Another year is coming to an end

Well Christmas is over and as always I feel a bit of an anti climax. I look forward to the festivities and put a lot of work into preparing everything and then it's over in second, or so it feels. This year it has been even worst as we only came back on the 22nd of December from a week in India - where we were invited to the wedding of one of my son's friends.

Here are some impressions from the wedding, which was a three days affair with 2'000 invited guests.

We had a few days before the wedding to explore Mumbai on our own. We really enjoyed being back in Asia.

Somehow I had problems getting my Christmas spirit back after the week away and in a totally different culture. Luckily I had almost everything organised before we left, even the tree was up and decorated and most of the shopping was done and the gifts wrapped and under the tree.

We had a lovely Christmas eve and Christmas day with the extended family and friends. Since then the house guest has left I've been pottering around at home, enjoying having the kids here, not doing much at all.

At this time of the year I usually write a post about what I've achieved during the past year. This year there isn't really much to write about, so I just leave it at that and hope, that next year I'll have lots to share again.

As you might remember, I'm not one for making New Year's resolution. But I have decided on a couple of goals for next year and they are:

1. be a better blogger!!
2. finish some UFOs, in particular The Aunt's Quilt
3. make a big effort to find a quilt group as I found that I really need the inspiration of other quilters to keep me going.

That's it for today. I want to wish everybody a Happy, Healthy, Interesting and Wonderful New Year.
Vreni xx

Missing in action!

My poor blog has been totally neglected these past few month. To say that this is a year of emotional ups and downs is definitely an understatement. Just when I started to find my feet again - after moving back to Switzerland after almost 30 years abroad -  mum passed away in August. As you might remember, she was suffering from dementia and we were aware that she had gone downhill quite a bit in the last couple of month. But it was still unexpected and a shock when the nursing staff rang to tell us that they think she's nearing the end, just when we were away for a few days in Denmark. I'm sad but also relieved that she's at peace now.

Mum was born on a farm and I think she stayed a farm girl at heart all her life. She was happiest with her hands in the soil tending her veggie garden (which she kept well into her eighties) or up a tree picking cherries. Mum had a quiet but steadfast faith which carried her through life's challenges and tribulation. She had a happy nature and she never took herself too seriously. It was sad to see her personality diminished by her dementia although once in a while her feisty nature would still come through. I'm so grateful that she still recognised us and  I'm even more grateful that we came back when we did so we could spend a bit more time with her.

At the end of August we spent a few days in Milan, Italy when we drove our daughter there to start her new job. After our return it was time for my husband to go "under the knife" as he needed a knee replacement! A combination of injuries in his younger days when he played basketball, a recently broken knee cap which didn't heal properly and probably dodgy genes made it necessary. He's now well on the way to recovery which means that I no longer have to do a all the fetching and carrying. He can even drive himself to his therapy sessions every other day.

And a milestone birthday has come and gone! According to my kids, I'm over the hill now, but let's just say that if I were a chicken, it wouldn't be Springtime anymore ;)! As I could not think of anything I wanted for my birthday I went a little crazy on the Internet and ordered myself a "bit of fabric" and a few book. I think it's safe to say that the fabric diet is well and truly over.

My son ordered me this lovely batiks bundle from a quilt shop in Switzerland (I had no idea)

and my daughter got me these wonderful Terra Australis by Emma  Jean Jansen (she asked what I wanted and I steered her in the right direction)

These lovely books I order with an Amazon gift card I got from my gorgeous friend Kate in Singapore

and this stunning Kaffe Fasset tin, filled with lovely toiletries as well as this little quilt kit arrived from another Singapore friend, who has in the meantime also relocated, back to Scotland.

Thanks Kate and Martina, I miss you both lots especially our quilting Fridays. I've been properly spoiled and I hope with all these goodies to play with my sewing mojo will at long last make a reappearance!

We've been enjoying an exceptional beautiful and warm Autumn this year. Fall is the season I always missed most in the tropics. This is the view from our balcony again.

And a few more Autumn impressions. 

