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

Some sewing :o)

I've been hooked on the Schnibble-mania going around. These quilts are sooo fun to make, and they are fast to make too!
I bought the new fabric line called "Pure" at Fatquartershop to make one of these. The only thing is... they don't come in yards yet... But the main part of the quilt is done, and I've cut all the bits for the outer border, so now I just have to wait a while so I can get the light border fabric, backing and fabric for the binding. Really look forward to finish this!
No finishes for July Opam for me, but hopefully I will have some this month. Fingers crossed!


Earlier I told you about working on a secret project. Well here it is. This is a photo during the hand basting, that took more than 8 hours to do... But I got to start on the hand quilting late last night, and I made some progress today too :o)
It's a wallhanging from one of the Japaneese books I've got. I've been planning to make this for some years, and I finally made it!
Guess I'll be using some hours on the hand quilting, but this one is really going to have "the look" I want :o)

A photo before the basting:


I really like the Japaneese fabrics with their special, kind of dusty, color tones. After I learned a few tricks by Yoko Saito when I attended her class, I liked these projects even more.
When I was at Quiltegården a while ago, I bought one of Yoko Saito's books that has some really great projects. One of the projects are a little purse I want to make. Haven't got to finish it yet, but wanted to show you how it looks while I'm working on one of the two sides. I'm not following the pattern, and I made mine with blocks like the ones we learned at Yoko Saito's class. The blocks (I call them Happy blocks) are hand sewn, and I am working on the hand quilting. Almost there ;o) This will be such a cute purse :o) Will try to finish it during the week that comes.

Wish you a great new and creative week, with lots of sewing ;o)
Laila

Cutting some strips

I've been cutting a lot of strips from some of my Japanese fabrics today. I am making some blocks by hand like the ones I learned at the class with Yoko Saito. They are for a project from the book by Yoko Saito, the one I bought at Quiltegården the other day. The project in the book are not made with the same blocks, but I thought I should add a 'personal touch' on it ;o) I'll show a picture later, when I get some progress done.
The strips are made for both regular quilting fabric, and the ones with structure. I really love these taupe ones!
You can see how the blocks looks like, lying next to the strips ;o)

The project is a little toiletry purse, and it's just sooo cute! Look forward to finish the two pieces I need to make for the two sides of it!

A little eye-candy:
This is a flower from my mom's garden. One of the most beautiful flowers I know!
It's called 'Blå valmuesøster' in Norwegian, and it's english name is 'Himalayan blue Poppy'.

Wish you all a great Sunday evening,
Laila

Shopping and some new stuff :o)

Yesterday I went downtown, shopping at Quiltegården. My favorite quilt shop :o) It's been a while since I last time, so it was so good to see Siw again. I did spend a few hours looking at fabrics and stuff, and had a nice chat with Siw over a cup of tea :o) I took a few photos while I was there, and this is just a few yummy ones ;o)

Lots of inspiration, and candy for the eye...
Yummy fabrics, beautiful quilts and LOTS of lovely threads! I love variengated threads, and among several embroidery threads, Siw has got the hand dyed threads from Cottage Garden and the Cosmo Seasons variengated thread from Lecien. There are also a lot of gorgeous ribbons in her shop. Wish I could put the whole shop in a shopping bag and take it home with me :o)






I brought some treasures home with me. A pattern of some gorgeous needle pillows by Leanne Beasley, some fabrics, ribbons, purple (of course purple) variengated thread and a really great book by Yoko Saito.



I just had to trace and start on one of the stitcheries from Leanne's pattern last night. And I also traced two of them for my mum, so finally I got her to try stitching :o)

I haven't got time to do many stitches today, since last night Hubby finished the shelves he was making for me.
The other night he got to put the shelves over my cutting table up on the wall, and yesterday he came home with the shelves he built for me, to have under the cutting table. Now I'm able to organize my strips and pieces in bins so they will be easier to use :o)
I've been working the whole day sorting stuff in my sewing room, so now it's tidy at one corner of the room ;o) Tomorrow I will continue organize the rest of the stuff :o)


These three books came in the mail today, and I cannot wait to make some of the quilts in this books!!! Inpired by Kvilstina, I just had to have the Schnibbles book ;o) And I definitely reccomend all three books!

But first of all, I'm going to make a project from the Yoko Saito book. I'll post a picture when I've got started ;o) Just have to finish tidying the sewing room first :o)

A great weekend in Oslo!

Last weekend Roy (my DS1) and I went to Oslo. We travelled by air plane and train to get there, and we had a great time :o)

We got to Oslo early Saturday, and after checking in at the hotel, we had a little sight seeing.

We was staying at hotel not far from the Norwegian King's castel, so we went for a walk. It' an amazing building with a lot of artful details. The guards that is always guarding the castle is an impressiv sight too, and while we where taking some photos, a little troop came up front. They are not allowed to answer back to people that confronting them, so it's no point asking for the direction ;o)

We went out to have a nice dinner later, and it was so nice to spend some quality time with my son. I think he had a great time too, and since he loves taking photos, he took a lot of them with his own camera:o)

The "mission" this weekend, was the class teached by Yoko Saito on Sunday. I was attending this class, representing my local quilt shop, Quiltegården, and I was so honored when Siw, the owner, asked me to go!

I was so excited, I almost couldn't get any sleep the night before!

We learned some of the techniques she uses when she makes her quilts, and they are so full of details! She makes some stunning projects, and a lot of it is made only by hand!

I've never thought I could do so much piecing by hand, with no marking! And it was so much fun!

I only got to piece two blocks for the beautiful purse, which was the project we worked on. But during the last week, I finished one of the two main pieces for the purse, and I've also started some of the hand quilting ;o)

Yoko Saito teached two classes at the Norwgian quilt quild's annual meeting the same weekend, too. And I know several of the ladies that where so lucky to meet her during this weekend. You can see a lot of phots from the meeting on Hanne and May Britt's blogs.

Ann (the Norwegian designer AnnAKa) and Merete was happily cutting fabric with their 'BIG' fabric scissors. We had a bit of fun because of these scissors :o) But when you're travelling by an air plane, you're not allowed to bring large scissors, so you'll have to get the smallest there is :o)

Ann, Merete and Evy (owner of Artic Quilter quilt shop). Not hard to see that these ladies had fun ;o) We all had our share of "oooh's" and "aaah's".

Even if Yoko didn't speak much English, she was fantastic to tell with her body language and drawings on a board, to make us understand. She had a lady that translated from Japaneese to Norwegian, but we understood most of what Yoko showed without a translation.

Hanne (owner of Lappedilla) with another purse made by Yoko Saito. I got to meet Hanne before the class did begin, and it was so nice to meet her :o)

It was such a great and special weekend for me, and I am left with a lot of new knowlegde and inspiration.

I'll be back with some pics of my project soon ;o)

Happy sewing,

Laila