Photo Day 14: More Market shots

Not one photo, 

but an impression of the rest of Sunday's Market.

(see this post)

For your hair
Voor het haar

For your head
Voor het hoofd (tip voor Prinsjesdag)

jewellery
sieraden

Syrup waffles: yummy!

Lots of plants for garden and balcony.
Sunday the temperature was 9 Celcius and almost no wind.
Last night's forecast: ground frost!

Photo: Day 13 Spring

WIP Wednesday: Good night

Good Night!

No bobbin thread = forced halt.

I'm about to restart the quilting. The bobbin thread ran out yesterday (the two pins still mark the spot) at about 16:30, so I left it then to make dinner and then go to work. I've just spent 20 minutes unpicking a couple of inches to get enough thread to tie off. I decided yesterday afternoon to try quilting again, despite having issues with the BSR earlier in the week (see this post).

Saturday: irregular "regulated"stitches on "trial quilt".

I was trying to make a square pattern and stitches are excessively long when I changed direction and moved the material sideways. The loops (in the yellow) are, however more even in length so I decided yesterday to start quilting the quilt only doing loops.

Still all is not well with the Bernina 440 and the BSR (Bernina stitch REGULATOR!) 

If anyone has any ideas on how to rectify this problem, I'd love to read them. I'm waiting for an answer from Bernina.

Now linking up to Lee for WIP Wednesday

 

Richer than I thought!

Last week I mentioned here  that I had brought boxes up from the basement. 
Look what I found at the bottom of one of them:

Vorige week vertelde ik hoe wij dozen uit de kelder hadden gehaald.Kijk wat erin zat:

home-spun.

I knew that I had once, about 30 years ago, bought half a black fleece, but I don't remember spinning it. About a year after I bought it we moved house and I lost sight of the wool (or the fleece) thinking it had been thrown out, or got left behind in the mover's van. But here it is, along with 3 skeins of white and 3 of mêlée, from both fleeces. The rest of the white I knitted up and wore for ages. 30 years ago this would have been enough for a jumper, but I'm quite a bit larger now.

It's quite scratchy yarn so I won't be making a scarf or hat. Any suggestions? 

I wist dat ik zo'n 30 jaar geleden de helft van een zwarte vlies had gekocht, maar dacht dat het ergens achtergelaten was bij een verhuizing in 1986. Maar hier ligt het, gesponnen en al, samen met 3 bollen van een witte vlies, en 3 gemengde van beide vliezen. Ik ben dikker nu dan 30 jaar geleden dus het wordt geen trui, maar wat dan?  

Het is nogal kriebelig wol dus wordt geen muts of sjaal. Heb je een suggestie?

Design wall Monday & finish

This is my design wall. An awful lot of threads, but no design.

No, I haven't finished everything, but this, 

Bonnie Hunter Leader & Ender Challenge 2013,
about 1/8 completed.

having been photographed, has gone back into its box. 

And the pinks have also been laid to rest, at least until Saturday. Maybe I'll make more this week, the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is such a nice in between project.

But this is finished. 

The centre star is an orphan block from the "Goodnight quilt" I'm making for my 7 year-old grandson. Last week it was on the design wall with the wonky log cabin blocks newly added. Now I've added top and bottom sections made from the left-over triangles from my grandsons quilt and quilted, bound and washed it.



 My Grandson's new place mat which matches his new quilt which is still waiting for me to quilt it, 


because ...

all is not well with the Bernina 440. Having been back to Bernina for most of December and part of January the BSR is not doing what it should. 

Look at the random enormous stitches (up tp 3/4") and mini stitches. Good thing I discovered this on the place mat, and not on the quilt.









In case you're not familiar with Bernina terminology:

BSR = BERNINA STITCH REGULATOR 

a special foot for free motion quilting  that ensures that whatever speed the fabric is moved at the stitches are always the same length. Yeah, sure!

The machine is great for piecing: has a foot for a scant 1/4" and a patchwork seam guide to help guide the fabric straight to the 1/4" foot, can go from two to eight layers of fabric with ease and others I've spoken to assure me that the stitch length is regulated perfectly in FMQ. So do I have a Friday afternoon machine? I'm waiting to get an answer from Bernina.

