23 Tulip Hill Drive........Het Tulpenhuisje

I wonder if the inhabitants of this house are Dutch? Tulips in the garden, and a beautiful Amaryllis on the windowsill.

Zouden de bewoners van het Tulpenhuis Nederlanders zijn? Ze hebben tulpen in de tuin, en voor het raam staat een prachtige Amaryllis.

Whoever they are, it is not so easy to please them. First they wanted a pink roof, then a black one, and now it's probably going to become a red one...

 Maar ik moet zeggen dat ze vrij lastig zijn. eerst wilden ze een roze dak, toen zwart, en nu weten ze het nog niet zeker. Misschien wordt het wel rood, uiteindelijk.

And the other plants in the garden....not easy to do, even with the bias tape made by my little Clover thingy.

En dan die planten in de tuin, wat heb ik daar al op gemopperd, en ze zijn nog niet eens klaar...!

Never mind, tomorrow is another day!!

Maar we gaan morgen weer vrolijk verder!!
Jane

Tulips and flowers..... tulpen en wat bloemetjes

In between everything else I sometimes get the urge to make a few hexagon flowers. I have no idea (yet) what I am going to do with them though....

Soms heb ik gewoon even zin om een hexagon blommetje te maken. Vraag me niet wat ik er mee ga doen, want tot nog toe heb ik geen idee! En wie weet, liggen ze in het doosje totdat iemand ze ooit vindt....

Every time I open the door of my storage cupboard (an old wooden wardrobe from a monastery), I see this little lamb as it hangs on the doorknob. Carin asked what 'thankful for ewe' meant. She thought ewe was a female sheep and she couldn't work out the connection.  I explained to her that it is a funny English way of saying 'thankful for you' as it sounds the same.
Here is another one 'Miss Ewe'. My daughter sent it to me once when they were away on holiday, and she knows I love sheep.

Als ik de deur van mijn stofjeskast opendoe (een oude klerenkast uit een klooster waar we planken in hebben gemaakt), zie ik dit kleine lammetje. Carin vroeg wat 'thankful for ewe' betekende. Zij dacht dat ewe een ooi was en zij kon de samenhang niet begrijpen. Het is een typisch Engelse woordspeling op 'thankful for you', omdat het hetzelfde klinkt als je het uitspreekt. Hier is nog zoiets. Onze dochter stuurde het naar mij toen ze op vakantie waren, en ze miste me (schattig he?) Het kan natuurlijk ook betekenen: 'Mejuffrouw Ooi'.

And now the tulips...I have been sorting out fabrics for my next Home Sweet Home block. It is not quite right yet....

En nu de tulpen... gisteren ben ik bezig geweest met stofjes uitproberen voor het tulpenhuisje van de Home Sweet Home quilt. Nog niet helemaal naar mijn zin trouwens...

I can't wait to see whether the Dutch tulips I have planted in the garden will be as nice. I hope the mice didn't eat them....!

Nu maar afwachten of de hollandse tulpen die ik geplant heb vorig jaar op zullen komen. Ik heb een akelig bruin vermoeden dat de muizen ze misschien wel lekker vonden ....!

Till next time
Jane

A little foretaste........ even een voorproefje

I totally agree with reactions about the winter. Snow is nice in winter, and I would be rather disappointed if it was suddenly spring now.
Quite apart from that - winter is a lovely time to sit by the fire and quilt. I thought I'd show you a little idea of how the Baltimore border might look. All 20 birds have eyes now, but that doesn't mean it is finished. Some of them didn't mind flying past, so that you can see them. Click on the picture to see them better.

Ja hoor, ik ben het helemaal eens met reakties over de winter. Ik vind sneeuw zo mooi, dus van mij mag het ook nog wel weer. En het is ook zo heerlijk om bij de houtkachel te kruipen met een quiltwerkje als het buiten hard vriest.
Sommige vogeltjes van de Baltimore applique rand wilden graag even langs vliegen, zodat jullie een idee krijgen van wat het gaat worden. Als je op de foto klikt, zie je het groter.

