Spring or Winter?

A week ago, it was springtime with very mild temperatures, today it's winter again... 

I'm so ready to start working in the garden, but really, it's way too cold!

And now, I can post a picture of the baby quilt, as the new cutie pie has arrived! :-)

The birds are happily emptying the feeders, and we even have a magpie nest in one of our trees.

I've never seen as many birds here as this year. Maybe it's just because we are still stuck at home most of the time. 

On the sewing front, I have at last finished my new shirt, and I'm still sewing some new masks.

 

Winter sketching

I did a lot of sketching during the cold winter months.

This year, we had a little snow, and it was really cold for a week or so. Then, I decided it was time to clean my loom which had been collecting dust for too many months. 

And I've put the last stitches to the new baby quilt.

 

December

2020, the non-blogging year, is almost over. 

No travel, of course, because of the restrictions. But a lot of walking in the woods...

And also a lot of sketching...

(Chercher l'intrus...)

 And I have started a new quilt. No picture yet, as it will be a gift.

Autumn 2019

Quick, a last mosaic before next year...
A small summary of this autumn...

My quilt is finished, but I haven't taken the time to photograph it. Maybe tomorrow, if it's sunny.

A new art quilt, sketching, and Kanazawa

Here are a few pictures of beautiful Kanazawa, almost a year ago...

I finally decided to try and make a new art quilt. Here are two photos I took during the quilting process. The other pictures in the mosaic are from my sketchbooks, and also from a few days at the seaside.

And here's my new quilt almost quilted. Next, I must finish the edges, and also add some embellishments.

I dyed some of the fabric myself. For the largest piece of indigo fabric, I used an old sheet I found at my parents' house. There are even a few holes in it, and I'm very tempted to leave them like that. Or maybe, I could add some stitching to emphasize them.
I also used a few pieces of indigo fabric I bought in Kanazawa last year, at Ai Life Studio, and then a piece of antique Japanese fabric bought a long time ago in Kyoto, at Gallery Kei.

It's winter!

We had at last a little snow, yesterday and today.

No sunshine unfortunately, and as it is already melting, I quickly went out for a walk and took a few pictures.

Btw, autumn in Japan was really beautiful!
It was the only season I had not seen there yet, and it could well be my favorite.
Here's a little mosaic...

And in other news, I am binding the piece I finished quilting in May...
Better late than never!

May

A little late, my mosaic for May...

Some very nice weather, lots of sketching, and a drawing marathon at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences in Brussels.
I started with the dinos, but as I always had a thing for monkeys, I got a bit carried away with the gorillas...
I definitely have to go back one day to sketch more dinosaures.

April

At last, a mosaic for April...
A little trip to the seaside, lots of sketching, a visit to Brussels (with very dark and very bright skies on the same day).
And I'm done with quilting the indigo-turquoise-orange quilt. Still need to finish the edges though.

March

A little snow... then some sunshine and even springtime temperatures for a couple of days...
Today, it is cold again and windy, and we even got a few snowflakes this morning...

I think I'm done with my series "Incertitude".
Here are numbers 2 to 6...

I'll take a better picture as soon as we get some sunshine.

As I still have got a lot of these printed faces, and I'm not yet completely tired of them, I'm going to try and work a little more with them.
But I definitely need a change in colour scheme, and I also want to use the indigo fabrics I dyed before the winter.
Here's how my design board looks at the moment...

February

The sun came out today. So maybe it is time to take the blog (and myself) out of hibernation.
I spent most of my free time this winter sketching, still having fun with the selfies and other exercises.
I'm also studying  Japanese again.

Last week, I finished another little quilt in the "Incertitude" series.
And this is how my design wall looks today...

The plan is to make a fifth quilt using the printed face on the right.

I had the next mosaic ready some time ago, but apparently, I forgot to post it...

... and the next picture too...

Brussels and Brugge

Last week, I was a tourist in my own country, thanks to a friend visiting from abroad...

One day in Brussels and the next one in Brugge...

We were so lucky with the weather...

And now, back to my design wall...

More pictures of the show

The weather was a bit better yesterday for the final day of the quilt show. Not sunny, but mostly dry...

The 2016 challenge of the European Quilt Association was also exhibited at the show. The theme was "Greetings from..."

Next are two pictures of my group's exhibit...

The quilts that are not mine are by Yvette Winand and Martine Chapuis.

It looks like it's now mushroom season in my garden. This morning, I spotted dozens of them in the grass. Here's a very colorful one...

September

I spent two days at the European Patchwork Meeting in Alsace. I really enjoyed the exhibits, but bought almost nothing, just two small books and some dyes, and I saw again a few copies of the first Twelve by Twelve book in a bookstore.

Back home, only two more hanging sleeves to sew...

The weather has been rather nice these last few days...

August

August is over. I spent again a lot of time drawing faces.

One little square quilt is finished. I'll call it "Incertitude 2".
Fabrics for the next one are ready on my design wall.

And next week, I'll start stitching down all these hanging sleeves.

July

It was a nice month. Not as warm as June, but this is fine with me.

My sewing machine is doing much better. I cleaned it, then put a new needle of course, and it seems much happier.
Maybe it was just a little tired, like me.
And I made a tiny quilt. It's about 8" by 8" (20cm by 20 cm). I'm adding the binding today.
I'll take a picture tomorrow when it's finished.