A Wedding!

Friends and family have been told and invitations sent so it´s time to fill you all in. Erich and I are getting married on the 5th of April here in a simple evening ceremony followed by dinner and dancing. I´ll be decorating the entrance, courtyard and dining room at the castle myself with lots of flowers, candles, fabric hearts and my glass bottle collection- all pictured above. I have also made a lot of these paper balls to hang from lights and ceilings and I´ll be making signs similar to these and these little paper baskets filled with chocolates with name tags attatched for the 20 guests. I´ll be wearing a green crushed silk skirt and jacket with a fine knit vintage top underneath (in the middle above). I can´t wait!!!

It´s Here!

In my mail box this week...the wonderful book Vintage Crochet. I bought this book mainly for the Chevron Blanket pattern ( better known as ripple afghan) but after looking through the book I see so many things that I´d like to make. I´m so grateful that I learned to crochet from my mother and in home economics at school. Although I lost touch with this hobby for many years because it seemed too fancy and frilly, I´ve come to love it again and I can´t wait to get started on the projects in the book. A while ago I made a small rug with all my left-over wools and garns and I look forward to buying some new cotton yarns in interesting colours. What will I make first...maybe the "Ava Wrap, or the "Joni Flower Tunic", or the "Picot Star Tablecloth"???...well, I still have some time to think about it while I finish hand stitching my quilt.

Quilting...

I really want to crochet a ripple afghan like this one BUT I have promised myself to finish the patchwork quilt I started sometime in 2007 first. So I took the quilt top out from it´s hiding place, pieced together some batting (wool fleece I had in my fabric cupboard) and cut up some old bed-linen to use as backing. I read Amy Karol´s instructions again from the book The Crafter´s Companion , which is still one of my all time favourite books. I sandwiched together the finished top, batting and back, pinned it all together starting from the center - this took ages as the quilt is 150cm x 210cm (that´s 60inches x 85inches). There is no way I could get all this fabric under my sewing machine so I am hand quilting it. This article Amanda linked to came at just the right time - hand sewing makes you slow down and take time to think while stitching. I am sure that slowing down is essential when trying to live by my motto for 2008.

Giveaway!

One World, One Heart is a blog-wide giveaway event. The original idea behind this was to bring bloggers together from around the world who may never ordinarily meet. It closes the gap of the blog community and enables us to interact, discover new and wonderful people, and in the process possibly win a prize or many prizes along the way. You can find more information here plus a list of giveaway participants. To be in the draw to win the above book tote, money purse or mini-quilt just leave a comment on this post between now and the 14th of Feb. GOOD LUCK!!!

It´s the 14th of Febuary...Happy Valentines Day!!! Comments are closed on this post now and I´m off to draw the winners so check back later today.

I used the random number generator to choose the winners and

here they are..... book tote : Diana from Adventuring Through Life

mini quilt : Ninnie from Ninnie´s Place

money purse : Farm Chick from Fresh From The Farm

Congratulations to all three! I´ll be in touch tommorrow for your postal details.

Day 7: Saturday

Horse radish spread, ham and capsicum on toasted white bread, lárge latté.
8.30am.
Thanks for sharing my breakfasts, it´s been fun.

Day 6: Friday

Gorgonzola cheese and butter on wholewheat bread-roll, large coffee with milk and honey.
8.30am.