Weekend accomplishments...

Oh...I wish there were more hours in a weekend! I had lots of plans for what I wanted to do, but only managed some of it. Yesterday in between baking bread and scones, I made my second block for The Winter Quilt:

This is the quilt Rose and I both are working on - she posted a pic of her block earlier today. Our blocks are so different, but I love them both! Can hardly wait to see how these quilts eventually turn out!

Most of today I spent making a birthday present for a friend - unfortunately I can't post a pic seeing as she might pop in and have a look at my blog *lol*

I had planned on starting a new tote bag for myself once I had made the gift, but didn't feel up to reading patterns and working on something "big". Therefore I went over to the next point on my list: prepare some more DJ blocks! I have now the pieces for six more blocks ready. Hopefully I'll manage to stitch them in the next week or so...

Oh... almost forgot - someone asked me to show a pic of Nadine's stitchery for the Stitchery Swap once I had it up on the wall. Looks great, doesn't it?

Hope you will have a great week!
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

”The Winter Quilt”

Once upon a time, not too long ago, in lands on opposite sides of the world, there were two women dreaming of a special quilt - a quilt they both had seen pictures of on the strange world wide web. The woman in the south knew the pattern for the block in this quilt as "Annie’s Choice", and she thought of her friend in the north who was called Anne. The woman in the north knew the pattern as Dutch Rose (among other names), and thought of her friend in the south named Rose.

One day after they had talked and thought, they decided that they would both make this quilt, and together they would realize their dreams. Inspired by the quilts(1)/quilts (2) they had seen online, Rose drafted in EQ6 what they had come to talk of as “The Winter Quilt”.

They gathered the fabrics they needed; Anne made up her mind only to use fabrics from her stash, while Rose chose to purchase some lights, but would use what darks she already had. On a beautiful Thursday, in the spring time in the south and autumn in the north, they started their quilting adventure – cutting and sewing, and thinking of the friend so far away doing the same – a quilting bee in spirit. When our story is told they have each completed one 16” block

Rose is making her quilt in beautiful soft country colours on a golden background, so as to contribute to warmth in the winter when this quilt will be needed and used.

Anne chose a selection of strong colours against a background of parchment beige, leaving a colder impression, but with a bit more contrast and play for the eye.

All in all will they each make 25 of these blocks, so our story will continue…
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This post is made on behalf of both Rose and Anne. Rose have unfortunately injured her shoulder, and is banned from sewing, knitting and computer work – included blog writing – for a while, Anne is hoping she will recover well, and is sure her friend will love to receive a message via her blog wishing she will feel better soon.

I promised a pic...

...of my Dear Jane blocks, so here it is:

C9 – Jane’s Tears, B13 – Four Corner Press; I2 – Kaye’s Courtyard;
A1 – Pinwheel Gone Awry; M10 – Simple Simon; A6 – Uncle Homer;
F4 – Old Windmill; D13 – Field of Dreams; B9 – Tinker Toy

I included the ones I showed previously too, so as to make a complete square :o) Like I said, mostly rather simple blocks to get into the feel and rhythm of hand piecing these tiny pieces. These blocks are far from perfect, but this quit will be an exercise in hand piecing and appliqué, and hopefully making these tiny blocks will improve my skills. I already has attempted something for the first time ever – reverse appliqué; and I’m rather pleased with the result :o)

Hope you have a great Friday evening!
Sincerely, Anne Ida

Award and meme

A few days ago my sweet tassi friend Rose awarded me with the "Make Me Smile" award! And the day before yesterday, wonderful co-Norwegian quilt blogger Elin also bestowed this honor upon me! Thank you so much, both of you! I'm touched and honored! - and I promise to wear the badge with pride. And I want you both to know you make me smile as well! :o)

Now I'm suppose to pass on this honour to someone else in blogland. But somehow you all make me smile, laugh, feel inspired in one way or another, so there is no way I can single anyone out. If you feel you deserve this award, and I have left a comment on your blog in the last couple of weeks, the award is yours - wear it with pride!

Along with the award, they both challenged me with a meme to tell something about myself using the letters of my middle name. Now my middle (or rather second first name - as I use both) has only three letters, so this should be a piece of cake, you think? Not so! I really had a hard time coming up with something. But here it goes:

I - imaginative (you don't want to know what goes on in my head!)
D - determined (usually when I decide to do something, I do it!)
A - agreeable (very few people have had reason to argue with me. Or is it that I scare them so much they don't dare? *lol*)

How much that really says about me? You be the judge... Now do you feel tagged? YOU ARE!

Hope you have a wonderful Thursday! I'll be sewing tonight! YEY!
Sincerely, Anne Ida

PS! Did you see in the side bar that the DJ block tally is up to 9? - don't be too impressed, they are mostly simple blocks :o) picture later.

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.

*

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.

*

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.

*

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.

*

Joseph T. Renaldi

Top is together

Today I have turned my day a bit upside down; taking it easy during the beginning of the day doing some organizing for a work project and taking some time for sewing before I'll do some "proper" work this evening. So I've finally managed to get the top for my Four Seasons Quilt Swap quilt together.

I'm not too sure about the embroydered stems on the leaves, will have a think on those... and I still have to figure out how I'm going to quilt it, and think of a label for the back. I sooo hope that the person who receives this will love it as much as I love the one I got from Libby!

Hope you are having a creative day!
Sincerely, Anne Ida