Looking back

~And the last OPAM 2011 report~


It's almost weird to think about that this year is almost history. Only one day left of 2011!!!
I just can't believe how fast time flies!
I'ts been a year with ups and downs, fun and joy. I haven't been sewing as much this year like I've used to. But I guess when your health is the boss of what's going on in your life, I will have to say I'm thankful for every hour I've been able to be creative. It's my therapy, and most of all.... passion in life :o)


I thought I should make a collage with a photo of every finished projects this year. I've made 17 finishes, and I'm satisfied with that :o) Some of them small, and some pretty large ones. 

Looking at the photos, I realize a few of them are actually still in my house! I'm used to give away almost everything I make, but I've been making projects for myself and my own family this year :o)


I have to say I'm looking forward to a "fresh start" in 2012, and I look forward to start new projects and finish some of the ones I've already started. I've got some UFO's laying around still ;o) 


I'm looking forward to have a lovely dinner with my family tomorrow, at New Years Eve. I'm making turkey for us all, and that's my favorite :o) Yummy!!!


I wish you all a

Happy sewing,
Laila

A productive weekend

This weekend I finished the quilt for my DS1. I started working on the "Comfort quilt" right away when the issue #3 of Vignette by Leanne Beasley where released back in July. I have been working on it now and then, and since I pieced all the blocks a while ago it didn't take much time to join the blocks into rows, and the rows into a top. I loaded the quilt top on the longarm machine and finished the quilting on Saturday. DS1 told me a while ago which pantograph pattern he wanted me to use, and also which thread he liked the best. Finished the binding late last night, and I was so happy to see how it turned out!
I used wool batting for this, and it's so light! I will definitely use wool batting in quilts later too.

I just couldn't resist taking some photos of the quilt outside in the snow today. It started snowing late last night, and it looked like a Christmas card outside when we woke up this morning :o) I have to admit I like the snow ;o)

I cut most of the pieces for the "Mill Girls" quilt when I joined the quiltalong for this quilt. 

I haven't made any blog posts for a while, so I haven't got to tell about the progress on it. I finished the blocks and did piece them into rows last weekend. Need to cut the large pieces to join the rows, and will be working on the hour glass blocks for the border.

When I was at Quiltegården a month ago, I bought the latest pattern from AnnAKa, and I've been working a little bit on one of the stitcheries the last week. Slow progress since a bug with fever decided to stay for some days. 

So happy to feel better, and looking forward to get back at work tomorrow. 
Wish you all a great new week,
Laila

"Butterfly dilly bag"

Yay! The "Butterfly dilly bag" is finished! 

I used a purple fabric I got from the same friend that sent me the beautiful thread. A perfect match :o) 

Since the pattern includes two different stitcheries, I placed one on each side of the bag.

I did one thing wrong tough... I didn't think twice before sewing and cutting to make the bottom corners, so the stitcheries ended up a bit further down on the sides than planned... But not too far down, phew...

This is a bit typical me when I'm not paying attention, but I've learned my lesson today!

So... this means I've got one more finish for OPAM this month, so now I've got two finished projects for May. I'm happy about that :o)

Happy sewing, 

Laila

A finished project!

It's been three weeks since my last post. I haven't been sewing during these three weeks at all, and it was so great to finally spend some time in my sewing room last nigt!

I got to finish the binding on the table runner I  wrote about in my previous blog post.

I simply love purple, the lavender/dusty kind of purple. I've always loved this color, and I'm thrilled there are so many lovely fabrics to get in these colors! And here in Norway, the purple have been popular for about a year, and you can buy a lot of interiour stuff and clothes in this color now. Me like :o)

I hope to be able to work on my sewing projects for a while now, I've really missed my sewing room a lot! 

You know, when "life just happends" and my neck doesn't work with me, I'll get slowed down. I guess we've all had, and will have, sort of "issues" to deal with now and then. Stuff that takes both time and a lot of energy to deal with. That's life, right?

Wish all a great weekend,

Laila

The "Secret Quilt" is called Cottage Charm :o)

Today is the day I'm allowed to show you the secret project I have been working on the last month or so!!!! 

Siw, owner of Quiltegården, asked me to make this quilt, and of course I couldn't resist saying "yes" :o) I started in the middle of December, and it was so exciting to see the quilt growing.

A lot of sewing on the machine, and appliquè by hand, it turned into this:

Then it had to take a trip to Merete, she was going to quilt it on her longarm quilting machine. She gave me a couple of sneak peeks along the way, and it looked gorgeous!

She turned it into this:

Awesome, right? She did such an amazing job, and you can see some more close up photo's over at Merete's blog :o)

The quilt is on display at Fr.Jørgensen's exhibition stand on the Gave & Interiørmessa (Spring Market) which opened early today and will be open during the weekend, so that's why we couldn't show you the quilt before ;o)

The quilt is promoting the new fabric line from RJR fabrics, and the pattern is a 6 month BOM with these fabrics. Quiltegården in Trondheim are going to have it in the shop, so give them a call, or an e-mail if you are interested :o) 

I couldn't resist using the extra pieces I had left from the first table runner I made a week ago. I turned it into a similar table runner, and I gave it to my mom yesterday. The only thing different from the first one, is the quilting. This is only my second finish this year, but hope to finish some more projects next month:o)

Happy sewing,
Laila