the last of September ...

It's the last day of September (already)

so

tomorrow is

"blogaversary"

It's still hard to realize

a whole year has gone by since I started here

but then again

LOTS and LOTS

have happend !

I have been stitching these last days

but I give only a sneak peek

HA

that's all !

Interested ???

Don't forget to leave a comment in the previous post

then

you might be the winner ...

a lovely weekend and ..... a giveaway !

Last weekend we had our grandchildren staying over

( and the cats )

They love all the extra attention,

and doing things together is great fun.

Man found a "Loupe" puzzle in the attic to start with

and I found an "old" package of small origami papers

and a book to work from.

( After a while I knew them by heart again ... )

On the last, very sunny day, I had some canvases,

brushes and acrylic paint.

( I wasn't in the mood to carry down two easels from the attic

so they worked on two little tables ... )

They were very proud

with the results !

*

It is hard to believe

but true :

one whole year went by since I started this blog

On the first of October 2010

( kind of nervous )

I made the "giant" step  to begin a blog

because otherwise I would terribly miss my new textile friends

from the Patchwork Beasts Class I took with Jude Hill that summer :

I never regretted it !

To celebrate this joyful event I'm stitching ...

on a small

giveaway

To join this giveaway, please leave a comment on this post

( through this weekend )

On monday October 3rd

I will draw the lucky winner

!!!

I know that there are people who read this blog

and never ever leave a comment, because they don't know how ....

I can only say : please try !

If you're not familiar with commenting :

write something,

follow the intructions and pick "anonymous" when asked for a "profile"

and add your name in the text piece

so I will know who you are.

Then I can include you in this fun game !!!

*

I'm back to stitching :

on a piece I started during the

Sun, moon, stars class from Jude in May

Not finished yet, but it's going fine.

I ripped off some bits and added instead a piece of Jude's

megamendung clouds

From the beginning there was a piece with a feather on it ...

After stitching ( and seeing ) só many beautiful feathers

for Jude's Magic Feather Project

there had to appear more on this "Star" piece

( you'll see the rest when finished )

for my dear friend

Early this evening I went to the hospital in Rotterdam

M is doing well, under the circumstances.

She was in pain earlier but got medication for that.

We'll hope, wait and see.

And when she's going home this weekend a friend will be staying over.

Yesterday evening, when I added names and a bit of magic thread,

I was carefully watched if I did everything in good order ...

( Hope there will be sunny times soon )

finished in time

My little piece

with the clouds and the sun

is ready to move to it's new owner

( only our names and a heart are left for later tonight )

So just wait a little bit longer :

she must be the first to see all of it

tomorrow, or maybe the day after that ...

Only sneak peeks for now

a square sun

a dress .... a leg .... some dots

and that same corner finished now !

A little bit of patience and I'll show you the rest

( and fingers crossed for tomorrow )

new stitching

Last Friday I made preparations

for e new ( small ) piece :

a golden yellow silk / hemp piece of a "Paapje" remnant

and as a thin cloth to baste on

a piece torn  from the sleeve of an old linen shirt

with a bit of Kaffe Fassett cloud.

I started stitching today

and show you only the smallest piece

( the coat is nearly 2 cm high ... )

... to be continued ...

special ....

Today in Rotterdam

with our Stitch'n Bitch group

we did something very special :

we made a joined mandala drawing

for our dear friend M

sending her all our love to strengthen her a bit for next Thursday

*

You might remember I showed an "oak tree"

that popped up in our garden this spring

well ... I didn't plant it

though I had a hunch who did !

Earlier this year a jay was looking for something

he had hidden last autumn : something to eat !

This morning before I went to Rotterdam

I saw a jay sitting on the pergola.

The next time I looked he was gone, or so I thought ...

But no : he was sitting on the ground,

hiding something and also putting a dried leaf on top of it !!!

When I removed the dry leaf ...

there was an acorn

( it proved my hunch was correct ! )

new mandala season

Yesterday evening we had our first

coming-together of the mandala drawing group.

