Look how cute

On my way home from the library this afternoon I decided to cut through the park. The weather was lovely, and my goal was to bring my books home so that Anton and I could go enjoy the afternoon out on the grass. Coming down the steps in the park I ran into this little guy



Must have been just a cub as he was really small. His brother/sister was in the bushes, but wouldn't come out and play nice for the camera. The sun was blazing and it was really hot, so a group of kids brought their water bottles - see that water on the step? It was greatly appreciated :-)



And to think just the other day I was pondering how long it's been since I've seen a hedgehog!!
Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Border blocks

I still kept on stitching after yesterday's post, so now all my border blocks for my Lucinda's Gift Chimneys and Cornerstones quilt are done.



Looking at all the blocks together I can see that I probably should have mixed up my scraps a little bit more, especially the lights, but all in all I very pleased with how it turned out! It will be a pretty and fun quilt with lots of different prints and textures since I have mixed and matched all sorts of bits and pieces from my scrap box. Now to get the top stitched together :-)

Ups! I just notice looking at the picture that I have twisted a block the wrong way - need to make sure that doesn't happen when I sew the quilt together!

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Chimneys and Cornerstones

Quilting is therapy - our small safe place where we can loose ourselves in beauty, instead of chaos. But time spent at the sewing machine stitching together soft and colorful pieces of cloth is also for reflection and thought. While listening to the disturbing reports of the tragedy that has taken place, I have worked on the border blocks for my Chimneys and Cornerstones quilt. 

As you know I started this quilt way before the occurrences on Friday, but over the last couple of days I have become more aware the symbolism of the block. The red squares stand for the warmth of the fireplace and the love of home, as well as the cornerstones of our lives and society. The light side of the block represent the joys and happiness of our lives while the dark side is for sorrow and tragedy. But as long as the fires keep burning and the cornerstones stand there will always be more joy than sadness. 

I do not have a fireplace in my flat, but will keep a candle burning for the lives cut short, those hurt and still missing, and all who experience loss and sorrow in the tragedy of this weekend. 

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

I have had a couple of e-mails from people who has heard news from Norway about a bomb attack in the center of Oslo, and want to let you who read my blog that my loved ones and I are all right. Thank you so much for your concern! I wasn't in the city when it happened, but is a tad shaky watching the news seeing what has been going on a short distance from my flat.



My warmest thoughts to the families of the casualties both in the bombing in Oslo and the tragedy at Utøya!
Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Lucinda's Gift q.a. week 2

Yesterday started the second sewing week of the Lucinda's Gift quilt-along on the SBS & Other Elm Creek Quilts yahoo group. Since I won't be able to play with Bernie this week, but had some time on my hands yesterday, I put the pedal to the metal and stitched a load of (i.e. 16) chimneys and cornerstones blocks - see, all my blocks laid out together



This will be such a fun quilt! And I have enjoyed re-visiting some scraps I had forgotten about completely, and some scraps from quilts that are dear to my heart. Next is a week of stitching border blocks - they are a variation of the chimneys and cornerstones, but the sewing is a touch different - looking forward to that :-)

Wishing everyone a lovely weekend!
Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Fresh blocks and Golden Syrup pudding...

...best way to spend a gray and rainy Sunday? Yup! Friday started our block sewing on the Lucinda's Gift quilt-along, and I'm not sure how much I'll manage to sew in the evenings in the week to come, so I have tried to get most of my blocks done this weekend. 21 of this week's 24 blocks are laid out on the floor



Love the scrappiness of them! I have tossed everything and anything from my scrap box in there - regular quilter's cottons, muslins, homespuns and batiks in a bright mix. I think this will be a great quilt ;-) At least I'm having heaps of fun stitching the blocks!

While cutting and stitching I have been catching up on some MasterChef Australia, and on one of the episodes  the contestants were making Golden Syrup Pudding, I tasted this yummy dessert when I visited Rose, and I have had the recipe hanging on the fridge door. So I decided today was the day to try making it. However I did have to do some changes to the recipe due to my low-stocked fridge: I didn't have butter so I used margarine and I had to use yogurt instead of milk.



It came out looking pretty good, even if the top was a bit cracked. However it was quite soggy in the bottom, so I ended up cutting that part away. But with a big dollop of yogurt on the side the taste of what was salvageable was really yummy!

The sourness of the yogurt really played well with the golden syrup. Gonna try this again, and get it cooked a bit better. I usually share the recipe when I show some of my cooking, but since this isn't my recipe I'll let anyone interested e-mail Rose in stead :-)

EDIT: Rose has generously allowed me to share the recipe, so here it is:

Cake
1 egg
1.5 cups self raising flour (we don't have that in Norway, so I used regular flour and a tsp baking powder)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup milk
40 g melted butter

Syrup
30 g butter
2 tbs Golden Syrup
2 cups boiling water

Mix together the cake mix. Combine syrup ingredients in a separate jug and pour over the cake mix. Bake in a 180 C oven for 40 mins. And e-mail Rose a bowl full!!!

Have a lovely Sunday!
Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Trangenvotten

I have got an urge to find my knitting needles :-) My parents stopped by last night and they brought with them a calendar I have been anxious to get my hands on ever since I heard it was coming out:



Lovely cover, isn't it? Now, what makes this calendar so special? See those pretty mittens on the cover? My Grandmother - who was a wonderful craftswoman - have designed them!!! And I'm so proud to see them printed in this calendar! The mittens were made in 1958 for the 150th anniversary of the battle of Trangen, which took place on April 25th 1808 between Swedish and Norwegian troops.



If you look closely at the design you see some lettering spelling the name Trangen, the year 1808 and a man holding a gun. In the legendary stories of the battle we are told of the heroic Captain Dreyer who stood on a tree stump firing at the Swedish soldiers and commanding his men before he himself was mortally wounded, and died four days later. Even though this story probably isn't historically accurate it has become a symbol of the battle and is what is portrayed in the center of the mittens.



Feeling my finger itch to get knitting, but it is a bit hot to be working with wool at the moment ;-)
Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

PS! The calendar is published by Hof Husflidslag and costs 100,- NOK + shipping. They can be contacted on: hof.husflidslag[at]hotmail.com. While searching for their website (didn't find one) I came across this article about the exhibition of mittens that was the start of this calendar

The Lucinda's Gift quilt-along starts today

As mentioned in a previous post the Lucinda's Gift quilt-along starts today, so if you would like to join in the fun and use up some scraps, pop over to the SBS & Other Elm Creek Quilts yahoo group and sign up to sew your own version of this lovely quilt. 

The quilt in question is first mentioned in Jennifer Chiaverini's novel The Quilter's Apprentice. The story is that this is a quilt made by Great-Aunt Lucinda as a wedding present for Elizabeth Bergstrom Nelson. This is how the quilt is explained to Elizabeth's cousin Sylvia:

"It's called Chimneys and Cornerstones" she told me. "Whenever she looks at it she'll remember our home and all the people in it. We Bergstroms have been blessed to have a home filled with love, filled with love from the chimneys to the cornerstone. This quilt will help her take a little of that love with her [...] Each of these red squares is a fire burning in the fireplace to warm her after a weary journey home. [...] The dark half represents the sorrows in a life and the light colors represents the joys. [...] As long as these home fires keep burning, Elizabeth will always have more joys than sorrows." - The Quilter's Apprentice (2003 ed.) p. 179

The pattern for the quilt is found in Jennifer Chiaverini's book More Elm Creek Quilts on pp. 67-70. As I mentioned in this post, the assignment for first week of the quilt-along is to cut the pieces, so there's still time to go book hunting if you'd like to join in ;-)

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida