I finished up Spring Seasonal House by The Workbasket and really like how it turned out. The Silk 'n Colors are great to work with, and it's been fun to select the threads I wanted to use.

I am still not 100% sure on how to finish it, I may end up finishing it as a little stand up.

Then I started a UBU. You might wonder what the heck that is. It's in Dutch and means Ultimate Cross Stitch Challenge (Ultieme Borduur Uitdaging). I have been wanting to stitch different designs on a large piece of linen so that it can be used in stands, but also in the shop.

As most of you know, I am not very good at finishing large projects but this I think (I hope ) is different. It is basically a lot of medium to small projects that are stitched on one huge piece of linen. My theme for the UBU will be The Prairie Schooler, as I just love this designer and have many designs that I'd love to stitch but didn't want to get framed or otherwise finished. Below you see a picture of my piece of linen covered bythe PS charts.

To give you an idea, I cut a piece of linen of 220cm x 180cm. The final piece will be smaller, more like 180 x 130cm. But it is huge.

I have set up a seperate weblog for this UBU. It is in Dutch and if you want to join the UBU challenge, let me know so that I can add you to my links. If there is enough interest, we can set up a shared weblog either in Dutch or in English or both.

This UBU project is really on the top of my mind, I hope to have a new start (read the weblog for the story) this Friday and make some progress on Saturday evening. Next week we have a couple of days off and I really hope to get quite a bit done.  

Posted by dehandwerkboetiek at 10:13 AM MEST

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Life is on a fast track this week, there seem to be a 1001 things to do and my to do list doesn't get shorter, only gets longer. But it keeps me from getting bored (honestly, I can't remember the last time I was bored) .

A promised update on Himmel und Hölle is finally here, my newsletter readers will be glad no doubt. I am still amazed at how much fun this project is and can't understand why it has been neglected for so long. Maybe it's because there are fractional stitches in the design, which I absolutely do NOT like. But it adds to the charm, so there are just four more bands with fractional stitches, so I shouldn't be a whiner and just get it done.

Though I haven't been stitching a lot these past weeks, I did work on Spring Seasonal House by The Workbasket. I changed all the colors to Silk 'n Colors that were in my stash. The picture shows the design with most of the colors I use. It is always a little tricky to change the colors as you can't be 100% sure how they will turn out. After all, if you use the colors indicated on the leaflet, you know from the picture what it's going to look like. But I am rather pleased with how this turned out.

Fabric is 36 ct. Lakeside Linen Maple Syrup. I want to use Edinburg cream for the summer house. Haven't thought about the Fall and Winter house yet.

I also finished a small design that has been in the works since January. It's a gift for a friend. As you can see, I love stitching vertically when using an overdyed thread.

Fabric: Newcastle linnen cream                                                          

Thread: Tentakulum handdyed silk (it's a trial version, so there's no color name or number)

Design: Twisted Threads - Bunny Scissor Weight

I am working (on paper at the moment) on a new and very exciting project. The fabric has arrived, the threads been selected and I can't wait to start. It involves a new weblog, a favorite designer, approximately 14000 square centimeters of fabric, 65+ designs, over 50 skeins of floss and more stitches than I want to count now. I hope to be able to announce this project at the beginning of next week.

That's all now. Keep stitching!

Posted by dehandwerkboetiek at 10:13 AM MEST

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We are just back from the Patchwork and Quiltdays in Rijswijk and had a great time. It is so wonderful to meet our customers in person. We've seen some breathtaking quilts and there were more tempting quilting fabrics out there than we could justify to bring home. Both my mom and I bought some fabrics, but we tried to be good. A pictures of our treasures will have to wait, as they are all in the shop.

But as I still have some catching up to do on prior finishes and starts, I thought I'd update my weblog with a few pictures.

First one is the heart by Renato Parolin. You have seen it in progress and I finished it 2 weeks ago. These hearts (Cinco Coeurs) are really adorable.

Next is a project I started in Zwolle, I think. It's a Trio of Snowmen from Stitchy Kitty. Ever since I saw the chart, I knew I had to start it. It is stitched with Weeks Dye Works, Sampler Threads and Venus threads on Ice Blue Belfast linen.

I still have to fill in the spots in his scarf and hat, and he's missing his arms as my WDW Rust has gone MIA but I really like him. I want to stitch all 3 snowmen on one piece of linen and then figure out what kind of border I will stitch around them. Almost one down and two to go.