This time the inspiration will come from

the ancient Maya Tzolkin Calendar.

It is quite complicated in the beginning to understand :

it's about "solar seals", "waves", "colours" and "numbers"

and every day of the year has a combination

of these elements

in an on-going cycle.

( A bit like the Zodiac or the Chinese Years )

Yesterday was the day of

Yellow seed

the wave of the Red dragon and

Tone four

And this is what I came up with

As you might notice : there's a feather in it .....

The logic explanation would be Jude's  Magic Feather Project

but ... the feather just "appeared"

in the meditation we always have before we start drawing.

( Yesterday I send off one of my mandala drawings of last year :

to Alaska

in a swap with Susan , ..... I'm so delighted ! )

little man

Remember this little person ?

He was swimming in his soapy pool awhile ago.

It took some time, but he slowly evolved ...

First he was waiting for some decent trousers

( jeans like a real sixties guy )

Then again after some days :

he was patiently waiting for his sweater of true Noro Kuryeon Sock yarn.

.....

"Ooooh my goodness, mam

do you see this ?

I can't go out like thát !

Can't hear a thing

and

   no hair ... "

Finally this morning

( on Feather Friday )

I gladly submitted to his wishes ...

and he could go out all by himself !

 I love him, and I think I call him Gabriel

( someone will definately know why )

Before you're asking : is he alone in the house ...

O no, I can assure you .....  he is nót !

( and there are many more )

*

And don't forget, it really was Feather Friday :

the last of  four

ready to fly to the other side of the ocean

( this last one was inspired by the five young swans who are grooming

and taking flying lessons right across our garden )

waves

I always loved the undulating sides of some scarves.

( normally you try to make the sides of your felt flat

and definately not with waves ! )

Altough I 'd never done this before

I had a rather good idea how it must work :

so much of the end result is preordained

by the way you lay out the wool rovings.

Apart from the waves I wanted

some leaves too

I left the ends of the leaves untouched

so they would felt in with the rest or the scarf

... and this was the result : just as planned

;-)

( hmmm ... sometimes it's just your lucky day )

your body

A little bit earlier than planned

( it's still September and not October )

I want to tell you :

to be aware of your body

and to take good care of it so that you enjoy it for many years to come.

Yet

sometimes

you can get the feeling your body is letting you down

is cheeting on you

.......

I went to one of my dearest friends today

for a little support :

she is starting her nasty fight against breast cancer !

She's rounding up all the support she can get

and that's the best way to do it.

Don't try to do this alone,

get help from every dear person that's around you,

that still leaves enough, you have to do alone

M, take care

we will be walking right beside you all the way

and come out of this together !

(the photo in this post is one side of a double-sided quilt I made in 2009

for the art-quilt exhibition "Uit de naad" in Alkmaar)

a real gem !

I always loved picture-books

probably because I like to draw

When I worked as a teacher in Elementary school,

and especially the last 15 years with the youngest groups

I collected quite a "few" !

Ofcourse I used them at school

but I would have bought them anyway.

Although I retired 4 years ago ... 

and the grandchildren read their own books ...

I bought the most wonderful picture-book last Saturday !

"Sam & Julia"

The day before I read an article in the newspaper ( NRC next )

and I couldn't help myself :

I had to look for it !!!

A former politician, Karina Schaapman, made in her home

out of plywood fruit boxes from the local store,

a giant doll's house or rather

the house for a lot of :

MICE

( it measures 2 x 3 metres !!! )

In it are a lot, and I must say really a lot, of rooms, stairs, corridors and stores

for all the mice, which she also made herself ofcourse.

As most of the furniture, lamps, pictures, and all items in the different shops 

With the making ... came the stories !

And although the book has only just been published
( Rubinstein )

there are already negotiations going on with foreign publishers

Right they are : this book is a gem

children all over the world will love it, I'm sure

A tiny peek of the pastedown page shows how big

uuuuuhm ... how small the mice must be. 

( compared to the poppy heads which feature as bottles )