Sunny Sunday

I can’t believe it – after a week of really bad weather with rains and strong winds the sun has finally set a few bright beams on our part of the world. But according to the forecast we have more bad weather arriving later on in the day.

Scrappy Strips and Bricks Quilt if finished and listed in my Etsy shop and Dawanda shop.

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Over the week I was thinking about a new project that is on my mind already for some months. This time using entirely solids in powerful colors and working them into  a nearly three-dimensional interwoven strip pattern. This is my first design on the computer, but I believe it will be changed a couple of times before starting the practical part of the work.

To be honest I haven’t even yet ordered the fabrics, but I have the following collection on my mind : Pure Elements from Patricia Bravo for Art Gallery.

I am looking forward to see all the vivid colors laying on the table!!!

Now I am going out to get some of the sun beams on my skin, until next time,

Barbora

Sewing Sunday

As the weather has been quiet chilly (believe me or not we had snow falling about 60 miles from my house, just north-west of Alicante) and the wind is blowing strong and very cold. The air is clear and walking the dog is a real pleasure; on condition one is well dressed.

Anyway Sunday was a day to stay inside and I decided to use a little bit of my scrap. Found an interesting an easy quilt pattern on one of my favorite blogs from Malka Dubrawsky called Strips and Bricks. To make the story short I started cutting fabric late in the morning and finished piecing all horizontal rows in the afternoon.

This is the result hanging on my design wall:

Now it is time to get out the iron. Press the seams of each row in an opposite direction so when sewing the rows together the seams “lock in”. Once the top is finished I can have a thought about the back – pieced or not?! Quilting this time is an easy decision: I shall go for  vertical and horizontal straight-line pattern.

Going strong and still enjoying patchwork, Barbora

 

 

 

Halfway through and still thinking of more patchwork

Last Monday I had my third chemo in the day hospital. This means that I am halfway through. After the fourth chemo a test shall be done if the cancer is gone, but anyway 2 more chemos needed to complete the entire cycle. Each chemo is seven hours and during this session I have enough time to think about new patchwork projects. With my new iPhone I can do some web surfing and look for brand new modern fabrics. A really nice website shop for patchwork fabrics is : Hawthorne Threads .

Over the last few weeks I have done some sewing work that I would like to show:

Strubbel got a new patchwork wall hanging behind his mat. This is more a practical solution for not painting the wall every year. I am not sure if he is fond of it, but for me it was an interesting  new type of patchwork with free hand piecing –  also called improvisational. And using a new style of quilting technique – free motion machine quilting with a darning foot.

The other smaller project was finishing 2 more pillow covers from the orange series for our lounge. This time they are finished with bows instead of a zipper.  A bow can be a nice extra decoration on the pillow cover that I want to use more for new projects.

And to finish definitely my orange fabrics I decided to make some pot holders. These were inspired by Malka Dubrawsky and published in her new book Fresh Quilting. Alternatively you can visit her website : a stitch in dye. This is also one of my favourite blogs for her wonderful feeling and combination of strong bright colors.

 

Last year I bought some fabrics that are still waiting for a project – this one is on the way :

Castle Peeps from Lizzy House

The top, batting and quilt backing are basted together and prepared for quilting. I prefer to use special safety pins for quilters (with a curve) instead of glueing the three layers together. The glue works well when using the walking foot of your sewing machine for straight line quilting. But with free motion quilting I made the experience with uneven stitches and a feeling that the needle gets “stuck” on the glue and can not work properly.

 

Till next time, hopefully with some new ideas, Barbora

3 weeks have passed since the first chemo

So 3 weeks have passed very quickly. The time has come for the second chemo. Now I know what to expect from all the medication and how my body reacts to the treatment. The tumor has dissolved, I can’t feel it anymore in my breast. Well, lets hope that this is a good sign and that the therapy is taking the right direction. I have been a bit week over the last 10 days – got a strong cold with some fever.

Got also some other things organised : like a wig. For the last few years I have always had a short haircut. The wig is supplied with medium long hair and I decided to keep it as log as possible. As I have the next half a year with no own hair, I want to try different hair does with the wig. I can change the hair length a little bit. A good friend of mine is a hairdresser and is happy to help me to find an ideal wig style.

I am trying to carry on with my life as usual. Only the bad cold was quite a set back. I hope that within the next one or two weeks I’ll be back to my strength and energy. And I am looking forward to go walking our dog Strubbel. He is a cute catalan sheepdog just over a year old and very lively. He likes to learn new things and is always happy to run around.

catalan sheepdog I have some patchwork projects on my mind that I want to realize. Just convert the ideas into action with my hands so that everybody can see the results. First I have to make pictures of my last projects. I like to document what I make – a series of cushion covers for our living room and a wall protection curtain next to the dog bed.

Next time I let my thoughts flow I hopefully have my second chemo already behind me – this would be one third done !!!

 

Till next time, greetings Barbora