Quiltoholic

New Year's Resolution

2012-01-02T15:23:00.000+01:00

For the last few years I have been posting a new years resolution. In 2009 it was "I'll make what I love... and finish what I start", and for that year it worked so well, I continued it for 2010. As it wasn't quite as successful the second year I decided for 2011 it would be "I'll make what I love...but finish a UFO before starting a new quilt" - which I think turned out pretty well for most of the year. But the last few months I haven't really sewn much, so I have a feeling that might have something to do with it. For a couple of days now I have been thinking of what to do for this year - and if I should do a resolution at all, but then again it's kind of nice to have a goal, even if it's a small one. So what I have ended up with is:

At the moment there are 20 items on my WISP list, so if I can cross off 25% or more from the list during 2012 I'll be very happy :-)

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T22:59:00.000+01:00

May it be a healthy, happy and creative year for everyone!
Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Merry Christmas/God Jul!!!

2011-12-24T11:00:00.001+01:00

Wishing everyone a very merry Christmas!
Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Wolverines playing

2011-11-28T12:16:00.001+01:00

I haven't had much chance to sew lately, so I don't have much to show that's quilt related. However I really want to share a little video I made when I went to the Nordic Ark with my family in the beginning of this month:

When we were there they had six wolverines, and we got to see two of the cubs playing for a really long time. This was on a Monday morning, and we were more or less the only people in the park at the time, and a couple of the wolverines came up close to the fence - this is my Dad saying hi the one we nicknamed Finn

(there's a whole long story behind the name - if any Norwegians out there have read the Knut Gribb stories, they might figure it out ;-))

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

The baby quilt...

2011-11-18T14:44:00.002+01:00

...is finally finished and was dropped off yesterday afternoon. I'm very pleased with how it turned out, and I think the lady who ordered it was very happy:

The top is machine pieced and appliquéd. There's Quilter's Dream cotton batting and a soft and cuddly fleece on the back so the little baby boy it's for will have it nice and comfy. I machine quilted it in the same pattern I used on my Chimneys and Cornerstones quilt. Sorry I didn't get too great a photo of it, but lamplight doesn't work well with my camera, but the pic should be clickable for a closer look.

Hope I can catch up on some other sewing this weekend! Have a great and creative couple of days ;-)
Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

What I'm currently working on

2011-10-26T23:02:00.000+02:00

I'm on a short break from my Mill Girls quilt to finish a baby quilt for one of the ladies I work with. Think this will be pretty on a little boy's pram or cot ;-)

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Mill Girls - the beginning

2011-10-17T07:06:00.000+02:00

Friday was the first day of the Mill Girls Quilt-Along on the SBS-and-other-Elm-Creek-Quilts yahoo group. Assignment for this week is 1) to pick the fabrics you'd like to use (I have chosen a layer cake of Buttercup by FigTree and a white-on-white background), 2) cut the pieces for all the blocks, and 3) if you have the time piece the first 30 hourglass units. I was very tempted to see how the blocks would look, so I pieced together three:

Pretty happy with them :-) And it was so great to find some time to spend with Bernie, too!
Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Tilda Angel

2011-10-13T06:28:00.000+02:00

Not much sewing going on here. During these first weeks of October I've only finish a Tilda Angel for a birthday pressie,

Since finishing this Bernie has pretty much been asleep, but I do have some sewing/quilting lined up, and hope to have something more to share soon.

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

PS! And a quick reminder - if you would like to participate in the Mill Girls quilt-along, it starts tomorrow morning :-)

Author's Album Blocks

2011-09-28T07:31:00.003+02:00

Hard to believe it's been way over a week since my last post - main reason: I haven't sewn a stitch in ages, and those pictures I talked about in my previous post I still haven't sorted through. But I thought I'd share some signature blocks I worked on this summer, and who are now traveling around the world:

These are blocks for a swap with the SBS-and-other-Elm-Creek-Quilts yahoo group from a pattern in Jennifer Chiaverini's pattern book More Elm Creek Quilts.. They were very fiddly to get to the right size, and some of them are a hair off, but I hope the girls won't have any trouble sewing the block they receive into their quilts. The stipulation was 8" blocks made using Kona Cotton Cream and a Civil War reproduction of choice. I used a fabric from Windham's Gettysburg Civil War VIII line.

Debbie, who is the swap hostess, kindly shared a picture of the blocks she received from all who participated before she sent them out. Since the blocks are still en-route between the US and Norway, I have "borrowed" her pic to share. Looks great doesn't it? This will be a very pretty quilt! Can hardly wait for my block package to arrive :-)

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Akershus castle by night

2011-09-16T23:59:00.000+02:00

Culture night in Oslo tonight and we have had a lovely time starting at farmer's market, seeing the palace chapel, the annual autumn art exhibition, a short fjord cruise, hot chocolate at the peace center and fireworks at the warf. I'll sort through my pictures and share some of my impressions one of these days. This is the last picture I was able to take before power ran out on my camera, and since this camera really doesn't perform well in dim light, I'm positively surprised. And the white "blob" is actually the moon :-)

Wishing everyone in blogland a wonderful weekend!
Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Bogstad gård

2011-09-11T23:33:00.003+02:00

As mentioned in my previous post I thought I'd share some of the pictures I took at Bogstad gård. It is a beautiful and historic site and well worth a visit if you are in Oslo. They offer tours of the manor house during the summer, but we didn't go inside this time.

In the years from mid 1600s to the mid 1900s Bogstad was the center of a large corporation, consisting of thousands of acres of wood, three blast furnaces, many sawmills and other businesses. The manor house was the family home, while it was the administration center and entertainment facilities for the company.

The owners were central in Norwegian politics, among them Peder Anker, the first Norwegian prime minister after the end of the union with Denmark in 1814, and his son in-law count Herman Wedel-Jarlsberg.

Leisha beside the courtyard fountain

Bogstad surrounded by one of our oldest English landscape parks, this is today a popular recreation area

Some of the younger maple trees has started to turn yellow

The last of the summer flowers

These were quite small, and such a lovely shade of purple

We walked back to the tube station rather than wait for the buss, and turning back when we had walked a bit around the lake this was our view

A lovely place to visit :-)
Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Saturday inspiration

2011-09-11T10:22:00.003+02:00

Yesterday was a beautiful warm and sunny day here in Oslo, and my friend Leisha and I spent the day at the beautiful and historic Bogstad Manor. Our main reason for going was to see this:

Kirsti Hovland is such a talented fabric artist! The exhibition covers the development of writing from stone age to modern computer age. She has dyed and printed most of the fabrics herself to get the look of stone, wood and metal, and the execution of the quilts are so wonderful! She has also If you live within traveling distance of Bogstad, you should definitely go have a look! There is so much to look at, but here's a peek at my favorite pieces.

This is a series of six small quilts showing the timeline she has covered - and it was so beautiful,and detailed

This quilt was inspired by the petroglyphs in the area around Alta in Northern Norway (see the northern light in the borders?) - and one of my two top favorites

Bronze age - love the combination of those strict lines in the piecing and the soft contours of the appliqué

This is the quilt I kept going back to - I have always had a soft spot for the Thousands of Pyramids pattern (never sewed it, though!), and I just loved the combination of an easily recognizable quilt pattern with the older Futhark (rune alphabet) appliqued as a border. And I love those little bursts of colured pieces of fabric in the binding

Here's a quilt that probably don't need an explanation - isn't it amazing how easily recognizable the stem of a viking ship is? And I love the combination of the "wood carving" cable and the younger Futhark in the borders

Medieval writing on vellum - you can just feel the texture of it :-)

A jump to more modern time - isn't this one fun? - newspapers on news print

And this contemporary series in black/grey/green - so much fun

I say it again - if you can go see this, DO! It's open for another week. I also took lots of pictures at the manor and farm - will share those in my next post :-) Wishing everyone a wonderful Sunday!

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

"Elm Creek stuff"

2011-09-10T10:18:00.001+02:00

The SBS-And-Other-Elm-Creek-Quilts yahoo group is starting up another quilt-along from Jennifer Chiaverini's pattern book More Elm Creek Quilts. This time around we are doing Mill Girls

This is another great quilt to clear up in your scrap box, so if you want to join in the fun, get your hands on the book and pop over to the yahoo-group and sign up :-) The starting date is October 14th and we will officially keep going for 9 weeks, but of course you can sew at your own speed.

Mary is having a wonderful giveaway on her blog - so if you want a chance to win a copy of the two upcoming Elm Creek books (one novel one pattern book), pop over to Mary's blog Quiltin' Grandma

Wishing everyone a great weekend!

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Christmas Greetings From Elm Creek Manor - September

2011-09-05T17:22:00.001+02:00

This weekend I finally found some time to sit down at the sewing machine and finished up some swap blocks (I'll share those later), and I managed to get this month's block of our BOM Christmas Greetings from Elm Creek Manor done - this is Star of Bethlehem:

Anyone remembering the block for April (or scroll down to the next picture *lol*) will see this has the same construction as the Star of the Magi block - but I had some trouble getting this one together - for some reason the points didn't want to line up properly, it turned out a tad on the large side, and there are some strange pressing lines. But at one point I had to say enough is enough, and this was the best it would be, and hopefully I can adjust the setting for the blocks to compensate for the bit it is off size.

And once I was at it I just had to pull the other blocks out of the drawer and lay them out together just to see what they looked like

Can't believe we're half way though this BOM already - seems like we started just last week!

Happy week, everyone!
Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Still here...

2011-09-01T07:06:00.000+02:00

Just been busy doing other things than spending time with Bernie. So till I have something quilty to show, please enjoy this pic of evening at the parking lot at the Nordic Ark ;-)
Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Lucinda's Gift is DONE!!! + a few free motion quilting tips

2011-08-20T21:05:00.003+02:00

A few hours of listening to Arnaldur Indriðasson's (fabulous Icelandic crime writer!) novels about Erlendur and the police in Reykjavik on my MP3 player, and a few sore fingertips later I finally have finished my Lucinda's Gift. I'm so happy with how it turned out! I was a bit worried when I pieced it that the contrast wouldn't be good enough since I have used fabrics that could be "medium" both in the dark sections and the lights. But the reds really separates the two sections, and I love the textured appearance from all the scraps.

