One Last Craft

Squeezing in one last project before Christmas. The idea is that Finn will know/learn that what's on this plate is ok for him to eat. We're still catering to wheat and dairy allergies (along with washing powder and anything out of a tin can) so Momma has been very busy making cookies he *can* have for Christmas.

wheat-free, dairy-free
gingerbread men

This was a very quick, as in less than 15 minutes to draw with Sharpies on a dinner plate we already had, project. The colors changed drastically during the baking process. I'm not disappointed and actually think it's kind of cool they went all Christmassy on me.

my ridiculous looking
pfefferneuße - not Finn ok

My biggest hope for 2015 is that I can share you some of the things I've made this year. They are not many but I am proud of them. And maybe even get to tell you about how I did some of them. Most are not sewing related but they all made me feel creative and energized. Something else I look forward to being more and having more of in the New Year.

And with that, I wish each and every one of you the very Merriest and Blessed of Christmases from our little farm on the outskirts of Gent, Belgium.

xox Jovita

Pin It Now!

First Finish - Finn Approved

So happy to share a first finish for 2014 with you.

It's Finn's Christmas present, luckily he won't know it was a tad late due to a running out the door mistake (I'll explain in a minute).

If you've been following along on Facebook you'll have heard and / or seen a bit about this project.

It started with this gorgeous gift of a scarf from Finn's Onkel Rolf. I was already working on a new winter hat for him but quickly set it aside for this project. I already had all the right colors .. and more (yes, I'll confess .. in a minute). 

To make a long story short, it's a hat with many trials and errors, but in the end persistence triumphed and I honestly couldn't be happier. Finn wore it to the store tonight and was already getting compliments. As in he, the wearer. Not momma, the maker. But that's ok .. I was (maybe not so secretly) glowing with pride, and besides I know who made him ;) wink!!

I think my favorite part was the pompom. I was so excited to put Finn down for his nap yesterday. Lucky ducky momma me .. he's a dream at naptime and most bedtimes too. Give him a kiss, say g'night, tuck in him and he *sings* himself to sleep. Honestly the sweetest thing you've ever heard. One day I'll get it on tape. All this ... so momma has a few minutes (or TWO hours!!!) to do stuff. Like Make Pom Poms!! I did the math, it's been at least 30 years since I made a pompom. I seriously want to make more.

So .. I gathered all my supplies. And went to town. Just like I remember doing a few donkeys years ago ... my template? The outer measurement the base of a water glass, the inner a large sewing machine bobbin. Done. No compass. No hunting. Just Making a Pompom!!

If you've never made on and / or need a few tips. Google it. There are a lot of people out there who are willing to show you how to make one. I think the most important trick is to wrap and wrap and wrap to fill up that inner hole as much as possible. Then cut between your two layers of cardboard. I know scarey. Just use sharp scissors and go slow. See why I waited until Finn was in bed. Then thread your doubled-thread through and pull very very tight. Voilá!! Last but not least trim to your heart's desire.

I am pleased to report that this pompom was Finn approved.

You can find this project on Ravelry here.

hmmm, oh. yes . that confession.

Ugh .. this happened. And I almost left it. 

But then we went for a walk. 

In daylight.

Lesson learned .. before running out the door to spend Finn's first Christmas with friends and family in Germany. Check, double check, re-check your double check and check again that you have the right ball of almost white yarn. You know. The one that is the same as you started with. 

But still, he's adorable, right?
And that scarf!
 He is one very lucky.
Very spoiled. Boy. Indeed.
Thanks again Onkel Rolf, kisses from Finn

And with that I say goodnight. 

And hope that our little friends aren't running fevers tomorrow because we've scheduled our first ever get-together with friends from the NICU. 

At our house. 

On this * little * farm. 

After such a long time.

xox J

Pin It Now!

Dazed {oh happy daze}

August has been amazing ... fulfilling, happy and promising.

keep reading ... there's more about this quilt "oh happy daze" at the end ...

It all began with one of two open house days here in the shop ... expectations were surpassed in every possible way! So many friends came, shopped, visited and enjoyed my freshly baked cookies, coffee and tea. The weather cooperated and everyone was able to cozy up in the courtyard for a chatter. It was so nice to see everyone and makes me appreciate this fantastic circle of friends in so many way. Three friends in particular really went out of their way to help make the open house a success ... Edith, Magda and Marleen organized, folded, rolled and priced, cleaned and made coffee. Without them the open house days would not have been nearly as successful.

p.s. I've been officially told off for not showing you more pictures of the inside of the shop. If you're on facebook be sure to check out the pictures that Marleen took.

