Stitchy Fingers

Hi all, The long Easter weekend has been fruitfull! I've managed to make another four blocks! Each block has it's own particularities but they all have one thing in common ... they all take much more time than you would think! Working at the Dear Jane quilt means - for me - three P's = pinning, patience and perseverance :-)! Here they are: Block F7 : start and finish - Thursday 17th of April Block H7 : started Thursday 17th of April - finished Saturday 19th of April Block G6 : started Saturday 19th of April - finished Sunday 20th of April Block E7 : started Sunday 20th of April - finished Monday 21st of April I just like them all ... can you tell it's addicting?! ;-)

I have been pondering about this quilt for almost two years but felt I wasn't ready for it yet ... untill someone at a recent quilt show told me to "just dive in". The original Dear Jane quilt from 1863 - made by Jane A. Stickle and brought to our attention by Brenda Papadakis who painstakingly drafted and published the blocks in a book (read somewhere that it is one of the best selling quilt books out there) Here are the first two blocks. Lots of the "Janiacs" (the ladies working on this quilt :-) start with the first row and then work their way down. I've started from the middle out which allows me to stop whenever I want - although I want to tackle the whole "monster" ;-).   Block G7 - started and finished Tuesday 15th of April Block G8 - started and finished Wednesday 16 of April On this blog I've read that when making 5 blocks a week this quilt takes 1 year to complete. When taking 4 blocks per month (which is mor...

I've started this piece on March 21st (the start of Spring and also the birthday of my deceased grandfather). Since then I've been happily stitching on this piece which is executed on a 35-count with one thread ... something which I didn't do before but which will certainly be repeated! It really is a pleasure to stitch this way! I have all the colours except for two which are on backorder. And guess what ... I need them for the upper part = the three crowns and the big angel that is standing between two pillars. Hence the empty spot on the top part of the sampler.       It's only now that I get to realise how big this piece is going to be! Just to give you an idea ...I've spent almost an entire week (only stitching a couple of hours during the evening) on the big grey cloud - of which I first thought it should be blue :-). Still enjoying it highly so you'll see other updates soon!

On Saturday we drove to the seaside to bring our children to their grandparents where they'll stay for a week (there's two weeks of Easter holidays in total). I didn't resist the temptation of the LNS where I've already purchased things before. She has different items for knitting, crocheting and stitching but in all it's a small store. This time there was something by Mango Pratique which caught my eye. Here it is ... Six booklets filled with motifs concerning the UK, America, Asia, Russia, Scandinavia and the Mediterranean region. Added bonus are the 16 strands (only 4 metres - half of the normal strand) of DMC that are offered for free. I just love the possibilities it offers and hope to play around with it soon :-)!

Well my dear friends ... after long and thoughtfull consideration - which took me over a year - I decided to take the plunge and subscribe for the Cabinet of Curiosities online class by Thistle Threads! As it is a project which will be time - and money - consuming I didn't immediately dive in. Actually I've been thinking to join last year (2013) but chickened out just before the closing date. Recently I've seen another announcement on a third class (or is it the 4th?) starting this year due to popular demand. I've considered this as a sign so I'll be in!       Taken from the Thistle Threads blog (which explains far better what it's all about): The course teaches the fundamental information needed to design, embroider and cover a wooden cabinet to make a replica of a 17th century casket.   For those who have ever seen a picture of an embroidered cabinet or been lucky enough to see one in person, these items delight an...

I've always been a fan of "Beauty and the Beast" of which we all know the famous nineties Disney adaptation.   Beauty and the Beast (French: La Belle et la Bête) is a 1946 French romantic fantasy film adaptation of the traditional fairy tale of the same name, written by Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont and published in 1757 as part of a fairy tale anthology. Directed by French poet and filmmakerJean Cocteau, the film stars Josette Day as Belle and Jean Marais.   This film adaptation of La Belle et la Bete adds a subplot involving Belle's suitor Avenant (a friend of her brother), who schemes along with Belle's brother and sisters to journey to Beast's castle to kill him and capture his riches while the sisters work to delay Belle's return to the castle. When Avenant enters the magic pavilion which is the source of Beast's power, he is struck by an arrow fired by a guardian statue of the Roman goddess Diana, which transforms Avenant into Beast...

Last Saturday (15th) I went to the Creativa fair in Brussels. For me this is one of the most lovely ones in Belgium. The funny thing is that I saw a huge crowd before entering and I thought "ouch this is going to take a while before entering" but - lucky me - it seemed to be for another fair in another building called "Made in Asia" which involved everything animé cartoons and characters, computer games and other stuff for youngsters ;-). At the opening time whe heard lots of shouting and then we saw a big crowd running to be one of the first at the entry ... Here's an impression of the day: The central hallway   Something creative ... but what? To give you a clue ...   Knitted nets! The future is here : 3D-printing!   Some patchwork ...     ... and STITCHING of course!       't Gaerenhuys Ghent   I didn't buy lots of things since I have cardboards full of stuff stash and I just li...