Grandma's Red Needle

Colorado Star - progress / Swap / Featured

2012-01-28T05:38:00.014+04:00

It feels like I'm on slow motion when it comes to quilting... Must be the heat and humidity these days...

Perhaps I'm not that slow after all; it's just me who feels like that...

Earlier this month I was busy cutting 2 inches and 2.5 inches squares for the Postage Stamp Quilt 2012 - Charm Swap & Challenge. A few days back I connected with my swap partners in the US and Australia and I hope to get the charms in the mail today.

I had a little 'stocktaking' of my UFO's earlier. It took me awhile to decide on which UFO to 'attack'. The Colorado Star quilt is my oldest UFO - from April 2009. Not that bad - huh?! :)

Can't remember how many blocks I had already done, but it was not enough for two couch covers. 16 blocks are required for one couch cover. Yes, not more than 16! The blocks are 18 inches squares (sewn into quilt), that's why not more are needed.

When I had enough blocks - 32 - I discovered four of them were not the right size; they are almost 1/2 inch smaller than the other blocks I had made earlier so they can't be used for the covers! :( Don't know what happened at that time, but I've surely scamp (?) the work and not paid proper attention to the 1/4" seam allowance! Excuse! Excuse! I was a newbie at that time! :)) I can still use those blocks; I'm going to make a table topper to match the couch covers.

I've been featured - again! :) Well, not me, but a bag I made from a pattern in the Australian Homespun Quilting magazine. Take a look here - top right - Dec 2011 issue. I'm sorry I don't know how to enlarge it... If I had had the magazine here I could have scanned it, but here the magazines are in the shelves 3-4 months after publishing date in Australia. I guess the magazines are sent by ship since it takes that long... You can read more about the bag here.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention I've made a Friendship bag for a swap. I can't show it now, because it is a secret swap.

I've been cooking too, which you can read about here and here.

Blogger's BOM #4 and NYB blocks

2012-01-13T06:01:00.000+04:00

Canton Village Quilt Works - Blogger's BOM block #4 is done!

Block #4 is designed by Pat Sloan over at The Voice of Quilting.

I'm not sure I like my color choices - only myself to blame for that!!!

Next block - #5 - will be designed by John Adams over at Quilt Dad.

As you may remember, last year I tried my hands on New York Beauty blocks. Piecing those blocks are not the same as piecing squares together; they have scary curves!!!

These are the first ones I made... I'm far from happy with them; they are wonky and no way they turned out the size they were supposed to be; 6.5 inches square. :((

I decided to make them different, by omitting the two curves at each side of the center/points, cut the two pieces a little bit bigger for so to trim the block to the right size later. This is how they turned out;

Still a bit wonky, but I should get some good practise working on those, before I proceed to the more complicated ones - like those I made first... :)

To those of you who makes those blocks; do you prefer hand- or machine piecing?

Cut till you ..... what?? Drop??

2012-01-12T13:25:00.000+04:00

The festive season is already history, and I have finally packed away all Christmas decoration. Well, not exactly - still some Santa's to be packed away, but I have been busy with other - more important (lol) - things over the last days. When I say 'more important', I have 'tortured' myself in the garden, did quite some weeding, trimming branches and cutting grass. I'm happy we did it 'in time', because yesterday we had some wonderful thunderstorms.

Gardening is important, but can you guess what is 'more important'?! If you read my previous post, I'm sure you'll get it! :)

I've been cutting squares - 2 inches and 2.5 inches - for the Postage Stamp Quilts 2012! I have saved strips over the past years, but never got around cutting them into squares. When The Curious Quilter announced the PSQ 2012, I decided to attack the treasure boxes! Since then I have cut, cut, cut! Phew! :)

2.5 inches squares

2 inches squares

I have yet to count how many squares I already have. Hopefully I have enough for a swap.

If you want to join the Postage Stamp Quilt 2012 - be sure to sign up before January 18th.

Last year - Christmas present in advance - my dear friend Johnny gifted me a 10 kilos (22 pounds) box of different fabric swatches. (Closing-out sale at a quilting shop).

After I signed up for the PSQ 2012, I thought of cutting some of those swatches. I haven't had a close look at all the fabric swatches, but what caught my eye are two bundles...

This is one of them; swatches in cream, purple, two different browns and two different greens. It consists of 39 pieces, where the smallest piece is 7" x 12,5" and the biggest 13" x 13". I want to make something out of it, but what? Perhaps if I add some tone-on-tone cream it should be a reasonable sized quilt?

Here's the other one; roses.

27 pieces; smallest 7" x 14" and biggest 13" x 16". If I add some creamy fabrics to these too...

Any suggestions what I can make out of them?

I was going to add a few more photos, but the I-net connection is shit, so I'll save that for another post - coming soon.

***********

Postage Stamp Quilts 2012 - Charm swap & challenge

2012-01-07T15:36:00.000+04:00

Would you like to have some fun this year?

Do you have a lot of scraps?

Have you always wanted to make a Postage Stamp quilt?

If your answers are YES, hop over to Mary - The Curious Quilter - for much more information!

I plan to participate and would love it if you do too!

WIP's and UFO's per Dec 31, 2011

2011-12-31T10:57:00.140+04:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERY ONE!

December 31, 2011

... only a few hours to go this year. New Year's Eve is usually a quiet Eve for us and it won't be any exception this year. With two dogs and a cat that are petrified firecrackers, we prefer staying with them.

I've had a little 'stocktaking' over WIP's and UFO's today!
Only a few weeks ago I was happy, because I didn't have too many UFO's or WIP's - I thought! My intention was to finish some of the projects during the Christmas days and definitely don't go crazy over some Debbie Mumm fabrics I pulled out from the cabinet! Actually I did (see my previous post), but I didn't manage the Polar Bear quilt - the binding. The binding is done, only left to hand stitch it to the back.

Earlier this year I started working on a stitchery quilt. It has 12 sweet friendship stitcheries. I did a mistake on the first stitchery block... got bored with it and stored it away! I hope for a better start for this one in 2012! :) I have collected different rose fabrics to go with it.
This square is not finished, as you can see. I'm also using scraps (floss) for the stitchery.

I think it was at the end of 2009 I did this stitchery. It was supposed to be a bag to a girl, but I decided against it, because I thought it became too childish for a teenage girl. Looking at it now... perhaps I'll make a tote bag... I can't even remember how the original bag pattern looked like! Eh... I should have ironed those projects!

I can't remember when I started working on the 'Colorado Star' quilt; it must be at least 3-4 years ago... I'm going to make quilts for our two sofas in the living room... So far I have 18 blocks. I don't know how many I actually need for one quilt, but not that many left to do - I guess - I haven't measured! :) The blocks measure 18 inches square so I don't think I that many left to make for one quilt.

My New York Beauty blocks!

Yes, there are still only four of them! There are three alike and then the poor outsider, where I have used the same fabrics alternated. The blocks are a bit wonky, but they are also the first ever NYB blocks I have made! :) I'm using batiks for the entire quilt. I have yet to decide on how to proceed..., but I'm quite sure it will end up a big quilt....

The NNC block swap 2010/2011.

I have 22 blocks, 12 inches square. I'm going to applique Sunbonnet Sue blocks to add to it so that it becomes a good size quilt. Here are blocks from Janet and Nik. I think I'll do another blog post showing all the blocks, yet to do that... but then I'll have to iron them first! :))

Earlier in December I went crazy over some Debbie Mumm fabrics I have... It turned out to be 6 place mats, 4 tablecloths and 3 table mats! Speak about craze! lol I just love it when I can use from my stash, but for those projects I have to purchase backing from the US. I have a lot of fabrics, but most of it are 1/2's and 1 yard.

Here's one of the table runners - going to be... I LOOOVE stripes and here I have used one too. I already had some polar bear blocks from a winter quilt.. Here I have just added one snowball block in the middle and stripes - easy-peasy! :)

A table topper I have decided to hand quilt! Yes, hand quilt, which is something I have yet to try! I just have to start somewhere and since this isn't a big project, I'll give it a try...

I have shown you some of my WIP's and UFO's, but there are still some I didn't take a pic;

- the Polar Bear quilt

- the 50th birthday gift (quilt) to my dear friend Johnny

- the Postage Stamp quilt

- 12 other Christmas/winter (Debbie Mumm) projects

The aim is not to finish all the WIP's and UFO's in 2012, but if I can finish a few I will definitely be happy! :)

What about you? Done any 'stocktaking' of WIP's and UFO's or any resolutions for the new year?

The last finishes for 2011

2011-12-28T06:12:00.000+04:00

Only a few days left of 2011 - where did the days, weeks and months go?!

Before Christmas I had a look into my latest finished projects and hidden under everything else, I re-discovered this quilt! I finished it 2-3 months ago, washed and air dried it, was going to take photos.... and... totally forgotten about it!

My 'Sun and Earth' quilt! :)

It measures 64 x 87 inches / 162 x 220 cm, which if not mistaken is a twin size quilt?

I have used scraps from white/cream, yellow, green and brown.

I had enough scraps for the backing too; green, brown and yellow.

As I promised in my previous post, here are some more finishes and those will be the last finishes this year. I still have to hand stitch the binding on the Polar Bear quilt, but.... not very tempting in the heat... I shall see, perhaps a little bit can be done early mornings...

Anyway... I promised you no more snowmen, but I didn't promise you no more gingerbread people - did I?! :)

Here I've used Diane Knott's for Clothworks 'Peppermint Cottage' fabric line. Click here to see Diane Knott's website.

Click here to see other projects I made using the same fabrics.

The table runner was done awhile ago, but had to wait for quilting thread.

...and this is what I got out of the leftovers...

a square table topper, where I have pieced together 3 inch squares.

Before Christmas I pulled out some Debbie Mumm fabrics from the cabinet and here's a small table runner I made for a book shelf.

EEK! I didn't remember there are snowmen on those fabrics too! :)

Speaking of Debbie Mumm fabrics....

As usual when I love the fabrics, I often get carried away and into a craze! Yes, I got the Debbie Mumm craze, which ended with 13 (!!!) UFO's! No, I won't call them UFO's - they are too new for that. I've put them away until I get the backing fabrics from the US. I have a lot of stash, but never, never, never enough for backing! SIGH! :)

Two candle mats, table mats, or an over sized mug rug...

... I finished before Christmas.

The fabrics are from 'Santa Goes to North Pole' by Debbie Mumm.

MERRY CHRISTMAS / GOD JUL...

2011-12-24T13:44:00.000+04:00

... to my dear friends, followers and readers!

May you all have a wonderful, fun & MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Santa's I knitted some years ago.

I did a blog post (Christmas 2009) about my Christmas in Norway.

If interested, you can read about it here.

The last snowmen...

2011-12-24T13:02:00.000+04:00

Christmas is knocking on my door!

I'm almost done with the preparations and decorations and even managed to squeeze in some time to finish a few projects over the last week.

I bet you are tired of all those snowmen projects you have seen in my previous posts and ask yourself; isn't she going to make something else?!? Yes - No?! :)

Remember too that I had to purchase quilting thread as well as fabrics for binding from the US, which took much longer time than usual; one parcel took 3 weeks from the custom in Port Louis to reach our local post office!!!! I'm far from happy it took that long, but of course I'm happy the parcel finally arrived safely!

I want to show you a few more projects I got out of those snowmen fabrics, but first here's the wall quilt I made of those fabrics back in 2008.

The fabrics are 'Snow Wonderland' by Whimsicals - Red Rooster Fabrics.

You can read more about Whimsicals here.

I have added beads to the star blocks to make it sparkle in the light...

...and cute snowman buttons to the center of the snowball blocks.

