Today I am working on a quilt top for the Wrap Them in Love charity. This charity was introduced today on the Sew Mama Sew blog, as part of the Quilting for Peace Team activities.
I am turning the quilting blocks I made to practice piecing techniques (from tutorials from Modify Tradition) into a quilt top, and I'll be sending that off. That is just a bit cheaper when it comes to shipping cost, and Wrap Them in Love will hopefully be able to finish the quilt and give it to someone who needs it.
So many comments! 300!!! Thank you all so much for the overwhelming reaction to my give-away!
There is only one winner though, and it is... Andrea! Congratulations! The ribbon and tea wallet will be flying your way soon! I hope you'll have fun with your prizes.
I entered some give-aways too, and I'm a winner as well!! Yippee, I won Elizabeth's felt kitties! Thank you so much! Elizabeth told me she will be posting a tutorial to make your own kitties soon! I'll post a link as soon as it is up.
And some more happiness: I was playing with photos of the friendship star blocks (in the Block Party quilt-along) I have made so far. Nice to sneak a peek at what the finished quilt could look like...
Go to my Etsy shop for Christmas gifts for the people you love, or treat yourself to something nice!
I will talk about the prize later, but first I'd like to give something to everybody. A little video of Dutch comedian Hans Teeuwen. After having reached the top here in the Netherlands with his unusual sense of humor he quit performing and went to London to start all over again. This video is a small part of his show in English. Afterwards you can click on related videos for more Hans Teeuwen. Okay, watch this video for some fun (the video is appropriate for all ages and backgrounds, except maybe for Mozart-puritans...)!
Now for the prize of today's give-away: You can win a tea wallet that I have made and two meters ofcute ribbon. The tea wallet started out as a No Cash Wallet from Amy Karol's Bend-the-Rules Sewing book but I had to bend the rules even more after it turned out that the wallet was too small for regular credit cards. I changed it into a tea bag carrier and I have included some tea bags for the lucky winner as well. Can you see the teapot button?
What do you need to do to win? Well, leave a comment on this post before Monday morning (in Western Europe) December 7th! At that time I will pick a winner. Make sure you leave a way for me to contact you. The Give-Away is international!
If you are still looking for cute presents for Christmas, please take a look in my Etsy shop. I have some sweet ceramic birds, all kinds of fabric zipper pouches, some Dutch themed baby bibs and more in my shop. Thanks for looking!!!
Go to Sew Mama Sew for more Give-Away fun. Good luck to everyone!!!
###Comment are now closed! Wait for the winner to be announced in the next post###
Today I'm making Friendship Star blocks for a quilt. I found a tutorial on Block Party!, and I really liked it. Not too simple and not too hard. And a good pattern to use with different fabric combinations.
I'm using fabrics I bought as a fat quarter designer set on Sew Mama Sew a while ago. The fabrics were chosen by Hillary Lang of Wee Wonderfuls (the set isn't available anymore). I picked out the solid turquoise fabric myself. It has a bit of a texture and is very soft. I like the combination.
Unlike some people I don't come from a tradition of quilting at all. That makes this quilting thing very easy for me because I don't have anything to live up to and I feel I can invent my own methods to do things. But since I joined a quilting bee, Bee Europa, I thought I should learn some of the traditional methods. After all, I will be sewing quilt blocks for other people, not just for myself!
I started by getting a book from the library about traditional quilt blocks, but it had nothing about the construction in it. Then yesterday I found a great new blog. It is called Modify Tradition and is all about approaching traditional quilting blocks in a modern way. Well, I am all for that! I got started on a nine-patch block, and it went well. They had a great tutorial!
Now the fabrics for the skinny nine-patch and the pin wheel blocks are cut out and ready to go. I'm having fun with my 'studies'!
Another blog to quilt along with is Block Party. They are starting today. I might join them too!
In my creative space today is the quilt I am making for Craft Hope. I am at the stage of trimming the edges and binding, so it is almost done.
This going to be the binding:
The quilt should almost be done, so I can send it to the USA tomorrow. I feel like I am rushing like in this video by the Editors. (always nice to listen to some blasphemous music while crafting for charity... just kidding)
More creative spaces at Kootoyoo. Why don't you join too!!
It is that time of year again... time to swap ornaments! I have participated in the Annual Holiday Ornament Swap for three years now, and yesterday I found out that Nicole of Freshly Blended is organizing a 4th round! I'm still deciding whether I should join. I have so many holiday gift making plans already! But it is so much fun to make and receive all those ornaments.
Here are pictures of what I made in the previous years
2006
2007
2008
And take a look at what I received on Flickr (2006, 2007, 2008)
Here is a link to the 4th Annual Holiday Ornament Swap! (I don't think I can keep myself from joining...)
The Craft Hope blog announced a new project! I'm so glad this is one I can do. We are to make quilts for homeless children in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA. I actually have family in Grand Rapids. Fortunately they are not homeless, but I have heard that the global financial crisis is hitting them very hard out there.
These are some pictures from a little Pixi book that I still have from when I was small. They show how a quilt can turn into a safe place.
I'll start my quilt soon. The deadline for it is November 15, so the children can receive their quilt around Christmas time.
book but I had to bend the rules even more after it turned out that the wallet was too small for regular credit cards. I changed it into a tea bag carrier and I have included some tea bags for the lucky winner as well. Can you see the teapot button?