ALYOF End of month post

This was a hectic month! Really! I have no idea how the end came up on me so fast!

My goal for this month was to finish the Mini Quilt for my Rainbow Mini Team Yellow partner. You might even remember my complaining about her absence of communication.

Well, the mini is finished and I love it! But I am holding on to it until I hear from my swap mamma that my partner is on board. Because she is still MIA.

Quilted and binded with my beloved Aurifil.

And ready to be loved! 

Thank you Melissa for hosting this!

Liking up to SewBitterSweetDesigns

Grow your blog winner

Thank you to all who entered my Grow your Blog post!

There were 14 lovely comments!

And the winner is

Janice Petty! From Cape Coral, FL!

I'm off to emailing you! By the way, I love your dolls!

See you around!

M

Febrero, decisiones. Decisiones :: February, decisions. Decisions

Ya comienza el segundo mes del año. El tiempo vuela. Es el mes de San Valentín, el mes de mi cumpleaños. Que cuántos cumplo? Es clarísimo! Uno menos que el año pasado! 

The second month of the year is about to start! Time flies! It's Sain Valentines month, and also my birthday. How old you ask? Well, of course! A year younger!

Vamos al grano. Este mes quiero tener acabado el Mini Quilt que estoy preparando para mi compañera del Rainbow Mini Swap, organizado por Terri en IG. Mi compañera raramente participa en IG asi que dudo mucho que lea este post. ¡Cómo me gustaría que participara activamente en el hash del grupo! Por cierto, estoy en el grupo Arco Iris Amarillo.

Let's get to the point. My objective this month is to finish my Rainbow Mini Quilt. It's for Rainbowminiswap, organised by Terri on IG. My partner hardly ever participates in the hash posts so I doubt she will ever read this. If only she were more communicative! By the way, I'm in #rainbowteamyellow.

Hace unas semanas en SewMamaSew se publicó un post sobre un bloque precioso. Se llama Icicle Block. 

A couple of weeks ago, at SewMamaSew they published a post about a gorgeous block. It was called Icicle Block.

Y es el que decidí hacerle a mi compañera, aunque sin su ayuda, porque no comentó en la foto donde le preguntaba si le gustaba. Dejé que pasaran unas semanas para ver si me decía algo, en vano. Hace unos días saqué mis lápices de colores y me puse a pintar el patrón. A mi me encanta! A ella, no lo sé. Tampoco comentó nada.

And it's the one I decided to make for my partner, no thanks to her input if I may say so. I let some weeks pass by in the hopes she would turn up and say something. She did not. So I took out my colored pencils and decided to start planning. I love how it turned out! Her? I have no idea. She did not comment on it either.

Este tema me frustra mucho, no quiero ser negativa ni quejosa. Pero cuando uno se apunta a un Intercambio, debe ser participativo! Sí o sí. Hay que comentar en TODAS las fotos. Es la única manera en la que esto funciona. Cuando esto no ocurre, yo siento que a mi compañera le importa un pepino lo que hacen los demás y, por ende, tampoco ella da importancia a lo que hace. Y me pongo mal. Porque doy el 100 por 100 en los intercambios.

This is very frustrating for me. I don't want to be negative or whiny. But when you sign up for a swap, you must be active in the group. There's no other choice. You must comment on all the photos. It's the only way it works. When you don't participate I feel that you don't care about what's going on and therefore you don't care about what you're making either. And it hurts my feelings, because I give 100 per cent.

Aquí esta la foto de mi plan. Lo tendré acabado para finales de mes? Eso espero!

This is the photo of my plan. Will I finish it by the end of the month? I hope so!

Linking up to Melissa at Sewbittersweetdesigns 

ALYOF End of month Post

January is almost gone! What?! 

So it was Myra's Queen Month in our Birthday Bandy Group and I decided I would make a Wall Hanger Organizer from Patchwork Please!

I chose to make it in Myra's favorite colors and I am pretty happy with it! I do hope she will love it and use it a lot!

I purchased the Ebook at the beginning of January and I am sad to say the Customer Service at Interweave has not been helpful at all. It is impossible to download the templates from a mobile device. Call it Iphone or Ipad. Considering I bought it because I read on the move, and I print on the move, I found this situation pretty frustrating. I contacted several people and have only gotten One Reply. And that was, to log on a desktop and print from there. So, whah's the point in having this ebook on my Kindle? No answer to that I'm afraid.