Even the binding turned out better than I had thought - when I was stitching it down it looked a bit lighter than I would have liked, but once it was all done, that narrow strip really look good - if I do say so myself ;-) And I managed to use up some scraps on the back too - a bit weird, but I can live with it *lol*

Elin made a request at my previous post for a tutorial on free motion quilting. I don't really have an idea for how to build up a great tutorial at the moment, but I know there are some really good ones out there to watch.- have a look at the links at the bottom of this post :-) But anyways, I thought I'd make a list of things that work for me when doing free motion quilting on a domestic sewing machine.

Sewing machine
Get familiar with your machine! Play with it - it is your friend, and you are supposed to have fun together! Make some samples and try out different settings. Some machines will let you quilt very well with your feed dogs in a raised position, on others you have to lower them or cover them. Also get to know your darning foot - what will it let you do, and what won't it. Also use a fresh needle for quilting!

Batting
Don't use a heavy batting or batting with high loft. Remember you have to squeeze some of the bulk through the short arm of the machine, so don't chose something that will cause you stress. If you want a heavy or thick winter quilt I suggest you either split the quilt in sections and quilt it according to the "quilt-as-you-go" method, hand quilt it or take it to a long arm quilter.

Basting
This is another one of those "try and see what works for you" ;-) Usually I pin baste my quilts - even if it does take some time and can be tough on the fingers, it is the easiest for me, and the safety pins are quick and easy to remove as I get to them while quilting.

If I'm in a hurry or if I' certain I'm going to wash the quilt once it is done I glue baste. I used glue for Lucinda's Gift and it held up beautifully. But it is a messy process so I try to avoid it, though.

But for quilts I know will take me time to complete I baste with a smooth and highly visible thread to put as little strain as possible on the fabric.

Thread
Chose a thread that is soft at pliable. A heavy weight cotton that has not been waxed is usually nice to quilt with. And I actually love to quilt with machine embroidery thread, it does give a different feel and look to a quilt, especially after it has been washed, but it is worth a try.

Test the thread tension on your sewing machine with different threads - you will have to adjust it depending on type and thickness, and not all threads will work well with your machine.

Use the same quality thread in the top and the bobbin. I know some recommend you use the same colour/shade at top/bottom as well, but if your thread tension is right you can quilt with different colours without it being a problem.

Gloves
You will need something on your hands to give you a better grip on the quilt sandwich. Personally I loooove LicketyGrip - a gel you rub onto your hands. The little box is fairly expensive, but it lasts a really long time and is good value for your money.

If you don't want to use chemicals you can try quilting gloves bought at the quilt shop, they work very well and last a long time - it took me a couple of years to wear out a pair ;-)

Gardening gloves - they work a treat and are heaps cheaper, but they tend to be very warm, and make sure to get some with colourless rubber tips or you will find spots on your quilt!

Moving gloves - you know the cotton knit ones with rubber dots? - work like a charm! I have talked to women who quilt with washing up gloves and apparently they work well.

And you know those rubber finger tips you get at the stationary section at the book shop? Also great, especially if you don't like wearing gloves/mittens.

The quilting
Relax and have fun! You put a lot of strain on your arms and shoulders, so use any means to relax you - an audio book or some relaxing music, a cup of tea or perhaps a glass of wine, etc. Don't quilt for too long at a time! No more than half an hour at the machine without a break.

If you look at old quilting books they recommend you roll up your quilt into a tight package with a small square open for quilting. I don't like that! I like to have the quilt in soft folds around the sewing machine so I can see where I've been and where I'm going. It also makes it easier for me to turn the quilt at an angle and to "mush" the it under the arm of the machine.

Plan out your quilting. Divide the quilt into quarters so that you never have more than half the sandwich under the arm of the machine, and start at the center and work your way out. Here's an example of what usually works for me:

Don't try to cover a large space in one go - just concentrate on what is on the board of your sewing machine and you can see between your hands when you hold the quilt. One section at a time and you will eventually have quilted the whole quilt.

Make up loads of samples, turn them into cushions and fill your sofa ;-) Remember practice makes perfect - and don't expect perfection. The most important is to have fun and produce something you are happy with!

My favorite tutorials for free motion quilting
The videos I have learned the most from are Patsy Thompson's - have a look at the videos on her website: http://www.patsythompsondesigns.com/free-video/ I absolutely love these, she really explain things so well!

If you don't want to sit down and watch a video, there's a nice picture tutorial on Vicki's blog on the basics: http://www.sewinspiredblog.com/2007/09/free-motion-machine-quilting-tutorial.html

Free motion quilting is very much about imagination and sometimes you get stuck thinking up a pattern - Leah Day have some great patterns to try, there are loads of videos on her blog: http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.com/

Hope everyone are enjoying the weekend
Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Quilting Lucinda's Gift

2011-08-12T21:54:00.000+02:00

I did have high hopes of having several quilting sessions over the evenings of this week, but today is Friday, and my first session with Bernie and Lucinda's Gift

It's a slow process - I'm quilting it quite densely, but I think it will be pretty when I'm done ;-)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Lucinda's Gift update

2011-08-06T09:13:00.001+02:00

I have managed to get my Lucinda's Gift quilt top together and I'm very happy with how it turned out!

Now I need to piece the backing and layer it - hopefully I can do that over this weekend, and then I can start on quilting it - woohoo :-)

Have a fabulous weekend, everyone!
Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Oh, and another picture from the Nordic Ark - meet one of their red pandas

isn't he just the cutest thing?

August BOM block and a very pretty girl

2011-08-02T11:55:00.007+02:00

This weekend was our annual girl's trip to Nordens Ark (The Nordic Ark) in Sweden. As usual we had a fabulous time, and apart from a much needed short thunderstorm around mid-day on Sunday the weather played nice. I took over 700 pictures over the two days, and it's gonna take me some time to sort through them all, but I want to share one of my favorites from one of the major highlights of the trip - we got to watch this pretty girl named Sparta being fed:

Coming home I guess I was a bit more tired than I thought because my brain couldn't function properly. I was going to do the August block of the Christmas Greetings from Elm Creek Manor block of the month - "Glad Tidings". This looks like a simple block, doesn't it?

And it was, once I got my head wrapped around it! It only took two major errors, a block that's 1" too small (that's one for my orphan blocks box), and a night's sleep to get it right *lol*. Well, at least I learned something! Now I get to breathe before the September block :-)

Wishing everyone a fabulous week!
Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Look how cute

2011-07-27T19:44:00.002+02:00

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

2011-07-25T16:17:00.001+02:00

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

2011-07-24T18:33:00.000+02:00

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

2011-07-22T19:52:00.003+02:00

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

2011-07-16T07:44:00.001+02:00

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...

2011-07-10T16:34:00.001+02:00

...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

2011-07-06T18:34:00.012+02:00

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

2011-07-01T08:00:00.001+02:00

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

So tasty!

2011-06-29T14:14:00.008+02:00

I know it looks kind of mushy, it wouldn't have if the sauce had been thinned out a bit, but the taste was just heaven. Regular readers of this blog might have picked up that my friend Leisha and I sometimes does some experimental cooking. We have made food ranging from home made marshmallows to black bean and cola soup. On Saturday we did a version of the Indian dish Palak Paneer, and when I told Rose about it she got curious, so I promised to show some pictures and share the recipe we used.

Paneer (fresh cheese):

1 liter full fat milk

juice from 1 lemon

Bring the milk to the boil, add the lemon juice and the milk will split. Once the milk has started to form little clumps, strain the mixture in a cloth

....and hang to drip dry - I left it for approximately 45 min and then gave the bundle a squeeze:

Flatten the cheese mixture a bit and place it in the fridge with some weight on top to squeeze out as much of the leftover moisture as possible. The recipe I found said this would take about 2 hours. It did turn out ok, but was a bit crumbly at the edges and soggy in the center, so I think the next time we do it we'll make the paneer the day before and leave it chilled overnight. And we'll make twice as much ;-)

Sauce:
oil for frying
1 onion - finely chopped
Ginger (1.5" dice finely grated), red chili (1 large chopped finely) and garlic (2 cloves crushed) to taste
1 tbs coriander seeds - crushed
1.5 tsp cumin - ground
3 tomatoes - diced
Spinach - we used 1/2 packet of frozen spinach (if using fresh - chop the leaves a bit)
2 dl yogurt
salt to taste

Cut the paneer into 1" cubes and fry golden in oil, remove from the pan. Fry the onion on low heat till translucent and shiny. Add the spices and let them heat through before adding tomatoes - once the tomatoes goes soft add the spinach, and once it comes to the boil add the yogurt. Let it cook for a couple of minutes, season to taste. The spinach we used had very little water, so we could probably have added some to thin the sauce a bit, but we just added the fried paneer to the mixture and plated it up with some warm naan bread and mango chutney.

Yummmmmm!!!
Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

PS! The recipe we started out from also had a tbs of tomato paste - we discovered after we had plated the dish that we had forgotten to put it in, but we didn't miss it as far as the taste went.

Too much tv time?

2011-06-27T21:17:00.000+02:00

Remember I went to Sue Daley's trunk show? One of the items in the shop display was her cute little "Threads and Things" bucket. Laila and Nemo has been making their versions of it, and I've itched to make one myself. Yesterday we had a lovely summer day, and I spent some time in the sun on the fire escape preparing the hexagons and scallops. Well, itchy fingers couldn't rest, so when Anton and I got back from our afternoon walk in the park I sat down in front of the TV and started stitching. By bedtime I had the pockets done and attached to the background, the hexagon flowers stitched and ready to be appliqued down. Some more TV "watching" tonight and this is what it looks like:

Me pleased *lol* There's supposed to be a little hexie pincushion attached to it that I still haven't gotten around to - one of these days ;-)

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Sunday walk in the park

2011-06-26T20:53:00.003+02:00

Hugs and stitches from Anton

It is finally finished!

