"The Craft Group" plus...

People who know me know I am a lover of Blue and White. I try not to be! But I am always drawn to the calming effects of a good blue. Maybe it's my Dutch background.  Or maybe I stress too much and need calming colours! Maybe I associate blue with Summer which I also love. I have dabbled in the past with tie dying. But over these holidays I have been having a bit of fun with Shibori dying with Indigo dye and I am in LOVE.  Here are 4 cushion covers I dyed. For the people coming along this year to The Craft Group, we will have a little play with some of the techniques. For our cyber followers, I will add some of my favourite techniques here for you to be inspired by! More info to follow :)  Happy New Year everyone!

Wishing you a very happy Christmas  and a terrific, crafty and blessed new year! From me and my friends at The Craft Group! This nativity scene has a story. It has 2 stories actually. The first story is the real story it depicts. That one of God becoming man. The story of Jesus being born in a humble stable to live a perfect life only to be killed by those who hated Him. But His death was a payment for the things we do wrong and He came alive again to show that He is strong enough to do anything. He is God so if He can overcome death, He can surely forgive our sins and make us right with God. We just need to accept Him. Now THAT is a gift! The second story is about the making of this nativity scene. At The Craft Group we have a "Swap Shop" where people donate things from their craft cupboard at home that they know they will never make. Any optimistic crafter from the group can take items for free if it they think they will make it. I took a felt nativity sc...

When a friend of mine makes a quilt for one of her grandchildren, she takes them along to pick out the fabrics they would like. Even if she is not keen on their choices, she works with it and the results are gorgeous and personal. Today at The Craft Group, Bev I had a knitted rug for "Show and Tell". Her 6 year old grandson was quite specific about what he wanted... It had to have some white patches in it. And because he sometimes gets hot feet, it has to have openings for his feet! How crazy cute is that! A Grandchild creating something innovative together with his grandma. I love it!

Ida is inspiring us with the table runners she made. Christmas is just over 5 weeks away! A good time to start making some decorations that are good enough to keep for years.

In the past... I have been to Europe. I have been to Canada. I have seen some of Australia. But... I have never really had the desire to go to any Asian destination for more than a stop over. Then, our daughter decided she wanted to live and teach in Southern Asia. So... after 9 months of her moving there, my husband and I went for 3 weeks to visit her in the Himalayas. What a fascinating experience! We are back. She is still there.   I am very thankful for modern forms of communication. There are so many stories to tell but seeing as you are all my craft friends, I will share some crafty photos... There was folk art on every single building. A newly built apartment block was being built near our daughters place. We loved watching the men perched on the bamboo scaffolding painting all the amazing designs for weeks on end.  We went to a paper making factory.  We watched women weaving scarves. We saw hand woven yak w...

Ida made this quilt for her son and daughter-in-law. I loooove blue and white. It makes me feel calm. The quilting was done by her friend who was practising on a big quilting machine.  I really love the binding which has a little extra layer/flange. It's the sort of thing that would really stand out (in a bad way) if it was crooked but it has been done just beautifully. Ida shared her secret... Susies magic quilt binding Thanks Ida. We hope your son loves the quilt and can see the love that has gone into it.

Nadia is at it again. Crocheted characters are her specialty and now she is going online to sell them. You can see her facebook page HERE . We found these at The Craft Group and we didn't even need a mobile phone to see them! ;)