Living on your own..

...also means you actually have to do all the DIY chores yourself :-P But with a few calls to our dads we managed to fix some last things in our new home. And as a finishing touch, the mailman brought us a package today and we've got internet!! Hurrah! So I am totally back in blogland.
And as we have to get used to some aspects of living on your own, we also have to get used to living together. I moved in with my bf 3 monthes ago in his old apartment/room but not much changed then exceptwe put in one extra cupboard. Now we had to set up and decorate this home together which is sometimes a bit of a challenge. But Ill let him have his ugly but very comfortable office chair if I can have my bright red cheerful one... :D The other thing is that this house feels so big sometimes, and it really isnt.. But our studentrooms were a little over 10 m2 and bf's previous one room apartment was a little over 30 m2 so we have been used to be around each other all the time and now we have 5 rooms to be in! So when Im making diner in the kitchen I just start talking assuming bf can hear me but instead of a proper response he walks in the kitchen 10 minutes later asking me if it was me who said something or if it was some noise from outside, lol.

Having the space to do some stitching and quilting is great by the way.. and since I made a list of all my UFO's I have been quilting a lot. I finished my Leiden quilt and almost finished my 'Quiltslag'. The last one is a small 'whole cloth' to practice quilting for the first time but I did not have the patience to finish that one and started quilting my sampler and left this one in a box for over 2 years. It is almost finished now but I can't quilt the border because I have no quiltpatterns here, or the tools to make one myself. Then there is my second archaeology quilt, MDHP-12, which is almost done too. I hope I can put them on the finished projects list next week or so!

Not quilting, but crafting

Today I have been busy in my quiltroom but not with fabric or thread. Here is a picture of the quiltroom (finally) when my mum and I were quilting in it. The other picture shows you what I have been doing today. I do not know the english word for this thing but we call it an 'etagère'. I saw this at a friends house and I really liked the idea of making one which plates and cups etc. So I went out to buy some nice and cheap plates, cups and bowls to make my own.. because there was a lot on sale and I got carried away I ended up with a whole bag full of tableware and made three. Two black and red and one red, white and blue which I'll give to my mum. Then my sister, who loves to make muffins and cupcakes, has a nice display for all her bakings. The other two I am going to use next weekend when we are having a housewarmingparty. I just hope I have used the right glue and they won't fall apart... haha

I have been busy quilting though.. I made a list of all my current UFO's and all my finished projects. Not a very good result, but I have finished two projects so far and a third one is almost done. I will tell you more about this when I have been properly connected to the internet, hopefully next week, and uploading a picture doesn't take hours :P

Quick post

I have got access to the internet again! :D But until we are properly connected to the internet we have a usbstick that provides wireless access. This stick however is limited in use and only goes up to 500 MB (whatever that means). I think that must be enough to show you my new quiltroom!!

I haven’t quilted anything yet in it but it’s there waiting for me.. and now my mum and Corrine can finally come to my house and go quilt and patchwork here. We made jokes about that happening since I have moved to Leiden because I lived in a 10 m2 room but now it has to happen :) The downside is that if I am going to organise a quilt get-together my boyfriend thinks he has the right to invite his friends in my quiltroom too and play computergames all day, hahaha. Luckily I have a big loveseat which is very good for watching tv and quilting at the same time. When I have full access to the internet I’ll show you what Im working on at the moment.

Edit: I can't upload any pictures at all.. if it is the slow connection or blogger I don't know but you'll have to wait to see them!!

A weddingday, movingday and a birthday!

My sister-in-law's weddingday was last friday. It was a wonderful day, the wheater was perfect, everybody looked great and every little detail was perfect. My boyfriend was going to give a speech during the dinner and I have never seen him so nervous! He did great of course and made the whole weddingparty cry :)
The next day we went to our new home where my parents were already wallpapering etc (again) and they had a surprise for us! They had bought the glass cabinet we wanted to put our archaeological stuff (some pottery, sherds, flint etc) in and a worktable for under the window in our quilt/computerroom. :D
We did a lot of work this weekend and we have to paint one wall and then it is finished to this saturday is movingday! Some friend and family are coming to help us move and I cant wait! This also means internetacces again so I can blog all the time!!