And.... I finished my first Home Sweet Home block, 14 Sunflower Lane. The exotic apples hang on the tree, the sunflower is in full bloom, the flower borders are overflowing, and it is obviously summer - a long way away for some of us. It was strange to make this in the depth of winter. I had to take the block outside, because it was such a dark morning.

En.....het eerste huis van Home Sweet Home, aan het zonnebloemlaantje, is af. De zonnebloem is uit, de exotische appels hangen aan de boom, en de bloemperkjes zijn overvol. Je zou bijna denken dat het zomer is! Wel een beetje vreemd om dit in het hartje van de winter te maken. Ik moest het blok mee naar buiten nemen, want het was zo'n donkere morgen!

Yesterday our daughter and her family came, all 5 of them. I had to take a picture of our granddaughter, as she looked so sweet in her snowman-dress from the USA. We had given her a small tin-suitcase with marshmallows in, and she would not part with it...

Gisteren kwam onze dochter en haar gezinnetje. Is onze kleindochter (3) geen plaatje in haar sneeuwpop jurk uit Amerika? In het blikken koffertje zitten spekjes (cadeautje), en dat moest overal mee naar toe...

And now I am going to dream of my next house block....with Dutch tulips in front of it.

En nu ga ik dromen van het volgende huizenblok, met Hollandse tulpen in 't voortuintje!!!

Jane

Spring already? Een vroege lente?

What did we see near our backdoor this morning? Wonderful, spring must be around the corner!

Wat kwam daar nu vanmorgen bij onze achterdeur in de buurt...? O wat heerlijk, de lente is toch echt wel op komst!

To celebrate seeing the first lamb, we drove to Crosspatch, an old Welsh hill-farm, where they sell lots of things to do with cross stitch, and quilting. And this is what I came home with, for Home Sweet Home....

Om het eerste lammetje te vieren, even rondgereden, even de heuvels in naar 'Crosspatch', een oud boerderijtje, waar hele leuke handwerkdingetjes en quiltstofjes worden verkocht.
En dit was mijn buit. kan ik mooi gebruiken voor Home Sweet Home...

Take care
Jane

Home, Sweet Home..........huizenblok

A quiet Monday, still an official holiday here, a piece of Christmas-cake, a cup of hot chocolate, and working on 14 Sunflower Lane....... what else does anyone need?

Het is erg rustig vandaag, alles heeft nog officieel vakantie. En ik zit hier met een heerlijk stuk kerst-taart, een bekertje chocola, druk bezig met nummer 14 in de Zonnebloem Laan. Wat kan een mens nog meer willen?

Enjoy your day!
Jane

Mormeltje, Baltimore and Something New

Thank you all for your comments this past year. The oliebollen were very nice, and if I don't forget, I shall give you the recipe, as several of you asked.
Else said "Zie ik daar een leuk poppetje?" Yes, that is Mormeltje. Here she is again, with a more close-up picture of the eyes-fabrics.

Mormeltje is guarding them for me now, and I have to ask her permission to use them..!!
I knitted her when I was 13, from a pattern in one of my mother's magazines, the "Princess" I think.
I also knitted a change of clothes for her.

She has stayed with me all that time. That's probably why she can be trusted with the precious eyes-fabrics. She also loves lounging around on the Dear Jane quilt.

I put together the nine blocks for my first Baltimore quilt, and put the inner border around it.

And now I have started something totally different, for 'in between'. Several years ago Hetty, my Dutch cousin, said that she had bought the book "Home Sweet Home", by Barb Adams and Alma Allen. I resisted for quite a while, but gave in at last. After looking at the book for months, I finally felt that I wanted to make the houses quilt.
So I started pinning my first block,  14 Sunflower Lane, together, to see what fabrics I could use.

I have now stitched the windows, and oh, what fun! Around New Year I often feel a little bit homesick for Holland, but doing this made me feel really happy! After the Dear Jane, the blocks seem enormous!! And, the Clover bias tape maker came in the post yesterday morning. I am not really a gadget person ("I can do it myself....") but this little thing is just amazing. I should have fallen for that a long time ago!!