2011-06-22T15:54:00.006+02:00

It's kind of hard to believe, but I have FINISHED this quilt that originally was two quilts. It has been a long journey getting it to where it is today.

I started piecing the Dear Jane on Sept. 23rd 2007. My goal was to make the full DJ quilt, and have it all pieced and appliqued by hand. For a while I was very eager stitching the blocks, but soon I found other projects more interesting. I did sew some blocks from time to time, but there really wasn't much progress. Most of the time it was stuck in a project bag. By the time I realized this was going to end up as a UFO I had stitched 63 blocks using 868 pieces.

When the LQS presented "Svennebrevet" as their BOM a couple of years ago I was absolutely certain I was never going to make it. The two main reasons was on the one hand that I wasn't very inspired by the first shop sample, and on the second hand that most of quilting Norway does their BOMs and I like to do my own things. But I had a hard time resisting, and when the patchwork school started in "Familien" and my Mum dumped the patterns for the first blocks in my lap it was a sign to start. I'm not going to go into all the hassle with cutting measurements and block size here (click the label below if interested), but with a few modifications I stitched 21 blocks that more or less resembles the blocks in the original quilt.

I did a lot of playing around with both sets of blocks, but I really loved the layout of the original Svennebrevet, and with a little advice from Rose after sending her pictures of layout suggestions, I ended up sewing alternating wide and narrow rows. During a fun sewing day with Yvonne I got the scrappy border sewn on, utilizing a lot of my leftover fabrics and the few spare blocks. The quilting would probably have been finished sooner if Bernie hadn't gotten ill, but I'm thrilled to have it done now :-D

So my long list of work-in-very-slow-progress has with this been reduced with two projects. And I have a goal of reducing the list even more in the weeks to come - a couple of the smaller projects will be top priority, Lucinda's Gift quilt-along will start on July 1st and end with a finished quilt, and then hopefully I can make some progress on the quilts I have ready basted and/or has started to quilt....

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Binding the "Svennebrevet/DJ" sampler

2011-06-21T14:41:00.002+02:00

Woohoo! I finished quilting it on Sunday! And last night the binding was added. The plan for tonight is pulling out an audio book and get the binding hand stitched down to the back. Then hopefully the quilt will be ready for the washing machine tomorrow for that fresh and crinkly goodness. And another thing: I glue basted this quilt, and even though the glue is supposed to be odorless, I still feel there is a smell - hope it will wash out!

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Something yummy for a rainy Sunday

2011-06-19T10:52:00.004+02:00

It has more or less become a standing request for hot and sour chicken soup when dinner for friends is being served at 'Casa de Quiltoholic'. It is an incredibly tasty and very quick (20-30 minutes depending on how fast you chop) and simple dish to make, so I thought perhaps I'd share the recipe in case someone else would like to give it a try:

4 servings:
2 large chicken breasts
1-2 bell peppers (I like red and/or yellow)
1 packet of baby sweet corn
1 bunch of spring onion
1 chili pepper (I also like to add some dried chili flakes for some extra heat)
1 can coconut milk + a splash of water to rinse the can
Juice from 1-2 lime (depending on size and how much juice they give)
1/2 liter of chicken stock
egg noodles (after how hungry everyone are)
Salt and pepper if needed (depends on how seasoned your stock is)

Cube the chicken to bite size and brown it quickly in a pan, cut the peppers and the sweet corn and give them the same treatment. Mix chicken stock, most of the lime juice, and the coconut milk in a large saucepan and bring to the boil, add the the chicken, peppers, chili, sweet corn and noodles. While it cooks (3-4 min), chop the spring onions, and add them when the noodles are about 1 minute from finished (you'll probably need to add some extra water - it can reduce quite a lot, especially if you add a lot of noodles). Season to taste with salt, pepper, dried chili flakes and the rest of the lime juice.

Pour into large serving bowls and ENJOY!! You can vary the veggies to season and taste, and swapping the chicken for fish works great as well :o)
Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Scraps, scraps and more scraps

2011-06-16T13:22:00.004+02:00

My scrap box was getting really full and completely chaotic again, so I decided to try to tidy it up a bit by cutting 1.5" squares and strips from a pile of light scraps, a pile of dark bits and pieces, and whatever I could find of reds/burgundy/dark orange

A lot of cuts later I had a manageable number of strips and squares, a lot of bits in the garbage, and a scrap box that is a whole bit tidier. A lot of more cuts, and you can find this on my large square ruler

All ready to be sewn into some lovely scrappy chimneys and cornerstone blocks. Unless I have counted wrong here and there (which is a fair chance *lol*) it should be all the pieces for the quilt "Lucinda's Gift" from this fabulous book

We are doing this as a quilt-along on the SBS-and-other-Elm-Creek-Quilts yahoo group. If you have got the book and want to join in, the quilt-along starts on July 1st - and the first week is cutting the pieces so I'm a tad ahead of schedule.

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

What I did last night

2011-06-14T14:48:00.001+02:00

Yesterday morning I got a text from Nemo asking if I wanted to spend the evening with her and her Mum, and if so I had to bring a bottle cap. I scratched my head over the cryptic message, but never one to pass up on an evening with quilting friends obediently brought my bottle cap and found my way down the road :o) So what were the girls up to with the bottle caps - these cutie-cutie pincushions:

Can you guess which one is mine? *lol* Thanks for a fun evening, girls!

And months too late, Nemo finally got her birthday pressie, so now I can show it

__

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

A few more pics from Frederikshavn

2011-06-13T17:48:00.003+02:00

Just thought I'd share some of the things we noticed on our walk through Frederikshavn on a quiet Sunday morning. Enjoy the show! (...or skip to the next blog on your blogroll and come back for a quilty post in a day or two *lol*)

(This girl actually sells nuts and bolts (among other things))

...a shame there wasn't water in this pool, it must be great with the water feature!

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Whitsun trip to Denmark

2011-06-13T11:43:00.005+02:00

What to do over the Whitsun weekend? Go on a trip to Denmark with a good friend! There and back again in 23 hours ;-)

(yes, I have cut my hair short again - and happy with the decision!) We left rainy Oslo early Saturday evening

and spent a good part of the evening at the boat's SPA - I could live in there, no problem!!!

Afterwards we went for a yummy meal - I had the guinea fowl and Leisha had the brown trout - it was sooo delicious!

The evening was finished in the shop - stacking up on snacks and figuring out what we were going to buy on our way home. After a restless night due to unfamiliar beds and lots of noise from party-people and the engine we woke to a lovely morning in Frederikshavn, the sun was out but there was a slight chill in the air. But of course we had to go exploring.

Being Sunday morning, and Whitsun weekend, there wasn't much life around, so we missed some of the city's atmosphere, but we walked around for a good hour and a half enjoying the architecture, and we actually managed to spend a little money *lol*

We had a good run getting back to the boat in time, but we made it

Once we had watched Denmark disappear in the horizon, had a quick breakfast, we actually had a looooong nap *lol* Getting up we did our last shopping, and while watching the coast of Norway appear along the boat side

we had a quick pasta meal - it tasted better than it looked

and figured out how to play "Pillars of the Earth: Builder's Duel" - I enjoyed it, but for now I prefer the board game - might be more fun once we get into the rules a bit more

Hope everyone has enjoyed their Whitsun weekend!

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Look who's home

2011-06-10T15:24:00.001+02:00

I've missed him so much! Glad to have him back!

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

This month's BOM block

2011-06-07T21:21:00.003+02:00

Bernie being out of action, this was the perfect month for Connie to pick an appliqué block for our BOM - the Christmas Cactus block. I'm not a strong appliquéer so I knew I would need time on this block, so I cheated and started it in early May.

Tonight I finished stitching down the last of the red buds. Now, i used the same template for all of them except the four in the middle, and none of them turned out the same - but I guess there aren't two exactly similar buds on a live Christmas cactus either *lol*. Luckily next month's block is EASY!! *lol* My blocks so far look like this:

A little certain someone is just too curious about what two-legs is doing

and it doesn't alway go well being nosy

Luckily he didn't have far to fall *lol*. Oh, and I had a call from the shop this afternoon; I can pick up Bernie tomorrow - woohooo!
Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Wedding gift

2011-06-06T16:46:00.007+02:00

An acquaintance got married on Saturday - congratulations to the lovely Tanumine and her handsome B!!! (pic of the happy couple is lifted from Leisha's blog). Since I heard they had wedding plans I've wanted to make them a table runner - just to let them know I thought about them on their big day. I was hoping Bernie would be back home so I could get it done fairly quickly, but no such luck. So for the first time in my quilting life I have finished a project completely by hand:

Three LeMoyne stars in a row. The light background is the same in all three blocks and also used in the outer border; the dark blue is the same in all the blocks and in the binding, but I have chosen three different light blues.

It is not very heavily quilted, a squiggly line in the inner border, a half LeMoyne star at either end, and an "echo" just inside the seam on the light blades on each star - hopefully it will hold up well

I am really pleased to see how much my hand quilting has improved.

Even the binding was attached by hand - need I say "sore fingers?" *lol* But it was finished in plenty of time and handed over to the maid of honor to bring along. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out, and I hope the recipients will enjoy having it on their table :o)

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

It's in the hoop - woohoo!

2011-05-28T01:10:00.001+02:00

Got my Sugar Camp Quilt layered and basted last night. This is my first time using Hobbs wool batting - not quite sure what I think yet... The needle goes through it very smoothly, so that is a positive, but it did feel kind of lumpy/uneven while I was basting it - let you know what my feelings are when I have quilted a bit more.

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

What we are working on

2011-05-25T08:00:00.004+02:00

My little "quilting buddy" often comes running wondering what two-legs is up to, and for once I was able to take a picture before he scampered off

What is he walking on? I have pulled out my Sugar Camp Quilt, making it top priority to finish! This quilt has been a rocky road... I had a ball with those HST units back in January 2009, and getting the top together didn't take too much time. I did most of the appliqué, all the while thinking this looks wrong! So I ripped everything out...

