It's here! It's here!

Pareço uma miúda no dia de Natal.

Quando o carteiro tocou à porta e eu me apercebi do que ele me trazia desatei aos pulinhos e a bater palminhas (é o que eu faço quando estou muito contente e o meu marido perguntou-me se eu o tinha feito em frente ao carteiro... é claroooooo que nãoooo heeheheh).

Só me controlei o tempo suficiente para tirar fotos. Depois saí logo com ela à rua para a passear e a mostrar. Já toda a minha família a viu e delirou. Pudera, é linda!

Não me canso de dizer: OBRIGADA B.!!!

I look like a kid on Christmas day.

When the postman rang the bell and I realised what he was delivering I started jumping and clapping (which is what I usually do when I'm excited and my husband asked if I had done it in from of the postman... of couurseeeeee nooottt hehehehehe).

I managed to get a hold of myself just long enough to take pictures. Then I took it out for a "test drive" and to show it off. All my family has seen it by now and loved it. Of course, it's amazing!

I can't say this enough: THANK YOU B.!!!

The bubblegum quilt

Baptizei-a de "Bubblegum" só por causa dos tons, mas podia chamar-lhe apenas "a mantinha da Maria".
A Maria vai nascer daqui a alguns dias, o seu pai é um dos melhores amigos do meu marido e a mãe é uma das minhas melhoras amigas. Não resisti a preparar esta surpresa porque assim esta princesa sairá da maternidade e verá o mundo a cor de rosa :)
Esta brick quilt foi feita numa semana, mede 68x92 cm e por uma vez fiz o debrum sem nenhum problema! É uma das peças com mais significado que já fiz e gosto muito dela.

I call it the "Bubblegum quilt" because of its colour, but I could just call it "Maria's quilt".
Maria will be born in a few days, her father is one of my husband's best friends who happens to be married to one of my best friends. I couldn't help but make this little surprise so that when she comes home from the hospital she will see the world in pink :)
It took me one week to make this brick quilt which measures 68x92 cm and for once the binding was a no-brainer. It's one of my most meaningful pieces and I love it.

Reality check

Sabemos que estamos viciadas num projecto quando o trazemos connosco para o emprego, para aproveitar a hora de almoço. :)

You know you're addicted to a project when you bring it with you to work, so you can work on it during your lunchtime. :)

Weekending

Having some friends over for dinner and trying new recipes.
A new project for a little princess. Almost done and photos will follow!
A quick trip to my favourite fabric shop.

And a swap! I'm participating in the International Fat Quarter Swap held at Me and my 2 guys. yeiii!!!

Stashing...

Books instead of fabrics, for a change!

I saw a book review here and now I'm wondering... Should I also ask for this book for my birthday? (did you notice the "also" and not "instead of"? heheh)

Wish list

Vou ter em breve alguns dias de férias e depois dos meus anos vou ter outra vez férias. Isto traduz-se em tempo para as minhas costurices!
Por isso, estou já a pensar no que é que vou fazer, de que materiais vou precisar, etc. E estou a aproveitar também para escrever uma lista das prendas que gostaria de receber nos meus anos, visto que gostava de ter moldes, livros e tecidos, portanto terei de ser eu a escolhê-los.
Por falar nisso, descobri este livro da Amy Butler. Alguém me sabe dizer se vale a pena pedi-lo como presente?


Pretty soon I'll have a few days off work and after my birthday I'll have holidays again. This means time to sew!

So, I'm already thinking about what I'll make, what materials I'll need, etc. And I'm also thinking of my list of birthday presents, as I would like to have patterns, books and fabrics, so of course I'll have to be the one to choose them.

Speaking of which, I found this book by Amy Butler. Does anyone know if it's any good? Shall I ask for it?

Today...

Schiiuuu...

Não posso contar pormenores a ninguém sobre o que tenho andado a fazer neste fim-de-semana e muito menos divulgar as fotos que tirei. A razão de tanto secretismo é que estou a ajudar uma amiga a preparar os fatos para as Marchas Populares e a "nossa" marcha poderia ser desclassificada. Estou a divertir-me imenso e fiquei fã. Vamos ganhar, vamos ganhar, oh yeah!!! Mostro as fotos quando puder...