When I purchased the fabrics for the wall quilt from a web shop in the US, I couldn't buy less than 1/2 yards. Even if I rounded up to nearest 1/2 or full yard, I must have bought much more than needed. I know I bought more snowmen stripes than needed, because I found them too cute! :) I'm not sure how many projects I got out of the leftover fabrics, but what I'm going to show you now, are the last ones! I promise; no more snowmen projects from this fabric line! :)

How do you take a photo of a too long table runner?! :) I tried lots of solutions (must have been entertainment for the neighbor!), but thought the best was to pull it over the ladder. Not easy to get a good photo, but you get an idea how it turned out. I made it for the buffet in our sitting-room. It is a bit over sized (long) for the buffet, but I like it as it is. Here I have used the leftovers that could be used and all the leftover of the snowmen stripes went into this one.

A better view of the center...

For the quilting I have used quilting thread from WeeksDyeWorks. I've known the company for their beautiful embroidery floss, but this is the first time I've tried their quilting thread.

Their quilting thread doesn't have the shiny finish as Superior Threads King Tut. I love how the WDW quilting thread - cocoa - turned out on those prim fabrics I have used. I discovered their quilting thread when I had only this table runner left to quilt... If I had known earlier, I think I had used it on all those projects - it suits perfectly - and I think it turned out beautifully.

A table topper to match the wall quilt.

...and another table topper - almost the same as the one above, corners are different.

This is the last one! No more snowmen from this fabric line! :))

I have a few more finished projects to show, but that will be another post - soon.

Blogger's BOM #2 & #3 / Hand stitching

2011-12-18T12:30:00.000+04:00

Today I'm ready to tidy up and put away my sewing equipment - for a few weeks! The sewing machine is cleaned and oiled and all the other stuff ready to be put away... somewhere.... Yes, I say 'somewhere', because I don't really have enough space for much more now! :))

This morning I did the final hand stitching (binding) on a Christmas gift (can't show it now, because the recipients have yet to receive it) and I did 'Blogger's BOM' block #3 too. I made block #2 long time ago, but never got around blogging it.

Since the quilt will be rather small if making one block only, I decided to make two each month.

Well, here it is, block #2 - hosted by Vicki Welsh - Field Trips in Fibers

For these two blocks I have used fabrics (except the background fabric) from 'Love is' by Nancy Halvorsen.

Blogger's BOM block #3 - hosted by Stephanie Dunphy - Loft Creations

I don't know what fabric line this is... What I know is; it's beautiful! :)

Even if I tidy up & put away my sewing equipment for Christmas, I won't be out of work!

I finally received the fabric and quilting thread to finish up four table toppers. Now the quilting is done - binding is on - and the binding is ready to be hand stitched to the back on all four table toppers, plus the huge Polar Bear quilt! I don't know if I'll do them all... it depends on the weather.... Yes, the weather!!! We are into summer now and if it hits the +30C's, it will be too hot 'wearing' the huge Polar Bear quilt on my lap hand stitching the binding! :)

Wonderful last week before Christmas to you all!

Christmas wall quilts, binding and gifts from Santa

2011-12-06T16:55:00.000+04:00

HELLLLLOOOOOO! :)

It has been too long, but here I am again! I have been extremely busy over the last weeks and by being busy I have a few finished items to show.

I have always wanted to make a Christmas card holder, and here is the result. I'm not sure when 'I believe' (panel and fabrics) by Nancy Halvorsen went for sale in the (web) shops, but I have 'saved it' (for what?) ever since then! :)

I used one of the prints from the panel to make this Christmas card holder. It has two pockets; one for small and one for bigger Christmas cards.

I don't have a proper hanger for it, but is now using a piece of bamboo, 'stolen' from the roadside on the way to the center of town - lol! :)

It looks like I have been in the 'Nancy Halvorsen-fabric-mood', doesn't it?!

Here's a wall quilt, where I have used two other prints from the same panel;

'I believe in HUGS' and 'I believe in LAUGHTER'.

On this one I have used 'I believe in GIVING'...

...and finally... a mini wall quilt; 'I believe in PEACE'.

I think this one is rather cute; a cat sleeping on the back of the dog and that darling mouse on the cat's leg! :)

For those of you who follow my blog, know that I have been working on the Polar Bear quilt for quite some time... but now I see light in the tunnel! :)

The binding is thread basted and ready to be hand stitched to the back! :) I don't know whether I can do it this year.... Christmas is approaching and I have some preparations to do... Another issue is the heat.... Yes, we are into summer now, and yesterday the first cyclone of the season was named; 'Alenga'. Well, I think it will be too hot having a huge quilt on my lap these days doing the binding...

Another binding I'll have to do before Christmas, is this long, table runner.

I'm still waiting for fabrics and thread sent from the US! Most likely the Christmas mail rush has started and parcels/letters are delayed! :(

I have a secret Santa in Norway! :) Who brought me gifts today!

Nidar marzipan, red whortleberry jam (for the Christmas dinner), 'kvikk lunsj' chocolate, Friele coffee - and purple candles for Advent! The latter is a little bit late though - :) - but I'm going to put up the Advent candlelight holder tonight! :)

As if that was not enough; FABRICS!!!

If you remember the stash I got here - this is the rest of it! :)

...and finally.... a book I ordered from one of the shops connected to Amazon US.

That bookshop does not ship to any African countries, so I had to get it shipped to Norway! It's a secondhand book and I didn't pay more than US$ 5.50 - but don't ask me about the shipping! :( :))

Any of you who has this book and can tell me something about it? I got it this morning, so I haven't had time for a proper read.

Christmas is approaching - are you all 'on time' for the festive season?

I took my camera to the garden this morning... if you want to have a look, click here.

Peppermint Cottage Table Toppers

2011-11-21T07:51:00.000+04:00

I've been busy sewing over the last weeks. These days I'm into table toppers, table mats and table runners. After making big quilts over the past few years, it feels wonderful making smaller items.

I love Christmas fabrics, especially panels and stripes. I bought these 'Peppermint Cottage' by Diane Knott for Clothworks a couple of years ago - if not mistaken. Isn't it odd; we buy beautiful fabrics, intend to make something out of them, but find them too beautiful to cut or we don't know what to make... Does it sound familiar to you?! :) Well, in my case; I couldn't decide what to make! Honest! :)

I'm happy to say I have (finally) made some table toppers and table runners out of these fabrics and I think they turned out quite cute.

A small table mat - measuring 14 3/4 square.

Table topper...

Another table topper...

Love the cute house border

Perhaps a bit nontraditional Christmas colors, but why not?! :)

Table runner in navy blue, yellow and green.

Again I've ran out of quilting thread! More is on its way and I hope to finish another two table toppers in a two weeks time.

I'm happy to say I've used fabrics from my stash! All in all I think I've reduced my stash with approx 8 yards! Isn't that great?! :)

Even more snowmen

2011-11-09T19:12:00.000+04:00

It has been a struggle to upload photos to this post for the last 2-3 days, but fortunate now it looks like it works... I hope the connection 'behaves' until the post is done!!! Fingers crossed!!!

I have had so much fun creating these projects - love the whimsical snowmen!

I've been playing with the fabrics to create these blocks - lots of fun! :)

Yet another table runner! :)

Close-up of the block.

For the backing I have used some of the fabrics that I didn't find very interesting for the tops.

A pair of placemats...

Another pair, here the snowmen are on dark red (currant) background...

What's the life without mug rugs?! :))

Christmas card holder

He's too cute, isn't he?! So darling! :)

I have used Superior's King Tut cotton thread - brown variegated - for the quilting. I've tried not to quilt over the snowmen, I think they look much better without being 'tangled' in quilting thread - lol!

I added decorative snowman button on each side to hold the hanging loop (??) better... Don't know if this solution is the best one, but... I wanted to use buttons, and those are the only ones I had that is suitable... I used the same buttons to decorate the wall quilt I made using the same fabrics.

This is all for now... Believe it or not; I still have one table runner and two table toppers to finish. When I purchased the Moda Marbles for the binding, the web shop was sold out for one of the fabrics and is expected to the shop at the end of the month.

While making these projects, I tried to focus on the snowmen stripes. I did well; there's not one single snowman left! :) What was left of the fabrics, I have cut into 2.5 inch squares and strips. Not bad - huh?! :)

It's 7 o'clock evening here; I'm off to work on a new project! :)

More Snowmen

2011-11-07T17:44:00.000+04:00

Boy have I been busy lately! And the best of all; I have several finishes! :)

For those of you who have read my previous posts (here and here), know how obsessed I've been with the snowmen! :) The fabrics were leftovers from a wall quilt I made earlier and they were too cute to be hidden in the cabinet!

I ran out of fabric for the binding as well as quilting thread for some of my projects and had to order from the US. Usually the shipping takes 10-14 days, but with our two public holidays last week the parcels were delayed. I was very happy when the fabric as well as the quilting thread came Thursday last week! I bet you have guessed already what I've been up to since last Thursday?! :)
Since I had several fabrics, but not much of each - less than 1/2 yards - it wasn't always easy to put the fabrics together. I wanted to incorporate all of the adorable snowmen stripes in various projects and I think I managed very well; there's nothing left of the snowmen stripes! :)

The snowmen stripes are in different background colors; here's the snowmen on dark brown, mottled background with snowflakes and primitive trees. I ran out of the mottled cream fabric and had to substitute with 'cocoa' Moda Marbles. If you click on the photo, you should be able to see the letters; 'we can build a snowman' - black letters on dark green background.
Here's the table topper - I just loooove the colors!

Close-up of the center piece.

The corner...

Small table runner using the same fabrics.

Close-up of the cute snowmen.

Table runner, using the lighter brown snowmen stripe.

This runner is similar to the one is this post; it is slightly longer and wider and I have used a different brown for the border.

Aren't they cute?!

Another table runner; snowmen on dark red (currant) mottled background (snowflakes and primitive trees).

Close-up of the snowmen on the dark red (currant).

Just to make some interest to the backing...

I have a few more finishes, but I'll have to stop here... The Internet connection is slower than syrup, photos do not load properly etc.. I have lost my patience!

Snowmen in the tropics!

2011-10-24T17:19:00.000+04:00

I hope you don't get bored with yet another post from me today?!

I took photos of some finishes earlier today and even if I can't show them all - some of them are secret Christmas gifts! - I have a few that are not gifts! :)

If you read this post, you know I pulled out some cute snowmen fabric and was in the progress of making table runners. I got totally obsessed by it and decided to make whatever possible of the leftover fabric (from a wall quilt).

Here's one table runner...

Close-up of the star...

...the darling snowmen...

Another table runner... Snowmen on a red background...

Close-up of the snowmen...

I have not counted how many projects I got out of the leftover fabrics (from a wall quilt), but there should be 12-13 altogether; table toppers, table runners, place mats, card holder, mug rug... I think that's all!

I have ran out of quilting thread, fabric for the binding as well as batting for the rest of the projects. Thread and fabric are on its way from the US and batting I buy here. I'm using a very thin polyester batting for table runners, table toppers etc.

A wintry mug rug...

I still have some leftovers and I have yet to decide whether they go into the scraps or I make something out of it....

I cross my fingers and hope the parcels from the US are not delayed so that I can finish those projects this month itself!

NNC Mug Rug Swap 2011

2011-10-24T15:02:00.000+04:00

There are never a boring month at NNC!

Do you know why? Because there are always some swaps (exchanges) going on! :)

Earlier this year I signed up for the secret mug rug swap.

I had no idea who was my secret swap partner, I couldn't even guess!

I've signed up for the 'block swap' too (that will be another post soon) and when Janet in Malaysia informed me the blocks were sent, I didn't dream of that included in the parcel was the mug rug too! :)

Here's the mug rug from Janet! As you can see, it is 'written' CAFE in the middle - very cute, Janet!

