Here's the good news and the bad news...

The good news is I shall no longer waste precious time with making bias tape, because, that's right, I went to my favourite shop and bought THIS!!!!

Clover Bias Tape Makers

Aren't they lovely? I bought the 50mm and the 25mm, which I think are the two sizes I'll use more, smaller than that is just too small for my taste. Haven't really tried it yet and I think it will be challenging to learn how to do it properly but once it's mastered, it will be such a great addition to my quilting routines...

And now for the bad news. I have been meaning to learn how to quilt with a free motion foot, but unfortunately I was told today that I can't really do it with my little sewing machine. As you might remember, I have a John Lewis Mini JL Sewing Machine and apparenty the Bernette free motion foot the shop had is just to darn tall for my little machine. And I was meaning to use it on my Christmas Twinkle Collection, but now I guess I will have to think of another way of quilting the items in a cute and proper way. Also, I guess I will have to start thinking about buying a new adult-sized sewing machine, which is a bummer not only because they are expensive but also because I really love my mini sewing machine, it is so cute, I brought it to the shop to try on the free motion foot and everybody loved it, it was like a small pupy or a baby... My baby :(

As you can see...

...my Mushi approves :)

Christmas Twinkle Collection

Like the new name? I figured it sounds better than christmas project :)
So anyways, I've been telling you all about how I had to dismantle what I already have, I've shown you the befores so now I give you a glimpse of the afters.

I'm sorry I haven't had the time to press them yet, but I think it already shows a lot of improvement. So there you have it, the result from my one week vacation :)
About the Christmas Twinkle Collection, I think I can tell you a bit more about it without spoiling any surprises. So basically seven of my closest friends and family will receive an item from my Christmas Twinkle Collection (my, how fancy it sounds!) None is alike, and I use two different types of patterns. It's my most ambitious project yet, so we'll have to see how it goes... Christmas is so close now I can almost smell it! But before that, we have chestnuts!!!! Anyways, I'm rambling... wish me luck!

Directly from Belgium...

My very own Smurfette :) Thanks bidiii! :)

Oh!!

My precious!

... by the way, in the meantime I managed to buy some new fat quarters... I'm out of contrrroooolllll!!!

Also with christmas in mind...

There is a second type of project I'm working on for Christmas, a more challenging, more creative project, just the way I like it. Here's a sneak preview of what it looks like right now.

lovely isn't it? :)

Also, as soon as I get all of these projects under control, I've decided I'll do a Christmas tablecloth. We have one, it's a needle point Christmas tablecloth I made when I was about 16. So now, so many years later, it's getting really worn out and I figure I might as well retire it and allow it to rest, it has served us well! :)

The before...

Just to make sure we're clear on why I started my Christmas projects over.
This is the before...

 As you can see, really short on fabric diversity, squares randomly set (which they still are sort of, except now I have more fabrics to choose from).

Tomorrow I'll try to post a few pictures of the after :)

Such a Perfect Day!

So today we planned somewhat of a touristic day out. We visited downtown Lisbon which is lovely this time of year. Also there are a couple of fabric and supply shops over there that were totally worth the visit :)
For starters, I managed to buy the filling I needed for half the price.
And, of course, I bought some more fabrics :) All in all it was a ver productive day. Too bad I have such a huge headache!

Lovely and half the price. Perfect combination!

More fabric

Buying fabric is actualy quite addictive. Also, i'm struggling with the fact that I'll have to cut into the fabrics eventually! So on friday I visited my favourite fabric shop and bought a couple of Christmas fabrics my favourites from the Christmas charm pack I bought a couple of weeks ago. This way I'll be able to complement the projects.

Luckily... my order HAS ARRIVED!!!

I'm so excited! I've never ordered fabric before, and the anticipation is overwhelming!!

Aren't they lovely? Also in the picture, Mushi's tail :)

So here they are in all it's glory, all of the Amy Butler fat quarter bundles I just received them :) Thank you Mädchen!!!

It's back to the drawing board...

back to pieces

But it's ok. I'm feeling really positive about this. It also might be due to the fact that I'm on vacation :) It was really hard work but worth it. After separating them I managed to select the ones that were the right size.The ones that were to big I cut, the smaller ones were discarded. This is the end result:

Just a quick update...

