June Star

I am posting this a day early, as I will be on a day trip tomorrow. My June Star is Simone de Klerk, and I am so happy to have gotten to know her through our blogs. She and I have so much in common, and funny enough, I am also a gamer like her son, so that was a nice surprise. Simone is so talented, but more importantly, she is a lovely person inside. You can see that in her smile and eyes in the pic of herself that she submitted. Enjoy Simone's wonderful interview below and visit her blog at http://simonedeklerk.blogspot.com/ . You will see how lovely her quilting and stitching is.

Here is Simone's wonderful interview:

· A Bit About Me:
My name is Simone de Klerk and I was born in Amsterdam. I am married to a sweet husband and am a mother to a wonderful daughter, who is doing her final exams at the moment and will be leaving home in August to study in Amsterdam and to a great son who still goes to high school and loves winning games and prices on Playstation 3. Then I also have a beagle that lets me take her for a walk every morning for more than an hour.
We live in Heerlen, the southern part of the Netherlands in a quiet neighborhood with beautiful places to go for a walk.
I work as a remedial teacher, helping children who have learning problems at a regular school. This is a very fun and satisfying job, which I am able to do at home.

· What Insprires Me:
I have been thinking about this question for a while and decided to answer it in connection with patchwork and stitchery. All the beautiful projects I find on the many blogs I visit inspire me enormously! Many bloggers have such wonderful ways with colors and patterns. And sometimes the most simple things can make something so beautiful!
The wonders of nature also influence me, as well as visiting exhibitions, such as the one of Viktor & Rolf. And of course the things that happen in daily life, can give me inspiration.

· What I Love to Do the Most Creatively:
Ever since I can remember, I have been creative with fabrics, threads, needles and yarn. Several years ago I taught groups to make Steiner dolls with only natural materials. I also learned them to make seasonal dolls and other figures, such as toadstools, flowers, chestnuts etc. Creating these dolls and then seeing how children played with them, cuddled them and how they could give comfort to older children, was very special.
After having done that for a few years and my children becoming older, I had the feeling I had to start something new. That is when I discovered quilting and patchwork. This creativeness has enriched my life enormously in many different ways. And since a year, stitchery has become a new passion along with. How I love to see a stitchery pattern develop stitch after stitch after stitch and then being able to create a quilt or wallhanging with it.

I also enjoy reading (novels, biographies, thrillers), listening to music, gardening, walking and of course blogging (which sometimes - read: very often - takes up too much of my time).

· My Favorite Fabric and Designer:
I don't really have a favorite fabric. Normally I buy what I like, with no special intention. The fun part (and sometimes frustrating part) is to find the right match to the fabrics in the stash you already have.
Lately, I have discovered that it is very nice to buy fabrics within a line. I was given a Snippets Jelly Roll by American Jane for Moda. How those colors and patterns fit so perfectly together is wonderful. Yet, it does not alow you to 'play' with fabrics in a suprising way, if you stay within the line. At least, that is my experience. But I do find it very much fun to look at it and work with it!
When I think of a favorite designer, four pop up in my mind: Cheryl of Willowbery Designs, Me & Melly, Gail Pan and Natalie Ross.

· UFO I Intend to Finish First:
I have been working on a charity quilt. The top was finished in no time. And that was it. So I really want to get that one finished soon!

· What’s on the Design Wall Now:
Together with a blogging friend I am working on Leanne's House, the quilt with the hearts and flowers. For this month we want to finish the first block.
I am also working on three free stichery BOMs: Verandah Views, Christmas Wish and Once upon a time.
Furthermore, I almost finished a stitchery for a friend of mine who is expecting her third son at the end of May.

· Who Would I Love to Meet:
This does not sound very original, but I would love to meet some I the wonderful blogging friends I made over the past few months. It seems as though I've known them for ages. People are so incredibly kind and it is so much fun to share the same passion and find comfort when times are not always so good!


· If I Had One Wish:
If I had one wish, I would wish to become old healthy and happy and see my children growing up in a peaceful world.

· Plans for the Future:
I don't really have plans for the future. I try to take the day as it comes and not plan too much ahead of time. This gives me a peaceful feeling, which I think is very important in this hectic world we live in.

I really enjoyed reading her interview. I am including some of her wonderful work.

