First crochet finish and a give-away!

Just before I really get into the spirit of Xmas here is something completely different: I finished my granny square crochet blanket!

I started this in the summer of 2013, because I wanted to do something different than sewing and to make it really different I decided to use colors I don’t normally use (except maybe when making a quilt for my daughter, Eline). The way this turned out is bright and cheerful, which is especially nice during this grey and dark time of the year, I had to wait a few days before I was able to take some nice pictures outside, it was just too dark!

 

 

I was going to do a scallop border, but decided enough was enough, I really wanted it to be finished and also, something I did not realise (this being my first crochet project), the thread I chose to do this (Drops Paris) makes this really (and I mean really!) heavy.

It was fun to make and I will definitely do another crochet project, but with another thread!

So much for that, now it is time to look forward to Christmas! A few posts ago I posted my 100^th blogpost on this blog so reason for a little celebration which means a give-away! How about this Christmas pattern? Not too big and not too difficult, you may be able to finish it before Christmas - if you are quicker than I am with these things ;-)  -

Leave a comment and send me an email (address in my profile, that way I also have your email address to contact you) if you are interested. I will draw a winner Wednesday evening(December 10).

Enjoy your Christmas preparations!

Phyllis

 

 

 

A winner and a reunion

I should have posted this weekend, but I am so sorry, it was just somewhat busier than I thought.

So now without further ado the winner of my give away, tadaaaahhhh!

 

Congratulations Linda! Can you email me your address so I can send you the fabrics? Hope you will enjoy them.

And for those who did not win, I am sorry, better luck next time (there will be more give-aways), I have entered countless give-aways myself and have never won …..

This weekend was a bit busier than planned, because on Sunday we decided to go to the fundraising event for Animal in Need, the foundation that runs the shelter in La Linea in Spain where we adopted Whopper from. It was also their 5-year celebration and because of all this Peter Koekebakker, who founded and still runs the shelter, came over from Spain to attend. So Whopper was reunited with his rescuer (and of course, Whopper would not sit still for the pictures).  

 

 



Recently CesarMillan, the famous dog whisperer, visited the shelter in La Linea, he trained one of the dogs there and used it for an episode of his series on the National Geographic Channel. It was broadcast over here in The Netherlands on April 12, but will be repeated, which is great recognition and exposure for the shelter and the wonderful work they do over there.

 

Peter and Cesar at the shelter in La Linea, Spain

 

More quilty news next time, when I will show you the finished top of my Jacob’s Ladder quilt, hope to be able to make and outdoors picture of it later on in the week, unfortunately the weather is letting me down today.

 

Don’t forget, this evening: the final of the Great British Sewing Bee!!  If you did not see this, you missed a really nice program.  It is like the Great British Bake Off, only with fabrics! Great contestants, great judges (aaah, the impeccably dressed Patrick Grant), great stories.

 

 

I found out through the Gehring Road blog that there actually is a link which will enable you to watch all the episodes on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BR5BqGWYeSw&playnext=1&list=PLdPQHWnWlCxe_FqZpczwhZFUkNgLocq8q&feature=results_main

Watch them from episode 1 and you will enjoy a few hours of great tv-sewing fun!

 

Until next week,

Phyllis

 

 

 



A block and a winner

No quilty news in my previous blogpost so this time I will start with my latest block of the King George III quilt, block 6:

As I mentioned before this was a BOM by Petra Prins, that means that every month you got a pattern for a block and a scrap bag. As the months progressed I got a better idea of how I wanted the quilt to turn out, so the first two blocks were made mostly out of the scrap bag, I mean that I looked at the scrap bag first and may have added from my own stash. After the first two blocks I first looked at what I wanted a block to look like: red here, blue there, some pink etc. and then looked at what fabrics to use, both from my own stash and from the scrap bags.

This month block 6 was a bit different, the red striped fabric in the scrap bag was just perfect for the points, so I started from there. In the end the inner sunburst circle is from my own fabrics and the outer circle, starting with the red points, is from Petra Prins’scrap bag.

I also worked some on my Jacob’s Ladder this week.

A few months ago I was contacted (via my blog) by an English quilter had moved to The Hague and was looking to meet fellow quilters over here.

And would you believe it, it turned out she lives practically around the corner from me. Since moving to The Netherlands, she has been infected with the Featherweight bug. So for Christmas her husband gave her a Featherweight, which means that now I can just pop around the corner with my own Featherweight and we can enjoy few hours of sewing, so that’s what we did.

 

And then it is time for……. the winner of my first giveaway!

I realise the flip side of this giveaway business, I only have one book to give away and I really wish I could give everybody something…. Thank you to my new followers for signing up and I am so sorry I cannot send each and every one of you a little gift, but there will be more giveaways, promise (love them myself, even though I have never won anything) so here it goes, DD drew from the bag of names….

Cisca!

Congratulations Cisca, please send me an email with your address and I will send you the book a.s.a.p.

Have a nice weekend, everybody!

Phyllis

Giveaway: 50 Followers!

Over the weekend I noticed I now have 50 followers! Wow! Thank you followers and also everyone else who reads my blog and have not signed up as a follower (yet). I really appreciate it.

Apart from the creative side quilting is also a social activity for me, as is blogging. Both give me a lot of enjoyment and  I have met so many new, nice people through both.

Soooooo, to celebrate this it is time for my first Giveaway!

On Friday I will ask my DD to draw a name among those of my followers at that time, he or she will receive this handy book! A mini encyclopedia on quilting, always ready to answer any question you may have.  If you are not a follower yet and wish to participate, you can still do so.

(If you do not, not to worry, I am planning another little giveaway for everyone in April!)

On another note, DD and I have been busy this weekend making sushi. In this household we all love sushi and sashimi. Even Whopper seems to get more exited at the smell of fish than at the smell of meat in the kitchen. It was DD’s first experience at making sushi and she took to it like a duck to water J !

First on Saturday afternoon we went to one of the supermarkets in Chinatown and to the fishmonger nearby to get our ingredients.

Back home it was preparing the rice the proper way (for me the most difficult part, the rice has to be moist and sticky, it is easily either too dry or too moist, in both cases it will not be sticky enough), making the Japanese egg omelette and the Japanese mushrooms. We bought the seaweed salad ready made at the fishmonger’s.

And then – DD’s favourite part – putting the actual sushi together.

After that, the best part, eating it!

This is DD’s picture, she often knows how to get a different angle in a picture.

Until Friday!

Phyllis