Nominated for the Liebster Award... yey!

It was a lovely surprise when I got an email from Kristin @ Kristin's Quilts and Stuff nominating me to the Liebster Award. I have seen a few blogs I follow getting the award but I never thought someone would think of me. So first of all a BIG thank you to Kristin for thinking of my blog, reading the stuff I write (and she seems to enjoy it)... you made me really happy.

What makes this award so nice it is that there is no judging, it is just one blogger to another blogger telling them I like what you do and I want to know more about you! It has very few basic rules, here they are:

1) Provide 11 random pieces of information about myself,
2) Answer 11 questions posed by the person that nominated me;
3) And nominate 11 other blogs and pose their own questions. There are a few rules on who can be nominated, but as I am breaking some of them I just decided to skip that part ;)

So 11 things about myself:

1. I am an Argentinian, living in Luxembourg, married to an Englishman (that's pretty random isn't it?);
2. I love ice cream... love it can't live without it;
3. My favourite fruit is watermelon;
4. I miss my grandmother Maria every day of my life, she was the sweetest, caring woman I have ever met;
5. I have an amazing family, and we stick together like glue... have you ever seen two 20 something year old (and me in my 30s) enjoying going shopping with their mum and dad? well you should see when we all go to the shopping mall together...
6. And I have a lovely husband who spoils me so much and I love him tons! 
7. I have lived in the second smallest country in the world... yes Monaco for a whole year and got to see the grand prix from my balcony... that was really cool!
8. I am really bad with plants, have you seen someone killing a plant in 2 days? well that's me... though I managed to get one of my orchids to flower three times (that's a first).
9. I am very girly (not to say childish) and every now and again I am still drawn to buying hello kitty or Disney Princess stuff...
10. I have a care bear sweatshirt, that I use... sometimes even out!

And the questions that I was sent (as per Kristin's post):

1. Why did you start blogging? (being 100% honest here!) To have some other people, rather than my husband, to talk crafting with... I realised it was too much to expect husband to listen to all that stuff after he asked me "Did you sew that with a 1/4 inch seam?"
2. Who taught you to sew? My grandmother, I would watch her for ages... she would let me sit at her feet and push the pedal on her Singer (yes she still had a pedal one in the early 80s).
3. What is the one thing you have made that you are most proud of? My first charity quilt, and I know it went to a lovely little girl that treasures it! 
4. What inspires you? Anything and everything... Generally stuff I see in shops and magazines, but I was recently surprised with my trip to Pompeii in Italy and being inspired by Roman mosaics.
5. Do you have any UFOs and how did it happen? I don't really know how that happen? Could it be that I get too tired too quickly and leave stuff half-way??? or that there's always something new and exiting to sew?? (I have lots, seems like I collect UFOs)
6. What is your next project going to be? Maybe finish a UFO?
7. Where is the farthest place from home that you have travelled? I am very lucky to have been many places, I think the farthest, or more adventurous trip, was my move from Buenos Aires to London in 2007. It was my first visit to Europe, the UK or London for that matter... and I was moving in! 
8. What is your favourite foot on your sewing machine? All purpose.
9. What kind of sewing  machine do you have and how many? I have one, without counting my grandmother's Singer that I am planning on being gifted by my mother some day... (hint hint) I have a very basic Singer machine (I could not do with buying any other brand... yes I am a bit obsessed with anything that could be linked or remind me of my grandmother).
10. What is your favourite food? Ice cream, watermelon and macaroons. 
11. What would we be surprised to find in your closet? Oh many things... you will never find patterned  trousers, very high heels or feathers!

So who am I nominating? It was so hard to choose, and for some I am breaking the rules a bit, but these are small blogs (well I follow some that have more than thousand readers) and that I really enjoy following.

Jamie @ busy bee quilts 

Happier than a birds quilt 

Melissa @ Issa.ino: Handmade 

ChrissieD @ Made by ChrissieD 

Jeanette @ Stamp, stitch, create 

And I want to do a especial mention to Yzo @ Chez Ro who has already been nominated but I really like her blog. 

And here are my questions:

1. What is your most bought craft item?
2. If you looked at your fabric stash now, which colour do you have more fabric of?
3. Which is your favourite place to work on your craft?
4. Do you rather iron or clean?
5. If you had a magic wand, what would you fix?
6. How many countries have you visited? Do you count or you had to think hard at this question?
7. Apart from crafting, what is your favourite thing to do?
8. What is your favourite flower?
9. What is the most striking, funny item in your wardrobe?
10. Do you speak any foreign languages?
11. Who is your favourite person ever?

Wow, writing this post has been a really fun thing! Hope you have enjoyed it as well! And now off crafting to keep up!

Vintage coffee pot

Finally I manage to have some time, take some pictures and write some posts... Hope you all had a lovely Easter, enjoyed your loved ones and eat lots of chocolate!

Today I wanted to share with you all this project... I had volunteered myself to test a pattern for Kristy @ Quiet Play. I love her patterns and I just thought it would be good to practise my paper foundation piecing skills.

So remember this sneak peak from a few weeks ago?

This pattern is part of a lovely kitchen set that you can find in Kristy shop. And voila, here's the finished block:

I love the way the pattern is set out, and how it comes together. I only struggled a bit with the background as I wanted originally to use a stripped fabric... after a little headache and some failed attempts I decided to change to a small flower design that worked much better (and easier).

And now we have the question of what to really do with it, I wanted to have it my kitchen, to add a little colour, so thought I could make cushions for the bar stools, but somehow it didn't seem fair... to have this beautiful coffee pot hiding under the bar...

So it has gone in the wall... yes I am all up for wall art lately!

I know the picture is crocked, but so are most of my pictures... so I thought it was funny for once not to edit my picture and show it as I take it... 

Feeling like making yourself a nice warm cup of coffee, I certainly do now! enjoy...

OMG it is April already

Where has time gone by? well it certainly doesn't look like April around here... all still frozen in the mornings, snow (and ice) in the pavement... and my coats, hats, scarves and globes have not found their way to storage for some reason just yet!

But be as it may it is April already!

It has been a month full of surprises, some really good, some not so good, and the crafty world has been a little bit on the side I have to say... but I managed to finish and post a few things this month:

My lovely Pinwheel cushions have been finished and look amazing on the bed (here)... though they are still waiting for the quilt, that has been half quilted, not liked, half unpicked and still waiting for me to finish unpicking all those stitches!

We brought our lovely Felipe home... he is the sweetest, funniest puppy and I love him so much! I also made him this travelling kit (here) so he can wear his coat and sit on his new cushions when we go places! He also now has a travelling bag that was purchased, but I have been meaning to make a pouch to carry his toiletries and other stuff when we travel as well.

A few new orders were made and delivered this month, you can see pictures of our orders on our Facebook page. 

And finally some embroidered wall art for our dining room. This will be part of a three embroidery designs that I am hoping to finish soon.

So what is most urgent that I work on April? Well I definitely want to finish a blanket I am making for one of my friends soon to be born baby girl, finish our quilt and work on the remaining two embroideries... and if I can add here and there some other little projects, why not?

Linking to Fresh Sewing Day... don't forget to stop by and look around what other bloggers have been up to and their plans for the next month!