First, there Truly Scrumptions, by Cinderberry Stitches, which is one of Simone's favorite stitchery and designer:

Then there is a good luck heart that Simone made for her daughter.

Also Simone loved making this stitchery, which is a pattern by Lynette Anderson:

This is one of Simone's favourite paintings that she bought several months ago, because of the colour explosion, and she loves to sit and watch the painting so much!

Here is another stitchery pattern that Simone made from a pattern from German designer Usula Schertz:

Finally, this is a quilt that she made for her daughter Laura:

Thanks so much for an inspiring interview Simone and for also being my friend! I hope that one day Joe and I can visit Holland and meet you. Wouldn't that be just perfect?

Galloping Horse by Lake

I have been working on a miniature landscape quilt. I am almost done. I have to put on the binding and do some finishing touches. That's why the pins are still in it, so forgive me for that. I just wanted to give you a sneak peek.It has been fun making the minatures, but all the fusible applique and thread painting really takes a long time, in addition to the free motion quilting. It is a late fall scene, and besides the ocean, we do have some lovely lakes near us. I put snow on the mountains, as usually that is where we normally see it, as it rarely sticks to the ground, and a wee, lone house in the distance. This is also horse country, thus the galloping horse, as there are lots of lovely horses and stables in our area. Often times, when we are at the beach, we see people riding horses there. I have a few horses that are my favorites that we go and visit to give them some carrots, especially around Horn Head Bridge and the Famine Graveyard.

The weather here is shockingly warm, and I can finally say that spring has come. It was sunny and warm today, and really very lovely! The fields were so green and everything was beautiful! The sheep in the fields looked very happy indeed lying on the grass basking in the sun.I don't know how long it will last, but it was so nice. We are both not used to the warmer temperatures, as we are so accustomed to the cooler weather here in Dunfanaghy.Joe and I had breakfast at The Quiet Moment, and we have had a lovely weekend so far.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday!

One Pillow Down, One To Go, and Great Quilt Books

I finished one oriental pillow for our bedroom, so now I have to finish the second one. I also worked on another miniature landscape quilt for my Miniature Landscape course. I am doing a landscape that includes New Lake, the hills, and a galloping horse. I have all the pieces fused to the background, but no stitching done so far, so I still have to free motion quilt the landscape. I was really busy with working on that, while I watched another John Wayne movie. I will wait till the teacher Susan Brittingham instructs us on how she wants us to do the free motion stitching.
Joe and I are off for a twilight walk. It is a very cool, cloudy day, but the early night walks are the prettiest.

Well as to the great quilt books that I will write about today. Here are two that I will definitely do in the future.

When we came back from our walk, I read an email from one of my blogger friends, named Karen.

Karen whose blog is at http://karen-logcabinquilter.blogspot.com/ recommended a great applique book called The Circuit Rider's Quilt Book, which you can find at the Pickledish Site which sells the Kansas City Star patterns. The site is at http://pickledish.kcstar.com/?q=node/558. As I already have many of the Kansas City Star patterns on cd and love to do applique, I know that I will love to make this 19th century quilt. Anyone who loves applique, this looks like a winner. Also on my to do list, I would love sew The Amish Circle Quilt, and the book can be purchased at http://www.softexpressions.com/software/books/4F0098.php. It is a wonderful sampler quilt, and the stories in the book are wonderful too. As I lived near the PA Dutch Country many years ago, it would also be a wonderful memory quilt representing my life in PA. At the site it says about this book:

Step into the everyday life, families and communities of the Amish. Experience their world through the circle letter, as Rosemary Youngs guides you on the journey of 11 women who manage to maintain their friendships and record their lives. After over 15 years of keeping in touch, these women now have added a quilt block to each letter. This book includes 121 actual-size quilt block patterns reflecting the experiences in their lives. Enjoy their stories as you piece and appliqué the blocks to create projects including a large quilt, baby quilt, wall hanging, table runner and appliquéd aprons and bags.

Asian Pillow and Hike By the Famine Graveyard and a Giveaway

I am trying to create an Asian theme in our bedroom. The geisha quilt is hanging on the wall, I have a Japanese style duvet and pillows on our bed, and the curtains also have a very Asian look to them. I have had two pillows that I haven't used, as the covers are so worn, so I am making new pillows for the bed. I made the first one today, and finished the front of the pillow. It is all machine applique, and I used my favorite fusible Heat N'Bond light. The fabric around the pillow matches one of the borders of the geisha quilt and the colours coordinate with our curtains. I found Asian patterns in a Patchwork and Quilting Magazine (Uk version), and when I am done this one, I will use one of the other two Asian patterns to make the second pillow.

