Wenche's Pieces of Time

It´s that time again

2012-01-27T00:47:00.001+01:00

The time of the year when I finish up some UFO´s. This is my own design, a small wall hanging made of some bigger pieces of scraps. I thought the colours looked a bit Christmassy, so I put a Christmas three in the centre block. Instead of doing embroidery for the three´s decorations I used small buttons.

I had some left over Log Cabin blocks from a Log Cabin quilt I made a while back. For this table topper I used four blocks. Added some tiny scraps I had for the centre between the blocks. I used left over Thimbleberries Christmas fabric in the large triangles. So now I have one more Chrismas table topper. Need to find someone to give it to :)

It´s not fair........

2012-01-24T00:22:00.002+01:00

...... that I only show you pictures of Duke.

Here´s a couple of Prince as well.

He´s just as much a royalty as Duke. Just look at his beautiful face :) I still find it hard to believe he survived a year out on his own before he was helped by SPCA here in Drammen. I´m so happy he´s home again. He now follows me around like a dog when we are outside. If I make any moves that indikate I want to pick him up and bring him inside, he runs past me like a greece lightning - sits down - looks at me and does the same run. He makes me laugh. Duke makes me laugh. I love my cats :))

A quilt for a local show

2012-01-17T20:59:00.001+01:00

I can't show you any pictures of the finished wall hanging but.....

.....I can show you how much.........

....... Duke loves it and how it makes him feel like royalty :)

a NEW year.........

2012-01-01T15:34:00.000+01:00

..... and new projects :) Just finish off some UFOs first.........

Christmas is coming....

2011-12-18T01:02:00.002+01:00

...... and for the first time I'm having trouble with this post. Blogger is playing up again. Oh well......

.......... here is a picture of the finished cabinet. All white except from the shelves, I kept those unpainted. I changed the knobs as well and I think it looks quite good :) And so roomy too.

This year I decided to decorate my Christmas tree a bit earlier than I'm used to. This year I bought a fake fir tree because it was the cheapest option, and it's less fuz when it's time to put Christmas away again. I hate finding those tiny green needles in late June.

Didn't use any extra light when I took this picture and the cat has joined me :)

This Christmas star is about 35 years old but still going strong.

But I do take some breaks from baking, decorating, washing, dusting and make some blocks for a Red & White project with the other ladies over at the Jo Morton Stitchers group

Since I'm using Jo's line of fabric, it's not going to be bright red and white. This callenge is due February 2012 so I have plenty of time, I think.

As usual I don't have a clear plan or a pattern but it will come to me as I make blocks. So far I have these three and they are 4 1/2 inch unfinished. The finished quilt is not to be more than 19 inch on either side.

I have a couple of other projects going as well but those I can't show you any pictures of due to the rules. But after the show I will give you pictures :)

A contest

2011-12-07T00:20:00.000+01:00

I have entered my advent mystery table runner into a table runner contest at the Quilting Gallery You can click on the Weekly Themed Quilt Contests button to the right. The voting atarts on Friday :)

A Christmas UFO

2011-12-04T18:55:00.000+01:00

I know I said I was going to paint some more but then I just had to finish this UFO.

A year ago I spent some wonderful days with Luti Wright at Houston Quilt Festival. Since it's quite a few hours that I spent traveling, I needed something to do. I took this piece of Redwork with me. I finished it on the plane back home to Norway. And that was it.

I never quite forgot about this small wall hanging but always thought there was time enough to finish it. Luti even gave me some red and white fabric for me to finish it. Well, I didn't in 2010 as planned but I did it today. I almost ran out of time once again :)

I know it's a red wall hanging against a red wall but it's not that bad. I like my little Christmas corner. Now I will move on with the painting :)

Christmas is coming.......

2011-12-04T12:03:00.000+01:00

I have been participating in a little Christmas mystery at QuilScandinavia, a Yahoo group for Scandinavian quilters. This mystery was designed by Merete as usual. I didn't know what it was going to be but I decided to use colours of advent.

And I was right! This is the finished solution to the mystery.

For the back I found this fabric with scrolls. So if I want to I can use this little runner on both sides. Not bad.

So here it is in all it's glory. It was a perfect fit in addition to the colours. Now that I have finished this one, I need to get back to the painting so I can get finished with my cabinet befor Christmas. I have allready bought the tree and want to decorate it a bit earlier this year.

Inspirations....

2011-11-28T19:11:00.001+01:00

.... comes from everywhere these days.

I bought this cabinet real cheap off the net. Just the kind I wanted but could afford earlier. I knew I had to do something about the colour since pine colour never was one of my favorites. So I got out the sanding paper, paint and brushes.

It's slow and I have to clean up the glas but I'm getting there.

I'm thinking about making it a bit shabby chick since the paint won't stick as well as I hoped it would. The reason might be my poor preparation, I don't know.

I bought a really cheap mirror as well at a thrift store and added some decorative molding. That black or dark piece is something I picked up from the floor when walking home from my shopping. It must have been a part of and old furniture at one time.

I cut the decorative molding in correct lengths and glued it in place. Quilting books are really a good thing when you want to weigh something down while the glue dries. And the dictionary as well. Couldn't have done this with ebooks or a Kindle/iPad :)

Everything is glued down and ready for some paint.

That black old piece looks good when painted and a bit distressed. I found out that the ornament is actualle a piece of metal and it was nailed down with some really old nails. Wonder what is is and where it came from............

Here the mirror is hanging right opposite the stairs and it shows. It's not that easy to take good pictures of a mirror without having different unwanted objects reflected in the mirror. I'm very pleased with the result.

I did find some time to make blocks as well:

This block is called Wheel of Fortune and I didn't make it the way it should have been done. The final result isn't that bad and I'm going to keep it. I just have to use the Thimbleberries fabric I have stored in my drawers.

Making blocks was going so well that I didn't realize my mistake until it was done. When you are making blocks or what ever, if you have a really good feeling about it...... it might be that you are making more mistakes than you realize :)

This is the way it was supposed to look in the first place. Getting used to frogstitching by now after 14 years of practise. I had some left over hour glass blocks and added those instead of a clean, green square. Made the block quite interesting. The original name of the block is Odd Scraps Patchwork and I found it in the EQ7 design program. Just love it.

No post without a picture of the white cat. Am still having problems with the naming

When you're looking for something............

2011-11-11T21:42:00.004+01:00

I want to make my daughter a quilt. So I went for my scrap bag and found some leftovers from the Safe Haven quilt by Thimbleberries. Who else found something interesting?

I know I have fun with my fabric, ideas and leftovers, but the cat? :) Anyway, I found something more:

Four quite Christmassy log cabin blocks and one strip of suitable red and a gold strip with red roses and gold print on it. Both these two atripes are too short so I will have to come up with a way to combine them. When I do I have a small table topper or a candle mat. Not a bad find :) They where leftovers from a quilt I made with log cabin blocks. All from my scrap bag.

I found this lamp on sale the other day as well, only $36. I put it up myself and found it was very easy to do.

I sure got a better light in my sewing space now. I see I need to do something about the arrangement of the space though..... :) But it is so much easier to look for things in the late afternoon now that I have better lighting. Makes me wonder why I didn't do it earlier. Oh well, it's done now :)

This is how my fall candles looked like on Sunday afternoon. Messy and not much more to burn. I threw it all away after I blew out the flames. Needed to clean up the candle mat as well. Burning these candles didn't hurt at all. I must have been ready to let go of these candles for a longer time than I realised. :)

I hope to find more treasures in the near future :)

Good bye to the candles

2011-11-04T18:20:00.000+01:00

It is November 2011. I bought these leaf like candles in September 2003 (I think it was). That makes these candles at least 7 years old. I have used them for decoration all these years. Now it's time to say good bye. So they are going to burn all this week end until there's nothing left.

Then I can go out and buy something else to decorate with each fall without feeling bad about spending money :)

Halloween!

2011-10-30T20:34:00.000+01:00

Happy Halloween everyone!

A visit to Plymouth, England

2011-10-28T18:54:00.001+02:00

I visited my daughter last week. She now lives in Plymouth, England. I had high hopes to explore the city and find something unusual to see.