For a while I was thinking of several options: 1) re-do the appliqué, 2) embroider the outlines of the shapes, 3) make the shapes part of the quilting pattern... On my New Year's resolutions for 2010 it was no.1 on the priority list (I haven't gotten much done on the other two projects on that list, either), but couldn't make up my mind about that appliqué. Monday evening I finally bit the dust

Two of the dreaded a-blocks are finished, two more to go, and then I can get on to quilting!

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

White... with a touch of pink and green

2011-05-22T21:40:00.010+02:00

At this time of the year one of my favorite flowers - the Forget me not - are in bloom. You can find them almost everywhere, bringing that tiny splash of powder blue to a green background. This year I found a small cluster of white ones in my parents garden

Another white spring beauty is the apple blossom - and I love that delicate touch of blushy pink

My sister's birthday was Friday, and for dinner we made sushi for the very first time.

Don't know quite what we did wrong, but the rice stuck to everything but itself, and since it stuck to the sea weed we ended up making all maki rolls - they look far from perfect, but they tasted great - how bad can it get with top grade salmon and rice ;-)

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Gratulerer med dagen! Hurra!

2011-05-17T08:00:00.002+02:00

Happy constitution day! A glimpse of our day:

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Bloggers' Quilt Festival

2011-05-14T09:40:00.007+02:00

I have been enjoying the Bloggers' Quilt Festival in the past, loving to look at all the beautiful quilts. It is so inspirational - thank you so much Amy! So this year I thought I'd share my favorite quilt - an Ocean Waves quilt I finished in June 2008! This is a quilt I have dragged along to picknics, lazy days in the park, on the sofa, on my bed etc.

I have loved the look of the Ocean Waves pattern since the first time I saw a quilt made in the pattern. And I guess there's no big secret I'm a big fan of the Elm Creek Quilts novels and pattern books. So when I found the pattern for "Eleanor's Ocean Waves" in "Return to Elm Creek" I decided to go for it.

It was the perfect opportunity to use lots of accumulated blue and white scraps and leftover bits and pieces, I had lots of fun piecing it and it came together smoothly. The quilting is one of my first attempts at doing something other than just meandering, and I really like how it turned out.

...oh, and if anyone has clicked on the photos and seen the name "sick quilt" - you can read about that here.

Happy weekend!

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

More hand work

2011-05-12T19:41:00.000+02:00

Bernie is still out sick, but with it being Eurovision week it is perfect to spend some time hand stitching in front of the telly. During the first semi-finals on Tuesday I got this month's block for Christmas Greetings finished - Advent Wreath:

I did this one by English paper piecing, and I'm really pleased with how it turned out!

For this evening's semi-finals I have pulled out a kit I have had stashed away since the NQF meeting 2008:

I have gotten Sue and her laundry appliquéd down, now I'm gonna pull out my embroidery needle and add the little details, some flowers and the laundry line, then it can be layered and hand quilted with a simple cross hatch.

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

PS! My e-mail buddy Doniene in Texas has decided to start her own blog - please pop over to Quilts-bordercollies and say hi :o)

Can you believe it?

2011-05-08T13:03:00.012+02:00

It is FINISHED! After nearly four years it is actually FINISHED!! And I'm soooo happy with it!

Actually I can't say if I'm most happy with the quilt or the fact that it is FINISHED *lol* Happy dancing here!

And sending out a big thank-you hug to all the girls who participated in the swap! ...oh and most of the pictures are clickable :o)

It has been a long road from start to finish. My 10 sets of five blocks for the swap was stitched in April-June 2007, and the 50 swap blocks arrived here in mid-September the same year.

I had also made an extra block of my sets, so all in all there were 60 blocks laid out on the floor. I was on a roll at the time and it only took me a couple of days to get the center of the quilt top stitched together

and the log cabin blocks for the borders were stitched and attached by the beginning of October.

When Elin and I went to Lappemakeriet that same month I got the batting and quilting cotton - all ready to quilt!

I started out very well - a goal of quilting at least one thread a day got quite a large portion of the quilt done. I brought it with me everywhere to keep to my goal, so it is well traveled - even a trip to Elverum (picture snagged from May Britt's blog):

but for some reason it was put away in the cupboard. I pulled it out every now and then over the next couple of years, but I didn't really make much progress till I brought it with me on Christmas holiday 2010 when I finished quilting the last of the blocks and got started on the border. Coming home I decided it wasn't going back into the cupboard but was to live on the sofa till it was done

I was quite big mouthed when I posted this picture in February - because even though the quilt lived on the sofa, I didn't really work on it... so if Bernie hadn't gotten sick, it might still be there unfinished...

By lunch time today the last of my blocks were turned into a label and attached to the back.

Now all that is left is to give it a toss in the washing machine since there are some pencil markings here and there :o)

Hope everyone are having a great Sunday!

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

While Bernie is in "hospital"

2011-05-07T09:51:00.008+02:00

Last weekend I had big plans for sewing up as storm, I had been at it for about an hour when Bernie just decided to stop - I couldn't move the needle no matter what I tried. So rather than sewing I got a trip to the shop, handing him in, getting the message it could take anything from two weeks to a month before I get him back :(

So my quilting this week has been all hand work - I have spent a few days at the summerhouse, so I brought my blue/white SBS, hoping I would finally get it finished! Not quite there yet, but I can definitely see the end of the road.

Stopping by my parents' house on my way home I borrowed their sewing machine to get the binding attached, so my plan this weekend is to get the last two and a half triangles quilted, the binding sewn down at the back, and the labels appliquéd onto the back. Can be done?

Oh, and I have to share this - my Mum and I have been talking for ages about making nettle soup, and this year we actually got around to turning this:

Into this:

Yummmmy! And t think this is a weed who stings you when you touch it ;o)

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Getting the holidays mixed up

2011-04-26T11:33:00.009+02:00

I couldn't resist snapping this picture of my latest appliqué block in progress and a the Christmas cactus from my Mum's kitchen :o) Not hard to see where the inspiration for the block pattern came from, even though I still have some red buds left to appliqué.

A few weeks ago I joined a block of the month program at the SBS & Other Elm Creek Quilts yahoo group. At the moment there are 14 of us working on blocks from the Christmas Greetings from Elm Creek Manor quilt. This is the April block - Star of the Magi:

The Christmas Cactus isn't due till June, but I'm slow at appliqué, and I needed something portable, so cheating and skipping ahead on the block was a good option.

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Results from sewing day

2011-04-23T10:56:00.003+02:00

On Thursday I visited Yvonne for a day of sewing, chatting and lots of yummy food. We set up at either end of the dining table, cutting on the kitchen counter and ironing board at the end of the kitchen

Girls being creative might look a tad chaotic, but we achieved quite a lot during the day. Yvonne stitched and cut and planned more blocks for her version of Svennebrevet - I'll let her post those, so pop over to her blog for a look in a few days time :-) I too worked on my version of that quilt, you can just spot the top folded over the back of the chair in the foreground. Around mid-day we stopped for a yummy lunch - just look at this spread:

It was sooo incredibly tasty, and I kept on stuffing my mouth, and the energy got the creativity flowing.

The binding went onto my Sunkissed table topper, so that yesterday morning it could find it's way onto my kitchen table

Wondering what I did to my Svennebrevet? Scrappy borders - it took a bit of time, but far less than the piano keys I had originally planned, and I really like the look of how it turned out

Doesn't look much like the original quilt, does it? I did some thinking when I started planning the sashings.... I hadn't sewn a stitch on my Dear Jane since last summer, and honestly I have lost the inspiration to work on it. Looking at the 9" blocks got me thinking those blocks really would mix well with my DJ blocks. Just to make sure I wasn't completely off my rocker, I took a snap photo of the blocks laid out on the floor and e-mailed the pic to Rose to see what she had to say. The response I got was:

"U know its a shame to use your DJ blocks but I looooooooooove it!!!! They work perfectly with the 9" blocks and its very very clever (but do u wanna do those DJ blocks again??? lol) Then again, far better to be in a quilt than in a bag in the drawer."

Thanks sweetie for not thinking I'm nuts! *lol* I really wanted to keep the stripy feel of "Svennebrevet" so I decided to do the DJ blocks in rows alternating with the larger blocks. I thought perhaps to make the quilt a square, but that would mean 3" sashing strips, and I felt that was a bit too wide, so it is a few inches narrower than it is long. Now I "just" need to get it basted, quilted and bound!

Happy Easter!

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Kissed by the sun again

2011-04-19T16:49:00.000+02:00

I had planned to do some cutting and patching of the background squares for my little hexie flowers, but laying out the charms I found I wanted to keep it simple and just stitched them together and scattered the flowers on top:

Yesterday I popped into Kathrine's Quiltestue and picked up some finishing fabric. I had planned to only quilt it and add a binding, but looking at the bolts I gave into temptation to get the scrumptious green check for a border - it does look heaps better with a frame! - and a striped pink for binding.

The quilting is some paisley shapes all over the background and some sort of swirly flower shapes in the flowers themselves.

I have been quilting and un-picking parts of the border twice - first I did a very strict lines and crosses pattern, and then I attempted to do a feather, but I wasn't pleased with either - so in the end I have decided on a very simple stippling

Yvonne and I plan a sewing day on Thursday, so I'll bring the binding with me to hand stitch :-)

Hugs and stitches from
Anne Ida

Sunkissed flowers of spring

2011-04-17T07:37:00.002+02:00

I have never been fond of English paper piecing, but seeing the lovely quilts at the evening of inspiration with Sue Daley, I figured I'd give it another go :-) So I bought a pack of pre-cut shapes for some hexagon flowers and a Sewline glue pen. Coming home that night I started cutting fabric and glue basting the shapes rather than going to bed.

