Happy New Year/Godt nytt år!!!

All the best wishes for everyone in 2008 - lots of quilting and lots of blogging. And cheers to meeting friends from the world of Blogland!

Biiig hugs from Anne Ida

Santa came

Look what Secret Santa, a.k.a. Sharon, sent me:

Isn't it just wonderful! I love the star Christmas runner - and she also included a cute tin with safety pins, some needles, a divinely smelling soap, a cute little stocking and a pattern for a gingerbread wall hanging. Thank you so much, Sharon! I love it!!!

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

Happy Birthday, Rose!

December 27th, is Rose’s 40. birthday - a very happy birthday to you, sweetie!!!

In the middle of February I was blog browsing and happened upon Threadbare. You had just made the first loggie block for your wonderful quilt. That first short comment I left has lead to many e-mails over the months that has passed, a smile on my face every time I see your name in my inbox, and you have come to be a treasured friend! Together we work on our Sylvia’s Bridal Sampler quilts and on our Winter Quilts - a togetherness despite the distance between Australia and Norway - and I love being able to share in your creativity! I have been lucky to be able to follow your journey on building your own design company, and see Threadbare Creations grow. You are such a tallented quilter, and I wish you many years ahead doing what you love!

I hope you will have a wonderful birthday, that it will be filled with much happiness, good company, pressies and fun!
Gratulerer så mye med dagen!!!
Stooor bursdagsklem/biiiig birthday hug!

Home for Christmas

I'll be going home to my parent's this afternoon for my Christmas holiday, and I probably won’t post until sometime next week (what is in the SSCS package from Sharon and some other Christmasy things). I just want to wish all my blogfriends a very Merry Christmas! I hope you all will have a holiday of peace, family and friends!

And I thought I’d show you this:

Isn’t it cozy? My Mum stitched it for me a few years back, and it is now hanging in my kitchen bringing warmth and the feel of Christmas fro me when I get back.

Take care, and happy holidays!
Hugs from Anne Ida

Weekend baking

This weekend was a bit of Christmas preparations. With four doughs for Christmas cookies that I had prepared during the week, I went to my parents house on Friday afternoon. I also brought them The Sampler - which ended up on their bed in a really short time *lol*. While my Mum and I went to a wonderful church concert on Friday night, my Dad and my sis baked up the Galettes that Nadine shared the recepie for - since we don't have a galette cooker they used a waffle iron, that's why they are "triangular" - they are yummy!!! Saturday my sister and I did some shopping and then some more baking; ginger bread and some sour cream bread. Sunday we continued with Goro and some Tyske skiver (German slices):

We also made the dough for some Kromkaker - which my mum made Sunday evening after I had packed down my camera.

Still lots of things to do... Yikes! Better get running :o)
Sincerely, Anne Ida

PS! My SSCS giftie from Sharon arrived on Friday! Thank you so much Sharon! Now tucked away with some other pressies at my parents house so I won't be tempted to open early :o)

Better finished than perfect :o)

Plan for the weekend was to finish the sampler for my parents - and I did it!!! The label is attached and the quilt is now in the washing machine :o) A biiig "thank you hug" to all of you who said I could do it!

This is how it turned out:

This is a close up of the quilting:

This was a bit of an experiment with free motion quilting - rather sparsely all over quilting with hearts and some swirls, and some in-the-ditch in the borders. I still have a long way to go on improving my quilting skills, but all in all this looks ok! ...it could have been a lot worse *lol*

I'm feeling good! And I hope you do to!
Sincerely, Anne Ida

Easing my guilty conscience

In May my parents had their 30th wedding anniversary. What is good daughter to do? Make them a quilt, of course! Well, I got started… and then everything just happened very differently then I had thought, and on their anniversary I only presented them with 10 blocks… I took the blocks back home with me and had plans of finishing the quilt in a matter of weeks. Those weeks turned into months… and while I was looking for some fabrics for a Christmas present last night, the blocks looked up accusingly up at me, saying: “Why haven’t you stitched us into a quilt?” Tonight I have done my best to do just that:

This is the "Sampler" in the to-do list in my sidebar. There is a theme in the block names - marriage, home and family. I had originally planed a different setting for the ten blocks, but I still haven’t figured out the measurements and how to cut the pieces for that setting, so in stead I made two more blocks (a Rosebud - my mom loves roses and had roses in her bridal bouquet, and a Sawtooth Star - my dad knows his way around a saw and he is a star ;o)) and decided on a straight setting 3 x 4 with cornerstones. Now the border remains – I’m thinking piano keys in the three focus colours (the fabric that looks a little brown is actually a shade of pink). Hopefully I can stitch those tomorrow and ad them to the centre. If I then can layer it and baste it on Friday (purchased batting and quilting thread yesterday) – do you think I can quilt it this weekend? – And then do the binding when the rest of the Christmas gifts are done?

Goal: Since I couldn’t finish the quilt for the date of their anniversary, I should at least finish it within the year of their anniversary!

Hope you are having a great week!
Sincerely, Anne Ida

A time for secrets... and PIF

It is hard to believe it's a week since my last post, and it is the first Sunday of advent already! I've sent of my pressie for xxx in the Secret Santa Christmas swap - ohhh, I hope she'll like it! And I've started making some other little presents - none of which I can show *lol*. I've put up light in the kitchen window today, but that is as far as I've gotten on my decorating (hmmm... I know I need a purple runner under there... the fabrics are in the drawer, just haven't gotten there yet).

And I thought I'd let anyone interested know: I've stil got a free spot on my Pay It Forward - please let me know if you want to participate (you get a hand made giftie from me, and you make three to send to someone else).

Wishing all my blog friends a great December week!
Sincerely, Anne Ida