Has it been that long???

I have really neglected blogging lately. It is a busy time in my home and I seem to run from one thing to the next as well as one project to the next. Here is a little glimpse of what I have been working on...

I crocheted a wrap for my mother who visited us for the month of April. She always comments on my own shawl (click to view) so I wanted to make her one of her own. Her favorite color is red.

I made a one of a kind pincushion as a birthday gift for Bep who is a quilting friend. This was a frame for a picture but it just made me think pincushion. 

I joined a quilt themed book club. They sometimes do a quilt along as they read a book. We were rereading The Quilter's Apprentice by Jennifer Chiaverini and they started making Sarah's Sampler. I decided at the 11th hour to make one of my own interpretation. It is using 6 inch blocks and will be done with the garden maze setting. These were the first four blocks and my schoolhouse had to be reworked since then. I realized the next day after making it that doing patchwork when I am having a major FM attack is not a smart thing to do. *sigh* I have made more blocks but don't have a photo yet to share. More later of course...

In April, we had a spring surprise evening for the quilt group. I love these evenings because of the excitement of the ladies as they arrive anxious to see what the project was. They all made a crazy quilt strip as homework. Most thought it was going to become a bookmark but wrong guess. They got 4 small bottles and a birdcage button when they arrived and added a square to the sewn together strip to make a holder for the bottles/vases. Some of the finished holders are shown below. 

My goal for 15 UFOs is coming along so I will share another finish with you in my next post. Who knows...I might have the next finish done by then too. It is close to being done. But until then, I hope you are having a creative weekend!

Heidi

Kitchen jewels.....

My friend Mieke's (no blog) birthday was this week. She recently got a new kitchen so I wanted to make her dishclothes as part of her birthday gift. 

They were crocheted with Drops Paris cotton and a 5mm crochet hook so worked up very easily. Each a different design and one using all the colors together. They were fun to make.

Happy birthday Mieke!

Heidi

A fast paced start to 2015.....

Yikes! I have neglected this blog and see this is the first post of the new year while January is already 3 weeks past. But I have not been sitting around....well once in a while with a good book....as I have many goals set for 2015. 

First I decided to set two goals for this year with one being in our home and another with my hobbies. I am striving to finish 15 UFOs this year. I need to make a dent in the quilt tops I have laying around! There is an entire closet with them (I kid you not!) hanging there crying out for some love and attention. This month I want to finish a doll quilt (right photo) from Humble Quilts quiltalong called Faithful. I had to sew on the already made up last two sawtooth borders and then add a last border. It took no time at all and I could sandwich it ready to start quilting this weekend. Why did I put it aside??? I love how it came out! 

I am also putting the border on my 50 Hearts Jubilee quilt. I want to be ready to sew a quilt label on it on the last day of my 50th year. I am sewing the quilt binding on by hand and then need to make the tunnel before I start to design a label. 

Our quilt group theme starts each year in January. This year we are making crazy quilts. I bought each person a cute Dutch gabled house (from Action) and they used them to practice drawing out their crazy quilt design on muslin and then sewing the block with ribbons or laces of their choice. Here is the sample block. Next month we practice stitches and then they can get started on their quilts. 

Jannie (no blog) and I have started a new project for our monthly lacemaking afternoons. We are working on Kantje Per Maand (Lace per month) which is a 40 month project to celebrate the upcoming 40th anniversary of the LOKK which is the Dutch lace organization. We are on the second lace piece now. When completed, we are sewing the laces onto a piece of linen and then to a wooden bobbin as a lace sampler. 

I am using my roll lace pillow for this project which is very dear to me. I bought this pillow at a lace market second hand. It was unique in that it had the roll pillow and a small square to use for most kinds of lace. However, it was looking very much the worse for wear. But I recovered the tatty fabric and then put a pretty old Dutch band around the edges. It looks like new again and is pretty just sitting in the living room.

Last but not least, my friend Mieke (no blog) and I are still working on the Scheepjes CAL 2014. We decided to give it our own twist. We are making two of each of the blocks posted then adding various other blocks to give us a sampler afghan when it is done. We get together once a week to work in it and enjoy a long lunch together. 

