I am now about to begin the 4th block of gail pan’s Christmas Wish BOM, and I’m so enjoying making them.  The three above are the ones I’ve completed up till now, and the one below is my most recent.   I didn’t think I’d enjoy embroidery as much as cross stitching but now I think I even prefer it.  Since starting these I have downloaded a number of other patterns to try and I have no idea what I’m going to do next.

There are now six blocks available so in just three months time I’ll have them all and can put them together into a quilt.  Can’t wait!

Related posts:

1. Tree Skirt Progress – 1 Week
2. Baby Bobble Afghan Progress
3. Quilt Sampler Cross Stitch Progress

I’ve been wanting to learn to do embroidery for a while and when I saw the Christmas Wish BOM over at gail pan designs I thought it was the perfect opportunity to teach myself.  So after a few online tutorials and YouTube videos I felt confident enough to give it a go.  It came out pretty well for my first try and wasn’t as difficult as I thought.  The stitches are basically the same as with cross stitching only without the spaces for counting stitches.

If you aren’t familiar with what a BOM is, it’s a ‘Block of the Month’, it’s most frequent with quilters.  A designer puts out one block design each month and after 9-12 months you have enough blocks to put together into a quilt.

This BOM is for a Christmas quilt.  Each block has a different word like Love, Merry, Joy etc.  I can’t wait to see the finished product!

Related posts:

1. Christmas Wish BOM Progress
2. Quilt Sampler Cross Stitch Progress
3. Only Three Months Till Christmas!

She hung it in her dining room, which is the exact spot I had in mind when I made it.   I’m so happy she likes it because I really enjoyed making it for her.

I got a message from someone asking why I haven’t been posting much lately.  I’m not really sure.  I’ve been in a bit of a weird mood which could be chalked up to being sick last week an still having trouble with that tooth.   We’ve also been playing a bit of World of Warcraft, which has been taking up some of my time.

I’ve always had highs and lows when it comes to writing on here.  Sometimes I am on a roll, other times I just can’t be arsed.   Don’t worry though, I’ll always be back!

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A few months ago I started working on a secret project.  My parents were coming over and I knew my mother would be celebrating her birthday while they were here.  I wanted to make something special for her.   So I got to work on a quilt I had been wanting to make that I thought she would like.

It has taken me a while as I do everything by hand… and between the bedroom renovations and lack of immune system I ended up getting behind.   It wasn’t finished when she arrived so I had to show it to her before her birthday so that I could finish it up while she was here.

It was a hit!  She loved it!  Sometimes it’s hard to tell with moms, because they’d say they loved a lump of your poo if you handed it to them proudly… but I’m pretty sure she really did like it.

I took a load of pics the day before she left so that I could FINALLY write about it and be able to still look at it and show it off when I feel like it.

It’s been hard keeping this from her.   Usually I tell her all about things I am making and show her photos along the way.   Not this time though.   I had to keep it totally secret which meant no photos on Flickr or Facebook, no talking about it on my blog… Ugh! It was torture!   So many times she’d message me on MSN during the day asking what I was up to and I had to make something up because I was sitting there sewing away.

Anyhow, it’s all done and I’m really proud of it!

If you are into quilting and would like to make it you can find the pattern here.

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1. Christmas Gift Project – Haruni Shawl
2. When Project Baby and Project Fatass Collide
3. My Ten Secret Thoughts

So far I’ve cut all the connecting strips and corner squares and gotten all the blocks put together.

Next I have to make the large border around the entire thing (which I plan to do in navy) and then the fun begins… that was sarcastic, by the way.

The step after the border is done is putting the 3 layers (front, padding, back) together and then the quilting.  I don’t mind the quilting, I like it actually, but lord do I hate putting the three layers out and trying to get them together properly.  Especially in our flat where we don’t have a big enough table or enough floor space to do it.  Even if I do manage to make enough floor space, it doesn’t matter if I sweep and scrub, there still seems to be cat hair there.  Sorry, ranting.

