Some new stuff

Spring finally came around, and I have been doing some gardening again. Cutting back some of the blackcurrant bushes and getting rid of old leafs and grass. The two furballs, Nano and Suzu, have been following my every move and they are super happy to be playing outside in the warmer weather. Funny how some sun and warmer weather can make both animals and people happier :o) 

Big changes happened lately, and long story short; I had to leave my job because of my health issues, so now I will have to stay on a sick leave until I can join a job training program to see if there is a job out there for me. It's so sad to leave your colleagues through 25 years, but I try to do the best out of the days I'm staying home. I'm so happy I have my hobbies, and that I'm able to keep my focus on something positive. Quilting, knitting and sewing is therapy, right? At least I feel better when I can do something creative.

Earlier this month the Norwegian designer Bente Tufte came to our quilt guild meeting and talked about her quilting life and the patterns she has made. She uses a lot of stitcheries in her projects, and I bought a pattern called "Løper med broderi"/"Table runner with stitcheries". I just fell in love with the lovely table runner she made, so I have started mine. Almost finished the stitcheries, and I am soon ready to quilt some simple quilting on it before I finish the binding. 

If you want to see more of Bente Tufte's work, you can visit my local quilt guild's blog.

It's no secret I love Gail Pan's work. I ordered the book she released a while ago, and started a stitchery for a gorgeous pillow from the book. I'm using a variegated thread, so I don't need to worry about thread changing :o) Love it!

I've been knitting almost every night when watching TV with Hubby. I just finished attaching the threads on three pairs of Blueberry waffle socks. The white pair is already delivered to it's new owner, my dear Mum :-) The others will be kept in a bin, so I have some presents ready for upcoming birthdays/Christmas.

When our local quilt guild are having meetings, my local quilt shop Quiltegården has a nice selection of stuff from the shop for us to buy. I bought this book by Lori Holt after seeing shopowner Siw's gorgeous table runner made from one of the patterns in the book.

One of the blocks I finished looks like this:

I love these fabrics, and I hope to make a table runner for my dining room table using them.

I have also tried out the twister ruler. I haven't tried this before, so I had to make a test block:

My plan is to make several blocks for a table runner using these. Love how it came out!

No UFO's in this post, but I will be making progress on them when I'm finished quilting the quilt on my longarm:

I had to get more thread, since the cone I had was way to small to cover the blue areas.... It's great to have longarm quilting friends to ask when that happens. I'm super happy my friend (you know who you are :o)...) is sending me a cone of the same color, so I can finish it up. Almost half way there.....

Wish you all a great and creative weekend that is just around the corner ;o)

Hugs,

Laila

Some quilting, sewing and knitting

During the Easter Holidays I was home alone for a few days. I spent some hours in my sewing room, and enjoyed some quilting too :o)

I loaded up the "Leavez" quilt and started the quilting. Some piano keys in the sashing, swirls with pearls in the outer border, and some McTavishing in the blue backgrounds behind the leaves. I haven't finished it, so it's still in progress. It's hard to see the quilting while I am working, so need to do the McTavishing with the lights off and I quilt only when it's daylight.

I also made a new toiletry bag/purse made from scraps. To be honest I miscalculated when I cut out the pieces for the lining, so it ended up with the stripes the opposite way, but I think it looks great anyway :o) I just love the Tula Pink fabrics, and I save every scrap piece I have large enough to make something of.

I have also made progress on a sweater I started knitting. It's a pattern from Garnstudio called Diamond rose. I bought this lovely yarn called Lima a while ago, and I just love to knit with it. With larger needles than I've used on my previous projects, this was superfast to make! Soon finished the arms so I can join the whole thing and finish up :oD

Wish you all a great new and creative week :-)
Laila

Cozy Easter Holidays

I have finally found my way back to the sewing room again, and I've had a couple of cozy days sewing blocks for the scrap quilt I'm working on. 

I'm not alone, the furballs are keeping me company :o) I have wrapped two of my unfinished quilts on the longarm frame, and they find their spots as soon as I open the door for them. 

As long as they don't get in my way, I love having them around :o)

 I've made some progress on the scrap quilt since my last post. I have 20 finished blocks, and some more are in the making. I'm taking a break on this one now, since I'm going to start quilting the "Leavez" quilt in the next days or so.

I need to prepare the backing for the quilt, and I'm ready to start quilting. Too tired to start tonight, so I will get on with it tomorrow. Haven't figured out how to quilt it yet, but I will find out as I move along :o)

I'm still knitting, and I have made some progress on one of the jackets for DS2, and I am almost finished the Islender sweater for one of my DIL's. I know she is patiently waiting and looking forward to use it.

 A while ago I finished another Marius sweater. I haven't got to iron it yet, so it looks a little bulky.

Hope you are enjoying your Easter Holidays too, and having some quality time with family and friends. 

Happy Easter!
Laila