My Watercolour Pencils Arrived and I Completed a Painting

Yeah! My Albrecht Durer watercolour pencils arrived and I was so excited. There are three rows of pencils, but you are only seeing one row in the pic.There are 120 pencils in all, and they are wonderful. I decided to draw a pic of a lighthouse and boat and used a Pitt Artist watersoluble pen, and then I did the rest in watercolours. I really enjoyed it, and I was working on it all afternoon....totally relaxing and fun! I put it in my moleskin watercolour journal, and I am going to really enjoy filling that journal with paintings.

I will be ordering some additional supplies in mid June...I need things like masking fluid, and other supplies, and Joe is getting me a Derwent Inktense set of watercolour pencils,and like the name implies, the colours are super intense. Well, my birthday is on the 17th of June, so I won't have to wait long.

My June Star

I am so happy to introduce to you a good friend named Katrin. She is a lovely lady who is so talented too. She is very eclectic in her talents, and you will see that when you visit her at her blog called Cattinka.

I hope that you enjoy getting to know Katrin and her interview:

A Bit About Me: I am married to Rainer and we have two almost grown boys. We take care of two cats and an aquarium full of fish. We are a creative family. My Husband paints watercolour and oil paintings. I have been sewing patchwork since 2005, and my friend Kirsten who started me on it was very right...it is addictive!

What Inspires Me: I get lots of my inspiration from Scandinavian designers like Tone Finnager, Dorthe Jollmann, Anne-Pia Godske Rasmussen, Gerd Gellein Merkesdal, and Lise Bergene. I also like to stroll through art exhibitions and quilt shows to get new ideas. But the ideas are usually not the problem. I rather have too many of them in my head. I should not forget one more great source of inspirations, which is blogland!

What I Love To Do the Most Creatively: I like to paper piece, and I like to sew useless things that are most decorative, and my big passion is sewing bags and pouches.

My Favourite Fabric and Designer: I love all kinds of cotton fabrics. My taste changes once in a while, but right now, I like Tilda fabrics, and the matching designs of Tone Finnager.

UFOS I Intend to Finish First: I have been stitching the blocks for the "A Tisket, A Tasket BOM last year. The top has been finished for some time already. All I need to do is quilt and bind the wallhanging, and that is what I want to finish next, because it tends to become a real unfinished project.

What's on the Design Wall Now: On my design wall, which is a curtain that is hung in front of some shelves in my sewing room , I have a few blocks of Libby Richardson's " A Girl's Day Out" and some blocks of Leanne Besasleys which is from "Leannes House Quilt." Both of them are my year long project, which I am sewing together with some blogging friends.

Whom I Would Love to Meet: I really would like to meet some of my blogging friends, like Micki, personally!

If I Had One Wish: I have lots of wishes, but the most important would be : Peace on Earth. I also want to work on new projects until they are finished. I don't like to have too many projects in progress at the same time, because that tends to overwhelm me.

I learned alot from Katrin's interview that I didn't know before, and also I found out that her husband also loves to do painting, as I do. Thanks so much for a lovely interview, and I also hope that we meet one day! Germany isn't that far from Ireland. Maybe, one day you will want to see our lovely Ireland.

Here are some of Katrin's stunning work:

Great News For Krista

I am so proud of Krista of Poppyprint... Krista wrote an article about a Canadian quilter/designer named Dianne Stevenson , and it was published in the magazine called Quilter's Connection.

Congrats to Krista for getting her article published. How cool is that! Anyways, she is having a giveaway where you can win the magazine and some goodies. If you can't get a copy of this magazine....I know I can't...., then you should enter this giveaway.

Dunfanaghy Seafood Festival and a Peak at the International Quilt Day in Our Town

The Dunfanaghy Seafood Festival will be going on all weekend. As you can see by the pic, our village is crowded with visitors mostly coming from N. Ireland and some from England.

There was a small band at the town square, and tons of music sessions scheduled in our local pubs. Joe and I listened to the music a bit, but we then decided to escape the crowds and took a lovely walk on the beach.

As you can see, the golf course was pretty crowded with visitors too. It is located right by the beach, and you have views of the ocean from some points at the golf course. The beach was pretty empty except for a few people and horses. We enjoyed our time there so much more than when we were in our village amidst the crowds and the noise.

Joe also took a pic of the poster of the International Quilt Day that will be held on June 19th in Dunfanaghy. As you can see, there are tons of events planned, and I am really looking forward to it.A blogger friend of mine asked me what events were scheduled, so you all can take a look to see what will be happening. The Quilt Festival is right after my birthday, which is on the 17th, so I guess my birthday celebration will be extended. I will take tons of pics of the events and the quilts.

Hope you enjoy the pics and that all of you are having a wonderful Saturday.

It is a beautiful, sunny day here in our village of Dunfanaghy....perfect weather for the Seafood Festival.