On Saturday we went to pick up Axel's new bike. The first time since he was a child that the poor guy has had a frame that fits his own 6'8" (203cm) frame.  More about that in a few days when I tell you about our fantastic anniversary weekend.

Sunday I cut, sewed and machine quilted the little quilt you see above. I hand quilted some of the quilt too and you can see a close up of that below.

Monday I ran around cleaning house ... because company was expected. Oh my gosh! Neighbours from England who now live back in their native Ireland. Man, it's been 12 years ... and they were only staying for one night. Seriously. HOW do you pack 12 years and a night's sleep into 20 hours?? It was a blast and there is no way we're going to wait another 12 years. For one, their girls are growing up way too fast. Niamh was in diapers last time we saw here, but bummed that Aisling couldn't join them - next time!

Once they left I got the shop ready for the 2nd open house day. It was Wednesday, everyone thought I shouldn't expect too many visitors. I agreed and we were all blown out of the water when it turned out to be even busier than the previous Friday. The weather was crappy but that didn't stop the sweetest bunch of ladies from gathering around my kitchen table to stitch, chat, drink coffee and tea and enjoy more of the cookies I had made.

Thursday morning I stumbled out of bed and made myself as presentable as possible to run to the airport and pick up my friend, Brenda, and her husband, Gary. Woohoo, did we pack a lot into four days! We laughed, cried and laughed until we cried some more. Brenda needed her dress altered to wear to a wedding this weekend in Italy. Ugh .. shifty lace and chinese silk lining, but oh my gosh it turned out so cute! And in exchange she tackled my Mt Rainier pile of ironing and finished it! .. the best part is she still thinks she got the better end of the deal. We had a lovely day in Gent to celebrate her birthday and I bought something rather cool but will tell you about that later too. I dumped them onto the train Monday morning and then came home and went back to bed. I had some serious sleep to catch up on.

Another bleary-eyed morning greeted me on Tuesday as I jumped in the car to head to Germany. Axel's parents were in dire need of a bulky grocery shopping trip so I combined it with an afternoon sewing with my girlfriends from Mülheim. Bummed that I didn't take pictures but you can read more about my last visit here. Their projects always astound me ...

Duty and pleasure were taken care of and rewarded by confirmation from our doctor that we are all clear to start trying to get pregnant again. Oh my ... emotions are trying to flood in all different directions but thankfully the busy month means that I'm distracted and busy enough that I'm still sleeping ok and trying my best not to stress.

This last weekend was the perfect way to do that ... Axel and I went away to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary. Trust me, the B&B where we stayed and the weekend itself deserve their very own posts. So check back soon ...

But .. you want to know more about that quilt, right? It sure isn't my "normal" thing is it? NOPE! Not at all .. in fact I made it as a sort of challenge to myself ... soft, blendy colors. What do you think? successful? or not? I think it's either a love or dislike, maybe even indifferent for some people. But if you're interested in the kit or pattern let me know and I'll see what I can do ;) I'm sending it off to a friend today to use as a sample in her store.

The quilt is entirely machine pieced. Then I machine quilted it except for the points of the stars. There I chose to do a "bigger" hand quilting stitch using 3 strands of hand-dyed embroidery thread. I love how that part turned out! I think it gave it a little weight, dimension, definition and some softness to otherwise very straight lines. Check here to read the label. I prefer to write directly on the quilt backing to create a permanent label that can't be changed or removed.

I'm calling the quilt Oh HAPPY DAZE 

to celebrate the amazing month 

this August has turned out to be.

And a word for the wise ... always wash your fabric! No matter what "they" say. My quilt now measures just over 19-1/2" square-ish. Ahem - it should be 20-1/2" but ... guess who was in a hurry and didn't wash her fabrics. Never, NEVER will I do that again. I always wash my fabric with very very few exceptions. But I can tell you that this quilt after quilting and washing it shrunk an entire INCH!! I really had to do a bit of stretching, pulling and blocking to get to to be 19-5/8" when I was done. Straight out of the wash it was much closer to 19-1/4" ... ugh. Just a reminder to me and everyone else who wants to know - WASH your fabrics. They do shrink. Just think if it shrunk 1 inch out of 20 ... if you were making a king size it could potentially shrink up to FIVE inches. What a disappointment if you wanted that quilt to fall to the boxspring line or something.

I'm also linking up to WIP Wednesday .. must celebrate this finisht that was never even on the list!

Argh, my list of WIPs hasn't changed a bit :(

Next week maybe.

Pin It Now!

Dashing By with a Finish!

First and foremost, another quilt is finished!!!

And yes I'll show more but right now I'm dashing around in a daze

trying to pack our bag and a picnic for tonight.

