A finish, two 'working-ons' and vintage hexagons

Ta-da, I finished the Advent's calendar for Laura. As you can see, I took your advice and used the white fabric with Christmas trees. The colors are much brighter than shown on the picture. Have a look at the next picture. It is a bit better.



I found this pattern at Sew, Mama, Sew, a wonderful blog! It was designed by Elizabeth from Oh, Fransson! A very inspiring blog!
I changed the pattern a bit, since I thought the fabric was already busy enough, to make the blocks 'jump' as well. I didn't add the numbers either.
Laura loved it and will take it with her tomorrow (^-^)

A while ago I won one of Bev's giveaways. I chose the fabric with the large roses, because Bev often writes about her garden on her blog and there she mentions the wonderful historical names of the roses she has. This fabric will always remind me of her. Thank you, dear Bev for letting me win this wonderful fabric! Bev was one of the first people I started blogging and mailing with. She is a very special and talented friend (O:

And look what else arrived with the post this week ... the real vintage blocks from Lyn. Go here, here and here to read more about these blocks and the project. It is very special to have them here in my home. I asked Jos from Cybele's Patch to help me with making hexagons for this project, since to me, she is the hexagon expert! Looking forward to see you again soon, dear Jos!

And here is my progress on the Picnic Schnibbles for November. When I joined this challenge, I thought it would be a fun and fast project for each month. It is definitely fun but not fast at all. Lots of cutting, drawing lines, sewing, ironing, sewing, cutting, ironing, sewing etc etc. Sixteen lovely baskets to be made and then put together in a special way. Once again I learned to read the instructions before starting, because quite at the end of the pattern it shows you different ways of sewing the flowers and baskets. Of course I had already finished the initial way to make them, so I could only make 2 of the 5 choices.

Now this is definitely a WISP! I finished this top a long long time ago but was not sure what to do with it. Now my sister-in-law asked me if I would make her a quilt one day. She loves blue, so I searched for this top. And here it is. Bibi is not quite sure whether she likes it, but when I sent my SIL the pictures, she definitely wanted me to finish it for her. I think I will add three borders to it.

And this is a project I made a few years ago. While I was looking for something, I came across it. It is a big pillow, about 75 cm x 75 cm. The blocks are made by samplers for curtains. I am glad I found it again!

I saw this project at Sarah's If only I had chocolate. Kathreen at Whip Up is organizing a quilt block drive for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in Australia. You can find all the details and the pattern for it here. I joined in for one block and hope you will too.

And if you have some more time left, here is another project for an organisation that fights childhood cancer. The tutorials given for the Friendship Stars and Friendship Star Variation are great to make, so have a try. Email the ladies at FabFanatic here if you are interested.

Then, there is still some room for 'European quilters' to join the virtual Euro Quilting Bee. Please let me know if you want to join. Look on my right sidebar to see some of the lovely quilters who have joined.

I love the quote I found for this week. It reminds me of all the lovely people I have met over the past year in blogland. Remember to join the giveaway in the previous post!

"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around."

~ Leo Buscaglia ~

Advent

I am finally getting a bit into the Christmas spirit. In the Netherlands we first celebrate Sinterklaas with poems, suprises, presents, sweet treats and much more. It starts in the middle of November and ends on December 6. During this period, children who still believe in Sinterklaas are very excited.

But of course advent also starts during this period. My mother made an Advent calendar for every grandchild (12!) on their first Christmas. My daughter is now 17 and still enjoys it a lot. I was two days late this year (my mother and sister-in-law buy and wrap all the small presents), but my daughter is very good at reminding me when she gets up, so here it finally is:

Isn't this something very special (O:

Then I also made my Advent tray. I'm not quite satisfied yet, but it is too cold and rainy to go shopping for something to add. So I'll stick to this for the moment.

It used to be a family tradition to get a Christmas angel on the first day of Christmas at breakfast. That is when I got these. And it really took four years to get them all toghether. That was always something to look forward to. Isn't this a wonderful tradition!

And here is a picture of my Christmas quilt I made last year. Actually I made two, since it was so easy to make. So one of my sisters was lucky. I didn't quilt it, but made knots. I'm not quite sure how that is called. It is an easy and fast way to get a quilt finished and it looks very good on this one.