Pay it forward :O)

Jeg mærker det er juletid. Jeg har fået en kjempekoselig gave fra Laila "Stofftausa", fordi jeg ble med på hendes "Pay it forward" - se så flott ting hun har lagd til mig. Jeg er kjempefornøyd og glad for å få så fine ting. Hvis jeg noengang møter Laila i virkeligheten skal hun få en kjempeklem.



Nu er det min tur til at bringe leken videre. Dette er en koselig lek hvor man gir noe til tre andre koselige bloggere - som man kanksje ikke kjenner, men bare er hyggelig med.

 Har du lyst til å motta en gave fra meg i løpet av det neste året ? Det eneste du skal gjøre er å legge inn en kommentar på dette innlegg, og så spille leken videre etterpå.

Look what I got from Stofftausa - what a wonderfull present. She had a "pay it forward" game earlier this year - and as I commented har post by saying I wanted to participate I got a present.

Now it is my turn to pay it forward. Do you want to participate? If so, please do not hesitate to write a comment. I will send a gift for the first three participants within 365 days (although I might not wait so long) :O)

Post ....

Post  -  a word with many possibilities .... So this blogpost is about a postcard and something I recieved from the postman in the postbox .......

I made Christmascards with some nice people yesterday - one was more a birthdaycard, which will be sent today. I was really cosy and i think the recipient will appreciate to receive the personal card :O)

And then, se what the post brought me - a book I have been looking forward to recieve. And it is wonderfull. Lots of stuff I really want to create - a real inspirator!

Sue Daleys tepper ....

Lige siden jeg så Sue Daleys tepper første gang har jeg syntes at hun har en deilig forfriskende stil. For lenge siden kjøpte jeg malsettet til å sy teppet om Faith og Hope - men jeg kom ikke helt igang.....
Men så fikk jeg litt starthjelp og i løpet av et par kvelder hadde jeg pludselig sydd midrunden til teppet. Det gikk kjempefort og var gøy. Nå sliter jeg litt med å finne det riktige bakgrunnsstoff - og så skal jeg videre med resten av delene.

Dette er det jeg kalder et lureprosjekt. Et prosjekt som ikke var med i planen, men som bare pludselig måtte få prioritet over de andre :O)

PS Har netop hentet mitt vann teppe fra quilting - åhh så nydelig !

Min søsters quilt ...

Jeg har været en tur i Danmark - og min store overraskelse i sommer var at min søster er begyndt at quilte. Her er et billede af en quilt hun har syet til vores mor - som er meget glad for ugler :O)

Dette er kunst - hendes eget design - og hver lille ugle er forskellig i stoffer og øjne (de kikker forskellige steder hen) - en super første quilt !!!!

Happy Halloween !

Four kids just left with scarry masks .........

Mountain week-end

I have been to the mountains with three wonderfull women this week-end. We were talking, laughing, eating homemade food (for example with hand picked forest mushrooms) - and of cause the sewing machines were making background "music".
These retreats are filling up energy in the reserves and I am gratefull for my good friends :O)

And earlier this week: Due to some children birthdays we made some more book marks - so I can add 10 more booksmarks to my list of finishes this month.

.

Not a lot of finished projects, but as you can see above the projects I am working on right now are quite complex, so not easy to finish them....

Top and back ready ....

I have finally completed the top and the back for the new blanket for the extra bed standing in the sewing room. Tumblers done with Iced Mocha and cut with the accuquilt. Now it is ready for quilting and finally it is the plan to add a flower tirade across the quilt. I will decide about this when it has been quiltet.....

 And backing from the remaining bits - it was a little bit hard to choose to use the leftovers as backing, since they are so beatifull. However, looking hard at my shelves I decided that I have many other nice fabrics to try out !

Ready for next project :O)           

NOT       

Now I will try to complete an UFO, as I have the sewing room rule: After one new follows one old - this way I will at least not add to the bunch of UFOs.....

Book marks

My son and his fried, both ten years old, are fond of reading. They read books where the old greek gods have breeded with humans, and lots of horrifying, however somewhat innomcent, stories comes from this. They are having vacation right now and some hours have been spend reading - and today they asked me if we could make some cool book marks. And who could say no? You need to support your childrens education, right?

Apples !

I think I like apples more than any other fruit.... It also matches with my favorite time of year, autumn, where all the colours appear in nature and there are crispy clear weather but still some warmth in the sun.

I live in a community where a lot of farmers grow fruit and vegetables, and apples are a big part of it. One of the farms, Frukt and Juletrægården, is run by a nice quilter and her husband. Last year I went to her farm to by some apples and she sold me some really big juicy ones. They have a fantastic flavour and needs little suger when you mash them. One time a success and it easily becomes tradition. So this year I went again and bought 2 boxes which is 12 kg.
I peel them, slices them in squares and cook them with a little sugar and vanilla. After this I put them in jars or small plastic boxes and after cooling they go to the freezer.

We use it in stead of jam thoughout the winter - yummy !!!

The last four apples went into an apple cake. The recipe is my neightbours mothers secret recipe - and it is simply delicius. Bon appetite!

Troubles ...

A long time ago I bought some beatifull fabrics called Iced Mocha - I simply adore them and have petted them many times (you must be a quilter to understand!)
From the first moment I thought I would a quilt of thumblers with the fabrics.
I have borrowed an Accuquilt from Lierquilten, and finally I got around to by the template this summer. But as easy as it seams, still troubles - how should I arrange the thumblers?
Here are a few suggestions, but they are not working to really show the fabrics.....

Now I have chosen a third model, and hopefully I will have finished the topp sometime during this week-end --- and yes I will soon display it :O)

A trip with my sister ....

My sister has surprised everybody ! A few years ago she spend all her time with good friends - just talking. But then she started doing the jewelry especially bracelets - I think she made several thousands of them......
At my last visit in Copenhagen she had redecorated her living room. In one corner there was a new bookshelf and it contained FABRIC!!!!!
She has started quilting :O) Soon I will show you some of her work, and I am still having an open mounth because of this surprise! Best of all, she has made the most lovely blanket for me - in colours I simply adore.

Anyway, just recently she stayed with us for a week and it was not difficult to agree about a tour to Tønsberg to introduce her to Quiltefryd and Hobby Lise.
We did buy a little :o) fabric and stash - and then we found out that I couldn't live one more moment without this nice shelve. I saw it at Quiltefryd and asked where they bought it - and it was just around the corner. After a nice lunch at the harbour the car returned with two satisfied sisters :O)

Choices - choices .....

The idea was a tablecloth and the top is finished - yeahhhh

As the project has been growing I have had lots of fun. I had to plan ahead as the blogs links to eachother - so planning next star and next star when your doing the first....

I also simply love the colours and the idea came that a tablecloth was not enough. I have now assembled the tablecloth and was happy - but still thinking it will look nice at the sparebed/couch in the sewing room....

I think it works nice as tablecloth...

But see how nice it would look on the bed!
I am still not sure ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

New project !

I have been working on a new project with some wonderfull fabrics I bought at Lille Stasjon. They are from Whimsicals and they are called Winterberry Lane. I have used a few older fabrics from the same designer, and I just love the colours. The plan was to make a table cloth for my round table. This is half the project and the other half is ready to be sewn too. However, looking at the project - and the way it matches the curtains and my good chair, I am considering to further develop this into a blanket. Does that ever happen to you????

The pattern is from Miss Rosie. Hers is individual palms on different backgrounds so that you see the square blocks - but making all the "palms" interfere with each other also has it charm. I love doing projects that just grow and grow. Suddenly this will be a finish :O)

Vacation part 3 !!

During the trip we passed a few quiltshops. We couldn't stop in all of them, but a few had a scandinavian visitor that they will remember for a long time ! Bringing your family to a quiltshop with many interesting fabrics, stash and exibitions means STRESS! You want to cover as much as possible and at the same time you have somebody waiting. This first picture is from a nice store in Loveland, CO where I was allowed a full hour :O) And I harvested quite a nice portion that I will live well from during the autumn :O)

At the end of the vacation we met up with scandinavian friends. The two females was shopping - with a nice driver bringing us from one shop to the next. We covered three different shops in Denver during the day and probably purchased fabrics, stash and stuff to last AT LEAST until our next US visit ......
Here's a few snapshots.

And here's a picture of the harvest :O)

Vacation part 2 !

The second week of the vacation was planned at a dude ranch. The idea was to relax, have fun and ride!People who knows me are a bit surprised about the last part. For many years I have been scared of horses (they are soooo big) - but I do think one needs to keep devolping / challenging oneself. So, during the spring we have had riding lessons at a nearby riding school - and from not getting close at all I have actually enjoyed sitting on the school horse (although I am still scarred and filled with butterflies before getting on the horseback).

Our cabin at the ranch

After some internet research we found Cherokee Park Ranch in northern Colorado, and what a good choise. Everything was perfect! All details matched and here are a few flavours of the week:

More than one houndred horses - and they chose a really good match for each of the guests :O)

View from one of the trails from the horsebackriding. They took us to different spots on each ride. And one could choose own speed, walking, trotting or loping (slow or fast). And a wrangler rode with you and could tell about the trail, the people, funny stories or just keep quiert and enjoy the ride. Fabulous!

Spotted at the trails. 

Cowgirl Annelise on Muffin in the barrel race the last day of the stay.....

The final part of the vacation is coming up shortly :O)

VACATION!!!!

It has been vacation time. And we have had the most fantastic, phenominal, fabulous vacation. When we planned the vacation, the goal was to see Yellowstone national park. This has been a dream of mine for many years. We combined Yellowstone with a weeks ranch vacation. This idea came through some friends, although their choise of ranch is completely different (more in a future post).

Yellowstone was the first national park ever, and it is obvious why someone thought of preserving it for all future.

Hotsrping at west thumb

I will share a few pictures with you from our vacation, but it is not at all possible to show the beatifull landscapes, the atmosphere, the wonderfull weather, the impressions ...... I can highly recommed a trip there!

Bison just after entering!

Mammoth hot spring

Overnight in West Yellowstone

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

After Yellowstone we went out through the Grand Teton national park - which I think is less known but not less beatifull., At the Tetons we saw the biggest moose one can imagine. I think they were as big as elephants but my family claims I overestimate them a bit.....

Moose in the afternoon

Viwe from the Grand Teton national park

Part two and three contains snapshots from the ranch part of our vacation and from the quilting shopping day I had at the end of the vacation. Stay tunes :O)

Another finish ....

July might be a good month for finishes. Yesterday it was the sunhat and today it is a tablecloth !
The top was made together with nice friends during a week-end at a cabin in the mountains. It consists of lots of small pieces sewn together and recut in diamonds. It is a quite funny pattern, and I think I will do more, but then from leftovers, which would fit this pattern perfectly.
The tablecloth is for my little cornertable in the livingroom. Until recently I have had a christmas tablecloth there (although not to christmas like) so it is about time to get another cloth that fits the table :O)

 I have quiltet it with woll thread and less than one inch squares. I think that fits well with the many stripes in the pattern and I like a closely quilting when it is something to use on a table. Now it is being washed before actually start using it :O)

 And then just a flavour of the desk in my living room. Although I am not really a pale red/pink person I think these peons are fantastic.
Now I need to hit the sewing room - this time not for quilting but for repairing a pair of "work trousers" - not the best fun I know, but fortunately it is quite seldom ....
NB! Yet another finish just around the corner!

A finish !

I did it. I actually finished a sun hat in 1920 style. It is nice egypcian cotton and it will help shadow the hot sun - if and when it comes ...
Another finish is just around the corner, I hope to blogg it tomorrow :o)

Pure joy !

on the way to our cabin we pass a new knitting shop. so far I am the lucky owner of yarn for a jacket, socks and a new hat. the latter might actually materialize soon, as that is what I have been working on during our short stay here :o)

Low output ...

There's a shortage on finishes right now. It is summertime and a lot is going on. So, it is good to have some old projects to show. This tablerunner was made some years ago, together with some dark red sisters. I have had it in reserve for a gift, but never found the right occation. Now it is turning into something that looked nice some time ago....

Anyway, this week-end was spend wtih some very nive young people. I was "a proud corps mother", and participated in the yearly summer tour. Three days with a lot of activities and music. That was very fun and nice, and without to much sleep :O)

I am now having one more "welcome summer activity" before the laziness of summer is actually here. I hope to get some needlework done them :O)