I have been visiting my Aunt and Uncle since Friday afternoon, so I figured they would be something small and handy to bring along. There were enough paper for eight flowers in the packet, and look:

All eight are pieced, and they were so quick and fun to do! The fabrics are Sunkissed by Sweetwater, cut from a charm pack. The flowers are ca 4" finished, so I was able to cut six petals from each charm square. There's an idea for how to use more of the charm squares for setting the flowers swirling around in my head - think I'll have a cute spring/summer table topper soon :-)

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Inspiration

2011-04-15T07:39:00.007+02:00

Australian designer Sue Daley is in Norway, and last night Kathrine's Quilte Stue arranged an evening of inspiration with her as speaker. Of course I had to be there, camera at the ready. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves:

Bjørg's version of the quilt:

Oh and I just have to show a little tip - think it's very clever and sooo cute *lol* I was browsing in Laila's sewing basket and saw she has been to McD and pilfered ketchup cups

Instant mini trash baskets!

Wishing everyone a great weekend!

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Last three blocks and a chat with Trine Bakke

2011-04-13T11:36:00.016+02:00

It got pretty late last night, I felt I was on a roll after the two previous blocks, and with only three blocks to go I put my foot on the pedal of my sewing machine:

Sorry the pic is so yellow - bad lamp light late at night. The rose block is lacking the smallest circle in the center, but I'm thinking of putting a cute little button there. As you can see I swapped the basket block block for a different one - this one having an appliqué handle rather than the little HSTs. The abstract geometrical appliqué ended up a bit larger than on the original quilt - that's what you get from drawing free hand ;o)

I also had an e-mail chat with the designer of the"Svennebrevet" quilt, Trine Bakke from Lappemakeriet, regarding the patterns. She had heard some of us had some frustrations, so she thought she'd clear up a few things (that's what I call customer service! Wow!). Knowing there are others out in blogland suffering from some of the same frustrations as me, this is a summary of what we talked about:

Why centimeters and not inch?

Judging by comments from beginners coming to the shop, inch is scary. Especially if the newbie is going to learn on their own, i.e. not living somewhere they can easily sign up for a class where they immediately are presented to inch measurements. The magazine class is first and foremost directed to the quilters who can’t attend an actual class, and Trine hopes those who don’t have personal support can be inspired and learn from the magazine pattern (I'm still not convinced it is good to teach centimeters to beginners knowing the bulk of patterns out there are in inch, but that is the reason for their decision).

Trine had drafted the blocks full size so those wishing to could measure for themselves and chose whether to use cm or inch, unfortunately the magazine opted against printing the blocks full figure. She says it is sometimes frustrating the editors making changes and cutting back on illustrations and explanations, but she is still confident beginner quilters will learn what they need to make the quilt from what the magazine has printed.

Block size and weird fractions

The original BOM from the shop had 9” blocks, the blocks in the magazine finish at 20 centimeters (just shy of 8"), so the patterns are not interchangeable. The blocks are constructed over grids of 2,4,5 and 7 units so no matter what there would be some weird fractions in some blocks, the change in size was to make the fractions less weird. So those who started out doing the first blocks in 9” size has to bare in mind that changing to centimeters for the more complex blocks will end up with two different sizes.

Why a whole centimeter seam allowance?

1 cm is marked on the needle plate on most sewing machines and easy to line up fabric to. I took another look at my Bernina – it has markings every 0.5 cm, but it also has 1/4” inch markings, so… And let me tell you, I'm not giving up my quarter inch presser foot for anything! I looove that little gadget!

At the end of our chat she suggested I could post my inch measurements on my blog so those who have trouble could check back here. Now, my notes are for the 9" finished size and they are a shambles! It would take a lot of time to type them up to make any kind of sense. However if someone reading this are having trouble, I'm happy to lend support and help with the math - chances are you are running into the same problems I did ;o)

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

A couple of more blocks

2011-04-12T15:52:00.004+02:00

Still cheating and skipping ahead of the class. Both blocks are done by machine, none of them are perfect, but still I think they turned out ok.

I figure I do so much set in seams by machine, I split the center on-point square of the bow tie block and did quick corners. It means a little more bulk to quilt through, but I'm fine with that :o)

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Cheating in class

2011-04-08T17:01:00.001+02:00

There has been some disclosure in the media lately about the percentage of students cheating - so at this point in time I'd thought I'd own up to my cheating in class at "lappeskolen". Yes, I'm cheating; skipping ahead and making changes! Why am I cheating? Because the patterns are completely useless!

As I mentioned in my first post on this project, the patterns give cutting measurements in centimeters. What on earth the editors were thinking, I don't know! The seam allowance is 1 cm - which is way wider than your usual 1/4" . i.e. you can't use your quarter inch foot on your sewing machine. And what quilter these days cut 9.1 or 10.3 cm squares? - not to mention they actually show them cut with scissors!

All quilting rulers I've seen at the quilt and craft shops have measurements in inches (I don't even know if you can buy rulers for rotary cutting that has cm); almost all patterns out in the big quilting world give measurements in inches; most of us (probably all of us) learn to quilt using inches. I feel bad for those unfortunate beginner quilters learning using this school program, they are going to have loads of trouble if they try any other pattern or sign up for a class that is not strictly for beginners.

So I have been using my calculator, pencil and paper. I have tweaked some of the blocks a bit to avoid some of the weirdest fractions, so my not all my blocks have the same proportions as those in the original quilt, but I think that just makes this quilt a bit more MINE ;-)

Laying out my blocks I see I should have payed a bit more attention to colour placement while making the blocks, so I think I'm going to scramble the setting a bit when I get to sewing the rows together. But before then I still have five blocks left to do:

the Tie block that I just have to draw up one of these days - should be fairly quick.
the leMoyne star - Rose has promised she will try to dig it up in EQ for me;
the basket block - thinking maybe I'll do a different basket, not sure I like the one in the original quilt,
the two appliqué blocks... still trying to decide whether I'll wait for the templates or if I'm going to either draft something from the pictures or if I'll swap them for something else.

Wishing everyone an enjoyable weekend!

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Awards

2011-04-04T15:10:00.007+02:00

Recently I have received 3 awards for my little blog; Oddbjørg has awarded me with this:

And Merete and Lise has awarded me with this:

Thank you so much, ladies! For the first you are asked to tell 8 things about yourself, and the other have five set questions to answer - so I decided to do a combination of the two:

1. Why did you start blogging?

Actually I started blogging because I wanted to sign up for a siggie swap that was for bloggers only. This was over four years ago - my blog is still going strong, but the blocks from the swap are still safely tucked away in my box of block - they will make it into a quilt someday!

2. What kind of blogs do you follow?

Mostly quilting and craft blogs, but also some cooking blogs - I love to cook, and I'm always hunting for ideas for interesting tastes. Fun thing is - I can't follow a recipe - that goes for cooking as well as for quilting :o)

3. Favorite colour?

BLUE!!! No surprise??? *lol*

4. Favorite film?

That is a very hard question to answer - it all depends on the mood of the day - but mostly I watch romantic comedies and historical dramas. But... I don't usually cry when watching films - however I have seen "The Green Mile" three times and I have cried all three times.

5. Which country would you like to visit and why?

I'd love to go back to Greece someday - something about the light and the air - not to mention the food *lol* And I'd really like to go on a quilt tour of the US *lol*

....and then three more things to make up the eight: 1) I have a thing for radio theater - I think I have scoured the shelves at the library for them - something about listening to the dialogue and creating the scene in my head I find interesting; 2) a friend of mine came out from my bathroom the other night shaking her head and saying "you and your comics" - guess that says something - I keep a stack of comic books in there for whenever necessary; 3) I haven't bought a loaf of bread for over two years - just something about home baked that beats the shop bought, and honestly baking yourself isn't much of an effort and you can play around with so many variations and flavours.

Now I' supposed to award five (or ten? -or was that 15?) blogs with less than 100 followers - I really don't feel like picking five (or ten? -or was that 15?) from all the wonderful blogs out there, so if you have less than 100 followers and read this post - you have just received the award of your choice!

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Lappeskole - lesson 2

2011-04-03T11:42:00.006+02:00

As mentioned in my previous post, the second lesson of the patchwork school is all about triangles. I cut the pieces for most of them on Saturday, and piecing them was quick - none of the blocks very complex - here are the first mixed with the blocks from lesson 1:

Looking at them I felt they looked a bit cold and a bit bland, so I decided to introduce a touch of gold to some blocks to hopefully give the quilt a bit more warmth and sparkle:

I think it adds a bit more interest, right?

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Small finish and "Lappeskole"

2011-04-02T14:31:00.003+02:00

Yvonne (Butterfly) had a birthday a little while back, and I wanted to make her something sweet and at the same time useful. A notebook always come in handy, and I had loads of fun stitching up some HSTs, some lace and some cute pink fabric

(pic lifted from Butterfly's blog - mine didn't come out well)

***

Sooooooo..... we call this a project finished, right? And now I can start something new? A couple of years ago Lappemakeriet had a BOM called "Svennebrevet" and for several reasons I was dead set on not doing it:

I enjoy to pick and chose my own fabrics to make the quilt "mine",
their BOMs tend to be popular so half the quilters in the country does them, and I have a problem with "doing what everyone else is doing",
I couldn't afford the BOM packages - even knowing they give you good value for your money the quilt ends up quite expencive.
I really wasn't inspired by the first shop model - when I first saw it I thought "oh, well.... nah!"

BUT... seeing more versions of the quilt stitched up, both at the shop and in blogland, it has definitely warmed on me... and now my fingers are itching to do my version. They are doing it as a patchwork/quilting school in a magazine these days, and my Mum subscribes, so I have the patterns easily at hand - she saved me the first two parts already.

Lesson 1 is all about squares and are simple beginners blocks.

Two challenges faced me doing the blocks - they are 9" finished which is a size I don't stitch very often - so my eyes don't spot mistakes unless I check with the ruler. And the patterns are done in centimeters, so I do have to put my math skills to work and convert them into inches. Next lesson is about triangles - stay tuned for more blocks :o)

Enjoy the weekend!

