Hopfaldera

Pieces

As promised, a finished quilt!

 

While surfing from blog to blog I found an intriguing way of making a quilt top. A perfect way to use and feature tiny leftover pieces of favorite fabrics, with a great result. The idea stayed on my mind so I had to try it. First I dug in my box of leftovers and cut all kinds of rectangles and squares.

 

Then I started to make blocks that would be made into the quilt top.

 

 

 

One thing that really helped was an idea I read in the book Denise Schmidt Quilts. She uses a pin to remember the right-side-up of a particular quilt block. Each time before walking to the sewing machine I stuck in a pin in my fabric pointing in the direction of the top left corner of my 'block'. That way I did not loose track of my plan for the design.

 

I quilted the blanket by making running stitches around every color patch with white embroidery thread. This was fun to do in front of the TV. I actually started to like hand sewing! I love the effect it gave the quilt.

 

 

 

 

 

Now the only thing left to do, is wash and dry the quilt. But I doubt I will ever dare to do this...

 

My creative space 02

A tour of my studio



On the right you can see two softies that will be dropped for the Toy Society as soon as I can.



Fabric, craft books (that shelf is bending dangerously), some new ceramic birds that will be in my shop soon.



Some works in process.



My sewing 'locomotive'. I have to be nice to her!



My 'view'...
Actually these windows are my pride and joy! I got them for the light, not for the scenery (obviously).

More creative space to be seen at Kootoyoo.

Appeltaart Apron

A couple of months ago, Amy Karol (Angry Chicken) announced the Pie-Making Apron challenge on her apron blog Tie one on. I really liked that theme and thought it was the perfect inspiration!

I made an Appeltaart (Apple Pie) Apron for Damaris. She is a star at making these pies. And I set out to make an apron for her that was cool, girly but not pink, slightly apple-themed, and fun to make.

Here is a link to our photo in the Tie one on gallery (it features Damaris' Appeltaart recipe!!) and here you can see the whole gallery of Pie-Making Aprons.

 

Here is the next challenge... I wonder what I'll come up with?!

Breakfast

Look at what I had for breakfast...


Wednesday


Thursday


Friday


Saturday


Sunday


Monday

I wonder what I'll have tomorrow...

A little advance notice: Wednesday will be Give-Away Day in the crafty webworld (organized by Sew Mama Sew). I will also have a Give-Away! I will be giving away something handmade and a bit of craft supply. Be sure to come back for that!

New beginning

A new beginning, that's what it always feels like after I emerge from being ill with a infection of my leg. I have to start again to arrange my priorities and rethink all the activities I was involved in.
So, this time, I dropped working on the bazaar at school and I will probably not help in school activities for a long time (I believe helping with a felting project was the direct cause of the infection this time).
What I did not drop: Ceramics class, cooking at home (I made Melanzane Parmiggiana yesterday), my own creative endeavors, having fun with my family.




Right now this fun consists of sudokus with Emil, reading Harry Potter to Damaris and Emil; we'll start book 7 as soon as someone makes it to the book store.



The ultimate goal is to be able to go to Pinkpop with Damaris on June 1. I bought tickets for the two of us two days before I got sick. So I'm saving my energy now to see Amy MacDonald, Mando Diao, Franz Ferdinand, Anouk, Katy Perry and more with my hip girl!

News from the front

A post with mainly photos. First I'll show you the fabric that arrived from Spoonflower. I love it!

And now some images from my new studio:

 

 

 

Now I haven't even shown you my new windows yet. They'll be on here later.

My circular ceramic tiles have been spotted on Indie Spotting. I must say I had a lot to do with it myself; with the fact that they spotted my tiles, I mean. But you got to be pro-active I guess. I hope this kind of thing will generate some business. By the way, you get a free gift in my Etsy shop this week, with your order of course.

P.s. I have wonderful kids: They unloaded the dishwasher, set the breakfast table, and even made tea, all by themselves this morning!!!! And without me telling them to do it. They just thought it would be helpful, which it was! Frederik is on a business trip, and I guess Damaris and Emil took over some of his tasks in our morning ritual. Great!!

New light is coming

Wow, it is very noisy here right now! There are people sawing holes in my roof!That makes it rather cold too. But I am downstairs behind the computer in the kitchen where it is nice and warm.
Yesterday I completely emptied my studio. It sounded hollow after that. You could hear your voice echo. All the wool and fabric that was there absorbed a lot of sound. Now everything is in boxes under a sheet of plastic. And I'm getting more light in there as I type!

Now is the time to think of new plans!
Small ones: I might make a bulletin board covered in fabric (idea on Sew Mama Sew) for my new studio.
Big ones: I might completely change the layout of the furniture in my studio and get new desks to work on.
I can not picture yet what the new space will be like. Maybe I'll already have a better idea tonight.

A wrap up of projects that I finished just before I had to empty my room:

I made an Austria-inspired backpack with a cozy for a thermos and a bag for snacks. Not from a pattern but all thought up by me.

 

It is inspired by Austria because we will have a ski and snow vacation there in about a week!

Valentine's Day was on my mind as well, while I was making this! (pssst, that's also my birthday!)

 

I will not be skiing, but I will be hiking, reading, taking in the views, and some hot tea and a piece of chocolate from time to time.

 

The rest of my family will do some skiing and after taking of their big boots, Damaris and Emil can put their feet in these new slippers I made for them from Amy Karol's Mailorder pattern.

 

Black and white for Damaris (not too girly, but color is still allowed) and with a red trim, and fabrics chosen by himself for their softness, for Emil.

 

One more photo: I had a lovely light yellow lunch the other day! On the left it is very well ripened cheese, on the right white chocolate hagelslag (sprinkles).

I've been...

...knitting. Knitting, knitting. Hats mainly. They are so quick and fun.





I knit this hat for Frederik from the Chunky Knit Beanie pattern by Leslie Friend. I think I finally found a hat that looks nice on him. I'm also going to try the Boyfriend hat (found via Soulemama) on him, because I've been...

...loving Frederik since this day 18 years ago! He's the only boyfriend I've had, so he'll get that hat!



...sewing slippers. Amy Karol put out a new eMailorder, with a slipper pattern. I'm always intrigued by making shoes and slippers, although I shouldn't be. In the photo the slippers look alright on my feet, but my feet are not the same and the slipper on my right foot doesn't really fit. I will try to adjust the pattern, if I feel up to it. In the mean time I'm making slippers for Damaris and Emil. It is a fun pattern and it comes with a how-to video!



...reading. I read at night before falling asleep, and at the swimming pool when Emil has his swimming lessons. I'm always in some book. That's why we collected too many books in the house. I've had to change something about that. I can't stop reading (I wouldn't be able to sleep) so I went back to borrowing from the library again. I had stopped going to the library because I would never return the books on time. Now I have made the resolution to better take notice of the return date and update the date if necessary (you can do it online: I love the internet!).



...baking kardamummakaka from the recipe that Karin put on her Style Blog. I did add two small eggs though. I don't know if I have now changed a great Swedish classic, but we liked it anyway.



...making ceramics again. Fortunately enough people signed up for the class I'm attending for the eighth season. So I can continue putting my hands in clay on Friday mornings.





...planning new windows in my studio. I will get a 'day light system' (that means lots of windows) in two weeks time. My studio (which is really the room next to our bedroom) is quite dark. I even have to turn on the light during the day, not good for picking out colors and sewing. I'm looking forward to getting all the light, but not to having to pack everything into boxes. Oh well, it's good to reorganize from time to time.

...selling in my Etsy shop since this day 2 years ago. That is why I'm having a little promo: If you buy something from my shop this week (before February 8, when my studio is turned upside down), you will receive a free gift with your order. Something cute that I have sewn, a surprise! (you might receive a heart ornament, a zippered pouch, a tea wallet...) I'd say, go for it!

I made it!

Wow! This blog is 1 year old today! Happy birthday to you Hopfaldera!

Yesterday we celebrated Epiphany, like last year. And like last year, the children (mostly Emil this time) put their own twist on the celebrations.
It was decided that we would make a cake without a bean (or three beans). Emil thought we should all be kings. He made four boxes with treasures, one for each of us. This is how he worked.



Then, after dinner yesterday, each of us had to take a piece of paper from a box to determine which color box we would get. Then someone else hid your box somewhere in the living room, and you had to go look for it. After we had all found our boxes, we got to look at our treasures. These are mine!



And we had cake, of course! What a fun little holiday!



So, I made it to one year of blogging. I like it. I use my Flickr photostream to keep track of my projects, and it is nice to add a bit more information to the photos through the blog. Thank you to everyone that came by and read my posts! I will continue, so keep visiting!

Another accomplishment: I made a quilt! A large one! I'm so happy with how it turned out. And it is so nice and warm. Here it is...



It has been very cold here. Wonderful skating weather! And the best weather to have just finished a quilt that you can sit under! Exactly why I wanted to make a quilt.





I have used my own made up way of binding the quilt. I used the excess edge of the bottom layer to wrap around the top layers to mimic a bias tape binding. And I attached it using the sewing machine and not hand sewing. I am not fond of hand sewing and having to do it on such a large quilt would have given me nightmares. The corners are mitered, using a method I saw in Alicia Paulson's book Stitched in Time. The actual quilting is done in a method also from this book, knotting ends of bright red embroidery thread (DMC color 666!) to hold the layers together. I have used an unconventional pattern of knots on the front ànd the back. It ties the whole quilt together, not only literally speaking!

Last post of the year

The last post of the year, so a little wrap up is in order. And some plans for next year.
First, the projects I finished just before Christmas.
I made little quilted table runners for family and friends. Here they are:









I also made two in the  colors underneath, but I forgot to photograph the end products.



Right now, I am working on a large quilt that I bought the fabric for a while ago.



The plan is to finish that quilt very soon. Actually I am much further along than this photo suggests so I have good faith that I will be able to sit under that quilt very soon.

Another plan is to continue making ceramics. I have been taking a ceramics class on Friday morning for several years. Right now, it is not certain that the class will continue, because there are not enough participants. So this is more of a hope than a plan. If you live in or near Leiden, and want to have fun making ceramics in a really great, creative group: Come and join us! Contact me if you want.





Another wrap up and a plan for 2009: Anouk found the toy that I dropped for Christmas! Read it here. I'm happy she let the Toy Society know she loved it so much! I am planning to drop more toys in the new year. Join me!

And the last wrap up: Let me show you the ornaments I received in the Holiday Ornament Swap.
Thank you everyone that sent me one! They are all wonderful!