Hopfaldera

Welkom - Welcome

Ben je hier gekomen via de QR code in de bibliotheek in Leiden? Welkom op mijn blog! Kijk even rond, en klik of tap op wat je maar wil, misschien zie je iets leuks. Vlak hieronder zie je een selectie van mijn keramiek. De rest van mijn blog gaat over alles dat ik maak en is in het Engels. No problem, right!?

Here is a selection of the ceramics I make on Friday mornings. I displayed some of my work in the library in town, and stuck a QR code directing people to my blog, next to it.

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www.flickr.com

What I did

This week I prepared fabric for the 6 blocks I'll be making for my fellow hive members in the 3X6 bee this quarter. I picked and tested a block pattern (it's still a secret) and I needed to cut 10 5" squares for everyone. Here is a sneak peek at the pile of squares.

 

Also this week I put my Etsy shop into permanent vacation mode. It means I quit Etsy. I had been feeling bad about the shop for a long time (no sales, and no clear indication of what to do about it, and consequently feeling bad about my products). Then I read on Carina's blog that she quit her shop on Etsy and a bit about why. Then I clicked on to the info she suggested and read some more. What I found out is that what I thought being part of Etsy was good for (the online community, treasuries, showcases and category pages) actually only generate 4 or 5 % of the sales, and that most sales follow from people being directed from a blog or other place directly to a product they want. This is exactly how I bought the Denyse Schmidt fabric last week. I knew what I wanted and just clicked directly through to somebody´s listing. So I quit Etsy. I don't want to feel bad about what I make. Because generally I feel really good about what I make! Just from within myself and also from people around me and all the nice people on Flickr that comment on what I show there. Only Etsy made me feel bad! And that is just stupid, right!

 

And then finally (or wow, already!) I finished the top of my Block-a-palooza Quilt. Find all the links to the block patterns here.

 

I'm taking a break now, but for when I return I have lots of new plans and ideas:

* the 3X6 blocks, of course

* this Supernova Quilt Along looks great

* this Japanese + and X Quilt Along looks wonderful too

* and I want to make a skirt for the summer from this fabric

 

On my break this is what I am going to read:

 
 

This week

Now, what did I do? I mainly worked on assembling the quilt top with the blocks I made in the Block-a-palooza Quilt Along. I have done a bit more than you can see in this photo, but here you can see what it is going to look like. The sashing will be light gray with light pink dots.

 

The other main activity this week was helping Emil make a project report about the Mustela Erminea (ermine or stoat in English). It was fun, but also hard work, for Emil, and for me too.

This is what I did in my ceramics class:

 

  

 

And also this week I was so (soooo) jealous! Jealous of American quilters who can just go to a Jo-ann store and get the new fabric by Denyse Schmidt (see some of it here). I love her older Hope Valley fabric line (I made a quilt from it for Damaris), and also loved her Katie Jump Rope, but I only ever owned two FQ's from that line. This week I saw her new fabric popping up on Flickr and blogs, and wanted it!!! Unfortunately Jo-ann doesn't ship internationally! Luckily some people understood us Europeans and others who can't go to Jo-ann, and listed the fabric in their Etsy shops. I was lucky enough to snatch up a fat quarter bundle of the complete line from a shop of one of my Flickr contacts! I can't wait.....

 

 

Summary of the week

Hi Hi!

Here's a new idea to make it a little easier to keep up this blog: a summary of the week! Some unrelated stories from this week...

Monday, Frederik and I were lucky enough to have tickets to the premiere theatre show of Hans Teeuwen in Carré in Amsterdam. We got (bought) the tickets because I put our telephone number on a list on the Carré website, and they just phoned me a couple of weeks ago to offer me some tickets. So no outrageous amounts of money were neccessary (like I read in the news paper), just a little bit of patience (a good lesson)! So who is Hans Teeuwen? Here he is in an older show he performed in the UK (including some strong language, but that's just the way it is, it's called absurdism):

 

Something else from this week: I started receiving a lot of quilt strips back from my fellow members of Bee Europa 2011. March was my month and I sent each of the other bee members a different color of fabric and the request to make a strip from it. I will sew them together in the order of the rainbow.