Together with the mug rug and as the requirement (coffee or tea bags), there are two bags of white coffee from IPOH in Malaysia! Ever since I became a member of NNC, I've been dying to taste the white coffee - coffee lover as I am - but I have been too shy asking somebody to send me a sample! Now I've got it! But I still haven't tasted it - LOL! :) I couldn't help it but take photos of the coffee bags, because I love the way the they look!

Janet, be sure I'll find the right day and right moment to enjoy the cuppa!

Thank you so very much!

My secret swap partner was Paul in Malaysia, and here's the mug rug I made for him. I tried to make it a bit 'manly', hope I succeeded! :)

I decided to make a matching tea tote for the tea bags...

... and I included two small pieces of fabric in the colors I know Paul loves! :)

Read about the mug rug swap on Paul's blog here.

And not to forget; a huge thank you to 'headmistress' MW for hosting the swap!

Thank you MW! Lots of fun!

I'll have to stop!!!

2011-10-11T18:14:00.000+04:00

Last week I was supposed to add the binding to the Polar Bear quilt, but instead this is what I ended up doing; I pulled out all my Christmas fabrics from the cabinet! Well, this is not ALL, 1/4 is still left in the cabinet. I wonder how many projects I can make out of all those fabrics?! :))

I had in mind to make a table runner and had already decided on a couple of blocks. When I pulled out the bag with leftovers from the ' Snow Wonderland' by 'Whimsicals' - I knew I had to make something out of it and forgotten was the other project! Here's one of the projects I'm working on; a place mat.

Aren't those snowmen just too cute?!

Here's another project; table runner... going to be...

...and another table runner to be...

Per today I have five table runners and two place mats to finish - hence the heading of this post! I'll have to stop, because my sewing table is covered in projects waiting to be finished! I bought those fabrics for a specific project back in April 2008! I made this wall quilt. To make it a bit more 'special' to me, I've added beads around each star so that it sparkles in the light and I've added snowmen buttons in the middle of each snowball block. I made this quilt before I started blogging, so there's no photo of it on my blog, (except under 'a few of my works' slide show at the left sidebar). I think I'll pull it out and take some photos later on, when these projects are done....

You can see more from Whimsicals (click) here.

Bloggers BOM

2011-10-03T18:29:00.000+04:00

I'm not really into BOM's, but I couldn't resist this one!

I got inspired by this blog, this blog and of course this blog! There are many others out there who participate in this BOM, but those blogs I've linked to were the first ones where I saw the first block and learnt about the BOM.

Jackie over at Canton Village Quilt Works is hosting a free BOM and you can read about it here. The first block is already available - click here for instructions.
Cille over at this blog has a point; the blocks are only 8 inch square, so she has decided to make two for a bigger quilt or perhaps another quilt... I think that is a good idea, so I decided to make two too.

My blocks are going to be scrappy. It was easy choosing these fabrics; they are - except from the background fabric - leftover from a Christmas gift I'm currently working on... The background fabric I have saved and saved - for what ? - you may ask?! Perhaps it has waited for this BOM?! :) I got it from my friend Ragna (no blog) in Norway, at least 4-5 years ago - so I guess it is time to use it!

Jackie, thank you so very much for hosting this BOM! I can't wait for the next block!

Cushion covers

2011-09-29T05:53:00.000+04:00

Last week I finished the three cushion covers!

Here they are, happily (I think!) posing on the couch. Each is a different design, but all three have the little chapel in the center.
All of them are 'stitched in the ditch' and I have quilted around the little chapel.

This is the first one I made...

#2...

#3...

The back... I decided to free motion quilt the back in a meandering design... I added another piece of fabric and quilted them together. All covers have a zipper on the back.

The Polar Bear quilt and the 'Sun & Earth' quilt are FM-quilted and ready for the binding, which I hope doing next month.

These days I'm working on a few Christmas gifts - top secret! :)

Cushions and Polar Bear quilt

2011-09-16T18:54:00.000+04:00

First of all; THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU - to all of you who commented on my previous post! I'm overwhelmed! I do appreciate your lovely comments!

I've been quiet since my previous post...

You may believe I needed a rest after the marathon work on the PSQ? No, I didn't! I've been busy! My aim now is to finish the three quilt tops I've done recently. I started with the biggest one; the Polar Bear quilt - it measures approx 76 x 110 inch - I think that is a twin size quilt? It is meant to be a bedspread... We had quite nasty weather some days back, so I decided to sandwich, pin and thread baste that huge 'monster' of a quilt! :) Some of you may say I'm fussy and that thread basting is not needed - right? :) I have tried several times to quilt/FMQ without thread basting, pins only, but every time it has ended up puckers (?), which has meant unnecessary time unpicking! Grrrr! After all that annoying unpicking I have decided to take my time thread basting before quilting! The chances of puckers are less when thread basting, at least that is my experience. Usually I don't count hours when I work on a quilt, but for fun I decided to see how many hours I spent thread basting. Over two days I spent 8 hours! Now it is ready to be quilted!

I almost forgot to say I spent two days putting together the backing too. I've used leftover fabrics and blocks from the quilt top and had to add some solids and a piece of dark blue polar bear fabric I bought here - in the tropics, of all places - some years ago!

I haven't decided on thread color for the quilting, but I am going to use Superior's King Tut.... Perhaps I'll have to purchase blue for the backing....
Here's a sneakpeak of the backing...

While waiting for my decission on thread color, I've been busy making two more cushion tops. I wasn't happy with the center piece on the first one I made; the upper part of the church - the tiny light pine border - didn't fit. I've redone it so that the pine border is at the down part (how do you say it?) of the church. It looks better now, doesn't it?

Using more of the same fabrics and to use up the church border, I decided to fussy cut the churches and make them into two more cushions. I don't have more of the church border - it was printed to be used as borders or fussy cut - I believe - but I still have more of the green and red. For cushion #3 I had to use another light fabric around the center piece - birds - from the same designer.
Here's #2...

...#3... (Ooops! Out of focus!)

How do you make a cushion top? For the top, I have added very thin polyester batting and a piece of fabric; three layers together. I thought that is the best for quilting, but I now believe the top has become a bit 'thick'...? I've thought of using cotton fabric for the backing, but perhaps.... since the top is a bit 'thick', should I use a thicker backing as well?

Now they are quilted and ready to be made into cushions, as soon as I decide on backing and buy zippers! :)

We took a trip to Port Louis the other day, take a look here.

Postage stamp quilt top finished

2011-09-05T14:27:00.000+04:00

It has been some busy days sewing the postage stamp quilt top.

Totally obsessed by the 2,5 inch / 6 cm squares, I managed to finish the quilt top last night. I wanted to put a little twist to it by adding the brown and very dark green borders and the 6 inch strips between the two borders with 9-patch blocks in each corner. For the outer border I have used 10 inch strips from the leftover different brown fabrics.

Brown isn't exactly 'my' color, not many in my stash, so I don't think I have enough brown fabrics for the binding.... I have enough of green though... I shall see.......

I have to follow my SSD! If you don't know what that means?? Strict Stash Diet! :)

I still haven't found suitable fabric for the backing, I'll have to check my stash.

My aim is to finish all the three quilt tops I have finished recently, but I don't think I have enough batting for the polar bear quilt...........

Gnome in my postage stamp blocks

2011-09-02T16:11:00.000+04:00

I need a break! :)

I'm totally obsessed by those small 2.5 inch / 6cm squares and have been cutting, sewing, cutting, sewing for hours today. It's fun, fun, fun - and I'm sure it is addictive! :0

How did this happen?! Where is the gnome who did it?! It can't be me - huh?!

Well, this should not happen; two of the same fabric next to each other! I think I'm a bit dizzy with all those strips sewn together and I don't always see how it is going to look like... I discovered it when I was going to piece the blocks together.

I said to hubby; 'I'll have to change those squares!'

Hubby; 'No, it's not needed, nobody will see it when the quilt is done'.

I said; 'Yes, but it will haunt me forever!'

And I know I was right; it will annoy me to death if I hadn't changed it! :) I did change it!

The two greens are not good either, too near each other, but those I didn't bother to change since they are not next to each other as the two light yellow fabrics.

This is what I've been doing since my previous post. This is the center piece. I'm not going to make the entire quilt of 2.5 inch squares - I have another plan in mind, which is a secret - until my next post! :)

Off to cut more fabric! :) I've pulled out the few browns I have and amazingly I did find the perfect one! :)

Postage stamp quilt

2011-08-31T18:05:00.000+04:00

Over at NNC we have talked about 'Postage Stamp' quilts made of jelly rolls lately... Ever since I saw a 'Postage Stamp' quilt for the very first time, I have wanted to make one - at least one! If you read my previous post, you may remember I finished a quilt top using yellow, brown, green and white/ecru fabrics. I have some leftover fabrics from that quilt and a couple of days ago I decided to make a 'Postage Stamp' quilt using the same fabrics/colors, where yellow is the background color. (I was supposed to sandwich, pin and quilt the two quilt tops... always sidetracked!)

I've gone totally hooked on it and I've been sewing the entire day for the last two days! If it hadn't been for hubby making dinner - we had starved to death - lol!

I took a break in the middle of the day today, thought I was going to do some gardening... How wrong I was; it started raining after half an hour! :( I had no choice than to go back to the sewing machine to finish the blocks! Good for me! :)) I've pieced 15 blocks of each, but I believe I need a few more... I have a layout in my head - it's going to be interesting to see if it turns out like that - :))! Don't know if I'll be able to sew more tonight or if I go just lazy...

Any of you remember this block? Once again thanks for all the comments and suggestions how to finish the center square! I thought of doing the poinsettia applique, but.... OK! Next time! :) I'm not sure I am happy with the way it ended up, but we can't be happy with all the projects we make - or...??

I'm not sure what it will end up as... the idea is a pillow case, but that idea may change... :)

I have a pattern for a similar block, but haven't decided on fabrics or the centre square... If both blocks end up pillow cases, perhaps I'm using the same fabric for #2 too... Have yet to decide on that...

Quilt tops done

2011-08-27T14:31:00.000+04:00

A couple of weeks ago I pulled out all my Christmas/winter fabrics from the shelf and thought I was going to start at least one Christmas project. Then I fell ill and didn't do any sewing for one week. When I felt for sewing again, the spirit I had for Christmas projects had vanished... and the Christmas/winter fabrics are back in the shelf again! :) It wasn't the right time.....

I have a couple of projects 'on hold'; I haven't decided how to proceed... While trying to figure that out, I pulled out a couple of quilt tops from the shelf - and I even managed finishing them both!

Finally, the polar bear quilt top is done! I didn't have any pattern for it and I didn't plan it before I started. I like to do it like that, I think doing it that way is more a challenge to me than planning it in advance. The quilt could have been better if planned, but I love it the way it turned out! It is sort of a scrappy quilt, because I have used different colors - dark brown and indigo - on the lattice (is it called lattice?) and there are two different ecru fabrics. I think I started working on this one last year, so it isn't that old - really! :) It's meant to be a bedspread.

My sun- and earth quilt top! :) I started piecing the blocks back in February/March this year, too young to be called a UFO! At that time I couldn't decide on the layout and size...

Here I have used only scraps; yellow, brown and yellow. The light (whitish) background fabrics are 4-5 different fabrics, but that doesn't really matter and it isn't that visible either.

After all it is a scrappy quilt! :))

Now the 'dreadful' work has to be done; sandwiching! I have to look for backing, don't know if I have anything suitable.... (I know I'm fooling myself! lol).