We have taken a walk today in hills by the Famine Graveyard. It is a haunting place where victims of the Famine lie in unmarked graves. I have included a few of the pics for you to see. It is so interesting. Here is the sign that marks the entrance to the Famine Graveyard:

Here is a view of the inside with the memorial to the victims:

The graveyard is up in the hill and you can see our community below by the sea:

Right by the graveyard, there are wonderful views of the fields and the hills:

Giveaway News: Dzintra is having a wonderful gifeaway...go to http://dzintrastitcheries.blogspot.com/2009/05/its-my-turn-for-giveaway.html and check it out and enter...you never know...you might win!

Harvest Moon Completed at Last

I finished all the free motion quilting of Harvest Moon and then put on the binding and hand sewed it this morning. It is hanging alongside the Carnivale Wallhanging, and I am thrilled to have them both in the living room. Joe cut a bamboo stick to fit into the sleeve, and he did a wonderful job displaying it.

I am relaxing and watching a John Wayne movie called Rio Grande. I haven't seen it in years, and it is nice to see John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara together again. I have a fish pie to bake, and then two siggies to make and send off.

Happy Monday to all!

Sunset Over Lake

I have been working on a miniature landscape, and I finally finished it. I called it Sunset Over Lake. I used Heat N' Bond fusible to do all of the landscaped pieces and then I did a lot of thread painting with Madeira Embroidery thread in various colours. When you are working in miniature, and this one is 8"X10", fusing tiny pieces can be very difficult, but I am happy with the results.

I enjoyed the whole process, and I will definitely do some more lanscapes. I used all batik fabrics, except for the black fabric which was Michael Miller's fairy frost. I have it on a mini stand now in the living room so that we can enjoy it and look at one of our favorite times of day, which is twilight when the sun is just beginning to set.

Have a wonderful Sunday, and Happy Memorial Weekend to those celebrating it. This weekend in Dunfanaghy, we have the Seafood Festival...lots of music, seafood and festivities, especially in the pubs.

Harvest Moon Top, an Interview and Siggies

First of all, Nat, a good blogging buddy of mine, is doing a special on her blog about quilters' workplaces. Mine is on the blog now, and if you want to see my interview and a few pics, you can go to http://notjustnat.blogspot.com/2009/05/mickis-work-space.html . It was very nice of Nat to interview me and highlight my workplace on her blog.

Well, I worked on my Harvest Moon top and finished it. I paper pieced the moon and the black arcs connected to it.I will have to machine quilt the wallhanging now. Didn't I just do that with the Carnivale quilt? LOL Anyways,I have been working so hard on the free motion quilting, that I am thrilled to be able to do it now.. As you can see, I used lots of various shades of orange, red, and yellow batiks for the moon. I put a one and a half inch orange batik border around the centre block, and then a three inch black border using Michael Miller fairy frost, which makes the moon really look like it is in the sky.After I machine quilt it, I will put orange batik binding on it.

Finally, I got two lovely siggies today. One is from Iris who lives in Curacao. Doesn't that sound like an exotic place? She sent me a siggy with a beautiful rose centre. Then I got another siggy from Ans who is from The Netherlands, and like my Harvest Moon top, she chose a lovely black print which made it so dramatic. Thank you both!

Carnivale Wallhanging Completed....YIPPEEE!!!!!!

I have finished the Carnivale Wallhanging and it is now hanging in our living room in the sewing area where I sew. I machine quilted it over the last couple of days, and I really did have fun doing the free motion quilting. It is hard to capture all the free motion quilting with the camera, but hopefully you can see that all of it has been quilted extensively. I used Madeira embroidery threads and matched all the various colours of the blocks as I free motion quilted. That wasn't easy, as I had to change the threads for each section of the wallhanging. I decided on using the red batik for the border and the binding, and I am so thrilled with how it turned out. The living room is so colorful with it!

