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Wednesday 30 January 2008

One year!!!

One year ago I sat down at my computer and rather nervously registered a blog and wrote my first post. I don't think I had a realistic idea of what to expect from blogging, and what I have gotten exceeded every expectation! Through the community of blogland I have met some fantastic people, made some wonderful friendships and been able to share in the creativity of women I truly admire. I thank you all for being a part of my world this year!

Keeping to the tradition in blogland of celebrating a blogiversary, I'm having a giveaway :o) If you comment on this post by nine o'clock Monday morning (Norwegian time), I'll enter your name in the draw for these goodies



Best of luck :o)
Sincerely, Anne Ida

Friday 25 January 2008

Butterfly Garden - some progress

I've done a little bit of stitching on my Butterfly Garden. I've cut all the pieces for the blocks and started started piecing them together. I still have a long ways to go, so I took a bit of a break (the chain of blocks still in my machine) and stitched one of the flower blocks:


This is a variant of the block Leanne made for Hanne, and I got in the workshop in Trysil - since I'm still waiting for my copy of the pattern to arrive. My tally of finished blocks are now 10! I still have some more blocks (the appliqué ones) I can make before it is crucial the pattern arrives...

Wishing everyone in blogland a great weekend!
Sincerely, Anne Ida

Sunday 20 January 2008

Goodies!!!

Coming home from a weekend with the family I found a lovely surprise in the mail box - my 4SQS quilt from Rose Marie at Applique 'n Patch Quilting! Isn't this quilt wonderful?

Lots of wonderful blue fabrics, some really sharp piecing, and it is beautifully hand quilted!And it gives of a genuine feeling of winter in the woods! A true gem! It found it's way onto my kitchen wall within a few minutes of me opening the parcel - I felt the need for seeing it up there! Looks great!

For now it has borrowed the hanger of my Xmas wall hanging - I'll get one in a more neutral colour soon.

Rose Marie also included some other goodies - a book which looks like I'll get lots of inspiration from, a note pad with a wintery scene and some maple sugar that looks absolutely yummy:



She is such a sweetheart! Thank you so much, Rose Marie!!!

Quilty news from me? Not very much... I finished my stitchery on the first block of Bea's BOM. I used a variegated blue floss on wow fabric, a result I'm pleased with (I think I'm in a "blue mood" again *lol*):



Yesterday I was at Lappemakeriet's (the LQS where my parent's live) show and tell of the BOMs they are running and the samples for their classes this spring. A lot of lovely quilts to see (unfortunately I forgot my camera). Fun story: they had a free gift of a magazine or booklet or ruler to all who attended, and I picked up a magazine at random. It turned out to be the Sept. issue of Australian Patchwork and Quilting - the one with Tazzie's "Bears in the Garden" quilt! I love that quilt!



And of course I did some shopping, but I was a good girl and didn't pick up any fabric! Just lots of batting, some quilt stencils and some packs of "quilting made easy" - hope this is a sign of more finishes for me in the time to come!

Hope you have had a wonderful weekend!
Sincerely, Anne Ida

Wednesday 16 January 2008

Home for the Holidays quilt

...is all finished!!! I finished stitching down the binding to the back tonight, and this is how it turned out:

I'm happy with it :o) Hope you are having a productive week!

Sincerely, Anne Ida

Sunday 13 January 2008

Drawing amoebas with the darning foot - and a finish

I promised to show my progress on my Home for the Holidays quilt. I'm happy to report that I have gotten the borders on - anyone else have the pattern? Please be aware that the setting triangles are cut so that the edge around the centre of the top is all bias! It was a bit of a struggle to get the inner border on nicely, I had to pin it every three inches - so if you plan on making this, cut the squares so you get the grain of the fabric along the edge! That was my little rant of the day - earlier today I have been playing with some meandering - this is a sneak preview - upper corner is the back, the other half is a piece of the top:

Just using the darning foot to "quilt amoebas" *lol* - and having lots of fun! There are some puckers here and there (especially on the back), but I'm rather happy to see my skills improve. Unfortunately I ran out of thread half way through (I have one full bobbin, that's all!) - guess what I'll be doing after work tomorrow?

I do have a finish to show. Coming home from the guild meeting on Wednesday, Nemo and I challenged each other that by the next meeting we would make a small bag for our coffee/tea mug that we bring to the meetings. I really love those drawstring bags that May Britt makes, and figured I'd give it a try. This is what I ended up with:

The stitchery is made from a rubber stamp I bought from Quiltegaarden, it was quick and easy to stitch - I started it Thursday night - and I think it is really cute! The royal blue fabric was a part of my Xmas pressie from sweet friend Rose, and I think it works great in this little bag. The cream and blue was a purchase from my trip to Trysil in October :o)

I have an apology to make: I know I haven't been very good at responding to your sweet comments lately, that doesn't mean I don't read them, and I appreciate each and every one of them! I'll try to catch up with my inbox soon.

Hope you had a great and productive weekend!
Sincerely, Anne Ida

Thursday 10 January 2008

First (almost) finish of the year and an award

Last night the quilting guild had the year’s first sit together and hand stitch evening, my first time ever, and it was a great experience. I was really wondering what to bring, but figured I’d take the opportunity to bring my 4SQS quilt to finish. When the night was over I was done, except for four threads that needed to be buried and the label. The threads I did when I came home, and the label I hope to do this weekend :o)
This is how it turned out:

The thought of dark winter sky, the colours of frost, snowflakes and stars… Why this? One of my memories from being a little girl was my BF’s mum having a group of girls over for good night stories. We walked there in our pyjamas, boots and jacket and listened to her read to us. Some of the books she read was about Greek mythology and how the star constellations got their names. On our way home we stopped freezing in our pj’s and searched the dark velvet sky for the constellation of the evening :o) So this is my representation of winter, hope ….. will like it!

Last night I got an e-mail from Pamina over at Quilts on the Way saying she has given me the “You make my day” award.

Thank you so much, that really warms my heart and made my day!! Now I have the privilege to choose up to 10 people whose blogs bring me happiness and inspiration, and make me feel happy about Blogland. There are so many wonderful blogs and bloggers out there, and I read so many more than ten, but I choose to give the award to:

Thank you for making my day !
Sincerely, Anne Ida

Sunday 6 January 2008

What have I been up to...?

It's hard to believe it is nearly a week since my last post. I have had friends staying since Friday before New Year, and we have been so busy enjoying ourselves that time has just flown by. I haven't done much sewing so far in 2008... Tonight I started my mini quilt for the winter part of the Four Seasons Quilt swap:

The top is now together, using lots of scraps and bits and pieces from my stash (keeping the diet! *lol*) I have the batting and the backing in my cupboard, but I have to pop into the shop in the beginning of the week for some blue quilting thread. Hopefully I'll have the binding on by next weekend. So fingers crossed that --- will like it!

May Britt has a challenge on her blog about finishing WISPs in January, so as to be able to feel good about starting new projects. I wasn't planning on taking her challenge since most of my WISPs and UFOs are larger projects, but she has convinced me to take the time this month to work on (and hopefully finish!) some of those projects already started. This will be my first to focus on:

Remember that Jelly Roll I won as a door prize in the beginning of October? This is what I've done with it. The pattern is Homeward Bound by Blue Creek, and since I'm making it with Roman Holiday fabrics I think I'll call my quilt Home for The Holidays (see, I was hoping to have it done by Xmas! *lol*). It is in lack of borders and then the quilting and the binding... hopefully it will be done shortly!

I'll keep you posted on my progress.
Sincerely, Anne Ida