New Year's Eve

I have had a quiet and
relaxing holiday together
with the family.
No sewing; I have
only knitted
2 dishcloths and
embroidered a bit
on a cushion.


2008 is at the end.
I started blogging this
year, and it has been a
new experience.
Technically I still have
a lot to learn, but ....
The blogging has
given me new friends
and great inspiration.
I want to thank all of you for visiting and leaving
comments! It's nice to get some
feedback.

I wish you all a Happy, Healthy and Creative New Year!

Quilting related gifts

Among many Christmas gifts I also got
some quilting related ones.

Anne in UK sent me these beautiful fabrics.







A good Norwegian friend gave me
this lovely sachet and fabrics.

From Germany I received some
linen and cotton fabrics + a cat pattern.

Thanks to all three!

SSCS gifts

I received the SSCS package weeks before Christmas; it was from Julie Waldman, but I wanted to wait until Christmas before opening it.

On Christmas Eve I finally could open the envelope. There were 3 wrapped gifts, one of them was even wrapped in a pretty fabric. Lovely.

Wow, Julie really spoiled me. She had made a wonderful square bag with two pockets inside, and a case for knitting sticks. I have thought for a long time to sew one myself, because the case I have is very old and doesn't look good. Now I don't

have to - Julie did it for me :-). She also sent two patterns - one for a wallhanging, the other for quilt cards. When all was unwrapped I found a notebook and a book with 12 boomarks together with a nice card as well. Thank you sooo much Julie for the gifts!

Thanks to "Chookyblue" too for hosting the swap. I hope you will do the same next year.

Christmas

I have been quite busy lately, and I haven't given my blog a high priority.

Now everything is ready for Christmas. My children + daughter-in-law are home for the holidays, and we look forward to some relaxing days together.

These knitted "nisser" I made about 25 years ago, and still we like to have them on the old stump.

This is another quite old decoration, my children won it when they were tiny! The table runner underneath I wove myself many, many years ago.

We always place the angels on the piano. Some of them are paper angels which my children made when they were little. The ones made of porcelain are hand painted and from my sister. I really cherish them and I usually get one every Christmas.

The Christmas tree is now decorated, the packages are placed under the tree and will be opened later tonight. As I'm writing this I can hear one of my daughters playing X-mas carols on the piano. It feels like Christmas. :)

My best wishes to all of you.

Merry Christmas!

Quilting class

Just a quick note; This weekend I will join a class with the Norwegian designer/quilter AnnAKa. We will make bags. I'm really looking forward to it. Hopefully I will have some photos to show you tomorrow when I'm back.

Happy Quilting!

Giveaway

Hanne is having a giveaway. She has a new design, so visit her blog.

A quick update

Normally I don't tend to make pot holders since I feel that there's preciously little to show for all that work that goes into those tiny squares! :-) In the same amount of time I could almost have finished a table runner. But, since my daughter hinted rather heavily last week that she would love a pair... I decided to make her some. But then I realized I quite enjoyed making them for a change. I got quite carried away; you can see some of the pairs here.
Now the big question is; what to make next?

Have a nice week!

Christmas production continues

Yesterday part of the local quilting group gathered, and we had a lovely and productive day. The cushions weren't made yesterday, but earlier this week. Yesterday I worked on several Christmas related projects - mainly for the Christmas craftshow, but also a couple of gifts. I might post some photos later.

My eldest daughter also came up with several "suggestions" of items she wants me to make for her, should I run out of things to do! :-) - everything from pot holders to baby blanket.

Hope you all have had a nice weekend!

Tuesday update

We had awful weather all weekend - the perfect excuse for staying indoors and spend time in front of the sewing machine. One of the things I made was this Christmas table runner. I had completely forgotten about this pattern which a friend gave to me last year. I ended up with altering it slighty though. (The original design is by a Norwegian designer MarianneZ).

I'm still working on various Christmas projects; both gifts and small items for the local Christmas craft show. Twentyfive hour-days would have been nice :-)) What are the rest of you working on? Christmas gifts?

Have a nice day!

Saturday quilting

First of all - thank you so much for the birthday greetings :-) I had a lovely day.




