Wednesday, December 30, 2015

My finished projects 2015

I finished a few projects in 2015, and this is a collage with photos of most of them
I started and finished most of these in 2015, and that is a bit unusual for me who is the Queen of UFO's ;o) Guess it paid off to make smaller projects that was easy to finish. 

I look forward to be sewing, quilting and knitting a lot more than the last months again, and hope to finish some of my UFO's too. 

Wish you all a Happy and Creative New Year!

Hugs,
Laila

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Been sewing again

I had so many projects I planned to make for Christmas, but only two handmade presents where finished. One of them is a table runner I made using the Haystack blocks I have been making as a leader & ender project for a while. The pattern for this block are from the Farm Girl Vintage book by Lori Holt. I quilted it with white Aurifil thread, just some simple cross hatching. My mom got this as a Christmas present, and I'm so glad she liked it :-) 


I have seen a lot of cute pin cushions both on Instagram and Pinterest, and yesterday I made one using my Modern minis scraps. The 1,5" scrappy squares makes the cutest little pieces to use for a small project like this :o)


The past days I have been playing with some new fabrics I couldn't resist buying... The new line by Lori Holt "Calico Days". There is a free pattern for a quilt designed by Lori using these fabrics called "Bloom Quilt", and I have been busy cutting the pieces and started to make some of the blocks. Just love how it looks so far, and since I'm out of background fabric, I will continue to cut the rest of the pieces and have them ready till it arrives. 
I am using the white with print from the "Modern Minis" line, since I like it a lot! 
I didn't have the pellon Lori uses for these flowers, so I am using my favorite technique needleturn appliquè. The templates designed by Lori Holt, Sew Simple Shapes, that is needed for making this quilt is perfect for needleturn too :o) 
Lori Holt will have a Sew Along for the "Bloom Quilt" in January, so if you are curious about it and plan to join just pop over to her blog and read about it :o)

Only two more days are left before we welcome a New Year. It's been a busy year, and also a few tough times for me. I hope the new year will be a great year with lots of creativity, less health issues and lots of positive happenings. I also hope to be able to be playing with my longarm quilting machine again soon. 

Wish you all a Happy New Year!

Hugs,
Laila

Sunday, December 20, 2015

Playing with happy colors

I've spent a lot of time in my sewing room this weekend. Feeling a bit better every day now, except the lack of sleep isn't doing me any good. Since I try to be quiet so the rest of my family can sleep, I have been in my sewing room sewing with the Modern minis/30's fabrics a lot. 

Have you seen the gorgeous table runner Lori Holt made? It's called Great Granny Circled, and I just fell in love it! I had to make the blocks using the freezer paper technique, since I haven't got the pellon yet, and I also cut the 9patch blocks a little smaller to fit the backgrounds I have already cut. Using freezer paper requires a little bit of clean cutting when the blocks are sewn. 

I love how the blocks turned out, an hope to finish up a few more to make a table runner I will have on my dining room table :o) 

 I have figured out that ironing 4 layers of fabrics cutting them into most used strip sizes and cutting some squares in piles, makes the block building a lot faster. I also have leader & ender  pieces cut so I can build a few smaller blocks using these. I got this idea by both Bonnie Hunter and Lori Holt, and it's amazing how fast you can grow a pile of blocks ready to use for a project! Earlier I had the Haystack blocks as a leader & ender project, but these days I piece 1,5" squares together with 3 or 6 pieces for future projects. Pretty cute, right?

Iplan to be writing more blog posts from now on, since I like the blog better than Facebook and Instagram. I am also commenting and visiting the blogs I follow more often, and will continue to do so even if I can see what my quilty friends are up to on the other channels. I know several of my quilting friends feel the same, and I bet the new year might be a "better year for blogging" :o)

I wish you all a nice and creative Sunday, and a Happy New Week!

Hugs,
Laila

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Little bit of sewing going on

I've tried to be patient waiting for some sewing time during the last weeks, and I have digged out a few UFO's and tried to focus on a few projects to play with the last days. I'm working so much slower than I am used to, and it's not so fun when I'm used to get a lot done... I am not focused enough to work on one thing, so I just have to continue to jump from project to project just to get the feeling of doing something useful :-)

I digged out a stitchery I started a couple of years ago from the UFO bin, and will try to finish it to make the table runner it's a part of. I love snowmen, and this is the cutest table runner!