Easter UFO done - and more stash

2011-08-20T11:41:00.000+04:00

I'm finally up kicking again! :)

As if not the flu was enough - and waste of time not feeling well - I caught that darn gastroenteritis bug! :( Waste of time again, not able to sew one stitch in almost one week! But now I'm much better and hope it continues to the even more better! I want to sew! :))

Well, this post is a little bit overdue... I finished an Easter wall hanging UFO before I got ill again and I'm really happy I can remove another project from my UFO-list! :)

I can't remember when I started working one it... (I have to do something with the 'labels'...), but I believe it is 3 years ago... The reason why I never got around finishing it, is I didn't come up with any solution for the border. I had only added the 'egg' border around the panel (hen) and got stuck there... (Sorry for that terrible pink background! Had to hang it on the cloth line to get a proper photo!)

I had enough fabric for a table topper too! :)

It was supposed to be a runner, but....... something mysterious happened halfway! :))

I have FMQ them both, and the more I do FMQ - the more I love it!

Some weeks ago I got a sms from a friend; 'read your email! Urgent!' It was in the evening and I had just shut down the computer, so I sms'd back and asked what was up.

My friend's friend - an young! lady of 80+ years - had called him, because she had come across a closing-out sale in a quilt shop in the village where she lives! The shop was selling boxes of 10 kilos / 22 pounds with fabrics to a very good price - if he wanted to buy a box for me?! The lady was willing to buy the box for him the next day. I was almost standing in bed with my eyes wide open!!! 10 kilos / 22 pounds of fabric as advanced Christmas gift!!!! How could I refuse?! I felt sorry for the lady, because she had to go to the shop again the next day and was she able to get a box?!

She did! The shop had one box left!!! :))

Earlier this week I got some of the fabrics! Just like Christmas! :)) It's awesome! I don't know what I had expected, but there are lots of square in different lines and colors, even some pieces of lovely, lovely batiks! You can see it to the right, under the green/red bunch of fabrics.

I can't turn my back to this guy! GRRRR! :((

I had to empty the box on the floor - the stash is still there - and he took the chance! Fortunate he was not dirty, but still........ This is something he is not allowed to do - and he knows it! But you know... temptation! temptation! :)

**********

Thanks to all of you who has commented and given suggestions how to do the center piece on the block I'm working on! (See my previous post). I do appreciate your comments and suggestions so much! Since I have been sick, I haven't been able to consider any of your suggestions yet, but I hope working on that over the next week! Thank you! :)

Pause for thought.... What to do?

2011-08-14T16:47:00.017+04:00

Before you start working on a project, do you plan it in detail?

That is something I have never been able to do, because I know there will always be changes. This time I want to make some cushions, but I don't know if they will end up cushions - or something else! :)

I purchased EQ6 a couple of years ago and this year I upgraded to EQ7. The truth is I haven't played around with EQ6/7 as much as I thought I would... I think it is about sitting down and concentrate learning the program, because it is a lot to learn. Or am I just lazy?!

Well, over the last days I've been playing in the 'block librairy' and this is one of the blocks I've chosen for cushions.

The size of the block is 18 inch / 45cm square. The square in the middle is 8 inch / 20cm and it is here I am stuck... The original plan was to applique the poinsettia, but I don't think it will fit together with the fabrics I have chosen...

The fabric I have used have pine cones, pine needles and leaves in the colors of beige, green and red. The yellow is different, some swirls.

I haven't added all the pieces together yet... Here's one of the corners...

I thought of using one square of the yellow fabric, but since the square is 8 inch / 20 cm, it will be too big and won't look nice at all.. After some sips of coffee, the idea now is to add a block in the block, but what kind of block? A log cabin, a house, a star....?

Please! Any ideas?

And yes, he had to! :)) Those pieces of fabric were the only ones on the cutting mat - and he had to put his feet on them! This is something he is not allowed to do, but you know... when I turn my back to him.... :)

I'm finally working on a 50th anniversary quilt (to be finished next year) and here is the first block...

I haven't planned this quilt in detail either. The quilt is going to be a gift to my dear childhood friend Johnny. We have known each other for almost 45 years (Gosh! Are we getting old?!) and my idea is to make blocks that resembles our childhood and adult life...

And if you want to try out some super yummy chocolate cookies, click here - you won't regret! :)) They just melt in your mouth!

Bag, pillows and Granny Squares

2011-08-08T19:27:00.005+04:00

How fit are you craft wise when having the flu? I caught that darn bug 1,5 weeks ago and still I'm not feeling well. Of course I'm up and kicking, but still on slow motion. I don't really feel for doing anything, but I can't just sit there doing nothing - that's not me! It's better to do something for so to take a long rest afterwards. Got a bottle of coughing mixture from the pharmacy, which really knocks me out... But I'm not going to blog about that flu bug...

We went to Port Louis (the capital) last Friday and I bought bag feet for the market bag I was working on. I struggled with the bag bottom, because I wanted it a bit stiff. The combination of 'bag-newbie' and 'not-getting-what-you-need' require your brain to work on high speed; how to solve the problem?!

The pattern required a piece of template plastic for the bottom, but still I thought that was not good enough... I set my brain into top gear and came up with the idea to glue Peltex/Pellon 71F to the template plastic. The pattern says 'glue template plastic to bag bottom using a glue gun'.... So I thought I was clever when I glued the F71 to each side of the template plastic - using the glue gun!

WRONG! Even if I put heavy things on it; mortar (made of stone!), heavy pans and pots etc the night over, no way it glued the layers together!!!

So I thought; next solution is shoe glue! Same procedure - same result! :(((( Do you believe I was happy?!

Then I decided to put it on hold, wait until the trip to Port Louis, buy bag legs - as the last solution! In the meantime - while waiting for the bag legs - I came up with another solution; sew the 3 layers - peltex, template plastic and peltex - together, using the sewing machine - it did work! No idea why I didn't think of that before I tried all that darn glueing?!

It worked! Here's the market bag.

The closure on each side. I had wanted some more fancy, decorative buttons, but you know... I should not say it again.... :)

... and finally; the bottom and the legs! :)

I had to use black, plastic rectangular rings for the handles - only rings of that size available here...

The bag is quite big; 14,5 x 26,5 x 53 cm / 5,5 x 10,5 x 20 inch.

The pattern is from Australian Homespun, and I LOL when I read the pattern heading; '....it's so oversized that your partner won't be aware of how many purchases you've bought home!' :))

I'm not sure what kind of fabric I've used, it is definitely not 100% cotton. It is quite stiff and thick, and not very easy to sew through thick layers. Even if I used size 14 and 16 sewing machine needles, it kind of slipped on the weaving and made some of the seams uneven... If you take a closer look at the last photo - bottom - you'll see what I mean... Not very happy about that, but I'm not sure it was possible to do it different... Quite some struggles putting this bag together - PHEW! But, I've learnt a little bit more on bag-making! :)

Well, that was the bag.... What do you do about all the tiny pieces of scraps after squaring blocks, pieces that are too small to be kept for scrap quilts, thread ends etc? I bet all of you throw it all in the bin, don't you?!

I don't! I have been collecting all this bits over the last four years. No, I'm not insane! I have collected it in mind for pillow filling, to be used for making big pillows for the couch (?) in the dining room.

Over a period of four years I had collected 4-5 big plastic bags - 14 kilos/30 pound! with scraps etc. that took up space on the floor in the studio/ex-sewing room.

I shouldn't write this, but it had collected a lot of dust. My advice is; if you are allergic or asthmatic, don't do this, I believe it will cause some problems to you!

Stuffing the pillow inserts. I had just enough to make four inserts, measuring 60 x 60 x 10cm / approx 21 inch square + 4 inch.

Here they are; the four pillow inserts. I've already bought fabric and zippers for the pillow cases, but don't know when I'll start working on it...

Some of you might recall I have mentioned my crocheted granny squares... I bought 100% wool yarn during my visit to Norway last year. Crocheting has never been 'my thing', I've only done one pair of pot holders... Oh, now I remember; I crocheted a turquoise sweater in my teens...! Loved it to pieces - literally! :) Except from those projects, I can't recall I have done other crocheting projects...

What is better than to snuggle up on the couch, wrapped in a quilt, drinking hot cocoa and crocheting granny squares when not feeling fit for doing anything else?! :)

I didn't know I miss working with wool yarn that much... I did a lot of knitting when I lived in Norway, using wool as well as cotton yarn...

I have enough yarn - mix of wool and acrylic - I think it is, for a pair of socks. Yes, I'm wearing wool socks these 'winter' months. :) I have a knitting UFO as well; a pair of wrist warmers/fingerless gloves... I'm going to wear them during the 'winter' months too, because I'm always so cold on my wrists.

Don't know when they will be finished... :)

I've finished an Easter table topper and have left to do a small piece of the binding on the Easter wall hanging UFO, but that will be another post...

Little been done....

2011-07-27T16:57:00.000+04:00

I'm quite sure all of you have heard about the tragedy in Norway; the car bomb blast in the centre of Oslo and the shooting of teenagers at the Labour Party's annual youth camp on an island just outside Oslo. I've been glued to the TV and reading newspapers since it happened Friday 22nd afternoon. It is difficult to take in the scale of what has happened and over the weekend I have felt kind of numb, unable to do much, thinking of the horror stories from some of those who survived. 76 people died and still people missing after the blast in Oslo as well as at the island...

Rose procession at the City Hall/Oslo - said to be 200 000 people in grief and solidarity.

Photo: Scanpix/Aftenposten

It's so touching to see the carpet of flowers outside Oslo Cathedral, Norwegians and people from other countries showing their solidarity and grieving together with us. I didn't know it was going to be that hard for me to be away from Norway, but I wish I could have been there to add flowers too... With 10000 km/6200 miles apart, that's not possible.

My heart goes out to the Norwegian people; across the miles, you all are in my thoughts!

Photo: Eirik Helland Urke/Dagbladet

Marked deep into my soul of what has happened, I haven't been able to do much over the weekend. Last week I decided to get a UFO - Easter wall hanging - out from the shelf... I was worried - lol - because it was the umpteenth time I got it out, trying to figure out a solution for the border around the center panel... Since this UFO has been sleeping on the shelf for at least 2 years - or perhaps 3 years - I can't remember exactly, I refused to put it back again! :)

Here's a sneak peak from from the wall hanging's center panel.

While trying to figure out a border, I worked on a table topper, using the same fabrics. The latter was supposed to be a table runner, but wasn't satisfied after doing the center. Therefore I added fabric to the longest sides and worked it into a table topper. I have left to choose/find backing for both.

I've finished four more mug rugs. Indeed, making mug rugs is addictive! :)

Life goes into normal again and today I started working on something I have wanted to do for a very long time..... More about that in another post! :)

Not only bags

2011-07-17T15:19:00.000+04:00

I don't think I will be able to make bags only! It's fun! Lots of fun! I have realized I need some quilting projects too for alternation. I'm not working on any specific project right now, but over the last couple of days I have finished hand stitching the binding on several small projects that took up space on my sewing table. I have two shoulder bags to do, but both of them need some 'brain-work'... :)

For the finished projects, I have used the leftover fabrics from the bags I made. I've used all the fabrics, except part of the stripes and panel (single houses used on the mug rugs) are left.

A small tablecloth....

Close-up of the quilting... I even managed to do a small flower on the blue square! :)

A pair of table mats... I tried braiding for the very first time, that is fun!

Close-up...

The quilting... I'm not very steady when it comes to FMQ, but I think it didn't turn out that bad! :))

Another small tablecloth, or perhaps it is small enough to be called table mat...

Close-up. I have not quilted the 'houses'. I haven't done much FMQ, but what I have noticed is it doesn't fit everywhere. If I had done FMQ on the stripe with houses, the houses had 'disappeared' - sort of - unless if I had used transparent thread.. Any comments on that, please?

