Biiiiig neeeews!

Hey there!

I have, finally, a very nice and wonderful and joyous news to share with you all:

I have a site! all for me! all for my quilts and jewelry and projects and plans!

From now on, I expect you all to come pay me a visit there, in  my new little home:

http://quibi.ro/

I will keep telling you stories, and add tutorials when I can make them, and provide all information that I can.

See you there!

p.s. I'm counting on you to pay me a visit :))))

wow... summer is almost over!

And I've ignored you totally for some time. I apologize for that, but it so happens that I was busy living a hectic life :). I hope you can accept this apologies, and we can jump to the next step in the process: let me show you some recent work.

The innitial selection



The first arrangement of squares



Some embroidery in progress

The final product :)

 Detail

 Backing and binding (O, I loved so much the stripey fabric, the way it blended in with everything!!!)

p.s. there is a girlie verison somewhere out there, and as soon as I get my hands back on it I'll make nice photos and show it as well. That quilt was so quickly gone I evenn didn't remember to take photos untill the day after!!!

Soutache, jewelry...

... or just some lazy summer works.

This summer has been already the hottest summer so far, at least in my history, and even if we live all day long indoors, with airco's on on full blow, ther still is a funny pressure in the air, some sort of laziness syrup getting all arround.

One gets to accomplish very little things, just because nothing goes quick.

In this harsh times, I've managed to finish yet another baby quilt, one with boys this time, but about this and another girlie version in another post. When I'll get to take all the necessary pictures and edit and write the story.

Back on our today post, I'd like to present you some more soutache pendants. Not as many as I used to make, but very nice. At least, I liked them very much. Sigh. They both flew out the door the moment I introduced them to the world. And I even have orders for more! Enough small talk, let me show you the two beauties:

Well, do you agree with me?

"Martzischwaray" :))



A bit late, let me tell you the story of an old tradition in this East European part of the world: every 1st of March we celebrate the beginning of spring. This celebration is a remnant of old paganic traditions, but nevertheless is carried out to this day forward.

This celebration involves, usually, the giving, by the men, boys and children, of small tokens of luck, or charms, or maybe a small jewelry, all accompanied, with no exception, by the red/white string.

The legend of the red/white string goes like this (short version :)): a young boy loved a young girl. Girls father didn't approve. Boy take girl from home and they run away. Girl father sees and tries to stop the stealing of his daughter by shooting an arrow at the boy. The girl knows her father is a good archer, therefore she takes the arrow in her chest, protecting her loved one. Her blood falls on the first flowers of the spring, the snow-drops. To remember their love and her sacrifice, we always give the red/white string.

There are variations in the story, depending on the region, even the habit maybe completely reversed (women give to men), but the essence the same, all over the country, and even in some neighbouring regions of other countries.

I think is a cute tradition which reminds us that we should love each other, that we should care about our loved ones, protect them, care for them, and I also think is a good time to have some activities with the kids.

This year we took a quilling class, so we decided we will only give hand-home-made "martzischwaray" (this is the name of the things given on that day) made using this technique.

The fotos below show only my share of the bunch... I made a pile for hubby to give to all his feminine encounters over the day. At the end, he was a success and was back home happy that he passed through the day without worries :). I still have leftovers for next year, so no work to do :))).

The kids also gave to teachers and female family, and every little hand-made-by-them piece was very much appreciated and loved.

I leave you now in the company of some fotos, showing the result of 1-2 days of work (shall I say fun? :)))) )

New arrival on techniques pinboard: soutache

Now, my dear fellows, I show you something that I have not done before: behold, Soutache jewelry!

Oh, what does that mean? It means that some soutache cord (hence, the name of the thing) is taken and sewed all together, inserting here and there fragments of your imagination :).

No, not your imagination, but beads, stones, feathers, whatever your imagination (yes, this is it's place) brings up front.

What I like most about these things is that they grow on their own. They have this fascinating tendency to be alive from the begining ( I almost wrote their birth :))) ), as if they are whispering in your ear what they want to be when they will grow up.

I know some other poeple out there are capable of first designing their jewelry, for me every piece is a continous surprise, up to the moment when I look at it and it tells me: I'm ready!

I let you enjoy some pieces that were born this way.

painted agats

sun stone and glass beads

glass beads and pearls

glass beads and pearls

glass beads and crystals, kumihimo cord

Summer fair! Come one, come all!

This Saturday and Sunday, the very first summer fair to which I'm proudly participating!
Please join us for a nice cup of coffee on the museum's terrace, some intersting shopping and why not, some relaxing weekend moments!
You can even bring your best friend with you :)
See you there!