A little while ago I got a package in the mail from my dear friend Kathy in Canada. She sent me some lovely quilty stuff, and a mini quilt kit was one of them. It's a mini quilt designed by Thimbleblossoms/Camille Roskelley and it's called "Norway". Isn't it just gorgeous?

I have trouble sleeping because of the medicine I'm on, so last night I figured I should get some sewing done instead of walking around like a zombie going crazy. I managed to finish the whole quilt during the night, and this is the result. Isn't it gorgeous?
I will quilt and bind it as soon as I can, and use it as a wall hanging. It measures 12,75", so it's perfect to put up on a wall :-)

I'm so glad to be feeling a little bit better even if it's taking way much longer than I thought, and I really hope to get back to my longarm quilting machine again soon too. 
I'm still behind with the Christmas stuff, but the kids and Hubby will help me out to get most of it done in time.
We'll make it simple but cozy, and no stress will be involved. I'm just looking forward to enjoy the Holidays with my family, and that's all that matters to me. I don't care that some of the Christmas decorations will stay in their bins, and that no cakes and cookies will be homemade. We'll buy candy and cookies at the store and enjoy our Christmas anyway :-) 

Happy sewing,
Laila

Sunday, December 13, 2015

I love snowmen

When I was in hospital a while back, I was using Instagram and Facebook a lot to see what people I follow was working on. Lots of inspiration, and of course I found some gorgeous stuff I planned to sew and knit when I got better.
I found a super gorgeous block made by Meredit F (Fergusonstreetquilts on IG) wich was made from a turorial Lori Holt had on her Instagram a year ago.
Today I finally got to spend time in my sewing room, and it was so great to finally get to sew the first block. It's a snowman block using scraps, and I love how it turned out!


I will stitch the eyes, nose and hands with DMC thread. 
Plan to be making a few more blocks to make a larger quilt or table runner.

I've felt a bit better today than the past week, and hope the progress will continue to be like this, so I can be back to my normal routines and get some energy back. It's really no fun spending most of the day on the couch not being able to do much. Still having the fever come and go, and hot flashes all day long. Will go to have blood tests tomorrow, and in a week or so I will have the results of the liver biopsy. This certainly came unexpected and really scared me for a while, but thanks to good doctors they finally figured it out.

This evening I went for a little walk with Hubby, and it felt so good to be out in the cold air even if I couldn't walk longer than half an hour. Hope to be able to have our walks in the evenings during winter, and it will probably do us both good :-) I hope the snow will stay a while, and  not rain away. I really wish we'll have snow during the Christmas Holidays.

Wish you all a great new week, with lots of creative stuff going on this time of the year!
Hugs,
Laila


Sunday, December 6, 2015

Sometimes "life happens"

On Thursday I was finally able to go home after two weeks in hospital. Never thought it was something serouisly wrong going on, even if I've been feeling sick and super tired for a few weeks. I just thought it was just a bug going on... Turned out to be an autoimmune illness, and the immune system was starting to attack my liver. I went to the ER when my eyes and skin turned yellow, and glad I did!
The doctors used some time to narrow it down and figure out what was wrong, and I could start treatment that made it slow down and I started feeling a little bit better.
I know it can take a lot of time to be back to normal, but will continue to take blood tests till they show normal values. Might take weeks, months or maybe longer... But at least I know what's been going on.
I'm still having fever come and go, and get super exhausted for no reason.

I have been thinking a lot about the plans I made for Christmas. Presents, baking, decorating, visiting family and friends.... I just realize I really need to narrow the list down to less than planned.
I have several unfinished presents in the making, but I guess if I can't finish them this year, I can finish them and have some beautiful homemade presents for next Christmas, right?

I've had a few experiences with "life happenings", so I guess I should have learned by now that there's a few things you can't control. But I also feel like I'v had my share of stuff going on for a while. I try to focus on the positive, but admit it is hard sometimes.
I'm glad my boys are helping me with stuff for Christmas, and we look forward to the Holidays.

I really missed my sewing room while I was away, and I really need some quilty therapy and Vitamin Q now. I have only been knitting a little bit when I've felt better, and that's ok too. I hope to be able to do a little bit of sewing soon, and maybe plan a couple of new projecst too.
I am behind on the FQFW1930's QAL and my Farm Girl Vintage quilt, but It's ment to be fun so I don't worry about it. I look forward to make new blocks, and in the meantime I enjoy watching the progress on the blocks the other ladies are making.

Wish you all a great and creative Sunday!
Hugs,
Laila

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