Axel and I are going away for the weekend to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary.

Boy, those 15 years have flown by ... I'll tell you more about them later.

More poignantly the last three weeks have flown by. Thank you to those of you who sent a sweet message asking if I was ok 

... it's been so busy that blog writing had to take a back burner.

We had visitors from Ireland and Seattle. We celebrated two Open House days in the shop ... I'm still overwhelmed by the response and will tell you more about it soon.

I'm plugging away at projects but kicked one out in record time to help out a friend. Here's just a quick peak. If I showed you the whole thing I'd have to tell the story and I just don't have time for that so I hope you don't mind.

Here's a peak of the label. Hopefully you can read it.

So what do you include on your labels?

I'd love to read your comments, ideas and suggestions.

 

Machine Pieced and Quilted,

Hand Quilted by Jovita Goldschmidt

August 2012 * Kalken, Belgium

100% cotton batting * machine wash cool * lay flat to dry * xox JG

The quilt has been revealed in this post.

Pin It Now!

Wow - 2 finished quilts!

Hahaha! I am really milking this week for all I can ... it started with a party when I finished the binding on this quilt. And is ending with a party because now this one is done!

It's still hard for me to imagine that I started this quilt 10+ years ago. It hung around (literally) as a quilt top for a very very long time.

Keep reading, I've included details of 9-Patches & Periwinkles are below (size, pattern, inspiration, quilting, etc)

It feels so good to have it done. Plus I'm doing a little test. I'll get on my soapbox about it later. But it involves binding ... Do you like Straight Grain or Bias better? And why ... ? I am very curious. But I have a lot to show and tell on the subject.

So, what else have I been up to?

It's been another WAW week! But this pretty much sums it up.

Honestly, I laughed and cried while making these. In an effort to have us eat "whole" foods I suggested to my husband that I make his much loved ice cream bars. I had a recipe for Chocolate Nutella bars. Wow, he sure came home with a huge jar of nutella in a hurry. The bars turned out really nice. Beautiful ... ha, until I tried dipping them in chocolate. Complete disaster. Oh boy, the things we do for love!

In addition:

• Made yogurt 3 times, one flopped big time.
• used a flopped batch of yogurt in the place of water in the doughg resulting in the best home-made pizza we've had in a long time. 
• I made poppyseed bread. You can find the recipe here, but what another joke! Right after swearing I wouldn't eat baked sweets during the week I make poppyseed bread - which just happens to be one of my all-time favorites ... oh, the mornings I would pop into my favorite coffee stand for a non-fat, triple tall latte and a poppyseed muffin ...
• ventured out to the goat's farm for the first time in a long while - Axel's been picking up our fresh goat's milk. 
• WENT TO THE MARKET - what a lovely way to start a Thursday must do it more often. Strawberries for jam and fresh pineapple (both very cheap).
• cut, folded, filled and delivered a bunch more seed packets for Saskia & Arne's Garden
• dropped by our old neighbours for a visit and scored the grandma's strawberry jam recipe, fresh lettuce and lots of eggs ... well, "traded" for poppyseed bread and half my market pineapple because Axel won't eat it.
• spent way too much money on (mostly knit) fabrics but came home with enough to make Axel another 3 pairs of pajamas plus 3 tshirts and 2 blouses for me
• cast on Axel's 2nd sock, turned the heel, made a mistake and frogged it. tonight I'll try turning it again.
• made strawberry jam today
• moaned about not having anything for lunch in the house and then made a lovely lovely lovely salad with boiled eggs and lettuce from our old neighbours - yummmm! oh yes, we used the same lettuce and boiled eggs last night along with pineapple (from the market), ham, peppered goats cheese (from the farm) and cucumbers. Delish!
• slept soundly six out of seven nights!

I'm sure the list should be longer - I'm forgetting something but Axel just came home so it's time to hit that publish button. Sorry, I'll drop in later to check for goofy and spelling errors. It HAS been a week. 

Don't forget to tell me about your week!

Oh, and in case you missed it ... 

I FINISHED TWO QUILTS!!!

And there's more ... I know there is. 

9-Patches & Periwinkles

Blocks: 7-1/2" finished 9-patches (before washing)

Flowers: inspired by the book Folding Flowers by Rebecca Wat. I constructed mine differently than her instructions but the result is nearly the same. I also hand-painted each piece of fabric before folding it so each of the colored flowers are unique. The center ring of flowers I left white.

Finished Size: approximately 36" x 50-1/4" /  91,5cm x 128cm (after washing)

Fabrics: lots of different ones. I think the back might be a Kona Bay pimatext weight.

