathon Festival in July);
- Bring my 5 km time down to sub-30 minutes...

Something else that I did in 2018 was singing. I joined a local choir in September and very much enjoyed the rehearsals and the Christmas concert we did at the Gold Coast Airport in December. Looking forward to more singing in 2019!



And of course a big highlight in 2018 was our holiday in New Zealand - I've shared some pics of that in the previous posting. Here is another one of Hobbiton (more on my photo blog):



For this year, a family holiday in the Netherlands is planned for Christmas - it will be 2.5 years then since all of us were there.

Although this quilting blog has morphed into a crochet and running blog, I hope you will continue to follow my adventures in 2019!

New Zealand

Two days ago we arrived home after a fantastic holiday in New Zealand. Here are a few pics of some highlights: an early morning run in Auckland (above).
A visit to Hobbiton:



Walking in an ancient forest:



Sightseeing in Napier, a city full of art deco buildings and street art - what more could you wish for? (they also have jacarandas!)





And last but not least, spending a few days near majestic Mount Ruapehu, hiking and moutainbiking in Tongariro National Park:



I brought my Happy Whirl shawl and got quite a few rows done. This project is nearing its end!



We also did two parkruns in New Zealand, which brought my total this year to 30, and overall to 40!



With only two hours to go here in Queensland until the start of 2019, I would like to wish you a happy and healthy New Year!

Hi, it's me!

May I present... myself! Okay, my legs aren't as skinny IRL, but apart from that surely the likeness is striking?



Well, maybe not, but I'm still very happy with my running alter ego. Or, as someone called it, my personal action figure!
To make it I used this brilliant book:



It's not a standard pattern book - it has chapters showing you how to make heads and faces, upper and lower bodies, feet and shoes, hair, and accessories.



And most importantly, how to customise them so they look like the person you want them to look like.



I loved making this doll, and especially enjoyed adding the finishing touches, like my Garmin running watch:



... and my aqua running shoes!



If my kids had still been little I would definitely have started by making little versions of them instead of myself, but I thought my (almost-) teenagers wouldn't be interested. Imagine my surprise when they all said they loved mini-me, and could I please make dolls for them as well?

... Of course! ;-)

PS Yes, I still have to add my glasses, but so far I haven't been able to find the right material. So let's just assume for now that mini-me is wearing contacts...

Sun visor

Look what I made! A crocheted sun visor. There was a pattern in issue 71 of Simply Crochet and I just had to try and make one - in purple, of course. Really happy with the result!



A good way to combine my two current obsessions - crochet and running!

The last posting of 2017

While the movers are packing everything in our house, I sit in my son's room and write the last posting of 2017. Tomorrow we leave Sydney - first we go to Canberra where we will be until the 2nd of January, then to Girraween where we will be camping for four nights, and then on to our new home; Benowa on the Gold Coast.

Our one year in Sydney has been quite eventful. Some of us liked it a lot and are sad to move, others did not like it so much and are happy to leave. We are all happy to be close to our old friends in Brisbane again and we all hope that this will be the last move in quite a while! (we will make an exception for a move to a house of our own on the Gold Coast in 1-2 years time)

I am happy and proud that I managed to reach my goal of running 5 km in April of this year, and that I went on to do 10 parkruns (free weekly 5 km runs) - the last one early on Christmas Day!



Looking back at my creative endeavours, it has been quite a productive year. I only made two quilts, but they both did well: Sydney is currently in the USA for the World Quilt Competition...



... and Mondrian's Lone Star was featured in issue 19 of Make Modern:



I did do quite a bit of sewing this year and added some tutorials to the blog (how to make an oven mitt, a denim doorstop and a lined project bag):



Three patterns were added to my pattern shops on Etsy. There are now 18 patterns; the pattern for Mondrian's Lone Star will be added in January.



My love affair with knitting that started last year continued in the first half of 2017. I made my first (and second) pair of socks, lots of gloves, two scarves and a cabled cushion.



And then, in July, my mother-in-law in the Netherlands taught me to crochet... and I haven't looked back since :-)



Looking back at my creative goals for 2017, I said:

I hope to publish more knitting patterns after my first one, the Wine Bottle Cover!

No, that didn't happen!

I would also like to make more art quilts, and add some work to my sports quilts series.

Nah, didn't happen either!

And my final goal for 2017 is to design more patchwork quilts in Adobe Illustrator.

That also did not happen... I may keep my goals for 2018 more general!

I don't think I will be making any more quilts for a while. Maybe at some point in the future I'll get back to quilting, but for now crochet (and maybe a little knitting) is what I want to do. Eventually I would like to write a crochet pattern, but I think I still need a bit more experience and some more 'mileage under my hook'. (does that make sense?)

Most of all I hope that my family will be happy in our new home and that the boys will make friends at their new schools. That we can settle down and grow some roots again.

I hope you will continue to follow this blog and leave the occasional comment. Thank you for coming along on the ride so far!

I would like to wish all my readers a creative and colourful 2018!

Achievements

Another pair of fingerless gloves finished! These are for me - I get really cold hands when I'm sitting still and working on a computer, so needed a pair to use at work. The owl gloves I made last year are very cute but a bit too bright for the office, so I decided to use the black yarn that was left over from the Dalek gloves to knit a new pair. I started on Friday and my goal was to finish them before the end of the Easter long weekend - which I did! The pattern, by Teresa Cole, is called 'crazy, beautiful mittens', you can buy it here.



The Sydney Temperature Scarf is growing - the first three months of 2017 are now done. I think it's going to be a very orange scarf as most days the temperature is between 20 and 25 degrees Celsius!



I've also made a new pair of felted slippers - the pair I made in July 2016 was quite worn out, and they are so comfy!



And finally, today I achieved another goal - something completely different. In October last year I started running, as a way to deal with the stress of having to move twice in a short time - first in Brisbane, and six weeks later from Brisbane to Sydney. My goal when I started was to be able to run five kilometres (approx. 3.1 miles) - and today I did it!



It took more than six months as I struggled with various injuries (Achilles tendinitis, shin splint, adductor issues), but in the end I got there! I felt so happy and proud this afternoon - and as I walked home the universe rewarded me with this gorgeous sunset:



:-)