Happy birthday Hanne

My dear friend Hanne is turning 50th today.

If you want you can visit her blog and give her some congratulations :)

Just spoke to her and she is having a great time "over there".
Wish you a safe trip home.

Miss you :)

Saying for today:

"Friends are the most important

ingredient in this recipe of life."

Selvage flower

This weeks competition is Earth Day (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle)
and I have entered this little Selvage flower quilt.

This was a challenge between me and two other friends. All we got was a button and some lace. I have used selvages to make the ground. Also added words from selvages to make the quilt interesting. It is so fun using selvages this way. Do not throw your selvages away....use them!!

So if you like it you can go here and vote for it.

Shop til you drop

Yesterday my quilt group and I went together on a quilt trip to Oslo. 36 ladies and one man, the busdriver . Two quiltshops was our desinations.

First stop was Kathrines Quiltestue. Kathrine and Heidi gave us a warm welcome and had prepared a little inspirationel show and tell for us. And they told us their new big project is a shop on the net.

The ladies rushed into the shop to find their goodies

and there was a lot of goodies to find

and all over the shop there was quilts to inspire us both in patterns and colours

My friend Elisabeth (no blogger) in front of her favorite colours.

A lot of goodies to watch

and many temptations

so there was a lot of ladies waiting to get their fabrics being cut

Kathrine showed us a beautiful quilt mad of dresden plate. Paper pieceing is a very easy summer project. Easy to bring and no thinking :)

This is one of my favorite quilts right now. A wonderful quilt designed of Lynette Anderson. This one is on my "to do" list. I love it.

And it was so nice to be able to sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee

in a room filled with inspiration on the walls


and later some more show and tell from Kathrine

Love these quilts and they inspire me to make some scrappy quilts now.

Kathrine is starting a new BOM soon and this is such a wonderful quilt in repro fabrics. I just love it, but I have still not decided to buy it or not. Is is so big, and my house is so small :)

Thank you Kathrine og Heidi for giving us a great time in your shop.

Then there was time for some food. And a pizza buffet is perfect for hungry ladies

and look at this cute sewingmachin and iron that was on display in the restaurant.

Next stop was at Lappemakeriet.

It is a small shop but we quiltladies makes room and do always find what we are looking for.

A lot of inspiration on the walls in this shop too

Love this BOM that they are hosting. I have bought the templates for this quilt and will start making it in my own colours. Some years ago a lady from Usa mailed me her leftover repro stash. And now (perhaps already today) I will find that box and start making some dresden plates.

Love these dolls and the saying on the framed stitchery.

And the ladies shopped and shopped

and there was a lot of wonderful fabrics in this shop too

Wish I had won in the lottery

All these shopping made us exhausted so when we found this bench we had to sit down and relax. I guess you can imagine us climbing up on this bench :) We got a comment from a father with his little son on his arm; "look, perhaps these ladies now understand what you feel when you are climbing on chairs :)"

This wonderful day was ended with a tasty dinner. And I guess you figure out that the ladies was very quiet on the bus back home. Either sleeping or just enjoying their newly bought treasures.

And this is my treasures. The upper row of light japanese fabrics is bought at Kathrines. And one of them is a really nice background for stitchery. The bottom row is my buyings at Lappemakeriet. Some small rolls of "candy" and only two fabrics. And I had to buy the medium dresden plate bulk pack. It was quite expensive, but I had to have it. It's sad that fabric and quilt equipment has to bee so expensive in Norway.

We had a really great day together.

Saying for today:

Shopping is a woman thing. It's a contact sport like football. Women enjoy the scrimmage, the noisy crowds, the danger of being trampled to death, and the ecstasy of the purchase. ~Erma Bombeck

Sunday sewing

I see Frida was a guest blogger yesterday when I was busy in my sewingroom. She really enjoys sleeping at the kitchen table in the sun. She told you I was working on a new project, and so I was.

