Contrasts

 We had 4 rather severe storms in a row lately and when we got on the train to go to Amsterdam last monday, the last one was still blowing my hairpins out.

It happened to be my birthday and I was in for a day out. First we went to the Stedelijk museum (mainly modern art) and then we visited the Rijksmuseum. We skipped the Van Gogh this time; it was too busy and crowded to my taste. Next time Vincent!

Matisse

Chagall

Mondriaan, all at the Stedelijk

And Vermeer, Breitner and Asselijn at the Rijksmuseum.

Amsterdam being pretty as always

Then on Wednesday, we took the Ladies to Naturalis. What a contrast! And such a beautifull exhibition of thousands of animals. The Ladies fav were the dinosaurs, ofcourse..

They were allowed to hold a piece of dino poop and a genuine piece of triceratops skin.

Another day for the books!

Yesterday the carnaval festivities started here in the southern part of the country, after 2 years of cancellation due to Covid. It lasts untill Tuesday night and everywhere there are people in silly costumes, cheerfull music is playing, bars are crowded etc

At the same time there`s constant tv coverage of the war in Ukrain. Footage of fathers saying goodbye to their families, people seeking shelter, bombs, tanks…This time it`s not from WW2 or something like that, but 2022 in our backyard, in Europe. It`s horrible, heartbreaking and all because of the delusion of one man.

Keep calm and quilt on

 Lately I noticed that I couldn`t bend and stretch my right ring finger as freely as it should. And while bending and stretching, it made a soft cracking sound. It became increasingly painfull as well. My doctor diagnosed it as a “trigger finger” and sent me to a fysiotherapist. 

I had the intake there yesterday. The therapist asked about my hobbies. Ofcourse she had no clue what patchwork and quilting was. When I explained she said (while typing):”ah, with a sewing machine “ and was horrified when I replied that I am a HANDquilter…LOL

Anyway, she made a brace and told me that it had to stay on 24 hours, 7 days, for starters and that I should not use that finger at all if possible, except to do prescribed excersises. 

I considered myself lucky that it was this finger. After all, you don`t use it while quilting!

Phew!

How wrong was I!! You use it all the time when grabbing something. I couldn`t pull a needle through anymore. And I was making such good progress on the Granny Square!

(The sun made some strange shadows on the picture, but the quilting is visible..)

I didn`t have a needle puller at hand, so I made one myself.

I padded the pair of pliers not to damage the needle and although it slowed me down considerably, it worked. Sort of.

Another nifty tool I gifted myself is a ergonomic rotarycutter. I choose one from Marti Michell.

What a difference this thing makes!! I never ever cut so many layers at once with so little effort. I cut a bunch of scraps to shreds just for fun, because I just couldn`t stop cutting haha. I forgot to take a picture, the orange pieces were the last ones left on the table.

Now let`s order a genuine needle puller and see if that keeps me quilting on (with the wretched brace)…Not quilting would mean I need a psychotherapist and probably a divorce lawyer in the near future.

January blues

 For as long as I remember, I hated januari. The grey cold days, spring still far away and the anual winter depression sticks out it`s ugly head. I know in my head how to cope, but my heart isn`t in it.

I try to go on daily walks, but the grey foggy skies do not lift the spirit..

Luckily there`s always quilting! On those January days I 1m so happy to have a hobby!!

This wonderful and cheerful Andover fabric arrived, that i wanted to use as a backing for the Great Granny Square quilt. A thousand rainbow hearts, what`s not to love?

So, with a little help from DH I layered and pinned..

Let the quilting begin!

The great Granny Square project part 2 and unfortunately Covid 19 again

 As of today, the country, once again, is in total lockdown. Omikron scares the shit out of everyone ( no, I will not *bleep* that) and in an effort to withstand that tsunami that`s apparantly coming, everything is closed. Well, “essentials” like supermarkets, drugstores and such, remain open. Bookstores and quiltstores are, ofcourse, non-essential. 

To make this worse for me personal: I am vaccinated twice with AstraZeneca. The experts state, and I quote:” AstraZeneca provides no protection against Omikron whatsoever” Shit again then!!

Ofcourse I immediately booked a booster appointment: first opportunity is the 7th of januari. Did I already say “shit” ?(I actually said something worse)

But it is what it is. The grandLadies will come to stay the coming week, as the parents have to work and schools are closed too. For various reasons, there will be no danger of them infecting us with Covid.. At least the ladies will bring laughter, distraction (and chaos LOL).