Anyway, back to more pleasent matters. My goal for this month was number 96 in the Goal Setting Post here

 Liking up to Melissa at Sewbittersweetdesigns

Grow your Blog!

Welcome to my corner of the world!

My name is Mariana and this is where I share my shenanigans! I hope you will find something inspiring or amusing as you browse my posts. 

I am also a Slow Blogger, so I won''t blog your Bloglovin a lot either!

I love to swap and you can find me regularly on IG. Much more regularly than on this blog!

Originally from Argentina, I lived in South Carolina for five years and then I moved to Valencia, Spain, where we live with our two kids.

I have not made anything special for today as my giveaway, but I do want to host one so, here we go!

I am going to make an Open Wide Zipper Pouch in the color of choice of the winner! Or the fabrics, if I have them!

Here's a photo of me at the beach two weeks ago. It's not very cold here in winter.

To enter the giveaway please tell me what your favorite colors are and/or if you have a favorite designer or collection you would like your Zippy made of.

Thanks for stopping by! See you around!

The party starts here!

Mini Quilt Swap:: El primero del año

Este block me encantó para probar. Se llama Migration block. Hay un tutorial gratuito que podés encontrar aquí.

This was a perfect To Try Block. It's called Migration Block and there's a free tutorial that you can find here.

La consigna era bien clara, Blanco, Negro y el color que eligiera tu compañera. La mía eligió Rojo. Y me puse manos a la obra. Es la primera vez que hago algo con unas reglas tan fijas y debo confesar que, si bien al principio tuve mis dudas, cuando vi el Mini Quilt acabado me costó despedirme de él. 

The rule was very clear. Black, White and a Pop colour chose by my partner. She chose Red. And I dove right into making it. It's the first time I work with such specific parameters and I must confess, that even if at the beginning I had my doubts about it, in the end it was hard to let it go.

Lo acolché con hilo de brodar de tres filamentos, a mano. Y el bies también esta cosido a mano.

I hanquilted it with a three count embroidery thread and handbinded it too. 

Esta de camino a California y espero que a Jan le guste.

It's on its way to California and I hope Jan likes it.

Ha sido un placer hacerlo. 

It's been a real pleasure.

Nos vemos!
See you soon!

ALYOF December Party!

I have neglected this blog for the most part of 2014. I apologise for that. One of my goals for 2015 will be to write at least two posts a month. Probably the ones related to ALYOF. ;)

So this post is actually the last one of 2014 and it goes to the Accomplishments in ALYOF

As usual, Thank You Melissa and Shana!

And the accomplished goals are

January: Pillows for mum

February: Doll Quilt Swap

March: La Tela Viajera

September: Flickr

October: Flickr

November: Flickr

I hope to see you soon!

Mariana

Mi Super Tote :: My Super Tote

Vi este patrón hace mucho tiempo. Lo deseé. Lo estudié. Lo abandoné.
Volví a encontrarlo y cada vez era más tentador. Los bolsos que veía tenían unas telas tan hermosas! Volví a desearlo. Volví a estudiarlo. Y lo abandoné.
Nunca había hecho un bolso. Aquí no se consiguen las entretelas que pedía el patrón. Tenía otros compromisos. Excusas. Excusas.
Hasta que un día, con las defensas bajas y la estima muy alta, volví a encontrarlo. Y entre aquí y lo compré.
Nos ibamos a Portugal y se me metió en la cabeza que tenía que llevarlo. Sí o sí. En una semana estaba hecho. Toma castaña! Como dicen por aquí.

I saw this pattern a long time ago. I coveted. I studied it. I gave up.
I found it again some time later. And it was even more tempting. Those Totes were so beautifu! I coveted it again. I studied it again. I gave it up.
I had never So much for excuses, right?

So, one day, when my self esteem was high up and my rational mind very low, I came across the link again. And I gave in!

We were leaving for Portugal on a 5 day trip. And I had to take it with me. Had to! It was done in a week. Yay me!

Esta fue la parte mas difícil. Mi inteligencia espacial es nula! Esta foto me servirá de referencia para el futuro.

That was the most difficult part for me. My spatial intelligence is non existent. This photo will be very useful in the future.

Telas: Echino Wildflower in Mustard, Cocoon Shine in Lead de Valori Wells, Shelbourne Falls de Denyse Schmidt y Essex Natural.

Hilo: Aurifil. Mi favorito.

Fabrics: Echino Wildflower in Mustard, Cocoon Shine in Lead by Valori Wells, Shelbourne Falls by Denyse Schmidt and Essex Natural.