... and not to forget;

the mug rugs..... :)) Here are six, and I have four more to finish. :)

I'm not sure what I'm going to do next.... There are the two shoulder bags I mentioned, and I have some UFO's... and stitchery.... etc... Guess I'll have to think it over.... :)

Btw... do you want to meet 'Henrietta the 2nd'? Click here... :)

More bags

2011-07-15T13:19:00.004+04:00

I really love to make bags. I'm still a newbie and have lots to learn. Since I'm new to it, I find it so challenging. The biggest challenge though, is to get what I need in this country, which is not always easy! Take bag handles i.e., I have checked around and the only one I have found, is a pair of transparent plastic handles... Not exactly what I'm thinking of, when I know there are so many great looking handles 'out there'.....

Well, I should not whine over what I don't get here... I know I'm saying it too often, but that is because it makes me frustrated, especially when I need things for completing a bag or other projects...

I finished MIL's bag this morning. It doesn't have any 'hardware', hench easy to make. :)

I've used the same pattern as for the other two I made, but as you can see, the colors are different. Inside there is one zipped pocket, two open pockets and a clasp for keys or mobile phone. The bag is trimmed with ric-rac and buttons too.

I've made a small shoulder bag too. It is very simple, with one open inside pocket.

I've already cut fabric for another one, which I'm going to improve a little bit - I hope! I think that's the fun with bag making - at least for a newbie as me - what I have done so far; make one 'original' from the pattern and then make another one, two or three and manipulate the pattern to the better, or should I say my likings?! :)

And.... I'm almost done with a big shopping/market bag! I've left to buy buttons, do the buttonholes and the bottom. Here's a sneak peak...

Gosh! The fabric is not that red!

I thought of a walk to town today, but - brrrr - it's such nasty weather! ....

I've been featured!

2011-07-08T18:34:00.000+04:00

Back in May - I think it was - a journalist from the one and only local interior/architecture magazine 'La Case' emailed me for a possible interview and 'how to' make a quilt.

First I hesitated, because I had never heard of the magazine. Before I said 'yes' I wanted to see what kind of magazine it is. A book/magazine shop in town didn't have it, but after some hunting I finally got it at a bigger bookshop in Rose Hill.

'La Case' has stunning photos about interior/architecture as well as a few sections about arts & crafts.

After having a look at the previous issue of the magazine, I decided to go for the interview and to show the readers 'how to' make a simple baby quilt. I don't know what the journalist expected, but definite I was not able to make a small and simple baby quilt in 3 hours - as the interview and 'how-to' took! :) I did what was possible for the preparation, which I'm very glad I did! I wasn't able to finish it that day of course, so the photographer had to come back a few days later for the shots.

Here's the finished baby quilt...

... and here's the 'how to' page.

Here's the interview. If you click on the photo, it should be possible to read it - for those of you who know French - or you can go to Google Translate for translation to your language. Don't know if you can just 'copy & paste' the text into the translator, or you have to write it all..... Haven't tried it...

Since the official language is English, I had expected at least part of the magazine to be in English, but it is 100% French.

Since I don't speak French, I don't know how easy it is to follow the tutorial, but I trust the journalist has done an understandable translation.

Bag making goes slow

2011-07-02T11:45:00.004+04:00

As you can see from the heading, making bags go very slow. Not so strange; I am a 'bag-making-newbie'!

A couple of weeks ago I bought two craft magazines from one of the supermarkets; Homespun and Sabrina Patchwork; Sacs. We never get the latest issue of foreign magazines until approx 3 months after they are published. The 'latest' Homespun in the shelves here is #93/Vol 12.2, while the latest issue is #12.6! That doesn't really matter! What matters is what the pages hide! :)

Homespun has a wonderful bag to make by Carol McLeod. She uses cotton clothesline and strips of cotton fabric to make her bags. Very interesting, and this is something I'd like to try! Visit her website here.

A bit sidetracked here... I was going to tell you about another bag..... The other mag I bought - Sabrina Patchwork/Sacs - is all in French! I don't know French! DH speaks French and so does MIL. DH & I tried to understand the French pattern. It started out quite well, until it was time to do the first pocket. The pattern talks about 'interior' pocket - all the way, until it is time to add it to the bag, then it becomes an 'exterior' pocket! Poor DH wasn't able to understand the next step, so we headed up to MIL (next door). She has been into sewing since she was a little girl, now she's 73. When I mentioned the problem, she just looked at me and said; 'French patterns are hopeless'!!! After studying the pattern and the pieces I had cut, she was sorry she couldn't be to much help. She advised me to give it a trial by pinning and basting. I'll do so, but I think that bag has to rest some time in the drawer! I haven't given it up and I don't want the bag to win; I want to win! lol (Even if my first attempt went in the bin! :( I've heard from other sources too that French patterns are not always 100% accuracy! DH told me not to buy French craft magazines anymore! Perhaps he is right! :)

I got quite discouraged when I went shopping for interfacing etc. Here they have no clue when I ask for specific Vliselin, Pellon or Peltex! I'm surprised, in spite of being a 'textile country' (exporting lots of clothes) they know so little about what other countries use. Shop owners/importers are not willing to get what I ask for either, so when they don't have it - they don't have it - c'est toute! At times shopping here is a big challenge! It almost took the courage away from me, but now a friend in Norway is going to buy and ship interfacing etc to me! :)

Even if this was a little 'downhill', I'm still working on two bags. I'm making one for MIL;

it's going to be the same as the two alike I posted here. MIL wanted 'old-people's colors' - as she stated it! I have some fabrics that look 'old' - reproduction, I think some of them are - and got her to choose six different. She came up with three and asked me to choose the other three.

I intended to finish it over the weekend, but that is not possible. The zipper as well as ric rac for the trim, is not available here in town...............

The zipped interior pocket. I have used linen for the lining.

Open interior pocket with two rooms.

We've been twice to Port Louis (the capital) over the last 2 weeks. I had that shopping list and other errands to do, but we managed to do only half of what was on the list the first day. Port Louis is always crowded and shopping takes time, and still there are a few errands to do!

Since I've got the 'bag-making-virus', I wanted to buy some yards of linen for bag linings. I remembered from last year I bought good quality linen at 'Magasin Baboo' in Corderie Street #35 - famous as 'textile street'! A very friendly little shop. The shop has a good variety of linen and I came home with 6-7 yards in different yummy colors. Another trip to 'Baboo' this week; I bought navy linen and I couldn' resist these fabrics;

Aren't they beautiful?! I regret I didn't buy the pink one too! I can see some colorful bags here.... :) The fabric has a little 'stretch', but adding fusible interfacing should do the trick.

For quite some time I have wanted to do some stitchery. The other day I started working on a friendship quilt. The quilt has 12 cute stitcheries, all about friendship. Here's the first one I'm working on....

I thought this was going to be a short post, but I have one more thing to share with you.

Again - about bags! :) I searched the net for books on bag making and ended up with these books;

Sew What! Bags - by Lexie Barnes

From the back of the book; 'Your bag, your way. Choose a project and make it your own. Designer L. Barnes shows you how to develop your own personal style and create customized bags using fabrics that you love, pockets where you need them, straps that feel good on your shoulder, and dimensions that work for whatever you want to carry'.

Personally I feel this is a book for a totally newbie, but of course I did find some hints and info I didn't know about how to make bags.

The other one I bought; The bag making bible - by Lisa Lam, foreword by Amy Butler. It has 160 pages jampacked with information on bag making as well as some free patterns. Definitely this book is going to be my favorite!
From the back of the book;
'An amazing sewing education coupled with beautiful bags that of course, you can customize' - Amy Butler.
'Expert tips, trade secrets and inspirational advice result in professional and beautiful results'.

Click here for the link to Lisa Lam's shop.

I intended to do some gardening today, but I've gone lazy since I got up - lol!

I think I'll snuggle up with a hot chocolate and read about bag making! :)

Going Country

2011-06-25T19:08:00.000+04:00

Once farmer - always farmer!

After making the three tote bags for baby earlier this month, I got obsessed and have got a new craze! I have made another three bags, and here they are!

The fabrics I have used is one of the first purchase over the net, in 2008! Perhaps it was high time making something out of it. I've had a look at those fabrics several times since I bought them, but never came up with any idea what to make out of them, until now...

I have used the size of a bag pattern and manipulated the rest to make it 'my way'. I have added one zippered inside pocket. It has gussets, where I have added velcro at the top of each side to hold it together and I've added the closure (?) and buttons (it doesn't have zipper for closing). The front is changed too, and I've added a bottom to it, made from template plastic covered with one layer batting and one layer fabric. It works well. :)

The front. It was a bit difficult to make the panel pieces straight when adding the strips on each side; it was not printed straight on the fabric, so I had to wet, stretch, pull and iron it. It's not OK, but I couldn't make it better. :)

The left, front side; cute hens! :) And the wooden buttons.

The back of the bag.

Here's another bag, where I have followed the pattern, except the ribbon and buttons, they were not mentioned...

I even managed to do the zipper without any problems! :) Only one broken needle for three bags - not bad - lol! :) This bag has one zippered inside pocket too.

I thought it looked a bit dull without any decoration, so I added ribbon and buttons. Oh, missed the buttons here, but you can see them on the first pic.

The third bag; same as the blue, but using other colors.

Added ric rac and buttons to this one too.

So much fun making bags, and they don't take weeks to do as a big quilt.

From the leftover fabrics I have made a few other things, but that will be for another post.

By statecoach from Norway...

2011-06-17T18:08:00.000+04:00

A couple of weeks ago, I received this from my friend Ragna (no blog) in Norway.

7.7 kg / approximate 17 pound of fabrics! How great is it to have such a friend?! Ragna doesn't quilt anymore, due to some health problems. When she tidied up her sewing room, she thought of me - me - ME!!! Dear Ragna, once again; thank you very, very much!

There are quite some florals, which I don't have much of. Some checks as well as some Christmas fabrics.

... and lots of solids! (Which I don't have much of either!) Look at all the yummy colors!

I was quite worried the parcel wouldn't make it all the way to Mauritius, since I didn't receive it after 2-3 weeks! It was sent by airmail and was supposed to take 7-15 business days - they said at the post office where it was sent from. By experience I know parcels never make it in 7 days, except if it is written 'documents' on the envelope. After 3-4 weeks and no parcel, we began to ask at our local post office, and was told they have 'problems with mail from Europe', without explaining that further.... Well, I waited and waited, and finally after 3 months - the parcel arrived!!! Just as if nothing had happened! It was in very good condition, no stamps with 'missent' to any other country or anything... Most probably it has been stuck in transit somewhere in Europe, or..... it could be it has been sleeping in a corner at the custom here too.... only the parcel can tell.... but it won't tell me - lol!

Well, the most important is it DID ARRIVE, even if it took 3 months - instead of 2-3 weeks!

I'm still busy with some bags. I intended to go shopping for velcro (?) and buttons today, but all the house rabbits called me..... They were near to overtake the entire house! :)

Hooked on Tote bags

2011-06-06T13:38:00.000+04:00

GOSH! I have been busy over the last days!

In my previous post I mentioned I want to do something else rather than cut squares, triangles, rectangles, strips etc... Somehow I feel I'm stuck in what I'm doing - have been doing - since I started quilting 5-6 years ago. I mentioned needle turn applique, landscape quilting, photo quilts etc, but where did I end up? In the same post, I had in mind several things to do, but ended up - as you already may know - making tote bags.

It is so true; to get totally hooked on something, and that is what I did! I didn't make one tote bag only, but three! I got hooked, because of a pocket with zipper! I wanted victory over that pocket! lol! I have used a plain pattern for any tote bag, without any pockets and zippers at all. I decided to make the bag different, by adding one pocket with zipper, one open pocket for the inside, and one open pocket on the front. The latter pockets were not a problem - or any difficulties at all, not even the zipper - but that other pocket.....

