Can you believe it?

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)

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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"

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?

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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

Lots of not doing too much

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

A lot to share

I've got a lot to share tonight - all of it good!!! Firstly, any of you reading Rose's post today saying she will be having a friend for a visit in February? Guess who??? MEEEEE!!! I'll be flying to Australia, spending a couple of days in Melbourne with Rose and her family (hopefully we'll run into some other bloggers as well), a week in Tasmania with them, including a weekend class arranged by The country Quilter, attending a quilting class, with Rose teaching her beautiful new design! YEY!!!! And probably meeting some other very talented Australian designers as well. Doing the happy dance in the couch *lol*

Secondly I saw a post on May Kristin's blog today about this:

I'm very happy to be able to participate in this and I hope some of you want to play along - this is how it goes:
It’s the Pay It Forward Exchange. It’s based of the concept of the movie “Pay it Forward” where acts or deeds of kindness are done without expecting something in return, just passing it on, with hope that the recipients of the acts of kindness are passed on. You all know I’m already a PIF type of person. So here’s how it works. I will make and send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I do not know what that gift will be yet, and it won’t be sent this month, probably not next month, but it will be sent (within 6 months) and that’s a promise! What YOU have to do in return, then, is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

On the quilting front I can report that I still am doing bits and pieces on my WIPs - as you might have noticed a few more progress lists have appeared in my side bar. I've decided to follow Hanne's example from quilting her Watermelons on quilting the blue and white SBS swap quilt, at least one strand of thread a day.

I've also made a head start on Leanne Beasley's new BOM - Butterfly Garden - the patterns won't be here until december, so I've started on the stitcheries of quilt blocks that I can draft myself. I will probably make a very personal version of this quilt, and swap some of the blocks she has used in hers for something that suits my tastes and skills better. Pics will come...

Hope you all have a wonderful evening/day/morning
Sincerely, Anne Ida

And it's a flimsy!

Not much sewing this week, not much time to read blogs or reply to all your sweet comments either... I'm sorry about that! and I hope to be able to do some catching up this weekend. I started this afternoon by stitching the borders to my blue and white SBS swap quilt top - it is now officially a flimsy:

I'm rather pleased with the effect of the log cabin blocks! Now I have to piece together the back, using the last one of my blocks, the siggie squares from some of the other swappers and left over fabrics :o)

Wishing everyone a great quilty weekend!
Sincerely, Anne Ida

It's a beginning

It's hard to believe it has been a week since my last post! I've loved the responces I have received on the blue and white swap quilt top! Thank you so much to all of you who made a block for me, and thank you to all who have left me a comment! I really appreciate it! Over this week, I haven't done all that much quilty stuff. I've started on the blocks for the border of my swap quilt - 48 Log Cabin Blocks so far - I still need to make four more.

Yesterday was a grey day here, so apart from a walk with a group of my collegues to Bygdøy, a penninsula in the Oslo fjord, to have a look at the government's gift to the King and Queen for their 70th birthdays, I spent the day on the sofa doing a bit of hand piecing. I bought Brenda Papadakis' book "Dear Jane" in June, and my fingers have been itching to start making blocks ever since. I managed to stitch two yesterday:

Hopefully it will be scrappy with the main colours being blue and beige, I've picked out some lovely Thimbleberries fabrics for that cozy country feel - perhaps with some small specs of other colours blended in. Ive decided to do this wholely as a hand piecing project, so it will take lots and lots of time, and I'm sure you will find an update on the progress here every now and then :o)

Sincerely, Anne Ida

Clearing of the living room floor

Did I tell you I love those blue and white SBS swap blocks? Scince they arrived on Friday, they have been lying on the living room floor for me to admire and play with - and Sunday I just had to start stitching them together *lol* This is what they look like now, after doing some stitching Sunday, last night and tonight:

I have sewn together 59 blocks, all fifty I received from my swap partners and nine of my own, set on point with 1" white/cream sashings, blue corner stones, and white/cream setting triangles. It is now a fair size lap quilt, perfect size to have on the sofa on those cold winter nights. I'm not quite sure where I want to take it from here... I want some sort of pieced blue border - not to big - but don't know what pattern to choose... so i'm putting it in the sewing basket while I take a time-out in the think tank :o)

Hope you are having fun these days too!
Sincerely, Anne Ida

In a swap-happy mood

Thursday evening I finished my "Leaves of September" quilt for ... in the Four Seasons Quilt Swap. This is how it turned out:

As you can see, I increased the volume of the stems of the maple leaves. The quilting is very simple, but I hope it enhances the pattern of the blocks. As a finishing touch I added one stanza of the poem "Once Upon an Autumn Day" by Joseph T. Renaldi to the label. Now it's done and just waiting to be sent of on Monday.

