Stashbusting!

I've been sewing a lot this weekend, and I'm so happy to be back in my sewing room after a long break! Got so many UFO's to finish, but when I got my copy of the Scrappy Project Planner by Lori Holt last week I just decided to start a new quilt called "Fatquarter Flirt Quilt". The pattern is in the Scrappy Project planner, and I cut all the pieces for the quilt on Friday so I could just focus on sewing this weekend ;-)

 I have almost three rows finished for the quilt, and I love how it turns out! I'm making two blocks at a time, and the quilt grows pretty fast :o) This is great for some serious stashbusting, and I think I've cut about 30 fatquarters for this quilt and throwing in some scraps it will look so great!

 Can't wait to join the rows and quilt this one! I will use a panto pattern for it, but haven't decided which one yet.

 I have been focusing on hiking as often as possible and always have my camera with me. The Autumn is my favorite season, just lover the colors and frosty mornings. I also love how the sunrises looks at this time of the year, so lovely colors!
This is my view from a few days ago. Just before the sun comes up behind the hill. Just awesome!

I'm hoping to be spending more time sewing from now on, and since the energy slowly comes back after feeling like a train wreck for a year I hope to be back to a normal and do more creative stuff during the long winter ahead. Have a lot of plans, and making a few Christmas gifts are one of them. I hope to at least be able to make a few, so keeping my fingers crossed this will be a productive winter :-)

Happy sewing!
Laila

Quilty Sunday

Today was a perfect day for some sewing. It's been a rainy day over here, and that means perfect sewing weather :-)

I have been cutting pieces from the new fabrics I got some days ago. It's the new Christmas line designed by Lori Holt. I have planned to make a Christmas quilt called "Have yourself a quilty little Christmas" since I did see the quilt at Lori Holt's Instagram back in November. I totally fell in love with this quilt, and so happy I got my fatquarter bundle of Cozy Christmas, just in time for the Summer Holidays!  

 Early today I had these blocks already pieced:

Then I made a cute Haystack block and the Candle block, and pieced them together with the Spools block. Just love how it looks so far!

This will be such a happy Christmas quilt when it's finished, and I cross my fingers I will be able to do some quilting on my longarm machine by the time it's finished. 

If you would like to see more blocks and the whole quilt you can go to Instagram and use the hashtag #haveyourselfaquiltylittlechristmas 

I've been making some blocks for the Great Granny Quilt during the last two weeks also, but will share photos of them in my next post:-)

Wish you all a great and creative new week,

Laila

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Scrappy Days

Getting back to sewing  turned out to take a longer period of time than I ever could imagine. Yet another set back with my illness issues makes me tired and no energy at all. 

Starting on new medicines will hopefully make everything better and hopefully back to normal again in a couple of months. 

Yesterday and today I have been doing a little bit of scrap busting, and I have pieced some new Haystack blocks and a few 9 patch blocks using the lovely scraps I've been saving for more than a year now.  

Lots of these where already precut, so it was nice to just sit down and piece them together. I love to do some mindless sewing with happy colours these days, it makes me happy :o) 

I have no plan for these 9 patch blocks yet, but I just love how they turned out, and will make something cute with them in the end. 

I've been out photographing a little bit, and I love all the flowers popping up everywhere! I feel so fortunate to live out on the country to see the lovely Summer landscape with lots of colours from beautiful flowers. 

I really look forward to go hiking a lot again as soon as my energy level is back and my body is working better. My doctor says I have to take it slow for a while, but one step at a time I will get back to where I used to be :o)

I love my new Panasonic Lumix GX8 so much, and it's so much fun shooting photos with it!  A little bit of editing in Lightroom is fun too, and I think I will contine trying to learn more about editing now that I figured out this much. It is hard to teach an old dog new tricks, but not hopeless! LOL!

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

Haystack blocks and Mama blocks

I have been sewing a little bit today. A rainy day here in Trondheim, so it's the perfect weather for staying indoors playing with some happy colours. I have done a little progress on the Haystack blocks I have in the making, and soon I have enough blocks for a table runner.

 I've also quilted backwards a bit today. I decided to rip out the swirls I quilted on this cute table runner. They just didn't appeal to me, so I will rather do some cross hatching instead. Love these cute Mama blocks, and will for sure make some the Granny square blocks using these fabrics too.

Nano has also enjoyed some quiet time in the sewing room with me today. Poor furball has been away for 4 days, and she was deeply missed! I have no clue where she's been, even if I have been looking all over for her. So glad she came back home!!!

I have been mostly knitting, and I have started a new project using the Tumi yarn from Rauma Garn. Just love this yarn, so great to knit with! 

Haven't been much out shooting photos for a while, but I hope the weather will be better soon. I miss my short hikes with Hubby, so I hope we'll go again later this week when the weather will be better.

 My purple lilacs are about to burst out in bloom soon too, and I look forward to the lovely smell of them!

 I have planned to grow flowers in my garden, but until I get to do that I can enjoy some planted in flower pots and buckets. The lavender is one of my favourite flowers.

