A great weekend in Oslo!

Last weekend Roy (my DS1) and I went to Oslo. We travelled by air plane and train to get there, and we had a great time :o)

We got to Oslo early Saturday, and after checking in at the hotel, we had a little sight seeing.

We was staying at hotel not far from the Norwegian King's castel, so we went for a walk. It' an amazing building with a lot of artful details. The guards that is always guarding the castle is an impressiv sight too, and while we where taking some photos, a little troop came up front. They are not allowed to answer back to people that confronting them, so it's no point asking for the direction ;o)

We went out to have a nice dinner later, and it was so nice to spend some quality time with my son. I think he had a great time too, and since he loves taking photos, he took a lot of them with his own camera:o)

The "mission" this weekend, was the class teached by Yoko Saito on Sunday. I was attending this class, representing my local quilt shop, Quiltegården, and I was so honored when Siw, the owner, asked me to go!

I was so excited, I almost couldn't get any sleep the night before!

We learned some of the techniques she uses when she makes her quilts, and they are so full of details! She makes some stunning projects, and a lot of it is made only by hand!

I've never thought I could do so much piecing by hand, with no marking! And it was so much fun!

I only got to piece two blocks for the beautiful purse, which was the project we worked on. But during the last week, I finished one of the two main pieces for the purse, and I've also started some of the hand quilting ;o)

Yoko Saito teached two classes at the Norwgian quilt quild's annual meeting the same weekend, too. And I know several of the ladies that where so lucky to meet her during this weekend. You can see a lot of phots from the meeting on Hanne and May Britt's blogs.

Ann (the Norwegian designer AnnAKa) and Merete was happily cutting fabric with their 'BIG' fabric scissors. We had a bit of fun because of these scissors :o) But when you're travelling by an air plane, you're not allowed to bring large scissors, so you'll have to get the smallest there is :o)

Ann, Merete and Evy (owner of Artic Quilter quilt shop). Not hard to see that these ladies had fun ;o) We all had our share of "oooh's" and "aaah's".

Even if Yoko didn't speak much English, she was fantastic to tell with her body language and drawings on a board, to make us understand. She had a lady that translated from Japaneese to Norwegian, but we understood most of what Yoko showed without a translation.

Hanne (owner of Lappedilla) with another purse made by Yoko Saito. I got to meet Hanne before the class did begin, and it was so nice to meet her :o)

It was such a great and special weekend for me, and I am left with a lot of new knowlegde and inspiration.

I'll be back with some pics of my project soon ;o)

Happy sewing,

Laila