Crafts and Life

Lite lust igen

2012-01-27T11:11:00.000+01:00

Nu känns det som om lusten har kommit tillbaka igen. Snön ute gör det lite ljusare och när jag går till dagis med Moa vid åtta på morgonen så är det i princip ljust ute! Vi går mot ljusare tider och det känns underbart.

Jag har inte skapat mycket den senaste tiden. Stickat lite på Moas kofta och började på ett par vantar i rött och vitt, som jag sedan repade upp för garnet var för tjockt. Mönstret till Moas kofta kommer från Drops Design och jag använder två olika mönster som jag kombinerar. Det mönster som är grunden är detta. Som är en kofta med korta ärmar, men jag har kombinerat den med den andra som har långa ärmar, eftersom jag ville ha mönstret i oket istället för i nederkant. Jag tycker det blir fin, men jag har lätt att göra fel när jag stickar.

Babyfilt - Baby blanket

2012-01-08T12:28:00.000+01:00

Äntligen har jag gjort klar filten eller sjalen till Nemi. Hon skulle ha fått den när hon föddes i juli, men då var den inte klar pga att jag inte hade tillräckligt med garn. Då blev deadline hennes dop i november, men mina handleder ville inte samarbeta för att få den klar. Så sedan tidigt i höstas har jag stickat korta stunder för att klara av att få den klar någon gång i alla fall. På nyårsafton fick Nemi sin filt.

När jag höll på med den så den inte alls fin ut. Mönsterstickningen kom inte alls till sin rätt. Men efter att jag blockat den så blev den mycket större och spetsstickningen syns väl och blev mycket fin. Mönstret kommer ursprungligen från England, men det var Kronprinsessan av Danmarks mamma som stickade den till henne när de bodde i Australien. Kronprinsessan Mary använde sjalen till sin förstfödde son. Mönstret till sjalen eller filten publicerades i en veckotidning i Danmark då kronprinsparets son hade fötts. I somras när vi var i Danmark fick jag syn på en sjal som hängde i en garnbutik på Jylland. Kvinnan i butiken berättade historien bakom mönstret. Jag köpte mönstret och garn som skulle räcka till sjalen. Jag började sticka så snart vi kom hem. Men bara mittendelen svalde de fem garnnystan jag köpt. Det gick åt tio nystan ganska exakt till hela filten.
Jag är så nöjd med mig själv, att jag fått den klar. Jag brukar vanligtvis ge upp när något är motigt och speciellt när kroppen säger ifrån.

The blanket for Nemi is finished. I'm happy with the result and that I finally finished it. I didn't think I would do that. First I had too little yarn and after that I have had problems with moving my hands. Knitting has been a paine for the last five months. But I have managed to knit in small portions of time and got the blanket finished on the New Years Eve. Nemi got it on her mom's birthday, five months after her birth.
The original pattern is from England, but it was the crown princess of Denmark that used the blanket for her son that got the pattern my attention in Denmark last summer.

GOD JUL! - Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T00:14:00.000+01:00

God Jul önskar jag er alla! Kram

Merry Christmas to you all! Hugs

Kviltat överkast - Quilted bedspread

2011-10-28T16:11:00.001+02:00

Äntligen har Bargellohjärtat kommit på plats på vår säng! Täcket blev klart till utställningen och jag tror jag började med det 2004. Det har tagit några år, men det har också legat nästan klart i väntan på att jag skulle kvilta det. Men så började Maria Bussler sitt företag med maskinkviltning och då passade jag på att lämna det till henne och få det kviltat. Fint blev det tycker jag. Men jag vet ännu inte om det är de färgerna vi vill ha i vårt sovrum. Än så länge har vi inte gjort något åt väggarna eller bestämt hur vi vill ha det med tavlor och annat. Överkastet får ligga där tills vi vet. Jag är mycket nöjd över att det äntligen är klart!

Finally, the Bargello Heart has got it's place on our bed! The quilt was finished for the exhibition our guild had last weekend. I started the quilt in 2004 at a class and during the years it has been laying waitning to be finished, first waiting for the borders and then waiting for it to be quilted. It has been quilted by machine by Maria Bussler. I'm satisfied with how the quilt turned out with the quilting. We will see if we want to have those colors in our bedroom. The quilt will stay there until we decide.

Utställning

2011-10-21T10:02:00.002+02:00

Nu är det dags för utställning av sydda alster, mest kviltar!
I helgen 21-23 oktober!
Vi i Aroskviltarna ordnar en utställning på Hjärtpunkt Skiljebo i Skiljebo centrum, bredvid biblioteket. Där ställs ut mest kviltar men också andra sydda alster. Det finns lotterier med chans att vinna fina sydda priser och naturligtvis fika.

Öppettider: fredag-lördag 10-16, söndag 10-14

Välkomna!

Free BOM - Gratis BOM

2011-09-18T22:54:00.000+02:00

At the Yahoo-group I'm in a woman wrote about this BOM. It's a BOM over 12 months and it starts September 25th. I will attend the blocks I have the time for. I hope you also like this idea and join! Read more here: Canton Village Quilt Works

En kvinna i Yahoogruppen jag är med i skrev om en gratis BOM på nätet. Den pågår under 12 månader och det är quiltbloggare som är designer för blocken. BOM:en startar den 25 september. Jag kommer att göra de block som jag tycker jag har tid med. Jag hoppas att du gillar idéen också och hänger på!

Läs mer här: Canton Village Quilt Works

Open house - Öppet hus

2011-09-09T08:00:00.000+02:00

The last Saturday in August my friend PinkandBarbara had an Open House event in Surahammar, north of Västerås. I was there to assist her with hanging things, making coffee and tea and sell her patterns, fabric and classes. It was a hot day and very sunny outside though pretty many people came and stayed for a long time to look at the exhibition and all things Barbara had to sell. Here are some pictures of the room and the corridor with quilts.
The pillow at the last picture I have embroidred after Barbaras design.

Sista lördagen i augusti hade min vän PinkandBarbara ÖppetHus för sin verksamhet i Surahammar, norr om Västerås. Jag var där och hjälpte till med att ordna rummet, göra kaffe och te samt sälja hennes mönster, tyger och kurser. Det var en varm och solig dag ute, men trots det kom det ganska många som stannade länge för att fika och titta på utställningen av kviltar. Några bilder från dagen. Kudden längst ner har jag broderat efter Barbaras design.

Shopping bag

2011-09-07T15:28:00.000+02:00

För några veckor sedan sydde jag den här väskan. Den ska vara med som lotterivinst i ett lotteri som Aroskviltarna ska ha i samband med vår utställning i oktober. Den är bara gjord av remsor och sedan frihandskviltad med bomullsvadd som mellanlägg. Jag visade den för min sambo som tyckte den var helt ok. Han sa också "Såna skulle vi ha som kassar när vi handlar, fast lite större!"
Jag tog honom på orden och gjorde något liknande fast större så att det går i stora förpackningar i den. Det blev en lila och jag har på börjat ytterligare en i en annan färg. Den blev dock inte så mycket sydd på för systunden blev av någon anledning avbruten. ;-) Undrar om det var lilla Moa som störde?! *ler*

I made a tote bag for a lottey my quiltingbee will have at the exhibition in October. It's just made of strips and free motion quilted with cotton batting. When I showed it to my common-law husband he liked it and said "We should have similar bags for shopping, but bigger!" To save the environment and resources, and space to store all bags we have.
So now I have made one of the bags for shopping groceries. I have started the other, but something distubed the sewing moment! :-) Wonder if that could have been our little girl?!

En Syhelg blev det! - It became a Sewing weekend!

2011-08-08T12:21:00.000+02:00

Saturday I was at my friend Barbara's. We had our sewing machines out and going. I put on the binding on my recently quilted Bargello Heart. Maria Bussler quilted it on her Statler Stitcher. It is so nice with the pattern I chose and the thread that Maria chose for it. Here you can see a pic before it was quilted and pics of the quilting.

I lördags var jag hos min kompis Barbara och sydde. Jag sydde på kanten på mitt bargellohjärta. Maria Bussler kviltade den för några veckor sedan och den blev så fin med det mönster jag valt och den tråd Maria valde. Hon har en Statler Sticher från Gammill.

When the Saturday was over we decided to continue sewing Sunday also. Then I took one of my UFO's with me. It is a pattern from Petra Prins in Holland. I bought the kit several years ago and I'm sewing it on machine, but the pattern is made for handsewing. I hope I will get it together nicely anyway. The blocks I sewed yesterday are difficult, I think, for it's inset seams in the corners. I love the colors of the quilt!

När lördagen var över bestämde vi att fortsätta sy även under söndagen, igår. Då tog jag med mig ett liggande projekt (UFO). Det är en kvilt från Petra Prins i Holland. Jag köpte ett kit när jag var där för flera år sedan. Jag älskar färgerna i kvilten men tycker att det är svårt att sy de sömmar som är i hörnen av de block jag håller på med just nu. Mönstret är skrivet för handsömnad men jag syr den på maskin, så jag hoppas att jag får ihop den fint ändå.

Have a nice Week!
Ha en fin vecka!
// Weronica

Toilet bags

2011-08-04T23:19:00.000+02:00

Tonight the sewing bug caught me! I've made two toilet bags. It was a quick and easy way to do it that I found on the internet. Here are pics of them!

Have a nice weekend!