... to let you know all three completed stages of the christmas project have been dismantled...
When I started this blog, even earlier, I suppose, when I first decided to start crafting, it was meant to help me improve myself in some way. As well as providing me with endles hours of pure joy, of course. And I figured these projects would allow me to improve two of my less charming traits: lack of patience and also, maybe due to my lack of patience, sometimes, particularly when I'm anxious to get to the result or when I'm close to finishing something, I tend to be less worried about the quality of the work and thus I have many examples of projects that I ended and as soon as I end them, I regret not being more carefull during the process. Also I truly believe the journey IS more important than the destination.
For the past couple of days I've had an opportunity to sit down and look closely at the finished results (due to the fact that I have new lovely fabrics arriving soon and can't really move on without them). I found that the work was less than perfect, even a bit sloppy. Also, I just know that when the new fabrics arrive would be very sorry I didn't get to include them. Also, in the meantime I did some research and have learned some new tips on how to cut the fabric better and how to sew the squares together in a much more perfect way. I deserve it, the project deserves it and so do all my loved ones on the receiving end of these Chrismas projects :)

So it's back to the drawing board!
On the other hand I am on vacation so I intend to get it all done much quicker this time :)

If I could ask for anything...

... I wouldn't ask it for myself, I wouldn't even ask for anyone I know... Or for any person for that matter.
I am truly passionate about animal wellfare. I suffer deeply for any animal that I know is suffering, I spend hours on end thinking of how can we change the way things are done in this country. A country where an animal is an object, where nothing happens to people who abandon, kill, torture, starve animals. It happens daily, not one day goes by without me hearing of some sort of horror, see pictures of a poor small inocent animal in serious distress fighting for his life not knowing when his next meal will be, not knowing where he will lay his little head to sleep tonight or even if he will be able to, not knowing if he will be alive tomorrow. So many animals come to our attention and by the time someone gets to them it's too late. Sometimes they get to have some comfort and attention and even love in their last hours, most of them don't.
How are we as presumably "superior" beings able to hurt such an innocent soul? Regardless of how complex their level of thinking is, they do think, they do feel, they do hurt and suffer, they love. And their love is the greatest in the world, it is unconditional. Even when an animal is mistreated, his human is still his whole world. When an animal is left by the side of a street, he still remains there for days on end waiting for his human to come back. And if he would, the animal would greet him with love and appreciation.

It truly breaks my heart... I think about it every night before I go to sleep and everytime I look into my kitties' little eyes. What they have isn't a priviledge, it's a right and today, I'm not sure I'll live to see the day when that becomes a reality for all of them. On the other hand, I can't imagine living the next decades suffering like this... something has to change!

And then there were three :)

Wops...

... I was so tired last night I ended up sharing more than I intended... Got to be more carefull from now on ;)

Part II of a couple of hundred of them of my Christmas Mega Project!

So the second part is done. I'm sorry I can't be more precise, but the cyberspace has ears and eyes and all of that and I don't want to give very much away.

Here's the two pieces

I'm very short on fabrics, but I have a few solids. Also I'm waiting for my order ;)

I particularly love the baby blue fabric. Also the dark blue is really intense :)

My most recent order!

Today was such a fun day!

I have just made my first fabric online order. I was looking for Amy Butler fat quarter bundles because she's my favourite fabric designer and choosing fabric by fabric is too hard. So while googling I came across http://www.gonetoearth.co.uk/ and they have plenty of bundles, both from Amy Butler and Ana Maria Horner, which is also a favourite.

My best friend in the whole wide world will get them for me and send them really really soon, so I should get them by next week. Here's a peak. They are all from the Daisy Chain Collection and I can't wait to get my hands on them! :)

One of my favourite things...

that always puts me in a good mood is..... BUTTONS!!

What a lovely sight!

I remember being a small child and my mom used to have this huge bag of buttons, and everytime she took them out from the drawer I would be thrilled! Now that bag has been greately downsized because truly they were never used anyway, but it still exists! And with this new collection I recentely bought, I intend to make it grow again :)

Christmas project... looking pretty nice if I may say so myself :)

So without unveiling much about the projects, the first of many steps has been complete :) Enjoy!

Here's a little preview

After ironing :)

Have a great weekend!

2nd hexie project.

So with my first hexie table mat done, I'm moving on to the second one and I'll be using my latest charm pack.

Here they are, all the hexies for my second table mat

I've asembled a few already