Joanne's Great Giveaway

When I visited , I found that Joanne is having a great giveaway at her blog called Splitting Stitches. She is giving away the lovliest quilt kit. I want to also congratulate her for winning the AccuQuilt from Facebook...I am so thrilled for her and I have become a friend to AccuQuilt on Facebook...what a neat site that is! If you want to become a member, as they are giving away another AccuQuilt when they hit 5000 followers, please mention that I sent you there. Good luck!

Book Giveaway

A fun giveaway at Colletta's Kitchen Sink... a wonderful book. If you like to read, check it out.

Fun in Blogland

The Quilt Shoppe is having a bingo game, which starts on Monday, and registration closes on Sunday at midnight. Lots of fun prizes. Good luck with Spring Fever Bingo!

Also, my buddy Darlene of Sew Cal Gal is having a

Hawaiian Theme Giveaway. She is giving away three prize bundles. Check this one out!

Boy, Do I Want to Win an AccuQuit Go Cutter!

This is what I am doing to get 5 entries in the IHan Go Fabric Cutter Giveaway.What a girl won't do to win. I would love to win the AccuQuilt Go because I can't get it in Ireland, and secondly because it would solve my problem as to where to cut my quilt pieces.Right now, I am doing it on our kitchen table...not an easy thing to do, even though it has leaves...LOL You can see what I mean in the pic.

Anyways, Kelly from I Have a Notion Blog gave us lots of ways to

enter. I decided to choose the one where I show you my sewing studio. I am laughing , because it is not a studio at all. My table and machine are set up in the living room area near the tv. Living in a wee cottage, this was the only solution for my sewing area. The best things about it are that I am near the tv, next to a window with a nice view, and Joe is with me in his favorite lounge chair.

Hope you've enjoyed your visit to see my cozy, very wee cottage sewing area. I am often sewing in the afternoon while I am watching Criminal Minds and Dynasty....not too shabby huh?

Ard Forest Park

We spent a couple of hours in Ard Forest Park, and we walked a good 9 miles total .You can see the map of the trails available to take. It was so serene and beautiful there, and you could hear the birds singing, and there was a tremendous feeling of such peace. As you can see, the forest was huge, and we took the main trail and walked to the wee log cabin cafe, which was an extremely long hike, but such a beautiful walk. We ate lunch that we bought at the bench by the cafe, and we enjoyed some grapes on our walk back. It was the cutest cafe, and it was a welcome rest for us. We were pretty tired by the time we got back to the main gate, and a neighbor who lives at the beach close to ours, picked us up and took us home. Boy, were we glad to see her, and needless to say, we were both a bit achy. Joe took a wee nap, and I watched Dynasty and Criminal Minds.

We just got back from feeding Coco carrots. Joe and I stopped at one of our local coffee shops, and we enjoyed some of the artwork posted there. It was a lovely day for sure!Hope you enjoy the pictures of the forest. It had a lovely sanctuary there, a lake, as you see, and in the distance a beautiful beach and the sea.
Enjoy your weekends!

Bag Finally Finished Using the Folding Fabric Techniuqe

I finally finished my bag, and I will just say that although I enjoyed the whole process, it was a lot of work. Each block has to be folded, hand sewn to hold the folding in place, and then borders added on. Then I had to handsew each rose for the center of the fold in each block and sew it on. I added batting and the lining to the front and back. The lining I used was Michael Miller Fairy Frost in a beautiful yellow. Once I finished the front and the back of the bag (each had 6 folded blocks and roses), I then made a 5 inch horizontal strip of seven folded blocks ( which I also added batting and lined with the fairy frost), and I sewed the front and back of the bag to the strip to form the sides and bottom of the bag. The whole bag is comprised of 13 folded blocks. Then I had to make binding for the top seam of the bag and also for the inside seams of the bag, as I also wanted the inside to look pretty.I used yellow batik for the binding. I had a lot of hand sewing to do once the binding was sewn on for the outside and inside of the bag. I added a yellow pocket inside the bag and finished off by sewing on a yellow patterned batik shoulder strap...voila, a very unique bag.
I have fallen in love with the folding technique, so I ordered the book Fantastic Fabric Folding, which teaches you tons of folding techniques to create many different shapes such as folded stars, pinwheels, various flowers, kimonos and others, which you can then incorporate into 22 projects that the author gives you to try out. I can't wait to try it, as I am hooked.I love the dimension that it gives to whatever you are making!

We are off to Letterkenny for food shopping. Tomorrow, we head to Ard Forest, which is near our home. We will have lots of pics. We will be walking in the forest for 5 hours, and there is lots to see. I know you will enjoy the pics of our adventure.

Horses Galore

Joe and I took a lovely walk, and lo and behold, we saw horses and foals in a lovely green pasture. Well, we had enough carrots for CoCo, but not for the other horses, so we scooted on home and Joe grabbed the camera, and I got some more carrots. What fun! Here are the pics that we took.

Coco is the one with the blue overcoat...Of course, he is our special horse.

Before coming home, we went to the local market and in the newspaper. they said that we were having a heat wave in Ireland. I saw the words "heat wave" and thought that it would be hot, but according to Ireland, 20 C or 68 degrees was going to be warm indeed. Well, compared to the really cool spring we have had here lately, I guess it will be warm, but being a Philly girl, a heat wave is when the temperatures are in the 90's. Now that I think of it, I remember one time years ago, we almost hit 80 degrees, and it made the papers.....Massive heatwave, they said! LOL

Anyways, hope you enjoy the pics!

EQ7 Giveaway

Mequilter is having a giveaway where Mary is giving away EQ7...Hop on over and enter. EQ is a great program. I have been using EQ6 for a long time and love it, so I am excited about EQ7.

A Lovely Mother's Day and The Beginnings of a New Bag

If you remember, Greg, from Flat Out Quilting ,sent me a package of Plume Moda Charms. I decided to make a bag from them. Well, you were wondering , Greg, what I would do with them. I used one of Rami Kim's folding techniques, and in the middle of each block a little fold was created, which really gave it dimension. I then used another folding technique of hers to create a rose to put on each fold, and voila, a very unique front to the bag was created. I will be making a similar back to the bag, and will create smaller blocks for the sides and bottom of the bag. The Moda Charms were perfect and thanks so much Greg for that! I am ordering one more Moda Charm Plume pack from the Fat Quarter shop this week so I can finish it off. it is going to be a very cute bag.

Now, as to Mother's Day, hope that all of you mothers out there had a grand ol'time. This is my second Mother's Day celebration. We officially celebrate Mother's Day in March, so of course I celebrate it then, but since I was used to it in May, Joe said you might as well celebrate it a second time, so that is what I am doing. Joe took me out to dinner at An Chistin, which is one of our local restaurants, and then my two dogs got me two wonderful art books. One is a watercolour book by Cathy Johnson, and the other book is called Donegal At Its Best, which has tons of gorgeous pics of Donegal, which I can paint when my watercolours arrive. My dogs saved up and got me both of them...how sweet of them! I got a card from them also, so I did very well from my two boys. Being with Joe and eating out at the restaurant was the best part of the day, but I won't tell the two dogs that.LOL

We also fed CoCo the horse on the way home. He's a happy horse, and loves us and the carrots of course. Hope everyone had a lovely Mother's Day too!

2 Giveaways

Check out this great giveaway at Inch Worm Fabrics blog. She has sweetened the pot by adding this Lone Star book too. All you have to do is post about it! Wow!

I had to add this one in...I am a big fan of Tim Holtz, and this one is a great package of his book and products. Go take a look at Crafty Goings On, and you will love all the wonderful prizes.

Getting Lost in Sketching

Joe was taking an afternoon nap, and I decided to sketch again . I did a sketch of a Bolivian boy which I took from a painting by Cathy Johnson. It turned out very well, but when my watercolours come next week, I would like to paint it, as the colours are very vibrant.It is so much fun playing with colours, and I enjoy that aspect of painting.

I love doing portraits, and I throughly enjoyed doing this one. It took me about two hours to do, and the afternoon flew by joyfully. I am so happy that I am getting back into my art and I am losing myself again in art. Having grown up with a mom who was an artist, I was always involved with art. I went to tons of art museums in Philadelphia and NYC, took art courses, and fell in love with painting. I mostly used pastels and watercolours for my landscapes, and loved capturing people and their expressions in the many portraits I did. I have lots of supplies to get, and I should have them all by mid June. Starting from scratch again is not easy, but I am glad that I have decided to do what I truly loved and missed.

I have to check up on the dinner...It is smelling yummy.

A Puffer Fish Arrives and Some Other Goodies

Greg, who is from Flat Out Quilting, sent me a puffer pouch in exhange for a FQ that I sent him. I feel that I got the better end of the deal when I got the pouch. I had to really laugh out loud when I saw the puffer fish in person. It is a woman's accessory dream for sure. It reminds me of when my dad and I went fishing together, although we never saw a puffer fish. Greg also sent me some Moda charms, and I will definitely put them to use. I will have to put my thinking cap on and see what I do with them.Finally, he made me a siggy block from Moda fabric. Thanks so much Greg! I can honestly say with certainty that no one in Ireland has a puffer pouch like that...It is definitely one of a kind.

It is cold, cold, cold here.....I wore my winter jacket when we went to Letterkenny today for food shopping. We are not getting spring, I am afraid. We have our days when it is sunny, but I can't say that spring has really come here at all. We are all crossing our fingers and hoping we get a summer, but I am losing my optimism about that too.

Joe and I are feeding a horse that I have named Coco...we are giving him carrots. Here is Coco, and he is happily watching us arrive. Does he look happy or what? He is getting very spoiled by us and loves his carrots. When I came home, I did a quick sketch of Coco from memory.

Next week, my watercolour pencils arrive, so I will be able to do a color version of him in my watercolour journal, so this sketch will be my inspiration. There are 120 colours in the set, and it is going to be so much fun using them.

We are heading off to bed...it is almost midnight here. Enjoy your weekend!