Ugglemössa - Owl hat

2011-07-21T20:09:00.000+02:00

Jag har hunnit sticka litegrann under semestern i månadsskiftet juni-juli. Jag köpte också en hel del garn i Danmark. Där finns mycket fint av garn, mönster och duktiga designer. Ett alpacagarn fick följa med hem tillsammans med ett mönster på den här sjalen.
Under bilfärden genom Sverige och Danmark har jag kunnat sticka en del. Jag stickade klart en mössa och började på en sjal eller babyfilt. Innan semestern stickade jag en mössa med ugglemotiv till Moa och en halsduk i samma garn. Det garnet är en misslyckad färgning jag gjort för länge sedan. Men jag tyckte färgerna passar till Moa.

On our vacation trip to Denmark I bought yarn and a pattern for a shawl. The yarn is made of alpaca fleece and so soft and cosy. During the drive in Sweden and Denmark I could knit some and finished a hat and began knit a shawl or a baby blanket. Before the vacation trip I knitted a hat and a scarf for Moa. The yarn is one I dyed a long time ago. It is superwash and perfect for baby clothes.

Crochet Dress

2011-06-12T13:53:00.001+02:00

Yesterday we were at a party for B and H's daughter Molly. The weather was awsome, but a little too hot for my taste. Though it was nice in the shadow. We got a lot of good food and the company was good.
We gave Molly a dress that I have crocheted and a blouse and pants to go with it.

Moa thought it was fun to see other small babies and had a good time despite that she was very tired.

Weekend bag

2011-06-11T15:53:00.000+02:00

In the beginning of April I took a class together with my quilting bee, Aroskviltarna. It was a class for making a bag and to learn something called Persian Embroidery, which really is appliqué. We had to prepare the two sides for the bag in advance and during the class we sewed it together. I took squares that I already had cut, and they were red and white. I like the color combination and I'm satisfied with the result of the bag.
But the second half of the class was never taught so I don't have anything to show.

I början av april tog vi i Aroskviltarna hit en kursledare från Holland. Hon skulle hålla två kurser på en helg. Den första skulle vara en kurs att sy en väska från hennes mönster. Under den andra delen av helgen skulle vi lära oss något som på Holländska heter Broderie Perse, ungefär Persiskt broderi, som är applikation.
Innan kursen skulle vi förbereda de två kviltade sidorna av väskan. Jag tog rutor som jag redan hade färdigskurna. Det blev rött och vitt, som jag tycker mycket om. Jag råkade ta den kraftigare vildonan till botten på väskan, vilket gjorde att det var ett väldigt pyssel att få till sömmen. Men nu är jag nöjd med resultatet. Jag sydde dessutom i fickor i väskan, vilket inte var med på mönstret.
Den andra delen av kursen blev vi bara visade ett exempel av så där har jag inget att visa.

Koftan klar

2011-04-25T12:12:00.000+02:00

Jag repade upp en halsduk och en nästan klar socka för att de inte blev bra i det gröna alpackagarn jag använt. Nu har jag stickat en kofta till Moa av en del av det garnet. Enligt mönstret ska det vara en storlek från 6 till 12 månader. Moa är drygt fem månader och den blev precis lagom åt henne nu, vilket jag tycker är synd för då kan hon inte använda den så länge. Men den blev bra, kanske något kort i ärmarna. Mönstret är lätt att utöka för att göra en större storlek. Kanske jag gör det någon gång med ett annat mysigt garn. Knapparna köpte jag på Furulunds här i Västerås. Moa gillar dem och pillar på dem då hon har koftan på sig.

Moa är 5 månader

2011-04-14T21:00:00.000+02:00

Nu är Moa 5 månader! Tiden går så fort. Hon börjar bli gosig och vill kramas och bli pussad ibland. Moa äter gröt med stor aptit och vällingen som hon fick för första gången idag slukade hon med god fart.

Ett collage med bilder på vårt Gull!

Moas dop / Moa's baptism

2011-04-13T20:07:00.000+02:00

In the beginning of April we had the baptism of Moa. My cousin, Ola, performed the baptism in the church. It was a fine ceremony with psalms sanged and texts read. All of our relatives were there and some of our friends. It was so nice to see all of them in church and afterwords at "fikat". Moa got a lot of beautiful presents and we are so grateful.

I början av april blev Moa döpt. Min kusin, Ola, döpte Moa i Lunby kyrka i vår församling. Det är en fin liten stenkyrka som ligger lite utanför stan. Ceremonin var vacker med sjugna psalmer och lästa texter. Hela våra släkter och några av våra vänner kom till dopet. Det var verkligen kul att se alla i kyrkan i vid fikat efteråt. Moa fick massor av fina presenter. Vi är så tacksamma! Tack alla som var med!

The move is done

2011-02-12T16:35:00.000+01:00

Me, my daughter and her father has moved into a house. The moving of the furniture took place a month ago. We are still living out of boxes and a lot of things are not in the correct place yet. But it is progressing slowly towards orderliness.
It has not been much handicraft done lately since our young daughter and the move has taken a lot of time. And also that I have a condition in my wrist, de Quervain syndrome, which means that I have pain when I move the thumb in some directions. I got a cortizon injection two weeks ago and after that I shouldn't lift with or strain my hand at all for two whole weeks. It has been difficult not to lift our baby girl. I hope I will feel as good as I do right now in my hand even after some time.
I haven't been able to take photos either because my camera broke sometime during the move into the house. My boyfriend has taken some pictures but I still don't have them in my computer. I hope I will be able to post some pictures of our baby and our new home soon.

All the best to you!

Snöfall

2010-12-19T18:14:00.000+01:00

Idag har vi varit ute och gått i snöfallet! Det har snöat ofta de senaste veckorna. Det började snöa den 9 november, den dagen jag åkte in till förlossningen för att ta prover. Sen blev jag i princip kvar där tills Moa föddes den 12:e. Då låg snön kvar även om det var lite slaskigt. Så snön har nu legat i nästan sex veckor redan. Undrar hur denna vinter kommer att bli?

För att Moa ska hålla sig varm i vagnen har hon bland annat på sig ett par raggsockor som jag stickat. Jag har också färgat garnet själv. De ser mer ut som knästrumpor på henne!

Baby kimono

2010-12-07T21:51:00.000+01:00

I've finished knitting the kimono for Moa, that I started in October. Here is the result. It is made from cotton yarn.

Nu är omlottkoftan klar! Jag påbörjade den i oktober och nu i dagarna sydde jag ihop det sista. Det var ihopsömnaden som tog tid, eller snarare att jag la den åt sidan för att jag inte gillar att sy ihop de stickade delarna till ett plagg. Den är fortfarande stor för Moa, men om någon månad kan hon säkert ha den.

Name decided

2010-11-25T15:32:00.000+01:00

Nu har vår dotter fått sitt namn. Moa ska hon heta.

Här är hon klädd i de kläder pappa köpte till henne när hon fötts. Jag tycker hon passar väldigt bra i de färgerna.

Our daughter has got her name. Moa is it.

My daughter

2010-11-20T14:24:00.000+01:00

Last Friday the 12th November I gave birth to our baby girl. She came a week early but was big enough.
3240 g and 48 cm tall. Now we have been at home for a few days and are getting to know each other.

Den 12 november föddes vår lilla flicka. Hon vägde 3240 g och var 48 cm lång. Hon kom en vecka för tidigt pga att jag fick havandeskapsförgiftning och man satte igång förlossningen. När väl sammandragningarna började ordentligt så gick det snabbt. Mattias åkte från Nyköping på torsdagseftermiddagen och kunde vara med på förlossningen. Lilltjejen kom på fredagsmorgonen efter en kort tids krystvärkar.

Mamma tycker hon är underbar. Nu har vi varit hemma från BB några dagar och vi lär känna varandra mer och mer varje dag. Vi har inte bestämt något namn ännu utan vill känna vad som passar henne.

Organizing

2010-09-04T15:15:00.003+02:00

I need to get more room for my boyfriend to move in and for the baby that is coming.
So I've organized the clothes in the wardrobes. Many clothes are going to charity while others go directly in the bin. Now I'm starting throwing away stuff in my sewing room. There is a lot of stuff. Fabric, UFO:s, yarn, scrapbook stuff, patterns etc. It takes a lot of energy and time so I hope I've started in time to be finished before I can't cope more.
Rensning på gång! Har rensat bland mina kläder och nu är det syrummets tur. Sååå mycket grejor!
Önskar jag kunde ha tid och ork att avsluta de projekt jag påbörjat, men det blir nog så att mycket kommer att hamna på soptippen. Många fina tyger men kanske inte i de kvantiteter man kan sälja tyvärr. Det är mest FQ, men även halvmetersbitar. Sedan mönster, tråd och garn. Har samlat på mig en del ull också, som är tänkt att använda vid tovning eller att spinna av. Scrapbooking-grejor saknar jag inte heller.

Mer tid behöver jag!!
Är det fler som känner så kanske? :-)

Baby hat

2010-08-25T14:19:00.006+02:00

Earlier this summer I was at a handicraft fair near my hometown. There were a lot of different crafts for sale. Both finished and material to do yourself. They sold ceramics, woven rugs, knitted garments, paintings, jewelry, handspun wool and angora etc. I bought some wool yarn from a local
sheep farmer and some angora yarn that is handspun of the owner of the rabbits. With this angora yarn I have knitted a baby hat. It turned out a bit big but I think that is a good thing, maybe my baby can wear it for a longer time.