Posted by dehandwerkboetiek at 11:32 AM MEST

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Another picture I can share now are the squares I stitched for my Australian partner in the Fair and Square exchange. Sharon received a free chart by A Mon Pierre Ami stitched in Waterlilies Periwinkle. Great color IMHO, thanks Candy for introducting me to it. I stitched this during the flight to Nashville as well.

Last week I stitched up one of the latest JBW Designs, Flower Basket from the French Country series. I used Valdani thread for this, we brought several colors from Nashville and the good thing is that the overdyed threads are colorfast. I want to give that a trial run on a small towel to make sure it actually is colorfast, but the colors are great and the thread was really nice to work with. I changed the words to Belle Fleur (without the s) as I think that is correct French (if I remember well from high school it should be Belles Fleurs).

I have quite a few more projects that I would like to start, but stitching for the workshops takes precedence at the moment. I am working on this months installment for Rosina Luger and also My Stitching Treasures by Jeannette Douglas Designs.

One design I definitely want to stitch is Briar Rabbit by La D Da, I really like this tall rabbit and the design has an alphabet to stitch as well, what more can a girl as for.

Posted by dehandwerkboetiek at 11:43 AM MEST

Updated: 26 March 2008 2:23 PM MEST

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It’s been a really long time since I have updated my weblog, but a rather nasty virus had me on the couch and in bed for most of 2 weeks. Luckily, I am completely recovered and so it is time to post some more stitching pictures.

First of all, here are parts 1-4 of Rosina Luger. I so love this project. The silk is wonderful to work with and covers the fabric so neatly. There is a shine on the silk that I cannot capture with the camera, but it is there.

Do you have a design that you have been wanting to stitch for years, never found the time to do it but it keeps lingering in the back of your mind? That is Easter Parade by Blackbird Designs for me. Ever since the chart was published in 2005 I have been in love with it. I don’t stitch for Easter, but this bunny was just screaming at me to get stitched. Of course life got in the way and my bunny had to keep quiet.

During my second week at home I finally thought, what the heck, I am just going to start Easter Parade and we’ll see when it gets finished. I had the perfect piece of Lakeside Linen (it’s a scrap so I don’t know what color it is), it was 40ct which suited me just fine and I had all the threads at home. I started with the border and worked my way up to the first flower on the left side. A week later the bunny was stitched and I so love how he looks. There are just the outlines of the bunny and the eyelets but boy it really is a bunny!

While browsing the internet I found a weblog where the owner had stitched Easter Parade too and her Berry Cobbler (used o.a. in the border) was more lilac than mine. I liked her piece much better, so I’ll probably “unstitch” what I had done in Berry Cobbler and change it to Hyacinth (Sampler Threads). After all, this is EASTER Parade so it can look eastery (which is in my opinion pastel colors).

I took a closer look at the fabric and think it is either Lemon Ice or Cornsilk. I really wish I knew it for sure as I really, really like this color. It's a pity you can't see that the fabric is actually more yellow than the pictures shows you.

I got a bag of small pieces in Nashville and it’s been fun to select projects for my small pieces. There are several other projects that I can envision being stitched on one of these scraps. 

Posted by dehandwerkboetiek at 7:35 PM MEST

Updated: 26 March 2008 4:50 PM MEST

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Well, officially I have been back in town for a while, but not here. Nashville was great, we had a wonderful time and picked up quite a lot of goodies. It always amazes me to see how many new designs come out at market. The creativity of the designers really has been flowing.

In between market, Nashville days, an alumni event for my other job, I have managed to stitch a bit. Well, quite a bit I think. First of all, My Stitching Treasures, the workshop of tomorrow evening. It's a joy to stitch, Jeannette Douglas always manages to put together a wonderful mix of cross stitch and specialty stitches.

I have stitched a bit more on the right side of the design and all the outlines are done, but this was the part that was on my Qsnaps.

I also managed to have a finish, it's one of the newest designs by JBW Designs. I really really LOVE this French Country series from Judy. This is amour and I stitched it over one on 32 count cream Belfast with one strand of Waterlilies Periwinkle.

I've included the 26 needle I used to show how small it is. The picture actually makes it look a little bigger.

And the last picture for today is my progress on one of th hearts by Renato Parolin. This is a new designer that we carry in the shop and he has amazing designs. There are 4 more hearts in this leaflet and I might do another one with owls.

This one is stitched on 32 count antique ivory Belfast with one strand of Waterlilies Burnt Toast. Great color if you ask me. I started this on the plane to Nashville and haven't been able to stitch much on it lately. Most of my focus these days is on the workshops that are planned for March.

I still have a few more pics to share so stay tuned.

