Merry Christmas

A very merry Christmas to all of you, my dear blogging friends! I hope you all will have a time of peace and relaxation, and get to spend some time with loved ones!

Take care!
Lots of hugs from Anne Ida
(and Bernie)

Test stitching blocks

The Scandinavian Fabric Swap Club is having a block swap of 12" blocks from the Quilter's Cache. I have signed up for "On the Oregon Trail" and "Prairie Queen"; today I did a bit of a test by making a block from each:

They turned out about 1/8" too small, so I have to adjust to a scant quarter inch seam allowance for the swap blocks - lesson learned :o)

***

Thank you so much everyone for your comments on my Christmas quilt! I'm so happy you like it!

Hope you are having a great quilty weekend!
Sincerely, Anne Ida

C'est fini

After an intensive quilting weekend, and a couple of evenings stitching binding (boooring!!!), the feathered star Christmas quilt is ready to be snuggled under during the holidays. We are having chilly weather these days and a soft and cozy quilt will come in handy - just need to wash it first. This is how it turned out:

The quilting is fairly simple and not very dense. I played with a couple of stencils; the one with the four hearts Rose gave me for my b-day in the centre of the stars:

and a border stencil in the sashings:

I planned to use the border stencil in the border as well, but couldn't find a way to fit it in the corners, so I ended up stippling the area around the twisted ribbon border.

I'm very happy with how it turned out!

Hope you all have a great week!

Sincerely, Anne Ida

Dear friends; giving and receiving

A couple of years ago I came across a pattern for an Advent calendar in a Norwegian quilting magazine – liking the look of it, but not set for making it then and there I saved the pattern for some other time – like the end of November this year :o) For some years my friend in London and I have sent each other advent calendars if we have come across one that had a special appeal, and this year I decided I’d make her one (but not post it here until I was sure she had received it). This is how it turned out:

Not all that adventy/Christmassy since I only used from my stash, but the colours were picked thinking snow, evergreen and some purple for advent. This was so much fun to make!!! And so easy – all those kite pockets are just twice folded squares set into the seam of two background rectangles. Pressing the folds took some time, but assembling the top was done in a jiffy! The finished size of it is ca. 17”x19”, which is half the size of the pattern, I thought it was a bit big to send… I’m happy to say it made the journey safely.

***

If you have been reading my blog for some time you know I’m and avid reader of the Elm Creek Quilts novels and that I’m a member of the Sylvia’s Bridal Sampler e-mailing list. You also know that through the world of Elm Creek I have made friends with some wonderful women all over the world, and today a very special present awaited me from one of those very special friends, and I just have to share it with all of you. Shelley is a wonderful woman and a fabulous quilter! And look what she made me:

This little basket is absolutely wonderful, and she has crafted it beautifully! She knows I love Jennifer’s fabrics (think we have that in common as well *lol*), and the Cross Country Quilters Collection is my all time favourite (which is why I have quite a lot of it in my stash, but somehow I haven’t found THE project to use it in…). She even embroidered “For Anne Ida from Shelley” at the bottom – no one is going to mistake this is MINE! ;o)

She has let me know there is a twin to this lovely basket with another very special quilter, tying the knot of friendship further and making it even more special. Thank you so much, Shelley! The lovely autumn leaves buttons will find their way into a quilty project one of these days, and those snow flakes are perfect for this season’s decoration.

***

Sweet blogging friend Suzie has given me an award – a gold credit card for “Blogging friends forever” that is very much appreciated!

Thank you, Suzie! You know I love your blog and all your creativity, and send this back to you. But I also get to pass it on. The rules are as follows:

1. 5 people are allowed to receive this award
2. 4 dedicated followers
3. 1 new follower to your blog who lives in another part of the world
4. Please link back to the person who gave you this award.

The choice of only five is hard, since there are so many wonderful bloggers out there, but I send this award on to:
1. Rose
2. Hanne
3. May Britt
4. Yvonne
5. Janet – who only started blogging in November. From what she has shared so far she is a very talented quilter – her appliqué is fabulous! – pop over and say Hi, if you haven’t already

Have a wonderful weekend! I'll be working on my feathered star quilt :o)
Sincerely, Anne Ida

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!!

***

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*

***

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)

***

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!

***

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)

***

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.

***

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.

***

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

Backpack - another finish!

My friend Leisha Camden (formerly refered to as my friend K) and I made some bags during the winter 2006-2007, and among our projects were a Jinny Beyer backpack, made from some of the leftovers from this quilt:

But we didn't get any further than making the panels for the back and front before the backpack project ended up in the UFO drawer... sigh! But as I've been in the mood of finishing some projects, I pulled the backpack out, and now it's all done:

The straps are a bit long, so I might shorten them someday... But I'm so happy with it!!! And best of all, I'll be able to actually use it :o)

Happy quilty weekend!
Sincerely, Anne Ida

RR Finished

I didn't want another UFO in my drawer, so I figured I'd finish the RR before it ever ended up in the pile of "things to do". And now it's finished :o) This is how it turned out:

I did a stencil motif in the centre, stitched in the ditch around the "castle wall" and the seminole squares, did some stippling in the light blue in the middle, some echo quilting around the daisies and some meandring in the rest. Fun!

Happy quilting!
Sincerely, Anne Ida

Round Robin

I have participated in a Round Robin on the "Stoffbytteklubben" (fabric swap club), and today I finally found mine in the mail box!!! This is how it turned out:

I made the Castle Wall block in the centre, Gudveig did the seminole border, Kari did the purple with the appliqué flowers, and then Lena did the square in a square border. I'm thinking of quilting it quite simply (some meandring, perhaps) and bind it in some dark blue. It will be a good summer table topper :o)

This is how Lena's RR looked when I sent it to Kari:

This is Kari's with Lena's and my rounds:

And this is Gudveig's once all of us had stitched on it:

They all look very different! This was a fun experience, but I don't think I'll join in something like this again any time soon - too much stress and uncertainties...

Happy Quilting!
Sincerely, Anne Ida

Another Angels Story Weekend

Wohoo! Last night I came home from another wonderful weekend of stitching on the Angels Story quilt along with May Britt, Hanne and Lise, and Bjørg (no blog) for a few hours yesterday. We had such a wonderful time!!!

Hanne and Lise picked me up Saturday morning and we drove up to May Britt's. Almost as soon as we arrived we headed of to the LQS Lille Stasjon - of course we had to spend some money *lol*

When we got back, May Britt served us home made "angel buns" on the veranda, and we spent most of the afternoon there stitching and chatting.

When it got too cold, we moved inside, and kept stitching, chatting and laughing - and of course May Britt's cat, Frida, joined in on the fun.

For supper we had a lovely salmon and pasta - it was soo yummy, May Britt!

Lise is a very speedy stitcher, and she has finished all her angel blocks, so after supper she started cutting the pieces for her quilt, and on Sunday she started piecing a couple of the blocks together:

they look so wonderful! The rest of us stitched some more on our blocks,

and when Bjørg joined in, we had a bit of a display on the living room floor

Angels Galore!!! *lol* Looks great, doesn't it?

May Britt let me go crazy in her drawer of green fabrics to add some variety to my angels quilt - look at this yummy pile I came home with

Thank you so much, May Britt!!! Now I just have to catch up on my blocks...

Thank you ladies for a great weekend!
Hope everyone has a wonderful Monday!
Sincerely, Anne Ida