Tidigare i sommar var jag på hantverksmarknaden i Toltorp utanför Askersund. Där står hantverkare från trakten och en del har åkt längre för att sälja sina alster. Där såldes keramik, vävda mattor, stickade tröjor, mössor och sockar, fårfällar, tyg till kviltning, garn av ull och andra fibrer, målade tavlor, smycken m.m. Jag köpte några hekto ull av en lokal fåruppfödare, det är spunnet hos Solkustens ullspinneri. Entrådigt ofärgat garn. Jag inhandlande också Angoragarn, handspunnet av ägaren till kaninerna. Hon hade en kanin med sig, den såg ut som en hårig stor fotboll, samtidigt satt hon där och spann fibrerna från kaninen. Det garnet har jag stickat en babymössa av. Den blev väldigt söt men kanske lite stor i slutändan. Man kan ju tvätta angora i maskin på lång temperatur, det tovar inte alls.
Här har jag satt mössan på min nalle.

Baby blanket

2010-08-18T15:34:00.003+02:00

A lot of knitting and crochet has been done the last couple of months. I don't work that fast so it has not resulted in much finished projects. One at least I've finished and it is a blanket for my baby to come. I started with a superwash merino yarn in darkred/purple with a nice soft touch to it. When I had knitted that skein I thought the blanket was too small so I added another superwash merino yarn in grey nuances that I knitted double.

More from Greece

2010-08-17T12:04:00.005+02:00

Here are some pics from our trip to Porto Heli and the surroundings. One day we drove a bit north to Naphlion. On the way we stopped at the oldest amphitheatre, Epidauros, that holds almost 20 000 poeple. Magnificent work from 400 B.C. It is still used for concerts and theatres.
Bilder från en utflykt till Napflion och Epidauros. Och den stranden jag gillade mest där det inte var så mycket folk. Den sista bilden är från en strand som är väldigt populär.

Greece

2010-08-15T17:28:00.003+02:00

During my holiday I went to Greece with my boyfriend. We stayed in a small city called Porto Heli on the peninsula of Peloponnesos in the south of Greece mainland. The flight left for Athens and then we hired a car end drove about 200 km to Porto Heli. It was a really nice drive by the sea and on the mountins on a partly serpentine road. We stopped for a break at a restaurant that has a wounderful view.
When arriving to Porto Heli we were greeted by the host couple that ownes the hotel. They are a greek couple living in Sweden during the wintertime. The appartment with the best view over the bay was ours to stay in. We stayed for nine days and most of them we went to the beach. It was very warm up to 40 degrees C.

Min semester var underbar. Varmt och skönt hemma med sol och bad och sedan åkte jag och M till Grekland för att ta det lugnt under 10 dagar. Vi flög till Aten och hyrde sedan bil för att ta oss de 20 milen till Porto Heli i södra Grekland, på halvön Peloponnesos. Underbart vacker väg dit. Utefter havet gick den mesta delen, över berg och ner i dalar på serpentinvägar. De har inte breda vägar och man måste se upp så man inte kör över getterna som ibland vallas över vägen.
När vi kom fram till Porto Heli var det nästan mörkt. Det var varmt, men det märkte vi först när vi klev ur den luftkonditionerade bilen.
Vi blev mötta av det grekiska paret som äger hotellet. M. har varit där förut så de blev glada att återse honom. De är väldigt gästvänliga och trevliga. Paret bor i Sverige under vinterhalvåret eftersom de har sina barn och barnbarn i Sverige.
Vi njöt av att bo i lägenheten högst upp i hotellet, i och för sig "bara" tre våningar högt, men med underbar utsikt över bukten.Varje dag tillbringade vi på stranden en stund. Det var för varmt för att vara i solen så vi låg i skuggan under parasoll eller träd. Vissa dagar fläktade inte något då var det tungt att andas. Som tur var hade vi lufkonditionering i lägenheten så det var skönt att ha siesta under den varmaste tiden på dagen.

Holland i mars II

2010-05-20T09:00:00.000+02:00

Efter quilthelgen bodde vi hos Barbaras kusin Andrea, som bor i Kampen. Hon har ett väldigt fint hem i två våningar. Andrea har bra smak och har inrett lägenheten med små stilleben överallt.
Barbara och jag är inne i en period med mycket stickning och vi fick Andrea att börja sticka, det var kul att se hur en sjal började växa fram på hennes stickor. Annars är hon också en quiltare, men hon syr allting för hand och det blir underbara saker.

I went to Holland with Barbara in the beginning of March. We attended a quiltweekend and then stayed at Andrea's in Kampen.

Holland i mars I

2010-05-19T09:00:00.002+02:00

I mars åkte jag med Barbara till Holland för att vara med på en quilthelg. De första dagarna fick vi bo hos Dorien och hennes man Hans. De bor i ett fint trevångingradhus i utkanten av Tillburg. Dorry som ordnade med quilthelgen har sin butik i sitt hem i Tillburg. När vi var där passade jag på att köpa lite av hennes fina tyger.
Helgen var underbar. Det var jag och 35 holländska kvinnor. Alla pratar engelska så det kändes så skönt att kunna kommunicera med allihop. De var också väldigt öppna och trevliga. Alla jobbade med sina egna projekt men Dorry hade små workshops i bl.a. frihandsquiltning på maskin. Jag fick lära mig att göra fjädrar. Det är kul men väldigt svårt och kräver mycket övning. Annars sydde jag på Åsas quilt. Den är inte svår men den tar mycket tid med många bårder runt blocken. På lördagskvällen hade vi visa och berätta. Dorien visade väskan som hon gjort samt andras väskor, samma mönster men andra tyger.
I was in Holland with Barbara in the beginning of March. We attended a quiltweekend. It was a lovely time. Me and 35 Dutch women quilted on our own projects. All was nice and all spoke English so I had a great time even if I didn't understand Dutch. The last picture shows Dorien showing off hers and others bags. We stayed at Dorien's before the weekend and had a good time with her.

Mysig hemsida

2010-05-18T11:18:00.002+02:00

Kollade runt lite på olika bloggar. Denna blogg gillar jag: Ulliga gulliga saker.
Om jag länkar till den och till Skinnarbos hemsida har jag chans att vinna den underbara babyfilten i tovad ull.

New family member

2010-05-18T09:30:00.004+02:00

Jag har fått en systerdotter!! Hon blev några dagar sen och hade vuxit och blivit en stor bebis. Jag fick träffa henne när hon var fyra dagar. Så söt och go'! Naturligtvis hade jag sytt en quilt till henne. Den är rosa och lite blå. Storebror Max tycker den är jättefin och ville nästan ha den för sig själv.

I will continue write in Swedish and give a short summary in English. I think I will write more often if I write in Swedish.
I've got a niece. And of course I've made her a quilt. I met her and gave the quilt when she was four days old. She is so cute!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-16T15:14:00.005+01:00

I hope you all have had a good start on the new year 2010!I've been busy with different crafts. Knitting for my self and embroidery and quilting for my friend Pink and Barbara. The embroidery I've done she has used in a beautiful quilt. I also helped her with assembling the quilt.

For my self I've been knitting on my shawls, three of them. I finished one shawl a few days ago. It is done after my own invention and the lace edge is done after a pattern in the book "Knitted Lace of Estonia" by Nancy Bush. The yarn I used is Malabrigo's Lace, I used it double. It is made out of Merino wool.

Prize

2009-10-01T10:40:00.005+02:00

Last month I ordered two patterns from Twist Collective, the Vine Yoke Cardigan and Pas the Valse which also is a kind of cardigan. Twist collective had an anniversary celebration where they were giving away patterns, yarn and other notions from different distributors. If you bought a pattern in August you were automatically in the drawing for those gifts. I didn't know that until I got an e-mail last week saying I got a prize from Twist Collective. I had won a canvas bag and a tape measure. It was not the biggest prize but it was something, and I'm very happy about that.
Here is a picture of the goods I got.

Laminaria shawl

2009-07-10T19:41:00.004+02:00

At the beginning of June my knitting group desided to have a KAL, Knit-ALong, and knit the shawl called Laminaria, made by Elizabeth Freeman. I started around the 10th of June and so did the others too. I've made the first pattern-part of the shawl, the star-pattern. It looks like this:Now I'm on the transition to the next pattern part, the blossom pattern. For me it is difficult to concentrate at the moment so I have ripped a few times when I've noticed it didn't add up with what the pattern chart says. But I love to knit the star pattern and I think it looks beautiful.
The yarn I'm using is from Knit Picks, Shimmer in Lilac Dream. It is a hand dyed yarn made of Baby Alpaca and Silk. It is soooo soft and cozy!

Little rain

2009-07-03T11:34:00.005+02:00

From Alanya, Turkey.

Today when I woke up it was raining and I was happy! It has been such warm weather the last two weeks that it was a relief to get some coolness this morning. But now the sun is shining again and the temperature is rising too high for me. But I shouldn't complain, the last two summers has not been that good, weather wise.
YesterdayI was with my work to a lake outside the city. We bathed and sun bathed for a few hours. I got burned but now I have a nice color on my skin. I really like to get tanned, you look so well and healthy with a tan.
Here are some pictures from my vacation in Turkey last summer.