I finally finished the top of "The Trip Around The World"-quilt. Jiiipii! It feels so good to have it out of the way. I'm not going to do the quilting myself this time, so my work is almost done. Now I can concentrate more on smaller projects, i.e. Christmas gifts. The other day I bought some red and offwhite fabrics which I will use for a table runner or a couple of cushions.
And on that note, I'm going back to my sewing machine :-)

Happy Quilting!

Birthday

Outside my window the rain is pouring down, but in spite of that I'm having a lovely day - it's my birthday :-)

My husband brought me these beautiful roses this morning.

I have also received some quilt related gifts from friends over the past few days. Thanks, I really appreciate it. Since it's my birthday, I get to do nothing. DH is now making dinner; I even hear rumours about a cake :-))

Now I think I will sew a bit, while he takes care of the cooking.

Saturday morning

Perfect day for quilting. :-) After last weekend's quilting gathering, I felt very inspired by all the beautiful and creative items I saw there, so the past week I have wanted to do nothing but sewing! Unfortunately there is something called work :-)) However I have managed to fit in some quilting between work and household chores. Yesterday I was able to finish a table runner in Christmas colours.

I also managed to complete a couple of things for my Secret Santa Christmas Swap partner - but for obvious reasons, no photos of those.

Now back to the sewing machine. I hope to get the borders on the "Trip Around The World"-quilt done today.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend with lots of quilting!

Quilting weekend

Thanks to all who took their time to look at the fabric I was searching for some time ago. Unfortunately I couldn't find it, so I had to come up with another solution.

As you might have noticed, I haven't been blogging for some time. The reason for that is that I have been quilting :-). Our local quilting group has an annual gathering in October. This year more than 60 women gathered to quilt at a local inn. The most entusiastic of us arrived already on Wednesday, but it officially started on Thursday :-)

We didn't have any workshops; but with 60 + quilters under one roof, you still learn a lot. The atmosphere was truly amazing. By the end of the weekend I was feeling more inspired and motivated than in a long time. I made 4 beauty bags ( 3 of them in the photo) and a table runner.

Help needed

Last week I was so pleased because I thought I had finally found a fabric I was searching for. Unfortunately it turned out to be slighty the wrong colour, therefore I'm still searching. If any of you know where I can find this, I'd be very grateful.

Early weekend

Early this month I optimisticly thought that I would be able to finish the top of the "Trip around the world"-quilt by the end of September. While I have made some progress, and I even managed to do a little before work yesterday, I now realize that I need more time. Which is okay, but I do look forward to the day when it's finished.
I'm going away this weekend, so no quilting until Tuesday :-(

Have a nice weekend and happy quilting!

Update

My daughter wasn't the only one who received gifts last week. First I received a lovely autumn present from a quilting friend in UK,




then I got a very useful gift from a quilter in Norway. I really look forward to make a table runner from the pattern which was included in the package.

Busy week

It has been a busy week so far, so I have hardly done any quilting. But last night I did finish the handbag for my sister. When I first started , I wasn't sure about the fabrics for the applique flowers. However, I decided to go for them, and I think it worked out fine. I hope my sister thinks so too :-)
The handbag design is by AnnAKa - however I have altered the applique a bit.

My eldest daughter's birthday is coming up this weekend, and we'll have the house full of family. I've done some baking the past few days and have now all but one cake left. My daughter isn't really a "cake person", except chocolate cakes that is. I usually make "Sachertorte", but I enjoy trying out new recipies. If anyone has a favourite recipe, please feel free to share :-))

Gift from a secret friend

Earlier this year I joined a swap where we will send at least 4 small gifts to a secret quilting friend. In November we have to send the last package and reveal who we are. Recently I received the third gift. It contained some lovely red fabrics and matching buttons. Thanks a lot to whoever you are :-)

Autumn

"Morgenstund har gull i munn". ( "The early bird catches the worm" - the saying's translation in my dictionary)

The past week the weather has been very nice, so I have walked to work almost every day. Getting up early have had it's rewards. I have enjoyed the one hour's walk; the fjord smooth as a mirror, seagulls sitting on the beach, the sound of waterfalls from the mountains and trees and flowers turning into all shades of green, red, orange, yellow and brown. As some of you might know - these are my favourite colours.

I like this season. The evenings are getting darker; just perfect for knitting, patchwork, weaving and reading.

I'm back

I have been quite busy the past few weeks, so my blog hasn't been given high priority.

I have started on the "Trip around the world"-quilt for DS and DIL. I had to order some more of the lightest fabric, but fortunately it arrived in no time.

I'm still not sure about the final size, as they keep talking about buying a bigger bed :-)
But I hope to finish the top by the end of this month.

This year I'm taking part in the Secret Santa Christmas Swap - SSCS( www.choockyblue.blogspot.com).

I have now received the name of the person I will be Secret Santa for. I have visited her blog several times as I find it very interesting. I do have some ideas what to make for her, but haven't quite decided yet.

I wonder who my Secret Santa is? Well, I guess I'll have to wait until Christmas to get the answer. I'm already excited and time goes by so fast.

Yesterday, I actually started on a Christmas gift. I better not reveal who it is intended for, just in case he/she stumbles across my blog :-))

Visit www.lises-hobbyblogg.blogspot.com.
Lise is celebrating her 100th post with a giveaway.

Tuesday

One of my daughters was in need of a gift, so she asked me to make these table mats. The pattern is designed by AnnAKa. The green flowers are a little bit darker than the photo shows.

I have so many projects in mind. First of all I have to start on the quilt for DS and DIL. They have waited for some time! I'll use "Trip around the world"; beige/brown colours.
In a few weeks my sister has birthday, and I plan to make a bag for her.
It's 4 months till Christmas; time will show how many gifts I can make.
Believe it or not, but I also have a lot of UFOes! I want to reduce the number before 2009.
My loom has been waiting for me for a long time. I have 12 - 15 m warp left to weave rag rugs.
I can't be without a knitting project or two. I have just started on a new scarf; same pattern as the white one, but I use another sort of yarn.
Well, I have now problem to fill the spare time I guess :-)

I have always some knitting available,

and during the summer I have finished this scarf.

It's made of 100% wool.

I have just joined Quilting-Bloggers - www.quiltinggallery.com/quilting-bloggers - quilters from

all over the world are listed there, so take a look.

May Britt has a giveaway

May Britt - www.abyquilt.blogspot.com -is celebrating 2 years blog anniversary with a giveaway. Visit her blog and get inspired.

A prize

When I came home from holiday, there was a package waiting for me from Denmark.

Anni - http://www.annischoice.blogspot.com/ - had a "contest" a few weeks ago, and I was the one who won. It's not often I'm that lucky. Thanks a lot Anni for all you sent me! I look forward to make the purse and do the stitchery.

Summer

After some travelling, I'm back home. It's nice to meet friends and relatives, but it's good to be at home again after some time away. We have had some fantastic summer days lately; almost too hot to do much. I enjoy looking at the flowers in the garden, especially some of the roses. They look great, and some of them have a nice scent too.

On Sunday DH, our youngest daughter and I were walking in the mountains. It's hard to find words; it was just great! I really enjoyed it.

Summer is not the time of the year when I do a lot of handicraft. but in between the travelling I have made a table runner ( again ) and a cushion. I made a cushion a few months ago, and the woman who got it, asked me to made one more. They fitted so well in her cottage.

What will be the next project? I have to think about it :-)

During the weekend I finished a few things. The weather has been quite bad the last days, so it as perfect for sewing.

Two table runners with almost the same pattern.

A blue bag which has many pockets inside.

Summer package

It has been a long time since I updated my blog. Time is passing by so quickly, and we are now already in the end of June.

A few days ago I received a summer package from a quilting friend in Germany. As you can see, she really spoiled me. Now I can have a tea party :-) Thanks a lot, Tina!

Thanks

Thank you all for visiting me from time to time, and I appreciate your comments very much.

This table runner has been in the shelf for some time. It needed some applique and today it was done. One less on the UFO list :-o

Time passes. It's June, and we have had very nice weather for some days. The days and the nights are light, and you don't become aware of that it's late.

I have finished the blocks for part 4 of the mystery, but haven't started the next step. I think I will use green and yellow/yellowbrown for these blocks. Probably I will wait until the weekend before starting.