Some projects for 2012........
The postcard above I made for a swap and sent out, haven't heard yet if it arrived!
I already told you that I joined the Orange Color Study on CQ For Newbies, this is the first block I received from Angie to embellish. I have to embellish a quarter of the block and this is what I did. I found a piece of tatted lace in orange and it was perfect to make the striped piece a bit more quiet. Then I added a herringbone stitch with Edmar yarn above it and extended the seam with lazy daisies. Then added an orange trim to the top seam. I painted the lace rose and sewed that to the right part and added the feather stitch next to it and some sequins to the butterfly in the middle.
The orange color is difficult to make a good picture.......
My Christmas Cracker is ready to be sent out to the USA. It will go in the mail early next week. First have to buy a Christmascard for in the package.I have stuffed the cracker with a lot of goodies, hope the receiver will like it!
This vintage bottle was from my grandmother, she liked Maja soap and perfume very much, I can still remember the sweet smell. I always bought some Maja for her when I was on vacation in Spain. I have put a stylo next to it on the picture so you can see the 4" size!
And a close up:
Since this month I am participating in a Crazy Quilting color challenge on CQ For Newbies. It is a challenge to do this Round Robin because I don't like the color we have to make the block in and embellish: ORANGE!
Monday will be my mothers 82th birthday, she is very strong coping with her bad sight. I have bought her a big watch in black and white, because she can't see the time on her own watches anymore and I will make her a mango cheesecake tomorrow. We will go out forChinese dinner on monday.
and a heart for Betty Pilsbury who lost her beautiful garden due to the flooding in New York State some time ago.The colors are more turquoise and bold cobalt blue then on the picture, the fabric with the flowers is a piece of vintage traditional Dutch fabric from Staphorst with white and yellow painted dots.
Can you imagine that in 2 months it is Christmas? 
All quilts will be shown at the Quiltshow in Yokohama in November. Here you see the Crazy Quilt with my block in it, it is in the middle of the upper row.
Now I'd like to show you a great buy I did some time ago. The lady I bought the crocheted pieces from told me that they were made by nuns as examples for later on. There were some very unusual pieces among them. I can't crochet at all, so I admire every piece. They will be great for CQ and multi media projects.
After all the encrusted blocks I made I am now working on some very different CQ blocks. I got a postcard with a beautiful antique American Crazy Quilt made in the late 19th century on it and immediately fell in love with it. I think I may not show a picture of it because of copyright. 
Most of the blocks have an almost childish embroidery on them of flowers, animals, capitals or fans and the seams are stitched with thick perle threads. I have finished these 2 blocks and am working on a lot more. I will keep you updated! 
Some years ago I did Sharon Boggons Encrusted Crazy Quilting class. I thought I "encrusted"this crazy quiltblock very good.........
Finding the block again after some years I thought it could have some more......so I added some cigar silkies and several leaves to the flowers and a bow. Didn't like the spider so I removed that one.
And I still didn't like it. I removed the lace in the upper right corner and added some more butterflies and a flower spray. Now I am still not satisfied by it's look and I have to think deep about what to do more on the right side of the block, especially on the green silk. Any ideas?
It is still summer over here, but it looks like autumn has already started. We have heavy rain and a lot of wind this evening, temperatures around 15 o C.
During my vacation the last week I tried to do some zentangles, when in the USA in April I bought this little book about it at Barnes&Nobles. I really liked doing these.
This is the second one I made, I think the first one was better. Think the Paisley shape in it doesn't work very well. Must say that making these little drawings is very relaxing....
On the third one I tried to add some color, have decided that I definately don't like them with color.
This is the last one I made for now, I like this one, especially the dark beads.
These zentangles are lovely to make when you have the time for it! Just give it a try if you can, it is really fun making them!
This ladybug,"lieveheersbeestje" in Dutch, was enjoying the sun also!
Yesterday my MIL got a place in a nursing home, she will stay there for revalidation until she can go home again.
Last weekend I did a great buy, this little silver birdie pincushion, ain't it cute? Also found some pieces of vintage lace.
From my mother I got some dahlia bulbs in Spring, the package said "red flowering dahlia". To our suprise the first flower was a white one with a few red petals, the next one was a red one with some white petals.....LOL
The weather over here is still bad, rain almost every day and the temperatures still below normal for summer. I would love to see some sun!
I promised you a picture of the hound I finished painting this week. Yesterday I showed the painting to the owners of Pluto and they are very happy with it. Now they asked me to paint a former dog of them, Tommy.
After a quiltmarket in Salt Lake City Allison Aller's beautiful "Crazy in the garden"quilt that is on the frontcover of her book and 3 other ones are missing. Go to www.lostquilts.com to see pictures of all missing quilts. I sure hope they will be found soon!
Yesterday I have been finishing some CQ postcards to sent to friends. I try to do some stitching every evening after work to find some relaxation. MIL is still in hospital and waiting for a place in a nursery home to recover.
