Merry Christmas to you

Whiter shades of grey....
It's truly a winter wonderland out there for the time beeing. Nature looks so peaceful - unchanging, like it can stay this way for all eternity..... It's quite striking and breathtaking - to me anyway!


I am so looking forward till tomorrow, when I get to open these gifts from Carol E.
I'm very excited :o)



This is from the latest Tilda book: "Reindeer on stick". I've made it for a-soon-to-be two year old... Hope he will enjoy it when he is big enough :o)
I think this reindeer turned out quite handsome ;-D


For two little girls I've made these ponchos, they are also from the latest Tilda book :o)



I think the birds turned out quite nice, I tried to make them look a little diffrent, so they can tell the ponchos apart....



An angel dropped by when we decorated our Christmas tree....



Santa is in the house, he sings all the carols while he dances, if we let him....
(he has a little button on his back.....) DD1 has never liked him, too noisy, DD2 loves noise, she thinks he is great fun....


To all my friends in blogland, best wishes for the holiday....
I'm truly greatful for knowing you.

On my way.....

Hello...

Thank you all for your encouraging words and warm thoughts, I keep them in my heart. It's still quiet, and I've been in the quietness, embraced it. It is no longer still, there's some motion, a scarce flow of energy...


I decided that I'm in charge, I am mine!! I can't wait for inspiration to come, so therefore I grabbed the chance when I felt the energy move.


I made the blue shawl just as the world became quiet, and today I made the brown one. It feelt good to create and the quietness felt comforting, but I also sensed that it contained a fleeting undercurrent.


I thougt it best not to push it, so I'm doing this in baby steps, just to be on the safe side......

Hope you all are having a wonderful and eventful week :o)

Inspired by Lynne....

Spending two whole days with Lynne and Kathrine, one is bound to create something..
When I got home on Sunday evening I was about to burst with inspiration, so I chose to make one of her pillows....



I made this one, and I plan to make another one as well - two of a kind ;-D


Here is a detail.... I fell in love with that lace, so I knew I had to use it on something very soon.... I think it turned out very nice....


Last Saturday I went on a quest to find the new Tilda book..... The shops I visited hadn't got it yet, but I did manage to get it on Thursday though...

I didn't spend last Saturday alone in the city of Oslo.... I met up with Anne Ida of Quiltoholic.... We spent many hours together, realising we had a lot in common :o)
It turns out we don't live far from each other...... Maybe we'll get togehter for a sew-along.... ;-D


Here is a sneak peak.... It's full of wonderful things to make - it's instant Christmas between two covers!!!


I found this fabric when I was at Kathrines on Friday... I fell for the delicate colours and the woven pattern.... Holly Hobby brings out the nostalgia.... Perfect for baby blankets!!!

Addition, Sunday 21 October.



Happy Birthday Ellen!!!
She is my sister-in-law..... She makes all these artistic animations, so I made her a pillow for her birthday, but instead of placing a picture of some Renaissance relic, I used one of her own pictures.... I believe she was quite pleased with it ;-D

Wish you all a wonderful week!!!!

A bit of everything.....

Yesterday I ordered the latest book from Amy Butler: Midwest Modern.

I loved her previous book, In Stitches - I haven't gotten around to sew anything from it yet, but I read in it all the time... The pictures and colours are spirit lifters, and these days I really need that.



Early last month I took on a commision to sew four curtains and two Roman Blinds, boy do I regret this..... Then again, as the stubborn gal I am, I threw myself at the task today, not knowing where it will take me.... Emotionally I'm a wreck...

Do you remember how it was when doing your homework was somthing you really didn't want to do...... and then you used all your time to avoid it... or worse, doing it sloppy and having to do it all over again??? That's my state of mind.... I keep hoping my state will improve.....

Allright, enough with the whining.....



For the newest member of our family, I've made a vintage-teddy blanket. Her name is Pernille, she is my husband's niece, and was born in August.


I still have the batting and binding to do, but I wanted to show it to you now...

The teddy's faces are hand stitched... The pattern is from the book "Applikasjoner" by Tove Fevang






A week ago I found this tutorial for a different way to use a ninepatch...
This will be my next project, hopefully I can start sewing very soon, just have to overcome the curtains..... I have picked out the fabric though.....