In the meantime if anyone has experience in using the BSR I'd be glad to hear from you. The sooner that quilt gets quilted, the sooner I can start on something new. I'm trying to be strict with myself here.
I'm linking up with Patchwork Times for Design Wall Monday.

Happy sewing

Marly.

Photo Day 12: Sunrise

Two photos this morning

Vanmorgen twee foto's

07:10, just before sunrise.
07:10 vlak voor zonsopkomst

then I turned 45 degrees to my right and saw this:

toen draaide ik 45 graden naar rechts en zag dit:

Photo Day 11: Market

Market stall decoration
Versierde marktkraam

 Today was Sunday afternoon shopping in the local shopping centre 

and there was a little market. 

One of the stalls was selling smoked eels and was nautically decorated.

Vandaag was het koopzondag in Rijswijk 

en er was een kleine markt. 

De gerookte paling kraam was rijkelijk nautisch versierd.

the whole stall
de complete kraam

RSC 14 Saturday link-up: week 8

Not much pink activity this week.

Two blocks for the challenge sampler:

Bow Tie and Jacob's Ladder

 Two wonky stars blocks to go with the blue two from January:

I'm linking this to the RSC challenge at Soscrappy here, so hop over to see many more pink delights.

Happy sewing

Marly.

Design wall & Work in Progess

I'm doing the Rainbow Scrap Challenge and this month the colour is pink. Having my pink blocks on the wall makes it easy to see what combinations I've used already.



I am about to start quilting a quilt for my 7-year old grandson, and the main element is the yellow strip-pieced star on a blue background. Before I start the FMQ I want to practise on the one surplus star so I decided to build it out to make it place-mat size and practise quilting on that. Then it will be something other than just a practice block. Hence the two wonky log cabins left and right, made from the triangular off-cuts from the pieced strips. Now I have to figure out what to add top and bottom to make it up to size, and I only have triangles! 
Incidentally, now I like the wonky log cabins (my first shot at improv) more than the star!




Finally there are some split 9 patches for Bonnie Hunter's Leader and Ender Challenge, again so I can see what I've got put together so far and if the colour/neutral contrast is sufficiently strong.. At first I had far too many light solid patches, and there are still some blocks where the neutral half has too many solids. I've been unpicking and substituting neutral prints for the solids. It took me some time to understand what Bonnie means by neutral. I think I've got it sussed, but I hope I haven't gone too far in the other direction. I don't think so, because there is a definite line between the coloured and the neutral.

So, instead of sewing this week I've been unpicking, and cutting. I know, most people will have done all the necessary cutting for the L&E challenge months ago. But I didn't have many scraps (still don't). We brought two refuse-bags and a 12 gal storage box of dressmaking scraps up from the basement on Saturday, and I've been sorting them over the weekend. Polyester etc, and jersey to the rubbish bin, a few pieces of cotton to the washing machine, and the rest to the ironing board. 

It's not on the design wall yet, but look what I found, lurking in the storage box ...

Very cold ducklings and bears?

I can't remember buying this but the edges have been zig-zagged, so probably washed, but it hasn't been cut into. Which doesn't surprise me. I can't imagine what came over me when I chose this. Migraine maybe. But, cut it small; still ugly?: cut it smaller. I shall be making some double 9-patch blocks in blue soon; you know, with the patches that finish at 1/2"!



I'm linking up with  at Patchwork Times for Design Wall Monday, so just pop over there to see other people's design walls. 

Also with Lee at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday.

Rainbow Scrap Challenge Saturday link up week 7

Broken dishes, and unfinished (not broken) heart.

I haven't been so busy with pink for the RSC14 this week. 




I couldn't resist trying to make a heart, as everyone else seemed to be this week. Unfortunately I don't have enough variation in pale pink to make a scrappy pale pink edging, so this is as far as it goes for now.