Don't ask me why I decided to add pockets! :) I could have made a very simple tote bag, but that felt so boring! I needed a challenge, and indeed that pocket was a challenge! Without any pattern - I didn't even google I-net for tutorials (too slow connection) - I twisted and turned my brain - and the poor pocket - inside out and upside down in all directions, before it finally decided to co-operate! Or was it my brain cells that suddenly started to work.... For the umpteenth attempt, I decided to take photos along the making, so for the next pocket it should go rather smooth! :) I loved the seam ripper these days! I could have asked MIL next door for help of course, but she is so fast in explaining things so I wouldn't have understood anything!!!!

Inside, open pocket with two 'rooms'.

Details of the front pocket. The front pocket has two spacious 'rooms' too.

The back of the bag; cute frogs here too! :)

Bag #2 - here I've used the same fabric for both side. It has birds, tortoises, crocodiles etc.

'Woodsy Wonders' fabric line.

Inner pockets; with and without zipper.

Bag #3 - here I've used red plaid for the front and beige plaid for the back.

The inside pockets, with zipper.............

Double pocket without zipper.

Spacious pocket with two rooms on the front.

I loved doing these bags, and now I'm off to make another bag, a different one... :)

And I need a strong cup of coffee too! :)

What am I up to now?!

2011-06-01T18:26:00.000+04:00

It feels like my head is packed with wool! lol

After been working on big quilts for I don't know how long, I have decided to make some smaller items. I also want to learn more about quilting etc, like needle turn applique, photo quilts, landscape quilting.... I feel I'm kind of 'stuck' in what I'm doing; I can't continue to cut squares and triangles, add them together and make big quilts all the time... :) I love to do that of course, but I feel have to 'develop' myself more to get more knowledge on what I'm doing.

Yesterday morning I had in mind to make a mug rug for a swap... I thought of making a cushion (applique) too, and I even looked for fabric for an applique quilt I've seen in a magazine 3 years ago....

Fickle minded and sidetracked as Gemini's are, I started making something else! :)

Since I have been working on - and finished (!) - some baby quilts over the last weeks, I decided to continue... Not making quilts, but something else....

I love these bright, colorful fabrics!

I decided to make a tote bag!

I decided to go for a basic tote bag pattern, but 'on the way' I decided to add some pockets; one (double) open and one with a zip.

This is something I have never done before, and without a pattern it felt like my brain was near to explode! I started working on the bag yesterday afternoon, and no way was I able to figure out how to do that darn pocket - the one with the zip! The zip was not the problem, the problem was how to sew the pocket to the lining! In the end (last night) I gave up, decided to 'sleep on it'.

It did work! I woke up 04:30 this morning and knew how to do the pocket! My brain must have worked overtime during the night! :))

Here the inside pocket with the zip. The upper part of the zip is not as it should be - I saw it afterwards - but that is what I came up with after one nights sleep. :)

The bag is almost done... Another adjustment and it will be finished tomorrow - if not sidetracked again! :))

I believe I have spent more hours unpicking compared to actual sewing hours - lol! I defend myself this is the first tote bag with pockets I've made! :)

Scrap quilt and two baby/toddler quilts

2011-05-22T13:35:00.001+04:00

I can't believe 3 weeks have passed by since my previous post... Where does the time go?! House works, gardening, hikes (click here) and sewing have kept me busy. I'm happy to say I have finished 3 quilts; one UFO from last year and the two others are from this year.

Here's my 'Messy Scrap Quilt'! :))

As you can see, Birre-Liten has approved it already. :))

This quilt was supposed to be backing for the 'Jiffy quilt', see my previous post. DH was almost screaming when he saw it! He suggested I make it into another quilt, and here it is! Well, now I agree with him; it didn't turn out that bad! :)

It's a 100% scrap quilt. I have used bits and pieces from 'old' fabrics; fabrics I bought here when I first started quilting as well as fabrics I received from my friend Ragna (no blog) in Norway. Some of the fabrics I bought here, is not 100% cotton. It is of a mix, but I'm not sure what kind of mix. The sellers say it is 100% cotton, but it is not...

This is one of the first 'complicated' block I made! (It was complicated for a newbie!!!) It was supposed to be a pair of potholders, but instead they (2 blocks) ended up hidden somewhere! :)) Guess who hid them?! I did, because I didn't like them! :)

Another 'complicated-newbie-block' - lol! They were supposed to be a pair of potholders too, but I hid them! :)) There are a few other 'error-blocks' too, and some log cabin blocks. I found it difficult to throw the blocks, instead I added them to this quilt.

The quilt police should not come and have a look - lol!

Part of the quilting. I did FMQ on the roosters, because I found that piece was too big to do crosshatch quilting, which I have done on the other squares and rectangles.

I washed the quilt in the washing machine - 40C/104F - to remove pen marks. I love that crinkled look! :)

Approved!!! :))

UFO #6 (this year) finished!

I started this baby/toddler quilt at the end of last year, if not mistaken, but never got it right. I had to put it away for some months, to see if I got some better ideas how to proceed. I got the idea how to make it, after half a sleepless night. I got it out from its hiding place; the shelf, and it took only a few days to finish it. :)

Close-up of the sheep. :)

The backing. I've used two different flannels, to make it a little bit more interesting. :) Well, the truth is; I didn't have enough of the 'elephants'! :) I used leftover fabrics for the binding.

Since it went so well with the UFO baby/toddler quilt, and since I had enough fabrics for another quilt.... well.... I made another one! :) The pattern is different, but I have used exactly the same fabrics, even the white tone-on-tone is the same.

I've done FMQ on this one, using two different yellow threads; Superior's King Tut, a very light yellow on the white tone-on-tone and a bit darker on the colored pieces.

The odd sheep, here on blue background.

Fabric used; Sherbets Amazing Garden from Red Rooster.

The backing; I've used one piece of very light blue flannel.

Binding; 'strawberry' from Moda Marbles.

Batting; Hobbs Heirloom 80% cotton/20% polyester.

Both baby/toddler quilts are machine washed on 40C /104F.

Jiffy-quilt (UFO #5) finished

2011-04-30T09:32:00.000+04:00

I'm happy! I have finished UFO #5 this year!

Do you remember this quilt? It was supposed to be backing for the split hourglass quilt (using scraps from that quilt), but decided against it when I saw how it turned out - too pretty for backing! :) You can read more about the Jiffy-quilt here.

It feels wonderful to have used scraps for the entire quilt! Some of the fabrics I bought here when I started quilting 5-6 years ago and others I received from my friend Ragna (no blog) in Norway. Ragna, if you read this, I'm sure you recognize "your" fabrics! :)

For the backing I have used an "old" bed sheet, which was too good to be thrown. For the quilting I have done straight lines.

I have done the same "mistake" for this quilt; made (supposed to be) the backing out of "error-blocks" and scraps.... DH was almost screaming when I told him "this is the backing for the Jiffy-quilt"! He said; "NO! This "backing" is too beautiful for backing, you have to make it another quilt"! PHEEEW!!!!!!!!! So now that backing has turned into another scrappy quilt top, which is already sandwiched and pinned, ready to be basted and quilted! Seems like I never run out of work - haha! :))

More about that "backing" / quilt in another post! :)

1200 inches binding in less than one month - part 2

2011-04-19T13:05:00.000+04:00

Since I have some finishes and quite some photos, I thought it is better to do two posts instead of overloading you with photos in one post! :)

This morning I got DH to stretch a line from the coconut tree to the neighbor's wall, for easier taking photos of the big quilts. This side of our garden faces East, and since the sun has to "climb over a small mountain" to reach this area, it should be one of the more convenient places to take photos out of the strong glare from the sun.

Second UFO finished is the Star Burst mystery quilt.

Brave enough to do FMQ on this one too! :) I have chosen Superior Thread's King Tut #1003 for the quilting, and I just love the effect the black & red thread does on the charcoal background! The reds look like small worms - lol! To enlarge, click on the photo.

Third UFO finished, is the Pinwheel quilt...

I wasn't sure I liked this collection when I bought it, but after adding it together with the white tone-on-tone for the pinwheels and the light, narrow border, I changed my mind; I do love it! :)

More practising on FMQ...

I have quite a bit to go before all the stitches are even, but as I have mentioned earlier; it is all about practising!

Fabrics used in this quilt is "Evening Mist" by Sentimental Studio (Moda). I've used one layer cake and some extra fabric for the border. For the pinwheels and narrow, light border, I have used fabric from my stash.

I still have an "Evening Mist" jelly roll, but have yet to decide on that one...

The baby quilt is not a UFO. I began working on it just after New Year, if not mistaken.

It's a scrappy quilt, all fabrics from my stash.

I've used blue, pink, green and white tone-on-tone for the background.

No fancy FMQ on this one; quilted in the ditch.

The last days I'm working on another UFO; the Jiffy quilt, which I hope to finish within 1-2 or maybe 3 days. :)

1200 inches binding in less than one month - part 1

2011-04-19T12:00:00.001+04:00

Hi there! I'm back again and I hope you have missed me! :) (I'll feel bad if you haven't - lol!)

The reason for being MIA (missing in action) is our laptop died almost 4 weeks ago. We haven't taken it to the repair shop yet, have to go to Port Louis (the capital) for that. The technician (where we bought the laptop) suggests it might be overheating, which is a weakness on Acer's. We don't know how much damage is caused and if it is worth repairing it. It is not more than 2 years old, so it should last longer, but.... OK, we shall see...

In the meantime, we have bought a brand new CPU, which I hope lasts many years to come. My oldie (10 years old Dell) still kicks, but I use it only for pen palling etc and not on I-net, too slow for that. I'm happy, because I can still use my ergonomic keyboard, where I can rest my underarms while typing, and the 19" monitor! :)

Well, an advantage not being able to fuss on the I-net, is I have been busy finishing some UFO's from last year and a few new projects, hence the heading of this post. The disadvantage is I have missed you all! I have missed many blog posts, but now I hope to be able to catch up regularely again.

I have quite some photos to share, so I will have to do two posts. First UFO out is the TG-quilt, the biggest of them all! After I did FMQ (Free Motion Quilting) on the Pinwheel quilt - previous post - I gained courage to do it on this one too! FMQ is all about practising; I don't know what you are made of if you do it perfect the first time you try! :) The more you practise, the more hooked you get! I know! It's FUN!!!

Most of the fabrics used in this quilt are Tina Givens design, except the turquoise and brown for the sashing.

Part of the quilting...

... the sashing...

I love this brown and turquoise fabric!

...the corner...

It's never easy to take photos outside; either the glare from the sun is too strong, it is too dark (lots of greenery around), or it is too windy! Rarely there's a perfect day for photographing! I did the photos in the early morning. It was calm when I started, but "of course" it had to start blowing before I got finished! That is why some of the photos are out of focus - sorry about that!

I have finished some mug rugs too...

All fabrics for the mug rugs are from my scraps. Wonderful way to use scraps!

Yes, I have a new mug too! :)

I've done some cooking too, take a look here.

Polar Bears out of Hibernation - other WIP's and FMQ

2011-03-19T10:12:00.000+04:00

I have no idea where the days have gone since my previous post! It feels like I have missed some days... It also feels like I have done nothing, but actually, I've done a lot.

You may wonder what the first part of the heading of this post has to do with quilting? :) I believe those of you who has followed my blog for some time, remember what I'm talking about, don't you? Last year I started working on a polar bear quilt. It's a challenge, because I don't have a pattern and I have limited fabrics. The quilt - or better say the little I did on it last year - has been hibernating, because I ran out of ideas how to proceed.

