An Update

I have been busy with my spooltjes (klosjes) this weekend. I didn't make too many new ones, but I did sew some of the finished ones together. I have a grand total of 79 now.

I have also been cleaning up my sewing room, trying to find a couple of projects I remembered I had and wanted to finish. Alas! I couldn't find them, but I did find a hexagon template and decided to make some 'flowers' - it is springtime after all! I had no idea what I would do with them once they were finished, but decided to just sew them together as I make them. This is what I have done so far. I really love the hand piecing aspect. I find it so relaxing.

Some More 'Spooltjes'

Not much going on in the quilting department last week. It rained for four days and I did not feel much like sewing. Luckily I had gone to the library and had lots of books to read. I did work on my row for Barb's Row Robin. I got inspired by a pattern in Lynette Jensens book, 'Cozy Cabin Quilts'. My row is the churn dash with applique at the top.I also made some more 'spooltjes' (klosjes) this weekend. I now have 72 of them. Can't believe how fast these are going. Whenever I use a fabric, I cut the pieces for another little spool. See the green one, that is from a small piece of fabric I had left over from Barb's RR.

Yesterday was a beautiful day. Warm and sunny! I did a lot of gardening - mostly pulling weeds, but I also transplanted some things into my new raised flower beds. I'll show you a photo when I get some more things planted in it. Here is a shot of the daffodils I showed you last week. I was worried that the rain would destroy them, but they look fantastic! I counted 30 blooms in this bunch.

A Wonderful Easter Weekend

Hope everyone had a good Easter. Ours was totally smooth and non-stressful. The Easter bunny did not hide any eggs at our house, which was a good thing. And I did not have to cook an Easter dinner, another good thing.

Instead we went to the Franklin Club. It's a fishing club we belong to. We walked around a bit and sat, watching spring and nature at work. When we were there a couple of months ago, there was ice and snow everywhere as well as a good number of ice huts on the lake. But yesterday the weather was perfect! The water was clear, the sun was shining and there were no black flies or mosquitoes yet.
And when I say 'walk', I mean it! I actually walked along the lake with only a couple of rests in my wheelchair. It was so wonderful! We sat and watched the trout, jumping out of the water as they celebrated spring and the arrival of lazy flies that landed on the surface. A gigantic spider, known as a Carolina Wolf spider walked on the brown grass beside us. I think this one must have been a female because it was over an inch and a half in size, not including her legs! I don't think I have ever seen one so big! I didn't take a photo because it was impossible to see her in the brown grass unless she was moving. Wolf spiders don't make webs, but burrow into the sand along the edge of the lake instead. They 'hunt' by chasing their prey. Fascinating creatures!

We went back to the clubhouse dining room and had a delicious Easter buffet lunch. Everything from salads, a selection of cheeses and cold cuts, shrimp, smoked salmon, a whole ham, carved by the chef himself, roast beef, lamb, chicken and so much more. For dessert there was a selection of cakes, pies and other sweets. I could never have cooked all of this at home. And just think about the mess I avoided in my kitchen!

I finished the 'Bear' baby quilt. Just haven't taken a photo yet. It was raining this morning, but now the sun has come out and I think it will be light enough to get a good photo. I worked on my spooltjes this weekend - got another 8 done. These are mostly greens because that is what I had out last week. I also started to sew a few together. I think it will be an impossible and daunting task to sew them all together at the end - when I have a few hundred of them. So if I do a few every weekend it will not seem like so much work - I hope. I am doing these by hand so I can stop and start where ever I want.

I'll post my 'Bear' quilt tomorrow.

Spooltjes Sunday and a Quilt from the Heart

Thank you to everyone who wished me a Happy Birthday this past weekend. I had a lovely time. Dinner on Saturday evening was nice. We ate at the Mandarin. It's a Chinese, Japanese and Thai buffet, so I had sushi, chop suey and mango salad. It's like travelling the world. It just doesn't get any better than that! After our dinner we went back to my DD's place and spent a wonderful hour by candle light, just talking and laughing. Let me tell you... Earth Hour doesn't get any better than that either!

And now I have a confession to make. When I started seeing 'Klosjes' on many of my favourite blogs I swore I would not be joining in - ever! But I just couldn't help myself. I have been making them for several weeks now. They are supposed to be worked on only on Saturday, but I usually do mine on Sundays. It works better for me. Do you want to see what I have made so far?
I have about 40 of them. No two will be the same. Have no idea how many I will do, but as long as there is interest (my interest) I will keep on doing them. The word klosje means a small spool, so in keeping with my Dutch/Canadian heritage, I will butcher the language and call them "Spooltjes". A lot of Dutch people take the English word for something and make it sound sort of Dutch. So for me it's 'Spooltjes Sunday'.

I have also finished another charity quilt for Quilts from the Heart at our Guild. My kit only had 10 eight inch blocks in it. I needed a total of 20, so I went out and bought a bit more fabric and created this. I cut the 8in blocks down to 4in. This one is done in flannel.

Now to finish my UFO Bear Quilt. I have procrastinated long enough. It has to be done by tomorrow! Yikes!