Now, I begin Harvest Moon. I really am so appreciative that I attended Deb Karasik's workshops in Belfast and was able to learn the techniques, so I can now handle all the spikes and curves.

Monday Happenings

A blogging friend of mine named Marie whose blog is at http://mariequilts.blogspot.com/ posted about another blogger named Carol, whose blog is What's Happening With Carol at the following link: http://whatshappeningwithcarol.blogspot.com/. She died of rectal cancer this month. If you want to be inspired, go look at her blog. Having had cancer, I was so touched by her blog. It is very sad to read the posts, but at the same time you see a strength in Carol that we can all learn from. I send my prayers and thoughts to Carol's family. I am sorry that she did not join the list of cancer survivors that she had on her blog, and it did get me thinking about her and how lucky I was to have survived cancer.

Besides reading Carol's blog posts today, I continued to machine quilt the Carnivale Wallhanging, and I am almost finished doing the free motion quilting. It does get tiring, so I stopped, but I will try to finish the quilting tomorrow, so I can cut the strips for the binding. I had a lovely exchange of emails from my friend Anne Marie, who is another American who came to Ireland. I know that I have written about her, and hope that you visit her at http://americanquilterinireland.blogspot.com/ She lives on a sheep farm and runs a gorgeous B&B. After writing her a bit, I then cut the strips for my Harvest Moon project. The pattern was a multi pattern that had to be Scotch taped together, so I finally finished running off the parts and getting them put together, as you can see by the pic.

I will begin that after I finish the Carnivale wallhanging. I am also beginning my miniature landscape course at Quilt University this Saturday, so I will be busy with that.

Hope everyone has a wonderful day stitching and just enjoying their day. Thanks for all of the wonderful friendships and emails that I get from everyone...they all mean so much!

Good Friends

I was thrilled today that Ros got the Friends Swap package, and she loved it. That definitely made my day. Some people have asked what I did for that swap, well, I can tell you what I finally decided to buy and make for the swap. As you remember, I had to come up with something for each letter of the word "friends", so here is what I did:

F=favorite items=fat quarters and a pattern.

R=red fabric=red organza...thought that she might use that for fabric postcards or whatever

I=something inspiring= Irish Quilting Magazine...you got to get inspired by that magazine

E=embroidery item...I machine embroidered a bookmark . (You can see it in the pic below)

N= Notions= notions case that I bought her

D=doily...a machine embroidered doily I made( pic included)

S= something special that I made again: this time it was a pincushion and bag that is attached that is for trash like threads, scraps, etc...Oops! I forgot to take a pic of it!

Well, Ros got it all, and she is now reading the magazine, as she emailed me all about it. How nice is that! I can't wait to get her package, and I will post a pic of it when it comes. It is just so nice to know that Ros enjoyed everything!

Then, my friend Maggi, whose blog is just great at http://todreamtostitch.blogspot.com/ told me about some wonderful machine quilting dvds that are all region free, so I can use them also here in Ireland. I have to share it with you as they are wonderful, and I will eventually get them all, as I am really enjoying learning about machine embroidery. Here is the link:

http://patsythompsondesigns.com./ Another friend Mary from Australia recommended the following book and dvd that comes with it. It was not region free, but luckily, I brought a Playstation 2 with me from America , and I can play the dvd on that. It is really wonderful! It is called Mastering the Art of McTavishing, which you can see at http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Art-McTavishing-Karen-McTavish/dp/0974470619. The book and dvd are so informative!

Well, it is nice to have good friends, isn't it?

As for today, I worked a bit on my Carnivale quilt. Joe just took me out for dinner at the An Chistin Restaurant, which in Gaelic means The Kitchen. We had an Irish breakfast for dinner...LOL...very yummy. You can see the pic of the Irish breakfast. We only had a wee breakfast in the morning...no lunch so we would be hungry for it.

This has been a lovely Saturday!

Batiks Have Arrived

Joe and I went to Letterkenny to do our food shopping, and happily when we arrived home, the mailman brought me my batik fabrics that I ordered. Now, I can finish the Carnivale Wallhanging and begin the Harvest Moon project. The fabrics are gorgeous, and of course it is very difficult to capture how pretty they are with the camera. As you can see by the pics, I ordered a lot of batiks. I ordered the pink and purple batiks for my Carnivale border and backing. A few of them are landscape fabrics for my Miniature Landscape course that I am taking at Quilt University, and most of them are various shades of orange batiks for my Harvest Moon Wallhanging. The moon will be on a black batik background and that will make it stand out all the more dramatically. The black fabric is Michael Miller fairy frost. I was excited, to say the least, as you all know that I was waiting, not so patiently, to receive all my fabrics. Yeah!!