Earlier this week I was looking for some fabrics in my stash, didn't find it, and continued to the shelves where the "dreaded" UFO's are. There I found the fabric I was looking for - actually fabric for the binding to the pinwheel quilt (below) as well as the plastic bag with the polar bear quilt! I pulled that one out too, and my brain started spinning..... I came up with new ideas and I think - by now - the quilt top should be done over the weekend. The "problem" is I have run out of the fabric I use for sashing, so now I'll have to go hunting my stash for something suitable.....

The pinwheel UFO is almost done! Left to hand stitch the binding and a little bit more quilting. Can't believe I did FMQ (free motion quilting) all over on that huge quilt! A couple of weeks ago - or so - I sewed around all the pinwheels, then put it on hold because I didn't know how to proceed.
I haven't done much of FMQ, so it felt a bit scary doing it on such a big quilt! My sewing machine has the standard size harp; 7.5" / 19cm (if it is measured to the needle position?), so I dreaded pulling and pushing the quilt through the harp!

I didn't have to worry! Last year I bought "Free-Motion Quilting Made Easy" by Eva A. Larkin. (It's cheaper at Amazon) It's a step-by-step instructions, practice exercises and loads of hints and tips about FMQ. I have not done any of the exercises in the book, but by reading the first pages, you'll get many tips how to get going with FMQ!

So I thought; jump into it with both feet! :)) And so I did! :))

This is FMQ "newbie-version".... I hope to improve, sure I will - by practicing. It didn't turn out that bad - did it? Do you hear the bragging?! :)) Well, I don't like to brag, but I am a little bit proud I did manage FMQ on such a big quilt! :) It won't be the last one to do FMQ.... :) It's FUN! :)

I can also mention I use the "Supreme Slider" - a teflon top that prevents friction when quilting. Here are some reviews about the "Supreme Slider". As you can see, there are different opinions about it, but to me; it does work!

The baby/toddler quilt is almost done too. I've left to hand stitch the binding.

As you can see, I didn't do FMQ on this one.

Busy Sewing Weekend

2011-03-10T05:48:00.000+04:00

First of all I apologize for not reading and commenting on blogs I usually do. The I-net connection is horrible, due to rain! Yes, heavy rain = no connection!!!! To do this blog post seems to take me several hours (if not days) and I'm near to go insane! I'm half-insane already (lol), and I think one day I'll throw that darn RABBIT (modem) out of the window!!! I'm not able to read blogs - well, I am able to read them if they load properly - but photos are not loaded at all! Emails go fairly OK, but often I have to reload and reload emails without any success! Often I get so ...... that I go away and do something else!

Friday last week - or was it Thursday - was one of those days I tortured myself in the garden. Due to the heat and humidity these days, the grass and weeds grow with record speed, and before you know you have to start over again!

I was forced to take it easy for some days - my body told me - and what was better than sit in front of the sewing machine?! :)

I have started to quilt the Star Burst quilt.

I intended to hand quilt it, but as a "hand quilting newbie" I realized a 60" square (150cm firkant) will be a bit overwhelming, so I decided against it. I decided to quilt inside the stars and squares - phew - what a job! :) I have used Superior Threads King Tut #917, to brighten up the quilt even more. The background fabric is marbled "charcoal". I have purchased thread from the US, hopefully I'll get it within the next 2 or 3 weeks, so this quilt is put on hold until I get the thread to finish it.

The pillowcase is done! :)
I've used batiks.

And another mug rug! :)
I'm afraid I suffer from "mug rug virus"! :))

Yesterday I started quilting the pinwheel quilt.
It's big - it's a mess - as you can see! :)) Difficult to get it through the harp... I wish the harp had been bigger.... A lot of pushing and pulling... But I'm determined to finish it now! It's not so visible on this photo; I have quilted around (in the ditch) all the pinwheels, now I have to decide how to quilt the rest...

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A very warm welcome to my new followers;

Susan M - over at Sew Sue
Mercedes - over at Mi Rinconcito
Lainee - over at A bit of a Novice Quilter's Life
Bev - over at Quilton's Doings
Sunbonnet Sue - over at Patchwork Agul'inhas

I hope you all will enjoy my blog!

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I made "Callaloo Quiche" for the weekend, take a look here.
It turned out so yummy!

I have been featured / I have a QI - too

2011-03-08T07:10:00.000+04:00

I have been featured!

By nobody else than Angie Padilla in Ecuador!

Angie is doing a research about quilters in countries where quilting is not a tradition or where it is not very popular, what kind of problems we face etc. due to fabrics, notions etc we don't get in the country we live.

Angie has interviewed some women from other "not so known quilting" countries too;

Theodora from Greece - visit her blog here.

Irene from Guatemala - unfortunate no blog yet, but you can see her quilts on Flickr.

Geta from Romania - visit her blog here. Geta does amazing shadow trapunto quilts.

And here you can read my interview! :)

Angie is a quilt maker, teacher, designer and author.

Visit her wonderful website.

Thank you!

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I didn't know I have a QI (Quilt Inspector) - too - until I read Michelle's latest post!

You have already met my QI; Birre-Liten...

The latest quilts he inspected, are my finishes from this post.

First of all; the morning toilette is very important! First the right side...

... the left side....

... and after several turns...

.... quilts inspected and approved! :)

My dear cutie! :)

Tomato Soup in the Stash.... (and other finishes)

2011-02-28T16:50:00.001+04:00

...made a finish!!!

You may wonder what on earth I'm talking about?! Yes, I do talk about tomato soup, but not the liquid stuff we eat! Remember my previous post, where I talked about binding for the "Hello Betty" quilt? I went through my stash looking for something brown, because I had "decided" the binding had to be brown.. Don't ask me why I had that fixed idea, because it had not turned out OK in the end! Well, going through the Moda Marbles I have, what caught my eye was one called "burnt orange" and another one; "tomato soup", I compared those two colors to the "orange/red" in the quilt. "Tomato Soup" was the one that matched and fortunate I had enough of it for the binding. It looks fresher with this color on the binding, I think it had looked a bit dull using dark brown.
(Eh! The palm leaf turned out on focus, not the quilt! Photographer's mistake!)

I love the "tomato soup" binding!

I haven't made many quilts with light colors, but I must say I love this one (even if I didn't like the colors when I got the fabric) - it looks so fresh and happy!
I think it was Sue who asked me where I'm going to use it... I answered her most probably on the couch in the lower ground floor, but while doing this post I'm also thinking of using it for picnics. Not that we do a lot of picnics, but... just an idea! :)

Thanks to all of you for your comments on how to quilt the squares! I do appreciate your opinions! Thought it over for some days, I decided to keep alternative 1. It had been too much to unpick - I wasn't really in the mood for that - and I'm happy with it the way it turned out!

For this quilt I have used 1 layer cake, 1 jelly roll and 24" (60cm) for the binding. It was the first layer cake and jelly roll I bought (November 2009) - it was on sale; 50% off. For backing I have used two old bedsheets (added together). They were still usable, too good quality to be thrown away. It turned out to be a very cheap quilt - and I love it! :)

My first UFO-finish 2011 and first OPAM 2011 too!

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Do you make mug rugs? Do you find it addictive?

I have been making some mug rugs over the last weeks, and finally yesterday four of them are done! I have left to hand stitch the binding on another four mug rugs, but have to buy thread for that. And yes; it is very addictive!!! They are small and easy to make.

I've fussy cut some cup fabrics I had and for these mug rugs I used one fat quarter (pink floral) and a little bit of Moda Marbles (powder pink) for the rest.

The two small mug rugs measure 7.5" x 10" (19.5 x 26cm).

The bigger mug rugs measure 8.5" x 10" (21.5 x 26cm).

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Ah! Finally my BBQC project is revealed!

An Advent table topper! I received the "ugly" fabric from Sharon. At first I thought; GOSH - what do I make out of those fabrics?! I have always wanted to make an Advent table topper, using purple, but as purple is a bit outside my comfort zone I don't have much purple in my stash. And here it was, right in front of me - thanks to Sharon!

I discovered a block in a quilting magazine I wanted to try, and I really love how it turned out!

I have used all the fabric I received - the piece left is 8" x 21" . (20 x 53cm) I thought I needed it for the binding, so I didn't dare using it for the backing. I'm not good at all when it comes to mathematics, so how to calculate how much I need for this and that... well, forget about it! :)) If I had known I didn't need it, of course I had used it for the backing!

What was left after finishing the top, is what you can see here - used for the backing. From my stash I have used small strips of purple, which was the only suitable fabric I had for matching the "ugly" fabrics.

I loved doing the backing too - a little bit of art - lol!

Take a look here for other BBQC entries.

Do you ever notice the beauty of clouds? Take a look here to find out.

Nina is back - I'm quilting, but.... a few questions

2011-02-24T17:25:00.000+04:00

Last Saturday "Nina" returned home, after more than 2 months on service!

The service-guy managed to break one of the supports (?) on the stitch plate and had to get a new one from Switzerland. That's why it took more time than necessary!

I'm happy "Nina" is finally at home! I've been quilting ever since Sunday! :) The BBQC project - a table topper - is almost done, I have left to hand stitch the binding.

Over the last couple of days I'm quilting the "Hello Betty" quilt, but....

I'm not sure I am satisfied with the look of these small squares.

This is how I quilted all of them, but then I wasn't sure I liked it, so.....

(alternative 1)

I unpicked 4-5 of the squares, to make them look like this...

Now the question is; should I unpick all to make them as alternative 2 (have not dared to count how many!) or should I keep alternative 1?
Perhaps alternative #1 isn't that bad after all?

(alternative 2)

The triangles - after quilting - measure approx 3,5" x 6,5" - is that too big a piece not to be quilted, or should I quilt something in each triangle?

Please let me have your opinion!

When all the quilting is done I have left to do the binding. The dilemma is fabric for the binding; I don't have anything left of the fabrics used. I used one layer cake and one jelly roll for this quilt. I'll have to dive into my stash to see what I can find! :) No new buys just for the binding! :)

Yesterday I made "Norwegian School Bread - take a look here!

Mug Rugs / Hand quilting

2011-02-14T05:38:00.000+04:00

I don't have much to tell today - I think... :)

I had wanted to do some gardening over the weekend, but Saturday it was raining cats and dogs. Some areas got as much as 180mm / 7 inch of rain and some houses flooded. It is the rainy- and cyclone season - we should not forget that! Rain is still needed to fill up the reservoirs. We did quite a lot in the garden yesterday, you can read about it here.

Since I was stuck inside due to bad weather on Saturday, I did six mug rugs. I had some scraps left from the table topper and pillowcase I made earlier this week, so instead of storing it away I used it on two mug rugs. I forgot to take a photo of the pillowcase, but it looks almost the same as the table topper, and it has the right size! :))

Lots of fun making mug rugs! I remembered I had some tea cup prints and didn't know what to use it for. Some of the tea cups ended up in mug rugs - I made four - here are two of them. They are all ready basted and ready to be quilted. Still no news about "Nina" - I'll have to call again today! :(

Yesterday morning, before we decided working in the garden, I was going to take my very first step into hand quilting. I have decided to start with the table topper, which isn't that big, it won't be overwhelming and not to hot on my lap.

I got so discouraged when I discovered I can't use the hoop I bought local! :((

This hoop - 12 inch - is not meant for quilting, something I didn't notice when I bought it! The lock has no adjustment, so it is impossible to put anything thicker than one layer of fabric into it. Thinking of it, I'm not surprised, it is meant for embroidering, since Mauritius is not a "quilting-country"!

I'll have to look for a hoop from abroad. If any of you know where I can get it, please let me know. It has to be a web shop that ships internationally. I tried the web shops I usually buy fabrics from, but none of them sell hoops - as I could see.

Progress and mistake over the last days

2011-02-10T14:24:00.000+04:00

We are in the heat of summer! Or rainy- and cyclone season - as it is called too.