Batting: Hobbs 80% cotton / 20% polyester

Quilting: Professionally long-arm machine quilted by Barb Dau of Everett, WA (USA)

Binding: mostly Bias Cut, some Straight Grain - testing to see which wears better 
Time Frame: 2002-2012 - A whopping 10 years! Top pieced: spring 2002, Quilted: Nov 2011, Bound : Jun 2012.

Pin It Now!

Please Come to my Party

WHO?

you! my fellow quilters and friends

WHEN?

now, all week, until I finish something else

WHERE?

your house, my house, the zoo, the park

why everywhere of course!

WHY?

cuz I *finished* a quilt, I'm over the moon and I have to share my excitement.

Why am I making such a stink about finishing this quilt? Well because it is FINISHED ... I cannot remember the last time I finished a quilt so I am celebrating this. BIG TIME!

This quilt started as a class sample 10 YEARS ago. It's a colorwash and a bargello. They were quite the rage 10 years ago. Decidedly not modern today. I'll be honest too .. colorwash *and* bargello are both styles that don't speak to me. Not a word. Just not interested. But asked to teach the class I was and if there's one thing that makes this style of quilt successful it's color. I think I did ok with this one. I love the transitions. The way the dark and light ribbons of color play against each other. I see a bubbling brook full of fish flowing through a cool forrest. Haha ... yeh, I get carried away sometimes. But ...

I LOVE this quilt. It rocks in my living room - against my blueberry stain walls. Yes, there will be pictures in situ soon ... first I have to cut the frame for it. See those corners on the back of the quilt? Instead of a hanging sleeve I opted for corners so I could mount it as flush to the wall as possible. And keep it square .. hopefully. I'll report back on this plan later. On my last trip to the NW (3! years ago) I left this top with Barb Dau (Everett, WA) and asked her to quilt a bubbling stream through it. When a friend from here flew back to visit her family last fall she kindly brought it back for me .. along with 3 other quilts I'm embarrassed to say that I still haven't shown you. I am also embarrassed to discover that I consistently write peak when I mean PEEK, yikes!

The finished quilt measures 35" x 48" / 89cm x 122cm. It hangs portrait style with the longest side going up and down. Most bargellos hang the other way - horizontal but not mine ... nope, mine has a stream running through it with fish so lengthwise it is. But you'll get to see that better when we hang it.

So I hope you'll PARTY with me 

... a cupcake, glass of wine ... a nice piece of fruit ...

Whatever it takes to make it a party for you! 

I am soooo very excited and thank you for joining me in one big 

Hip Hip Hoooooraaaaay!

Sticking with the color theme and finishing mode I can also tell you ...

that I am just an inch away from turning the heel on Axel's SECOND sock! Yes, ma'am that means a pair. Considering I've knit 5 socks in my life and only one pair that is indeed another reason to celebrate.

AND I pulled out this sweet little quilt and chose binding for it.

So ... there might be reason for another party very very soon!

Pin It Now!

Footprints

I have always loved the poem "Footprints in the Sand."

In the hospital I had a small private room. The walls, curtains and bedspread were all light blue. It was boring and I was going to be there for a while. I had to wrack my brain to think of which quilt I had *finished* that Axel could bring me and remembered this.

How terribly appropriate! Those two weeks contained some of the longest, most worrisome days of my life. The poem and it's special meaning came to mind several times a day.

We were truly carried through this ordeal. Not only by our maker but also by your kind words and thoughts. We are truly blessed to be surrounded by so many wonderful friends - throughout the world, many of whom we have never met. You are our guardian angels.

I made this quilt quite a few years ago. I am not exactly sure when. I do remember having a sewing night with my friend, Wanda, with my Featherweight on her card table. Her pesky cat kept sticking it's nose up against my needle and pawing at my thread - both very dangerous - but funny too.

The primary fabric is "Footprints" by Andover purchased many many years ago in my very own little shop. The blues are a mix of many lines - I think there are eight different ones.

The block pattern is "Lost Ship" in a topsy turvy kind of setting. Lost Ship is most often set very orderly with the heavy end of the larger triangle all facing the same direction like this. I needed that movement and chaos to reflect the feeling of being lost at sea. The finished quilt measures 48" x 68" / 122cm x 173cm. 

It was long-arm machine quilted by Barb Dau of Everett, Washington. I asked her to quilt it to reflect water washing up on the beach ... the lines that are left as it ebbs and flows. She did a fantastic job! Here's a close-up.