Tomorrow, I will run off all of my foundation patterns for the Harvest Moon Project. I will be practicing some machine quilting also as I bought a wonderful book from Amazon called Machine Quilting Made Easy which was written by Maurine Noble. It was recommended to me by my good friend Mary, who lives in Australia. It gives you easy to follow instructions and exercises on straight-line quilting and freehand quilting. I will be doing some of the practice exercises as they are wonderful. Here is the link to the book:http://www.amazon.com/Machine-Quilting-Made-Maurine-Noble/dp/1564770745. Then, I will start finishing my Carnivale Wallhanging...It will be a busy day for me.

A Yellow Doily and a Lovely Surprise

I made a yellow doily today, and it looks like a large snowflake. I love it! My crystal bell is sitting on it in the living room, and it really brightens up the room. Imagine the living room when I hang up the Carnivale wallhanging...It will be so colorful!

PS: I have to add in response to the emails, that Joe asked me to make a yellow doily, as he likes non tradional colours. He said I quote, " I want a yellow doily that looks like the sun." Yes, it really does look like a "happy sun", and it made Joe smile, so that was the important thing.

Joe gave me a wonderful surprise! I have been wanting to find a knit shop where I could take intermediate to advanced knitting classes. Well, he looked on the internet and found me a wonderful place called This is Knit, and it is located in Dublin. You can see it at http://www.thisisknit.ie/. Well, they are moving location in a few weeks to downtown Dublin at the Powerscourt Shopping centre, which you can see in the pic. When I arrive at the O'Connell Street in downtown Dublin, I would have a ten minute walk, which is so nice.

They will also have more classes to choose from at their new location. Joe found out that I can take the 5 AM bus to Dublin and arrive there at 9:30 AM. I know that is a hideous time to take a bus, but it will give me plenty of time to have tons of shopping time in our capital city, and also to make it for the three hour course. I will come home on the 5:45PM bus and arrive back in Dunfanaghy at 10:30PM. The first course that I take is a two part course called Socks From the Cuff Down, and it uses the Magic Loop technique of making socks. I will be going two consecutive Mondays for parts one and two. Then I plan on taking a course called Design Your Own Sweater Class so that I will have a one of a kind sweater. Also, a Introduction to Lace Knitting class, and then finally, I want to take the Professional Finishing Techniques that shows you what stitches to use to finish off the seams, and so forth. I intend to take several classes a year and go on Mondays.....something to really look forward to. I will see what future classes that they have and decide then.

I am so excited! It really gives me a chance to be a skilled knitter and also to see Dublin where there are tons of things to do as you can see by this link: http://www.dublintourist.com/popular_dublin/ My favorite shopping area in Dublin is Grafton street and you can see how much shopping fun you can have at http://www.dublintouris

t.com/virtual_dubl

in/city_centre/grafton_street.shtml.

If you want a break from the shopping, there is the lovely park area called St. Stephen's Green, which is located right in the middle of the city of Dublin and can be seen at

http://www.dublintourist.com/details/st_stephens_green.shtml

Well, that is my news...I am off to the big city of Dublin!

Friendship Swap, Knitting, and Waiting

I have been working on a friendship swap that I have due in July. My friend is Ros, and she lives in the UK. I posted about this before....I had to think of something to make for each letter of the word "friends". Well, I finally finished, and I will mail the package tomorrow. I machine embroidered two of the items, but I can't post the pics, as it would spoil the surprise. When Ros gets it, I will post what I made. It was fun thinking of what I would buy and make for each letter. Joe bought a larger padded envelope and it will be off to the UK in tomorrow's post. I do hope that she likes everything that I made and bought for her.





I was also waiting for my fabric to arrive so that I can finish the Carnivale wallhanging. I am so anxious to do that. I want to hang it up and then begin the Harvest Moon Project. In the meantime, I was knitting socks. I got a spankin' new Addi 100 cm circular needle, wonderful sock yarn and a pair of Addi straight needles in the mail.I was anxious to knit my socks with the new circular needles. As I mentioned before, I had the dvd Knitting on One Circular Needle, so I set it up on the computer so that I could use it when I needed. It really is excellent, and as I am a visual person, it really helps so much.The socks are going to be colorful, as you can see by the pic.

Well, until I get the fabric from the Fat Quarter Shop, I am at a standstill...Oh I hate that! Hopefully, it will arrive before the end of the week, and then I can sew on the borders and do the machine quilting for the Carnivale wallhanging and then begin the Harvest Moon project. Kimberly is sending all the fabric in two packages, so I am waiting for the mailman like an eager beaver. I guess all I can do is wait, and as you can see by the cartoon, it doesn't look like I enjoy the waiting game.


I am going to begin a doily for us tomorrow while I am waiting for the fabric. I could just totally relax, but you know me, that would be impossible.LOL


Hope everyone enjoyed their Monday!

Finished the Carnivale Top

I am so excited! I finished my Carnivale top,as far as sewing all the blocks together, and boy was it hard getting all the blocks sewn perfectly so everything matched. It turned out so well, and I was thrilled that I could get it done by lunchtime today on Mother's Day.

I ordered batik fabric for the borders, and Fat Quarter Shop has already shipped them, so I will just have a few days wait till I can sew on the borders and begin the machine quilting.

Deb Karasik's patterns are really stunning, and I did enjoy making it so much! Thank God, I was able to attend the workshops and learn the techniques that she presented, especially on how to sew perfect spikes and curves.

Happy Mother's Day to all! I am heading out with Joe. Being with Joe and the boys is making this day perfect!

Look what I got from my boys today. It was the cutest cards and of course gifts.

Here is what it said:

If Oscars were given to mothers
We would nominate you
If Olympic medals were won by mothers
Your Gold is overdue
If Nobel Prizes were awarded to mothers
You would have quite a few
If Honorary Degrees were granted to mothers
You'd have some of them too
Mother's Day Poems are given to mothersAnd this is ours to you

Charlie and Rufus
We could not love you more

Happy Mother's Day and The Last Carnivale Block

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there, and I hope that you have a wonderful day tomorrow. Funny enough, this will be my second Mother's Day celebration. As I am living in Ireland now, I celebrated Mother's Day on March 22nd, as it is celebrated on that day here. Joe and the boys gave me some wonderful gifts. However being the Yank that I am and having been used to celebrating Mother's Day in May in the United States, I celebrate that one too. Do I get gifts again? Of course I do! My two boys, Rufus and Charlie have conferenced on this very seriously and got me something special, as did my hubby Joe. Here they were lying together and planning and conniving. I will see what they come up with tomorrow. They did, however, give me a preview of tomorrow's big day by giving me a wonderful card.

I wanted to share the Jacquie Lawson card that I got from Rufus and Charlie...they say that this is just the beginning to a wonderful Mothers' Day tomorrow. Here it is:

http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=1863359124109&source=jl999 HMMM....is someone trying to tell me that I need to get at my gardening or what?
By the way, if you want to send someone a great card visit Jacquie Lawson's site athttp://www.jacquielawson.com/ She has the cutest cards in the world.

I also finished my last Carnivale Block...YEAH!!!!!!! I will put the top together tomorrow in the morning before we got out. Do I need sunglasses to do that job? We shall see!

Socks and Carnivale Blocks

I am down to my last Carnivale block, which I will do tomorrow, as I finished another one today.I finally get to see what the top will look like, and I am excited about sewing the blocks together. Yeah!!!!

I ordered wonderful batik fabrics from The Fat Quarter Shop at http://www.fatquartershop.com/ for both my Harvest Moon Wallhanging and the Miniature Landscape course that I registered for which begins on May 22nd. If you never have ordered from The Fat Quarter Shop, you definitely should. Kimberly, who owns the shop is incredible! I managed to order various shades of orange that I needed for the Harvest Moon, and she even had landscape fabrics.

I am knitting socks which are so cool, and luckily found a wonderful shop in Wicklow County, Ireland called The Yarn Room. If you go to the following link: http://www.theyarnroom.com/osc/index.php?cPath=22_171 , you will see the yarn that I am using. It is called Schoppel Wolle Sock Yarn, and I got it in Shade 1664, which you can see on that page. It is so colorful. I am using an Addi Circular Needle in 2.5mm and 100cm long perfect for this wool. I got a great dvd called Knitting Socks on a Single Circular Needle by Leslye Solomon, and you can see it at

https://www.woolstock.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=174.

