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

Blockmania and some other stuff

I have been working on the blocks for my Farmers Wife 1930s quilt since the QAL started in September. So far I have finished 9 of them, but there are still some more to make before I have finished all blocks revealed so far.

I have also been making a few more blocks for my Farm Girl Vintage quilt. I have finished 12 blocks, and a couple is in the making. Love how the blocks turned out so far :o)

 When I ordered my Modern minis fabric bundle there was a couple of panels with super cute prints and sayings on them. This weekend me and my SIL had a sew-together at my place, and while she worked on her project I started making a couple of projects using some of the squares from the Modern Minis panels. I finished one large bag I can use for my knitting projects/sewing projects when I'm "on the road". 

I also made a toiletry bag using the panel squares, and this might end up in the pile of Christmas presents ;o)

It's getting colder, and yesterday I finished attaching the loose threads on the Marius sweater I have made for one of the twins. He chose the colors for the sweater, and I hope it will make him stay warm during the season coming. 

I am almost finished with the sweater for the other twin also, but still a little "brainwork" is needed before it's done. Hope to finish it any day now. Just need a day or two "alone" with a clear head :-)

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

Stashbusting

I decided to ignore the clutter that still needs to be organized in my sewing room, and did some piecing instead. I also got to place my mini quilt up on the wall behind my sewing machine. 

And dear quilt inspector Nano was there to supervise my work :-) 

Pouch #1 was finished late last night, and pouch #2 was finished tonight. They are fun and fast to make, and I enjoy trying to make them in different sizes and fabrics. Pouch #2 is perfect for pens and pencils, and the larger one is perfect for make up and stuff.

I'm hoping to get my longarm machine set up soon. It's still in pieces down in the basement. I know I haven't the energy to do any longarm quilting yet, so I'm in no hurry. Perhaps me and hubby will set it up this weekend, but we'll see. We still have a lot of stuff to do in the house, so I don't mind to wait a little bit more. 
It's nice to work on smaller things I manage to finish at this point, then I can sort my larger projects and focus on finishing them in a while.

Hugs,
Laila

I'm sewing again!

I'm finally back in my sewing room, sewing again! Yesterday I couldn't resist cutting a few pieces of fabric and piece together a small purse. I felt like a newbie to be honest, since it's been almost five months since I did this! Been too long without playing with needles and thread!!!

The little red purse was finished yesterday, and the blue and cream one was finished today.

I haven't been able to sew at all the last five months because of some major rebuilding of  the second floor in our house. I never thought it would be such a long term thing, but I'm so glad it's finally coming to an end!  There is still lots of stuff that needs to come out of boxes and bins, and my sewing room isn't at all cleaned up and it's so messy around here. All the clutter, noise and stuff has been very tiring for me, so I have been sooo exhausted the last months. I'm feeling a bit better now that I can relax again, and I will take one day at a time and get my house back to normal again. Can't wait to have everything back in place!

Quilt inspector Suzu is just as happy as I am for finally enjoying som sewing room time :o)

During the months without my sewing room I have been knitting. I've knitted a few things I'll show in a post later when I finish them up. 
This is a photo of a hat I'm working on:

I look forward to hours of cozy stuff during the winter time ahead. And since Christmas is coming soon, I will try to finish up some projects I have in mind for presents. I guess a lot of my sewing friends are in Christmas mode too :o)

Wish you all a nice Sunday!

Hugs,

Laila

Scrappy pouches

My back is not my friend these days, so I haven't been able to do any longarm quilting.

I have spent some time doing some "ordinary" sewing, and I have enjoyed making some scrappy pouches. 

The larger one, I made last night. That one was already pieced, so I just needed to attach the wadding and make the lining and piece it together. One more UFO is out of the UFO bin :o)

The three other pouches I made today. I also made a fourth one using the same scraps, but I sent it home with my SIL before I took a photo of it, and she loved it :o) 

The pattern is the one I found on the Moda Bake Shop blog. It's called Strippy Charm Pouch. I made some pouches back in August 2012, and I just love this pattern since it is perfect for using up those strips that is left from other projects. 

Hope you all will have a great and creative new week, with lots of needles and thread :-)

Happy quilting :o)

Laila

More toiletry purses/pouches and a new quilt

I've been working on a "secret" for a while, and yesterday I could hand over the quilt to it's new owner :-)

My oldest son's girlfriend turned 18 yesterday, and I'm so glad she liked it :-) She is the cutest, and I know she will appreciate it :o)

Since I said yes to attend a little market we had at work the other day, I had to speed piece a few things.I made 10 of the toiletry purses/pouches! The grey one on top was given as a birthday present for my dear SIL last weekend. Me and Hubby agreed that one was the nicest one I had made so far :o)
None of them was sold, but that's fine by me. Nice presents to have ready ;o)

I think I will keep one of the purple ones, I just love them! Some of my favorite fabrics to be honest :-)
I made one with the scraps from the "Dilly Dally" quilt, and the aqua zipper I got from Lappedilla was just perfect! 