Thread: Aurifil. My favorite.

Gracias por visitarme!

Thanks for stopping by!

Intercambios :: Swaps

Se llama Simple and Sweet Swap. Y es la edicion 4. Donde? En Flickr. Acepta miembros internacionales? Si! Me apunte? Por supuesto!
Y esto es lo que recibi de la super generosa Amanda (aka metroquilter)

The name is Simple and Sweet Swap. And its the 4th edition. Where? At Flickr. Can you join in if you are an "international". Yes! Did I join? Of course!
And this is what I received from the super generous Amanda (aka metroquilter)

Esos hilos son los mejores que hay. No sueltan pelusa y es muy dificil que se partan. Y los colores! Los colores! Son bastante caros, pero valen la pena. Su nombre? Aurifil.

Those threads are the best. They are almost lint free and its very unlikely they will break. And the colors! The colors! They are a bit expensive but totally worth it. Their name? Aurifil.

Este intercambio ha sido de lo mas feliz para mi! Me encanta todo lo que Amanda me ha preparado. Esa piruleta de chocolate era mortal! Duro solo 15 minutos!
Ya estoy usando la cesta para guardar los retales de mi ultimo proyecto.
Si quieres hacer esta cesta visita este link
Si quieres sumarte al grupo visita este Grupo

This swap has been a great experience for me! Im so happy with my goodies! I love everything Amanda set up for me. That chocolate lolly lasted for 15 minutes only!
Im already using the fabric basket to store the scraps from my current project.
If you want to make this basket visit this link
If you want to join in the group visit this link

Y lo mas gracioso de todo?
Esta sewtogether bag viajo al mismo sitio de donde vino mi preciosa cestita!

And the funniest thing of all?
This sewtogether bag travelled to the same address my basket came from!

Gracias por estar! Soy una slow blogger!

Thanks for reading! You know Im a slow blogger!

Modern She Made

Este es un post lleno de fotos! El que avisa no es traidor.

This is a post full of photos! You've been warned!

Este intercambio se llama Modern She Made y puedes encontrarlo en Flickr. Me encantan los intercambios! El factor de azar y sorpresa que tienen me llenan de creatividad! Coser para alguien que no conoces e investigar sobre tu compañera para hacer algo unico, tiene un no se que que me atrapa! La consigna de este turno fue Hexies. Son adictivos! Y yo hice una Sewtogether bag. Puedes encontrar el patron aqui. Y si quieres mas fotos y mas ayuda, visita este link.

This Swap is called Modern She Made and we are on Flickr. I love swaps! They boost my creativity, having to sew for someone you dont know and stalking them! Hahaha. The theme was Hexies. And they are addictive! I made a Sewtogether Bag. You can find the pattern here. And if you want more photos and a little help visit this link.

Hecha con todo mi amor. Mis primeros hexagonos y mi primera Sewtogether Bag. Y viajo a Inglaterra!

Made with all my love. My first hexies and my first Sewtogether Bag. And off it went to England!

Nos vemos!
See you!

Mi primer Guest Post

Hace unos meses Sarah, de Mila&Cuatro, me contactó para invitarme a ser parte de una serie de Blogposts que estaba organizando en su blog, Scraps 101. Mi primer Guest Post! Que emoción! Querés saber de que va? Te prometo que no te defraudará. Tiene unas ideas espectaculares y me encanta su estética.

Me acompañan?

Mila+Cuatro

A few months back I was contacted by Sarah from Mila&Cuatro to be part of her Scraps 101 series. My first Guest Post! How thrilling! Would you like to know what it is about? I promise, you will not be dissappointed. Sarah has the most amazing ideas and I love the way she sees color.

Come with me?

Mila+Cuatro

Mi objetivo de Abril es...

... vivir a tope! Disfrutar de cada momento, absorbiendo todo lo que la vida me ofrece. Porque es un regalo. El mejor de todos.
El viernes pasado me diagnosticaron un infarto cerebral. Pequeño. Sin secuelas. Lo más sorprendente es que el neurólogo no puede decirme cuándo ocurrió. Simplemente apareció en la imagen de la RM.
Por eso les digo que la vida es un regalo.

... live to the fullest. Enjoy every moment, taking in everything that life brings me. Because it is a gift. The best one of all.
Last Friday I was diagnosed with a brain stroke. A minor one. With no consequences. The shocking part is that the neurologist can´t tell me when it happened. It simply showed in the MRI scan. That´s why Im saying that life is a gift.

