Something "fishy" and playing with sticky notes!

I don't mind telling you that I'm a bit addicted to Craftsy classes. I love the convenience as well as to have access to teacher which otherwise wouldn't' be possible.  I have just finished a class taught by Camille Roskelley where she encourages her students to play with half triangles and squares. With some some sticky notes I had laying around, I had a go trying to make block patterns. It's quite amazing how many different combinations are possible with just three colours. 

The next step is to cut up fabric and sew some of these combinations. 

I've also had a little play with fish. I'm not sure yet where I'm going with it; maybe a baby quilt or a wall hanging. At the moment I'm just having fun.

Other than that, I've been FMQ a quilt. Here's a little preview:

I don't practice my FMQ enough. I always feel that by the time I finish quilting a quilt, I get into my stride and the stitches start to look decent. Of course if I wait a few month before I do it again, all my practice has flown out the window. I must practice more!!!

OK, that's it for today. Have a lovely weekend.
Vreni x

Ta da!!! We have a winner!

I have received a staggering number of comments. Thanks so much to everyone who left one. 

Here goes:

Comment number 322 was left by the "blog-less" Julie who said:  

I have her Material Obsession Two book which is great. I would to see what Sarah is sewing now. Thanks for the chance.

Congratulations Julie, please check your inbox for an email from me. 

Cheers

Vreni xx

SMS Give Away

Sew Mama Sew is hosting another Give Away day.  I'm happy to be part of this great event and I'm giving away Sarah Fielke's new book "Hand Quilted with Love".

All you have to do for a chance to win this lovely book is leave a comment . For a second chance, you may leave another comment if you are a follower either by Bloglovin, by RSS feed or emails. Don't forget to sign up with Bloglovin, if you have been following with Google Friends Connect so far.

The give away is open until Friday, 11th of May, 6 am (Singapore time). I will draw a winner randomly and will announce the winner on Saturday the 12th of May. Make sure I have an email address to contact you in case you are the winner.

Click the button below and it will takes you to the list of all participating blogs for more fantastic Give Aways.

                                                               

                                                           

Good Luck!

Vreni xx

This give away is now closed. Thank you. 

Round Box

I've been asked to teach how to make a round box to a group of ladies. As I haven't made one myself in quite a while, I thought I'd better brush up on my skills before trying to teach the class.

 Isn't the fabric cute?

 I love the Chinese children at play.

Yes, I remember now. It's really quite simple, the hardest part is probably cutting all the card board circles by hand.

I hope you'll come back tomorrow for  the Sew Mama Sew Give Away Day.

Enjoy Sunday.

Vreni xx

Hasenbach Challenge

Here are my very small blocks for this month's challenge. It's actually more a BOM than a challenge but we we got all the patterns at the beginning, so that each participant can sew at their own pace and pleasure. And not everybody is sewing the same quilt either, but they are all paper pieced. 

 

  4 by 2 inches

3 by 2 inches

Take a look here for more April blocks. 

Cheers

Vreni x

                              

It's been quiet around here!

Indeed it has! As always, I had trouble getting back into my stride after being away for a while. This time it seemed worst than ever! But at long last I finally turned a corner and I'm sewing again. I've had an order for another Dr. Seuss quilt since before Christmas. As I had mostly only scraps left I had to be a bit inventive. I hope it will meet with approval.

While I was  making it, my machine gave up its ghost and is now being repaired as well as getting serviced at the same time. The Bernina agent came and picked it up and promised to deliver it back again next week. Great service, isn't it?  Luckily I still have my trusted Bernina Aurora 440 and it was nice to get reacquainted again, although it felt a bit like sewing on a doll's machine.

This is how I match stripes when joining binding strips with mitered seams:

1. make a 45 degree crease and iron well

2. find a match on the next strip of the binding

3. flip the binding open, then pin in place

4. sew along the creased line

and voilà , perfectly matched. 

Happy Sunday!

Vreni xx

I'm back!

After almost a whole month in Switzerland we are now back home again. It's been a busy time looking after mum, sorting her house, meeting up with friends and family and doing all the things one does on home leave, like doctors appointment, shopping and too much eating!!! Mum is hanging on although we've noticed a definite decline since we last saw her. She has no concept of time anymore, asking every morning what day it is, then asks again and again. We were finally able to perused her to use a "rollator", as she didn't think she was old enough for one of those. Here she is at her first "driving lesson". 

When we first arrived the weather was pleasant and it felt like spring, but that changed pretty fast. Here we are having a cup of tea in the garden

and here the same scene a couple of days later. It snowed three times while we were there. I wasn't complaining as I've been hankering after snow for so long. But I think I might have been the only one as everybody else was sick of winter and was longing for Spring to arrive. 

Nothing is better than a cheese fondue on a cold evening.

But Spring was apparent nevertheless; I loved these flowers around this door, incidentally the entrance to a private bank!

The flower stalls at the main market were bursting with colour.

The Townhouse dating back to the 14th century.

When my Dutch friend came for a visit, we headed to the Picasso exhibition at the Kunstmuseum. Basel (my hometown) has  always had a special relationship with Picasso, you can read about it here. Unfortunately it wasn't allowed to take pictures at the exhibition, so I show you "The Burghers of Calais" by August Rodin instead. It adorns the entrance court of the museum. 

Then I came across some art of a different kind. These lovely hens were knitted by the ladies at the old people's home where my friend's father is living, as part of the Easter decorations. Aren't they cute?

 

When I got back home I found a parcel from Lynda waiting for me. It contained the bag I won at the recent give away on her blog along with lots of other lovely goodies. It was a bit like Christmas!  Thanks again Lynda!

As you might have seen in my last post, I've installed "Bloglovin". If you would like to keep following my blog, you can do so by clicking this button: 

                                                       

I didn't sew much and I didn't blog either while I was away but now it's time to get back to both again, once I'm over this wretched jet lag, that is! 

Until next time, stay happy.

Cheers

Vreni xx