Four Seasons Quilt Swap - Fall 2007

I so enjoyed making and receiving the Doll Quilt II swap, that I signed in on the Four Seasons Quilt Swap - Fall 2007.

I can´t wait to get started. Tomorrow I have a day off work, and I plan on a day of quilting, after I have cleaned the home, buhh...

Weekend update

Friday night we drove to Rijnsburg (The Netherlands) where my PIL live becaue they had a big BBQ in honour of the visit of Nic´s godfather (who lives in Ghana, Africa).

Saturday at noon the first Fluffmarket was held in The Hague. It is sort of a Felt club and it was held for the very first time. There was quite some interest when you look at the amount of visitors, but not very much stands, but I think there is a real market for this sort of events.

I really enjoyed the stand of Applepiepussy (http://www.loaded-ink.com/applepiepussy/). This lady makes the cutest cell charms. I couldn´t resist buying one, but since I use my cell for work, I don´t attach charms to it. But I have attached it to my siccors. My son nic really loves the yummy chocolate cake that hangs from the charm.

Next thing I bought (yes, for myself) is a ´one eye´ strawberry from ´12punt3´ (http://www.12punt3.nl/shop.html). The lady from 12punt3 told me that I was the first to buy a one eye from the new collection which has a ´fruit´ theme. I just couldn´t resist this little fellow. So now he found a new home in my stuffies collection.

Saturday afternoon we had a birthday party of Laura, daughter of friends of ours. She turned one and I made her this pyjama bag.


On Sunday we drove back home and I made a picture of a grass hopper that was sitting (or hanging on) to our windshield. It managed to stay on the windshield for more than an hour at 130 km/h. So this is a little homage to a brave grass hopper that helas had to let go at 14.55 on the highway from Breda to Antwerp.

The den Heijer´s

OK, I couldn´t resist to Simpsonize my family, so here we are:

Arrived !

My doll quilt arrived! My hubby was working on our driveway when the postman arrived with my parcel. OK, hubby had to pay 12 dollars to get the package, because of taxes that where due on the package. Here in Europe you have to pay taxes on all parcels above 22 dollars. So he placed the package on the stairs so it would be the first thing I would see when I came home.

So when I entered, the package was awaiting me. And the quilt inside is just wonderful! It is so amazing, thank you very much Melissa. I think the quilt is gorgeous and the label so nice... It will get a special place in my collection of quilts.

The book you gave is also very welcome, since my boys are used to be read in enlish to them. I used to read the Harry Potter books to them in English.

Doll quilt II swap

This is a sneek preview of the doll quilt I made for the Doll quilt II swap. It is the label of the quilt. Once my swap partner has the quilt in her possession I will post a picture of the front of the quilt.

Good hairday

Yes, In my opion I have a great hairday. After months of wearing long hair, I finally decided to have it cut. So I went to the hairdresser today and now I am the proud owner of short hair. It makes me fell much better and I think it looks great. For some reason it always does when I come from the hairdresser. This moment lasts until I wash and dry it myself...

But for now I am very content.

Today was a very hot day here in ANtwerp so we went to ´het boerenijsje´ which is a ice cream parlor at a cow farm. They have the best icecream and a nice playground, so for our kids they are the best in town.

Peter

Peter received a Tiloer outfit from his Godmother so we made some pics of the outfit. Doesn¶t he look great.

We have had some trouble over here with our internet connection. On Wednesday they came to dig out the garden in front of the garden. We marked all the places, we knew, where there were cables located, the guy with the bulldozer was very carful and still he broke all the cables on the second dig...
So we were without TV, telephone, internet for three days. Well I will be honest, I can´t imagine live without all these facilities, you can´t do anything, you can´t pay bills, read email, etc.
Luckily yetsrdayafternoon a guy from teh cablecompany arrived and fixed everything, after I rewired the whole system myself. He just had to make the connections, but since yesterdyaafternoon, we are back on the digital highway, pooh!

Last day of school

Yesterday was Nic´s last schoolday, the year went so fast it is unbelieveable. In november he was a small little boy that was just potty trained and now he is so much more mature.

It was also the principle´s last day, for he reached his pension and all the children made a big party for his last day.