And here, finally is a very simple but effective recipe for Oliebollen. There are some very nice recipes, involving yeast, but these are very nice, and great for beginners. They are deep-fried, and halfway the cooking process turn themselves over, much to the amusement of children like me!
OLIEBOLLEN
500 g self-raising flour
1/4 tsp salt
4.5 dl milk
2 eggs
225 g raisins and currants
optional: 2 apples peeled and cut in small pieces.
Just mix everything, use two large dessertspoons, and drop them in the hot oil. Once they turn themselves over, you know what colour the other side should be. Perfection comes with experience and practice.
They are yummy when they are still warm, with icing sugar shaken over them.
I wish you all a very wonderful New Year!
Jane

Oliebollen and little Baltimore eyes

Every New Year's Eve in Holland we baked oliebollen. My dear English Alan loved them so much that he took to baking them, and has done so now for years. I am totally convinced that he makes the best ones ever!!!!

I am already looking forward to tonight when we start eating them. With lots of icing sugar sprinkled over, of course.
And then there are all those little eyes...... Baltimore birds need eyes, they always look very strange without them.

So during the past few years I have been collecting eyes. Someting like 20 different sorts of fabric so that I can choose which eye goes with which bird. Madness, perhaps, but............some need to look wide-eyed and innocent, some are quite shrewd, and their eyes are smaller. Some need yellow eyes, or dark, or light. Mormeltje is supervising the whole process.

With this I want to wish you all a very happy and quilt-filled New Year!
Take care
Jane

Surprise Carolplayers on Boxing Day

What a surprise! I was sitting quite happily working on my Baltimore Birdies, when the doorbell rang, and there they were with their instruments. A group who go round all the farms in the area, collecting for charity. I could choose a favourite carol, and it was lovely to have our own private concert!

If you want to see them playing and share in the experience, you can watch the video below. I asked if they minded if I filmed them, and they didn't. They played and sang "O, Holy Night."

It has brought a lovely warm feeling to this day!
Now back to my applique, even happier than before!
Take care,
Jane

Buying fabrics on Christmas Eve??????????

Well, we just had to go into town for some last minute things. So my Dear Alan took me in the Landrover. The ride was beautiful.

In town I just popped into the embroidery shop, where they have a small stock of quilting fabrics. You just never know....
So I came home very happy with these: (for which quilt?)

Back outside, to feed the birds, I just had to take a picture of this robin.

And I thought that the sheep on the hill behind our house did not look all that happy with the white grass.

Early this morning I had been feeding the colony of blackbirds at our side door. A few weeks ago there were two. This morning I counted 18. It is very difficult to try and get them all in the picture as they move about (and fight!) so much, but I think there are about 11 here. When I open the curtains they are all sitting there waiting!

I wonder whether I will get to the Nursery rhyme: "Four and Twenty blackbirds baked in a pie"....Oh no, I couldn't do that!! :o)
Happy Christmas again!
Jane

Happy Christmas

I wish you all a wonderful Christmas. This little robin was photographed by my husband, and I modified him......   Don't you love the way he is posing, with one foot higher than the other?                             

A special Baltimore bird

I am really enjoying working on the border again. The overall plan is not quite clear yet. I design as I go along, although I have all the birds drawn. They all come from the Mary Simon quilt pattern. I put those quilt-blocks in a drawer so that I could finish this Baltimore quilt, and they are coming to see what I am up to!
Here is a very special one:

I am hoping the others won't get jealous! This one has some lovely reverse applique patches, and I have chosen the same silk that is in some of the stuffed flowers on the blocks. It is such a lovely orangey colour.
You may want to know how I am making these birds. I draw templates, and cut them out carefully so that I can use the 'left-over' bit for fussy cutting if necessary. I really love fussy-cutting, so I do it whenever I can.
Then I draw with a white Clover pen (wax, which irons out) round the template, as you can see in this close-up: (if you click on the picture, you will see it bigger)

The reverse applique I do off-block, so that I can just applique the bird on later. I always use needleturn applique, not because it is the best way, but because I enjoy it so much.
This little bird is calling me now, so I'll see if I can get him(her?) to join the others today. There are 20 birds, and I have to do 5 more....
And of course, Irene is right, using the same fabrics as in the blocks will unify the whole thing. That is a consolation when I find it too restricting...!
Enjoy your day,
Jane

Baltimore Birds

Now I have at last finished all the small things for Christmas I can get back to my favourite applique! The border for my Baltimore is in the making, and the birds are flying happily on there.

