I started this quilt back in 2008. The pictures below are from September that year. A year later I finished the top by sewing all the blocks together. And today I finally made a decision on the backing, and finished the simple quilting. For the linen fabric backing I was inspired  by the French book ‘Esprit de famille‘ by Audrey Fitzjohn. I love the red combined with all the natural linen.

Now I only have to decide on the binding and sew it on…. maybe next year?? ;-)

I hope not, as I see myself on an August summer night in my hang chair with a book or crochet project with this strawberry and cream blanket for some comfort.

I thought of a red and white checkered binding, but the fabric I found today, the white was just too white. I think I first have to dig in my stash again to find out if I still have enough of the checkered fabric I used for the top, so I can use that for the binding. Or maybe you have any suggestions for me?

Below some pictures of the work I did in September 2008, when I had the house for myself during a whole week. So I could keep my crafting stuff all around the house whole the time :-)

The pattern is by Heather Bailey.

This fabric basket is a prototype I created last Sunday. If you want to make a fabric basket using these same fabrics, you can buy a fat quarter bundle in my shop. Of course you can use the fat quarters for any other project you fancy… ;-) (p.s. I ship worldwide, if you are interested you can send me an e-mail: info(at)bypetra.nl)

The crochet project in the picture is a scarf, from this book which contains a lot more projects I’d like to try. The scarf is now almost finished, only after I had to take out half of it because I didn’t read the diagram right…ahum..

I made this Easter bunny last year, with the help of the pattern by Revoluzza.

I’m so proud that I actually finished a crochet cushion cover. The cushion cover top left, I made with the help of the instructions by Yvonne of Yvestown. The cushion cover is a present for my mom, but I have to make one for myself too, because I miss him already…

The cover for the floor cushion, an 75 x 75 cm IKEA cushion, I made for my best friends birthday. Two years ago I made an other version with pompoms on the side, but now I wanted to try an crocheted edging. And I love it :-)

Yesterday I finished row 11 of my crochet blanket, today I start with row 12, and then I might need to add an extra row to side… but then…. the edging!! I haven’t made a decision on the edging yet. Anyone seen nice edging on internet, or made some herself? Till now I only can come up with the simple shell edging I also used for the cushion cover.

Last sunday was fun!! We had a great time and I learned a lot. Everybody gave useful feedback, and I now know that the room suits for this purpose, yeah!

At the moment I’m very busy preparing for the coming christmas themed workshops, and working hard to get the webshop up and running.

Below you see the projects that were made last sunday, everybody was very proud with the result. You can see that one of the Aspegren ribbons was very popular.

I have finished and send my summertime quilt, I hope so my swap partner will love it. I’m so pleased with the final result with the crocheted border and the name tag at the back. I’m still not sure about the crocheted flower I added. but hey it was the first time I made my own design.

I thought I needed a challenge to try something new, so I submitted to the  In the Good Ol’ Summertime Mini Quilt Swap. My partner’s favourite colour is blue so that was something to start from with my design. I want to try a scrappy quilt with a panel where I can add a summer bird with applique or embroidery. I really like to try a crocheted edging, so I might add that as well to the binding. In the left picture you can see the fabrics I picked from my stash, they really look swimming pool blue, don’t you think?

At the right you can see a glimpse of my desk where I have my computer and where I can put up my sewing machine.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been here. Revalidation is taking a lot more time then I thought. I have to cycle on the hometrainer multiple times per day, I have to walk a lot and besides that I have my stretching exercises. But…. every week it’s going a little better, so that’s a good thing :-)

This t-shirt I made for an other little girl, it was a request from the mother of Marit. I used vliesofix to attach the flower and added the blanket stitch by hand. And off course I wrapped it as a special present.

The idea for the crocheted cloth hanger cover was already in my head for a long time. I had no idea how to start and how to finish. After reading multiple different how’to’s I figured out how to begin, but the finishing I’m still not sure how to do it right. This first try I sewed the cover closed, but it’s not very nice looking… maybe someone else has an idea how to close the cover?

A friend of mine got a daughter recently. Inspired by the birth announcement I made this paper/fabric creation. The size is A5 and I first clued all the pieces to the card and then sewed the tree branches.

I was inspired by all the comments on my feedback request, one of the things I did different was the way to put the name on, I think it’s better readable now :-)

I used an old jeans skirt for this, but you can also use an old pair of jeans trousers. Cut a piece from the skirt (or trousers) so that you can still use the front pockets. In my case I used two pieces of cotton fabric, but off course you can also use just one and add a trim between the cotton fabric and the jeans.

My cotton fabric was wider than the original skirt, so I could ruffle the cotton a bit, I think that looks very girlie. I sewed together the two pieces separately and made a small hem in the upper fabric.

Then I put the two fabric pieces on top of each other and sewed two straight lines for creating the ruffles and to keep the fabric pieces together. An how to for creating ruffles can be find here, I only used two lines instead of only one, I learned that form the Seams to me book.

If the cotton fabrics are the width of the jeans skirt, pin them to the skirt and sew them together.

Turn everything right side out and iron the seam, now iron the under fabric on the right length and iron again to sew a nice hem.

Have fun with your old jeans!