Towards Plymouth Casle

As you can see we didn't get the best weather but at this time I didn't care too much. It wasn't raining that much.

whirlwind in progress

Until I spotted the whirlwinds forming. They always bring heavy rain. Boy, did I discover that 20 minutes after I took this picure. The first shop I visited was selling umbrellas luckely. By then I was allready soaking wet.

The eye of Hoe.

Anyway, I couldn't stay in a place like Plymouth without seeing some of the special places. Have to admit though that I tried to see as much as possible in as short a time as possible. Just look at those clouds!

the Lighthouse

Among them was the lighthouse. I don't know the whole history behind it but it must be something special since it is a big piece of Plymouth's history.

the statue of Drake, Sir Francis

The same goes for Sir Francis Drake. His exploits were legendary, making him a hero to the English but a pirate to the Spaniards to whom he was known as El Draque, 'Draque' being the Spanish pronunciation of 'Drake'. His name in Latin was Franciscus Draco ('Francis the Dragon').

Look at the pictures of the same sights taken in sunlight (from Town Crier Plymouth ). I wish.......

Mayflower steps

Here's the gate to the steps that led to the ship Mayflower. Everyone's heard of that ship, right? :)

Anyway, I did find something quite out of the ordinary. At least for me:

buttons

I did spend some time in this tiny shop. Who could know that buttons would be so interesting to look at?

more buttons

Have to admit that I did buy some buttons of different sizes and colours. Wouldn't you?

When I left that store the rain had stopped and I decided to take a few more picures of the old parts of Plymouth.

Due to the weather I wasn't tempted to walk about as much as I had planned. Neither did I find a shop suitable for a quilter. Instead I got to wach a lot of my favorite tv shows about decorating, redecorating, building houses, refurbish old homes, buying houses at auctions, moving country......... and so on :)

Then every good thing has to come to an end and I had to go back home.

I left early in the morning while it was still dark. This picture was taken through the train window when the mist was still haning over the water and the sun was waking.

When I finally arrived in Drammen that same night, what do you think I got?

More rain............

My French General top is done

2011-10-15T14:16:00.001+02:00

Drammen city

This is how you might find Drammen city centre from the train station on a beautiful sunny day in July.

Remember I told you about my French General project in this post: http://wenmart.blogspot.com/2011/08/my-french-general-luminere-de-noel.html

It is finally ready to be quilted:

My living room floor isn't big enough for a good picture of this top so I used my sofa. Still not easy to get a good picture. I used a layer cake package of French General fabric for the blocks. I managed to make 30 8 inch blocks.

Then I added the muslin. It's a bit lighter than the lightes FG fabric but I think it makes the 30 blocks pop out. I think I used about 2 yards of that but I didn't measure the total yardage for this, I just made the cuts.

For the borders I had 3 yards of fabric. I cut it into stripes and sew them back together again to get a more interesting border. Of course I ran out of fabric and had to use my imagination to get the border I had planned in the first place. So I had to add some scraps to make the final lengths. I think this added something to the top.

And I mitered the corners. Wouldn't be the same if I had used squares here. The corners are not perfect but good enough :)

Here are the final leftovers and these pieces have to find their way to my scrap basket for the time being. I might use them or I might just throw them away. I need to think about it before I do something I might regret later on.

The light band around the blocks would be perfect for some applique or fancy quilting. I don't know yet.

But look how good this quilt looks in my "new" red living room and I did it without any planning at all!

Am I a She or a He?

2011-10-04T15:19:00.001+02:00

This cat is oohh soo cuuute :) For some reason my daughter told me it was a She when she brought it home. So until today I thought it was a She. I headed off to the vet to get her sterilized. I felt odd leaving the cat, so when the vet assistent called three hours later and asked me if I knew She was a He, I said No. No wonder I felt odd. If I knew that I would have done something about it long ago, like changing the name. Therefore Duchess died today and Duke was born (not the cat). I like the new name.

With a Prince and a Duke at my house, I have to be the Queen :) We are the royal family.......

my French General Luminere de Noel layer cake blocks

2011-08-17T13:56:00.001+02:00

After cutting and sewing these pieces were left overs. But I had to make one last block to be able to make the full use of my layer cakes.

This is how the very last block looks like. It's not going to be easy to see those small pieces I had to stitch together to be able to get just enough 2 1/2 inch pieces. This is block nr 42.

I made a total of 42 blocks out of my layer cake. That will be a quilt made up of 6 by 7 blocks + the borders. Just the perfect size for me :) Now I have to sew all the blocks together and add the borders before I show you more pictures. See you :)

I'm amazed.......

2011-08-14T20:25:00.001+02:00

First of all I'm amazed that you understand what I'm trying to say each time I post something on my blog :)
The second thing that amazes me are cats and how they can sleep when ever, where ever, how ever:

Nothing special about this, just sleeping on the edge of the back of the sofa.

But when I move a bit to take another picture I just wonder how she can still be sleeping in that posision!

Now you can see how close she actually is to not be sleeping on the back of the sofa for much longer :)

Getting back to sewing

2011-08-14T13:00:00.000+02:00

I got the fabric that correspond with my French General Luminere de Noel layer cake. It will be for the borders. I have spent quite a few hours on the net figuring out how to get the best use out my fabric. I ended up with Moda Bakeshop where I was inspirered by this pattern .

So I started cutting. I did the cutting for the blocks in the pattern but I still have 13 layer cake pieces left. Since I have a specific fabric for the borders I'm not going to use those 13 pieces for the borders or binding. I will probably end up making a few more blocks to enlarge the quilt a bit.

But I have to admit that I don't think it's very fun or inspireing to stitch 256 - 2 1/2 inch pieces together. It doesn't help to know what I will have in the end. Oh well............ I guess I just have to do it if I want that quilt :)

Another change

2011-08-11T17:29:00.001+02:00

I'm learning how to do scrapbooking digitally and I feel the need to test things. That's why my blog now has a new header. I was lucky, it fits right in with my background. This was fun but takes a lot of time when you're new at it. I hope to get faster as I practice. I used Phototshop Elements 8 for this project. All the elements that I've used come from the free newsletter I get from Scrap Girls . Just in case you would like to try them out :)

When you're down, do something ...........

2011-08-08T14:16:00.000+02:00

For the moment my future looks a little bit too uncertain for my liking. I try not to be put down by it but it's not an easy task.

Looking at a bland wall like this doesn't help either. So I decided to finally put up the wall paper I bought in February this year. I only planned to do one wall to hide what my two cats had done with their claws.

Here I'm almost done with the last wall. The colour on the wall paper looks a little strange but that's because it is still wet.

This is how it looks like when dry and finished. The curtains are a year old but they fit in perfectly.

The trend setters think that red is going to be a hit this fall. What do you know, I'm ahead of the trends! Not bad :)

This quilt on the wall is my first project as a Dear Jane Secret Pal. It was back in 2001. Can you believe it's been 10 years? :) I made blocks for me and sent each block as a BOM for my Pal. So she has one exactly like this one.

Even my pack of a French General Layer Cake is going to fir in! I want to make a simple lap quilt that I can use all the time. I'm just waiting for that extra fabric I ordered for the borders. As you can see I have som light blue blankets on my white sofas. That's because I have two cats: one white and one black. My sofas wouldn't have that white clean look for long if I left the sofas unprotected. I think I'm going to find some quilts I can use instead. It's just going to look nicer.

But since I live with an open plan in my flat I felt the need to do something with the kitchen as well. I just bought a roll of wall paper made for bathrooms, looking like tiles. Less work and not that expencive.

You can see how the kitchen and living room meet at this counter.

All I have to do now it to figure out how to rearrange the furniture. THAT is not as easy as you might think with a limited space.I still have two more rooms to clean from top to bottom and rearrange.

This won't bring me money but it is bringing me joy.

I am pleased with the result so far.

And I still have my doll house to finish as well :)

Inklingo is fun but...........

2011-07-18T11:34:00.001+02:00

......not with two cats around. Dutchesse is not quite good friends with Prince just yet. She sits on the sofa and stears at him. Without any warning she charges towards him. Too often she uses my table as well, as she did yesterday. This is the result. Everything is on the floor. Just a few moments before I had removed my coffe cup. Did I now something would happen? Maybe, because they broke a bowl in the same kind of attack. As you can see I was working with a hand piecing project.