I’m really looking forward to getting it completed.  I’m going to hang it on my livingroom wall and demand everyone keep their grubby little paws off it because I’ll be too afraid to wash it in case something runs or shrinks.

Anyway, there it is… I think it’s going to be awesome when it’s finished!

Related posts:

1. Quilt Sampler Cross Stitch Progress
2. Tree Skirt Progress – 1 Week
3. More Granny Hobbies!

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As promised, it’s a new day now and I’m no longer wanting to gouge my husband’s eyeballs out of his head.   Last night we had a chat before bed about his work stress and my need for him to not squash my Christmas cheer and now all is well!

Now, I must brag and show off my l33t crafting skillZ!

My tree skirt is complete!  After all those hours spent piecing it together and quilting, it’s finally under my tree where it belongs!

I really couldn’t be more pleased with it, I’m totally stoked that it came out so well since it’s my first quilting project all on my own.

As you can see I’ve even wrapped a few small gifts to put under there already!   I bought a few things for Xander and they all arrived by mail this week.   He has openly admitted to being one of those sneaky kids who used to look for where the gifts were hidden before x-mas, so I figured I better not risk it.

I finished decorating the tree this afternoon. I forgot how nice it feels to have a tree all lit up in your livingroom.

I didn’t put the lights all the way to the top because I’m hoping to get a bigger angel or old time Santa topper to put on top of the tree.   I like the angel I have on there but she’s quite tiny and I’ve always wanted a really beautiful angel with a flowing dress to sit on top of my tree.

I’ve been having trouble finding one though, they don’t seem very popular around here, but back home they are a dime a dozen.

We are thinking of taking a trip to Cologne, Germany before x-mas to visit their Christmas markets and I’m hoping to find one there.  There’s six Christmas Markets in the city and the claim to have all things Christmas…if I can’t find one there, I give up.

Only 25 days until Christmas!

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We had planned on getting me one for x-mas but x-mas came early!  We found a machine we liked that was on sale at our local machine shop so we decided to get it.  Whatever, we’ll just wrap the box and put it under the tree cuz the machine is already set up!

The lady at the store was great, she showed me how to thread the needle and do the bobbin thing.   I really know f-all about using a sewing machine, but I’m learning!

I toyed with it some but haven’t really gotten to use it a lot because I’m rushing to get my tree skirt finished before Dec 1st, which is when my tree goes up.   I like quilting by hand so I’m not using the machine for that.  Also the machine doesn’t have the quilt stitch.  The machines with that were far too expensive and I couldn’t spend that much on my first one when I’m not sure if I’d even like it.   I CAN do the patchwork for future quilts on the machine though, and then do the quilting by hand.

The tree skirt is coming along nicely so far.  I have just half of the outer ring left to quilt and then I can work on the binding.   This month is going by so quickly though I will have to work my fingers to a nub to get it finished in time for the 1st.

In the photo it looks a bit mussed and wrinkly, mainly because I have to fold it up and tuck it under stuff to make sure the cats don’t think it’s a pillow and lay on it.   I think I’d go nuts if I woke up one day and found it covered in hair.   Not that it won’t be after it’s under the tree, but that’s different… it will be finished then.

I’m really quite pleased with how it’s turning out.   I think this will be the first artsy craftsy project I’ve ever gotten around to finishing!  My cross stitch is still in the cupboard half done, the quilt I started in my lessons is still needing to be put together.   This will be my first completed project… and it will only be out for 2 months! ARGH! After all this work I dread the thought of having to tuck it away in a box for 10 months of the year.

Getting back to the working my fingers to nubs thing, I nearly did a week or so ago.  Having only one thimble has proven to be somewhat disastrous when it comes to my other fingers.   At one point they got so sore I had to stop quilting for a few days so they could heal.  Not knowing what to do with myself I decided to pick up some yarn I had laying around and make myself a scarf.