And now the Great Granny project!

Quilttop nr 1 is done. Yeey! No fabric shop roadtripping, so no backing yet. Therefor I started Quilttop 2, for the eldest one who has pink as her fav colour, instead of the purple in top 1. Thing is that I really hate pink. I have a scrap and one fq and that s it.

It`ll be enough I think :).

Weapon of choice for this one is the 1956 Featherweight. (  Yes, I am the proud owner of two feathers.)

An excellent, outstanding year 1956!! Ask me how I know….haha. Problem was that it rattled like an old truck, although fully serviced, oiled etc. After half an hour of troubleshooting with zero effect,I decided to put a new needle in and that did the trick. Pffff.

Now I have one day left to sew in my room. The Ladies will confiscate it, as soon as they walk in…and I don`t mind at all…..

The great Granny Square project part 1

 I`m a proud oma to 3 lovely grandgirls. In our family they are commonly referred to as `the Ladies`, so I will stick to that name. I made the oldest one a babyquilt and that was all. Shame on me, and I feel that.

So, let`s change that and make the Ladies each a quilt! I decided it should be a GrannySquare (duh) and to make things easy, I will make 3 of those. Since I handquilt, it will surely be a `great`  project that will take me some time to accomplish.

This is my weapon of choice: the 1950 jubilee Featherweight. What a joy to sew on that machine again. It has been a while..

When I `design` a new quilt, I never measure beforehand. I`ll go where the blocks take me.None of the quilts I made have the same dimensions.

I made the Granny block with 3” squares. This is what I have so far!

It turnes out, it`ll be around 68”x 78” . The border square~in~a~squares are very time consuming! Sewing those is more of a chore, but with at least an hour every day, coffee at hand and Coldplay on Spotify, it is doable.

The one will be for the middle Lady. Her fav colour at the moment is purple, so she`s getting some purple blocks. I had approx. 4 purple fq`s LOL.

Off to sew another batch of border squares!

Sewingroom thoughts

 I am lucky to have my own sewingspace. Even better, it`s a corner of my livingroom, separated by a sliding door. DH attached flanel covered boards on that door: my designwall.

It`s not big: about 3x2 metres, but it`s all mine. One exception: when the grandgirls come for sleepovers, it`s theirs. I clean the table and in no time everything is covered in colour pencils, drawing stuff, lego etc.

I`m always looking for ideas to make it better, better ways to place the furniture, storing solutions, that sort of things. Pinterest, instagram, blogs; I search them for ideas. Over time, a few things stood out…

Rugs…. Why?? The threads that will bury themselves there. I already have to get on hands and knees to vacuum them out the doormat!

Decor…. I see rooms covered in an abundance of decorations, bunting, haberdashery..stuff everywhere. Ah the dust it gathers ( I`m allergic and would sneeze constantly) Besides, it would distract me big time. In an ideal sewingroom, for me that is, it would be almost empty, minimalistic. I constantly struggle between `the need to display` and almost empty shelves.

Another item I often see: Singer Featherweights put on the highest shelves for decor purpose only. The machine is ,again, accumulating dust and that`s not a good thing imho. Besides: it`s so nice to actually use them and sew with your Feather..

This is my view across my table. Too busy, but no room e.g. to put the quilts elsewhere….

Fabric storage…..why oh why do so many people store their fabrics on open shelves? So you can see what you have?? Mine are in drawers. No dust, no discolouration and when I open them I can easily see what I have.

Other things that I see are: sitting with your back to the door ( makes me uncomfortable). Big cutting tables, small sewingtables. ( here the other way around, C can come over and sit across me:)

On the table now my iPad and notebook (writing down the measurements of the new project), a small ironingboard that`s big enough for blocks (belonged to my mum, must be at least 50 years old) with my normal iron and an antique one that I use as a clapper.

Last but not least the messy sewingrooms with godknowswhat scattered all over the floor, tables etc etc. Don`t get it, I would close the door and never come back. 

Ofcourse there are plenty of quilters with beautifully organised rooms too. With built in cupboards, nifty storing solutions, room for a computer desk….ah one can dream is it not?

Oh, about my previous post:  Meanwhile I found some quiltshops that are not too far away with fabrics that appeal to me. C and I will plan a roadtrip soon!

Shopping online frustrations..

 We`re entering the 4th Covid wave, so I don`t like to go on a hunt for new fabric in the stores. Since I`m retired I have a choice to go out or stay in and I have the tendency to choose the latter. Besides, there are no fabric stores in my vicinity: nearest one is about an hour drive ( and an hour back!)

Therefor, I wanted to know beforehand, if  a particular store has the fabric I like and want. Lately Tula Pink is hot here and the more classic `tea-dyed` stuff as C and I call it. I want neither.

You would think Google is the solution here: check a shop`s website and drive there if it is to your liking, or order online if it is a too long drive. Well…that`s when things do NOT work out.

At least 2 shops I had my eye on, had no webshops. On their blogs one sometimes shows a few fabricbundles you can order by email and leaves it there. The other (and only one in my vicinity) mentions that you `can always call or email me if you want to order something`. Point is, that I don`t know what kind of fabrics they sell. On their blog they show e.g. the christmasdecorations or a customer `s quilt. Should I email to ask about the stock?? Nah..

There are seldom shops big enough to carry all sorts of fabric; they mostly specialise and like I said, ` tea` is popular..

And last but not least there are those websites that only show a tiny tiny bit of their stuff ( `we have a lots more in store!`) and those whose website is so unclear and messy, I don`t even want to start browsing.

Luckily I finally found what I needed/wanted. Some shopowners have a great website as well as a webshop. Fabrics ordered and in my letterbox 2 days later.

If another Covid lockdown is due: I am prepared!!

Technology

 The reason the blog stayed silent was the lack of proper blog devices. Laptop is old with Windows 7, iPad  didn`t post pictures anymore (outdated too) and blogging on DH`s iPad wasn`t working out for me either.

Since the first of september I retired and from my last pay check I bought a brand new IPad mini 6! Yeey! (I loved my old mini since it fits in every bag.) A few weeks later a mini keyboard plus cover was available. On my Sinterklaas list is a simple bluetooth mouse and then I`m all good. 

Meanwhile, I finished the Gossip top. I`ll buy a backing at the end-of-the-year clearance at the nearest quilt shop.

Except for the applique blocks, the Gossip was mainly sewn by machine, so I needed a project on the go.I can`t simply watch tv with idle hands. C gave me a stamp for my birthday last February so it was time to put it to use. Stamping stars it was. I randomly cut scraps and when I finish a star, I literally slam it on my wall. Sorting and colorplacement will come later!

We`ll see where this project goes!

After the hype….

 In the quilting world there are certainly hypes. Suddenly a quilt or designer is the one and everyone jumps in. Dear Jane, all from Susan Smith, Jen Kingwell, fabrics from Tula Pink…to name a few.

The Dear Jane hype was not for me, others I liked but didn’t buy the pattern ór got the pattern waaaaaay later and didn’t come to actually make it, due to other, more pressing matters, patterns, events etc.

The It takes 2 quilt is a 2015 pattern, just saying..( might even be older..)

While I was waiting for more red Kona cotton Poppy to finish the border of the Takes2, I cleared out the quiltroom and came across another fav from the past: Gossip in the Garden from Anni Downs.

And years after the “hype”, I jumped in.

Most difficult part is choosing the fabrics. I put the finished blocks on the wall and sometimes I pulled them of and made a new one with different colours/fabrics. More than once,I must add. I also changed the original design. Ditched the hexies e.g. and one of the dresden plates ( too many imho).. 

This is the last picture I took, working on the middle block as we speak.

Note the drawing on the right, made by my granddaughter:

That’s me on the left, picking her up from school. The most beautiful piece of art on my designwall if you ask me🥰

Superheroes

 No, I did not fall off the wagon again, blogwise. My blog devices are a bit out of date and blogging was just not do-able anymore. Pics were messed up or did not appear at all; that sort of thing.

I confiscated my DH’s iPad, which is a tiny bit better up to date than mine, so let’s try again!

So….Superheroes!! Years ago, I made one for the first grandgirl, and never got to making one for grandgirl 2. That became painfully clear when I put them to bed the other day, and oldest had her Supergirl “ standing guard” in her bed and her sister had pulled out a rag doll, for she” did not have a Superhero” Oef! I felt that!! So I went to work after getting her wishes: purple hair and pink clothing ( remember how I hate pink?? Luckily neighbourfriend C came to the rescue with a pile of pink)

I one made the youngest one too. Her big sisters chose the hairstyle….

Just dolls, Superheroes or Princesses? They can be all three..

I combined several patterns from the Happy Quilts book: mermaid and princess hair, hero body etc. 

Great fun book btw!!