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Getting bolder

2011-03-19T14:45:00.007+01:00

A few months ago I picked up this book for some inspiration on how to easier free motion machine quilt on a DSM - I really want to expand beyond stippling/meandering and stencil markings.

I haven't read it front to back, but I absolutely love how it breaks down easy-to-do shapes, and show how to mix and match them. Over the last few evenings I have been doing some experimenting, and I have to say I think I have taken that one step to become a bit bolder in my quilting. I have become more daring to quilt without a lot of marking - mostly some little blue dots to mark centers and make sure of even spacing, and a few lines using the Hera marker.

Before studying the drawings in the book - this would have required a template or tear-away paper - not a single marking!

Nope - just a plastic lid to mark the circle - the rest is done free hand. It is soooo far from perfect, but I really like it, because I see now that I can do it!

It's far from perfect, but I can definitely see I'm improving! I love my darning foot!!! *lol*

Happy quilting weekend!

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

(PS! This is not a whole cloth quilt - all the pictures are of the back - can't show the front yet)

Racks and book

2011-03-16T15:48:00.006+01:00

Elin and Lena Karen is challenging us to show our quilt racks these days. I have shown one of these before - it was a bit more tidy then.

These days both of them are covered up in works in slow progress (my Sugar Camp Quilt is on top of the rack on the left and you can glimpse my Flannel Stars underneath the Ocean Waves and Nanny Sharon's Picnic quilt - both yet to be finished...) as well as finished quilts. These are not actually quilt racks, they come from the bathroom furnishings department of IKEA, but they most certainly does service as something to display quilt on :o)

This long awaited book arrived in the mail today!!! It's no secret I'm a big fan of the Elm Creek Quilts series, but the historical novels have so far been my favorites, and this takes part during the American Civil War.

Now here's a difficult choice - read or quilt? Read or quilt???

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Playing

2011-03-14T18:37:00.000+01:00

Just having some fun with laying out Birds in the Air blocks ;o)

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Sunday Sewing

2011-03-13T15:45:00.004+01:00

After a week of treating a stiff neck and very little sewing, I'm spending some time today playing with the HST units from my biscuit tin :o) Love the look of these Birds in the Air blocks!

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Sewing a little something else

2011-03-06T12:43:00.005+01:00

I found out this morning I needed a short break from my secret project to do a little something else (and I needed a small thing for someone...). Using squares from my 1.5" scraps box, this little purse came together

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Still at it...

2011-03-05T22:05:00.003+01:00

Guess the biscuit tin and the fabrics from my last post are recognizable :o) Making progress on my secret project, but still have a long way to go...

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

What's in the biscuit tin

2011-02-25T11:21:00.004+01:00

I have had a couple of sweet e-mails asking if everything is all right with me since I haven't been keeping my blog updated lately. Thank you girls for caring, and I'm happy to say everything is absolutely fine! I have been busy sewing on my secret project, and I sooo wish I could share with everyone, but for now I have a muzzle on ;o) But just so you don't think I'm slacking off, here's a small sneak peek of what's in the biscuit tin

Wishing all my blogging friends a wonderful weekend!

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Lots of not doing too much

2011-02-18T10:35:00.004+01:00

Oh my.... it's been over a month since my last post??? Time sure does fly! And I don't really have much to show. I have been working a little on my secret project (I have talked about this before, sorry not to be able to show!), I have finished cutting up my jelly roll for Mon Ami - the lePetite project for January

I only pieced 13 of the 48 blocks so far - I want to use up the JR so there will be more blocks than there are in the original quilt. Since this is very much a project in slow work, I haven't even gotten around to thinking about the project for February... really not sure I'm going to do that one.

Know I'm probably the slowest hand quilter in the world. I still can't believe I got talked into quilting this by hand:

Remember it? It is a swap block quilt from 2007. I was good for a while and quilted about one thread a day for a few months, but once I had quilted about 2/3 of the blocks I put it in the cupboard because I had to focus on other stuff, and it was stuck there till last December when I brought it with me for Christmas holiday. I have set a goal of keeping this on the sofa till it's finished!

Progress has been made over the last few weeks. I still have five and a half setting triangles and one corner left to quilt, then I can go hunting for the perfect binding - woohoo! :o)

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

First little finish

2011-01-14T13:58:00.006+01:00

Wohoo! I have a finish for 2011!! December's LePetite project, and it really is petite *lol* This is how my little Prairie Point Christmas quilt turned out:

It is ca. 8"x6" finished, and was a great opportunity to use up some very small scraps, but very fiddly to put together and quilt. It is now on it's way to a non-blogging quilting friend, and hopefully it will come to use come Christmas :o)

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

LePetite

2011-01-04T13:39:00.003+01:00

I didn't get around to finishing the December LePetite in time for the deadline, but I hope to have it finished in a few days, and also have this month's project finished by the end of this month. Think I can do it? The centre of the top is finished:

It is quite a lot smaller than the original. I started out with 1.5" squares for the prairie points, and I have fewer rows. But I think it turned out pretty cute so far - just need to figure out what to do for borders.

For this month's LePetite - the "Mon Ami" Schnibble - I'm using a jelly roll of Jennifer Chiaverini's New Year's Quilt collection for Red Rooster. I have had this roll and some yardage in my stash for quite a while and I figured what better use of it than the first quilt of the year?

Four first blocks are together, and using the Easy Angle ruler they are quick to cut.

The blocks turn out a bit bigger than Carrie's pattern, as the HST are 2.5" rather than 2", but I don't want to trim them down, and I don't mind a larger quilt.

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

New year's resolution

2011-01-01T16:16:00.004+01:00

With a new year comes new goals. I have observed there being a lot of UFO challenges out in blogland, and I too intend to work on my UFOs and WISPs this year. But I don't want to limit myself too much, so what I want to do is to finish a UFO/WISP before starting a new quilt.

Anyone want to join in? The only rule is that an ongoing project has to come off the UFO list before starting a new quilt. I don't want to include little projects in the "new quilt" category since doing a mini can be very inspirational, and sometimes we just have to make those little gifts etc. Projects already pledged (like the LePetit) will also fall out of the "new quilt" category since it is something signed up for last year.

Don't sound too difficult, does it? Please feel free to grab the badge for your blog, and join in :o)

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Godt nytt år!

2010-12-31T16:44:00.002+01:00

Wishing everyone a very happy, healthy and creative 2011!!!

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

God jul!

2010-12-24T09:20:00.003+01:00

Wishes for a very merry Christmas to everyone! Hope it will be a season of peace, fun and relaxation!
Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

It's snowing

2010-12-19T11:55:00.006+01:00

Yes, it's snowing outside, and it's a definite snow-theme inside as well. Listening to cross-country skiing race on telly, quilting my Snowman quilt...

...and humming this song:

In my book this is the ultimate winter song! I absolutely LOVE it! And for those who don't understand the lyrics, here's my (slightly clumsy) translation:

I'ts snowing heavenly correction fluid
Over mis-spelled summer

Listen, the sounds of the city dissappears

Under the falling floods
We have heard no snow flakes are the same
And such wonders one can think of for a moment

I lean my head back

And get an ice kiss on my mouth

And get an ice kiss

It's snowing silent star sisters
From invisible mouths
And dizzy from the attac from soundless seconds
Today, Earth is sieged by a heavenly army
Without weapons the whole city is brought to it's knees
Everything goes slower here on Earth
When all the sky falls down

When all the sky falls down

Thanks for the useless snow
A bother and a burden

Earth is sieged by a heavenly army
Without weapons the whole city is brought to it's knees
Everything goes slower here on Earth
When all
the sky falls down
When all
the sky falls down

Enjoy your Sunday!

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Amazing prize

2010-12-13T11:47:00.002+01:00

Have you been following Sinta's and Sheri's "LePetite" posts? Did you see the one noting the winners for Paganini? I couldn't believe my own eyes when I saw my own name at the top of the list saying Carrie (yes, the Carrie of Miss Rosie's Quilt Co!) had a surprise from fall market for me! This morning I went to the post office and picked up a big box - I'm so excited about this and can't wait to begin playing.

On the top were these scrumptious charm packs:

Sunkissed by Sweetwater has lots of soft and flowing prints in subtle and summery colours. Central Park by Kate Spain is also very sunny and cheery - lots of botanicals and zoo inspired prints. Both of these will be available in January. A Morris Tapestry by Barbara Brackman - a reproduction line using the patterns of William Morris and John Henry Dearle was fresh in the US shops in November. Le Petit Poulet by American Jane is very bright rich country type colours and there's the cutest honeycomb print with bees. I can't find the swatch pictures on Moda's website so I'm not sure when this is out.

And digging deeper in the box I found these rolled up layer cakes - yummy!!

Dilly Dally by Me and My Sister is so bright and cheerfull - another line that will be fabulous for summer. It will be out in January. I have a bit of a soft spot for Fig Tree fabrics - somethings so comfy with Joanna & Co's muted use of colours. Buttercup is another line that falls into that category. Oasis by 3 Sisters is soft and romantic in colours. These will be found in shops in February.

Oh, I want to play! This is really childish, but there's something special about being able to play with a toy that not everyone else is able to play with yet *lol*

Thank you so much for the amazing prize, Carrie! I'm so thrilled!
Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Lovely giveaway

2010-12-13T10:30:00.005+01:00

Just thought I'd let everyone know Merete at "Mye quilting og litt annet" (her blog is in Norwegian and in English) is having a lovely giveaway due to her 100th post.
_

She has made two fabulous toiletry bags for two winners. The giveaway closes at Dec. 20th.
Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

New Year's resolution 2010: reflections

2010-12-05T01:00:00.000+01:00

For the second year in a row I have had a this resolution badge up in my sidebar

Last year I did kind of ok - you can read my reflections on last year in this post from December 10th. I did have a goal of getting last year's un-finished quilts finished this year... not a stitch in either of them. So how did this year go?