I had 4 balls of Bernat Boa yarn here in two different colors.  Neither alone really made anything long enough for me to like it so I put them together and made one long scarf.  It doesn’t look so long in the pic but when it’s around my neck almost hangs to my waist.  It’s sooooo soft, I really love it.

My next knitting project is to learn how to make socks.   I just need to figure out what kind of yarn to use for it and how to follow a pattern.   Then I can knit myself and Xander ooooodles of cool socks.  If anyone knows of any good sock knitting tutorials online, let me know!

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1. The Quilting Bug
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3. Tree Skirt Progress – 1 Week

These are the pieces I have completed so far.

At the moment it consists of five large squares and the two small corner triangles.  Later the larger squares will be attached to each other.  For now I just laid them in place to see what they look like.

It’s not perfect, I need to get a quilting ruler with inches because I think in the process of converting it to cm I was off by a few.  Some of the pieces ended up a tiny bit larger than others and you can see how it sort of puckered when I sewed it together.   I’m not going to get fussy about it though as this is the first quilt I’m doing all on my own.  It will give me something to compare my fabulous quilting work against 20 years from now. hehe

Afterwards I quickly threw all the loose pieces into place so I could get an idea of how it will look when it’s completed.   I think it will be really nice once I get it all together and start with the quilting.

Regardless, it will definately look better than the cat hair covered red felt piece of shit I’ve been using for under my tree for the last few years.

Related posts:

1. Christmas Wish BOM Progress
2. Baby Bobble Afghan Progress
3. Quilt Sampler Cross Stitch Progress

I ended up missing the last 2 classes because I was sick, so I didn’t learn how to finish the quilt.

This is a photo of the quilt our teacher made to show us how ours will look in the end, which is all I really had to go on.   I never did get it all done and it’s been tucked away in a drawer for the last year.

Yesterday I dug it out and after visiting a friend in the morning I stopped off at the shop where I took the lessons.   The lady who owns the place gave me instructions on the next step to putting it all together so I’m going to try to get it done.

This is an example of some of the squares I have finished.  I have all nine blocks done now, but don’t have photos of them all. Now I will put them all together along with the edging, then move on to the actual quilting.

First though,  I’m going to make this Christmas Star Tree Skirt, which will be the first time I’ve followed a pattern all on my own. I bought the fabrics for it yesterday.

They are somewhat similar to the colors I’m using in my first quilt, which is just sort of coincidence since I chose the colors for that one but the tree skirt calls for these colors.   Plus, they will both match my livingroom!

I’ll post updates as I work on the tree skirt, that will get priority since I only have until x-mas to get it done, yikes!

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I don’t actually have a whole lot to write about. I could ramble on about the usual day to day life but I’m sure most who read my blog (all what.. 2.. 3 of you? :P ) are tired of hearing about that by now. I don’t know how some people do it, I don’t even remember how *I* used to do it, updating a blog daily and always thinking of creative and funny things to discuss so people wouldn’t think you were boring. Bah.. can’t be arsed haha

So what is new with me at the moment, let me think…

Well Christmas is getting closer and I -still- haven’t done any shopping. It doesn’t really feeeel Christmasy this year, I’m not sure why. I think once I get my tree sorted it will though.. Not sure if I wrote about that but I got my tree up the other day but when I took the lights out I couldn’t get them to work. So.. I have to go buy new ones. I planned to get them yesterday when I was out but forgot, figures.

That brings me to yesterday… what a strange mix of emotions I had throughout the day. It was “quilting day”, as I had my quilting class like every other Wednesday.. which has also turned into “hang out gabbing all afternoon with Lynda” day. Which I love. Lynda is a British woman I met a while back who is taking the quilting class with me, so we take advantage of being out and about together on Wednesdays and do lunch and just chat about life. She’s the first true friend I’ve had in a very long time and it feels so good. I know I’ve always missed having girlfriends, but having someone like that now really makes me think back to these past few years and just how much I’ve missed out on.

