First finish of the year

Yes, I've got my first finish of the year! My Garden from Lynette Anderson is finished, inclusive quilting and binding!
These two weeks I have been quilting the border, I was determined to get it done, so I can remove the Christmas quilt that has been at my wall for two years (yes, two whole years!)

The cowl I am knitting for DD is almost done, this picture is from last friday, but there is more progress.

I also started a new knitting project, a shawl. I have to knit 17 quarters and then knit them together. Three quarters done this week.

Today was a Tweet day. I have been busy with the border. The original border is too much in addition to the blue blocks and I adjusted the border to my own taste.

My Garden and Christmas

Sometimes you only need an afternoon to get done what is waiting for you for months... Lynette Andersons My Garden was waiting for a finish. I had two blocks left to do and this week I finally finished the last two stitcheries and made them into blocks. Now it is a finished quilttop!

Another small one is finished, Peppermint Twist by LHN. I have four left, they are meant to be made into a quilt, but of course I have to stitch them first. So eight done now.

To show all the finished ones I made an overview

My Garden and a little bit springtime ...

Is it spring in your country too? Here it is! Flowerbuds are opening, the sun was shining this weekend, so all of a sudden I noticed the dust in my house. And I started a little bit cleaning ... Luckily I don't have to clean the windows yet, because the carpenter is still busy to replace some rotten parts of the window frames. So in spite of cleaning activities I could find some time to stitch this weekend.

I'm a little behind on the BOM of Lynette Anderson, My Garden. But today I finished block 7, only two more to go.

And Holland springtime has some progress too. The tulip in the corner is added. Now I can move on to the left part of the design.

My Tweets

Today I proudly present My Tweets. Erin provided us with the design, but after selecting fabrics, transferring it to the fabric and doing the applique, these little birds really feel like my tweets.
I love how they turned out, a little magical, like paradise birds ;)

Also finished is block 6 of Lynette Anderson's My Garden. Only three to go ...

The old friend that entered my home last week didn't leave. She stayed with me all week, so now another page is done.

Holiday's progress

Holidays are over again , so tomorrow duty calls! I wish we could survive without jobs, life would be much easier, at least I would have plenty of time to stitch and quilt. But no complaining, I know I am lucky to have a job!

Last week DH and I went on a trip to Germany, near Trier. We had a wonderful time, the weather was like it should be in autumn: dry, sunny, some clouds now and then and even some fog. We visited Trier, Koblenz and made a great tour along the river Moselle (Moezel). The area is known for the steep slopes of the region's vineyards overlooking the river. And all in beautiful autumn colours, we were blessed to be able to go there!

Before we left for Germany I finished a tile of Holland Springtime.

Also in Germany the evenings were for stitching and I managed to do quite some stitches. At first block eight of Baltimore Bliss.

Also two blocks of My Garden.

And quite some progress on Call of the Raven.

Springtime in Fall, My Garden and knitting

It's been a busy week with some unexpected nasty things. DH was told he will be without a job from the end of this year (boy, am I glad I did some stashbuilding last months!) I also had some trouble at work, so this weekend wasn't a very happy weekend.
I did quite some stitching, like I always do, happy or not ;)

I added a corner to Holland Springtime.

There's also some progress on Foregone.

My Garden has another block, block 3 is finished.

Also finished a scarf and started another one, in the beautiful blue yarn I showed last week.

Yesterday I found a lovely surprise in my mailbox. A friend made me some knittingmarkers, to cheer me up and to help me follow the pattern in knitting. Aren't they lovely?

An exchange, a new block and holidays aren't over yet

First of all I want to welcome my latest follower Deborah, she is number 100! I really feel honoured for so many of you read my blog and follow my stitching life. I always enjoy your nice comments, thank you all!

Life is getting normal again. DH's holidays are over, DS and DD are busy working too (they earn some money doing vacation jobs). My holidays aren't over yet, so I enjoy a good swim in the morning, do some extra cleaning in the house and spend most of my time stitching and reading. I love this life!

This week I received a 'For the Birds Exchange' from Carol from the HoE board. She stitched me an exquisite needlecase, Bluebird Needlebook by Blackbird Designs. Carol does excellent stitching and I appreciate her work very much.

I have been busy quilting this week. I finished the first block of My Garden, a new BOM designed by Lynette Anderson.

I also have been preparing block number two of Baltimore Bliss and I am ready to add feston stitches now. It's fun and easy to do, I hope to finish this block before the end of the month.

In the evenings I am stitching on Foregone, but as there are only browns in the part I am stitching, a picture lacks this post until I reach a more colourful area. I can show a picture of Call of the Raven. There's some progress on that one too. Sorry for the fold in the middle, ironing isn't my hobby LOL