Mi objetivo de este mes es acolchar los 48 bloques del Quilt Star Wars de Gabriel. Estoy siguiendo el método QAYG que podes encontrar aquí.

My goal for this month is to quilt the 48 blocks of the Star Wars Quilt I´m making for Gabriel. I´m following the QAYG tutorial that you can find here.

Gracias Melissa! Gracias Shanna!

See you!

Mission Accomplished :: Misión Cumplida

ALYOF

Este mes realmente ALYOF ha sido mi motor e inspiración para acabar este proyecto. Una manta que nació en Octubre de 2013 como una idea de un grupo de Facebook. Y que muy lentamente se transformó en este quilt de 75cm x 90cm. Hecho con bloques que vinieron de distintas partes de España, de manos de mujeres que no se conocen personalmente y que sin embargo han unido fuerzas e ilusión para hacerlo posible.

Mi objetivo, aquí.

ALYOF has been my true inspiration this month. I´ve been able to finish this project, one that was born back in October 2013. It was just an idea back then, from a group in Facebook. And very slowly this 75cm x 90cm quilt came to life. Made with blocks from all around Spain and from the creative hands of women who don´t know each other. And still committed to make it possible.

My March goal, here.

El tutorial de los bloques lo puedes encontrar aquí.

Y nuestro grupo de Facebook es secreto pero si quieres formar parte, enviame un mensaje y te invitaremos.

The tutorial for the blocks is here.

Our Facebook group is secret but if you´d like to be part, shoot me an email and I´ll send you an invite.

Esta manta fue donada a Caritas, El Puig. 

This quilt was lovingly given to Caritas, El Puig.

Gracias Shanna! Gracias Melissa!

Nos vemos! See you!

Objetivos de Marzo :: March goal

La primavera asoma tímidamente su cara por estos pagos. Lo hace con mucho viento. Realmente mucho viento. Las golondrinas aún no han llegado y los almendros están en flor.
Y yo, aquí, pensando cuál será mi objetivo de este mes. Esta fiesta de enlaces me mantiene súper motivada! Anoche, antes de irme a dormir recibí un correo feliz. Shanna de Fiberofallsorts me contactó para hacerme saber que era una de las ganadoras de Febrero!. Yupiiiii!!!! Así que esta mañana ya contacte con Sarah de Sew Sweetness y le pedí el patrón de su Aeroplane Bag. Ese será mi objetivo probablemente en Mayo.

Spring is timidly showing here in Valencia. And with wind. A lot of it. Swallows have not arrived yet bu the almond trees are in blossom.
And I´m right here, thinking about my goal for March. This linky party really motivates me! Last night, right before I turned in I got a Happy email from Shanna at Fiberofallsorts informing me I was one of the February winners! Yippeeeeee! So this morning I contacted Sarah from Sew Sweetness and I asked for her Aeroplane Bag pattern. I think that will be my goal around May.

Hace ya un tiempo les comenté acerca de La Tela Viajera. Cosiendo juntas por una causa. A pesar de que el proyecto era muy interesante, no pudimos llevarlo a cabo como queríamos y entonces quedamos unas pocas para terminar la primera colcha que donaríamos a la Caridad. Esta es la foto de los bloques que tenemos hasta ahora.

A while ago I told you about La Tela Viajera. Cosiendo juntas por una causa. Although the poject was very appealing it did not turn out as expected and we ended up with an unfinished quilt. This is  the photo of all the blocks we have.

Mi objetivo para este mes será completar los dos bloques que faltan y acabar esta manta.

My goal for this month is to make the two missing blocks and finish up the quilt.

Gracias Shanna. Gracias Melissa.

Thanks Shanna. Thanks Melissa.

ALYOF End of month post

Hola a todos! Aquí estamos con un nuevo proyecto acabado y listo para mandar.
Mi objetivo del mes esta aquí.
Y aquí las fotos que muestran lo conseguido!

Hello everyone! Here we are again and we another finished project. Hurray!
My goal this month can be found here.
And here are also the pics!!!

Mini Quilt para mi compañera de Sewing Room Swap.

Mini Quilt for my partner in the Sewing Room Swap.

Cesta multifunción y una tres alfileteros. El rojo es de ella, los otros dos irán a un Pasalo a otros que organicé a principios de mes.

Multi purpose basket and pincushions. The red one is for her and the other two will go to some Flickr friends for my first Pay it Forward.

Detalle del Mini Quilt. Los centros son de Aneela Hoey, si. Ya se que sabes.