Today I wanted to buy bf a birthdaypresent because it is his birthday monday. I had a poster in mind of amsterdam that would look great in our new home but then he told me he didnt like it. So I made a plan B, buy an old map of the city. He already has some old maps but few are actually framed. I just stopped by the shop I saw a really nice one and they are closed till july! Now I have to go and find something else....

a new home!

Yes, we are moving to a bigger and better apartment! I was a bit nervous about it before we signed the lease but now I am very excited. But you have to think about so much now we are moving to an actual apartment. For the first time ever we have to contact a powercompany and a water distribution company and all that. I was just looking online for the prices and different contracts and I just don't know where to start.
This new home did not come at the best time because with everything we have to arrange for the new apartment bf had to arrange the bachelor party for his best friend (who is marrying bf's sister) and I was invited for the bachelorparty of this sister. This weekend we have a wedding party next weekend a 'real' wedding and the weekend after that it is bf's birthday. My boyfriend is the best man at the wedding and also working his ass off on a project that was supposed to take 10 days but is now prolonged and he was already a bit stressed out about all this and now there is a new house to think about on top of it!
Luckily I have the nicest parents, my mum came over wednesday when we got the keys to the apartment to check it out and make pictures of the floor and electricity and drainage pipes for my dad and they are coming tomorrow and staying in our new house for the weekend to hang some of the walls with new wallpaper and paint everything while we are at a wedding party... :) Yesterday we bought wallpaper and paint, white and a blue/turquoise color for the kitchen and bedroom that is called 'sea' (there was another turquoisecolor which was called 'satisfaction' but unfortunatly it was twice as expensive, I would have rather had satisfaction on my walls than sea, wouldn't you?).
The positive side of the fact that my boyfriend is stressed out and is leaving me sort of in charge of the new apartment is that I can create a quiltroom if I want to... haha... and maybe a little corner somewhere for his computer and guitars. As soon as things are a bit more relaxed I'll show you some pictures of our new home and my quiltroom ;-)

Diamonds are a girls best friend...

It was my birthday last saturday and my boyfriend gave me a diamond ring! OMG! He had planned a visit into town and had a clear idea of what it had to look like and he bought me the ring (or rings actually) in the picture. They look even better on my finger :-P. My birthday already had a good start on fridayevening when the whole bar started to sing 'Happy Birthday' when it was 12 o'clock and the following morning my parents came over and had prepared a breakfast. My bf and I spent the rest of the weekend on Texel, a island in the Wadden sea. I will post some pictures tomorrow but I had to show you my bling bling!! :-D

Note: Lotte has no internetacces at her home, and she asked me to edit this post. According to emails/comments she got, you're getting the wrong idea about her birthday present! Although it might be dissapointing to some (and a relief to others..): she's not engaged to be married. Her BF just wanted to give her some nice jewelry for her birthday and that's all :)

Annemiek (the girls mum)

Pictures!

Pictures! I quickly made these photo's before going to school today.. This is the cowpattern I needed the inch ruler for. I had cut everything and started putting the cows together yesterdayevening and I need a bigger worktable! Because it was advised to cut everything beforehand and pile all the pieces up to keep you from mixing up different 'cowfabrics' my whole worktable was covered with pieces of cow. I had to put the iron on the sideboard and it became a sort of organised chaos. Luckily my bf wasn't home, haha. He is working at the other end of the country this week and staying in a hotel there, but he called yesterday to tell me he is coming home today instead of friday! :-D

I also have a picture of the aboriginal fabrics I bought this weekend. Top left are the fabrics I bought, and below left are the original fabrics I got from my bf and his parents from Australia. Below on the right are fabrics which are inspired by the original fabrics and top right are just nice fabrics that go well with everything else. The fabrics I bought have very different colors than I already had which is good because I was afraid it was going to be a very red/pink and lightbrown/orange quilt. I still haven't made a decision about the design of the quilt and I think it is best to leave this project in the cupboard for a while because I have just started this cow-wallhanging!