With Christmas looming on the horizon, I've started with some preparations and baking. I've tried a new cookie recipe this year which I found on Pinterest and I can warmly recommend it. I have to make another batch as the first one has disappeared already. You'll find the recipe for these delicious Cranberry Pistachio Shortbreads here.

So there you have it, my last three month in a nut shell. 

Vreni xx

Sight seeing in Switzerland

August already? How did that happen? Both our kids are spending some time with us here in Switzerland over the summer. As it happened, they are both moving from Asia to Europe this year too. My daughter finished the school year in Beijing and will start her new job in Milan, Italy next week. My son quit his job in Singapore as well and is now looking at two job opportunities; one in London and one in Zurich. Guess which one I want him to take ;)? On the other hand London would be a cool place for a young person to live and work and for us to visit. In any case, it's lovely to have the whole family on the same continent again.

Since the weather has been beautiful and it's been quite hot (too hot for my taste) we took the opportunity to go on a few day trips.

This is Gruyere, a small medieval village with its historical castle dating back to the 13th century.

View from the castle over the manicured garden

It was blessedly cool in the castle with its thick walls. 

As you might have guessed, Gruyere is also where the famous Gruyere cheese is made and although it was hot, we had to have an authentic Gruyere cheese fondue.

On another day we went up to Kandersteg from where we took a cable car up to Oeschinensee and a leisurely hike brought us to this wonderful little mountain lake. The fresh air up there was just heaven.

On the way back, we stopped at the Blausee (meaning blue lake) and it's easy to see why it's called that

and the obligatory selfie ;)! 

We also spent a lovely day in our cute capital city Bern. It was another scorcher of a day and lots of swimmers came down the Aare River. Unfortunately I didn't catch any on my camera. 

a cold drink under a sun umbrella in front of the Parliament Building. 

It was indeed a gorgeous day, but I still think Bern is the most beautiful in winter covered in snow. Oh boy, I can't wait!

Source

And surprise, surprise, I even did a bit of sewing. 

Block 3, 4 and 5 for the Aunts' Quilt are now finally completed. Just one more of the big blocks to finish and then I can get going with the side triangles. I know I'm hopelessly behind the "official schedule" but I'll get there as I'm still enjoying this project a lot. 

I've been very lucky as I've won a give away by Rita of Red Pepper Quilts fame, sponsored by the Fat Quarter Shop. These lovely boxes of Aurifloss arrived on my doorsteps

and a look inside - can't wait to try them out. 

That's it for today. I hope you have survived the heat or the cold, depending on where you are.

Vreni x

....and I'm back

After being in Switzerland for almost three month now, we are starting to find our feet again. It was rather strange at the beginning and somehow I couldn't quite believe that we were here to stay. We unpacked two containers and most boxes are empty, although not everything has found its place yet. It was truly a mammoth job!  At the moment I'm in the process of "fine tuning"  my sewing room and once again I'm overwhelmed with all the fabrics I have collected over the years. I have almost sleepless nights wondering what to do with my stash, especially those fabrics I've fallen "out of love" with. Luckily I just heard that a group at church get together to make quilts for charity and I have now sorted out two big basket to give to them. I'm so happy to have made room in my cupboards but also in my head, if you know what I mean.

I miss Singapore and ''my old life" but what I miss most are my friends and my quilting groups.  Of course we miss our lovely view from our old home too, although our new view isn't to be sniffed at either, especially on a beautiful Spring day like this: 

So many things to readjust to. After many years of having helpers in the house I struggle to keep on top of my chores. I don't mind cooking, but cleaning floors and bathroom, not to mention ironing!! Blimey, how do people do it??  I find it a real challenge, so getting a cleaning lady was of the highest priority. Otherwise how would I ever find time to quilt???

Talking about quilting, I have hardly touched any sewing since we arrived as frankly, I neither had the time nor was I in the mood for it.  But I jumped  at the chance to do a two day workshop with Sue Spargo a few weeks ago. The class had been booked out a year in advance but somehow there was suddenly a space available. 