If you ever wanted to get away from knitting socks on dpns and try knitting on one single circular needle, this dvd is for you.

I am off to watch some tv. Have a wonderful evening!

Carnivale Block and Quilt University

I finished another Carnivale block...I only have two more to make and then I can put the top together. That will be exciting for me to see how it all looks.

Joe and I went to Letterkenny for food shopping, and getting on and off the bus was some feat with my knee the way it was, but I did it. I wore a support bandage and did it all ever so carefully, and then when I got home, I relaxed in my favorite lounge chair watching The Ellen Degeneres Show. Great fun!

I am also taking a course at Quilt University called Miniature Quilts. Susan Brittingham is the instructor, and the course runs from May 22nd till June 12th, but the class will remain open till July 4th, so we have a chance to finish our landscaped quilts and post them in the Gallery. I am excited. You can see the course at http://www.quiltuniversity.com/classlist2.htm#MiniatureLandscapes . If you have never taken a course there, you should see the class catalog...There are lots of courses to choose from. The course that I am taking costs $36, which is very reasonable, and it will give me the opportunity to do something that I have always wanted to delve into, and do it from the convenience of my home. I will have some supplies to get, and I will order them next week. Mostly, I have to get fabrics which are suggestive of a natural landscape: sky, water, hills, fields, and sunsets, etc.

Thanks to everyone who has asked about my knee. It is feeling better, but I still have pain, so I am resting and taking care of it. I really do appreciate your concern.

Carnivale Block Brightens up a Bleak Day in Dunfanaghy

I have been still relaxing at home...as you know my knee was injured. Thank God for Deep Heat, as it has really helped me. Someone thought that when I said that I put on Deep Heat, that I had put on rock music...That made me really laugh, and boy did I need that! I completed another Carnivale block, and it was so bright that it even brightend up what was indeed a bleak day in Dunfanaghy...more wind and rain throughout the day.

I want to also thank everyone who has complimented my Carnivale blocks. It has meant a lot to me! I do truly love paper piecing!

Oh...I joined a potholder swap in my Quilting for All Yahoo Group, and I have to make four potholders: two for each of the two people that I got for the swap. I wanted potholders that were really special...I will be machine embroidering two of them, but then I found a really cute Doll House Potholder tutorial on Nanette's blog Freda's Hive, which you can see at http://fredashive.blogspot.com/2009/01/doll-house-potholder-tutorial.html . There are so many wonderful tutorials there, one of them for covering buttons, which I will have to try, but the tutorial on the potholder with a wee doll house on it was so cute!

Well that was my day! Nothing momentous, but a very relaxing day where I sewed, read a good book, listened to music, watched the Oprah and The Ellen Degeneres Shows, baked some muffins, set a wash, and sat in my lounge chair with my leg up...sounds good huh?

Chillin' on a Chilling Day

I was basically chillin' and resting at home, as my knee was hurting me, so I put some Deep Heat on, and put my leg up. That was after I made another spikey block for my Carnivale Wallhanging.

I will be ordering two projects from Advanced Embroidery, which is located athttp://www.advanced-embroidery-designs.com/embroidery-designs.com/. I miss doing machine embroidery in the morning and watching movies, so since I am done the geisha quilt, it is time for some more machine embroidery. I am getting two projects to do over the next few weeks: One is called The Southwestern Indian Motif Purse Set, and the other is called The Seasons of the Year Set. which utitilizes a photo stitch technique. I will make a wallhanging out of it. That will be my morning ventures, and I will continue doing the paper piecing in the afternoons. Deal done! I will order them next week, and will begin then. For the purse, I will have to order black leatherette or suede which I will machine stitch on, polyester silk for the lining in black, and cord for the handle. It is in a cross stitch pattern, as you can see by the pic.

In the afternoons, I will finish the Carnivale wallhanging and then begin the Harvest Moon paper pieced wallhanging, so all of that will keep me nicely busy.

We are skipping spring literally, and whether we have summer or not is up in the air...Right now, it is definitely fall weather... rainy and windy.