Making Cinderberry stitches "Me and My Shadow thread wallet". This time I had done the stitchery in blue. And either do I really have problems working with blue colours or I have too many fabrics to choose from, because I spendt a couple of hours finding the right fabrics for this project.
But I finally finished it. And this is how my thread wallet looks like on the outside.
And this is the inside. I love all kind of bags, wallets aso to put projects into. So much better than plastic bags.
I also started quilting on my Yoko Saito bag. Not quite the way she basted before quilting, but I think this will work too. And I was so in a hurry to start quilting. Yoko Saito basted very much, so perhaps I will baste it again this evening.

Saying for today:

The world always looks
brighter from behind a smile.
~Author Unknown

Just relaxing

I am just relaxing in the sun on the kitchen table, while mum is busy in the sewingroom. Think she is working on some new projects. And I guess she will show you later. I know she also has a lot of photos from an local quilt exhibition to show. But right now she is so busy in her sewingroom.

Have you voted for mum's quilt at the Quilting gallery virtual contest ??

Saying for today:

The cat seldom interferes with other people's rights.
His intelligence keeps him from doing many
of the fool things that complicate life.
~Carl Van Vechten

Purrrr's from Frida Cat

Vote Now: Circle Quilts

This week I have joined Quilting Gallerys virtual contest, and the theme is circle quilts.

And this is the quilt I have registered in this competition. I made this quilt several years ago, and I love it very much. I have called it " Inside my head the ideas are spinning". Why this name on the quilt. When I started quilting a new world was opened to me. And buying quiltbooks and magazines I had so many ideas spinning in my head. I found this pattern in American Patchwork and quilting magazine and knew that I had to make it. I love circles and I know I will make this quilt again in other colours. It is handstitched and handquiltet with silk thread.

If you like this quilt I would appriciate if you went over to Quilting Gallery and voted for it.
Voting is open Friday – Sunday @ 11:59 p.m

Saying for today:

No wonder I'm dizzy,

the world keeps spinning in circles

Look :)

Take a look at this post at The Selvage blog :)

It is so fun working with selvages and I will do it more. Just have to collect more of those cute special selvages, those with a lot of writing on. But they are difficult to find :) And I have to be sure that every fabric I buy have a selvage with writing on, but it is so easy to forget when you are in the quiltshop with all those wonderful fabrics you want to buy LOL

Saying for today:

Fill your paper with
the breathings of your heart.
~William Wordsworth

Easter sun

After days with rain, snow and bad weather we finally got SUN. Both Frida and I enjoy spending the last day of my Easter vacation on the porch. Frida enjoy watching everything that happens outside on the ground, listening to the birds singing and just enjoy being outside. And me....just enjoy relaxing in the sun with my Yoko-blocks. Just a few more and I have enough for the second side of the Yoko Saito bag.

Saying for today:

A cat is there when you call her,
if she doesn't have something better do to.
Bill Adler

Progress on my Yoko Saito bag

Today I have made progress on my Yoko Saito bag. I wonder what the name on it is. I do not understand the letters on the pattern, so I just call it the Yoko-bag. It was a little bit scary to start laying the log cabin blocks to shape the bage. A little bit out of the way I ordinary use to sew, but this is so fun.
And here is the first front ready to be appliqued. We was told to pin it very good and so I have. But I do not remember what kind of thred Yoko Saioto used doing her applique. Well, I just start with my silk thread that I love sewing needle turn with.

Have you seen this cute First Friday Freebie from Kaaren. I loved it so much so I had to rush out in my sewing room and trace it. Always great to have a stitchery in my bag, just in case :)

So at the same time I also traced the stitchery for Cinderberry Stitches "Me and My Shadow" wallet. My friend Laila have made it and I loved how useful this wallet was. So nice to bring my stitchery and thread in it.

And the best is that there are still 3 days home from work. I love Easter holiday.

Happy Easter to you all.

Saying for today:

When you look at your life,
the greatest happinesses are
family happinesses.
~Joyce Brothers