Tea Coaster Swap, Brown Bag Quilt Contest and a WIN

Earlier this year I signed up for the NNC's Tea Coaster exchange, hosted by Usha (no blog).

There are many talented crafters in NNC, and one of them is Zarina from Malaysia. I received these lovely tatted tea coasters from her.

Zarina has used her own hand dyed thread; Aubrille & Garden's Path.

If you want to see more of her hand dyes, click here.

  

Zarina crochets too; look at this beautiful doily I received together with the tatted tea coasters. The doily can be used for the tea pot.

Zarina is a quilter too, check out her blog here.

Once again, thank you so very much Zarina, for the beautiful tea coasters & doily!

My partner for the tea coaster exchange is Usha (no blog - Usha, I'm very sorry if I do a mistake, but you don't have a blog, do you?)

This is what I made for Usha; four quilted tea coasters and an extra for the tea pot.

A big thanks to NNC & Usha for organizing the tea coaster swap 2010!

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I always say I never win... How wrong was I???

When Kris over at Tag Along Teddies launched two new patterns and a giveaway, I left a comment for the giveaway - and I won the Butterfly Hunt pattern!

HURRAY!!! Isn't it cute?! Click on the photo and you'll see it more detailed.

Thanks a lot, Kris!

If you want to know more, click here.

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Brown Bag Quilt Contest - for more information, click here.

I have signed up for the BBQC, and my swap partner is Sharon (no blog) in the US. Today I received the "ugly" fabrics from her....  GOSH, aren't they ugly???? LOL! No, I don't see the fabrics as ugly. The colors go from light to dark purple. Purple isn't my favorite color, but after I made the table runner for Alynn, I'm a bit more comfortable with purple.

After auditioning the fabrics, I have an idea what to make, but I have yet to decide on pattern. This is going to be FUN!

I forgot to take a photo of the fabrics I sent to Sharon; too much in a hurry that day. :)

Once again; thanks for the "ugly" fabric, Sharon! :)

Split Hourglass quilt, Pinwheels, and a cold

If it hadn't been for that darn cold I caught last week, I had managed to do much more this week! I had an appointment in Port Louis (the capital) last Friday, and afterwards we met up with Elzaan. Thanks for a great day out, Elzaan! The day before, we agreed to meet at one of the craft shops - and so we did. (Silly me forgot to take some photos!) I got all the items on my shopping list, and I even got "shishas" - mirrors!

If you don't have to stay in Port Louis, you do your best to get out of there before the rush over that starts already at around 2 o'clock in the afternoon.

This is the motorway through Port Louis, taken at noon. A couple of hours later it is jam packed.

Before I caught the cold, I finished the Split Hourglass quilt! Hurray! The pattern is from a magazine, but I have changed the outside border using scraps instead on one fabric. Comparing it to the original pattern, I think my version looks more lively by using colorful scraps.

I didn't get much done this week. Having a cold with a dripping nose and coughing, are not the ideal time to spend crafting. I received the fabric for the Pinwheel quilt some time ago, so all I managed to do over the last week was to finish the Pinwheel top.

This quilt is made of one layer cake and some extra yards for the pinwheels and borders. I've used "Evening Mist" from Sentimental Studios - very beautiful fabric. If you want a closer look at the fabrics, click here. The fabric for the pinwheels and narrow border is from my scraps.

I'm currently working on a cross-stitch Christmas ornament as well as a few other things that are Christmas gifts - top secret! :))

HAPPY CRAFTING!

Potholders and FMQ Weekend

Do you have as many excuses for not doing what you are supposed to do, as I had this weekend?

I started quilting the Split Hourglass quilt in the middle of last week - I think it was - but after quilting more than half, I got tired of it and decided to make some potholders. No, it's not right to say I got tired of it - I didn't - I needed to break to rest my shoulders and arms. I worked quite a lot on it one day, and my arms don't like the pulling of the heavy quilt through the harp (?) on my dear (Ber)Nina.

I know! I know! I was not supposed to start ANY new project before I had finished some of the quilt tops!!!! To my defense I have to say I did finish the potholders!!! :))

I made three pairs. I struggled a bit with the hanging loop, but in the end - after reading some tutorials on the net - I think they turned out OK.

Here I have used leftover fabrics from the "Mystery Quilt". Colorful - aren't they?

As you may have noticed already; these are FMQ (free motion quilted).

I don't get good close-ups with my digital camera, but if you click on the photo (I think it is possible) you'll have a better look on all my mistakes - lol! I thought something small - like potholders - is a good way to practise FMQ. Well, it didn't turn out that bad for a newbie - did it - but I'll have to practise much more before I dare jump onto a huge quilt. As you can see, there are some sharp turns etc.

I bought this wonder a while ago. It's a teflon sheet for FMQ. It grips to the bed of the machine and lets your project slide when FMQ.

I tried it for the first time yesterday when FMQ the potholders, and I'm really impressed! It does work on small projects, but I can't say anything about bigger projects, because I haven't tried. The reviews are positive (do a google).

I believe it is possible to easily get hooked on FMQ. I woke up in the middle of the night and was thinking / figuring out how to quilt the TG (Tina Givens) quilt - lol!

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Enough cutting for today!!! :)) I'm quite sure that is what he's trying to say! :))

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Yummy flourless chocolate cake.

I couldn't resist making Mexican Flourless Chocolate cake. No flour, but a little bit cayenne pepper... I love the little taste of cayenne together with chocolate/cocoa.

Want the recipe? Click here.

It's not me - DH dived into it before it was cold - that's why a small piece is missing - lol! :))