Posted by dehandwerkboetiek at 10:38 PM CET

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This past week seems to have flown by and is a little bit blurry. We packed everything in the car for Zwolle Wednesday evening and I was home around midnight. Left Thursday around 10 for Zwolle and spent most of the day and early evening getting the booth ready. It always seems to take longer than we think it does. But we were very happy with how the booth turned out.

The show itself was very crowded (6300 visitors) and especially on Friday and Saturday customers had to wait a while before we could help them. It was really nice to see a lot of our customers, sometimes meeting customers for the first time in real life. I think that's one of the things I enjoy most about shows, the interaction with our customers.

Yesterday and today I spent getting ready for Nashville. As we are giving a workshop on Friday, I had to finish the design, write the finsihing instructions, pick up more pictures for the cover, finish the scissor fob, do the lay out for the scissor fob chart as well as the boxes, go to the shop to rearrange the threads and the leaflets, go to my aunt's birthday, go to my exercise class, answer emails, shop for those last minute items you always need, make sure we have enough Dutch candy and cookies for some special people we will see in Nashville, do the laundry so I won't have to walk around in my pj's (Ria insists that that is not an option and I think she's right ) and I am sure there are other things I did these two days that I can't remember. 

But most of what I need to do is done, so I plan to sit down, have a cup of coffee and maybe even stitch a little. Here's my latest finish, it's a kit by Marjorie Massey:

I am stitching very hard on the Snowman Trio by Stitchy Kitty, but forgot to take a picture. That'll have to wait till I am back.

Will see y'all in a week.

Posted by dehandwerkboetiek at 8:33 PM CET

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I guess most of us are busy. If not with work, then it's the house, the laundry, groceries, friends, family, pets, kids, excercising and who knows maybe even stitchting. Let's just say this past week has been busy . The big consumer show in Zwolle is before Nashville and it's interesting to see how that changes our plans. We are trying to get everything done before we leave for Zwolle and then I also have to use part of my brain power to think about Nashville.

However, the good news is the two models for the workshop are finished! Done, finished, ready, did I mention finished? I really like how they turned out. Below you can see the pink version.

Hmmm, you can't really see the box below, but believe me, it's there.

I am trying hard to get one more model done before Zwolle, it's a kit by Marjorie Massey and one I have been wanting to stitch for a long time. I have searched high and low for a picture, but cannot find it. There's just about 30 odd something stitches to do so I'll post a picture over the weekend.

Posted by dehandwerkboetiek at 10:54 PM CET

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Completely in style with my year of smalls, here is another small finish. I think I stitched this up in a couple of hours. It needs a blackbird button, but that is of course in the shop. Or at least I hope it is. I have yet to decide how to finish this cutie, but several ideas are swimming in my head.

Heart in Hand - Celebrations:Summer

Threads: WDW and ST

Fabric: 32 ct Belfast Summer Khaki

I have the other charts in this serie too and want to do Spring pretty soon.

The past couple of days I have been working on the Nashville workshop and one part is finished, just 2 more to go. I am really not a finishing person. I prefer so much to stitch. Oh well, at least one of the items can be finished by hand, which is a big relief. The other requires glue and card board. Not my favorite items . 

Posted by dehandwerkboetiek at 9:14 PM CET

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Contrary to my lack of posting, I have been stitching quite like a mad woman the past couple of days. I have recovered completely from the flue (thanks to everybody who sent well wishes) and am now in full gear towards the show in Zwolle and Nashville market. In between ordering new designs and materials, I have been stitching like mad to get my class pieces for Nashville completed. And as of this morning I can say, that all my stitching is done. Now onto the fun part (NOT) the finishing. Unfortunately, I can't show any new pics as I want it to makes its debute in Nashville. But once I'm back, I'll show them here too.

I couldn't leave y'all without a picture. This is another Ewe & Eye & Friends design that I stitched way back when I did some modelstitching for a shop in the US. I just LOVE how they finished it and am really glad I got it back. It's such a sweet design, that I know I'll end up stitching it again, though I'm not sure about stitching that border again LOL.

And Miss Murphy wanted to make an appearance also. This is how she curled up on the big chair last Sunday. I just love it when she puts her little nose up like this.

I may be able to get back to Rosina Luger tonight or over the weekend. I can hardly wait, it's such an enjoyable project to work on. There's another gift in the works that I can't yet show and I also need to get back to my workshops. Not to mention I need to decide which EEF design I'm going to stitch next. Any suggestion (keep in mind that this is my year of smalls ).

And I have 3 spaces left for the Pay It Forward challenge. Thank you Carin and Ilse for signing up.

Posted by dehandwerkboetiek at 10:28 AM CET

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