This is one of Linda Franz's Yin Yang shape. The block will be 6 inch finished. I have prepared fabric for 24 blocks so I still have 23 more to make.My plan is to use them in a quilt where I need something that looks like water and waves. This is going to do it.

I bought a small compact digital camera a few years ago but I still don't know all the modes I can use yet. So I'm taking a lot of pictures to test it. Here I was testing how to take very close up pictures.

I'm also testing my eye for things to take pictures of. These two don't look so bad. Now I need to expand a little more.

My cats

2011-06-13T18:44:00.002+02:00

Our black cat, Prince , disappeared a year ago. We searched for him but couldn´t find him anywhere. Then a picture in the newspaper caught my eye. Buskerud SPCA got him! We finally brought him home again a week ago. Our white cat, Dutchesse, is very interested to get to know him all over again :) Take a look at these pictures.........

Create your own free picture slideshow

A giveaway to celebrate......

2011-05-21T12:43:00.002+02:00

This is my 201 posting and a cause to celebrate!

First I want to show you my 9th finished UFO so far this year. Somehow I didn't thing it was good enough for a show so it became a UFO. I still have more UFO's waiting to be finished :) This one is being quilted right now but it still have more quilting to be done on it. Then I'm going to add a few scary figures, appliqued in the border. This star quilt is hand pieced, hand quilted in the stars and machine quilted in the latice and borders. Who cares if there's a mix? I don't :)

So here's the task for you: Can you find and name the odd one out? Let me give you a clue: it has something to do with the fabric used. Can you see it? When you think you have found it, then let me know by leaving a comment. It has to have your name in it and some direction for me to contact you. I would like to see how you have spread the word about this celecration as well.

This is the first prize. A pattern for a doll's quilt with three suitable fabrics. The fabric is not repro fabric.

This is the second prize.

These three fabrics are Civil War fabric and I think they look lovely together.

This give away will close on June 12. That will give you enough time to find the correct answer and spread the word.

A couple of more UFOs finished

2011-04-12T10:30:00.001+02:00

These two are the result of a candle mat swap I participated in earlier and were a test of the pattern given. I had some charms I didn't know what to make out of. That's the reason for these two to be so similar.

If you look more close you'll see that the only difference is the binding. On the one at the top I used one fabric and on the second one I used pieces of left over fabric. I hate throwing away what can be used for something. I still have some really old UFOs I need to get my hands on. Don't know when they will be finished but they will be :) Since I am on my 200 posting this time, I am going to figure out some sort of give away next time.

UFO's

2011-04-03T12:25:00.001+02:00

When I was at the Appliqué Academy in February 2010, I took a hand quilting class with Sharon Schambler. I have finally finished the class sampler. But I'm not pleased with the way I did the binding so am going to undo that one............I think. It is a lot of quilting going on here and it did take some time to do it. But when you have to spend 1 1/2 hours four days a week on the train to and from work, you just don't notice the time spent. Then the train ride didn't get boring either :)

This is me playing with 6 inch charmes. Yes, those were the days before every charm became 5 inches. I did this because I wanted to try out this way of using all my odd pieces of fabric. A nice spring quilt.

But I went a bit crazy with the machine quilting. On this quilt I used 4 spools of Robison-Anton 50WT 100% cotton thread. Only two needles! I made a shell pattern in the blocks and a loop pattern in the sashing.

This is how it looks like on the back. With this quilt I really learned how to do machine quilting my way. The speed, needle, and the thread. I no master yet but I'm getting better. I used my domestic machine: Janome MC 6600. It's more than good enough for a task like this. Even though the thread didn't give much lint, there were enough of it in the machine. So I made sure to clean it whenever I had a break. Now I need to figure out what to do with this quilt. Due to all the quilting, it's not exactly nice and soft.........

I designed my own BAQ block!

2011-03-29T12:10:00.000+02:00

This is my version of a BAQ house block. I used off block appliqué on this one just because it was the easiest thing to do. Besides it reduces the shrinkage of the background fabric. I added the two turtledowns in the name of love. I did some blue French knots in the gras to add some 3D effect. Did the same thing with the gras so it looks more natural to the flagpost, tree and stone wall/stairs. The house is very typical for the southern part of Norway. Usually a skipper would build a house like this. He would have the money to follow the bulding trends at the time. Everything outside and inside should be symetrical and in balance. I think I captured that in my block with the tree and flag on either side of the house. The birch tree has a special meaning to us in Norway, and is connected to what the Norwegian King did during the eraly days of WWII.

So, I'm really pleased with this block even though it turned out a tiny bit bigger than planned. No one will notice in the end :)

My BAQ block #3

2011-03-13T12:00:00.001+01:00

It's been almost a year since I finished my BAQ block #2. Here is block #3. Sometimes finding enough background fabric becomes like a hide and seek game. Other times you just have to piece smaller pieces together. Just like I did for this block. But when everything is put together and quilted, this seam won't be very noticeable. Not if I don't ask you to look for it. Something I'm not going to do :)

Well, making one block a year is just not good enough and I will have to try to do something about that.

The last parts are now up

2011-02-28T09:51:00.000+01:00

Oh......... it's been a while. Deigning and writing a pattern is sure time consuming. But I have finalle put up the last parts for you: Part 11 and 11 a, Part 12 and 12 a. This should make it possible for you to finish off your quilt before summer. I do have plans for something else in the future but they are no more than thoughts right now. Now that thedesign pattern is done, my free pattern is done, I want to get back to making a few Baltimore album blocks and finish off some more UFO. How are you getting along? Finished off any UFO's lately? :)

Another UFO done

2011-01-16T12:51:00.001+01:00

Finally. It's all done! All I had to do to finish this one, was to put on the binding. Don't know why it took this long to do it. It looks a bit wayvy on the picture but that is only a trick of the eye. Some outer block have a solid colour and some don't. That's why. I just didn't have the heart to cut this fun fabric into smaller pices. Of course I could have fuzzy cut it and I thought of it too, but did find the technique not suitable. The finished size is 130 x 160 cm (approx. 52 x 64 inches).

I have several more UFO's waiting so I better get to it......

By the way, did you notice that little white head in the picture? Yepp, she did it again.

Last Christmas

2011-01-16T12:32:00.000+01:00

This book from Thimbleberries is quite a few years old. But from day one I wanted to make this Christmas tree skirt and I had the fabric, all ready to go.

Nothing happened until Christmas 2010. Better late than never, right?

Here it is. I haven't added the holy berries because I'm not sure that I want to. That might become a task for next Christmas.

The binding is not made from a Thimbleberries fabric, it is a premade binding. And a bit too stiff. I am not going to do anything about that now, but I think I didn't get the best quality.

I had a pack og charmes as well that I wanted to turn into something. So I just went ahead and made these HST.

And I put them all together into a larger peace. Hello Dutches! :)

It became just big enough to cover a pillow I bought at IKEA, it is 40 by 60 cm.

I did find some darker read fabric in my sash that was just right. This is the three pieces of the outside pillow.

See? It fits in just perfectly.

When I quilted the three pieces I made sure to use the same same fabric on the back. When everything were put together I had a reversable pillow. Not bad at all, two pillows in one :)

It's time for UFO's

2011-01-15T14:24:00.001+01:00

This is a candle mat I bought at the quilting festival in Houston but it did take some time to finish it.

This is panel I bought quite some time ago. And again I didn't finish it as quick as I wanted to.

This is it without the cat. I am starting to believe that the cat is in love with the camera. Each time I want to take pictures, she gets in as well :) Oh well, I have more UFO's to finish.

Cats!

2011-01-09T17:01:00.001+01:00

I made new curtains for Christmas and was a bit proud over the result. Then I started to notice that the lower curtains were sagging. It shouldn't be happening because they weren't that heavy!.

One evening while I was doing my dishes, I discovered what it was that made the curtains sagg: Dutches! She might be a small and cute cat but she is too heavy for the curtains!

"What did you say? Can't I play and cuddle with the curtains? It's sooo much fun!"

Oh well.....

Happy New Year!

2011-01-05T18:37:00.000+01:00

My days have not been very merry or bright during December but part 9 is finally up. Since it's January 5. allready I'm uploading part 10 as well.
When we say Happy New Year we wish eachother a good year ahead with what we need and what we want. I hope that will come true for me this year since I wouldn't want a repeat of December 2010. :)

My candle mat

2010-11-15T19:38:00.001+01:00

Look at the label! It came from Portugal! Exciting.

Inside the envolope I found three things: my mat, a Portuguise tile and my first Christmas card of the year. I love the blue colours on the tile.

And this is my candle mat....... with rick racks and all :) I really like the colours on this as well.

Take a closer look at the quilting. Great. My pictures aren't the best ones but you get the idea. It turns out that my Secret swapper is an English lady by the name Helen and her blog is here .

It is just so much fun being in swaps like this. I recommend it to everyone to give it a go :)

Candle Mat swap

2010-10-31T19:18:00.001+01:00

I just "had" to be in this swap :) It is a candle mat swap by Michelle at Quilting Bloggers . There are quite a few participants in this one. The sign up is closed but you should still be able to find the free partern here by Sandra Andersen . She even has a tutorial for the candle mat, part 1 and part 2 .

First I had to test the pattern so I pulled out a charm pack with fall fabric from Moda. Out of 42 5" charms I got two mats. They still need to be quilted and binded.

Then I went on with the candle mat for my seacret swap sister. I hope she likes it because I used the fabric line she wanted me to use: Moda, "Adoring" by Sandy~Gervais.

Of course there was enough fabric or should I say squares for another mat for me. Still need to stitch down the binding. But there were still some small pices of fabric left. I didn't want to throw them away so I made 3" bow tie blocks. I have never made any of these before and it was fun.

I started to sew them together into rows using a lighter fabric but I didn't like it after all. After some frog stitching I cut out new pieces of dark blue fabric.

This was much more suitable. All I need now is the border, quilting and binding. Perhaps I should call it a doll's quilt due to the size? I'll give that another thought when I'm back from the Quilt Festival in Houston this week. Please note that there isn't a perfect fit between the blocks, but I don't care :) It's cute anyway.....

I'm sorry

2010-10-18T20:29:00.000+02:00

There has been too much going on right now at work, with plans for my trip to Houston in the beginning of November, and a hard time with the flue. Since I'm going to be a bit busy during most of November I have uploaded that part now instead of later. I do hope you have some pictures to share if you are making this quilt. I would love to see how you are making it into your own quilt :)

Swap block quilt

2010-10-10T13:48:00.000+02:00

2010 has become a year of swapping for me. You might have read about all the different blocks I made. Originally I wasn't planning to participate in that many swaps and making a big quilt. But I did and I am. This is how the quilt top is at the moment. It's getting wide enough for a twin bed but not long enough. Besides I would like to have my quilts more rectangulare instead of just square.
I had to add a few more single fabric bordes than I thought I would but seeing it live, I think it just adds to the design. The next swap on the Jo Morton Stitchers list is a basket swap, where the baskets are different from the ones in the top now and they will form the top and the bottom of this quilt. I haven't signed up just yet but am wondering about it. If I do this I have to come up with some good final framing. So I have been playing with EQ7 again and came up with these two:

option 1

option 2

What do you think? In the end I might not go for either of them. Who knows :)

Let the building commence!

2010-10-01T17:24:00.000+02:00

I have read through the instructions several times so I feel confident enough to start. The first thing I'm doing is to glue the two ground floor pieces together. To do that correctly I needed to tape the walls together. They will be glued in the next step. But at least now I can see for real how big this house is going to be and that's nice. I am not taking on a new hobby. This is just a one-timer. When I searched for this house I read many good blogs about doll house making and their interiors and people. I can understand why many are atracted to this, but I'm first and foremost a quilter. Always will be.

I think there will be some more glueing tomorrow :)

I bought a house!

2010-09-30T23:53:00.002+02:00

Well........ it's not THAT big, I can't live in it :) But this is the age of fullfilling dreams, so why not? Age doesn't matter anymore.

That's why I finally bought a doll house. It's not very big but big enough for my living room. I think the colonial style fits right in with my passion for old style quilts. I am going to make very small miniature quilts for this house. What technique I going to use remains to be seen. I'll find out somehow:)

Dutches, have you ever heard the saying : "curiosity killed the cat"? I don't think so :)

This and that

2010-09-30T13:53:00.001+02:00

This is how far I've come with my Jo Morton swap block quilt. I'm still awaiting the 135 signature blocks and I hope they arrive soon. All the HSTs are leftovers from the siggies. When I can add those I will be able to add my basket swap blocks and even more HSTs. I think this is going to look really good. To make this suitable for a bed I'm going to add something at the top and bottom so it becomes more rectangulare instead of just a square. Dutches also likes the design :)

This picture is from inside my new book case. I just "had to" buy those two coffee cups with plates at a yard sale. They are in mint condition and it was the colour that first atracted me to them. They do fit nicely next to my Tilda sewing box don't they? :)

I bought this white frame at IKEA (sorry if I sound like a salesperson from that company) because it is deap enough to frame a miniature quilt in the future. I planned to get rid of the white card board frame inside (sorry I can't find the correct translation for that word) but I covered it with a paper napkin instead. I think it's quite suitable for something stittcheryish with a French touch now. Agree? Anyway, the frame completely changed character due to this addition.:)

There's a new post under the DearJane label as well.........

Oh my......

2010-09-23T19:07:00.000+02:00

I am trying to make another blog in Norwegian that doesn't automaticly show my profile from this blog. So far I haven't succeeded, but just give me some more time and I'll figure it out :) I have added a couple of new pages to this blog so you will have to use them to find pictures of my Lost in the 30's DJ quilt and information about my free BOM. Not everything is where I want it to be just now, I'll get there.........

BOM part 6 finally here

2010-09-16T23:10:00.001+02:00

I'm sorry for being late this time, but part 6 of my BOM is ready for you to download. Enjoy :)

From unwanted to wanted

2010-09-12T22:05:00.001+02:00

I bought this book case at a yard sale for about $16 (100.- NOK). As you can see it was in need of some fixing up. Pine isn't that popular at the moment.

Sooo.............I repaired the holes and started painting it in a glossy white paint.

And here it is all finished. I replaced the knobs on the drawers as well. I'm truely pleased with the end result and I needed the storage space. I will have to move it somewhere else at Christmas but that doesn't matter.

Style and Tradition

2010-09-05T21:10:00.001+02:00

I just wanted to show you a picture of my daughter, one of my three sons, and myself. I'm not sure but I think it was taken 14 years ago at an amusementspark called Tusenfryd here in Norway. In those days I didn't know much about reproduction fabrics, Dear Jane quilt or quilting all together. But I love this picture :)
Click on it to get a closer look.

Dear Jane and 9 patch

2010-09-05T17:49:00.001+02:00

This block, G-7 Indianapolis, was the block of the week for week 34 on the Dear Jane list.

This week it was D-5 Cathedral Window. That brings my total up to 108. I have to admit that I've not been following this through as I planned. Somehow I got caught up in redecorating my living room. Will show you what I turned a bargan into later on.
While doing this is stumblede upon some forgotten 1 1/2 inch squares.

I must have had a plan for them at one point but I just can't remember what! So what do you do with all those squares?

You make 9 patch blocks of course! They will finish at 3 inch. A good size for a doll quilt,..... or......
I don't know. They will probable be done and put away. Later on they will catch my attention again and I will wonder what the plan for these blocks were. Then I will hopefully turn them into either larger blocks or a quilt. Don't you just love these kind of plans? They bring so much hope for a good block ending :)

Part 5 is up

2010-08-15T13:59:00.001+02:00

Would you like me to speed thing up a bit? Let say I do this every fourthnight but keep each part up for a month? Please let me know :)

The winner is.............

2010-08-07T19:34:00.001+02:00

It's Saturday, August 7.
I said I was going to use an online services to pick out the winner, but I did something else:

I put all the 13 correct answers in a bowl and tossed all the paper pices up in the air and tried to catch one.

I missed several times. I'm sorry but I didn't manage to toss and take pictures at the same time. :)

Finally! I caught one! The winner is:

Conratulation Barbara!

I hope you will put up a picture on your blog to show everyone what the surprise items are when you receive your prize :)

Here are the two blocks I wanted you to look out for:

K-10 Quandry........

.........and K-11 Columbine

Thank you to all who participated. I hope you liked how I arranged this Give away. You are all welcome back to an other one when I have my 200 posting or sooner :) I will let you know.

Then it was the sofa................

2010-08-06T19:20:00.000+02:00

I was sooo bored with this sofa. Since I have a white cat you can imagine how this looked like after three days without vacuming............... Yeah, right......

Luckely my sofa is Ektorp from IKEA and that means I can have a new sofa whenever I want but not spending a lot of money. You probable think that a white sofa is a hazzard and it could be. Since I don't have small children in my household I don't mind. Besides, if it gets dirty I just put in the washing machine for a quick spin :) Cool, isn't it? So, what do you think? A new living room at the price of $89 (534.- NOK)! Not bad........ See how the old pillow matches the new lamp shade......

Big changes, small money

2010-08-06T12:31:00.001+02:00

I have had this up-light lamp for five years. I bought it at IKEA and it was cheap..........and good enough at the time.

But as the years past it didn't stand the use as well as I thought it would. The lamp shade melted. So I went back to IKEA yesterday to buy a new lamp. As I stood there and couldn't make up my mind, I had an idea.

I bought this lamp shade suitable for my kind of lamp. The pattern on the shade would fit in just perfectly with my curtains and the colour of the lamp itself.

It's looking good, isn't it? The shade was not intended for this kind of lamp and the lamp wasn't intended for this kind of shade...............

...........but I really think they look good together. I saved my lamp and I saved some money as well! Not bad at all. Now I need to have another look at my sofa :)

Have you guessed which of the two DJ blocks that had alterations showing me running out of fabric for my DJ blocks? You still have a few more hours to figure it all out. Go give it a try!

A Give away!

2010-07-31T11:38:00.003+02:00

Sooo......are you ready?

This is what you have to do:

Look very closely at the 20 blocks from yesterday's post. Click the pictures for a better view.

Find the TWO blocks that show how I'm running out of fabric.

In one block I had to add a different fabric but with the same colour,

and in another block I had to add a seam because I was running short on the background fabric.

If you name these two blocks in your answer with your name, e-mail contact and perhaps your blog, I will use Random.org to pick the lucky winner! If you don't leave your e-mail addy in some way, I won't be able to contact you.

This is the prize:

Well, this is only half of it. I will be putting something extra into this bag but that's a secret :) I will pick the winner next Saturday.
Good luck!

I've been making blocks!

2010-07-30T18:14:00.003+02:00

I only had a few inches left of my background fabric and I wanted to see how many more blocks I could get out of it.

A-3 Hunter's Moon is alphabetically the first block in this "need to see how many blocks I can get" frenzy.

This one has been my favorite since the first time I made it ten years ago: A-13 Starlight Starbright. I don't think it is the name that does it...........

B-9 Tinker Toy. The name asked for a more playful fabric, a lot of umbrellas. This fabric choice doesn't show the actual pattern very well. Perhaps I should have used two slightly different fabrics?

At this point I was running out of background fabric. This is B-12 Starflower

This is another block that doesn't use much background fabric, D-6 Challenge

J-3 Rick's volleyball net

To get some dept into this quilt I need some really dark fabric. Black is a good choice for J-5 John Jacob's Windmill.

This is the last block with this fabric with cute small bows. I ran out when I made J-8 Anna's Anchor :)

J-9 Maury High School. Are the students playing?

Perhaps I should have used this fabric for the J-9 block? Perhaps, but it suits J-10 Chieko's Galla Lily as well.

This is another favorite J-12 Rebecca's Basket. With this block done, I now have all the blocks in row J done.

Continnuing with K-1 Croocked Creek.

K-3 Seven Sisters. There are some mountains surrounding the town of Bergen in Norway, that have the same name: Seven Sisters.

This is K-4 Thea's Turn. I'm sure you understand why I picked blocks like this at the end :)

K-5 Passing Through

I didn't worry about the background fabric when I made this one: K-6 Ann's Folly

K-9 Scouts Honor. I was a girl scout in the earlier parts of my life :)

K-10 Quandry

K-11 Columbine. This is the only block with this fabric. Got it from one of my friends in the US some years ago. That's why I can't remember her name but I'm very grateful. With this block even the K row is now complete.

M-9 Fan Dance. Suitable fabric for a fun block. Somehow it seems that I have a hard time learning to mirror my blocks when I print out the pp pattern. I did the same mistake when I made this one for my first DJ, and I hand pieced that one! At the moment I now have a total of 106 blocks out of 169 and I have used 1495 pieces. Still not sure if I'm making all the triangles as well. Until I can find a suitable new fabric for the background, I'm going to take a rest from making DJ blocks.

Come by tomorrow for a small surprise (competition).

Part 4 is up!

2010-07-16T12:50:00.001+02:00

Sorry for being a day late, but here it is. There are some new things I would like to try, like linking the title. I'm trying that now ot see what is happening.

I just tested the title and it works! I might be a little late figuring this out but............ That was easy :)

Ig you click the title it will bring you to the download file or you can click the Part 4 to the right.

Just some experimenting going on

2010-07-14T22:50:00.002+02:00

If you see things you haven't seen before, then it's just me trying to figure out some new gadgets in Blogger :)
Just hope I don't delete anything..........

A few productive days

2010-07-13T15:07:00.004+02:00

and I have made a good progress with my DJ blocks.
This is E-8 Mama's Maze.

This is E-12 Mary Ruth's Corset. I'm glad I don't have to wear a corset.

Let's move over to A-11 Pebbles Protest. I hope Pebble is a name, because I have never seen a small smooth stone protest before. That would be a new one for me.:)

Have you seen a mouse in a mirror before? Well, now you have. This is block D-2 Mouse in a Mirror.

It seems to me that Jane Stickle was quite fond of drops in her blocks. This is one of them J-13 Pam's Bells.

After some challeging blocks I needed something easier like J-1 Josepha's Jonquil and........

........ J-4 Adelaine's Apron Strings. This brings the total number of blocks up to 88. Not bad :)

I have been counting.....

2010-07-09T17:04:00.003+02:00

........and recounting my Dear Jane blocks. I couldn't find any more duplacates, luckely. There were several blocks I did not tick off on my list. This is now done and as of date I have 81 finished blocks! I don't have any favorite rows since all 13 rows have finished blocks, but I can see that row J has the least amount of finished blocks. Hmm.....strange. :) Since the beginning of April this year I have only made 20 blocks. I need to do better. Back to the sewing machine....

It feels good.........

2010-07-08T20:21:00.005+02:00

..........to have three more DJ blocks done. That means I'm closer to 169 blocks.
I made this block D-9 Uncle Richard on Monday and planned to post about it but forgot. I started this little project instead. It's a pattern I bought in March but I sure took my time to make it.

The original pattern had a different embroidery on the front than this one. Well, I wanted to be different and designed my own. Now I know which one is mine when I pull out mine among all the other ladies that have made the exact same stitchery/project bag.

This is how it looks like on the inside Four pockets are easily spotted but the fift is just behind the red one with the doble plastic pockets. The big pocket with the white piece of fabric is big enough to hold an 8 inch embroidery ring.

Here's the front and the back (the bag is folded out). There's another pocket behind the red fabric. I embellished it with a little piece of ribbon and lace. Cute:)

Then it was time to make some more DJ blocks. This is block D-11 Snow Crystal. With a name like that I just had to make this one with blue fabric.

Then on with block C-2 Streak of Lightning. It was quite suitable with the yellow fabric on this one. No, I do not plan what fabric to use in which block. I just pick and sew. I haven't looked for any duplicates this time. I think that would be a good idea to do it now.

And a few more blocks...........

2010-07-02T15:11:00.005+02:00

If you really look at my blocks you will see that they are a bit wacky. That's just because I haven't ironed them before the picture was taken. They are fresh off the paper piecing paper :)
The first one is L-1 Widow's Pane. The first time I made this was July 7th 2000. I have a note of that in my Dear Jane book. The first time this block was quilted was on June 25th in 2001. That's ages ago!

The next one is F-7 Star Struck. This one goes back to June in 2000 and was quilted in April 2001. Quite interesting reading this information. To me any way :)

Then the third one is A-5 Cathie's Campfire. The earlier dates for this one is February 20th in 2000 and May 23rd 2001.

I'm glad I chose some blocks that will have some space between them because of the colour. Somehow I found some pieces of this colour in my stash and wanted to use it. The pieces weren't big enough for much else.

When I try to be efficient.........

2010-06-30T15:29:00.005+02:00

This is how it goes.........
I keep my Dear Jane blocks in this plastic container. As you can see on it's label, it's been around for quite a while:) As you can see it is long overdue that I finish this quilt. So I made these blocks yesterday:

C-7 Megan's Mountain Laurel

A-12 Framed Fancy

And finally C-12 Family Reunion. I thought I did good and wanted to count the numbers. Then I discovered this:

I allready had a C-12 block all done! Now I have two of them. Not sure which one to keep though...... I could change it into J-7 Chicken Tracs, but the thing is that I have that one made too......Oh well. Less speed next time :)

DeaJane and EQ

2010-06-28T14:14:00.005+02:00

Look what I got in the mail today: EQ7! I've designed several things in EQ6 and found that to be easier than doing it in EQ5. I hope that the difference between 6 and 7 is something like that. I haven't installed EQ7 yet so I wouldn't know. Before I do that I want to finish more DearJane blocks.

I just can't do with the pace Im going right now. I need to speed up. Do you know for how long I've been doing these blocks for my second DJ quilt? 7 years! And I'm not even half way there! :)

Any way, my latest block is I-10 Patriot's Lantern. All seams don't match up perfectly but I don't mind :) On with the next one...............

Did you like my Jo Morton design?

2010-06-20T23:07:00.002+02:00

Now you can download my EQ6 file and get it. You have to have EQ6 or 7 to open it. The file does not have the medallion block. If you want that too, you need to download the pdf file named Jo Morton medallion. You will find both files in the right column. Enjoy :)

A swap block here and a siggie there..........

2010-06-15T22:05:00.004+02:00

...............and you have a ........... quilt! I have been playing with EQ6 to see what could be done with odd blocks. When I made 135 siggies I was left with 270 one inch HST squares. They are all in here together with the siggies. I think there will be a few left overs but........
I will have to work more on this idea because I like it. And it is an easy way to use all those exchange blocks in one quilt rather than several smaller ones :) I might call this a sampler quilt since it will hold a lot of small samples of Jo Morton fabric :) Not the usual way of thinking about a sampler quilt I know...........

Part 3

2010-06-15T11:40:00.002+02:00

Part 3 is ready for you to download. Hope you enjoy it. :)

More DJ blocks

2010-06-06T15:27:00.004+02:00

Oohh.....this was a blurry picture. It is I-9 Chase a Myth, size 6 1/2 by 6 1/2 inches unfinished.
They will be 6 x 6 when they are in the quilt.

This is block I-10 Iris' Medallion. A bit better this picture.
Then we have block M-1 Dogwood Days. These picures are actually cut out of one bigger picture. I think that is the reason for the blurry first one. Any way, if I have counted correctly I now have 68 blocks. "Only" 101 more blocks to make :) I did it the first time and am going to do it again. Just have to remove the paper from the blocks and keep it up.

More blocks

2010-06-04T18:52:00.006+02:00

I have another BA block all done, Divine Guidance. Fabulous name isn't it? This is my second block since the Academy in February. If I'm going to have a quilt done in time for next year's Academy I need to pick up the pace. This block and the Eagle block (from previous post) are not part of a certain pattern. I just use some of Elly Sienkiewizc's patterns to make blocks. In the end I will have made enough to make a quilt. That will be 9 blocks, 12 blocks, 16 block.........whatever I think will make my quilt big enough with borders. :)

After two block exchanges on the Jo Morton Yahoo group I have decided to put them all into one top. This is the progress so far. Ought to be room enough for my 135 siggies and the 270 HST squares. I'm not planning this quilt top just adding as I get blocks :) Wonder how it will turn out as a finished quilt............

135 siggies!

2010-05-30T19:50:00.004+02:00

I have been making 135 signature blocks for a block exchange on the Jo Morton Yahoo group. I had to use different fabrics since I only had FQ's and half yards of everything.

When I made the blocks I cut off the corners and sew them together. So now I have 270 HST blocks. They are 1 1/2 by 1 1/2 inch. I'm not sure what to do with them all, but I might put them together with my other JM exchange blocks. When I receive my 135 swapped blocks back in mid June, I have no other idea what to do with them but to include them in the ever growing top, or make a quilt with only the siggies. I will post pictures soon so you can see what I'm talking about.

Part 2

2010-05-16T18:48:00.002+02:00

I have deleted part 1 of my free BOM and you will now find Part 2 in it's place. I hope you like it and happy stitching :)

I got the name..

2010-05-10T23:51:00.004+02:00

Here's the whole quilt :) Thanks to my friend Kari, I got the name: Millenium Sampler. She has the pattern but she didn't finish hers. Too bad. She also directed me to the site where you can buy the pattern............if you want to : http://www.patchworkstudio.com/ Their site has changed a bit since I found them back in 1999. The pattern is in their Block of the Month category.

My first BIG quilt

2010-05-09T10:18:00.005+02:00

I finally have som pictures of my first BIG quilt. I gave it to my eldest son years ago, but it has taken me this long to ask for pictures :)
I found the pattern on the net as a BOM. When I saw it late 1999 there were only a couple of blocks left to do. I didn't have the stash I have today but still I think I did something right :)

I do have some of the fabric even today. I just loved a few of them so much that I went searching for more.

I spent January and February 2000 handquilting this quilt. It was the second quilt I had ever hand quilted. I had some progress from my first quilt, so this went faster and better :) Can you see the stitches?

I'm not quite sure of the size but I think it might be a Queen sized quilt. The blocks are 12 inch square and if I'm not mistaken, the sashing is 2 1/2 inch wide.

I do not remember the size of the border either but it looks like it might be 8 inches. I no longer remember what the site's name was but do anyone out there remember seing this or have made it themselves? Would be fun to know. Have to ask my son if I put a label on it...........

Another UFO finished

2010-05-01T16:49:00.005+02:00

From time to time it's a good thing getting those UFO's out of the way. Some years I finish quite a few, other years: none. So far this year I have done two. This one is about 3 years old and my own design, using Thimbleberries fabric. I might have been thinking about Christmas when I made this one :)

It's finished!

2010-04-21T18:39:00.006+02:00

Here it is: Vintage Valentine quilted. I quite like it. It shrunk a little bit more than I thought but it doesn't matter.

Here's a closeup on the quilting from the front..........

...........and from the back. Now it's done and ready for use.

The other day I went in to a thrift store and found this old shirt. I intended to cut it up and use the fabric for blocks, but I haven't done that yet. It's a bit stained but I don't mind. This is the front...........

.......and this is the back. It is nothing like the modern shirts when it comes to using buttons :) Look at the stiff cuffs! They feel like good quality paper and not fabric.

Inside the stiff collar I saw these words. The collar had several buttonholes where the top collar where supossed to be attatched.

Look how stiff the chest part of the shirt is! I do believe that this ironing and pressing were done by professionals. The style of this shirt and how it has been treated makes me wonder how old it really is. I payed $4.50 for it :) I'm still not sure if I'm going to cut it apart and then use it in quilt blocks. What do you think?

I'm machine quilting

2010-04-17T17:05:00.001+02:00

No time for DearJane blocks just yet. I'm machine quilting my Vintage Valentine now. I will finish the borders today and hopefully put on the binding tomorrow. If I don't run out of Aurifil unbleached thread first :) I'll get back to you soon.

A new gift for you

2010-04-14T19:04:00.003+02:00

.....if you like it :) I have decided to share a pattern I did a while back. Each part will stay up for one month only! So please be one of my followers if you don't want to miss any parts. The will not be e-mailed after they are taken down. Enjoy! :)

Finally back on track

2010-04-10T15:04:00.003+02:00

I finally decided to make some block for my DearJane quilt again. It’s been a while since I did that. I’m making this second quilt in 30’s repro fabric and am enlarging the blocks from 4 1/2 inch square to 6 inch square. That’s pretty easy using the DeaJane software. This is block M-12 Hopscotch.

This is block L-4 St. George’s Cross

This is block I-8 Pete’s Paintbox

And finally….this is block C-3 Rayelle’s Fence. After making these blocks I’m now up to 65 blocks. Only 104 more blocks to go :) Since I’m trying to use the paper piecing technique as much as possible it shoudn’t take too long. All I need to do is take the time to make a block. While I’m doing these blocks I’m still doing appliqué on my BA blocks as well………and some quilting :)

My appliqué academy block is done!

2010-04-04T13:42:00.002+02:00

I am really pleased with this block. I have never done a block like this before. This inspired me to do another block I’ve never done before:

Do you know what? I don’t know the name of this block! That will be a future task……….and mabe I’ll put in a writing as well.

This block is really what I wanted to make as my second block, this basket. Then I couldn’t make up my mind what flowers to put in. I know I want some roses and maybe a little blue bird. If you should happen to have an idea for my, it would be much appreciated by me. What started all this is the background fabric I got from Linda McMakin: She was sitting opposite me in the class. We went out for dinner as well with a couple of other lovely ladies. I had a great time that evening even though I didn’t finish my plate. I just hope that the resaurant lady didn’t think I didn’t like her food. There just wasn’t room for it all :)

Appliqué Academy Last part

2010-03-21T13:10:00.000+01:00

This time I will show you a few pictures from some of the classes. This is from my class with Elly:

Then there is the class with Nancy Kerns:

Then there’s the class with Debbie Eaton:

And finally some picures as all the students are showing their class blocks

Until next year :) Then there’s time to say good bye:

If you are looking for names, I have to admitt that I’m not good at keeping those in my mind for a longer period of time. Sorry about that.

I had to play with some of my pictures. This experience will stay with me for a long time. I hope to return next year though.

Applique Academy Part 3

2010-03-06T22:23:00.001+01:00

Welcome to the Afternoon Tea Social with Kathryn Tennyson as the Honored Quilter! She held a very emotional speach and inspired all around her, even her family that had followed her to this event.

I will never get enough of looking at BA quilts. Kathryn was giving away these quilts to her granchildren. They are the lucky ones.

Her eagle block is a beauty and I am proud to be makeing a similar block.

Perhaps I should try the ship next………………..

…………or one of these? These two blocks are made from two of my favourite patterns.

As you can see we all had a wonderful evening :) I didn’t have a hat and had never worn one before so I got to borrow one. I had great fun! Too bad that there isn’t a picture of me with a hat on my head. I still wonder how I looked like.

Progress

2010-02-27T16:34:00.007+01:00

I have made some progress on my BA eagle block. Just a few more leaves and the two roses are still missing. But I'm getting there. This isn't as difficult as I thought it might be so I will find the blocks that will go well together with this one later. Maybe a basket and a wreath.........and.....

Some of you have been down loading my free pattern of a Jo Morton medallion block. Therefore it's about time that I show you all my medallion. It is looking good at this stage but even better when I add all the swap blocks and some additional pieces. I would really love to see pictures if you are making this medallion as well. Please let me know. :)

Appliqué Acadamy 2010 Part 2

2010-02-21T13:51:00.005+01:00

When you see these pictures you might think that "what's the point?". Please remember that I have never been in this part of the world before so they are exciting to me.
This is the place where it all took place. I was rather delayed due to snow. But this looks more like a Norwegian spring. I loved it.

What do you think about the hallway outside the classrooms? Wow!

Not to forget the doors! I just loved to see this live. Look at the chanderlair. It was BIG.

The last picture this time is where all the student flock around Sharon when she shows a new bit of her technique. Do you see her appliqué blocks in the background on the left? I bought two.

Appliqué Academy 2010 Part 1

2010-02-17T19:51:00.006+01:00

I finally made it to the Appliqué Academy this year. It was a bit of a strugle to get to Williamsburg though. After travelling 27 hours, a seven hour's sleep I finally made it to my first class. It was an Add one day class with Sharon Schamber: Hoopless Hand Quilting. Since I arrived two hours (about) late I gought her kit instead of using the one pice I had prepeared at home.
The basting was done quite easily. But the quilting it self...........

.....doesn't look that bad on the front........

.........but look at the back! I feel like I'm a newbie again. I'm tempted to rename the class to Hopeless Hand Quilting. :) So I have a lot of hours of practicing infront of me before I master her technique.

I saw some of her other students working on the block to the right in the picture. It is sooo wonderful in real life that I had to buy the pattern.........among other things. :)

My main reason for going to the accademy was to take my first class ever with Elly. Actually, it is my first appliquè class ever. About time I should say. The pattern for this class is a traditional eagle block and this is how far I got.

When I went back home to Norway again I carried the block in my handbag. I'm sure you would have too if you had a block signed by Elly herself. This is a treasure to me.

Another treasure was the book on the left in the picture. It is a first edition and Elly signed it. As she did in the other book. It's a little bit hard to believe that I got my hands on it.

I still have a lot of pictures and a lot I would love to tell you but it'll have to wait a bit. I need to sort everything first. Besides I really long to get back to BA blocks. The academy was a huge motivator to me. Get back for more on this trip later.

A great surprise!

2010-02-09T14:46:00.003+01:00

Just look at this wrapping paper! This is the front......

........and this is the back and one of the sides. It almost broke my heart to open it. I couldn't do it without tearing the paper though.

This is what I got: Jo Morton fabric, thread, needles, buttons and a cute tin. This was a huge surpise to me, I wasn't expecting anything at this time. This wonderful gift was from my secret Pin-cushion sister from last fall's swap: Janine in Michigan. Thank you ever so much Janine, I love it! :)

I also participated in another swap last December: Dear Jane Holiday Swap. Since I didn't have time to make more than 3 sets I got this bunch of blocks back. I love them all and they will fit in nicely with my other 30 blocks from earlier swaps. The ones that are still waiting for me to make something out of them :)

The last swap I was in last year was the Dear Jane Christmas Siggie Swap. This was a first for me so I don't have earlier blocks waiting for a project. Perhaps I should mix the blocks from these two swaps? Need to think about that.

This is all for now. Tomorrow I'm heading for the States. Or should I say Williamsburg, Virginia. I'm taking a couple of classes at the Appliquè Accademy. I have wanted this for years and nothing is going to stop me now. Not even the weather :) There will be a good update when I get back :) See you then.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-20T19:59:00.006+01:00

I know I'm late wishing you a happy new year but I haven't been sleeping like these two. Cute aren't they?

It's been snowing a lot since December and it's snowing tonight as well. This is the gate into the front yard where I live. When I see it like this I see how beautiful it actually can be. I don't like to shuffel snow though.......

I just had to buy this tea cup and pot as a gift to myself this Christmas. It's a perfect gift for a quilter don't you think? :)I was asked to do a hand piecing class this spring and this is my class model. The border is still missing when I took this picture.

Dutchess just had to try it out. Usually she and Prince wait until my tops are quilted but not this time.

What have you done with my free patterns? I made my heart blocks into a small wall ahnging. It turned out quite christmassy as well. It was the fabric I used in the bottom right corner heart that set the colours. If you look closely I still miss a few details on the garden gate block and the binding. By the way, the wall hanging isn't as wavy as the picture indicate. See you again soon :)

Another block for my guild

2009-10-19T22:53:00.003+02:00

I have made a pattern for the sixth (and last) block for my guild. I called it "My Garden Gate" and you will find it as a pdf to the right.
I do not have a pattern for block five but it is a really easy one. Just three 4 inch circles that is turned into yo-yos and then turned into a small bouquet by adding some embroidered stems and leaves. Maybe a bow too. I do not have a picture of my last two blocks just yet. I plan to have them by the end of this week along with a picture of my completed work. Not quilted though :)

A mystery project for my quilting guild

2009-09-26T18:27:00.005+02:00

I was asked back in April if I had some ideas for fun things to do at our guild meetings at Drammen og omegn quiltelag. Well........I sort of had some idea.

The first thing I thought of was to use this hart from "A Heart or Two" and teach the back basting appliqué technique.

Then we did this heart from that same pattern (you can find it to the right). This time reverse appliqué was the main thing to learn something about.

What next? Why not some embroidery stitching? Doing stitchery and redwork is something many people do but they don't know that many stitches. So I thought this was a good idea.

Of cours the knowledge about all those stitches had to be put into good use and I therefore thought that a crazy hart would be the right thing to do. The guild members that wanted to join in on this, now have four blocks with a hart theme. I need to figure out the last to blocks and the finishing instructions before November. They are a mystery to me as well :) Lets hope I can come up with a good solution :)

What size is "May your days be merry and bright"?

2009-09-18T09:05:00.002+02:00

The medallion is 20 inch square, the blocks are 12 inches and the border is 10 inches. In total the quilt is about 67 inch square. I'm not quite sure I really planned it this big but it looked really great in EQ6 :)

What I've been up to lately

2009-09-11T09:36:00.005+02:00

This is my pattern for the Christian Radich ship I will put in my Houston in 2010 quilt. I will add flowers and things like that but you get the idea.

I'm also working on my Cake Stand swap blocks with other Jo Morton fans. I still have three more sets to make. The due date is in October so still have time to make them.

Of course I had to join another Yahoo group: Basket Case Quilters
We are making twelve basket blocks as a BOM and this is my first basket block. I don't know what the other blocks will look like and I like that surprise :)

At Inklingo we have a Tilde's Tiny Tote swap and this is my tote. The due date is September 15. Just a little bit of fun :)

Then I have ben working with this quilt. It is my own design and I have turned it into a patern for sale. I would love to hear your opinion on this one :)

_In addition to al this I am working part time as a substitute teacher and educating myself as a mentor for new teachers. I would love to get a few more hours in the day if you have some spare to give me.

Don't laugh!

2009-08-07T21:02:00.002+02:00

I love hand piecing and Inklingo (deisgned by Linda Franz) is a very good tool. That is, IF you do what you're supossed to do. This time I didn't pay attention while printing. So.......I thought I printed out pieces for a 4.5 inch inch block but it turned out as a 2.5 inch block.
I have never done any block this small before. It's kind of cute:) Then I printed out the pieces one more time in the correct size and I can go on with my project.

My opinion on Elly S.'s dvd

2009-08-05T16:08:00.003+02:00

I have been doing appliqué by hand for at least ten years now and never taken any classes. Very early on the books about Baltimore Album quilts caught my eye, especially the books by Elly Sienkiewicz. Despite the fact that I'm no longer a beginner, the dvd had a few points that I hadn't figured out from her books.
Remember this dvd is mostly for the beginner, but I think there's a tip here and there that might learn you a new trick or two. There are some patterns on the dvd as well, from size 8" to 20". Now I don't have to use the copier for those patterns :)
If you are looking for more advanced appliqué techniques I think you should go for her second dvd that will be out in October this year. I'm ordering that dvd as well to fill my appliqué librery.
Well worth the $$ spent.

Now I'm ready

2009-08-04T11:48:00.005+02:00

I ordered this cd from Elly Sienkiewicz since I love doing appliqué by hand and I still haven't found the time or money to take a trip to the US to take one of her classes. Now I have her in my own room :) The background for the cd is one of my black BA blocks. I started it three days ago. When it's done I wil get on with another block for my Houston in 2010 quilt.

Vintage Valentine ready

2009-08-03T15:14:00.002+02:00

Here it is, all ready to be quilted. It is even being inspected by my daughter's new kitten :) Since I have a very limited floor space and wall space, it's not easy to take good pictures. You get the idea :)

Last VV block!

2009-07-29T18:30:00.002+02:00

So, this is my last Vintage Valentine block. I've done it :) All I have to do now is some resizing, adding borders and quilt it. Shouldn't be too hard?

This is my second block for that black Baltimore Album quilt. I love it.

I have finished my fifth block for that Houston in 2010 BA quilt as well. Good progress and I hope I'll make it in time.

This is the same block as above. No I didn't make another, I just played around with Photoshop. It's all about changing the hue. I liked this one as well. It's so much fun playing with photo editing programs.

This is another colour variation.

What I'm working on now

2009-07-24T00:47:00.004+02:00

I just finished this quilt and I have spent the last three days transforming it into a pattern for sale.I still a few pages left. My plan is to self publish and only time can tell if that will work out for me.

The finished quilt is 60 x 60 inches, have a medallion and twelve blocks framing it. :) It's all about the good thing in life.

Spring Fling swap

2009-07-23T11:33:00.005+02:00

Thanks to this block and Kathy's signature, I know which year these swap blocks are from.......

.....when I sew them together into this top. Somehow I didn't get any further than this.

Three years later I joined the Dear Jane Spring Fling swap again and here are some of them. They still had their labels on and didn't find their way into that unfinished top.

Years went by one more time and I joined the swap again this year. I did it because I remembered that unfinished top and those 25 other blocks that were waiting for some action. So this time I have enough blocks to make a useable sized quilt for me and hopefully it will be done no later than early next year............... If I shouldn't decide to join the SP swap one more time to add more block. One never knows :)

I'm the lucky one!

2009-07-21T14:11:00.002+02:00

I got this in the mail today from my Secret Sister at the Jo Morton Yahoo group. It turned out to be Patti Liles in Oklahoma, USA.

It was a pincushion exchange but look what I got!

I used to visit the Starbucks coffee shop in Newcastle when I lived there. Never did I think that I would get one of their cups in the mail :) I got pins, a FQ, two charm packs, a note book, and coffe. A perfect gift for a coffe lover as I am. Thank you so much for your lovely gift Patti!

I finished two more VV blocks

2009-06-30T17:04:00.004+02:00

This is block #3 in the quilt and my eleventh. I made some small mistakes and some changes to it but it doesn't matter for the whole impression of the quilt, so I'll leave it with that.

This is block #7 in the quilt and my tenth. So now I only have one more left to do :)

While working on my Vintage Valentine blocks I have also made blocks for my Houston in 2010 BA quilt. Now I have four finished. I really like how they turn out even though the quilt doesn't have only the traditional colours.

I had to make a change

2009-06-29T16:16:00.003+02:00

My previous place where I had my free patterns foryou stopped working. So I had to come up with something else...........and I did :) Just lok to your right under theheading "Free patterns from me to you". This list will grow as I find time for all my ideas. Enjoy :)

The decision has been made

2009-06-27T11:42:00.005+02:00

My daughter came up with the solution, she asked her internet friends :) They came up with Lappeteppet (the quilt or the patchwork blanket) and I liked it. The word has more meanings in Norwegian than the English word has, so it might be hard for you to understand why I like it :)

So Thank You to all that wanted to help me out here :) I have been listening to you and I see that we all have the same ideas .
Quilters often refere to purple dresses and red hats and laughs feeling free. So you will find your thank you pattern here. (I hope this works)
Hopefully it will give you a smile and some fun ideas on how to use it in a quilt :)

I just heard about it

2009-06-19T20:54:00.001+02:00

A small quilt shop is closing.Hard times.
Yes, I know, I'm "blind" to reality. Maybe that's why I wear glasses. :)
Still haven't a good name for my future that makes me want to sing.

I'm struggling

2009-06-19T13:04:00.006+02:00

How hard can it be to come up with a fancy name that rings sweet in my ears? What for? __For the shop of my dreams of course:) _Take a look at my previous post. I'm stuck. If you help me out with some ideas I will give you something to download from my free pattern page in a few days:) I just need to create the pdf file first. Ok?

I must be a bit crazy these days

2009-06-16T15:35:00.003+02:00

Or........I might have been all my life :) But......... I really want to open up my very own quilt shop!
I have finished my VV block #10 (#12 in the quilt), a Houston in 2010 block, and sewn 30 swap blocks, am participaiting in a pincusoin swap, a bag swap, and a Cake stand block swap ......................and dreaming/planing this shop of mine. Help, I don't have any time left for paid work! :)

I found it!

2009-06-04T10:00:00.004+02:00

Here it is, the fabric for my Vintage Valentine quilt. I knew I was going to find something that would suit my blocks if I just took my time looking around for it. It is a bit darker than I anticipated but............

........when I laied down a couple of my blocks on it, I found it to be the right one after all. I have two more blocks to do and then I will put it all together. Not to brag but it's going to look great :) IMHO.