short quilting vacation

It has been some time since my last post. I have set aside the cutter, needle, thread and sewing machine and made a short quilting vacation. We have such wonderful weather here in Spain, warm but not too hot, sunny everyday and clear skies. I just want to enjoy the warm sunbeams before autumn takes over. So why stay inside and work? Why not enjoy my free time outside with the doggy or reading a nice book on the terrace?

early morning end september - skalabara.com

early morning end september #2 - skalabara.com

early morning in october - skalabara.com

Swallows are long-distance migrants. They are now preparing for a long journey to Africa where they spend the winter and come back to Europe in the spring. New moon in the background.

swallows and new moon - skalabara.com

swallows - skalabara.com

 

Anyway, I did sew a bit. As I am visiting my Mom in 2 weeks time and I was preparing some quilting presents. Now a very big thank to Teje from Nero’s Post and Patch – her Bird on my Pillow was a great inspiration to make presents for 3 little girls in Prague, daughters of my cousins.

three little birds

And not to forget the two boys. For them I have made airplane pillows. I made them without paper piecing, but used some fabrics before everything matched. The yellow airplane was my first attempt, the second one has better proportions (from my point of view).

airplanes

I would like to round-up this post with a quote I found on a coffee sugar and freely translated from Spanish :

There are only 2 days when you cannot do anything – one is yesterday and the other is tomorrow. Today is the day to live and enjoy!

So happy sewing, quilting, living, …………. Barbora

 

Don’t forget the link up with Thursday Threads by Julie 627handworks which is hosted this week by Susan from The Bored Zombie !

table runners finished and some photo impressions

Instead of writing a long post today I prefer to share a few photos.

Here are the quilted Christmas table runners. Both are free-motion quilted with meanders.

christmas tree runner  - skalabara.com

wonky stars table runner - skalabara.com

And a few impressions from early mornings when walking the doggie, my favorite time of the day.

birds

birds 2

strubbel

sunrise - skalabara.com

Thanks for stopping, until next time with some more patchwork stuff, Barbora

new stash and getting back to work

We are back at home from Germany where we visited my husband’s family and friends. We had a wonderful time, the weather was cool yet not rainy. Before leaving for Germany I looked on the web to find some quilting shops in the Bonn area. The very first one I found was just in the next village. So Monday was my day and with my sister-in-law we went to the shop. It was amazing to see so many Kaffe Fassett fabrics at one place!! It took me some time to choose which fabrics I desperately need to get on my stock. At the end I went for 9 pattern fabrics and 2 Kona Solids – canary yellow and bright pink.

stash kaffe fassett - www.skalabara.com

Here some pictures when we all went walking the dog on the outskirts of Bonn.

bonn 0813 - www.skalabara.comA few weeks ago I came across this Christmas runner from Love By Hand and I just loved the block design. I have finished piecing the blocks and over the weekend I want to quilt and bind this pretty little runner.

love by hand design of xmas table runner

My free days are slowly coming to an end – Monday is my first working day after the summer break.

Thanks for stopping and happy sewing, Barbora

morning sky and some extraterrestrials in my garden

Just before I have packed the suitcase to go to visit family in Germany, I have seen some extraterrestrials hanging on the wooden pergola in front of our house. Well, maybe they are not exactly extraterrestrials, but the look weird. I assume they are hatched cicadas. At the moment the cicadas are very active and very loud. When I want to have a nice siesta nap on the terrace, I definitely need some ear plugs to survive there. Sometimes the cat plays with the cicadas or he puts them in his mouth. I think he loves the subtle vibrations on his tongue.

And I have one more photo to share : impression of early morning sky when I went out to walk the dog. The view was dramatic – but the clouds and sunrise were in a perfect harmony.

morning glory www.skalabara.com

 

Thanks for stopping, be back in a weeks time, Barbora

 

back home from prague

The summer heat coming from Africa has spread through entire Europe. It doesn’t really matter where you are : in Prague or here in Spain. My one week vacation went sooooo quickly. I have enjoyed staying with Mum and didn’t even have time to look for some new patchwork fabrics. Here a few impressions from the Prague Castle – Hradcany area – I couldn’t believe that I managed to take pictures without any tourists :hidden secrets at prague castleThe next photos are from the quarter Vinohrady  with a house of prayer of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church called Husuv Sbor.  Just next to it is an original water tower that is now converted into apartments.

water tower and husuv sbor

My next projects are waiting for me – but should I get the machine out and start sewing or should I take a short (extended) holiday at home?

Thanks for stopping, happy sewing wherever you are, Barbora