Turkish delights

Because I am such a nice person (mwahahahaaaa!) my dear husbands thinks I should be spoiled. Therefore, he's the master-of-all-kidnapping-and-going-to-all-exotic-long-lost-for-wonderful-places-I've-never-been-before (are you still with me?) :)))

So this year, for my birthday, I received a nice surprize trip to Istanbul, a short one, but so much cherished because of this. We spent hours and hours strolling along the shops in the Grand Bazar, we went to Agia Sofia, to the Blue Mosque, we had wonderfull turkish lunches and dinners and donner kebap's along the way, we had some sun and some rain, we had a nice small hotel with the spa juxt next to our room :D (I wonder how did he arrange that?!?) and so much more. Thank you, my sweet, sweet man!

Did I mention Grand Bazar? Yes, the old one, with nice narrow commercial streets, covered, where you could go in and be welcomed, and yelled at, and pushed, and pulled, and agressed by so many colors, by so much beauty, where every sales guy just sips a tea in front of his small shop and wait for nothing else that for you, the buyer. They take out everything they have, they literally strip the shelves for you, so you can decide upon the best option of color, quality whatever suits you best. And then, when you finally decide upon a product, the bargaining begeins. Oh the joy, oh, the play, oh the whole process is so jucy and suculent. They enjoy doing it, if you don't go into the little scheme they are so dissapointed. I've even seen them refuse the transaction, if you would refuse the bargaining.

In this 1001 nights Grand bazar I found a small shop which was selling handmade beads. But what gorgeous beads! metal, witn a touch of tuquise and red stones, in beautifull shapes and warm tones, they were impossible to leave. I bought some, and brought them back home, where I made some jewelry with them.

Shall I say they flew out the moment I made them public? Shall I say that I have none left for me? Shall I say that since then, hubby must bear the every day plea: "we shoud go back, I have, I must, I die to have more of those beads!" ?

Now, take a look for yourself and tell me if I'm wrong: aren't they the most beautifull beads ever?

In the end, a slide show with some sites we've seen in beautifull Istanbul. Enjoy!



Gifts must be packed, right?

Well, my dears, while making tons of presents for, let's say Christmas and other numerous occasions, it occurred to me, quite suddenly that gifts, in order to be given, need to be packed nicely, don't they?

Therefore, I started looking around in my studio, and guess what! I found the perfect recipe: nice organza squares, wrapped around one or more gifts, tied with a small bunch of bows, makes the most elegant and intriguing package ever. At least, I think so :-).

I'll let you now enjoy the site of nice packaged goods, one or more, in color coordinated organza. I must tell you that this packing was an enormous success, and people are asking for it more an more.

Am I right, or am I right? :)))

Easter eggs - pineapple technique tutorial

Hello my friends!
Spring is coming, and in close view is Easter. As usual, I'm doing something seasonal, and I've decided it will be nice to make a small tutorial about how to make these beautiful Easter decorations: Easter eggs in pineapple technique.
Let me tell you first a word or two about this happening: it's a derivation from the patchwork Christmas balls, and it uses ribbon instead of fabric squares.
All you need is some Styrofoam forms, in this case egg form, some ribbons about 3 cm width, a lot of pins and patience. Also, for decoration I use some artificial flowers, as you can see in photos further, and some other ribbons of smaller width.

So, let's start working!

First you take your egg and try to find a base for it (you work better if it's not rolling around every time you put it down) ;-) .

Then, I draw quarters on it, just as a guide for my work. Some folks out there (check you tube) recommend drawing eights, but I'm working just fine with quarters.

Then I cut all my ribbon pieces: for a 10 cm egg, between 80-92 pieces, 5 cm long, depending on how far apart I place the rows.

Then I cut anther smaller piece, in the most neutral tone of all the colors chosen for my egg.

Fix the smaller piece with one pin, as you see, a bit skew.

... the rest of the story is available on my website, http://quibi.ro/easter-egg-in-pinneaple-technique/
For the time being, it is only in Romanian language, but the photo's are quite self explanatory. Should the need arise (i.e. you as for it in a comment or something) I will make it in English too.

Have fun crafting!

Long time, no see, right?

Well, my friends, I admit I haven't been around lately. I mean, around this blog. Or the other one :). 

I've been active mainly on FB, cause it's soooooo easy to just shoot up some photo's with some bits of comment, and get immediate response...

It's so rewarding to get approval as quick as you post something, you might forget that the whole thing is not about bragging, but about keeping a record of what u're doing, thinking, dreaming....

It's been a while, but yet I'm back, and I'll give you a series of stories about what I've been cooking in my workshop and embroidering in my kitchen :)).

Some preview shots:

Stay tuned, I'll keep you posted!