Remember the blue and white SBS swap I posted about early this summer? Yesterday I got my blocks back from Jennifer Chiaverini:

I'm so exited about this!!! They are absolutely gorgeous! Everyone has done such a wonderful job! And I hope I can figure out a setting for them that does these beauties justice. In the pic on the top are all the blocks that were sent to me, in the one below, I have added one of each of the blocks I made for the swap. All in all there are 60 blocks - so it should make into a fair size quilt - all in blue and white/cream. Now I need to think...

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend!
Sincerely, Anne Ida

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PS! For those interested, here is the whole poem by Joseph T. Renaldi:

Once Upon An Autumn Day

Once upon an autumn day,

Colorful leaves began to fade

In the midst of a chilly, frosty air

As multitude of trees grew steadily bare.

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Once upon an autumn day,

The whispering breeze was here to stay

Moving aimlessly through the countless trees

Scattering leaves with the greatest of ease.

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Once upon an autumn day,

The leaves whirled freely in every way,

Until at last they came to rest

Finding a haven in which to nest.

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Once upon an autumn day,

The trees were dormant, and the leaves lay

Waiting for the winter snow to fall

To quickly obscure them one and all.

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Joseph T. Renaldi

Ahead of schedule

Like I announced in my last post, I have been on a short brake from my SBS blocks this week to work on some blocks for the blue and white/cream swap. Over the last evenings I have spent some late hours stitching, and believe it or not; I’m ahead of schedule! The plan for this week was to make five of the ten sets I signed up for in the swap, but seeing how quick the first couple of sets went; I made six!


Each set is five blocks, I have made one extra for myself of each. I had already made three sets, and I have one set as a carry around hand piecing project which are about half way done – so I’ll be done with my swap blocks in plenty of time for the deadline :o)

Some of you have made some really sweet remarks of concern about my decision to take a break from the SBS, fearing that it will become a UFO; to that I wish say thank you! –and that I’ll be back to working on it on Sunday, and hopefully I’ll be able to make the list of 26 remaining blocks a little bit shorter :o)

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend!
Sincerely, Anne

Extended weekend - not much quilting

I have spent the past few days at the family summer house - about 2 hours driving from where I live. We have opened the place for the summer, and basically relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful weather. I did bring some sewing with me; I managed to stitch a little bit, but not as much as I would have liked (just lying in the sun took too much time *lol*).




Well, what I can show is one more SBS block - Gentleman's Fancy, which is hand pieced seeing as I haven't brought a sewing down there for the summer yet; and the centres for two more blue and white swap blocks (Tumbling Blocks) - I have also basted the paper to most of the remaining pieces for the last four Tumbling Blocks blocks I'll be making (in the plasitic bag). So all in all not much, but not all that bad...


I hope all of you - my blogging friends - have had a great weekend and a good 1. May!
Sincerely, Anne

What have I been up to...?

Earlier tonight I realized it have been some time since my last post. So what have I been up to? Well it’s not all that much in the world of quilting… I have been busy at work most of last week, this weekend I was in Gothenburg with friends and these past two days I have been at a seminar. But I still have been able to keep up the work on some swap blocks (sorry the pic is a bit weird):


This is some of my blocks for the blue and white SBS swap. I have signed up for 10 sets of 5 blocks, and I’m also making one block of each set for myself – all in all I’ll be making 60 blocks. I have also been able to start paper piecing my tumbling blocks for the swap, and I hope to be able to do some more stitching this weekend.

I have only been able to make one more block for my own SBS – it was finished a few days ago:

It is a bit crooked and strange, but this is the most difficult appliqué I have ever attempted, and not being a wiz at the technique, I’m pleased with it.