 
 

I made a gallery of the strips everyone made for me, you can see it here. Go look at the wonderful things they did with the fabric!

And now what I worked on this week:

 
A quilt block for Miriam for April in Bee Europa 2011 (she made the gray strip for me)

 

the center panel for my Waiting for Spring Block-a-palooza quilt

 
organic shapes in clay

 

Fresh September

The new school year already started a couple of weeks ago with Damaris in the first year of secondary school (very exciting for her, and for us all) and Emil in 4th grade at the school we know inside out, with the same trusted teacher as last year. Today, on the first day of September, I am starting to feel the effect of the new routine. This means some fresh new activities!

* My yoga and ceramics classes will start in about a week.

 

* I'm excited to check out some new things that are planned for September in quilty blog land: Project Modern by the Modern Quilt Guild, a new round of the Quilt-As-You-Go Quilt-Along, a quilt-along with Fat Quarterly. Do you know of any other new projects, tell me!!

* I got myself lots of wonderful new fabric:

 
a charm pack cut out of vintage sheets, by JeniB on Etsy

 
Christmas half-yards, I got from Sew Mama Sew

 
a Christmas layer cake, I got from the Fat Quarter Shop

* I have some fresh new craft books:

and I'm even quoted in one of them, Craft Hope: Handmade Crafts for a Cause. Pretty cool!

 

The others are by bloggers I've been following for a long time: Alicia's Embroidery Companion: Classic Designs for Modern Living, and Hillary's Wee Wonderfuls: 24 Dolls to Sew and Love.

* New months, and new assignments, in my virtual quilting bees: stars for Anita in Bee Europa, flying geese for Melinda in Sew Buzzy, square-in-square blocks suitable for a boy in do. Good Stitches (I already made those).

 

 

I'm glad the sun is coming out today, and will be in the next few days. I'm not ready for a new season yet! Let us enjoy just a little bit more of the summer season before it gets really fresh!!

Sweetness

A new old little jug from the thrift shop. Only EUR 0.90!

 

And our sweet Mauries.

Do you know how he got to look so angelic, with that soft white background........

He was "helping" me with the ironing!

Valentine

Do you want to get something for your Valentine? Here are some suggestions...

A zipper pouch that can be used for gift wrapping but is also a gift in itself

 
 
A love bird

 

A bib for Baby Valentine

 

All (and more) available in my Etsy shop!

Window sill

Today I want to show you my window sill.

These are all treasures I've had since I was small. The rabbit is a pencil sharpener. I made the ceramic box myself.

Some great beads I found at a new shop in Leiden, Bijoux Le Nur. In a bowl by me.

Beads made from leather and kauri shells, and a turquoise bead. And birds and cups by me. More ceramic birds. 
 

2010

What are my plans for 2010?

I'm continuing my classes in ceramics, yoga, and fabric design

 
 

I will be participating in Bee Europa all year long

We will go to China in May, and are planning to visit the US in the summer

I will continue to get most of my books from the library instead of buying them

I want to make a quilt for Damaris and a quilt for Emil

First I want to finish the Friendship Star quilt (with an Ohio Star here and there) that I started

I should finish the knitting projects that I had planned: a sleeveless sweater for Frederik and a cardigan for Damaris (my note book on Ravelry)

I'll try to give even more handmade presents this year (I did a good job around Christmas)

 

I will keep on crafting, blogging, keeping shop on Etsy, having fun on Flickr

P.s. Did you see, the passport wallet I made last summer was in Sew Hip Magazine 13, in the Readers Gallery? I can't figure out why they didn't use the photo of the much nicer outside of the wallet???

 

Go to my Etsy shop for Christmas gifts for the people you love, or treat yourself to something nice!