Brand new ironing board

I'm trying again! Last night the Internet connection was worse than a yo-yo and it failed to publish these two photos. :(

Yepp! I bought a brand new ironing board some days ago - got it today! The one I have I got from MIL when I settled here six years ago and already at that time it had done part of its job. I have used it a lot too and now it is worn out. The top (plywood) is broken, part of the filling on the top is gone and it feels like ironing over a road's speed breakers! Wasn't it time for a new one?! :) I haven't unpacked it yet - have to admire it while it is still sealed. LOL! I wonder what Birre-Liten does now... One of his favorite places to sleep is on the old one - what will he do when the new one is unpacked?! Which one does he choose? :)

My blog is not complete without including our pets - here is little Chico. Well, he is not "little" anymore; he is approx 10 months now. When we got him the vet estimated he was born in August last year. Chico is looking through the window into my sewing room - checking if I'm there and what I'm doing. Usually he does that when he's hungry or needs to go out for a "business trip".

Log Cabin progress & latest stash

Isn't this the best place to snuggle up when it's raining cats and dogs and it is impossible go hunting birds?!
Birre-Liten isn't a big hunter though. After he was neutered he's become a bit lazy (has gained weight too) and prefers staying inside or around the house. He meets his girlfriend nearly every day - she lives next door - and the funny is she looks the same as him, but she's smaller.

I haven't done much sewing the last days, but made some progress on the log cabin quilt. I've done four blocks, which shows how the quilt is going to be. I'm going to use a wide variety of blues together with the contrasting yellow fabrics for the stars. The last couple of days I'm working on Johnny's bed cover and I can report the basting is done and it is now ready to be quilted. :)

Yes - more stash! :) These fabrics arrived today! Black on red, red on black, red on white, black on white and white on black. My intention is to make a quilt in these colors, but have yet to decide the design.

OOOOH!!! Isn't it darling??!! How on earth is it possible to resist Nancy Halvorsen's "I believe in Santa"?! I couldn't help it; I bought a Fat Quarter Bundle (Mistletoe) from Fat Quarter Shop. The bundle consists of one panel and 16 fat quarters.

BOM & more stash

A while ago I came across a free BOM from Bunny Hill Designs. I've never done a BOM, so this is something I'm looking forward to. I bought two layer cakes; "Beach House" from Blackbird Design and "Aviary" from Three Sisters - both by Moda Fabrics. The background fabric (not so visible here) is Lakehouse Champagne Frosted Dot. If you look good enough I think you can see the dots?

...and more stash! These fabrics are for the log cabin blocks I'm working on. I finally got the yellow and orange swirls fabric for the stars! :) The blue fabrics were on sale, so I'm not feeling that guilty about the purchase. :)

I haven't done any sewing since I completed the tablecloth and quilt for the hammock, except the two bookmarks for NNC Bookmark Exchange. I can't post the photo yet, not before my secret partner has received the bookmarks. What I can say is that I'm quite content with the result! :)

A day at the beach

Part of Flic en Flac beach - Le Morne Brabant in the background.

We hadn't been to Flic en Flac since last year. As it is a typical tourist place we don't go there often. None of us are swimmers, so why spend hours at a beach?! We like to walk on the beach, which we did today too - wearing jogging shoes and jeans, I bet we didn't look like tourists - hence the gazing from the tourists?! :))

The weather wasn't with us today; it was partly cloudy and when we were at the tiny public beach at Wolmar it started raining. It was just a shower; it didn't prevent us from walking to the end of the road.

Some of the cottages at La Pirogue Hotel - seen from the backside.

In spite of visiting the island several times before I settled here, we'd never been to Wolmar, about 2 km (1,2 miles) down the road. Flic en Flac is originally a small fishing village with approx 2000 inhabitants. With all the tourist I've no idea how many people are living there... On the other hand - Wolmar is entirely given over to tourism, with at least 5 resort hotels, like; Hilton, La Pirogue, Sofitel, Sugar Beach etc.

Beautiful bougainvillea outside one of the hotels.

It's not monkeys - it's bird nests.

NNC Card Exchange 2009

NNC arranged a Card Exchange and I signed up. I had never done any exchange - not even made a card - so I was quite excited about it. My exchange partner was Ying - an avid card maker (take a look at her blog and you'll see). Materials for card making is not available here, so I had to use my brain... I ended up buying a sheet of carton, paper knife and a pinking shears. The latter is not sharp enough at the tip! :( I covered the carton with fabric, and I did two pieces of cross-stitching. After quite some trials and errors I finally ended up with a homemade card. Here's the front...

...and here's inside the card.

Here's the card & stash I got from Tini. Thank you Tini! :)

Coffee Menu

My latest weakness! "Coffee Menu" - designed by Diane Williams - Little House Needleworks. It is done on 28 count Autumn Field Vintage Cashel linen. I love the beige linen & the colors of the floss! Can't wait to get started!!! Who knows when that'll be?!

Ragna's Meadow of Flowers

Here they are; the quilt and tablecloth that started with 3" strips.

Most of the fabrics (floral) I got from my friend Ragna a few years ago, hence the name; "Ragna's Meadow of Flowers". This is a great way getting rid of fabrics I most probably never had used otherwise.

3" strips coming together

During the last days hubby & I have been busy doing some jobs in the lower ground floor. Last year I painted four interior doors, got so fed up and never did the last coat on the bathroom door. As I mentioned in my previous post the days are cooler, which means I'm alive again and ready to do postponed jobs. I painted the door and door case, while hubby put up a curtain rail and drilled for pot holder and towel hooks as well as several other things I want to hang on the walls. We even painted inside the kitchen unit! It looks so nice now! Hubby claims it was "forced labor"! :))

Well, I've done some quilting too. Last week was dedicated to complete the quilt for the swing - or perhaps it is called hammock? I'm not very good at mathematics, so of course I did cut too many strips for the quilt for the hammock! I thought I had enough for a tablecloth for the porch table, but I had to add one row of six patch units on each side.

After cutting 3" strips I added three 3" strips together and then again cut into 3" x 7 3/4" and added two together - 6 patch units. (I hope I have explained it right!)

Here the fun begins! Adding the six patch units together, avoiding the same fabric next to each other!

Do you see the safety pins? Finally - it's ready for quilting!

Pristine mornings in May

Sunrise at Corps de Garde - 719m (2359 ft) above sea level. It has its name from a French military post that was established there to control the bands of runaway slaves. St. Pierre Mountain and the west coast in the background.

The hot and humid air of summer is gone. For the last couple of weeks the early mornings have been chillier and the air crispier - if I can say it like that - living just north of Tropic of Capricorn. I love this time of the year - it reminds me of Norwegian summers.

Birre-liten feels the cooler days too and here he is appreciating the morning sun.