Mini Quilt detail. The centre of the blocks are Aneela Hoey. Yes. I know you know.

Detalle de la cesta. El bordado fue hecho por mi. Mi primero. Veo un futuro hobby aquí mismo!

Embroidered detail. My first attempt and I can definitely see a new hobby here. I loved it!

Espero que a mi compañera le guste. Lo hice con mucho cariño.

I really hope my partner will like this. I put a lot of love into it.

Linking up to

Noticias de Febrero :: February News

Febrero comenzó con muchas buenas noticias! He ganado un sorteos (no, no es el Euromillones) y me han invitado a participar de un grupo de costura!

February has started on the right foot! I´ve won a giveaway and I´ve been asked to join in a Quilting Bee!

Mi sorteo viene desde www.modernbias.com y con las telas que recibí he hecho dos proyectos.

The first giveaway came from www.modernbias.com and with the fabulous fabrcis Carla sent me I made two projects.

1. El Block de mi grupo en Threadbias. Nuestra compañera escribió un tutorial para nosotras y como ejemplo usó una tela que vino incluida en mi paquete. Ya había cortado las telas para mi bloque, pero lo vi como una señal del destino y volví a cortar para poder usar la misma tela pero en un color distinto.

1. My contribution to my Bee Group at Threadbias. Our Queen for this month wrote a tutorial for us and the fabric she used in it was included in the packet I got from Modernbias! I had my fabric cut already but I immediatley changed my mind and decided to make the block using that same fabric but in a different colorway.

2. Una tabla para organizar mis hilos. La hice con los bordes de las telas de Heather Ross, colección Briar Rose. Marc clavó los clavos y yo la colgué. Me quedé corta, así que habrá que ir a comprar otro listón.

2. A thread track for my growin pile of threads. I made it using the selvadges from Heather Ross, Briar Rose collection. Marc helped with the nailing and I did the hanging. Anyway, there isn´t enough space so I will have to go and buy another piece of wood.

Y la segunda buena noticia es que desde ahora formo parte de un Grupo Internacional de Quilters. Do. Good Stitches. Pertenezco al grupo Comfort y puedes ver nuestras fotos aquí. Es una iniciativa muy interesante. Se trata de enviar dos bloques por mes a nuestra Queen y ella se encarga de montar el quilt y donarlo a una caridad.

And the second part of the good news is that starting today I´m a member of the Comfort Circle at Do. Good Stitches. A charity bee. You can see our photos here.

Nos vemos pronto!

See you soon!

El primer post de Febrero :: My first post in February

Empieza Febrero y con él me siento a pensar en mi objetivo para este mes. 

Realmente es una bendición para mí esta fiesta de enlaces. Si no fuera por ella y por los Intercambios a los que me he apuntado en Flickr, me hundiría en un millar de TEP.

It´s the start of February and I find myself sitting in front of the computer thinking of my objetive for this month. It is really a blessing for me, this Linky Parties. If it wasn´t for Melissa at SewBittersweetDesigns and the Swaps I signed up for at Flickr, I´d be drowning among all my WIPS.

Uno de estos intercambios se llama Sewing Room Swap y me ha tocado una compañera a la que le gustan los lunares. No sé mucho más allá de eso. Así que aproveché unos fussy cuts que tenía de Aneela Hoey e hice unos Log Cabin Blocks siguiendo el tutorial de Caroline en Sew Can She.

One of those Swaps is the Sewing Room Swap and I was assigned a partner who likes dots. I don´t know much beyond that. So I grabbed some Aneela Hoey fussy cuts I had and I made some mini Log Cabin Blocks following the tutorial that Caroline from Sew Can She posted a couple of weeks ago. 

Estos bloques se convertirán en un Mini Quilt que espero le guste a mi compañera. Planeo usar Kona Snow para los bordes y Aneela Hoey para la trasera. Y hacerle el biés con un chevron rojo que me encanta. Como hice más de uno y tenemos que hacer algo grande y algo más pequeño que lo complemente, pensé en hacer un alfiletero y una cesta recoge hilos. Con algo de bordado a mano. Nuevo para mí.

Those blocks will turn into a Mini Quilt that I hope my partner will like. I will be using Kona Snow for the sashing and Aneela Hoey for the backing. And some red chevron for the binding. And since 

I´ve made more than four blocks and we have to make one Big Item and something smaller that matches the style, I´m planning a pincushion and a thread catcher. Embroidered. Something new to me!

Nos vemos pronto!

See you soon!