We learned how to appliqué with wool and how to embellish with different embroidery stitches and I really enjoyed Sue's class but also the company of local quilters. This is the sewing kit we worked on; the finished one is Sue's and on the right is the beginning of mine.

 And some close ups of my first embroidery attempts:

 Now I just have to remember all the different stitches so I can finish it. In any case, I bought Sue's great little book "Creative Stitching" with lots of diagrams and photos of 50 different stitches.

Of course I also had to buy a few pieces of wool and some wool thread so I can practice some more. Aren't these colours just glowing? The wool fabrics are hand dyed by Sue and her family. 

I'll be back soon with hopefully some news of actual sewing.

Enjoy the rest of this week.

Vreni xx

SMS Giveaway Day

As I'm still not quite finished unpacking and organising our new home, I'll make this short and sweet.

I have a small box of fabrics to give away. 

If you are interested, please leave a comment and if you are a follower (old and new) you get to leave a second one. The draw will take place on Monday, 11th of May. The winner will be announced by edit to this blog post and also by email, so make sure I have your contact details.

Click on the button below to see lots more fabulous giveaways.

I'll be back soon, I promise. In the meantime, good luck everyone.Cheers

Vreni x

This give away is now closed


The winner of the box of fabrics is comment number 83
which is by Sherry in Washington State, USA

Congratulations Sherry, I will contact you by email for your address.
Thanks everybody for playing along.

Big changes are afoot!

After living aboard for almost 30 years we have decided that the time has come to move back to Switzerland. I can't say that it was an easy decision, but with both our mothers old and my mum very frail, we feel it's where we should be. I'm vacillating between being exited and having panic attacks.   It certainly will be a challenge as I have lived more of less half of my life away from Switzerland, first in Australia and then in various Asian countries. I was a young woman of 30 with a baby in tow when we left "home" and this year I'm going to be..... well, I'll let you do the math. I'm not quite ready yet to write that number ;)! I feel like I have to reinvent myself as being an "expat" has somewhat become my identity and belonging nowhere and anywhere has given me a strange sense of freedom.

But we can't leave Asia "cold turkey".  We are trying to buy a little holiday house in Bali (or villa as they grandly call it) but like everything else in Indonesia there are a few hoops which need to be jumped through first.  But I'm sure we'll succeed  in the and and no doubt it will provide a welcome escape during the long and often dreary winters in Switzerland and I hope it will be a place where we can welcome family and friends.

Of course I'm going to miss my friends, especially my quilting buddies and we will certainly miss living the "easy" life in Singapore. And I've been trying to soak up this wonderful view we've been enjoying for the last five years.

I've been preparing some appliqué work as I won't have my sewing machine for a while.

The second corner on my Auntie Green

and a couple more blocks for My Aunt's Quilt 

 And this is the finished second block. 

All the corner and side blocks are prepared too and I'm taking a stash of fabric with me in my suit case to carry on when I have time. 

Tomorrow bright and early the moving company will be here to start packing up our belongings. I still have to prepare my suitcase for the next six weeks or so as that's how long it will take for the container to reach Switzerland. In the meantime we will be staying in my mum's house, which we will start to clear and prepare for sale. As you can imagine, it will be a busy time.

Vreni xx

My quilts are back!

Last week I picked up my quilts I had sent to the Philippines (through a local quilt shop)  to be hand quilted.  

Both quilts are heavily quilted and I'm pleased how they turned out. I would never have the patience not the stamina for something like this. Because both quilts were hand or English paper pieced I felt they deserved to be hand quilted. 

I'm happy to have two tops done but there are still about eight more waiting in line! Oh well, a quilters work is never done!
Cheers
Vreni xx

The Aunt's Quilt update

I'm quite behind with my appliqué blocks; to tell you the truth, I've only completed the first block. But I have decided to make all the pieced blocks in one go and here they are.

I have also made blocks for a charity quilt the "Shanghai quilters alumni" are putting together. We were all members of the Shanghai quilt group at one time or another.  Some lovely ladies in the US will collect all the blocks and put them together and another lovely lady with a longarm machine is going to quilt it.

I hope you are having a lovely weekend.

Cheers

Vreni xx