I've done some blue and yellow: 

Using a surplus block as the centre for a place mat. Now I have to figure out what to add top and bottom to make it up to size. Incidentally, now I like the wonky log cabins (my first shot at improv) more than the star!








And I've done a lot of cutting into manageable scraps for Bonnie Hunter's Leader and Ender challenge. I know, most people will have done all the necessary cutting months ago. But I didn't have many scraps (still don't) but I do have lots of leftovers from dressmaking. Gradually I'm working through those; they're mostly still packed in removers' boxes.

I'm linking up to Soscrappy so hop over there to see what other pink patches have been made. 

Happy Sewing

Marly.

Photo day 10: Red sky in the morning ...

... Sailors' warning.

Just before sunrise, shortly after 8 o'clock.

Vlak voor zonsopkomst, kort na 8 uur.

Photo day 9: An apple a day ...

keeps the doctor away!

Photo day 8: Win'er, w'a' win'er?*

or,

in proper English,

Winter, what winter?

Hoe zo, Winter?

Today it was 9 degrees Celcius  here, 

and this rose is clearly under the delusion that it's April at least.

You can see that the bush has new growth, about 2 to 3 inches long.

In the same shrubbery there were a couple of roses in full bloom

 with new shoots 6 or 7 inches long and with fully formed new leaves.

Unfortunately, too far away to get a good photo.

Vandaag was het hier 9 graden.

Deze roos meent dat het al April is, of later. In  hetzelfde plantsoen, 

staat  er één met twee bloemen in volle bloei.

Ook met nieuwe takken van 12 à 15 cm.

Helaas, te ver weg voor een foto.

(* Cockney, as spoken in London)

Photo Day 7: Dutch Skies

Hollandse  Luchten

Changing weather.
Zwaar weer op komst

Photo Day 5: street art

Careful!

Kijk uit!

who? why?
wie? waarom?

While the whole of Rijswijk was glued to the goggle-box

 watching the 3km for ladies (skating).

I was alone outside with these 3 sporting gentlemen.

I think they represent the Olympic spirit.

Terwijl iedereen in Rijswijk naar de 3km voor dames zat te kijken 

was ik in mijn eentje op straat, met deze sportieve heren.

Volgens mij vertegenwoordigen zij het Olympisch gedachte.

And the sun shone for 3 seconds; just for my photo.

En de zon liet zich 3 seconden zien voor de foto.

Rainbow Scrap Challenge Saturday link up week 6

I am taking part in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2014.
This month's colour is pink and  I have made four blocks so far:

Hop over to Soscrappy to see what others have been doing with their pink scraps.

Linking up to WIP Wednesdays, so hop over there to see what other quilters are doing this week.

Photo Day 3 and 4

Day 3
This is yesterday's photo: bicycles by the station 

Work horses tethered at the station, Dutch style.
Werkpaarden, Hollandse style, bij het station.

Yesterday it rained so hard almost all day that I didn't want to expose my camera to the elements until late. This is a typical view outside railway stations here as people prefer to leave their bikes outside rather than pay for the secured bicycle shed just on the other side of that striped wall on the left. The owner of the bike at the front was prepared for the rain using a green carrier bag to keep the saddle dry.

Geen wonder de NS iets wil doen aan de fietsen bij de ingang tot het station. En dit is maar een klein gedeelte van wat er stond, en lag, bij een klein station.

Day 4

Zygocactus in bloom

Cactus in bloom, for the 28th time.
Cactus bloeit voor de 28e keer.

 I was given this on my birthday 27 years ago, and it has bloomed every year since in the first two weeks in February.

Voor mijn verjaardag ontvangen 27 jaar geleden, en het heeft ieder jaar gebloeit in de eerste twee weken van februari.

Photo day 2: Winter in Rijswijk

No snow here

only wind, high wind today and temperatures just above freezing

and rain now and again.

A grey day.

Hier geen sneeuw 

maar wel wind, zware windstoten en temperaturen rond de vier graden.

af en toe regen.

Een grijse dag

But, if you look carefully,

Rose hips: providing a spot of colour. 