I can't tell you the details about what i've been up to this weekend and much less show you the pictures i've taken. The reason for all this secrecy is that i'm helping a friend to prepare the costumes for the upcoming parade and "our" team could be disqualified. I'm having a blast and became totally into it. We'll win, we'll win, oh yeah! I'll show the photos as soon as i can...

I just heard...

That I won this beautifully made purse! Check out all the details. It's PERFECT!





I'm so happy! I'm so happy!!! I love it!!! All my favourite colours combined in one really chic lady bag!

So, thank you very much dear B, from Sweet Limes. I'll take good take care of her, show her all the nice places and introduce her to all my friends :)

Two movies that got me into quilting

Postcards from Portugal

The best thing about the Giveaway-fever-day(s) is to meet new friends out there in the blogging world. from Terri's Notebook is one of those brave bloggers who not only are giving something but also answer our comments, so this led to a nice exchange of emails today (while i was supposed to be working and instead was participating in the giveaways ehehe), which led to... i'll post some photos of my country to show you where I live!

Any good excuse to post photos in this poor excuse of a blog is good enough for me. So here are some of my favourite pictures taken while travelling in Portugal (i like to be a tourist in my own country).



The city where I live in is Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. The following photos are taken from the other side of the Tagus river, where there is a big statue of Christ, similar to the one in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The view there is amazing...

It was so hot the day I took the pictures that in one of them you can see how the colours are fading away.

I don't have photos of my favourite parts of the city, but I have one that looks just like a postcard. It even has one of our typical trams. I have one paiting bought at a street market which is just like this photo :)

The second largest city is Porto, and there is a famous wine made there.

And Portugal is also known for its amazing beaches. The first one is where I celebrated my 21st birthday, it's about one hour drive from home. The second one is closer but it's very wild, it's mostly for surfers. Then there is the coast of Alentejo, which is very quiet and adorable. Sometimes we joke that we would like to leave everything behind and go live there. And the last one is in the Algarve, the south region, where everyone spends their summer holidays, including me and my husband and the dogs.

It's a small country, but it has its charm. There's lots of smaller cities that I really like (each photo has the name of the city if you click in it).

Yes, I realise I have a "thing" for tiles and castles and churches. And also lamps, but I decided to skip that one for now.

There is, however, a very special castle in an island in the middle of Tagus river, before it gets to Lisbon. This castle has a nice legend about it, from the times that the Arabs where occupying this region, and it's very peculiar.

There is also a big national park in the north, almost in the northern border with Spain, called Geres. I loved going there... The nature was so wild there, like I had never seen before. It was breathtaking!

But if I had to choose just one place to show around and brag about my country, I would choose Sintra. This is a very romantic place, near Lisbon, actually it's where I got married. It's hard to explain but there is a special atmosphere there, even people who believe in the Pagan traditions all say so. Last summer we went to a sort of noblesman palace with gigantic gardens and I just loved it. The first picture shows what was supposed to be a fireplace in the palace but because it was damaged during transportation it ended up being like a sculpture in the garden. Amazing! And from here there is a wonderful view to the other monuments of Sintra.

I hope you have enjoyed the tour... Maybe when day you will come to visit!!!

Giveaway Day is back!

Próxima tarefa / Next in line

(Image from the blog Posie gets cozy, by Alicia Paulson)

Estava aqui e vim parar aqui e apaixonei-me. É mais um projecto para a minha lista. A internet é sempre uma inspiração. Obrigado!

I was here and ended up here and fell in love. Another project for my to-do list. Internet is always such an inspiration. Thank you!

Giveaway

Aproxima-se um novo Giveaway Day e gostava muito de participar. Mas não tenho nada preparado e, para variar, não sei se teria tempo de preparar algo até lá. Hmm... dilema...

Another Giveaway Day is coming and I'd like to participate. However, I don't have anything prepared and, as always, I doubt I would have time to prepare something by then. Hmm... dilemma...

At last...

A Kodak moment!

In these last few months, we went through some serious renovations in our home. We demolish our living room fireplace and now we have an orange wall with a beautiful phrase written in it. And the hubby's ashtray collection is now elsewhere.





There were lots of boxes everywhere...




And then, like magic (read: lots of hours of hard work and heavy lifting), there was nothing...




Say bye-bye to that ugly dark red tile... and hello to wooden floor!!! yeiii!!!
(More photos of the "after" soon)