Looking through the posts for the last 11 months, I find I have finished two quite big quilts - Charity Crosses and Imagine - and quite a few smaller projects. And unfortunately there are five project yet un-finished that has been started this year :

This is a leader and ender project that actually dates way back. There are enough blocks here for a good lap size quilt, but I'm still not decided whether or not to make it bigger.

Smokey Mountain Stars is a project commissioned by my Aunt. It has taken some time for her to figure out how big she needs it to be having to cover their winter duvets, so it has been on hold since late August. I know I have to make some more blocks for this one.

This Orange Peel block has ended up being all alone. I had big plans, and still have pieces for two more blocks cut out. Perhaps there is a table runner here that might be done before Christmas? Or perhaps it should just find a place in the orphan blocks bag?

Raise the Roof is one of my favorite Miss Rosie's patterns, and I made a lot of progress on the log cabin blocks over a weekend. Unfortunately I got sidetracked, and the loggies are all I have managed to do on this quilt so far.

Then there is the snowmen quilt... it has been basted and I have an idea of how to quilt it, so I have high hopes of having it finished in a week or so.

So how did I do? Not as good as last year, but not as bad as I feared when I started thinking about doing this post. What can I manage to finish in the month that is left of 2010? Priority (apart from Christmas pressies) is the snowmen quilt! All the other projects are of a kind that will take lots of time to finish, so they will have to wait for 2011. Thinking of a new kind of resolution for next year...

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Sew snow

2010-11-29T17:24:00.005+01:00

Yesterday I woke to a white world. And with snow outside I want a wintry decor inside, i.e. I need to finish my Snowmen and Snowball quilt. I have used soooo much time thinking about how to do the borders, but none of my ideas sounded too good. In the end I decided to make it simple as well as use up even more scraps

Quite happy with the result ;o) Now I just need to figure out how to quilt it!
Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Butter Churn - finished

2010-11-26T17:40:00.000+01:00

Actually I had planned a part 2 before the finished post, but once the blocks were pieced this little project came together a lot quicker and easier than I had thought. The top was all done by bedtime last night

Finished it measures 16" - and in that square there are 284 little pieces - yikes! As I mentioned I wanted to make another cushion for the sofa, and this is how it turned out

For this one I quilted a quick and simple loop d'loop meandering. It is backed it with a neutral fabric and turned and stuffed through one of the sides rather than making a pocket at the back. I then tied the centre and added a button covered with a scrap of one of the fabrics I had used in the patchwork.

Happy girl :o)

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Butter Churn - part 1

2010-11-25T16:18:00.005+01:00

It has been quiet on this blog lately, and the explanation is that I really haven't been sewing much. But I have made a start on this month's Le Petite project: "Butter Churn" by Sherri Falls of This & That

As with last month's project I have made a dive into the scrap bag, and make a mini with some of the smaller pieces I have hoarded. Each of these 16 blocks finish at 3". Cute and fun - and I have a feeling there's another cushion on the go here :o)

Now I need to scavenge up some pieces for the scrappy border and get everything together, and hopefully finished by the end of the weekend...

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Hand made pressies

2010-11-02T09:04:00.004+01:00

My brithday was on Sunday, and happy girl me got some lovely hand made pressies ;o) I was lucky to receive one of Butterfly's lovely drawstring bags along with some yummy chocolate and a book I have heard nothing but praise about - look forward to reading it.

Not sure I have the heart to break into the chocolate - the wrappers are just so charming!

Would you know what this was?

Suzie posted this pic as a teaser on her blog - and I couldn't make out head or tales of it, until I opened the parcel she had sent and found a wonderful felted owl standing on a cushion (and a little note saying "owl always be your friend" - so sweet!).

There were lots of other goodies included with the owl - I feel truly spoilt!

For a long time I have wished for some proper sized soup bowls. My baby sister (yes, she is almost 9 years younger than me, so she'll always be the baby *lol*) works for a ceramcis production unit, and these lovelies have now found their way to my kitchen - have a feeling lots of soup will be served this winter :o)

Thank you so much, all of you!

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Paganimini - finished

2010-10-27T09:37:00.005+02:00

Pretty happy with it ;o) It finished 18" square before I chucked into the washing machine - then it shrunk about an inch. Since it is so small I used a thinner thread than I usually do for quilting - not sure that was a good idea - it didn't wash too well... but done is done, and I have learned something!

And no matter what I had lots of fun playing with the quilting! I have gotten a bit bored with my usual stippling so I wanted to try something different, and this was a great practice sandwich! A close-up of a corner

As I mentioned in a previous post I didn't really know what to do with this project, but I found I had a pillow form in my cupboard, so another sofa cushion wouldn't be out of the way. When I added the binding I stitched an "envelope" to the back of the quilt, and tucked the pillow form inside - after it had been properly shrunk in the wash - and this is now how it looks

Happy me! ... and I know I really need to re-cover that blue bolster cushion one of these days...

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Paganimini - quilting and having loads of fun :o)

2010-10-26T16:20:00.004+02:00

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Paganimini

2010-10-25T14:18:00.007+02:00

Yes, I do know the name of this month's "Le Petite..." project is "Paganini", but...

On the one hand:

I really want to try to make all the little projects Sherri and Sinta has picked for this year
I really loved "Paganini" from the moment I saw a picture on Carrie's blog.
I had fabric more or less all picked from my stash.

On the other hand:

I really don't have much time for another project at the moment,
The fabrics I had picked didn't really inspire me once I sat down to cut them up,
I don't know what to do with the quilt once it's finished (bad argument since I have made so many quilts without having a purpose for them, but sometimes it is a block in the creative process)
I'm running low on batting and I can't prioritize batting shopping at the moment...

Get the picture? Everything negative started piling up in my head! Then I gave it one more thought... what if I dug into my scrap box for some little pieces, and used them as leaders/enders while working on other projects? If it didn't work out, I could always save the pieces for some other scrap project. At the moment we have:

Cute, aren't they? *lol* My blocks are made from 2.5" scrap squares, and 1.25" light squares so my quilt will be about the quarter size of the original - hence the name "Paganimini" *lol* I have high hopes of having the at least the top together by deadline - perhaps even quilted and bound?
Happy quilting!
Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Snowmen and snowballs - the continuing story

2010-10-17T17:20:00.004+02:00

Thank you to everyone for your sweet comments on my previous snowmen and snowballs post, sorry I haven't been able to get back to all of you yet. Here's the continuing story; I have sewn some quick corners this weekend...

...and the snowmen blocks are now snowball blocks :o) Next is to get these together into a top, and figure out what to do for borders...
Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Pressie

2010-10-16T17:05:00.001+02:00

My dear friend gave me a challenge this summer; to come up with some type of container for C5 envelopes. Her birthday was on Thursday, so I figured I'd try to meet her challenge as a present. I did a lot of thinking, and what I ended up with was a simple box, kind of like the type you use for paper napkins, and then I added a lid:

I think we were both pretty pleased with the result :o) Oh, and I added a ribbon to the edge of the lid to finish it off, but forgot to take an after-picture...

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Snowmen and snowballs

2010-10-14T14:14:00.008+02:00

I had intended to begin this post saying it's a bit early for snow, but reading Stina's blog just a couple of hours ago I have to eat my words - brrrrr! Anyway, this post is supposed to be about embroidered snowmen and snowball blocks :o)

When I made a post in beginning of June about playing with small scraps resulting in a pile of blue and cream star blocks, I received this lovely e-mail from a dear friend of mine accross the pond:

Hello friend, over there, around the world....
I was looking around today, and was just inspired by your blog. You have been playing with some blue HSTs and wondering what you will set them with. What came to mind for me were snowball blocks with your blues. I would like to create some embroidered blocks for you with my machine! I have some cute snowmen that would look nice, or perhaps you could give me some direction. I have many designs and I need something to get my creativity going again [...]

Who am I to say no to such a sweet offer? Coming home last night I found a parcel in my mail box - opening it I found these:

Aren't they cute? So many charming faces, snowmen, snow-women, snow-cats, reindeer with heaps of charm :o) The two cats are in honor of their two family cats, Isabelle and Maestro

And look, one of the snowladies is carrying a bag with a Friendship "F"!

Thank you so much, Shelley!!! I had a bit of a play today, and layed out your embroidered blocks along side my pieced stars

Looks great, doesn't it :o) Now I'm going to have heaps of fun stitching quick corners on those blocks, making snowballs!

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Autumn

2010-10-14T10:29:00.002+02:00

We have spent a couple of days at the summer house cutting up some wood, and I took my camera for a little walk

The jelly fish were having a parade along the beach - this is the only ok pic I could get

Even with autumn's harsh chill, the roses on the porch insisted on blooming

Oh, and I said I would show a pic of these runners once they were up - this is how they turned out

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Ironing board

2010-10-03T12:39:00.008+02:00

For a year I have been eagerly reading Sherri and Sinta's "A Year of Shnibbles" posts, but never got around to join in. This year they are doing "Le Petite...A Year of Small Projects" - me gonna join this year?

They are starting off the year with a new cover for your ironing board. Hmmm... Let's have a look at mine:

There are actually two store bought covers on there, and you can see the metal straight through both of them...

over the last couple of months I have used a bath towel on top ...starting to get a bit brownish...

I stripped it down, and see how those covers look on the inside - no wonder it has been a burnt smell in the room whenever I have been pressing!

I definitely need a new one!!! Ok, I have gone through 1-2 covers pr year on an average the last six years, so I don't want to put too much work into it - and I don't want any embelishments getting in the way when pressing or ironing - so a simple one piece cover it is! I dug up a fabric that look a bit patched from my stash, attached four layers of batting and a cord, and this is how it looks now

It even matches my steam iron! *lol* Me a happy girl!!!

Have a fab Sunday!

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

This and that

2010-09-30T10:42:00.010+02:00

Lately (and for some time to come) I have been alternating between sewing up a storm and grading/commenting on student papers. Sorry to say I can't show either on this blog.