I don't like this time of the year; too hot and too humid. We are in the +30's / 86-87F, with humidity between 70-95%! Way too much for me! I suffer this kind of weather condition, but what to do?! I'm feeling isolated, because it is too uncomfortable to go out.

I shouldn't whine too much about the weather, it could have been worse!

On the brigther side, I have done quite a lot since my previous post.

Do you remember I had cut batiks for a pillow cover? Well, err.... it didn't turn out a pillow cover, because my brain didn't function properly when I printed the pattern! The cover needs to be 18 inch (45 cm) square, so when I typed the size, I typed 19 inch - guess why??? Because I worked in INCH, but my brain was programmed on CM!!! I thought changing it from 18 to 19 inch was the same as adding 1 cm on each side, but definitely it is not!!! 1 inch is 2,54 cm, which does a huge difference on a 45 cm pillow case! DUH! Instead for the supposed to be pillow case, I turned it into a table mat, by adding the border. Now it measures 21.5 INCH! :)

I've been basting like a mad man too, and the TG-quilt is ready to be quilted.

...and the "Hello Betty" quilt too.

What I have left to baste now, is the "Jiffy" quilt. It is smaller than these too, so shouldn't take that long time. I'm really, really happy for being able to baste those huge quilts over the last few days, but when will they be quilted - well, that's another question! :)

Sandwich, pin, baste and a couple of new projects

2011-02-06T20:27:00.001+04:00

Yes, that is what I have been doing this week!

While I worked on the baby quilt, I saw an interesting quilt block in a magazine that I just had to try out!

I decided to give brown, green and yellow a chance. Those are colors I have not worked with before (not much) - a bit outside my comfort zone - one can say. I thought brown and green would make it look a bit dull, that is why I chose yellow to brighten it up. Each block has eight different fabrics - a great way using from my stash! When I saw the bag with green fabrics (I usually sort on colors), I didn't know I love green that much - but guess I do - LOL! I have as much greens as I have blues! :)

I have made 20 blocks, which should be enough for a good sized quilt - plus the borders around it.

I got obsessed by those blocks - LOL - but after making twenty I really needed to do something else!

I continued piecing the baby quilt, sandwiched, pinned and basted too.

I'm not a big fan of pastels, but as a baby quilt I think it is very cute!

After the baby quilt was done, I attacked one of my UFO's; the pinwheel quilt!

This is something I hate to do; the backing and batting! Fortunate we have a big dining table - 2.10 meters long - that is a blessing when working on big quilts.

I use masking tape to fasten the backing on each side, or else it is almost impossible not to pucker!

Here we go! :)

You may smile, but yes, I do use a lot of pins! :)) I have tried pinning a couple of quilts - without basting - before quilting (sewing machine), but it has always ended up too much puckering and I hate spending time unpicking! I prefer to take my time pinning and basting, instead of risk re-doing part of the quilting due to puckering!

Those photos was taken yesterday - today the basting of this quilt is done! :)

Here's the next quilt to be done; the TG - quilt.

I already have the backing, but it is not wide enough so I'll have to "cut and paste" to make it fit - LOL!

My aim is to start working on it tomorrow.

One of the pillows badly needs a new cover. I forgot to take a photo of the pillow cover... My mom made the cover approx 20 years ago! It had a beautiful lace around it, but it is gone some months ago!

I have a lot of batiks, so I thought why not use batiks for the cover?! I have already cut the required pieces, so now it is just to get going! :)

It was raining in the beginning of the week, so where is it better to be than next to "mommy's" sewing area! :)

I've been baking today too, and how that turned out...

click here!

Sewing on Sunday / BBQC / Christmas Ornament Swap

2011-01-31T11:17:00.001+04:00

We've had such nasty - but needed - weather the last days; rain and thunderstorms (you can read more about that here) - perfect for indoor activities.

Still no news about my dear "Nina", but good news is a dear friend kindly lent me her sewing machine for almost 3 weeks while she's on holiday - how great is that?!

Do you remember my previous post? Yesterday I started piecing the blocks for a baby quilt. I have more than enough for at least two more baby quilts, but I'm running out of the white tone-on-tone background fabric. It is sold out from the web shop, so for the other baby quilts I'll have to think of something else for the background.

I've been sewing almost the whole day today, now I need a break! :) I've done 18 blocks - 6 each in pink, green and blue. I think that will be enough for one baby quilt. I haven't decided on size yet, I'll have to see how wide I do the sashing.

Sneak peak BBQC! :)

Already on Wednesday, when I got the sewing machine, I started sewing! The project for the BBQC is almost done! It is basted and ready to be quilted. I hate to brag, but I must say this project turned out much better than I expected - because purple is a bit outside my comfort zone! I really, really love it! :)

NNC's Christmas Ornament Swap 2010 turned out to be quite a thriller! The Postal Service - either in Malaysia or here in Mauritius decided to play a little bit with us! We all know parcels/letters take 1-2 weeks extra to reach its destinations during Christmas, but when one small parcel and a letter - both registered - had not reached here by the first two weeks of January, we began to worry. We were in touch with the post offices in both countries, where different answers were given how to inquire the parcel/letter.

Finally the registered parcel and letter arrived at the end of January, more than one month after they were sent from Malaysia! The Postal Service made us hold our breathe for some days!

Here's the lovely cross-stitched Christmas ornament I received from Margaret (no blog). The pattern is from Blackbird Design - Stocking series - all handmade!

I looove it! :)

The all-crafts ornament is from Nik.

I believe it is your "Em" that has done it, Nik? It's very beautiful - I do love it!

I love that tag too! :)

Margaret and Nik; thank you so veeery, veeery much! I do loooove it all!

Those are the all-crafts Christmas ornaments I sent to Nik in Malaysia and Maria (can't find her blog link) in Portugal.

The stockings are made of felt, decorated with rusty bells and buttons.

Not to forget; a huge THANK YOU to Margaret at NNC for organizing both swaps!

You can read about the other Christmas ornament swap here.

Here's the Christmas gift I made for my dear friend Grit (no blog) in Germany. It is made in her favorite colors red and yellow. :)

I forgot to add this when when I posted Christmas gifts I made, look here for the other Christmas gifts I made.

A warm welcome to my new followers;

- Sandy over at Beary Quilts

- Josephine Yap

- Joe over at The Mauritius Adventure

I hope you will enjoy reading my blog.

Josephine, do you have a blog? I'd love to see your works and what you are working on.

Quilting abstinence

2011-01-21T08:44:00.001+04:00

I have not done any sewing since beginning of November last year. Dear "Nina" (Bernina) is still at the "doctor" in Port Louis for check-up, so even if I had wanted to sew - I couldn't.

I have tried to convince myself a break from sewing/quilting is OK, to reload the batteries, get new ideas, inspiration etc. It is not that I was not able to do anything though. In my previous post you can see my UFO's from 2010 and older. The "Star Burst" quilt is ready to be hand quilted (yes, I'm doing it!) and the other quilts are ready to be sandwiched etc. Ever since I started quilting, I have dreaded the finishing; it's almost overwhelming - sort of... An idea to make smaller projects (I can hear you say that!)... yes, it is, but I looooove making bigger quilts - that's my "problem"! :)

I managed to stay off until a couple of days ago, when a severe abstinence hit me!

After some hours of gardening, I was on the couch reading a quilting magazine... Don't know how many times I've had a look in that magazine, but first that day I saw two blocks I wanted to try! One of the blocks for the baby/kid quilt(s) and the other one for the BBQC - read on...

Excited I went to my sewing room and fished out the bag with baby/kids fabric, sorted it on colors....

... and started cutting...

I know I have cut way too much for one quilt only, here I have enough for 54 blocks (9" sewn into quilt). Perhaps I'll have enough of the white-on-white - background - for one quilt only, not even that... I'm zero when it comes to mathematics, so what I have to do is start sewing the blocks and first then I'll see..... It's going to be a scrappy quilt, using at least 14-15 different fabrics/shades.

If I had known it takes ages to get my "Nina" back, I had started working on the BBQC (Brown Bag Quilt Contest) already before I went to Norway! Deadline is March 1st - not that much time left!

Correction! Just got to know deadline has been postponed to April 1st! (Wonderful!)

Long time ago I received some lovely, purple fabric from Sharon in the US. Brown Bag means you are going to swap your "ugliest" fabric with your swap partner.

I can't say the fabric I got from Sharon is "ugly" - are they? Purple isn't exactly my favorite color, it is outside my comfort zone when it comes to colors, but that I guess is the challenge! :)

If you want to see the "ugly" fabric I sent to Sharon, take a look here.

It took me quite some time to figure out what to make; it's going to be a tablecloth or table runner - have yet to decide on that. I have decided on the blocks, but that's going to be a secret! :) I also had to add one fabric from my stash. I hunted high and low, and the light one to the right on the photo is the nearest matching I came...

Well, it felt wonderful cutting fabric again - I have cooled down a bit now - LOL! Didn't know I missed it that much, and even by fooling myself to believe I needed a break for loading the batteries - hahaha!

Now it is just to wait for my dear "Nina"!

Stocktaking UFO's per 1/1/2011

2011-01-12T16:45:00.001+04:00

Here we go again!

It feels good to finally be able to blog again! The I-net connection has been fairly OK over the last days, but we are far from happy! I've had in mind this post for quite some days, but I've been too lazy taking photos - lol!

New Year means new possibilities! Yes, the possibility for everyone to create and make more gorgeous quilts - doesn't it?!

This is not a New Year resolution, but my aim for 2011 is to finish the UFOs from 2010. Personally I think I have many, but compared to others who have counted 30, 50 or even more, I have nothing! It had become too overwhelming for me if I had too many! I don't like work that is half done either, whatever it is.

My dear Nina (Bernina) is still at the workshop in Port Louis. Don't know when the stitch plate will arrive from Switzerland... :((

Well, here it goes;

The Polar Bear quilt.

I have sewn together some of the blocks, but has yet to assemble the whole quilt top.

The Mystery Quilt; Star Burst.

Already basted. I consider to hand quilt this one, but I need courage, as well as I need input how to do the quilting. Since this will be my very first hand quilted project (if I don't change my mind) it has to be something very simple; not feathers and all that fancy quilting! :)

Karen - the hand quilting guru - may I have your suggestion - pls! Others too - of course - your opinion pls!

Hello Betty & Pinwheel quilts.

Both tops done.

TG Quilt - top done.

So far I call it TG - Tina Givens - because I have used fabrics mainly from her collections. I may change the name later on, when I decide on something better.

The Jiffy quilt - the one that was supposed to be backing for another quilt, but turned out too beautiful for that - lol! :)) Top done.

The Colorado Star quilt.

I started this one 2-3 years ago - as I can recall. The plan is to make covers for our two couches. So far I have 18 blocks, but I'm not yet sure how many I need altogether. The blocks are not trimmed and when all done I'll have to arrange them a bit better, but you get an idea how the quilt is going to look like. All the blocks will be done in blues and two yellows for the star.

In addition to those UFOs, I have a baby quilt and a Easter wall quilt to finish. Don't know where I have put them... The Easter wall quilt I can leave as it is or if I want to make it bigger (it's a small one) I can always add a border of blocks around it - I shall see.

Everything went wrong on the baby quilt, but now I have got a better idea of how to proceed. When I find them I'll add photos. I think this is all the UFOs I have.

I have a couple of knitting projects too, but that will be for another post.

What about you ladies - what is your aim for 2011?

What a Give-Away

2011-01-04T06:38:00.000+04:00

Among The Gum Trees

has a gorgeous giveaway!

This is what you can win;

the entire set of "Springtime" BOM patterns!

How great is that?!

Jump over to Among The Gum Trees and join in!