Heidi

Catching up a little.....

Having lost our new kitten Elwin really threw me off kilter over the summer. Click here for the story if you have not already read it. I have been so sad about it and although I throw myself into my handwork I have not been sharing much lately. So I thought I would post a couple of finishes from over the summer. 

First, the crazy quilt heart is something I made when my cousin Shari and her husband Matt came over to visit. I wanted to make her something she could keep that would also remind her of her visit. 

I made a sampler pillow using various red and linen fabrics combined with a fabric with a sampler print, zigzag trim, laces and buttons. Originally I wanted to make this to use out in the garden but when Jos saw it he said I could not use it outside. He thought it was too nice. I put it on our bed instead. 

Finally, I finished a shawl that I was inspired to make after seeing this one found via Pinterest. I have been searching for a nice pattern and this was just right for a new kind of yarn at a shop called Zeeman here in Holland. This yarn is so pretty and this vintage pattern was just the thing to show the yarn off. Now all I need it for autumn weather to arrive. *grins*

So even though a sad heart has kept me quiet in the blogland, I have had busy hands as you can see.....

Heidi

My very own Vasarely!

Well over a year ago, I joined a CAL on a wonderful French blog, Le Blog PurPle. The pattern was so unique and inspired by the artist Victor Vasarely. First I took my time looking for just the right yarn to use. I decided on Scheepjes Highlands in beige, grey and heather pink. These yarns have a tweed look and are rather heavy. I wanted a tight blanket and used a 5,5mm crochet hook. It measures 107cm/42in x182cm/72in. After sewing together stacks and stacks of diamonds, here is my own Vasarely........

I used a moss stitch border around the blanket to finish it off........

I am really proud of this project as it was one of the harder ones I have tried due to how much work was involved. It took me much too long and the CAL has long ended but I just love my Vasarely blanket! Thank you Marie-Line for this fabulous pattern........

Heidi

Among the roses.....

 

Jos and I have been searching for a new kitten lately. The loss of Dagi was hard for us but we have so much love to share with another kitty. In May, I saw the photo below that a breeder posted online. Meet Elwin...a red oriental short hair. He was adorable and it was love at first sight. We arranged to bring him home the day after we returned from a week's vacation in May. I grabbed some yarn from my stash and started on a kitty pod. I used this pattern but needed to wire it like a tent to help it keep its shape.  Then I made a mattress with some quilt fabric so he would have a "bed of roses".

Jos en ik hebben lang gezocht naar een nieuwe kitten. Het verlies van Dagi was wel zwaar voor ons maar we kunnen heel veel geven aan een nieuwe kitten. In Mei zag ik de foto hieronder die een fokker op internet gezet had.

Ontmoet Elwin: een roodharige orientaalse kat. Hij was erg leuk en we waren op slag verliefd. We hebben afgesproken om hem direct na onze vakantie naar ons huis te brengen. Ik heb snel naald en draad gepakt en een klein kitten igloo gemaakt.  Daarvoor heb ik dit patroon gebruikt en metaaldraad gebruikt om het als een tentje neer te zetten. Daarna heb ik een matrasje gemaakt met quilt stoffen zodat hij een rozen bedje zou krijgen.

 

The big day arrived and we drove the hour to pick up Elwin. His brother Joep climbed up on my lap and looked at me as if to say "You are not going to take Elwin and leave me here, are you?". So Joep came home to live with us too. 

It quickly became apparent that Joep needed a man's strong guiding hand. I was not able to cope with his and he was constantly playing so hard with Elwin that it left Elwin with scabbed scratches. We made the difficult decision after a vet looked at Joep and said his aggression would probably not deminish as he became an adult cat. He was all personality so this was a hard decision to make but he was returned to the breeder.

 

Elwin was sad the first 24 hours and would not eat or drink. He was missing the breeder and his partner. But finally he turned around and he ate very well and followed us all over the house talking away wherever we went. He had the funniest meow which sounded like those friction wind up flash lights. He cuddled day and night. His favorite sleeping spot was laid over my should with his little sweet head on my chest. He went happily back and forth between Jos and I.