Maar wie goed kijkt ziet Rozebottels: een sprankje kleur geven.

Work in Progress

I'm making the Bonnie Hunter Mystery quilt Celtic Solstice. All my blocks are completed, pressed and on the design wall. 

Well, not quite all;

Some are laid out on the living room floor, as the design wall is too small. I plan to have a good sewing day tomorrow, ready to start QAYG quilting at the weekend.



Linking up to WIP Wednesdays. Go and see what others are currently working on.

Happy Sewing, 
Marly.

Amazon.com bargain

  FREE kindle version today.

This is the first quilting "book" I've downloaded, but for 0.00 dollars it's worth a try.

Hurry over to Amazon and claim your copy.

Happy sewing and reading,

Marly

Photo number 1

I found this this morning outside a bric à brac shop in The Hague:

I found it a fitting motto.

I'm an intermittent photographer so to improve my skills I have decided to take a photo every day and publish it here.

Let's see how long I can keep that going.

This afternoon I visited the World Press Photo Exhibition, also in The Hague. 

I have a long way to go in honing my skills.

Marly.

Celic Solstice final link-up

Since November I've been making Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt: Celtic Solstice. It was fun to do and to see each week through December what everyone had achieved. This is the final link-up as far as Bonnie is concerned, I believe, but I'm way from finished. I shall be blogging on this topic for some time to come. I shall miss the link-up which has felt like a world-wide bee.

The score to date:

24 star blocks

plus

19 pinwheel blocks

plus

3 pinwheel blocks: partially put together

plus

2 pinwheel blocks: almost all there

equals 48 blocks.

Hey, I'm one pinwheel block short. I need 49 blocks in total..
The funny thing is I've got 4 more pinwheels and 3 neutral star points pieces left over. More than enough, but no chevrons or blue corner triangle pieces. They were the ones that were so crooked they became rejects and hit the crumb box. When these six blocks are completed I can start quilting. I'm going to do quilt-as-you-go because there's no way I'll get all of this, once assembled, under the needle of my Bernina 440. I think I will join the blocks into rows and quilt the rows; I should be able to manage that. Then join the rows and finally make the borders, quilt them and then join them to the rest.
Goodness knows when I'll get to the binding!

If you'd like to see what other people have been doing - so many people have finished already - hop over to Quiltville and have a look round.

Happy sewing
Marly

Rainbow Scrap Challenge Saturday link-up week 5

Blue review & pink blink

For the Rainbow Scrap Challenge participants make blocks from their scraps in the colour set each month by Angela at Soscrappy. She makes block suggestions but everyone is free to make what he/she wants. Last month's colour was blue:

Blue review

Voor de Regenboog quilt geeft Angela ieder maand  een kleur en deelnemers maken iets in die kleur. Zij geeft ook suggesties voor blokken, maar ieder kiest zelf wat hij of zij maakt

Vorige maand was de kleur blauw. 

Afgelopen week heb ik maar één blok gemaakt maar hier zijn alle januari blauw blokken. 






I think I only got one blue block made this week; I have been busy with other projects. These however are all my January blue blocks. I see now they are all together on the wall that they are not all the same size .... hmm.

And February's colour is pink:

Pink blink

Some of them may not look like scraps and there are in fact five new fat quarters in there, but I just keep everything neatly folded. Some of the pieces could barely be called fat sixteenth. In fact, blink and you won't see them at all.The row on the right are recycled scraps: the pink stripes are flannel (and I have an awful lot of that) but I'm not sure I want to use them as the texture is so different. The fawn with small pink flowers also has large flowers, so as long as the pieces don't finish at more than 1.5" I should get some usable deep pink satin patches.

Sommige stukken zijn niet echt restjes, maar die helemaal rechts zijn gerecycled stukjes, maar de gestreepte flanel gebruik ik misschien niet het is te afwijkend qua textuur. De ecru met roze bloempjes heeft ook grote bloemen; daar zou ik stukjes van 4cm uit moeten kunnen snijden. 

To see what others are doing for this challenge hop over to Soscrappy now.

Happy sewing
Marly.