It is almost like when I look outside and see all the birds from around our fields gathering in our garden!
The greatest sensation today was the loaf of bread that hadn't risen very well in the breadmaker. Later I cut it in half, and at the end of the day there were two nearly empty shells left.

The little Baltimore birds on the border are very busy too, but I am not going to let the secret out just yet.....! I am making things rather difficult for myself, because I am only using the fabrics that are in the blocks, so these birds are going to have some very strange feathers...
I hope you are all busy stitching with something.. and happy.
Jane

Christmas Tree Skirt in the snow

After making miles of bias-binding ( I thought I'd just buy some red, but they didn't have it anymore...) I finished the tree skirt.

We had some more snow last night, and thick fog in the morning. this is what it was like looking down to the valley.

This was the first bit of the world we could see. Until then we were on our own...
So I went for a little walk round the garden, and I thought you might like to see a few pictures. The fox had been there first.

We can just see the roofs of our neighbours' farm from our garden.

The little road down the hill was white too:

And our drive. The wire in the picture is our telephone line...........:

So we are not going anywhere today... I think I might do some stitching later.

Keep safe, wherever you are!

Jane

Snow and letters of gold...

These past few days I have been stitching and embroidering like mad. All that for a Christmas Tree skirt. Before last year I had never heard of such a thing, but then I bought the Irish Quilting magazine, and there it was.
Here is a little peep:

This is the centre, not completed yet, and all around are letters, you can just see a few.
It was one of the attractions of this pattern for me. I just love letters in pictures. Perhaps that's why I like samplers so much? And Baltimore? And medieval Psalters... Letters add meaning and mystery.
The letters on this tree skirt are the last two lines from an old Irish Christmas Blessing:
"The joy of a thousand angels to you.
The love of the Son and God's peace to you."
And, oh what joy...In my shoe box with lots of gold threads I found exactly the right one to stitch these letters. It is black, with gold woven through it. At first sight it looks like one of those threads that take 10 years from your life, but... it behaves like a lamb - the perfect find. It is called 'Gold Rush', and I bought it at least 20 years ago in a sale, I don't even know if they still make it.

By now I have finished the embroidery, so I can sew the whole thing together. This afternoon the tree is coming in, it is sitting in the garage after my Beloved dug it up at a tree farm on Monday.
In the meantime, everyone, is gathering round the crib. There is the devout Welsh lady, and the French couple, and the Mennonites.

The crowd gets bigger every year.

There are lots more 'critters' on the slate mantelpiece, but they will have to wait for a photo till next time.
Because now I am off to sew the skirt together.
Just a quick look at a corner of the garden,

and our plough, which always looks nice, but especially in the snow.

Have a great day!
Jane

Frosty views and folded star

Just for a change I decided to finish a folded star (also called Somerset patchwork) coaster that I had started years ago. All it needed was a ribbon round it, and now I have something for Christmas.

After the snow almost disappeared we had a lot of fog, and the next day everything was white, after a hard frost. I like getting up in the morning to see a white world! This is the view from the kitchenwindow.

But the birds are not quite so happy with it, so I give them some food several times a day. By now I get 5 robins, 5 male and 2 female blackbirds, two thrushes, and numerous finches, wagtails and of course sparrows.

The bluetits, coaltits and greattits have their own 'playstation' with sunflower seeds, fatballs, peanuts, and a coconut shell with homemade filling (fat, raisins, seeds and, oh the irony of it, finely ground catfood !!). They love it, especially as there is a huge dogwood bush next to it, so they all sit in there waiting their turn. There are dozens of them!
The robins always likes to try and get some of all these things, and love to sit there.

Now it is time to make some coffee, with mince pies - lovely and cosy by the logburner! And then some applique on my Baltimore border.....
Have a great day!
Jane