A cat's quilt

February is the shortest month of the year, but it always feels like it is lasting for ever and ever and ever...
I am in desperate need of a bit of sunlight, spring flowers, singing birds, etc...
When I look in magazines at pictures like these (from the spring edition of Marie Claire Idées) , I want bright colours in my house and in my garden.


I know I haven't finished a lot of my projects lately, I have a deadline for a job on the 4th of March, but I did it anyway: I started a little quilt for my cats. I've never made a doll-sized quilt before, and it was quite fun, I finished it in only 2 evenings (hand-stitched).
And tonight I want to start quilting it in front of a good movie!

I hope this cute boy will like his quilt.

Blue mittens

Somehow I managed to finish these mittens, although I really had no time for fun things like knitting lately. I made them for my husband, he wears them at his desk. This winter has been so cold and dark and long... Can you tell how much I long for spring?

A working girl

Find me on Polyvore
I discovered this fun site on Trudi's blog, and I made myself this outfit. I seem to spend all my time working at the computer these last weeks (I have a deadline for the end of this month) and making this set was a good intermezzo.

Poppies in winter

I received this lovely print last friday, it was a gift from Lily, all the way from sunny California. It gives my desk a feeling of summer. I have to look for a nice frame and hang it on my wall, to brighten my day. Thank you so much Lily!

Decorating

We have almost reached the final stage of our redecorations in the house. I wanted to go for a completely different colour on the walls, so instead of red, green it will be!



The cat approves with our choice.

My New Year's resolutions

A bit late, but here we go:
1. For every new thing that comes into my house, I want to give away, recycle or throw away 1 thing.
2. Read at least 1 book a week, and more non-fiction.
3. This is maybe the resolution that everybody makes: loose some weight and exercise more.
4. Try to use my cookbooks more, try new recipes.
5. Finish my embroidered quilt and my Christmas sampler.

Only 5 resolutions, this will be hard enough already.
For your own lists, check these: 101 things and 43 things.

Bye bye snow!

For the past two weeks, it has been very cold, with snow and ice. That was quite a long time ago over here and I really love the beauty of a white world. Since yesterday, the weather has changed, now it's gloomy and wet and I don't like it at all! Luckily, I took some pictures the past days.
Red boots:

And more red:

And a red house, where I would love to live:

These paws are so cute, the cats made these imprints on our frozen pond. They look like a scene out of Ice Age.

And here's a glimpse of our new terrace and windows. I have to wait till February to paint the walls in our new room.


And now it's time to start dreaming about spring!

A day out

Yesterday, I went to Ghent, the city where my son studies. I really like the medieval houses and churches, and very important: there are no cars allowed in the touristic centre.



We also paid a visit to the lace-shop of my husbands niece. I couldn't resist this apron and towel, embroidered with a cute chicken. In case you want to take a look there: the shop is on the Koornlei, and it's called "Home linen".

Sleeping cat

First of all, a happy 2009 to all of you! And lots of creative ideas!
I was a bit late finishing the last project for the "Pay it forward" game, but a few days before Christmas, I managed to send a little parcel to Lily of Japonisme. She has the most marvellous blog, a must-see for all art-lovers.

I made her a drawstring bag with a little cat embroidery. And a long time ago, I made some felt anemones. I sent these as well.

Christmas stress

This is the kind of Christmas I had in mind:



This is how my house looked about a week ago:


And this is how it looked yesterday night. Yes, we got a tree! And no, my walls aren't painted yet... the plaster needs to dry till February.

But that doesn't stop me from wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas sampler

This is a cross stitch sampler I started when I was pregnant of my son, about twenty years ago... I completely forgot about its existence. And now I really have the intention of finishing it.

Pay it forward

Remember this "Pay it forward" post? It's a little bit longer than a year ago, and I finally managed to send the second gift to Angelique in New Caledonia!
It's a crocheted dishcloth and an embroidered kitchentowel.
Now I have one more present to go.