Happy sewing,

Laila

Finally back in Blog land again!

I can't describe how happy I am to be back in Blog land again, and to be back in my sewing room enjoying some sewing! I got my Bernina back from the sewing machine doctor today! I had to send it back to the shop where I bought it to have the CPU replaced. 

 Earlier today I did some clean up and dust busting in my sewing room (it's been used as a storage for weeks...), so now my working space is in order and I can continue working on my projects again.

 Decided to continue working on the Modern Mugs quilt, and got to finish three more blocks. The pieces where already cut, so it didn't take long to do some progress.

Suzu was super happy to finally be back in the sewing room again, and she found her quilt on the longarm frame in a couple of minutes, and fell alsleep like she usually do :oD 

 The past months has been a struggle for me, and my health issues just kept growing. I finally figured out "the cold" I have been dealing with, and it turned out to be something else... The doctors figured out that I have COPD(kols) and emphysema, and I'm still waiting for the results for the other tests they did when I was on the hospital a little while ago to see if there is an inflammation on top of that :-( That's a really slap in the face, but I am so glad the inhalators I use helps me at least breathe well enough to go hiking again. Not being able to walk the stairs up to my sewing room without feeling like I've been running  was no fun...
I also had a set back with the autoimmune illness, so I had to go back to high doses of cortizone again. The side effects have made me very home bound, but I hope to be able to go out more and meet up with friends and go to the quilt guild meetings again. I'm not able to go back to work again, so I just try to do the things that make me happy, and to do what I can to keep my mood up even if some days are crappy.

I have been knitting a lot the last months, but I have also been playing a lot with photography. It's been a while since I was using my digital camera, but I recently bought a mirrorless camera (Panasonic lumix GX8) which is a smaller camera than my Nikon d3000.
I have lots to learn about it, but it has more stabilization (both in camera and lens) so even if my hands are shaky I can still get sharp photos :-)
I'm also trying to learn editing photos in Lightroom, even if my teflon brain is not so fast working. LOL!

Spring finally came to Trondheim, and I am looking forward to spend time outdoors and maybe this year I will be able to grow flowers in my garden to enjoy when the weather is good.

Hugs,

Laila

It's all in the details...

When I started quilting back in 2004 I didn't know anything about longarm quilting. I attended a class where I learned freemotion quilting on my domestic sewing machine, and started following a talented lady, Sharon Schamber, who did some gorgeous gorgeous quilting with feathers and other motifs on quilts using a sewing machine. 

Later I started following several blogs by quilters, and fell in love with some gorgeous quilting they did using a longarm machine. From that moment on I knew this was "my thing". 

I started dreaming about a longarm machine, and I bought my "Miss Monster", an Innova longarm, in October 2011.

Since I bought the longarm I have had lots of fun learning how to quilt on it from books, tutorials on blogs and YouTube. But I have some amazing longarm friends that shared tips and tricks too, and they have encouraged me and given me honest opinions that I needed the most. 

I planned to quilt for others, and maybe make a living of it if I did a good job and people liked what I did. I have quilted some quilts for others, and I was thrilled when they gave me so much positive feedback and was satisfied with my job. But... because of health issues this isn't an option for me anymore, which makes me really sad. To be able to practice I quilt for friends now and then, and it also helps me to "keep the moves" in my hands. Quilting is for sure the best therapy, and being able to do something you love and get a little bit better one step at a time makes my heart sing :o)

I have quilted two table runners made by Sølvi during the last week. Yesterday I finished #2. Sølvi did some beautiful needleturn appliquè on them both!

When I quilt white on white, I love to do it in daylight and turn off the lights in the sewing room. So much easier to see where to quilt, and the texture shows so much better! 

I really love to do McTavishing on quilts like this. It makes the appliquèd pieces pop and show off :o)

Both of the quilts are made from a pattern called "Hope Blooms" designed by Brenda Riddle. My local quilt shop, Quiltegården, are going to have both quilts on display in their booth on the Annual Quilt Guild meeting here in Trondheim in March, and you can get the pattern and kits to make them if you give them a call or visit their booth on the annual quilt guild meeting. You can also find Quiltegården on Facebook and ask for pattern and kits there.


This is detail photos of the blocks in table runner #1

I am an amateur when it comes to photography, but I love taking photos and still learning how to take good ones of quilted stuff.  I really like the tiny details, and I also study the photos to learn from them and try to remember what looks best in the end and be able to improve and do it even better on the next quilt.

And here are some detail photos of table runner #2

 This is the view I woke up to today. Lots of snow came during the night! I think it looks beautiful, and I hope it will stay this way for a while.

Happy sewing,

Laila

A little bit of this and a little bit of that...

I have been doing a little bit of knitting, sewing and longarm quilting lately even if I had a big set-back with my health issues the last two weeks. A really nasty cold to top it off is not what I needed right now, but that's just how it goes... I'm just so glad I have my hobbies to keep me occupied :-)

Earlier this month I finished a pair of Blueberry waffle socks and a Strippy Charm pouch for my niece's birthday. I just love the soft blue colors in these socks!

Another pair of Blueberry waffle socks are almost done, and I like the new sock yarn I used for these. It's called Alpakka strømpegarn (alpaca sock yarn) by Sandnesgarn. Super soft and lovely to knit with!

A while ago I ordered a cute pattern from Lori Holt's Etsy shop called "Modern Mugs". I have made a few of the blocks using the Modern minis panel fabrics, and I love the cute sayings on them. I am making this quilt for my little kitchen corner, and hope to finish it up soon.

This weekend I finished a cute block Lori Holt made a Instagram tutorial for, and I think it's just super cute! I have only made the 6" block, but will make the 12" block later too. The larger one is perfect for a pillow cover, and when you love Instagram as much as I do I need to make one, don't you think?

I have been cutting and piecing a few blocks for a new table runner using my happy colored fabrics too, and I hope to get the top done soon so I can load it on the longarm frame and get it quilted. I found a tutorial on Lori Holt's blog for a scrappy happy table runner, and just made the blocks a bit larger than the one in the tutorial. 

I have been longarm quilting several small projects on the same backing, and one of the quilts I have finished is a made by a friend of mine. It's a table runner/wall hanging made by Sølvi. I quilted around every appliquèd piece and added some McTavishing to the background fabric. So happy she like it, and I had so much fun finishing this one! 

I had to set up my old Bernina sewing machine this weekend, since my new Bernina 710 decided to shut down... I guess the CPU will have to be replaced, and I keep my fingers crossed it won't be long till I have it back working. I bought it last summer, so I'm not too happy to send it back so soon for a repair... But hopefully it will be working fine for many years when it comes back from the sewing machine doctor!

Wish you all a great new and creative week!
Hugs,
Laila

Another finish :o)

Just before bedtime last night I managed to finish one more Strippy Charm pouch. A little bit smaller than the other one, and perfect for keeping my pens and pencils!

These fabrics are just so beautiful, and I look forward to play more with them.

Have been working on my blocks for the Bloom quilt this evening, and will try to finish one row before I hit the bed tonight. Only two blocks left before I can piece the blocks together. 

Today it wasn't snowing, and I just had to try capturing some photos outdoors. The light was spectacular, and I wish I had better skills in photography than I have but still learning ;o)

When you live in an older house, icicles from the roof is pretty normal. These are hanging outside my living room window:

The sun is still low for me to see it, but the landscape is so lovely against the light from it behind the hill. 

Happy sewing,
Laila

My finish #1 for 2016

Woke up early to go to the doctor's office today to take some new blood tests. It had been snowing so much during the night and it still was, so  I figured I should delay it till tomorrow. I wouldn't been able to drive more than a couple of yards and get stuck in the snow... 

 I'm so glad my parents live nearby and that my father has a tractor and can help me to get rid of the snow in our parking space, which is way too much work for me. We have a snowblower, but I am not getting near that thing.... Hubby, who is out of town working, can play with that one :-) Too heavy for me.

But bad weather means great sewing weather, so I spent some time in my sewing room after shoveling a lot of snow first.

I cut a few gorgeous fabrics for a new Strippy Charm pouch. I wanted to make a project I could finish, and this is my first finish this year. Yay! 

It turned out so great, and I love the fabrics by Nadra Ridgeway called Bloom and Bliss. Now I am waiting for her new line, and look forward till it hits the quilt shops later this year :-)

You can find the pattern for the Strippy Charm pouch at Moda Bake shop. It's one of my favorite patterns for small purses, and I have made many of them in different sizes. 

Happy sewing,
Laila

Bloom quilt and Plus quilt

I have been sick with a nasty cold bug for more than a week, so there's been slow progress on my quilty projects. 

Tonight I finished piecing the sashing around the Block #1 for the Bloom quilt designed by Lori Holt. 

The Sew Along for the bloom quilt started yesterday, and you can read about it over at Lori's blog Bee In My Bonnet. 

This weekend I made a small table runner. Still not sure if I will enlarge it with a few more blocks. These blocks are the Mama blocks from one of the patterns in Lori Holt's book "Great Granny Squared" and I got to use up a lots of precut squares. I really LOVE the scrappy look :o) Been wanting to make these blocks for a while, and they were so fast and fun to make :-)

 I have also finished the layout for my Low volume Plus Quilt.  

The Low volume Plus Quilt Sew Along have been so inspiring and fun, and below is a list of links to the other lovely quilts the other ladies are making. Some of them are also finished!!!

LekaQuilt

Lappetausa

Tamarack Shack

Hanne's Quilt Corner

Englating

Sølvi sin bloggverden

Jacobs Quilt

Abyquilt

Winter came back to Trondheim, and it has been snowing really bad since last night. I don't mind the snow, I actually like it since it looks more clean and lighter. I don't like to drive my car when it's this much snow though... But the roads are shoveled now, and I hope it will stop snowing now.

Happy Sewing,

Laila