Elwin was de eerste 24 uren droevig, hij wilde niet eten of drinken, hij was te gehecht aan de fokker en zijn partner. Echter dit veranderde al snel en werd een echt cuddlebeestje.

I am using past tense as this is not a story with a happy ending. Sunday he started to get lethargic and stopped eating.  He did still drink when we took him to his water. Monday morning, when I awoke he was laying between Jos and I and at first I though he had died. He was alive but breathing very badly. Then I saw his little belly looked strange. I knew it was serious and he was very ill. 

Ik gebruik verleden tijd want afgelopen zondag werd hij helemaal lusteloos and stopte met eten. Maandag ochtend dacht ik dat hij dood was, ik wist dat hij erg ziek was.

We called the vet and she had us bring him in. His breathing was more and more distressed and the assistant let me wait with his in a well cooled room. The vet drew stomach fluid to test and came back with horrible news. Elwin had FIP. It is viral disease and was in his stomach and lungs. Cats cannot survive this illness. We had to make the decision to put down a beautiful kitten that was not even 4 months old yet yesterday. It seems so wrong that this little life has passed too soon. He should have had many years here with us. 

Op maandag tweede pinksterdag zijn wij naar de dierenarts geweest. Hij kon eigenlijk niet goed meer ademen, wij mochten wachten in een kamer met Airco de hitte kon hij niet meer aan. De dierenarts heeft vloeistof afgetapt uit zijn veel te dikke buik. Daarop heeft ze ons het slechte nieuws gegeven dat Elwin FIP had. Dit is een ongeneeslijke virus infectie. Helaas hebben we op advies van de dierenarts moeten besluiten hem te laten inslapen.

 

Elwin is buried our under the bench in our garden. He is right next to Dagi where we can go and sit with them. I am totally heartbroken. I miss him so much even though he was such a short time in our home. He fit in! He was instantly part of the family. 

Sweet dreams little Elwin out there with Dagi among the roses.........

Elwin is begraven onder onze tuinbank. Hij ligt naast Dagi waar ik soms naar ze toe kunnen gaan. Ik ben gebroken... Ik mis hem heel erg ook al was hij maar kort bij ons. Hij past perfect bij ons.

Droom zacht lieve Elwin samen met Dagi en de rozen.

Heidi

Cherry blossoms.....

All around us the trees are starting to bloom. As I also was teaching my quilt group to make rag appliqué blossoms on Wednesday, I got out my crocheted cherry blossoms and put them on branches in a jug on the table where we worked. The pattern can be found here. 

Overal om ons heen zijn de bomen in bloei. Woensdag gaf ik les aan mijn quiltgroep. Wij hebben "rag appliqué" bloesem gemaakt. Erg toepasselijk om een kannetje met takken en gehaakte kersen bloesem op tafel te zetten. 

"I love better to count time from spring to spring; it seems to me far more cheerful to reckon the year by blossoms than by blight."

- Donald G. Mitchell

Heidi

In the mood for crocheting and quilting

Tuesday again and time to show some progress on my Mood Blanket. I just added a lilac/creative square. Yesterday was purple again and it made me think of Marsha's sweet comment. She said she wished she could visit me on purple days. That would be fun! But I also need to explain about the purple/lonely squares. 

I am never lonely...it is just a rare thing for me to feel if you use it in the sense that most do. For me the lonely days are the days that Jos is working out of the country. This year has seen him constantly running to Switzerland or England. Each departure day has been marked by a purple square. One is not marked since he had to go to London for a meeting. He flew over and back in the time he would normally be away at his office and was back home for dinner. That was a happy day as I did not have to miss him. 

I am linking to Hazel's blog today with my progress...

Het is al dinsdag dus weer tijd om mijn Mood Blanket te laten zien. Net een lila/creatief blokje gehakt. Gisteren was paars en ik moest denken aan Marsha. Wat een lieve reactie van haar! Maar even een uitleg over de kleur paars. Ik ben bijna nooit eenzaam maar paars is voor mij het kleur als Jos moeten reizen. Hij werkt veel in Zwitzerland en Engeland sinds het begin van het jaar. De dag die hij weg moet is paars.