Anyhow, on my way to quilting I was standing outside central station and someone walked up to me and frightened the shit out of me. When I came back to my senses I realized it was a russian girl that was in my Dutch class. She was on her way to the hospital or something and we had a short gab while we were waiting for and on the tram. She is still in the class and is trying to get her Dutch up to a level where she can work in Dutch. She is definately improved from when I left the class (as her Dutch wasn’t that great then, not that I’m one to judge) but she still has quite a way to go before she is at a level where she can work in a Dutch environment. I can’t imagine she’s going to get all that from those stupid inburgeringscursus though.

On my way home in the afternoon, I was sitting at a different tram stop waiting for my tram home and ran into another girl from the same class. She is from Thailand and started with me from the first day. She is also still taking the classes, well.. technically. I think she is taking them like I was taking them in the end. Still signed up and going for the exams but not really bothering with the class. We also had a short chat and then went our seperate ways when my tram arrived.

On the way home on the tram I was thinking to myself that maybe I was finally starting to get somewhere here in the Netherlands. I’ve been living in this city for 6 years and that was one of the first times I’ve just been out around and ran into people I knew. Mostly because, I’ve never really known anyone. Granted, I know this is largely my fault because I’ve been living the life of a hermit for such a long time, but it’s still sort of nice to feel like you belong somewhere and to feel like it’s home. I had that feeling yesterday coming home.. like maybe I’m starting to really feel at home in this country, this city… Now that I have been meeting more people, trying to put the langauge skills I’ve learned to use and trying to be more social.

On the one hand I felt ridiculous because I never imagined my life ever getting to a point where running into two people I know on the street would make my day.. that used to be a random daily occurance in my former life. On the other hand though, this is the life I’m living now and I have to try to recognize progress when I see it, otherwise I’ll never keep taking steps towards being “normal” again.

I was happy though, walking along the lanes back to my house from the tram I had this cozy feeling inside. This is my neighbourhood, this is where I live… at this moment, on this day, this feels like home… rather than the place that is keeping me from home.

When I got to my mailbox I grabbed the mail that had piled up over the last day or two and noticed a christmas card. It was square and sort of thin with one of those enveopes with all sorts of designs over it. It reminded me of the kind of envelopes we’d get back in Canada that you open up and find some generic x-mas cards that say “Merry Christmas from MT&T” (which was our phone company when I lived there) or the electric company.. etc You get the picture.

It was addressed to Xander, which most of our bills are, so I sat it on top of the pile of sales papers and junk mail and thought as I went up the stairs about where I’d put the card. It was our first x-mas card of the year and usually I’ll string something on a wall or a doorway and hang the cards on it… My mood was high so it made me feel somewhat more festive than I had been previously.

When I opened the card, I realized it wasn’t from our phone or electric company, but from Xander’s brother. It was addressed to Xander, and Xander alone.. wishing him a Merry Christmas. I stared at it a few minutes and then had another look at the envelope and noticed that the postage was in French, which I didn’t see when I picked it up at first… and looked it over again.. then I sat it down on Xander’s computer desk, went to the sofa to talk to my mother on MSN, and cried.

It’s amazing how something so small and seemingly unimportant can act as a giant eraser that wipes the slate clean of all the great things you previously felt.. but that’s what the card did for me. As much as I hated to admit that I was hurt by it, by seeing my name purposely left off a Christmas card from my husband’s brother… it did. It hurt because at this time of year I am even more lonely than usual. I spend a lot of time alone, thinking about my family and all the things I’m missing. Wondering if one day I’m going to look back and regret the years I’ve spent here. I remind myself that I’m here because I love my husband, and because he is worth it… and while I know these things to be true, it doesn’t fill the voids.

I know some of my husband’s family have their own views of me, what I do (or don’t do), why I’m here, what I think… I’ve come to terms with the fact that there isn’t much I can do to change it though, and there is only one person who’s opinion really matters, and that’s Xander.

That doesn’t make it sting any less though, when I find such reminders in our mailbox. It’s strange really… how something as simple as a card can make me realize just how much I am missing, and how much I’m not missing, at the same time.

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