Most of my visitors and the nurses had never heard of the poem. A very dear friend of Axel's sent us a card and small book after the babies were born. "Footprints: The True Story Behind the Poem That Inspired Millions" by Margaret Fishback Powers. Axel read it out loud chapter by chapter in the week after we came home from the hospital. It was an inspiring story but I had no idea there was so much controversy behind the authorship. Another friend sent a Youtube link featuring the poem but I can't find it now.

With the scraps of this quilt I made a small wallhanging.

I machine quilted this in the ditch and then painstakingly hand-quilted the border and a diagonal section through the center adding freshwater pearls and sea glass beads. I can't remember how big it is.
I gave it away and still wish I hadn't. I love it even more than the big one.

If you are interested I still have two kits to make the large quilt.
My little one was made with my leftovers but I'm pretty stingy
... you might be able to squeeze it out too.

Pin It Now!

Contagion Alert!!

I would love to call this a Friday Finish, but alas I must still quilt it ... if you know me, you'll know that can take a while, but I could not wait to share this little piece I whipped up!

Everything was all set for our Patchwork "Garden" Party last Saturday but I was itching to work on something last Friday night. The first section was nearly finished before we clocked off and went to bed.

Something bit me and it was something very contagious.

It's probably the fasted start to finish I've ever done. Made especially simple by no pattern or lines to follow. The only pattern I drew carefully was the bird. All the leaves were cut and appliqued free-hand. For the dots, I used the same method as I do for "GOT DOTS."

The story of this quilt started with seeing this quilt. I was in LOVE and even pulled a stack of backgrounds from my stash to make my own. But there was no way I could justify starting another big project or even a swap. I'm happily drowning here as it is ... so many projects including GOT DOTS, Contemporary Jane, various BOMs in the shop, plus ... all.of.these.

But when inspiration and creativity strikes 
what.is.a.girl.to.do?

By the way, Nifty's was inspired by this quilt featured in this book. I don't think I dare even admit to myself that this quilt is now calling my name.  For now I think I've got a handle on this bug .. although that stack of backgrounds is still there and loudly calling my name.  When it calls too loud I tell it to hang on a minute ... this creativity is brewing and plans are starting to take shape ... later, much later.

In the meantime "Set Her Free" is really shaping up too! Tomorrow I can start adding the finishing touches and hopefully quilt her next week so I can tell Mary I mailed it on July 1st! Pin It Now!

I Made a Mini for Me

I spent this week tackling one bear of an unfinished project and felt like I was entitled to do something fun for myself.  I figured it'd take me a couple of days, a bit of sewing here and there.  But color me surprised ... from cutting out to the border only took me about 4 hours!

It all started while I was reviewing Quilting Gallery's 2011 list of BOMs, Quilt Alongs and Challenges which included a mini-quilt tutorial by Terrie Sandelin of Bits and Pieces.  Well, after the mini quilt swap that Liz and I just did I absolutely had to go check it out.

Civil War Crossing Quilt Tutorial
by Terrie Sandelin of Bits and Pieces

Terrie's four-part tutorial was fantastic and uses the methods in her book Miniatures in Minutes and a super simple cutting method by Anita Grossman Solomon.

Here are the steps I followed and comments where I might have done things a little different than Terrie.

For the twelve blocks I chose twelve, four each of three colors: Turquoise, Red and Pink

I followed Terrie's cutting instructions and cut twelve 4-1/4" squares (one from each fabric).  Instead of using the diagonal lines on a mat, I used a 1" wide ruler I centered it corner to corner on the square and cut along each side.

I did not foundation piece the blocks like Terrie did - I pieced them like any old patchwork with a scant 1/4" seam.  This did mean that all my seams were on the bias, but I sewed and pressed carefully and did not have any problems.   Here's a couple of pics of what my blocks looked like after they were sewn.
FYI - I've added two links to tutorials for foundation piecing.

Once my blocks were pieced I could have trimmed them to 2-7/8" squares so they would have finished at 2-3/8" but Terrie's finished at 2" and I wanted a small quilt so I went ahead and trimmed them down to 2-1/2" (I am going to check if 4" squares would have been big enough).

Terrie and I add our sashings differently.  Regardless of whether I'm sewing a large quilt or a mini I always add my sashings to each individual block. First one side strip and then another strip that already has the cornerstone attached.

I left off the last row of sashing and cornerstones all the way around before adding a wide border (it doesn't show well in my pic) - the same white as my sashing.

I also put my side borders on before adding the top and bottom.

Needless to say, I am totally jazzed about having a finish for me!  For now it's pinned to the wall with this other turquoise and red lovely while I decide how to quilt it. And now I can get back to work ... it looks like another busy week ahead.

Happy stitching to you all ... and go check out Terrie's blog!  xox Jovita

Pin It Now!