It is spring here in Holland! We have been having some beautiful sunny days. I decided to go sit outside and work on my heart jubilee quilt today. Danielle thought I was using wool fabric and did not have a seam allowance. It is not wool but woven Japanese fabrics. Many years ago, I bought some at De Lander is Bruges, Belgium. They were put away knowing one day I would have a special project to use them for and this heart quilt was just the right one. 

Het is lente! Ik ben in de tuin met mijn quilt gaan zitten. Heerlijk toch. Danielle dacht dat ik met wol werkte dus geen naadtoeslag maar het zijn de bekende Japanse stofjes ... geweven dus. Jaren geleden gekocht in Brugge om te bewaren voor iets bijzonders. Mijn 50 harten zijn bijzonder. 

I am using a simple method to appliqué my hearts. First trace the heart on the back of the fabric. With a really sharp small pair of scissors, clip the seams all the way around the heart. The cuts must be deep stopping just before the drawn line. 

Ik gebruik een makkelijk methode om te appliqueren. Teken de hart aan de achterkant van de stof. Met een scherpe schaar knipjes geven tot net voor de getekende lijn.

Using a glue pen, trace the line just inside the drawn line. 

Met een lijmpen trek je een lijn net binnen de getekende lijn. 

Now using a seam ripper, press on the drawn line and fold the seam over onto the glue line. This method give you a nice sharp edge to then hand appliqué your heart to the background fabric. 

Met een tornmesje druk je tegen de lijn en vouw je de naad naar binnen over de lijm heen. Jij hou een scherpe rand over om te kunnen appliqueren met de hand. 

To share a little spring from our garden here are my grape hyacinths, daffodils and hearts ease (a favorite of mine). 

Nog een blik van mijn tuin met onder andere bosviooltjes zo lief!

Heidi

Moods 2014

While visiting Angie's lovely blog to look up her ripple pattern at the beginning of the year, I saw she started a fun new project. The crochet mood blanket was just right for the basket of yarn scraps that I intended to use up this year. Each day you crochet and add a square to the blanket using the color to describe your mood. I put aside my ripple project for now as I decided this would be too much fun to pass up. The ripple had to be put aside as I have been working on another blanket as a part of a CAL but more about that later.

Here is my mood blanket up to yesterday. Jos helped me using an Excel sheet to choose how long my rows would be. It would never come out just right with 365 blocks. I have 7 blocks left in the end. I am using them up in the blanket by making a larger block for my birthday, Jos' birthday and our anniversary. See the big block? It was for my birthday back on February 12th. 

This is the selection of yarn that I have left from previous blankets. First I created a list of colors and then gave a mood to each color. Funny but when I first came up with the list, my mother laughed and said "So you don't want to use the color" when I told her what mood some would be. I scraped the idea of bored since she was right about that. But so far I have not had any pink in my blanket either. *grins*

My Mood list:

Blue - sad

Pink - worried

Red - angry

Lilac - creative

Purple - lonely

Eggplant - very busy

Grey - tired or sick

Cream - balanced

Gold - inspired

Orange - blessed

Camel - uncertain

Beige - disconnected

Brown - happy or excited

Green - contented

Denim blue - connected

I have been asked when people see the blanket what brown is and why I picked it for being happy or excited. I love brown! It is a color that all colors work well with...it is the color of earth and all the beauty of trees and flowers that grow from it...it is the base from which our food grows...in short brown is a beautiful color to me. 

Thank you for still stopping by to visit when I was away for so long. I was happy to see comments from many of my old friends lately. We were very comforted by the many comments about Dagi crossing the rainbow bridge. He is so missed in our home. 

Heidi

Keeping those I love warm (part two).....

When I took Enny and Mary up to Cranberry Cottage in November, I realized that Enny had a hard time keeping warm even if it was not so cold outside. So when we got home I grabbed some tweedy, chunky yarn and made her some long wrist warmers to hopefully keep her warm. I wanted to make them in beige so she could use them with any color she was wearing. 