I am off to rest my leg some more... A little pampering is always nice!

Won Third Place and Harvest Moon Wallhanging

I won third prize in a giveaway and you can see that post at http://sewpat.blogspot.com/2009/05/winner-winner.html . I will be getting four blocks and I can't wait to see what they look like. What a nice surprise from Pat. Thanks so much! I finished another spikey block for the Carnivale Wallhanging. I intend to finish the quilt top this weekend. As you can see, it is very spikey and curvy.

I am trying to get this done, as I want to start Harvest Moon...I got Joe to take a pic of it as I wanted you to see what it will look like. It is 24X24 inches, and it comes from the book

Quilts With Attitude. No spikes in this, but curves. I just love it! It reminds me of many an evening when I have looked up at the sky and seen the moon there bright and beautiful.

I am going to use the exact colours that are shown and will be buying the batiks from Batik Corner, which you can visit at http://www.batikcorneratfabriccorner.com/ It reminds me of the colours that I have seen in the sky when I looked up at the moon or saw it through the telescope.

Finally Finished the Geisha Quilt and News of a Giveaway

This quilt took me ages to do, or it just felt like ages. I remember posting each and every block that I machine embroidered, and then finally getting the top together. I have free motioned the entire quilt, and I am thrilled to have it completed. We have it hanging in the bedroom. It is taking up a good part of the wall, but we were both pleased with the effect of the room once the wallhanging was up.

Hallelujah, I am done!

Also, there is a a wonderful giveaway at Daisy Quilts which is at http://daisyquilts.blogspot.com/2009/05/im-having-giveaway.html

She says that she is giving away the following:

I am giving away:1 large Country Roses PVC shopping bag 1 gorgeous Natalie Ross "Aggie" pattern 2 yards Kings Road "Belle" fabric 1 x 12ml bottle of lovely Rose Maroc essential oil (3% in Jojoba Oil) 1 large button 1 yard black Ric Rac1 skein of DMC embroidery thread - 3834

What a neat giveaway! Jump over to the blog and give it a shot!

Secret Gift and a Recipe

I have made a gift for someone, but will not disclose whom it is for...it is a machine embroidered doily for that someone special. I used Madeira thread, vilene for the stabilizer, and watched "Twilight the Movie" again while I was doing it.

Then I was reading "The Dark Prince", so I was immersed in a fantasy world. Nothing really new on the homefront...just a sunny, very cool day here in Dunfanaghy. As my knee is hurting, Joe and I took a relatively short walk compared to what we usually do. I am resting and having a very quiet Sunday. I think that I reinjured the knee while getting off of the bus. I had a miniscule tear in my knee years ago, but thank God, this reinjury was a minor one....It gave me the excuse to read and really relax.

Oh, I baked some healthy muffins, which are really yummy! If you want something healthy and tasty, here are the ingredients and the directions:

Ingredients:

One cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 teaspoons of brown sugar

1 egg

Two thirds cup apple sauce(sugar free)

One half cup of sour cream

One half cup of raisins

One quarter cup of coconut

Directions:

Combine the dry ingredients first and then add in the wet ingredients. Butter a muffin pan and scoop the ingredients in to make 8 muffins. Preheat oven to 4 and then bake for 15 minutes until done.

The muffins keep really well and make a lovely treat with coffee. Enjoy them!

Saturday and Two New Spikey Blocks

Joe and I took a lovely spring walk. Our village was very peaceful against the backdrop of Horn Head and the ocean.

I then finished another two spikey blocks, which turned out well, and I have half the wallhanging done. I will have to get more batiks to finish the second half, but I will first lay the blocks on the bed to see what will coordinate with the left side before I purchase the blocks for the right side.

I was also machine quilting my geisha quilt, and finished the free motiong quilting of the entire top, but still need to stich in the ditch a bit and add the binding.Joe is watching the Snooker

Championship, and we are having a very nice Saturday...peaceful and restful.

Wonderful news!!....I got my partner for the Friends Swap...a woman named Ros who is from England, and we have communicated a few times.

I had to get my thinking cap on as to what I was going to buy or make for each letter of the word "friend", and finally figured out how I would approach it...Mum is the word though, because I don't want to give anything away to Ros. It was fun planning though.

Have a happy weekend and happy sewing!