No Gap Wrap

2009-06-17T12:26:00.005+02:00

I've finished two of my knitting projects! The No gap wrap is assembled and blocked. I'm not that pleased with the result, but I think I will use it anyway. I like the color and my friends tell me I look good in this blue. I'm sorry that the picture is so dark. The pattern is found in the book More Big Girl Knits by Angela Hahn

The second project I've finished is the Ruffles shawl. It is made in Malabrigo Lace, in Merino wool. It is sooo soft and cosy, I love it. I've put some beads in the ruffles that make it sparkle a bit.

Birthday

2009-06-03T11:49:00.003+02:00

Last week I had my birthday! I love to celebrate my birthday by inviting my friends for coffee and cake. This year I invited some of my closest friends and I had a very good evening.
I made a cake with custard and strawberries between the layers, and cream on top with raspberries as decoration. I'm soo into custard so it was a thick layer of it.
One of my friends had picked lillies of the valley, which is my favorite wild flower.
I also got beautiful roses and flowerpots with roses on them and some beauty products. It was a wonderful day! Thanks for all the birthday wishes!

Art Quilt

2009-03-27T10:42:00.006+01:00

It was a long time since I blogged or looked at other people's blogs. I've been creative in other ways.

Last weekend I took a class with Mikael Svensson, a Swedish quilt artist. This class was about Quilt Art with all sorts of materials. We got to try different materials that you can use in your art quilts or other projects. Mikael is a wonderful teacher and he is giving out all of his knowledge, and share his experiences with the class. It was a really fun weekend with all girls in different ages in the class. I would like to share some of the small quilt art pieces that I created.

I tried the different techniques with angelina fiber and film, friendly plastic, stamps and metallic films, all in different colors.

To collect the small artworks I made a small album/book to put it in. Mikael came up with the idea with this kind of album. The picture above.

I used a pink cotton upholstery fabric for the outside of the album and a pink linen fabric for the inside. The pages are made of Thai silk, pieces is left over after sewing my sisters weddingdress. Here is a pic of her and her husband. Our mother has done the bobbin lace at the waist of the dress.

This is the first art piece I made. I've used Angelina fiber and film, and then free motion quilting on the fibers and film with different threads.

In this piece I also used Angelina fiber and a piece of metallic film that I sewed on in free motion quilting.

I think I'm in my pink period right now ;-)

Here I've used Anglina film for the blue copperish part, Angelina fiber under that and the silvery piece is friendly plastic. The friendly plastic is melted on the iron and then I used a stamp to get the heart shape.

Fler Tävlingar

2009-02-23T14:57:00.002+01:00

Nu har jag hittat fler tävlingar och utlottningar på svenska bloggar!

Det är så kul att se alla fina saker de här tjejerna lägger ut på sina sidor. Önskar jag hade hälften av deras idéer och energi.
Se vänstra kolumnen för tävlingarna!

Ha en bra vecka!

Sorry I write in Swedish. It's about competitions on Swedish blogs.
Have a nice week!

Competitions - Tävlingar

2009-02-17T11:44:00.004+01:00

I've found several competitions with very nice prices. Here are some of them:

Link to Ulliga gulliga saker.

Link to Princesstävling.

Link to Alvas Hus tävling.

Link to Den tatuerade mammans tävling.

Look to the left column and click at the picture to redirect to the competition (in Swedish)
I hope I will win something, but with the luck I have it's better not to hope for anything.

Spinning on a spindle

2008-12-28T13:55:00.003+01:00

Recently I've learned how to spin yarn on a drop spindle. At first my friend showed me on her bottom whirl spindle. I borrowed it, looked at videos on the internet about spinning on a spindle and learned from that. I got some roving from my friend to start with. It was hard in the beginning, and still is sometimes. The first yarn I accompished was this green one.

I also got roving made of Bluefaced Leishter and silk. That was so much easier to spin because it has long fibers that kling together nicely. It became three small skeins of novelty yarn in the color I love, Blue.

Now I have bought myself a drop spindle, bottomwhirled. In the kit I bought it was four different kind of fiber, Gotland wool, merino, Corriedale wool and some colored pencil roving. I started with the Gotland wool to begin with. It has very long fibers but with the new spindle I couldn't make it work. So I took the pencil roving and made some novelty yarn of it. Now I have started on the corriedale wool and it looks quite well, but I still think it is hard to get a smooth and evenly thick yarn, so it is also novelty.

Angel Swap

2008-12-18T15:11:00.003+01:00

I've been in an Angel Swap with a winter/christmas theme. I got my christmas package today. It hold a wall quilt with an angel, chocolate with gingerbread taste and tea. It was Jen in Finland that sent it to me.

I've been knitting both a pair of Lovikka mittens and a headband. See pics below.

Tomte and cat

2008-12-13T14:48:00.006+01:00

As I've written before I've been knitting a lot and little seweing has been done. Last week I knitted a Jultomte (a Swedish tomte). It was supposed to be for my aunt, but it was not finished when I went to see her. Maybe I will mail it for her closer to christmas. Anyway here are pics of him.

This December I've been in an angel swap with people from several countries in Europe. The theme for the angel we should make was winter/christmas. I made a stuffed doll with a dress and an apron and then I put wings on it. When I was sewing on my machine my cat was very interested in all the stuff I had on my table. He really enjoyed laying in the middle and purr. Here are pics of him.

2008-11-06T16:56:00.002+01:00

I'm just loading pics of my knitting needle case.

Knitting - No quilting

2008-11-03T16:24:00.005+01:00

For the past months I've only been knitting. No quilting at all, except for the quilt I put together for my friend Barbara.

I have made socks for Max, my nephew, gauntlets with braids for me and an other pair of fingerless gloves. The fingerless gloves above are made of silk yarn. The gauntlets are made of merino wool. I have almost finished a bolero that I've been waitning for more yarn to finish. Now I have sewn the pieces together but there shall be a crocheted edge on it and the sleeves shall have crocheted cuffs. I started crochet the edge around the front and neck but I thougt it was boring. So I started to knit Lovikka-mittens instead. You can see how I began knitting them below. I bought the yarn in July and it is blue-grey, so the mittens will be a little striped. The first one is finished and I've started the second. It is a thick yarn so it is fast to do.

As I'm thinking about it I have been sewing a little bit. I made a case for my long knitting needles.

Birthday quilt

2008-09-28T16:56:00.004+02:00

One of my sewing friends, Barbara, turned 30 this week. To give her something special from her sewing-friends I started a quilt for her. I asked some of Barbara's sewing-friends if they wanted to help me sew a quilt for her birthday. I decided that we would make two blocks each, one with a house and one with a flower/flowers. At the end we were nine people who made to blocks each. The others sent their blocks to me and I cut them the same size and put the top together with a brown sashing. I also added a block to say "Happy 30th Birthday!" I quilted it simple in the ditch and put the label on with all the names of the people contributing.

Today, I and two sewing friends went to Barbara to give her the quilt. She was thrilled.

Here you can see a pic of the quilt.

Knitted socks

2008-09-08T19:47:00.002+02:00

Have not had the energy to do any sewing this summer. It has been knitting and reading instead. I started a pair of socks in the beginning of the summer and in middle of August they were finished. I have never knitted socks before and never used dubble-pointed needles so it was very hard in the beginning. But when I got a hold at it I got really hooked on socks. My first socks are done with fingering weight yarn and 2,5 mm needles. So it was very thin in the beginning I thought. But now I want to do something in laceweight yarn than I bought from KnitPicks. It will be a shawl of sort, that is decided, but there are so many beautiful things out there I can't decide what to do. It has to quite simple to knit also because I'm not used to do lace.

Shawl

2008-06-10T17:07:00.006+02:00

During the last months I have been knitting most of the time, and reading the rest. I have had no inspiration for quilting at all. But I had a couple of hours when it came back to me. One of my friends borrowed my machine, because hers had broken. I had no machine for over a week. Isn't it typical that the inspiration comes when I don't have a machine?!! I had such inspiration to begin two new quilts, but thought that I had no machine, so I put it a side in my mind. Then I thought I could cut the pieces and sew them later. When I got in my sewing room everything was in a mess, so it was nothing done anyway. Now I got my machine back but I do not have the smallest inspiration or energy to to any quilting.

The knitting has resulted in two shawls, one grey-blue and one purple. The on in grey-blue is mad of 100% wool with lace-knitting. It took a while for me to finish it, but I'm so glad I did.

The purple shawl is made of a yarn that is put together out of different yarns as you can see in the picture. Only knitting and some rows with purl. It is so big that I can cover more than my upper body with it.

Swap bag arrived

2008-05-06T17:37:00.002+02:00

I'm in a Bag Swap that Barbara has arranged. I got the bag from Céline in UK, with some goodies inside. Thank you Céline! The bag is wonderful! I think I will use it at least when walking down town. I love the fabric it is made with, both outside and inside. Inside is a white on white fabricwith small flowers, beautiful. I love all gifts inside, chocolate, thé etc.

Here is a picture of the bag.

Bag Swap

2008-04-20T19:35:00.004+02:00

The only thing I've been sewing lately is a bag for the Bag swap arranged by Barbara. I don't wanna post a picture of it yet, but you can get a peek preview....

It was not difficult to find a bag pattern to use for the bag swap, the issue was to decide wich one I wanted to do. I thougt of something knitted or felted or something with art on it or just a nice quilted bag. So my secret bag swap-reciever will not know in which technique the bag is made....

I shall fill the bag with some goodies before I mail it on Tuesday.

I want to show you a small purse I made last fall. I found the closing-device at Rikstäckets annualy meeting. There was a woman teaching how to make different bags, Japaneese style. When I got home I was so exited to try the pattern for the clasp I bought. Here you can see the result. I used my tulip-fabric with some gold hints on it.
Have a great week everyone!

Quilt Marathon

2008-03-25T12:28:00.006+01:00

A few weeks ago I went on a quilt-weekend, called Quilt Marathon, with some of my friends. We were 12 ladies that joined the fun. Everyone works on their own projects. Most of us had the sewing machine with us, while two girls only had handwork to do. I had two already started projects with me and one I wanted to start with. I began to sew on one of the started projects, but I couldn't get the border on the square as I wanted it to be, with mitered corners. I think I tried it seven times, sew and unsew, sew and unsew........ I got rather frustrated. The last time I was sewing this squares I got the mitered corners perfect..... and now I didn't make one corner as I wanted it to be. So, I put it back in the box and haven't opened the box since. Here you can also see the middle part of that quilt already finished and two of the squares I made before. This pattern I bought in Holland at Petra Prins. It is called "Cozy Bluez".

I also had some floral, a bit romantic, fabric with me, if I wanted to make a bag or something else. I also had this Japanese book I bought the same day the marathon began. This book contains patterns for bags, a lot of bags. I found one pattern that I liked and that my fabric was perfect for. I made the bag sides and embroider the seams by hand with emboidery thread. Then I used linnen fabric for the bottom ant the top of the bag, and also for the handles.

This is what the bag looks like finished.

After that I had time to start the project I had with me. It is I kind of BOM, but It was bought at the Houston Festival as a Shop Hop thing. It is made up of different stars in yellow, blue and green. I had two of the stars finished when the weekend finished.

Scrapbooking

2008-02-07T12:47:00.000+01:00

My nephew had his second birthday last weekend. For christmas he got an album from me. It is a scrapbook with photos of him from birth to about four months, at the moment. To his birthday I made more pages with photos of him from 4 months to 8 months old. I don't think he appreciated it so much right now, but my sister liked it very much. I want to shoe you a few of the pages I made for him in the last month.

Small things

2008-01-30T23:04:00.000+01:00

I have a binder that I think is not very good looking. It is green with some text on the front. Then I thought I should do it more fun to look at and to use. I measured the binder and then I made a cover for my ugly binder. You can see the result on the pictures. On the inside I made two pockets, one at the front and one at the back. There can I put a pen, business cards, or other little things. On the front I made hearts with foil and angelina fibre. Then I had to free-motion quilt it a bit. That wasn't my day for quilting when I did it so....it looks what it looks, better than the green under anyway. Of course the cover on the binder is made from my stash.

It is obviously the time for making small projects that is finished in a day, because I continued to make myself a wallet with many pockets for credit cards etc. There are two pockets for bills and one zipper pocket for coins. Behind the pockets for cards there also are two pockets. It is a good size to bring it doesn't fill your handbag as bigger wallets may do. I took one of those favourite fabrics that have been laying in the stash for a long time. It is a little bit of gold in it and I found a matching fabric for the binding, also in my stash.

The third little thing is a handbag or shoulderbag. Also fabric from my stash. It looks like the Sassy-bag from Lazy Girl design by Joan Hawley. I did it after seeing a picture of the bag on the web: http://www.lazygirldesigns.com/

The bag has one big pocket with two small inside, for your telephone and other small stuff. One pocket on the back (the second pic) and a long handle to put over your shoulder.

It is a little difficult to get it together without a visible raw edge. But I think I got it quite right. Anyway, I have used it a lot.

Boxes

2008-01-09T14:14:00.000+01:00

I thought I get more time and energy for blogging and other things. But it takes time to come back again. During the fall I have made one big box to have fabrics in. I bought the outer fabric at IKEA and the inner fabrics is quilt fabric I had in my stash. I think it turned out well for the purpose.

I've done small projects with crazy quilt before and I like it very much. It is fun and a challange to get the embellishment in the right spot so it looks appealing. I'm still to afraid to use a lot of embellishment but I hope to improve that. The latest thing I've made is a little 5-sided box with some embellisment on it. I like the color but maybe I should have embellished it some more.

To do both boxes I used cardboard to stabilize the walls, bottom and lid. On the big box I also glued a thin batting on the cardboard to get it to look softer. I think it makes it more cozy with the lid and the sides stuffed. I used thick Vlieselin which I think is good cause tou can get it with glue on one side.

Handbag and reorganization

2007-12-28T16:08:00.000+01:00

Latest project I finished is a Japan-inspired handbag. The pattern are from a Japanes book, see the picture. I started this bag about 6 months ago, a friend and I should do them together, but my friend is so fast thet she did it before I had even started. Anyway, now it is finished and I use it a lot.

I've been reorganizing my sewingroom during the fall. It has taken me a long time to get it as effective that I want to have it. I'm satisfied with how it turned out, after all. Before I had all my fabric in boxes and could not see what wasin them. To be able to see what kind of fabrics I have I organized the smaller pieces in a bookshelf. I think it gives me a good overlook of what I have and what I can use in my next project.

Here is almost all of my fabrics.

Here is my work space with the sewing machine, cutting space and ironing board.

I have been tagged

2007-12-04T17:52:00.000+01:00

Long time no see....

Back to blogg again, I hope.

I've been tagged by Barbara. To have something to start blogging on I will do the meme. Maybe it will be too much to read for you, but it will be more pictures later.

4 Jobs I had..
1. Cashier in a food store
2. Mechanic at a nuclear power plant
3. Cleaning lady at a hotel
4. Physics engineer at a nuclear fuel manufacturer

4 films I can watch over and over…
1. Notting Hill
2. Lethal Weapon (all films)
3. Miss Congeniality
4. How to loose a guy in 10 days

4 Tv-shows I watch
1. ER
2. Brothers and Sisters
3. CSI Miami
4. Navy CIS

4 Places I have lived
1. Askersund, Sweden
2. Paris, France
3. Pittsburgh, PA, USA
4. Stockholm, Sweden

4 favorite foods
1. Thai-food
2. Italian food
3. Swedish meatballs
4. French crêpes

4 favorite colours
1. Blue
2. Dark red
3. Purple/lilac
4. Aqua

4 places I would love to be right now
1. In Paris on the stairs in front of Sacre Coeur, looking at the stunning view over Paris in the springtime
2. In a jacuzzi with hot water watching the lake down the hill from where I'm sitting.
3. Somewhere in the USA, eating Krispy Kream dounuts together with my travel companion
4. Swimming in a lake in Sweden inthe middle of the summer. The water is clear and refreshing and the air is warm of the sun.

4 Names that I love but would not use for my own children
1. David
2. Dan
3. Anna
4. Sunna

4 People I would love to tag with this Meme
1. Solvi in Norway
2. Jodi in SC, USA
3. Rose in Australia
4. Elisabeth in Scotland

This was fun I think! I hope you will enjoy it too.

Will be back soon!

2007-10-24T22:09:00.000+02:00

I'm soon back to post photos and stuff. But right now I just want you to know that I'm not gone, just taking a break from blogging. Hope to be back in a near future.

Have a nice day!

I've finished a Quilt

2007-08-25T02:08:00.000+02:00

My Buckeye Beauty is finished. It started as a block swap with some Swedish ladies on the internet. We sent each other fabric pieces to be used in the blocks we got back. I choose dark green and dark red as colors for my quilt, and beige/tan for the background. One of the girls snt med light green and yellow and wanted black as background color. It became totally different from my blocks.

We were seven people in the swap so I got 12 blocks totally. Then I made four more blocks with some of the fabric I had left and added some other fabrics too.

I've been practicing free-motion quilting on smaller work earlier but never quilted a quilt and that way before. So this is my first quilt with free-motion quilting. The pattern is called peacock feathers, but I do not know if it looks like it.....

Anyway I'm kind of satisfied with it. It is no longer an UFO, it is finished and I can use it. I is also the first quilt I will keep for myself. I have always done quilt for my friends and relatived before. Only small items like bags, I've kept for myself earlier.

As usual when I'm working with my quilts my kitten, Tusse, wants to help, or just lie and look at me while I'm working.

June fabric diet was a sucess

2007-07-13T15:54:00.000+02:00

I made it in June! But now I had to order some fabric during the independence day-sale. It was soooo many nice fabrics in the sale at many shops. I ordered from fabricshack and fatquartershop. I like the fabric from Lecien, with flowers in pink and red. I hope it will arrive next week.

While waiting for the new fabric to arrive I enjoy the fabric I bought in May. I'm thinking about making a bag out of the fabric with the orchids on it. The other fabrics is just fun to have and feel now and then. I love to have fabric in my stash so I can start doing stuff right away when I'm feeling like it. In my sewing room it is such a mess right now. Then I haven't the inspiration to do anything in there. I have to organize my stuff better to get the room more calm and peaceful to work in. I have a lot of storage boxes both in plastic and in cardboard. I like the plastic boxes because you can see through them.

Fabric Diet

2007-06-18T22:24:00.000+02:00

Remembered that I have been on a fabric diet for a long time but haven't been bloggin about it. The badge I forgot too. Now I've added the badge for June. I think I hold the diet in April but I bought some stuff in May. For this long in June I haven't bought any fabric, only notions. So I think I've been quite good to only use fabric I have in my stash and fabric I swapped with my friends. But I have to admit that I have not been sewing much this month either. That doesn't mean that I can't buy fabric if I wanted to. I always want to buy fabric, but I have to minimize it because my sewing room is full at the moment.

Just saying hello!

2007-06-15T23:23:00.000+02:00

Haven't been doing much lately. It has been such hot weather here and it is not comon to have airconditioning in our houses. I do not, just a fan to swirl the air around. I do not like it hot because I feel so warm and sweaty and then I do not want to do anything. I've mostly been reading . I just finished Nora Roberts novel Angels Fall and I think she writes very good and entertaining novels. Other books I read are detective novels by Patricia Cornwell, Harlan Coben and other writers. Do you have a special writer that you think is good and entertaining? Please write me about them, I'm soon out of ideas of what to read.

Here we are celebraiting midsummer next Friday and Saturday. More about that later. The photo is from a midsummer dinner in Cleveland, Ohio in 2002.

Have a very good end of June!

Mother's Day and my birthday

2007-06-02T17:01:00.000+02:00

Last Sunday it was Mother's Day here in Sweden. I had invited my family to me, because it was also my birthday. Usually I do not eat salmon, but two weeks ago I got salmon at some friend's, and it was made in the oven. Then I thought is was very good and simple to do for my birthday too. My sister and mom that know I don't eat salmon were very surprised that I had made that kind of food for them. I cocked the fillets in cream and at the end I had some shrimps upon the fish. It tasted very well I think and my sister and mom complemented me on the food, so I think it was good. In the afternoon I offered them coffee, buns and cookies. My boyfriend had made the buns and one cake and all liked it, and I was very proud of him.

My nephew, Max, was of course with my sister and her husband to visit me. He is so cute and has so much energy. He walks around the apartment all the time and chases the kitten. In the end the kitten gets tired and lays down for rest. Max thinks that is so good because he wants to lay down too, with his head on the kitten. He thinks the kitten is so soft and cuddly. It is so much fun to see them together. Max also found one of my teddy bears that he liked very much.

Two weeks ago I was at a birthday party for my 8 years old godson. He is very much into technical stuff. He got a small weather-station with witch one he can check the temperature, the winds speed and the humidity I believe it was. He was especially fond of a chemistry kit he got. With it he could check the pH-value of liquids. I gave him a quilt for his bed and a pillow to go with it. His mother, and two grandmothers was very impressed. But I think Emil was more interested in the technical stuff he got. His sister, Fanny, got a pillow too. It has the same pattern and fabric that the quilt I gave her in April.

Baby quilt

2007-05-10T19:09:00.000+02:00

Last week I started to sew a baby quilt for one of my sisters friends baby boy, Gustav. Earlier I've sewn baby quilts to three other babys of friends of my sister's. They all got different kind of quilts. The first two quilt were for twins, one boy and one girl. They are made out of flannel, one with more blue and one with more pink. I'm sorry to say I don't have a picture of those quilts.

The third quilt is with dolphins sewn with paperpiecing. Albin and his parents like it very much.

The quilt I'm doing now is made out of stripes in three different colors. I've cut the fabric on the width and then cut the stripes in two or three pieces. Then I've sewn them together to one very long stripe, about 20 meters (22 yards). I then cut this stripe in pieces as long as the length of the quilt. Here you can see some of the sewn long stripe.

After cutting I sewed the stripes together on the length to get the quilt top the size I wanted. Below you can see the top done to 3/4th and of course my kitten shall inspect it.

Added borders to the Buckeye Beauty

2007-05-06T20:43:00.000+02:00

I got several nice comments on my last post. Thanks everyone! I decided to do as Andi, Nancy and Lori suggests. A narrow burgundy border and a wider dark green border. Since it was three of you that suggested this I was sure it would be great. I was right about that! And you were right with the advices! I'm very satisfied with the result. I have to learn how to machine quilt peakock feathers or something other swirly quilting pattern.

As always my kitten want to lay down on the top when I shall photograph it.

Does anyone know what the name Buckeye Beauty means?

Another top is finished

2007-05-03T15:57:00.000+02:00

My Buckeye Beauty top is finished. It became square, twelve of the blocks I have swaped with other quilters in Sweden and the last four I made myself. I sent two small squares to each of the ladies participating in the swap. Then they added their own fabrics in the same colorway that my squares were. The light fabrics in between should all be beige or light tan. I'm happy with the result and will use the quilt as a lapquilt in the sofa. I do not know if I shall add a border or not. What do you think? A burgundy, dark red or dark green one or none at all. Right now I will leave it as is and figure out how to quilt it. I want to machine quilt it but I don't know how. I would like it to be simple but striking....how do I do that?

Thank you!

2007-04-22T14:26:00.000+02:00

Thank you all for the comments on my Reggdy Hearts quilt!

I'm so happy that I finished it. It is the largest quilt I ever done, so I'm pround of myself. Also happy that Fanny enjoyed it so much. Her mum says she is using it every night in her bed. That makes me even happier.

A photo that makes me in a good mood! Taken from a boat outside The Keys, Florida, in 2003.

Fanny's heart quilt

2007-04-17T11:07:00.000+02:00

Friday and Saturday Emil, Fanny and Åsa visited me. We haven't seen eachother in a long time. It was so much fun to have them. They talk a lot and plays all the time, even at the dinner table.

They had a lot of fun with my kitten, Tusse. Fanny has resently had her 6th birthday. I gave her the Raggedy Heart quilt. She was so happy about it. She even had it in her bed at night and played on it and under it with the kitten. Here is a picture of her under the quilt.

Raggedy Hearts finished

2007-04-13T01:09:00.000+02:00

Today I finally finished the Raggedy Heart quilt! Yippeeee! I machine quilted it in 3 sections and then sewn the sections together, the backing by hand. Today I put the binding on by machine and the label by hand. Tomorrow I will give it away to Fanny. She became 6 years old in March so this will be her bithday gift from me. I hope she will like it, I'm sure her mom will be glad, she really likes quilts.

Storm at sea and hat

2007-04-05T19:05:00.000+02:00

Last weekend I finished a top with storm at sea blocks. I made it with the square in a square technique. It was easy to get the points good but you waste a lot of fabric with that technique. To the square in the middle I used a fabric with owls, stars and moons in blue/purple.

I fussy cut the squares to get the owls in them. In the pattern I used it was only this big but I'm thinking of making it little bigger. Perhaps with some more diamonds and purple squares on all sides or borders in different widths. I will leave as it is for now to let it grow in my mind for a while.

I have been knitting a hat for myself. I made it big because I wanted to felt it in the dryer afterwards. So it became very big and I put it in the dryer. Now it fits perfect, but it is a bit thick. I have to wear it when it is very cold and windy outside!

Have a good easter everyone!

Crazy Quilt

2007-03-30T21:58:00.000+02:00

I'm in a kind of a Round Robin thing, but with crazy quilt. We are seven girls from Sweden, Ireland and England that do this together. We have done six or twelve blocks each in crazy quilting. Some of us have put them together to a small quilt and some have left them as they are. The other six girls shall embellish one or two blocks each for every girl in the group. We have come to half of them now. Above you can see the two blocks I embellished two months ago.

This block I finished two days ago. The two blocks above the block I embellished are embellished by two other girls.

I like the photos in this crazy quilt and the natural colors. The photos make it personal.

Longing for spring

2007-03-26T19:45:00.000+02:00

I see several of you girls blog about spring in your gardens, on your patios and in your coutries. Here where I live the warmth has just arrived and spring, as I want it, is a few weeks away.

In the and of April 2004 I was in Holland for the Quilt Expo in The Haag. One of the days I took a trip to the big park Keukenhof. It was raining in the morning but when I was in the park the sun was out and made the day for me. I love bulb flowers in the spring! I want to share some of the flowers and scenes from the park with you.

Long time...

2007-03-22T19:55:00.000+01:00

We have a saying in Sweden that goes like this: Time passes fast when you are having fun! But I would like to say that in my case time passes fast....even though I do not do anything fun. I should not say nothing fun, but not enough patchwork and quilting. I've redone a handbag I made last year. I thought the handles made of leather were to short so I extended them with fabric. Now they are perfect for that bag and my shoulder.

Last weekend my sister and her son, Max, were visiting me. Max had a cold so he was a bit tired but couldn't sleep during the day. So in the evening he was so tired he almost fell asleep in my arms.

But the next day he was alert again. He can stand without holding on to anything now, but he doesn't walk without holding something. Even when he is getting up he's not holding on to anything. And he likes to stand a lot, as you can see in his big smile!

Yesterday I got a cat furniture, a climbing pole with scratching surfaces and a little house. Tusse, as I call him (instead of Picasso), tried it at once.

UFO

2007-02-22T19:10:00.000+01:00

The Raggedy Hearts is still going on. It was so hard, or a lot of work to cut the hearts and sewing them together again. I decided to put a 4-patch between the hearts in the quilt. The fabric I used in the hearts I also used in the 4-patch. So far I've almost sewn all the hearts and I'm finished with the 4-patches. I layed some of them out to see how it would look like. I think it will be better like this then with only hearts in the quilt.

I was at my mom's Friday and Saturday and I brought my kitten with me. I got a cage to bring him in and he has gotten used to it at home. He even slept there for a while. But when I closed the gate he was so angry and frustrated that he cried and clawed on the walls of the cage. I felt sorry for him, but he has to be there when I'm driving. After going about 20 minutes he layed down and was quiet. It went very well I would like to say. When we came to my mother's appartment he looked around everywhere for an hour or so. Then he was so tired he fell asleep.

On Saturday my sister, her husband and their son, Max, came to visit. It was so fun to see the kitten with my nephew. Max wanted to hug and hold the cat but the cat sayed away from his little hands. But when Max turned his back then the kitten was after him to sniff.

Max looks so big, I mean looks older than he is. He is just one year old but you think he could talk to you. Don't you think?!

2007-02-12T21:15:00.000+01:00

Raggedy hearts

2007-02-08T22:52:00.000+01:00

I'm a member of a Yahoo group called Nickelquilts. Last fall we had a swap with heart blocks. I started on my blocks and was almost finished with them when I got a bad back. I could not sit for over four weeks so I could not participate in that swap. Still I had a few blocks ready and the rest half done. I finished them when I got better, but after that they have been laying in a box. When the new year began we have a UFO-challenge and I put up my raggedy hearts to be done this month. Only the top done!! Not to be quilted... huhhh. I had to get some more fabrics to get the quilt more varied. Now I got the fabric washed and pressed. I put in some more colors than pink, red and white. I used fabric with pattern in different colors but with the tone on pink, red or white. Since the block shall be cut in four pieces and then sewn together with parts of other blocks I had to try it out with four of my finished hearts. You can see that the result was mixed.

After I had sewn three of them together I had to do something to make them be better. So I adjusted the seam line for each part of the block, and it was better. I have to redo the other three to be satisfied. And now I know how not to do the rest! Good, I think that I tried before I cut the rest of the blocks. I think this is a fun way to do applique, or what you can call it. It gets varied and you don't have to be perfect. At least I think it shall be a little off here and there because of the raggedy edges of the hearts. I thought.... how about doing the seam allowance on the right side of the quilt?! It will make it even more raggedy. I haven't dared try that yet.

Thanks Everyone for all comments on my kitten and other stuff. Picasso has adjusted fine. He's playing, sleeping and eating well. Sleeps most of the time still. And he purrs, or what you call it? When he sounds like a small engine while petted?? I think you understand even with my poor English. *s*

Picasso, my kitten

2007-02-03T15:32:00.000+01:00

Yesterday was a fun day. I went to pick up a kitten. I didn't know if I wanted it before I had seen it. The family had five kittens to begin with, when I came there it was only one left. It was a grey/black male. He still had two of his brothers with him, and of course his mom. They were cute all of them. I decided I wanted to take him home with me. My friend took him in a cage and sat him down in her lap when I drove home. He cried in the beginning of the trip, but then he fell asleep. When I open the cage at home he just curld up and went back to sleep. After I had prepared his box with sand and a place to eat I carefully woke him up.

He was curios about his new home, he went around sniffing at everything. I got him a toy, a mouse made of rabbit skin. It became very popular at once. Then I was a bit calmer about to bring home a small kitten. But when he played and seemed satisfied I got calmer. I haven't slept that much during the night because Picasso, my kitten, has cried several times and woke me up. I think he still misses his mom and brothers. But I'm confident he will forget about them soon. I'm glad he wants to come to me and sit in my lap. When I lay down he wants to lie down beside me. It is so cosy.

Flower fabric

2007-02-01T23:37:00.000+01:00

Today I recieved 24 8"x8" pieces of flower fabric. I'm in a fabric swap in the Scandinavian quilt group I joined in the beginning of the year. We had to sent at least one set of fabric with quite large flowers. One set was four pieces of the same fabric. In return you got four different fabric in each set. I think this is a very good way to get a lot of variety in your quilt. Many of the women in the group have already started a quilt with some of their own fabric. To expand their quilts they suggested this swap. So I got in and I'm very satisfied with the fabrics I got in return. But I will not begin to make this quilt this year, I think, because I want to finish several of my UFO's. At the Scandinavian quilt group we also have a UFO challange that ranges from January 1st to May 1st. During this time we shall finish as many UFO's we can. Still I'm on my first, but it is only started with a few blocks done. I shall make 30 more blocks and then cut them in four segments, then sew them together again in a different order. I'm looking forward to see how it will look in the end.

Good night!

I love Butterflies

2007-01-27T19:30:00.000+01:00

Today it has been a wonderful day. The sun was shining from a blue sky and it was about -6 C, perfect weather to walk. But it was not much walking outside done today. First I went to a flea market. It was crowded! Difficult to get to see anything. Didn't find anything and continued to the event of the day. It was the first time we had a sewing festival in my home town. We call it sewing festival because it is clothes fabric, yarn, emboidery, quilt fabric etc. sold at this festival. It is a big event for us that do crafting in our town and surroundings. I met a lot of my quilting friends at the festival so it was nice just to go there. But, I had to buy some fabric. I love Butterflies. I have been buying fabric with butterflies since I started with patchwork, but haven't really collected them. Last spring I saw a quilt made out of only butterfly-fabric and then I decided to start collecting that kind of fabric. In one of the quilting shops they had a panel with butterflies.

I had to have it! Now I know how I will do my butterfly quilt. I also found four FQs with butterflies.

So I failed to No Buy in January. I will start again in February. But in March we have a bigger festival in Stockholm (about 1 hour from here), so it will be difficult to do the no buy month in March. Happy about my fabric buy anyway, because I like them so much.

I went to the LQS on Thursday. It actually closed before christmas but the owner still has classes in the same location as the shop. For the classes she has some fabric, batting and notions. And she still has some fabric that she sells for a low price, only 50 SEK/m. That is a bargain. I could resist buying any fabric even if it was want to have fabric. Then I was quite proud of myself.
The shop is only open one or two afternoons in a month now and she has gotten a quilting machine. Her best customers were invited to see and try the quilting machine. It will be rented out for people to come and quilt their own quilts. I tried it out and it was so easy to maneuver so I consider to rent it for a week and get some quilts quilted.

Scarf

2007-01-17T21:16:00.000+01:00

Hi,

last night before going to bed I was watching a film on tv. While I'm sitting at the tv I almost always do some crafting. Yesterday I did some knitting. I started on a scarf in the beginning of December after I had that class in lace knitting in Stockholm. First I started one in the yarn I bought at the yarn and knitting shop. It was a thin wool yarn in blue colors. But since I just began to learn the lace knitting it was difficult for me to knit with that thin yarn. When Cathi was in Sweden to visit Barbara, this fall, I gave her some of my fabric stash. She was so grateful that she sent me yarn made in Ireland. (The name of the yarn is Donegal Aran Tweed made by Debbie Bliss) It is a beautiful purple wool yarn with some spots in red, green, blue and some other colors. This is a heavier yarn than the yarn I tried to lace knit with. So I thought I should start off with this to learn the lace knitting and at the same time make me a nice scarf with the wonderful wool yarn from Ireland. So yesterday evening I finished the scarf, made out of three skeins of yarn. I washed it and layed it out to dry. This morning it was freezing outside so it was nice to have it around my neck. See photo above for the hole length of the scarf and below for a close up.

Now I think I'm ready to do some more intricate lace knitting, for example, with thinner yarn. Maybe also a more complex pattern, we will see.

Good Night.

Fabric Diet

2007-01-16T20:49:00.000+01:00

I have to do something about my stash of fabric. My room is overloaded! Last Saturday I had my best friend Barbara here to help me rearrange the furniture in my sewing room. We moved out all of my boxes and stuff to be able to move around the shelfs and tables. Barbara had good ideas about how I should put my things in the room. We carried and pushed the furniture around, changed again and then it was done. All of my boxes and plastic storage should go back onto the shelfs again. That took most of the time, because I wanted it to be well organized when I was finished. I'm most satisfied with the arrangement of the furniture. But I'm still not satisfied with the organization I've done with the boxes and all other stuff. I have toooooo much fabric and other quilting stuff. So, when I saw the January No buying fabric badge on Tazzies blog, I wanted to join. I went to A Peach in Stitches to get the badge. Thanks Kim!
I got some fabric from Canada the other day, but that I had ordered before New Year, so I think that doesn't count, do you?!
I've started on two UFO's this weekend. I'm so proud of my self to be doing that. I'm so bad at finishing things. I always want to start new projects. But if I do I have to grab my ear real hard! :-)

Have a good evening!

Felting

2007-01-15T21:27:00.000+01:00

Last night I was restless and couldn't sleep. I took my wool and layed it out on a bamboo mat. I wanted to do a felt and make a tea cosy from it. I started off with some gray wool and then a light brown, because I hadn't enough of one color to make the felt as big as I wanted it. See photo above. Then I layed out a layer red wool and at the end I took pink and lavener wool to make a pattern. The photo below shows how it looked before I wet the wool. You can see some of the light brown through the red wool pieces. And the bigger chunks of the pink and lavender wool on top. I wet it and rubbed it to make the wool fibres felt together. I used warm soap water and then I rolled the bamboo mat with the felt to rub it further. I made it shrink to the size I thought I wanted. Here is the result.

Today, when it had dried, I decided I didn't want my tea cosy look this way. Now I use the felt under my sewing machine so that there will be no marks on the table I use when I sew. It works very well. You can stick your pins in it, and things doesn't roll away on it.

Folder or binder

2007-01-08T23:20:00.000+01:00

Hi!

Talked to a girl at the QuiltSkandinavia yahoo group about binders she had done. She made lovely covers for binders. I specially loved this one, you can see it in Anes Webshot. When I thought about it I've also made two binders or folders. The first one is made out of karton, with batting and fabric around it to make it more "loveable"! The picture above is of the front of the folder. In the photo below you can see the inside of the folder. There is a small pocket on one side, where you can put smaller papers or envelopes etc. On the other side there is a big pocket to hold the back of the writing pad. In the center is a piece of fabric holding a pen.

The next binder I have made as a "copy" of a binder you can buy at a quiltshop. I think it is Clover that have them. It is also made out of karton, with stuffed outsides so that you can use it to iron on. Inside there is a fine sandpaper where you can lay your patchwork pieces, and they don't move around. On the other inside there is a cutting mat and in the middle some sort of rubber mat to use when you shall mark quilting lines or applique lines with your hera-marker. See photos of the binder below.

Have a good Night!

Happy New Year

2007-01-02T18:06:00.000+01:00

It's been a long break from blogging. I've been patchworking and quilting and then I got sick before christmas. The patchwork I've done is a runner for my mother and a quilt for my nephews cousin. I've also sewn a tote bag for my aunt. So it has been a lot of christmas presents.

The materials for the runner to my mom has been in my sewingroom for over two years I think. I found it again when I was moving my stuff to the other room. Both my mother and I like blue, so I almost kept it for myself. I think it became beautiful. It is a pattern from my LQS.

The picture at the top is of the runner, finished, before I made it in to a present for christmas. I quilted it by machine.

The quilt for the 6 months old little girl, Olivia, is something that her mother wanted it to be. She had seen a quilt by Lexington in a fancy shop in Stockholm. And she took a few photos of it, with her mobile camera. The photos where not very good, but I could see little of the colors and the style of it. I tried to do a quilt the same style and with red and beige, as the mother wanted it to be. Here is the result, the top only.

I decided to quilt it in a little artistic way. Not the same all over the hole of the quilt. I quilted it on machine with only the diagonal in one area and with squares in the second area. See the photo below. I was not with them when they opened the gift on christmas eve, but my sister told med they liked it.

For my aunt it became a tote bag. Late this summer we where at a market together and she looked at tote bags that a lady had sewn herself. She liked them, but the size was not quite right for my aunt. So I made one I thougt would be good for her. I gave it to her when I came there on christmas day.
In Sweden we celebrate Christmas on christmas eve. We have the tomte to come in the evening, when it is dark, to give us our gifts. We eat good food and porrige in the evening. On christmas day we go to church early in the morning, to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

It was a good holiday for me. To see all my relatives and eat good food and good snacks. On New Years Eve I was with my friend Barbara, her husband and other friends. We played games and eat good snacks that Barbara made.

Happy New Year to all of you!!

My New Sewingroom

2006-12-04T14:48:00.000+01:00

I have moved my sewingroom to the bigger room in my apartment. There were my bedroom before, so now I have a smaller and cozier bedroom. There are still things that have to be taken care of in the sewingroom, as to where to put my design wall and where to put more shelfs on the walls etc. But here are some pictures of how it looked before. A real mess!! Stuff everywhere.

And here some photos of my new and bigger sewingroom. It is more space. But I have also put in more stuff compared to before. I have a sewing table which I didn't have before. Now I do not have to move the computer keyboard and screen when I shall sew on the machine. I had to put my machine on my desk where I have the computer stuff. Now there are room for both the computer desk and a sewing table. I also have more cabinets to put stuff in, they take space from the floor space. I'm happy to have it like this!

Compose mode

2006-12-03T15:59:00.000+01:00

I can't publish any photos. Because I don't have the Post Editor with the Compose tab. And I don't know how to do the Html-coding. Does anyone know? And could you explain this to me? I've had the Post Editor with the tabs before. But today when I shall post some photos then I don't have it. Bummer! Have a Great day everyone!

Moving mess

2006-11-27T15:42:00.000+01:00

I should have done the pincushion this weekend, but I started a move of my sewingroom and bedroom. I switched them. Before I had the smaller room as my sewingroom and the bigger one as my bedroom. Now I have a big sewing room and it feels so nice to have all this space for my creativity. It is not that oranized yet, but I think I have to "live it" a bit before I decide how to put the shelfs on the walls and where to have my design wall. And also how to put my cutting table and my sewing table in the room. I also have my computer in the same room and I have to have that desk right inside the door so that is one decision less.
I had a chest (what do you say in America?) with wheels under it, but when I was rolling it over the thresholds it brooke. One of the wheels came loose and it couldn't be repaired. So I had to get rid of that chest. I brooke it totally and took it to the recycling place. Then I went to IKEA to by me a new one. I found one that is higher and with more drawers. I'm happy with that. All I have to do is to assemble it. *s*
I shall take some photos of my rooms so that you can see how it has become. I have photos of how it was before and it is quite different rooms after the move. I will show you.

So now I can finish the pincusion and send it to my secret friend. After that I can enjoy my sewingroom with my machine and begin a new project! *s*

Have a nice day!

Wool yarn and fabric

2006-11-22T23:44:00.000+01:00

Today in the post there were two messages about packages to fetch from the post office. The first was from Cathi, in Ireland. She had sent me wool yarn made in Ireland. Three skeins of purple with some small dots of dark red, blue and green. Very beautiful! Thanks Cathi! I think I will do a scarf for myself. It will be needed for the winter.

In the other package there were fabric from Wish Upon a Quilt. I had ordered fabric from the Chocolat serie by 3 sisters for Moda. I got everything that I ordered and it didn't get stuck in the customs. Yipieee!

I love the colors! Aren't they beautiful?!

Pincusion

2006-11-22T21:22:00.000+01:00

My pincusion is moving on. I've hand sewn the upper part, with the 8-pointed star, and the sides. It will be an octagon about 1" high. The back shall get a little pocket and then I will sew it by hand to finish the pincusion. I hope i can sent it this weekend so that my secret sister will get it in the beginning of December.

Pieces I will use for the pincusion.

Here I've added the sides.

Today my friend Barbara and I was walking and going in to a food store. They also sell bits and stuff for your home and some for crafting. I found a nice book for scrapbooking, with some carton, labels, ribbons and stamps. It is very cute and it was a good price, about $14. Usually you have to pay about $28 for only the scrapbook. It was a bargain!

A lot of comments

2006-11-15T18:00:00.000+01:00

Now, I can leave comments. So here they come, look out!

Earlier today I began sewing a pincushion. I shall be in a Secret Sister swap. I shall send a pincushion I made myself and 3 FQ of the recieving sisters choice. I have bought the fabric and now I have to finish the pincushion and sent it before the end of the month. This is fun. I've chosen lilac/purple reproduction fabric for the pincushion. It is fabric scraps I got from Cathi, Crazed quilter, in Ireland.

I like to swap fabric or finished blocks. So do you have an interest in swaping fabric with me, leave a comment. I shall take photos of some of my scraps to put in my webshots. There you can see some of my fabric. But otherwise ask! I have a lot of blues and greens. I love flowers, small flowers, so that I have some also. I collect them to make a "flowery" quilt someday.

Have a nice quilting day!
// Weronica

No comments

2006-11-15T12:37:00.000+01:00

I've tried to leave comments on several blogs. Every time I forget that I can't leave comments at all. This is because I have the Beta version of blogger! I don't like it. I've found so many nice things on blogs about quilting and I want to comment on them. So I have to wait until Blogger has installed the comment option on the Beta version.

Last week I made a necklace for my self. But my nephew got a grip on it and some of the beads got loose. Now I have mend it. You can see it in the picture.

Write you later!

Family weekend

2006-11-14T00:56:00.000+01:00

I spent the weekend with my family and friends.

On Friday I went to see my friend from secondary school. She lives with her family, husband and three children outside Linköping. I haven't seen her in 13 years, exept for two weeks ago, when we had a class reunion. I enjoyed talking to her and meet the rest of her family. I one way it felt like we were back at 16, but it is 20 years since then, so it was other things we had to talk about.

On Saturday I was at my mom's and my sister came with her family, husband and babyboy, Max. I love that little boy. He is sooo cute. You can see him in the picture. He is nine months old. The clothes he is wearing he has got from me. I'm really spoiling him, or his parents, with all the clothes he gets. *smile* But it is so fun to give and see him wear it.

Yesterday I rested and had a very soft day. Reading, watching a film and sleeping.

ATC swap

2006-11-09T15:37:00.000+01:00

Finally i've taken photos of the card I made for the ATC swap. It is hard to see at the photo but it is a heart shape made with a stamp and Angelina fiber as I wrote earlier.
//All for now
Wera

Favorite Flower

2006-11-08T00:44:00.000+01:00

Orchids from the park Keukenhof in Holland.

Second time.....

2006-11-07T20:30:00.000+01:00

I've remembered that I started a blog some time ago. So maybe I shall update it, use it. It is fun to read others blogs and see photos of them and the things they create. Someone maybe wants to see what I do for fun.
Today I've done some ATCs (Artistic Trading Card). I did a set of six and sent five to a swap with my quilting friends. The theme this time was Angelina and stamps. I used a stamp in the shape of a heart, and Angelina fibers in pink and metalbrown. I called them "Fall Hearts". I'm looking forward to see what kind of cards I will get from my friends.

First post

2006-02-22T14:14:00.000+01:00

The first time I'm writing in my blog. It's snowing outside, large snowflakes. I like the snow, it makes it lighter when the days are short. Today I'm meeting with two of my firends, Barbara and Helena. We are going to a coffee and chocolate shop. They also has a café where you can have delicous bakery.