Then of course, I had to make some for Mary too. She wears black a great deal so I thought making the same wrist warmers in a finer yarn would be just right for her. How fun to see the exact same pattern influenced by which type of yarn you use. Both of them were very happy to have these to keep them warm. 

I myself have a number of pairs of wrist warmers and decided to make myself a blue pair to add to my collection of colors. I wanted a nice long top to fall well over my knuckles. I tried just making up a pattern as I went along. I was really pleased with how they turned out. 

Heidi

Keeping those I love warm (part one).....

Inspired by this tutorial, I bought a hot water bottle and crocheted a cover for my mother as a gift. There had to be adjustments made for the size of my hot water bottle but I love how it turned out. I added a snowman and white lacy edge as my mother is a snowman collector. Jos had to travel to California last week and found it was cheaper for his ticket to stopover in Ohio. He played Santa early and delivered it for me as a little "just because" gift. 

Heidi

It's in the bag!

Back with another crochet finish. Some time ago, I started working on some Japanese blocks which I decided to make into a tote bag. It was a fun way to use them since I just wanted to try out some of the stitches. I have taken time making this one since I was making it with a friend and did not want to get too far ahead of her since she started after I had enough blocks for one side already. It was a fun project. We just crocheted the blocks together and then made a band of single crochet for the sides and bottom. I lined it with fabric from my quilt stash. I ran out of yarn so had to buy handles which I sewed to the lining with tabs. I added some small lace to the tabs too. Now I have a tote bag to carry my crocheting in when I take it to my friend's house...

I had made one block too many and turned it into a potholder (RAK gift) for Mieke who I crochet with regularly. It is a nice heavy design which is perfect for a potholder.

I also started a new afghan since the weather has cooled off. I am making Lion Brand's Harvest Patchwork afghan using Stylecraft DK yarn. I found out that this shop was selling it now here in Holland. What great yarn this is! Since this pattern calls for a chunky yarn, I am using a double strand to get the thickness and a 6,5mm hook. It is working up a treat and I am so looking forward to having another autumn feeling blanket to use in the coming season.

Back though to my stitching. I have another fun project in progress for Halloween. As soon as I get the spray painting part done, I will share this latest project. And yes...I did say stitching and spray painting. Intrigued? *grins*

Heidi

Cold thoughts in a warm summer.....

Months ago, I started making a Dutch crochet 'pronkrol' being created by Wieke. I loved the idea as I had often heard from two of my friends here about them making knitted ones at school as little girls. They are a long roll in which all the various stitches are practiced to learn to knit. But mine was becoming huge (choose too heavy yarn using 4mm crochet hook and wish I had bought a dainty yarn for it) and I was running out of yarn as this was leftover from this project.

My mother kept saying she thought it was a silly thing to make (see me rolling my eyes...lol) and just did not get the idea of a roll to show off your stitches. I jokingly put it around my neck as a scarf while we were talking on Skype and guess what. The idea stuck! It would make a really cute scarf. So I added a little more to get the length I wanted and added this beautiful lace edge. Now Miss Pickles has a scarf to keep her warm when the weather turns to nice crisp cold in autumn and winter.

And speaking of the weather, it has cooled off to a more normal temperatures with lots of lovely rain. The garden is happy and I am happy.

Heidi

A busy but happy dance.....

Wow! It has been longer than expected to do any blogging. I have been really busy with my quilt group as we started a fun group SAL and Christmas in July is next week too. Lots of fun things happening which I can share with you next week.

I have also been busy with an ornament exchange I am doing with a blogging friend. It must remain a secret until she receives it. I have set a goal to send it on its way by next Friday at the latest. I am enjoying the Christmas feeling around here with everything I am working on right now even though it is the middle of the summer.