As you can see, it was a nice day for him. All the children sang songs and danced and they had a big picknick with all the kids. So it was a well organized and festive day. Nic was so tiered that he fell asleep in the car on the way home.

So ... let summer holiday begin...

Almost the last day of school

Tomorrow is the last day of school for Nic. Another milestone reached, his first year in school is over. Time flies...

I made this little doll (pattern Wee Wonderfuls ), with an old uniform of Nic. He goes to an uniform school, which is great since you never have discussions about clothing and what to wear.

He will be a gift for his teacher Miss Anouk.

Princess Party

This weekend Nic and Peter were invited to my friend An´s daughter Sam´s birthday party. Sam turned 5 and wanted a Princess Party, so Nic came as a knight, look how fierceful he looks, and Peter was a pirate.
It was a wonderful party with a lot of princesses and 3 knights/pirate.
Sam´s dad and Niels baked pancakes and the ladies present took care of the sugar, drinks, etc.

Knight Nic

princess Sam

Doll Quilt Swap II

This is so exciting! doll quilt swap II is under way!! I received my partner´s name. I immediately started on the quilt and it is almost completed. I made it completely on the go, so I didn´t use a pattern and it was made going along.

I really hope my partner will like her little quilt. Will make a label over the weekend, as it is no quite hectic with making appointments with all the workfolk that will pave the land in fornt of our house.

We also noticed that a truck destroyed our pavement and maybe the sewer, so I had to contact community hall to make a complaint and so on...

I know nicer things to do when I come home.

One big party at school

This afternoon we had a special gathering at Nic´s school. They had a performance on the X-files tune and the theme was ´When I grow up... I want to be an astronaut´. The performance was very cute. The girls were more into dancing than teh boys, but the outfits were just adorable. A big applaus for the teachers which made this all possible.

There were all sorts of activities and on one of them Nic won a goldfish which he called ´Piet´ after Piet Piraat, a belgian pirate cartoon on TV.

´Gooische schort´ = a specail apron

I love this apron from www.coolcooking.nl , it is also available in pink and the pearl necklace is part of the apron. It is inspired by a TV show in holland called ´Gooische vrouwen´, sort of a dutch version of Desperate housewifes. I also like the TV show, so I also love this apron.

Rafting

I finally got the pictures of our rafting experience for Arina´s bachelor party. We went rafting at Dutch Water Dreams, an Olympic-level whitewater sports complex located in Zoetermeer, the Netherlands.

The picture is us going down the artifcial whitewater. I can only say: we want more!

Sailing

We went for a sail trip with my PIL´s sail boat. This was the first time that we would spent the nighjt on board with our two kids. Grandma and granddad had a bit of doubt about the whole trip, but they admitted that it was great with the kids. They behaved very well on the boat and had a great time on it, so this was a well spent trip. We sailed from Medemblik to Enkhuizen and back.

On the last picture you can see the amount of mosquitos we encountered on the water, this is a sheet I hung to protect Peter from the sun while he was having his nap.

Swap arrived from India

Today a swap all the way from India arrived. Thank you very much Anuja, these are lovely fabrics. I also really like the handmade journal and the trims you got me. Thank you for a lovely swap.

Guinea pigs

We came home early today. We wanted to go sailing this week, but a storm is forcasted so we will wait until wednesday to go sailing. Wednesday and thursday are predicted to be nice, so...

I decided to give the guinea pigs a bath, nails and a hair cut since their hair keeps on growing.

They are sisters and are called ´Chocolate´ and ´Mousse´. We have them for 2 years now and they are a very special color, a greyish color, very nice. We bought them from http://members.lycos.nl/mirjamscaafjes/fourphotogalery.html.

This week´s project

Peter is always fiddeling with the buttons on my clothes when I pick him up, so hat is why I made hime a nice little (very soft) hanky with buttons to play with. I can´t wait for him to wake up from his nap and see it.

Pacifiers

This is the thing I need before I go mad. The pacifiers of the boys are always lost, especially just before bed time. This is the ideal pacifier storage place and it looks really funny.
Seen at http://www.scandinaviandesigncenter.com/ProductDetails.aspx_InnerCatalog_Accessories_InnerCategory_Children%20Accessories_InnerProduct_6075_Image_img1

Swap arrived!

