The 5 minute craft

Sometimes, and only some times, I get the urge to get something finished. You know when you have many long projects going on and it seems that nothing gets done? Well this is my cure for it... the 5 minute craft!
Just look around and with something you have around, just make it nicer, embellish it somehow, tidy it up, and voilà... something finished, something new, and now I can relax again!

So for this pin jar, the only thing you need is a jar, with lid... any lid as long as you can tug some fabric around, some filling and a little scrap of fabric. And the instruction is simple, you have 5 minutes to assemble it! You will have time leftover to make some tea!

I will be posting little ideas like this every now and then. I hope you enjoy them and honestly, for me, it is kinda therapeutic!

And the winner is... and new blog hop

How exiting getting to pick a winner, we did a trial run this weekend and realised that we had not numbered the comments... but we got there at the end. And this morning Mr Random picked comment 15.

So congratulations to Sue who said "Cute blocks. Since I am a follower now, I will come back to see what you do make with these blocks! Surprise me."  I will be contacting you by email shortly to get your address and send put your gift on the post.

This weekend I was overwhelmed by the amazing response I got to the Dots on Dots post. It was great to have feedback from all of you and encouraged me to keep trying new things... So a big thank you to all of you that left a lovely comment or came by to read the post. And because I loved it, I am already participating in a new blog hop.
UR Priceless... couldn't be any cuter, isn't it? So from the 5th to the 13th of November we will be making this lovely purses. I will be sharing with you all the schedule as soon as it is available. In the meantime if you want to know more about it please follow the link on the button in my side bar! 

Dots on dots blog hop and give away

Yey! it is finally the day when I get to show you my contribution to the dots on dots blog hop. First I wanted to thank the ladies at Quilt Taffy and Sew We Quilt for organising this amazing hop.

When I got the email confirming my participation I was super exited, as it is my first blog hop! so started doing a lot of designing, drafting, thinking... It always amazes me the design process, choosing the fabrics, how they "called" me from their shelves... and finally making the block... a little bit of what I wanted to do, a little improvisation, and voilà, here they are. Two rectangular blocks!

So generous, So beautiful

There is absolutely nothing like a big envelope popping out the mailbox when you leave the house in the morning. A week ago I was awarded not just one of the give away bundles but the three of them at Ivy and Neat. One for me and two for the charity quilts.

Just before picking up the post, I was wondering where I would get some pinkish or purplish fabric to finish one of the quilts I am currently working on, as I had none of those colours on my charity stash... and these arrived.

And I have also lovely plans for the light blue and green bundle... but that's a surprise so you will have to be patient.

So off to finish that quilt top! But first not without saying a HUGE thank you to Ivy and Neat for their generosity. I can report that we are most likely to have a full suitcase for this trip and I am well on track to start preparing the next donation!

Fantastic fabric donation

Wow, what a day! I just got back from a visit to my local craft and quilting store, Bastel Kiste Luxembourg (click here)... well actually calling them that is an understatement, they are everything you can think of craft related shop! Anyway back to my story, I went to buy some supplies I needed for my drawing class, and also check out the lovely fabric section (it is one of my favourite places ever!).

I had in the past discussed with them a donation for the charity quilts, so I asked again, only to be overwhelmed by their generosity! I got back home with over 3 meters of fabric, and lovely fabric that is!

So a little stock list of what I have:
- Two fat quarters of Robots and two of Painted Rocket, both in cream background by David Walker for Free Spirit fabrics;
- Two fat quarters of the Noah's Arc collection (from the same collection of the one I used for one of the charity quilts here) by Sunshine Cottage;
- Two fat quarters of Country Portrait by Classic Cottons;
- A fat quarter of Timeless Treasures Tea Types Writing;
- A fat quarter and two smaller pieces of I Love the Tweet Life for Print Concepts
- And some other pieces that unfortunately I don't know the names (please tell me if you do!)

So if you are one of my local readers, and in need of some craft supplies (or just wondering what the fuss is all about) head out to Bastel Kiste in Luxembourg City (directions and a sneak peak of their stock and classes in the link below). And please don't forget to visit the ladies at the patchwork section to show them your appreciation for their kind donation and let them know that you've seen this post. They will love it!

Also you may have seen in my Facebook page that I have received some lovely fabric from my friend Micaela all the way from Barcelona, to add to the charity stash. Thank you again, sorry I don't have pictures as I have already started cutting into it, but will post the finished projects soon!

Hope the warm and fuzzy feeling I am having is contagious! And for some more, don't forget to check out all the lovely charity work at 100 quilts for kids following the link in my side bar.

Nati xx

Knitted cushion covers

Sometimes I make things that seem very simple to me, and I get used to having them around the house, until someone that hasn't been to my place before comes around and points out how nice something is. This was the case with these cushion covers. I made them last year, in a rush to add some comfort to the spare bedroom, a couple of days before our visitors arrived!

So in an attempt to make something out of what I had I ended up spending only five euros and made, two knitted cushion covers, converted an old scarf into two more cushion covers and curtain ties. Anyway, the knitted cushions, for some reason (apart from the fact that I am a bit nuts and like moving things around) now sit on my living room.

Tips for knitters

A little bit ago I received a lovely gift from my friend Ana. She was so so sweet to send me a card to congratulate me on my new blog and this gift.

The book is collection of pieces of advise from experienced knitters, show owners and designers. It is a lovely read and has inspired me to create new things following these advises. You can find the book here.

A little gift

I absolutely love when I get a non bill letter on my mail box, and specially when I can tell that there is something really nice inside, oh surprise, surprise! And as I generally happens with me I had forgotten I was expecting a little package from Lynne at Ivy and Neat as a little while ago I won their Jam jar covers give-away!

So it was lovely to suddenly get these on the post! The jam jar cover set from Beyond Fabrics, includes six jam jar covers, with its matching tags, rubber bands and ties. It is so cute! So lots of Jam making will be happening sometime soon around here! And after I made it and they are ready to be given away (yes I cannot keep these to myself) will tell you all about it in another post.

Thanks again for this lovely gift, it was such a nice surprise to win it, and it was lovely to finally get it!

Nati xx

And the finished quilt

So I finally taken courage, after all the negative things I heard about quilting with fleece, and decided to do it anyway! It was tricky, as it stretches... but it was possible. And I think it looks cute, what do you think?

And it is already September!

So what I have been doing so far... quite a lot of crochet, finishing up blankets for the charity project and preparing tutorials to share with my lovely readers. Also, and biggest of all news, finished my first ever quilt top! A fair bit of baking as well, trying to get cake pops right (some pictures to follow in September, sorry didn't manage to post about it yet lol).

Embroidery cuteness

Charity quilt top

Granny square tutorial

Cupcake baking

So what's in for September? Not spring for me that I no longer leave in the southern hemisphere. But finishing the quilting and binding of my charity quilt, working on finishing up a few more with some fabric that was donated, making a block for the dots on the dots blog hop and then making something else out of it! and redecorating the cushions and curtain tie backs in the spare bedroom. Oh and I must not forget to fix my husband's boxer shorts that have been on my to do list over a month now!

Linking my quilt top to the Small Blog Meet linking party, with the hope of getting to meet lots of lovely bloggers! Even if you don't have a blog, you can have a look around all the lovely projects in there!

Nati xx