Button up!

On Monday it was back to work for Hubby, and I have one more week off before I start on the "Work training program" again. I have admired Kviltstina's lovely button quilt for a while, and figured I should make my own. I bought the PDF pattern from Cluck Cluck Sew and started right away, using the new fabrics from Lori Holt "Modern minis". 

Love how it looks so far!

Today hasn't been a very productive day, but I made a few more blocks in different colors:

I hope to be able to finish up a few more blocks tonight so I can piece more of them together. 

Happy sewing,
Laila

Another finish!

I found a fun tutorial at Lori Holt's blog a couple of weeks ago, for a block called "Scrappy Crossroads". The size of it was just perfect to match my dining room table if I pieced three of them together in a row and turned them into a table runner. The finished size of one block is 16".

I finished the table runner top a few days ago, and started quilting it on my longarm using So Fine thread. I used a light blue, and it also blend in well on the scrappy fabrics as well as the open spaces between. I first made a blue binding, but it didn't go so well with the other fabrics as I thought, so I ripped it off and made a new one. I think the green looks so much better.

There is no secret that I love "McTavishing", the pattern I quilted in the light blue/green areas. I think it looks perfect and I am so happy I decided to quilt it like this. I used a circle ruler to make the curves in the area with the scraps. Love the texture of this quilting to be honest.

Here are some detail photos of the quilting:

I hope to enjoy some more sewing in the days ahead. Have a few new projects I want to make, and a few I plan to finish. Since we've been doing a lot of work in our house during the Summer holidays I haven't got time to do much sewing, but we are almost done with the hallway now. Hubby is going back to work tomorrow, and I have one more week before the "Job training program" starts again. 

Wish you all a Happy Sunday :oD
Laila

One more Scrappy Crossroads block

Today I finished block #2 of 3 for my new table runner. I think I will quilt this one on my longarm machine, and do some simple custom quilting on it. Have to finish the last block so i can load it up. Think each block measure 16". It's called "Scrappy Crossroads" and I found it at Lori Holt's blog.

I also did some cleaning up in my sewing corner today, and now I have the space to continue play with my happy scraps :-) My scrappy strips are still hanging on the longarm frame, but I will use up some of them before I store them in bins. Cutting a lot of strips makes it so much faster to sew something!

The rest of the sewing room still needs some organizing, since I have stacks of fabrics and stuff "everywhere" ;o)

While cleaning up I digged this little UFO out, my wallhanging from Brenda Riddle's pattern I bought when I attended her class at Quiltegården a while ago. I think my head was somewhere else when I attatched two of the rows, since the two blue blocks are not supposed to stand together. Need some time with my seam ripper and make it right, and attach the outer triangles. Then it's ready to be quilted. Love Brenda's fabric line Ambleside used in this quilt, and I will make some more projects with these fabrics :o)

Wish you all a great weekend, and happy sewing :o)

Hugs,

Laila

Still progress in my sewing room

It's been nice to spend some time in my sewing room the last week. 

I have been cutting a lot of fabrics and have enjoyed working with the repro's. 

I have a few more pieces for the new table runner I am working on, and I will need three large blocs to make it. One block is finished, and number two is in progress. Hope to finish it today. 

These are some of my precut pieces, and they are all so cute😊

Yesterday I had a lot of Happy mail. I got my fatquarter bundle of Lori Holt's new line, and also a nice parcel from Australia arrived!
I ordered some stuff from Helen Stubbings, and I have been excited to start this cute project:

New stitchery needles and the threads to make this also arrived with the pattern, so of corse I had to start one right away! Super fast when I didn't need to trace the pattern on to the fabric, since it comes with iron on transfers 😊

I have to admit I needen some "me time"these days, without explaining too much about that... Life happends, and sometimes everyone needs a little "time-out" to get the batteries charged.
We are having our Summer Holidays back here, and while Hubby is working on the house with stuff I can't help with and the kids are doing their stuff, I am sewing as much as I can when the weather is rainy and cold. 
We've been working a little in the garden too, but no fun when it rains...

I'm off to clean up a bit in my sewing room before dinner, so I can continue where I left 

Happy sewing!
Laila

Some more Farmgirl vintage fun

Yesterday I found a fun tutorial to make a cute pincushion at Lori Holt's blog Bee In My Bonnet. 

I have been making some Apron Springs blocks, and had a stack of bonus blocs to make this pincushion, so it was fast and fun to make. I have seen a lot of these pincushions made by others on Instagram and just love how they all turned out with lots of different fabric and color choices. I will for sure make a few more of these!

Yesterday I also pieced together some of the Haystack blocks I have been working on, and decided to make another small table runner. I used a purple air erasable pen to mark my quilting lines:

Basted it with some basting pins:

Quilted it with Aurifil 40 weight cotton thread:

Clean cut the whole piece and today I attached the binding on by machine and sew it down by hand:

TA DA! A brand new table runner for me :OD Love how it turned out!

I'm on to painting the dresser I will decorate with the table runner. I am painting it with a nice aqua, and these fabrics will look so great on it :oD

I really got my sewing mojo back thanks to making these small projects. I think I got a little bit tired of making only large quilts that I spent weeks and months to finish. I will enjoy some more of these smaller projects during the Summer Holidays, and just have fun making a few things with these happy colors. 

Happy sewing!
Laila

Farmgirl vintage fun

I purchased two of Lori Holt's books last week, and I have been making some blocks from one of them, the "Farmgirl vintage".

I have been making the 6" blocks, and even if some of the pieces are tiny I had fun making them. The book have patterns for both 6" and 12" blocks.

Here are a few of the blocks I started making first:

I bought some new fabrics and added them to the ones I bought years ago. I haven't been making much out of the repro fabrics before, but I just love the colors in Lori's projects, and they are also perfect together with a lot of the fabrics from Bonnie & Camille. I have a soft spot for the aqua fabrics, and they look so great together with the rest. 

You can read more about Lori Holt and her lovely projects on her blog Bee In My Bonnet.

If you are on Instagram you will find lots of great stuff people around the world are making too. Look up #farmgirlvintage and #beeinmybonnet and you will be amazed about the gorgeous stuff people are making!

I love the cherry blokcs, so I figured I should make a small table runner. I haven't made anything smaller in such a long time. Feels really great to make a project that I am able to finish in a few days! And I don't have so many projects around in my home, so this was a perfect project for making something for myself. 

I just did some simple crosshatching on it, and even if it's not perfect I love my new table runner!

Yesterday I picked up my brand new sewing machine at the Post office. A Bernina 710.
I used it to do the quilting on my table runner, and it was so much fun! 

I ordered the sewing machine from a Norwegian web site called symaskiner.no. And it arrived the day after I ordered it! I had contact with the owner via mail a few times to decide which machine I would purchase, and I am so thrilled about the great service! Since I was offered a great prize for this machine, I chose to buy it even if I was supposed to buy a smaller one.

So far I am so satisfied with the new Bernina 710, but I know I have lots to learn using it and customize the settings to fit my sewing style. I hate to read to learn stuff, so I am learning by doing as  I go. And making a few notes to remember. Lots of great tutorials on YouTube too :oD

Wish you all a great weekend!
Hugs,
Laila