Finally I received my parcel from my swap partner. We sent our parcels out end of February, so we already thought something went wrond, but here it is.

It contained some wonderful vintage fabrics and buttons, a quilting magazine, some handmade quilted potholders, which I am going to transfer to a dollquilt, Steph, hope you don´t mind.

And a wonderful crocheted pea, for my crocheted princess.

thanks very much Steph.

Easter weekend

It was a great Easter weekend. The weather was great, the sun was shining, so we went to the Antwerp Zoo, where this picture was taken of a art project. Aren´t the hares great? They are clay figurines, but they look so real. Real nice job of the artist.

But we weren´t the only people who wanted to go to the Zoo. Later we heard that at Eatsre, the entry fee is half price, but we didn´t know that since we have a year pass to enter. Oh well.

But one minor thing, we lost Peter´s bear at the Zoo, so I will contact them and ask if they found it, let´s hope.

After the Zoo, we went to my parents place, where this picture of Peter was taken.

Happy Easter !

Wishing you all a Happy Easter with these great Leonidas chocolate easter eggs!

Beautiful nursery

I love this nursery, it i so pure and calm, really nice. And I am a sucker for blue, so... this is gorgeous.
The picture below shows how you can paint this stylish tree yourself with some acrylic paint. The nursery is featered on teh Better Homes and Gardens website, along with some great other ideas for kids rooms.

Isn´t this bookcase ´CAVE´ great. It provides a private reading space within its form. As a seat hight is just above the floor, CAVE gives a feeling of hiding from others standing around it. Books can be stored on both sides. Therefore, CAVE can also functions as a partition of a room. I think it is a fabulous bookcase, especially for kids. It is a design by Sakura Adachi.

Peter = 1 year !

Peter turned 1 today, unbelievable that it has been a year gone already. I can remember the day he was born like yesterday, I don´t have the feeling that it has been that long. They grow up so fast.
I have him some sandforms and some cupcakes to give to the other children in his daycare group. They really enjoyed celebrating his birthday, the weather was also great, so this is a great day to turn 1.

Finger painting

I received these photos in an email, aren´t they gorgeous? Sometimes it is even hard to the hands. I think this is a great artist who painted them.

Nic 3 at school

Yesterday Nic celebrated his birthday for the first time at school. He really enjoyed going to school with the cake I made him. I put the cake in a basket which I decorated with balloons so it looked very festive.

In the basket was the cake offcourse, some partyhats for all the kids, napkins, and a little toy for all the kids.

As you can see, Nic really enjoyed his 15 minutes of fame.

And yes, all the kids are wearing an uniform, and when the weather is good, they are outside, since they have a philosophy that fresh air is good for kids. It is a so-called ´open air school', even in winter the windows are open.

Nic turned 3

Today Nic turned three! This is him this morning unwrapping his gifts. We will have his birthday party next saturday, so for now, it is just our presents, a trip to the ice cream parlor and a special diner.

Time goes so fast...

Swap

I received this very nice pink purse from Ruth (http://miladocreativo.blogspot.com/). The inside is lined with a nice soft pink fabric. And the rose soap really smells nice.

This is what I sent Ruth, a bear (she asked for a bear or bunny) made from a Wee Wonderfuls pattern, some chocolades, a belgian strawberry jam, some ribbon and other small goodies.

Grab bag

I saw the pattern for this bag in a copy of Better Homes and Gardens Creative Collection - Quilts and more. I got as a christmas gift. I found it easy and fun to make. Not hard at all, and it really looks great. I think I will use it as a lunch bag.

While Peter was sleeping and Nic was playing on the V-tech, I found some time to assemble the bag. Niels was working on my jeep. Result = quality time for mum!

How cool is this idea for showcasing small fabric pieces over at the purl bee. They even have a tutorial up, so we can also make some ourselves. I think it is a great idea also for people hat don´t quilt. great idea!

Wow

Isn´t this throw just gorgeous. I wants me to start crocheting. I must find someone that can teach me how to make this blocks. They are just wow!
The throw is sold by Pine Cone Hill (http://www.pineconehill.com/)> I also love the colors.