In the meantime, I do finished a new crochet poncho last week which I have not shared as of yet. I wanted to make a poncho that would look really good with jeans. It is chilly and rainy in Holland this week so it is already coming in handy. I used this pattern from Drops. I then added a double scalloped edge with picots to the bottom. The neck turned out to be far too large and I added three rows of tc to the neck before adding two lacy rows of which I wove in a crocheted tie to the second row. If you decide to try this pattern, I would recommend you make a size smaller than you need to make up for that huge neck size. I am really happy with how it turned out. I like being able to throw on a poncho if I feel chilly and like having them in colors that work with what I happen to be wearing that day.

Have a creative weekend!

Heidi

Warm feet once again.....

There have been two large cones of tshirt yarn sitting in my studio for months. I wanted to try using it but reading other bloggers talk about how difficult is can be to use, I kept putting it off. Recently, I found this pattern for a placemat and decided it was time to get that yarn out and give it a try...

I simply grabbed a 15mm crochet hook and got started. I found it quite easy to use with this large hook and it lays really nicely on the ground. I kept going until the yarn ran out of the one color and then switched over to the next. In the end, my rug came out to be 80cm x 100cm (31-1/2 x 39-1/2 inches). It is now in our bedroom on Jos' side of the bed. He can wake up in the morning to nice warm feet. *grins*

Heidi

Meet Annabel and Angus.....

Last week, I was checking mail and decided to look at a few crochet blogs. I found a new pattern that was shared on Annaboo's House blog for a Scottie dog. It was love at first sight!!! I grabbed some yarn from my stash and started at the very minute. But when my little doggie was done, I thought he needed a mommy. So I used a double strand of the same black yarn and went from a size 4.5mm crochet hook to a 8mm. For the red trim, I used a size 6mm hook. Since the batting showed through, I lined the inside of the dog on both sides with some black fabric. A little bit of ribbon found in one of my ribbons jars and my new little friends were born...

I was originally making the large one to send off to my little grand-niece for her birthday in June. She will be 2 years old. But I think my sweet little Angus (yep...I named him) needs his mommy Annabel since he is a wee little thing. I am going to make another dog for Abigail to love and keep all to herself.

Off now to grab that yarn and hook once again. I have been doing a good bit of handquilting but no finish yet to share. Soon I hope...

It has been a while between posts as I have been busy with Jos. He has surgery on his esophogus a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately that operation failed. They did  find out that he problem is mainly his muscles which is used to swallow. The surgeon stretched the muscle which is all he could do to temporarily help until we can discuss the possible next operation which is highly risky. We have a great deal of questions to ask first. And I have told Jos that no matter what he decides we will go through it together but I can change how we eat if needs be should he not want to take the risk of the operation. He is healing slowly from the first operation with good and bad days. His sense of taste is gone and that is bothering him most. He is a man who enjoys a good meal.

Once again, having my handwork to do is a wonderful form of therapy. I sat in the hospital crocheting with him watching me. I am very blessed to have my handwork.

Heidi

Nook Pocket

Last night, I decided I needed to crochet a pocket for my Nook (eReader). I had thrown it in my purse to read last Sunday on the way to a museum but thought it needs some soft protection from now on...

Love how it turned out!

Heidi

March's giving.....

My two RAKs for March have been received and I can now share them with you. These are both projects that were also in my UFO challenge list for this year.

I found Matruska beads at a German Christmas market almost two years ago. This keychain was made for Susan who I thought it would have a special meaning for. She has two adopted boys (well they are actually becoming young men now) who are Russian born. I have enjoyed watching them grow up under her love and care.

Patricia shares my love of old fabrics, trims, laces, etc.. I made these lapkins from remnants I bought in Rebeauvillé, France at the Beauvillé factory. They made beautiful table linens which are very pricey. I bought some factory samples to sew some napkins. Each of the samples has been cut into various shapes. I decided to share some with friends and Patricia's are being called lapkins because of the oblong size fitting just right over your lap. I felt I wanted to do something more with them so I got out some yarn that matched and created simple crocheted napkin rings that are closed with vintage brass buttons.

I am busy making my April RAK gifts right now. It is so much fun to match a blogging friend to a gift each month. I am so happy people are enjoying being surprised with a gift but my tell you that the greatest gift is in the giving!

Heidi