I'm off to the curtain sewing, wishing you all a wonderful weekend.... See you at the other end....

Winnie the Pooh.......

Finally - I have completed the Hundred Acre Woods quilt for my three year old. As you all suspected - she loves it and is thrilled with it. She uses it whenever she sits on the couch watching Disney - If it was up to her, that would be all the time....




She is overly facinated by all and everything that has to do with The Hundred Acre Woods and the tales of Winnie the Pooh...




She discovered him at the age of 10 months..... We were tidying her sister's room and she sat in her chair watching - then suddely she started a commotion like nothing we've ever heard. Nothing we tried would do - then we realised she was staring at the Pooh sitting on top of her sister's bookshelves..... Needless to say she was exstatic when she got it. She can not be without him....















This Sunday has been a foggy and windy day. We had some friends with their children on a visit :o) For a greater part of the afternoon, the dads took their girls, all three, to the nearby playground - where they had a blast....
When they got back I had made these.....



A chore for me this evening is to go through as many of these magazines as I can. I seem to accumulate these in bundles. Anyone else who has great piles of magazines taking over the bedroom and the livingroom???




Luckily I can work through them while wathcing a sunday movie ;-D Some of them I hold on to for a year - the rest of them - I take out the articles that interest me and put them in bound portfolios.



I have always enjoyed organising, so there are several of these books in my shelves. They take considerably less space than the loads of magazines - and really - there are usually only a few articles or photos that catch my attention......





This picture is from my walk yesterday. The light was perfect and for a few moments the wind didn't blow.....

Whish you all a wonderful week :o)

Tilda

I had a request from, Celine, if I had made anything from Tilda.
Did you know that in France they have their own Tilda addicts group??? How cool is that???? Of course I have made a few things from Tilda over the past YEARS.....lol..... Who can resist????? ;-D

This teapot warmer is one of the items I made several of...... The one above belongs to my sister..... Made true to Tilda design and colour....

My mother-in-law own these two; one for the mountain cabin and one for the boat....... None of them are therefore made in *traditional* Tilda colours.... I adjusted them to fit their surroundings...

I made this sheep, wash cloths with Tilda rabbit faces, and the bag they're in for a friend when she had her first child in 2004.

When I saw these slippers in her latest book, I just had to make them.... The first pair ( left) was just to try out the pattern, the second pair (right) belongs to my sister .... yes those too :o)... I had some leftover tweed from a purse I made, so I decided to make them with that. Very pleased with them....

This is the firs Tilda item I made - It's from Tone Finnanger's book;
Tilda's Christmas (Tildas Jul).





I thought these snowmen were so cute and adorable..... I plan to use them for a christmas picture.... It's been put away for years.... maybe this year.....

This is a Christmas calendar I've been sewing for my oldest daughter..... for the last two years...... not all my projects finish..... I think this qualifies as an UFO??...... This year I hope to finish it!!! I have made a few other Tilda things as well, but I don't have any pictures to show......

This is Tone Finnager's new Tilda book. It will be available for purchase in October..... yiipppppiiii

Have a wonderful weekend every one......

Marimekko

Hello - anybody there???

The week before this, was a foggy one - somehow I managed to catch a cold....... and we all know what that means...... no brainfunction, a sore throat, running nose, the head feels like a balloon..... Well, I'm all better now :o)

Let's talk about something more fun......

In June I made this Roman blind in Marimekko fabric, for some friends of mine. I resently got some pictures of it, so I thought I'd show them to you.

I'm very pleased with it, thankfully so are my friends ;-D . This really gave their kitchen that finishing touch...

I always find it challenging to sew the dowel-pockets that runs broadwise- straight... It looks like I managed just fine....... :O)

I've made these two wedding cards, I was asked to make them for a friend of a friend......

So what else have I been up to???

I have started on the Hundred Acre Woods blanket for my three year old.... here's a sneak peek...

All the drawings are now replaced by appliquéd versions of the residents ....... I hope she likes it, you never know in that age, and they are quite frank about it too...lol... I'll show you the rest when its finshed

;-D

Wish you all a wonderful week!!!!!