I'm on the verge of getting an overdose of tea (oh, this brings me back to the days I studied like mad before exams), but I'm having fun! Last night I decided I needed something to soak up some of the tea, so I made a batch of bagels dough for a slow rise in the fridge over night. This is the very first time for me. I remember my Mum making bagels years ago, and concluding "they were not worth all the hassle!" - but I decided to give it a go on a small batch.

They didn't come out the perfect shape and they got a bit dark since the last minutes in the oven flew by a bit too fast, but the taste.... mmmmmm! I'm happy with my first attempt ;o) This is the recipe I used:

25 g yeast
5 dl cold water
2 tbs melted butter
2 tbs golden syrup (I only had dark, but it worked well)
2 tsp salt
ca 800 g regular flour

Mix well and leave covered in the fridge overnight (10-12 hours). Knead the dough and make 12 "rings" and leave them to rise for 20-30 min. Boil them in sugar-water (2 tbs sugar pr liter water) for ca 2-3 min, place on a baking sheet and add poppyseeds/sesame seeds/sunflower seeds, bake in the oven at 225C for ca 20 min.

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

A little finish

2010-09-15T19:11:00.007+02:00

Thank you so much for all the comments on my Imagine quilt! Unfortunately I haven't been able to respond to all of you, but know all the nice words are truly appreciated!

There haven't been much sewing here since I finished it. A few log cabin blocks in brushed cottons for a soft version of Carrie Nelson's "Raise the Roof" are half finished

And I have been playing with some of the leftover scraps of Circle of Quilters fabrics and made this needle book for someone special ;o)

The stitchery on the cover is from a Gail Pan pattern for a tad smaller needle book. And compared to Gail's pattern I have turned the pockets - made two small and one large - and added a clip for a small pair of scissors.

...and a little certain someone just had to be the centre of attention - you wouldn't think he's normally camera shy *lol*

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

A finished Imagine quilt

2010-08-31T12:34:00.008+02:00

Woohoo! Some Masterchef on TV and a few episodes of BBC crime shows on DVD to keep my mind occupied while stitching down the binding, and it is done!!! And I looooove it!

It's a bit short to use as a bed spread, but perfect snuggle size to cover my duvet now the nights are getting colder, or keep on the sofa. A spin in the washing machine and a tumble in the dryer, and it crincled up nicely :o) However there are a few bits of paper still stuck in the quilting - arrgh!!

The backing turned out nice and scrappy, however a bit weird *lol*.

I was a bit short on fat quarters and yardage cuts from the Circle of Quilters fabric line, so I added a few bits and pieces from my stash, and I think that worked out pretty well. The puckers still annoy me a bit, but as long as no one examine it too closely...

Happy quilter here ;-D
Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Generous bloggers

2010-08-29T19:07:00.004+02:00

A couple of my blogging friends are having some great giveaways. My dear friend Rose is launching two new patterns these days, and is giving away two sets of patterns for these lovely projects:

The Garden Party table topper

The lovely Elida bag (named after my maternal grandmother)

And sweet Merete is celebrating 10 000 visitors to her blog, giving away a bag similar to this one:

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Imagine a finished quilt...

2010-08-29T10:52:00.007+02:00

I have been imagining a finished Imagine quilt since my post over a week ago, but it is slow getting there. I decided to use a couple of rolls of Quilting-Made-Easy (Pattern #306 Roses) I have had stashed away for a couple of years. You tried them? I'm not thrilled for several reasons:

1. The paper is really hard to hold on to - not good for anyone with aching arms and shoulders (at the end I have only managed to quilt for 5 minutes at a time). Even when you are using rubber tipped gloves or using LicketyGrip (my favourite!) it's very slippery; and it soaks up the LicketyGrip like a sponge soaks water and leaves your hands really dry.

2. With the paper on top it is hard to feel if the quilt puckers. I have some really bad puckers on the back of mine (but I can't be bothered to un-stitch).

3. Picking out the paper takes a lot of time; I used an average of 50 minutes quilting my way through one length of paper, and it took me an average of 30 minutes picking out that same paper - so over 4 hours paper-picking on this quilt! And there are still these little paper pieces stuck in the stitching - I really hope these will come out in the washing machine!

4. There is a lot of waste - this must be the least environmental friendly way to quilt ever! This is aprox 2/3 of what I picked out of the quilt

That said, I'm very pleased with the over-all look of my quilt so far, but I don't think it is worth the hassle of using the paper rolls! At least now they are gone (I think there are some of the blocks variety leftover somewhere in my stash, though...), and no more will fall into my shopping basket! With what was left my quilt couldn't have been an inch bigger *lol*

I have started attaching the binding, and am planning on hand stitching it down at the back while enjoying Master Chef on TV later today - three whole episodes ;o)

This quilt has been a real stash buster - before I started it I had big trouble getting this drawer closed

Have a fabulous and creative Sunday!
Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Imagine a quilt top

2010-08-21T14:54:00.003+02:00

It took a bit longer than I had planned, but my Imagine quilt top is together. And I think I have enough FQs left of the bundle to use for backing and binding ;o)

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Imagine an update

2010-08-13T20:20:00.000+02:00

Soooo... I promised an update... These blocks are heaps and heaps of fun to stitch!!!

Nearly half way through the pile ;o)

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Imagine the stash

2010-08-13T14:22:00.004+02:00

Have you been following Darlene's Shnibblemania parade? I have! And it has left me super inspired to stitch large shnibbles. When I bought Carrie Nelson's book "Schnibbles times two" I intended it as a stash busting inspirator. Soooooo.... I dug into my precious fabric. Don't know if I have mentioned before that my stash is divided into five (perhaps not very logical) categories:

'precious' fabric - don't really have an explanation for this category, some fabrics just end up here;
fabric - bits and pieces bought just because I had to - this is the bulk of my stash;
fabric that is set aside for a particular project/pigs/wisps;
pre-cut fabric;
scraps.

I re-surfaced from my digging with a collection of FQs and some yardage from Jennifer Chiaverini's Circle of Quilters fabric line. I know I had a plan for these when I bought them, but have forgotten what that plan was *lol*

Darlene made the lovely Imagine quilt for Carries book, and I think it will look great with these fabrics so I'm starting with that. The cutting is done except for the outer border - not really sure I want a scrappy border...

The pieces has found their way to keep Bernie company - it looks like this quilt will be rather quick to piece, so hopefully we have something to show in not too long

Look forward to seeing how this turns out - I'll keep posting progress :o)

Mentioning Jennifer... this cutie showed up in the post a little while back signifying I have finished my SBS quilt:

Makes a nice addition to my collection of Elm Creek Quilts pins :o)

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Not feeling guilty anymore

2010-08-12T20:10:00.004+02:00

A few years ago my Mum and I painted the sunroom at the summer house, and I threw out some fake flowers that hung between the windows. I have never really liked them, but my Mum claimed they brought colour to the room. As the bag went into the trash I told her I'd sew something for her to hang there instead. Well.... better late than never... We measured the areas earlier this summer and I Tuesday night started piecing some whirligig and pinwheel blocks I have been thinking about trying for a long time. Today I stitched down the last of the bindings:

They are a bit crooked, and they need a wash and a press before they are hung, but I think they turned out pretty cute - I'll see if I can get a pic once they are up between the windows. And those blocks are strip pieced and very quick and fun to make, so I have a feeling there are more of them in stall for the future, but perhaps a bit bigger than 3.25" ;o)

Finishing off this post with some pics I took on my hike to Kolsåstoppen this afternoon:

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Cherries and a block

2010-08-07T15:47:00.004+02:00

So have I actually done any sewing lately? Not much I have to admit... My dear friend had a birthday in the end of July, and she wanted something with cherries. Since it's summer I decided to make her a summery table topper:

Very simply double four patches in some fruity colours. Turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself ;o)

And I have cut into my precious stash of Elm Creek Cross-Country Quilters fabrics. Three blocks have been cut, but only one is stitched (still need to be pressed):

I do have a vague idea of what this will become, but since it's hand appliqué, it will take time and I might change my mind many times yet ;o)

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Chimney Sweep

2010-08-07T15:13:00.005+02:00

The 4th Another Little Quilt Swap is approaching it's end, with quilts being sent and received. I know the little pink and grey quilt I made has reached Carol safely, and while I was away at summer break my little quilt from Lisa arrived. The whole neighbourhood probably heard me scream with delight when I opened the parcel and saw this gorgeous little Chimney Sweep quilt

I am absolutely thrilled! It is sooo perfect! No wonder Lisa calls herself Miniaturequilter! She really has a talent for working with tiny little pieces, each of the blocks finish at 3.25" - with those squares finishing 3/4"!

In the parcel there were some other goodies - some very cute reproduction charms, some blue FQs that will be great in my DJ, a lovely appliqué tea towel, stickers and cards

Thank you so much, Lisa!!

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

A Special Project

2010-08-07T14:43:00.003+02:00

A few monts ago I mentioned a special project going on, that I really couldn't share... well, now it has been handed over, and I can talk freely. In the wake of the Sylvia's Bridal Sampler pattern book being published, a couple of us started talking of making a quilt for Jennifer Chiaverini. This has been something we have talked about before, but we hadn't gotten around to doing it, but this time we set a deadline and invited quilting friends from all over the world to join in. In the end a group of us made 14 blocks representing the covers of the first fourteen books in the Elm Creek Quilts novel series (click to enlarge photo)

The blocks were posted to me and I pieced them together into a top which was then sent to Valerie, one of our group members in France for long arm quilting. Val was lucky to meet Jennifer last week to hand over our finished quilt

I have to say, even though this project took time, and was very nervewrecking with blocks being delayed by post, returned to maker by the postal service, people getting ill etc. it was a wonderful experience working with talented quilters from all over the world. It was a thrill each time I got an envelope in the mail, and could admire another little piece of art!

Thank you girls for a fun and inspiring time!!

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida