A visit and some quilting

On Monday this week, I had a great visit of Merete and Matt. Merete is the dealer of Innova longarm quilting machines here in Norway, and Matt is working as a technician at ABM International, the company that is the supplier of Innova longarm quilting machines.
Matt was checking that the machine was working well, and set up right. Thanks to Hubby who helped me set it up, it was not much Matt had to adjust :o)


I'm so happy about the great service from Merete too, and I'm so thankful for having the opportunity to ask her about how to do things on the machine. 

Last week I decided to be tough enough to load up the "Laila's garden" on "Miss Monster", and since Merete gave me some advice the last time she was here about what to quilt on a quilt like this, I just figured I should give it a try. I've been playing around on test-pieces of fabric and thought it was about time I tried to quilt on a 'real quilt'.
I had to rip out many seams in the beginning, but I learned how to use the machine for this custom quilting, every step on the way down the quilt. This is how it looked like when I was finished:

I think I will do some more quilting on the purple inner border, but have to figure out what I want in there first.  It's the very first quilt I've quilted like this, so it's not perfect! But  it's a start, and I think it was so fun to do! I know what I have to do different next time, and will definitely make another top with applique for custom quilting. It's so fun!

I've been practicing the pantograph patterns on several quilts now, and feel a bit comfortable with these. That means I don't use that much time to finish a quilt like I did in the beginning. I'm hoping to finish some more care quilts with these patterns,too, when I'm done with the things I need to do before Christmas. 


I'm trying not to be stressed about all the things that needs to be done or should have been done, I already know I'm not able to bake a lot, clean every spot in my house and so on either way. I plan to do what I can, and I plan to enjoy the days before AND during the Holidays. I think my kids and my Hubby is more happy about having me around smiling than sad and exhausted because I stress about every thing I should have done. It's not worth it, at all...


I was supposed to go on our local quilt guild's meeting tonight, but had to stay home and rest instead. Hope the rest of the ladies have a nice time with gingerbread and gløgg (mulled wine), and I also hope to see some photos from the projects in "show and tell" later :o)


Wish you all a great week, and hope you take time to enjoy some moments during the days before Christmas