Complete Breakdown

First of all I would like to thank all the 140+ who has visited my blog this last 10 days. It's been fun to find that so many of you takes time to read and look through my posts, and I love getting comments, so thank you all.

My plan was to put out a new post in the middle of LAST week, but on Monday night disaster struck, our main computer with all our pictures, went out cold. I must admit that I had difficulty coming to terms with the fact that all on that harddrive might be lost....... heartbreak.....

Luckily a friend of ours has managed to restore all the pictures and a few other vital files, like our household accounts.........pew.......... So what have I learned from this??? Always make a BACKUP - always..........

The pictures in this post is what I had on my laptop - not very exciting, but it was available :O)
Until the weekend, when we get the restored files, I wish you all a wonderful week :O)

Gifts

Earlier this month (June 4th) Creative Blogs posted a blog by Carole Janson, who makes the most amazing 3D cards and scrapbook pages. After seeing this post I decided that I had to try to make a card like hers. So for my sister's housewarming party I made this one:




And this is the original by Carole Janson, isn't this one just fantastic ???




Almost one year ago I bought some printable fabric. I have a book that contains quilts with pictures, and I was very fascinated by them. As it turned out I never got around to try it myself ...Anyone recognise a state like that??

Lately I had two presents to produce, and so I thought I'd give it a go. In the end I'm quite pleased with the way the gifts turned out.

The first one was for my father-in-law. Instead of giving him yet another picture of his grandchildren I made him this:



The second one I made for my sister and her boyfriend as a housewarming gift. They got a cat a few weeks ago, so I put her on a pillow. The gift was a smashing hit ;o)


So this is what I've been up to lately. Other projects I work on are UFO's. It's time to clean the closet - so to speak ;o) If you'd like to visit someone who are very productive and skilled, go to Quiltoholic, Threadbare, or take a peak at Hanne's quilt corner.



I wish you all a sunny and creative week!!

Pillow Talk

Well, here we are again, and a whole week has gone by. Time really does fly...

In February I came to the decision that my mother needed new cushions for the living room. I was quite pleased with the result... More importantly, she liked them a lot...





Little did I know that this would put me into a pillow frenzy. For the last couple of months , every time I see a fabric or something else I like, I immediately think "I can turn that into a pillow.. "

This last weekend I finished up 3 pillows and began on an another 2. Am not quite sure what to do with them all, but never mind... I'm having fun right now... Let's not worry about tomorrow....

The pattern for this pillow, of which I'm making two, I have borrowed from Laura Ashley. I turned it into Girlpirates - there are too many princesses in this world....

Creativity

What I make is not very original, but it's mine - I made this.
There is something very satisfying in working with fabrics. I'm very happy when I can lose myself in colours and textures. It makes me feel alive, I'm floating.

The bubbly feeling that hits me when I see a piece of fabric; an old picture, a napkin, the flowers outside the flowershops, the cover of a book, tells me that there is an idea on its way. The euphoric notion of inspiration- it's the beginning of a new process, who knows where it will take me this time???

I find this both exciting and frightening at the same time. My projects seem to take on a life of their own. I just hope that in the end the result will be something I can approve of. Of course there is always room for improvement. To push the envelope, I attend, given the opportunity, workshops that challenge my comfortzone and make my mind expand just a little further.

For the very first time

Everything has its first time, and this is mine, as a blogger.

To me this is new territory, frightfully exciting. I use the computer and internet on a daily basis, but this is a whole new world. Or so I've read.....

Flowers - a safe sign of spring, and this year spring came early in March, or so I thougt. Yesterday, upon returning from Easter holidays in the mountains, it began to snow. Not just a little bit, but a lot, quite depressing. And this morning when I looked outside - horror - it was still there.

As I sit and write this, I can hear the merry songs of birds, so I reckon there is hope after all. Winter is the unpredictable season that never leaves when you're tired of it, but still doesn't have the courtesy to show up for a few hours during Christmas holiday when it's actually wanted. Well, enough about the weather.

Today has been a very quiet day. To sit down, be still and let the mind wander is a good activity on a Sundaymonday. Let the tranquillity sink in and carry you into the rest of the week. Stretch the feeling of freedom, just a little further, before everyday life once again catches up with you.......