A nasty cold has kept me company for almost a week now, and I'm pretty sick and tired of coughing and fever. My face feels like it's two sizes too small, and I can't wait till my sinuses are back to normal....
I haven't been sewing at all for almost a week, and I have so many things I want to do... Hope the new week will be a nice and productive one.

Wish you all a great new week,
Laila 

Finally a finish!

I finally finished my drawstring bag today! I'm doing the Happydance now :o) Been sooo long since my last finish, so it was about time! Now the ladies attending my class can see how it looks like :o)

It's not a small drawstring bag, the height is 36cm and width 31cm. Perfect to bring some stitchery or knitting to go :o)


I'm off to keep working on the "Secret project". I'm looking forward to show you that one :o)


Happy sewing,
Laila

A great weekend :o)

I've had a really great weekend, spending most of the time in my sewing room. Whoowhoo! And I've got a couple of finishes too!!!
I started to make a little toiletry purse on Friday, and it was finished before the evening was over :o) I found a tutorial on this one a while ago on Sissel's blog, and I just had to use my newest fabrics, the London cats. Sooo cute!


I made three similar tops last year, with purple and black fabrics, but never got to finish them. They where ment to become Advent table runners, but Christmas came and I just put them in one of my UFO/WISP bins. Got to quilt two of them this weekend, and made the appliquè and attached binding on to both of them. I finished sewing the binding by hand on one of them, and hope to finish the other one tomorrow. I've made this table runner several times now, I think I made three last year too, but I don't get bored of this pattern. I love these Advent colors, with some silver ric racs and laces :o)

I've been teaching a class at Quiltegården about some of the techniques I used in my Japaneese wallhanging, and last Thursday we had evening nr.2. I can assure you I was really speachless when the ladies had made such progress during the two weeks since the first class night. Some of them had put the pedal to the metal, and finished the top for the quilt, so I could teach them to make the stems on the outher border. Some of the ladies where working on their flower blocks, and they where all so gorgeous! So many different colors, but so beautiful every one of them! I really hope to get to see all of the quilts finished one day. Mine is not finished yet, I still have a lot of hand quilting to do. But I try to do a thread or three, now and then ;o)
With my messy mind I forgot my camera at home (AGAIN!!!), but I asked Hanne-Kristine to shoot some photos, and you can see LOTS of pictures from the class at her blog.
Thanks, Hanne-Kristine :o)

I had a great weekend, even if it came a LOT of snow during the weekend. It's looking like Winter Wonderland outside, and I hope it will look like this when Christmas comes :o) I love a white Christmas. So cozy!
Today I made a lot of cinnamon buns, like I promised the kids, so I got to something nice for others too this weekend ;o)

Wish you all a great new and creative week!

A little purse/pencil case

I did finally finish my little make up purse (or maybe I can call it a pencil case?)
I finished this sweet little purse the other day, but haven't got to make any blog posts yet ;o)
So now I've got at least one finished project for OPAM this month :o)

I think it's really cute, and I am going to keep this one. But it was so fun to make, so I know I'll be making some more :o) Perfect for presents!
I did hand piece the blocks on the front, and both back and front are hand quilted. It was a little tricky to sew around the curved edges since I'm not used to sew like this, but the book explained well how to :o) LOTS of great 'how to' photos!
It's a book by Yoko Saito called "Les Lecons de Patchwork" Lecon 1.
It contains a lot of great projects, mostly small ones but also a beautiful larger quilt.

I'm also working on an other Schnibble quilt. I did cut all the pieces this weekend, so it's just sewing for a while now :o)
It's the small X-rate I'm working on, and I'm using the rest of the fabrics from the fabrics I bought a while ago. You know, the "Pure" fabrics. I just love these colors!!!
I'm still waiting for the line of fabric to come in yards, so I can finish my first Schnibble quilt :o)

I've been hand quilting a bit lately too, but it's been hot lately, and it's impossible for me to sit outside in the sun quilting. Swetty fingers are no good!!!
But I look forward to get some more progress on the hand quilting project again soon.

Wish you all a great and creative week,
Laila

My first finish for OPAM, April

I've started so many projects during the few years I've been sewing, and I've got so many UFO's... It's a shame, I know!
I started working on this toiletry purse some months ago, so it's not the oldest UFO, but I finished it late last night :o) Whoowhoo!
To finish a project, big one or small one = satisfaction!!!


It's my own design, but I wasn't too happy about piecing so much by hand on this purse. Unnessesary to do so much hand sewing on a project that is going to be used, instead of hanging on a wall or something. The zipper, binding, and closing of the sides are done by hand, because of the curves. Thought it would be too hard to get nice by using the maschine.

