First Aid Sewing Kit

With these bright coloured materials I took a lesson for making a new sewing bag. It is so much fun working with these green matching colours I have to be careful not to get carried away!

For the outside I used paper piecing. Before the next fabric was being stitched on, I added a ribbon with contrasting coloured thread . This way most seams are covered. Around the flowers I dis some machine quilting.

On the inside, the pockets are made with double folded fabrics to make them a bit more sturdy. The rings can be used for strings of embroidery threads.

In between the outside and inside there are 2 pieces of batting. The whole kit measures 25x46 cm (10.5x17.5").

This will be my new First Aid Kit for my next sewing emergencies!



Happy sewing, Hilde

Oh no!!

 Just when I went to the kitchen, the spool of Aurifil thread fell on the floor. This thread comes in handy to sew together another pincushion I am making for a dear friend. I did not pay much attention to it until I heard a funny noise near the sofa.
Oh no!! My dog thought it to be a fun toy and was carefully chewing it!
No way!! Go back into your basket, you naughty boy!

Uhhh, it wasn't me.....

You've got mail!

When I read Jeannet's post from yesterday I realized I better finish that pincushion before more projects are spread out on the table! I got so enthusiastic that I had to pay extra postal charges for the pincushion became too fat!! I know, I know, Jeannet had warned us before and gave the tip to leave some filling out, but then it wouldn't look as good....
Hopefully my pincushion is going to be appreciated by the new owner. A sneak preview.....


Today I got Siggie-mail! My no 2 Siggie! ;-D
This Siggie project is fun! Especially when the mail drops in your mailbox unexpectedly. So if you are one of those Siggie collectors, please send me yours and I will send you mine!

These Siggies came from Annelies van den Bergh and Marjo van Oers. If you would like to join, please take a look at Annelies' blog.

Cheers,
Hilde

Prinsjesdag (Prince's day)

Early today these lovely ladies and one man from Staphorst were lining up early today along a street in The Hague to get a glimpse of the Dutch Queen Beatrix in the Gouden Koets (Golden Coach).

Staphorst is a small village in the north-eastern part of Holland.  Their traditional dress is such a lovely combination of Dutch colours: red, white, blue and orange. They told me that they got up early to be here and had to wait for another few hours before the Golden Coach would pass.

I love the silver buttons on their scarves and jacket and the decorative ribbons on their chests which they wear for today only. It compliments their whole outfit so nicely. Hopefully they saw the queen coming by, if only for a couple of seconds!

Cheers, Hilde

Storm at Sea

This quilt I made for my daughter Leanne, about 4 years ago, when she was staying behind in Singapore to finish her high school. We moved to Vietnam, Saigon, for my husband's work, and she could move into boarding house, a facility at the United World College in Singapore. The move was not the easiest thing for us to do and this quilt became very special to her.

After completing her high school, she took the quilt to Utrecht in Holland. There she graduated from uni and now she is moving again, this time to London for her studies.

She wanted a quilt that resembles the sea and when I saw the name 'Storm at Sea', I knew this quilt was the one to make for her. It comes from a lovely book More Quilts from the Quiltmaker's Gift. The use of different sizes of triangles gives a lovely movement to the quilt.

Tomorrow is the day and there goes the quilt again! My DD is ready to move on and there is that pinch of an empty nest, again.
But hey, I better get moving on too, b'cause in a short while my bee-ladies will be knocking at my door!

Keep on quilting! Hilde

Surprise surprise!

Vreni from Oops-lah gave me an award, my very first one!  She was my very first follower and pushed me to get started. It makes the sun shine on a blue Monday!  And most of all, it comes in my favorite colour! I know Vreni from the years I lived in Singapore and we still share the box making and quilting crafts.

There is only one 'but': the award can only be mine if I reveal seven facts about myself. Seven facts, uhhh.. well...

1. When I grew up, my mom was always sewing clothes and wall hangings while my dad was making objects out of wood and clay. That's where it all started.

2. My DH and I met 31 years ago and are married for 26 years now, never a dull moment with him!

3. I am so proud of my DD who is moving to London next weekend for her studies and my DS who studies and works in New York City. Life wasn't always easy for them when we moved around the world and they had to switch friends and schools a every so often.

4. In Italy I got hooked to cappuccino! A day is not complete without a freshly brewed strong cappuccino in the morning while reading the newspaper.

5. My favorite drink is Prosecco! Especially when together with friends!

6. My favorite food is Italian,

7. So can you guess my favorite country I lived so far? Yep, Italy! I lived in Bogliasco for 3 years, a beautiful small town along the Mediterranean Sea.

And now, it is my turn to pass the award on to some of my favorite blogs I know so far. 

They are from:

Marjolein and Marijke who I both met at my Dutch Bee (quilt group) in The Hague,

Aart who makes beautiful quilts and is an enthusiastic blogger,

Jeannet who likes to share her inspirations and organized my very first pincushionswap

Julia whose stories inspire me and her paintings are simply beautiful

Have a look at theirs and let you inspire!

Cheers, Hilde

 

Quilt Show

On Friday my DH was supposed to come home from Brazil, to celebrate his birthday and to finalize the paperwork for his Brazilian visa after being away for almost 3 months by now.
Unfortunately, due to slow working officials, he had to delay his flight and will come home in 2 weeks time instead.

To cheer me up my friend Marjolein asked me to come to visit the Dutch Quilters Guild Quilt Show in Deventer, a charming city in the east of Holland!

Of course I jumped at the idea and so we went by train early in the morning. We had a great day, admiring all beautiful quilts hanging in the church, browsing the stands set up by quilt shops from around the country for that particular piece of fabric we needed so badly and a little bit of shopping in the old city center. We took many pictures of all the beautiful colors that seemed to jump of the walls, different combinations and patchwork techniques, all so inspiring! 

Ooh, There are so many more quilts I would love to make! It was a wonderful day and at night I dreamed about pieces of fabric and beautiful patterns swirling around in the air like autumn leaves...

Catch of the day

Blending in

I found this set of Aurifil Mako 50 thread, a very fine and strong quilting thread in the quilting shop Quilterspalet. These are ideal to sew my pentagons together. The earth tone colours blend in beautifully with the bright fabrics of my latest project. The Liesels Funfecke book recommends to use quilting thread as it is stronger and does not fray and break that easily as the normal sewing thread. Just love the soft tones in the small box. Enough thread to blend in for many pentagons to come!

Cheers, Hilde