Hortus Haren

"Hortus" means garden and Haren is the name of the town where we  visited this garden.  This part of the garden is called the the hidden Empire of Ming, it recalls the period of the Ming Dynasty ( 1368-1644) and includes rocks, bridges, pagodas, hundreds of red carp and flowering plants, all brought to the Netherlands from China.  We were simply amazed at the beauty of this place!

bikes in the Netherlands

So how do all those bikes work in traffic?  They have their own lanes...see the red roads...for bikes only...see they even have their own traffic signals...and the bike riders follow them!  Another train station....yep they rode their bikes to work!

Groningen

Our next stop was a town called Groningen.  Over half the population travels to school and work by bike according to the travel book......and I believe it!  Bikes everywhere......so I took one out from our hotel and rode with the locals.  It is  home to a university founded in 1614, which is on the right above.
On the left is the train station.

We stayed  for 5 nights so I got pretty comfortable riding around the town.
This garden is called Prinsenhof  it has a sundial from 1730 and is still laid out the same as it was in the 18th century.

Sadly, the huge museum in town was closed for renovations :0(
It stands on a island in the 19th century Verbindingskanaal ( canal)...the museum opened in 1994 and I wonder why it already needs renovations?

The flower market

Saturday at the flower market drew a great crowd......it was a wonder to behold and backs up to a canal

with a floating bike parking area.

views from the canals

Houseboats on the canals are the solution to a housing shortage.
These canals are closed a few nights each week  when the water is exchanged for clean water using a
complex system of locks.
The historic houses lining the canals were built in 17 and 18th century by wealthy merchants. but the city of Amsterdam dates back to 1275.  

Amsterdam train station

This is  three tiered parking for bikes at the train station and still it is not enough.
Getting into the station is a maze of bikes blocking nearly every walkway.  We arrived in the morning

after leaving the airport by train right into the heart of town.  Our hotel was an easy 5 minute walk from the station.......we just had to be careful not to get hit by a bike!

Next we got on a tour boat like in the picture and toured the canals through town.......here is a historic building that was once a warehouse now its a fancy apartment.
Amsterdam is unlike any other city I have ever seen!

Home again Home again jiggiety jog

I'm just home from a terrific trip to the Netherlands!

Final round

Oh goodness I am glad to be done with this challenge!  Now to get it quilted and given to Lily before 2010 is over..........maybe a Christmas gift to her :0)....   she'll be two in August.

Look a giveaway!

http://byhokiquilts.blogspot.com/2010/05/birthday-give-away.html#comment-form

Good Luck :0)

Making progress with paper piecing challenge

So I just added round 5 last night........the last two rounds have really taken a lot of time!
This is Carol Doak's round robin challenge  where I add a round to my quilt each month to Carol's specifications......  One more to go :0).

Elijah's quilt is done just in time!

Elijah was born on Wed.....a beautiful  8 pound baby boy!
And his quilt is already for a label and be mailed this week.  Oh happy day!
(this is the back and I quilted it myself :0)  )

Friday night sewing with Heidi :0)

http://handmadebyheidi.blogspot.com/
maybe I can get the binding finished on Elijah's quilt tonight :0)
Happy Sewing!

Donation for a good cause

http://bumblebeansbasics.com/ Victoria over at Bumblebeans has taken on a quilt donation program....

first I made some blocks and mailed them along.........now Victoria has enough blocks to make 50 quilts!
But of course there is always a need for more.  So my  sample quilt from years ago is being sent to keep someone warm and let them know that many people care about them.
Happy Sewing

Elijah's top done

Well, I got Elijah's top done with some freestyle letters spelling out his name ( thanks to Tonya).....I think its pretty cute.
Next problem, Debby Brown ( my A#1 longarm quilter) is outta town!  So I think I am going to have to quilt this on my home machine.  Oh dear... wish me luck......

Oh and look what I gave myself for Mother's Day.......yes that is $200.00 worth of thread.

Get a move on!

Elijah is on the way and his quilt is not done! ( My friends grandchild) Come on get a move on!
I have been spending more time at my computer than my sewing machine these days....time to get it done :0)

Happy Mother's Day

I hope everyone had a Happy Mother's Day.  My daughter and I walked over the Brooklyn Bridge!
It was a very cool windy day....we both have about 4 layers of clothes on trying to keep warm :0).
 

National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden

I just loved this sculpture........how many of us can remember using this style eraser?
"This sculpture presents a giant falling eraser that has just alighted, the bristles of the brush turned upward in a graceful, dynamic gesture."  (part of the written description) .

Happy Mother's Day :0)

Another Bonnie Hunter Pattern

Bonnie Hunter calls this pattern " Jarred takes a wife", but I may call it something else.  I started with a plaid shirt as inspiration and cut all the center squares with that fabric......the rest is all from scraps and stash.
The purple I used between the blocks was purchased on a shopping trip when I was pregnant with my daughter.......she'll be 30 in Jan. !  I wonder if I'll ever use all my stash up?

Debby is having a giveaway

http://higheredhands.blogspot.com/

Debby is giving away a copy of her book.
It's a great teaching yourself how to quilt tool.....by hand, home machine or longarm!


Happy sewing and good luck :0)

Another finish

Okay, so Jack turned 60 on the 4th of July 2009.......but he'll still get it while he's 60!

Another great giveaway

http://daisyquilts.blogspot.com/

these are giveaways of original patterns!  So clever!
Happy sewing and good luck.

Paper piecing challenge round three

I'm making this for my granddaughter Lily....first round has her name, then second round has two cats like she has at home and some hearts to show how much I love her.  Round three has the year making this quilt, a house with her house numbers, two pinwheels to play with, and a little girl with ginger hair ...just like her :0).
Next round will have lots of lilies......for my little Lily.

Book giveaway

http://quiltingprofessor.blogspot.com/2010/04/book-giveaway.html

Oh don't you love a chance to win a book?
Click on over and enter to win!
Good Luck and Happy sewing

Another QOV

Here is another completed QOV ( quilts of valor...made for wounded soldiers)  for donation made with matching presentation case.
Debby Brown and I have made about 8 of these together.  A small thanks to those that serve and suffer for our freedom.

Blocks for Bumblebeans

http://bumblebeans.blogspot.com/p/block-gather.html
Victoria is making quilts from house blocks........here are 4 blocks I made to send along.
If you can help.... go to her site and find the particulars on this donation effort.

Happy sewing

Spring!

Its 38 degrees and the wind is howling, the rain pouring down as hard as I can remember but the snow is gone!  The bulbs are pushing up, the forsythia is blooming and the trees getting ready to leaf out....this is Spring in Pokeytown :0).  I'm just back from 6 days away at the AQS Lancaster quilt show....where I spent way too much money.  I got to work on my wool crazy block too.

Amish influence

                

I think this will be fun quilted by hand with black thread.
I hope everyone is enjoy the first days of Spring by being outside, I am and my yard is getting a good clean up!  Happy Sewing :0)

Friday night sewing with Heidi :0)

Jammies on.....machine running.......making progress.......pictures tomorrow :0)

I finished this top today.  It is from the group challenge by Lazy Gal quilting Tonya :0).
http://lazygallibamish2010.blogspot.com/
It got bigger than I planned so I think I will have Debby Brown quilt it with her trusty longarm
and I'll make a smaller something Amish and hand quilt it.

Another great giveaway

http://cvquiltworks.blogspot.com/
Okay I love the selvedges craze don't you?
Here is chance to win a book about it!

I have been doing some sewing but mostly yard clean up.
After several storms with down tree limbs and branches everywhere its been taking a while to get
it all picked up.

Happy sewing

Banaghaisge: Blogaversary Give-away

Banaghaisge: Blogaversary Give-away

Wow its a blogaversary give away!

wool crazy

                               Okay, I have discovered I just love working with wool........be careful or this bug might bite you!

Pony for Lily

                                I'm going to visit my granddaughter so I just had to make her a new stuffed toy :0)

               the snow is melting .......this is a week after our snowstorm.  I am so ready for Spring!