I didn't get to make any progress on my 30's quilt yesterday, but I hope to get to work on it later today. Or maybe I'll dig out an other UFO? Who knows, I work best doing the things I wanna do, there and then, sometimes. I change my mind so quick, I just don't plan too much, I end up doing everything else, anyway. LOL!!! But that's me :o)

Wish you all a great weekend,
Laila

A little finish for February :o)

Not much sewing going on here these days, but I got to finish the little toiletry purse I started earlier :o) I finished it last night, and I'm going to give it to my niece today. She's celebrating her 11th birthday today :o) Happy birthday to Mildrid :o)


This one is hand quilted, and I attached the zipper by hand, it was easiest that way since it's so tiny. I liked making this, so nice to do something by hand instead of using the sewing maschine all the time :o)
I will make one for myself too ;o)

I have been working on a "secret project" for some time now, and I hope to work some more of it later this week. It's a lot of work by hand, and it's going to be hand quilted. Cannot wait to show you!
Thanks to all of you leaving comments on my posts, I'm behind replying to e-mails and comments, but I'll get there ;o)
I'm off to a birthday party now, so see ya!

Wish you all a creative weekend,
Laila

A stithchery is finished :o)

Back in Blogland again :o)
Haven't got my lap top back yet, so I still have to borrow my DS's lap top. Anyway, I'm happy to be back for a moment again :o)

I have been sewing some today, FINALLY!!! My shoulder is almost healed, so now I'm able to enjoy my favorite thing again, SEWING. Feels soooo good to finally do a few stitches, when I haven't been able to touch a needle for so long!
I finished my little stitchery from Gail Pan's new book, and I got to paint the frame and put it all together in no time. I hang it on the kitchen wall right away :o) I love to have add some new stuff now and then, in my own house. Not often, but I want to make it more often from now. It's so cozy when you add some homemade stuff, don't you agree?
My kithchen wall is purple, so this is just perfect :o)

Since I haven't got time to finish anything else for OPAM this month, this will be my last reported finish too. I also finished the outside of the little pouch I started earlier. Have to finish the inside too, and I am making this as a Christmas gift for my sweet niece, Mildrid. She was spending some time with me some time ago, and she wanted me to teach her how to make a stitchery. She did so well, and she's almost done with the stitchery now. I'll help her make a little wallhanging or a needlecase of it when she is coming next time :o)




Today, Hubby bought me a suitcase for my trip to Oslo next week. And he knows I just love purple, so purple it is! Ain't this just darned cute? I love it! He's just the sweetest <3

I've never been to Oslo before, and I've never taken a flight before, so it's soooo my first time! My mom is going with me, and I'm also going to meet a friend I've really missed seeing! I'll tell you about it when I get back ;o) We're leaving Trondheim on Wednesday, and we return late Friday. I'm looking forward to this trip, and since I'm such a homesick person, I look forward to get back home too :o) But who knows, if I get the taste of travveling, maybe I'll get hooked on it? We'll see about that :o)
Wish you all a great weekend,

A toiletry purse

I just couldn't keep my hands off sewing longer, so I made this toiletry purse today. It's made totally out my head, so I don't have any pattern for this.


I'm not quite satisfied with the way I do the zipper, but I'll just have to figure out another way how to sew this prettier. It's the "bump" at each side I don't like. I have an idea how to do it a bit different, so we'll see when I make the next one, how that goes :o)

Happy sewing,
Laila

Another purse finished :o)

Today I finally got to do some sewing, and I finished another purse from the pattern called "Gla'veska" by AnnAKa. So that means another finish for the OPAM :o)I really hope the recipient is going to be happy about it. She liked the fabrics I got for it, so I think she will :o)

Have been struggling with my migraine again for some days, and I was so happy when it finally went away this afternoon. Yay! Finally some sewing again :o)
Tomorrow I hope to do some more work in my sewing room, and got a few other projects waiting for me to get finished ;o) I will get a couple of UFO's out of their boxes, I think...
I'm also working on a purple/white quilt (yes, a new one...), and I hope to show you some pics of the progress when I get some further progress.

Rainy days are great sewing days :o)

Today is another rainy day, and I have been
spending the day inside, in my sewing room :o)
Finished this sweet purse for a young girl, who is having her birthday soon. Her mom asked me if I could make her this, and she picked out the fabrics for it. She likes butterflies, so I hope she'll like it :o)
The pattern is "Gla' veska" by AnnAKa, with a few changes from my own head.

I am working on one in black and turquoise too, and hope to finish it today. A college of mine asked me to make that one.
These are fun projects to make, and they are not as time consuming as a lot of the other projects I have going on. It feel so good to finish something now and then too :o)

Yesterday I had such a great day with Sølvi at her place. I was there to pick up a few quilts I am going to help her finish quilting. I got to try her Megaquilter, It was the first time I quilted this way, but it was so fun!!! Now I am even more anxious to buy a mid arm quilting machine!!! I quilted a quilt top one of the ladies made for the Care quilt project.
Several ladies in our quilt guild are making these for kids with long term diseases, and I am happy to do my share. It's based on charity, and there are a lot of beautiful quilts made, and most of them have been delivered to Sølvi, and quilted by her. She has quilted a lot of quilts, and is such a talented quilter. She has a blog with this projects, go check it out :o)

I'll have to return to my sewing room, so: