The project on the floor

Remember these? I made my first feathered star block back in June, just for fun, and found I wanted a Christmas quilt made up of nine of these stars. As we know Christmas is coming fast!!! So this week I finally started putting the top together, today I pieced the points on the sawtooth stars and laid it out. It is going slowly, but here is a pic of how it looks spread out on the living room floor:

Plan for tomorrow is to finish the pieces that will make up the sawtooth stars around the edges, and hopefully get the centre of the top pieced together (so that I can clear off the floor for a change *lol*). I have an idea for what I want for borders, whether or not that will happen remains to be seen :o)

Hope you're having a great weekend!
Sincerely, Anne Ida

My oldest UFO...

...is FINISHED!!! This is the one that has been listed on my side bar as "Blue & multicoloured trial and error".

I started piecing this quilt the summer 2000 (I think it was…) while on holiday at the summer house. This was before I had really comprehended the concept of 1/4" seam allowance - the seam allowances are closer to half an inch in this one *lol* - but it is more or less consistent, so everything fits together (sort of...). Anyway, I lost interest in it once the holiday was over, and it has sort of been laying there… this summer I pulled it from the drawer thinking I’d might use it for the backing on the DNP, just to get it out of the way… but I found I just couldn’t – I still kind of like it, and didn’t want to “hide” it as a back. So once the DNP was done, I put the border on, layered, and quilted it – just some meandering; it was hard to quilt because of all those thick intersections and the bulky seam allowances. The binding was attached sometime in the beginning of September, and I brought it to our guild meeting that month to hand sew it down; didn’t finish that night, and it has been sitting in the bag until tonight – one hour after pulling needle and thread and turning on the telly tonight it was FINISHED!!!! Puh!!! Just happy it’s done!!

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Sunday I was at a flee market with some friends – and I picked up these swatch books

The colours are amazing!!! And there is a lovely shine to the fabrics (some sort of curtain material, I think). No idea what to do with them, but my friend Leisha Camden suggested I’d blog them to put some pressure on myself to find some ideas – so check back with me in about eight years or so, and you might find out? *lol*

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Dear, sweet Hanne has a new pattern out these days - isn't this Christmas shopping bag and purse fabulous?

She has a draw for the pattern on her blog - hmmm... I kind of want to win this... should I send you over to participate in the draw? *lol*

Hope you're having a great week! See you soon!
Sincerely, Anne Ida

Bag and blocks

My friend Leisha Camden had her birthday in mid October, but she spent the day in Egypt, so her birthday pressie from me was only handed over today. She spotted a pattern for this make-up bag with an elephant on it before Christmas last year, and I found she expected an elephant-pressie... Well, she didn't get one then, but I did make her one now:

It is a fair size bag that will hold some books and stuff, or might come in handy for shopping (in stead of those non-environment friendly plastic bags). And for the elephant tail I had some fun with a star stud, a bead and a rusty bell :o)

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Anyone remember this post? While looking through some old post last night, I found that I haven't shared the remaining blocks for this mini quilt - they were all done this summer!

They have been laying on the sideboard in the living room since I finished them, in hope that I'll work some more on this version of Sarah's Sampler. I still have to put the top together and figure out how I'm going to quilt it, but having all the blocks finished is a start. I'm still putting off those tiny pieces for the garden maze setting and the twisted border - this will have to be done over a peaceful weekend when I'm in a great mood and have no stiff neck!!!

Hope you all have had a great weekend!
Sincerely, Anne Ida

This and that - a long post

Long time, no see... I have been a bad blogger again.... Lost track of time, been busy, lost the cord to my camera (what is a blog post without pictures? I finally convinced my Dad to lend me his), basically life has gotten in the way... I want to thank everyone for the sweet comments on my previous post, sorry I haven't replied to all of you!

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Anyway, even though I don't really feel that productive I have done a little bit of quilting. A couple of my friends got married just over a week ago, and of course I had to make them a quilt:

As usual cutting time a bit short as I only finished stitching down the binding and label a couple of hours before the ceremony *lol* - but it was finished in time! As you can see it is a very simple pattern, just 12" stars and some cornerstones, and the quilting is a very easy well spaced meandering. I'm pleased with the over-all look of it, and I think they are happy with it :o)

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My friend Nemo has been a busy bee with the knitting needles (and other needles as well, for that matter), and look at these wrist warmers she made me:

Aren't they pretty? Those dancing ladies are so cute! And they are so warm and cozy! Fabulous these days when winter have arrived. And they were well worth their weight in gold and more after our last meeting at the quilting guild - Nemo has written about it in this post.

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I had an errand at the post office this afternoon, among other things to pick up a parcel from my very dear friend Rose in Tasmania. Sweetie, I'm sooo happy - thank you!!!! Look what this wonderful and talented lady sent me:

Some gorgeous fabrics and buttons, some thread and a quilting stencil and some chocolate pretty wrapped for my B-day - thank you so much Rose, Les, Maddi and Cohen!! Included in the box was also no. 8 Australian Country Threads which has the pattern for Rose's beautiful Christmas cushion "Sleep Tight"; and all the patterns to her fabulous BOM "Tender Moments"; which I sort of cheated and started sewing on back in May before she finished the pattern writing. This is as far as I have gotten:

Now that I actually have the patterns I might be able to finish it *lol* I have cut the pieces for the rest of the flying geese units, and they keep Bernie company on my desk so I can use them as leaders and enders and for some in between fun sewing.

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Other happy news is that my friend Elin has finished the top on her Sylvia's Bridal Sampler, pop over to her blog and have a look. It is absolutely gorgeous!!! Congratulations, Elin!! I now look forward to seeing this quilt all finished (and in person!!!)! ...hmmm... I feel my fingers itching to make another of these quilts... perhaps someday *lol*

Hope everyone has a great week!
Sincerely, Anne Ida

B-day pressie

The evenings this last week has been busy stitching on a birthday present quilt. My Aunt turned 60 early this summer, and my Uncle will be 60 in the spring, so this weekend they celebrated their 120 years! Of course I had to make them a quilt :o) A one block repeat lap size quilt:

The pattern is "Pink Lemonade" from Eleanor Burn's book "Quilts Through the Seasons" - supposedly a quilt in a day... depends on how you define "day" - I estimate to have used 24 efficient work hours on this one since I made the first cut, till the last stitch was in the label.

The quilting is just some over all swirls (think you can see it if you enlarge the photo), that were a lot of fun to do! I'm very pleased with this one, and I think they were as well!

Hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend!
Sincerely, Anne Ida

Weekend inspirations

A couple of weeks ago Hanne and I joined a few other quilting ladies to have a mass-sewing session for the "Tepper som varmer" - "Quilts that warm" - run by the Norwegian Quilters Asociation, made for for children that spend long time in hospital. Hanne has made quite a few quilts for them, my first, but definitely not the last!

Being me, I forgot to utilize my camera during the weekend (brought it, but it got stuck in the bag, sigh!), but today I was lucky to get some pictures from one of the ladies arranging the weekend (thank you, Gretha!), and thought I'd share some of the creativity with everyone.

Me stitching the binding onto the quilt I made during the weekend

This is the quilt all done! A good lap size quilt, I had a lot of fun making - it sort of came to life as I went along, starting with the Broken Dishes blocks and improvising from there - a simple meandering all over keep the three layers together.

All in all 31 quilts/quilt tops was produced during the weekend, it was fab to participate, and lots of inspiration to take home!
Hope everyone have a wonderful week!
Sincerely, Anne Ida

Swap-happy!

Dear blogging friends! Thank you all for your wonderful comments on my previous post! I know it has been a while, but I really needed this little break. My situation at work has calmed down a little bit, and I have calmed down a little bit. I made a bit of an escape to visit friends in London, and spent some time with my parents at our summer house for a week; no computer and a phone that I kept switched off for a lot of the time was needed. But I have missed blogging, and even though I haven't made any comments, I have tried to keep up with your blogs through Bloglines :o)

Just before the summer my dear blogging friend Suzie (Littlebusybee) and I agreed to do a one-on-one mini quilt swap, and yesterday this beauty showed up:

Isn't it gorgeous? The pattern is "Reel Friendships". She has done such a fabulous job on it - the piecing is soooo accurate, and her hand quilting is fabulous! Thank you so much, Suzie! I’m so happy with it!

She also included some other goodies in the parcel;

Rebecca Barker card, chocolate, tea, a teeny tiny sewing machine key ring, and a beautiful bookmark! Look at those tiny flying geese! Just like the quilt it is so perfectly made! This is one talented lady!

Of course I made her a mini quilt as well – but I don’t think it has arrived in Germany yet, so I’ll keep it a secret until she has received it.

Hope everyone has a good week!
Sincerely, Anne Ida

Blog break

Just want to say I haven't forgotten all you wonderful blogging friends, and that I really miss the blogging community. But my life is a bit upside down at the moment, (UPDATE: this is some trouble at work that has my mind twisting a bit), so I won't be blogging or commenting to any blogs for a while. I want to say thank you to everyone who commented on my previous post, and sorry I haven't sent you a personal e-mail as I usually do.

Hope everything straightens out and that I'll see you all soon! Take care!! Sincerely, Anne Ida

Disappearing 9-patch

We had some really hot weather last week, so on Tuesday I packed my bags and went to the summer house for a few days to get some air. The weekend I spent with my sister, including a trip to the summer exhibit at LQS - Lappemakeriet. So that's the reason no one has heard from me lately, I have a list of e-mails I need to answer, and according to Bloglines I have over 400 new posts to read, so it might take me some time to get through them all, so please have patience with me.

I don't have much quilty news, but I do have another finish! A while back there was a block exchange on Stoffbytteklubben; we swapped 12" nine patch blocks in blues, greens and creams. All in all 30 blocks made by Astri, Elin, Kari, Karin and myself:

Sunday before I left, I cut my pile up and pieced the top together and layered it. And on Monday night I quilted it with some large meandring. I finished the binding at the summer house and left the quilt down there to be used and enjoyed through the autumn.

Oh, and I just have to share this little cutie - my sis and I came across him/her near the river on our way home from the LQS - isn't he adorable? And sooo tiny and perfect:

Oh, and my shopping at the LQS? I was a pretty good girl and only got a few things:

Happy quilting!
Sincerely, Anne Ida