Delayed birthday gift to myself :)

Happy (delayed) birthday to me!

As a treat to myself I went to Pink Chalk Fabric's homepage and bought 4 Kona Cotton solids in the brown/purple range: 1.5' of the colours Berry, Raisin, Eggplant and 0.5' of Coffee.

I really, really love the richness and depth of these colours!

Besides those lovelies, I decided to spend a Kona Cotton Color Card on me - such great inspiration and... oh-oh, the temptations *giggle*. Not all stores carries this card, but Pink Chalk Fabric has just re-stocked. It is so worth the cost of 16$!


Edit: I have just checked this, and it appears that she is out of stock again - very popular item, I guess!!

At my local fabric store 'Stjerne Stoffer' here in Denmark, I recently purchased two pieces of fabric that will go well with the Konas, not sure which one to choose - guess that depends on the pattern I eventually decide upon :)


Fabrics are reallyexpensive here in Denmark, compared to the prices in the US, which is why I even am willing to pay the 13$ in shipping for the above items (yep, that is right!!).

However, I wonder if any of you out there in blog-land have any experience in internet shops that are willing to make special arrangements for shipping abroad a.k.a. Denmark?

I wish you all a merry Christmas and a very happy and creative New Year!!

Allow me to introduce!

Dear all,

I am immensely proud to introduce to you and the world my firstborn son: Johan!
Born 24 October 2009.
Length: 52 cm / 20.5 inches
Weight: 3590 grammes / 126.6 ounces

Welcome to the world, dear little one!!!

Recommendation

Hi all.

While pondering about what to post on this blog (as I have no crafty stuff to show off right now), I surfed past this wonderful blog post:

acommonplacelife.com

Hurray for not being perfect and willing to admit it!! Yes, even be annoyed and write a blog post about it :).

And now it is time for me to take a little nap - the pregnancy is wearing me a bit out by now, but hey: the official term is tomorrow, so I have a right to nap, right???

Frustrations...

I am frustrated: No pictures to upload of stuff I have made...
And I wanted so badly to share the latest baby quilt for my niece Ida, who will be baptized tomorrow...

But she will not get the darn quilt right away: My beloved Pfaff is not in the mood for any kind of quilting right now and will be sent for a check-up, as soon as I can get an appointment at the local Pfaff-doctor..

So the quilt is staring back, angrily, at me from the table.
And I am sadly aware of the fact that just a few hours of work is required before it would be ready... But without my machine, no stippling can be done. And without stippling, no borders to be added...

*sigh*

Baby quilt for Victor

Dear all,

Long time no blogging... I know!

There seem to be a 100 things going on at the same time for me right now: Pregnancy soon to end (in approx 6 weeks), my job to finish off in a nice manner before going on maternity leave (in 2 days - that is because I will use two weeks of vacation before the leave starts). My father-in-law turns 70 next week too, so some attention has been turned that way too and then I have my lovely two quilting bees to focus on as well - I do not complain at all, just a little sorry from me :)

But now it is time for showing off the next baby quilt I have finished today - 1 hour before we left for baby Victor's baptism. Pfew, that was a close cut!!

Victor appered to be a greenish little boy to me, so I chose to make this baby quilt in dusty and light greens, spiced a little with brown and creams. I bought a line of fabrics and added some of my older mathcing fabrics too, in order to get enough variation.

The inspiration is the "Happy Hour" pattern, adapted to pre-cut 2,5'' strips, and then just made even more random.

And how lucky am I??? On his baptism costume and as table decorations, his parents had chosen to add the EXACT same green tones as in the quilt. Amazing!!

I used machine stippling to hold the quilt together and, oh boy, did I have a hard time: I had decided to use a fleece blanket as batting, and for some reason this gave me great grief with thread snapping every 2 inches in some places!!! Grrrr!

Well, I made it to the end and I have decided to erase the experience from my memory.
Note to self: DONT use fleece blankets again!


All in all, I am happy with the result: 39'' x 39''.
And the parents were too :)).

Now I will go lay myself down on the couch - I think I have deserved it. Heh!

First top from the "Another Quilting Bee1" VQB!!

Mad for Mendocino
Originally uploaded by Mushyhed

This is the absolutely lovely outcome of our combined efforts at my second virtual quilting bee "Another Quilting Bee1".

Mushyhed gave us all free hands on choice of blocks with her Mendocino fabrics. They all involve some sort of squid or fish in those bright colours.

I really like how she chose to frame each block with white and then use the lovely blue sashing: It really makes the very different blocks one unity!!

My contribution is the block with the little stars in the corners :)

First top from the "bee inspired" VQB!!

my pinwheel sampler quilt. {bee inspired.}
Originally uploaded by rachelgriffith

This is Rachel's assembled quilt top with all our blocks together!!

She asked us to make some sort of pinwheels.

I really like it: It looks so nice and fresh, almost like lemonade :D

Finally I can show you this baby quilt!

Finally, I can show you this baby quilt for my first nephew, who was baptized today, Sunday.
His name is Emil. It has been ready for months, but as it is a gift I could not reveal it before now :)

And finally a baby quilt for a BOY, so obviously I chose to make it in blues, green and a tad of purple. (it is also from this quilt that I have made my header of this blog)

The applications are the creation of my (normally not very crafty) boyfriend. But he insisted on making all sorts of vehicles for the quilt and the motorbike is a symbol for Emil's parents and their common passion :)
So indeed this has become a present from both of us! I might even ask him to make me more patterns for appliqués in the future :)


The quilting is my very first attempt to stipple, and I am very happy with it too - I know that I have shown you later examples of my stippling, but this was my first try *giggle*

The binding is finished by hand on the back. I am not good with hand stitching, so you will NOT get a closeup...


(back)

Next, I must try to use some of my after-Easter holiday days off to focus on the blocks I have not yet finished for my two quilting bees!! Shame on me...

Still around!

Dear all,

Just needed to let you all know that I am still here! I am slowly emerging to the surface from a death-like sleepiness..

Need to say to those patient folks who await for my monthly block, that I am truly sorry!!! I will get there - promise!

And now back to bed ...zzzzZZZZzzzz..

I am expecting!! (well, WE are)

Hi all,

I have been non-present lately. Not many blog posts from me...

But it has a really, REALLY good reason:
I am pregnant - yaaaayyyyy!!! Today is 8+4.
We expect to become parents in the end of October

And consequently I am tired - mostly in the evenings, when I have time to quilt and read blogs, alternatively write my own. And sometimes I am nausious, but that part is fortunately not so bad :) I think that many of you are mothers already and know what I am talking about?

Just as a side note: We have been trying in 3 years, this last year with blessed help from a public fertility clinic. It turned out, that we could never have done it by ourselves...
Thank God for the 3 free public fertility tries here in Denmark - I shall pay my silly high taxes with gratitude (at least the coming year)!

Dangerous virtual fabrics!

Virtual fabric shops are dangerous places for a person as easy to tempt as me!!
I have discovered Etsy through many of the other wonderful blogs out there, and it has cost me.

Admitted: not huge amounts, but a little drip here, another tiny drop there... it all sums up :)
Wanna see what I have gotten in the mail so far???

3 absolutely authentic Japanese fabrics from sonatine



These hand dyed beauties can be found at stichindye, handmade lovlies from America.
Very rustique and unique.

Now, I still await the mailman to bring me my fabric from Ink & Spindle in Australia!

The only problem I have with all this international shopping is the cost of shipping it all to me!! I cannot have too small orders: the shipping will cost more, but I cannot afford too large orders either (and I do not want to place large orders).

Well... That is a minor problem, I recognize :) For now I am happy with my virtual prey.
And watch out, out there - it is a dangerous place *giggle*

Swap items from Tracey well received

YES! I received my first ever swap-gift today :)

Oh my, Tracey!
You really DO have sent me a ton of scraps - around 50 different kinds of lovely fabric have come my way, and I am very happy about them. So many I would never have dared to buy myself.
And thank you for the cute card you send along too :))

I immediately started putting them together in different variations - what do you think about this spotty combination - huh???
or what about reds - I love reds?!!
It will NOT be my last swap, that I can promise you all! Yay!
(sorry - the photos do not justify the real colours of the fabric - lousy natural light here today..)

Swap items have been received!

As I was silly enough not to take a picture of the contents of my parcels to Tracey, I have stolen the pictures from her blog.
This is what I sent for the scrap swap:

15 pieces of scraps and additional scraps


a cute little box from the Danish designers House Doctor,
in colours I hope Tracey likes.


a bit of traditional Danish sweets


and finally some good Danish grind coffee - I have been told
that it may have a fuller taste than most American coffee :)


So - just a warning for other future swappers:
I might send something really stupid!
--------------
Swap items to be sent *teaser* (9 February 2009)
Now it is time to give you all a hint of what I have been sending off to the States today!
I need to hide it a bit from you, for the obvious reason that I want Tracey to be the first to see the contents fully ;)
This means that my first swap has almost ended! It has been funny but also a lot of work, as I have been forced to sort out my stash...gosh!

Now I eagerly await receiving my swap gift from Tracey. She is the organizer of the entire swap, and I will use this opportunity to thank her for work!

Rocket Ship pillows finished!

I wanted to make something nice and try something new to me, so I decided to try a free pillow pattern that I had found at Don't Look Now!
Kellie creates the most amazing patterns for appliqués that I have ever seen, and her choice of fabrics are just that juicy and perfect!

So I decided to try the pattern that looked least intimidating to a newbie like me, and I went for the Rocket Ship tutorial for my friend's two boys (she and they have NO idea that I have been cooking this up for them).

Pictures, you say? Oh well, here then!


And a little detail on the quilting - I used a small swirly one on the green version of the pillow and stippling on the purple pillow. I like the stippling better, possibly because I am not comfortable with real quilting patterns yet *giggle*!

Join me in one more quilting bee!! (I am crazy)

YIPPEEEE! *updated 21st February*
Sarah has initiated another wonderful virtual quilting bee. It is called 'Another Quilting Bee'.

Read the rest of this post here...

I participate in a Virtual Quilting Bee!!

Yay!

Yesterday I had the luck of being drawn to participate in my first-ever Virtual Quilting Bee.
It is called 'Bee Inspired' - brilliant name :)

Rachel from p.s. i quilt is organizing it all and we are 18 quilters - a mixed American and international group.

read the rest fo this entry here...

My stack

Ever since I took my first insecure step into patchwork and quilting, I have had the habit of cutting a 10 x 10 cm (4 x 4'') piece out of every patchwork fabric I have ever owned.

In the beginning I was not even sure what it was for!

But now I have a huge pile of these single pieces, and I know that one day one or more quilts will emerge from that stack. It currently measures 16,5 cm in height (7.2 '').

But not now. I think It deserves to grow a little higher... :)

BushFire Quilt Project *update*

Just wanted to show you my truly wonky blocks.
After I took these pictures, I read Tia's recommendation of signing them, so I did!

They will be off to Australia tomorrow!
----
11 February:
As I sit on my couch, cup of latte in my hand, and start reading all my favorite blogs out there, I came across this amazing initiative, that Tia has taken.

I am possibly one of the people farthest away from the fires in Australia, still it aches in my heart to learn about so much loss and devastation down there.

Therefore: Please consider joining me to pass on hope and whatever little help we can bring the families, who have lost everything.

2 blocks in an envelope can and will make a difference for somebody!

My scrappy blues *updated*

Update:
My scrappy blues have now been quilted AND photographed, so I can show it (partly) to you all.

I have stippled it intensely - remember those blue coins are just 4'' x 2'', as I decided to use my last bits of batting, some of them quite small :) So scrappy blues it is:

I like how the coins seem to pop up from the quilt!Quilting around the blue coins resulted in a brilliant effect on the back too:
Now I need to finish the binding and sew it on - that will take some time, be warned!
But overall, I am pretty happy with this one! Yay :o)

---------
25 January 2009:
I finished this Coin Quilt patchwork top yesterday evening. I decided to name it "My scrappy blues".
Naturally, I wanted to tell the wold (= you) about it immediately but I had to wait for daylight to take some photos...
Facts:
* Blue scraps of all kinds, 45 varieties/2 blocks of each
(some of the fabrics are from my very first attempts, back in 1997!)
* Connected with semi-bleached cotton, that I have recently gotten a huge pile of, for FREE *dancing around with joy*. It is slightly heavier than the rest of my stash, but I think it will work out nicely.
* The blocks are 4,5 x 2,5'', including seam allowances.
* The strips are 2,5'' wide.
* Final size, without binding, is 64 x 42'' (162 x 107 cm)
Gosh, I did not realize I had so much blue - and there are still some blues I have not used!

Also, I tried to use up some of my thread rolls, filling up the limited space I have available - 3 small rolls used :) Consider that a tip free to use!

I have dyed some of the cotton into a dusty blue, perhaps that would do for the backing... hmmmm...

Stash and workspace

Pfew and hurrah!

I have finally succeeded in arranging my stash and scraps!
Thanks to my participation in my first swap ever :)

This is both good and bad:
Good because I have now seen every bit of fabric I own.
Bad because it led to my stash depression.

The end result is, however, overall positive: I have found that I have way too much fabric. And I badly need to use some of it!! Some of it has given me ideas for new quilts, some will be part of my first ever give away. Weeee! More info will be given on this subject later.

Here it is:

And as I was already fumbling around with my boyfriends precious camera, I decided to take a few photos of my workspace, all set up and still neat and nice *giggle*. This is NOT the most common scenario!
The machine is my brand new Pfaff Quilt Expression 4.0. I cannot tell you how much it has meant for my inspiration and wish to express my creativity! *kisses to my wonderful boyfriend*

I do not have a special sewing room yet, as we live in a relatively small apartment, so I set it up in the living room and have to remove it, when we have guests over for dinner. But that is not a problem at all - I love having friends and family over too!

Stash depression...

What can i say?... I am stash depressed.

"Why?", you might ask.
Well, I have become very inspired by all you ladies out there, showing off your yummy stash, all neatly arranged in color and perhaps evens size. And I wanted to re-arrange mine too! This weekend!

So that is what I have used a bit of my weekend for.
Nice in the beginning, as my fabrics normally are stored in boxes at the attic and I do not get to see them all together very often. And very nice to get it all under control. But....

I have realised that I do not really like most of my stash, as much of it is heritages from my mom's friends, who are not of the same age nor taste as I. But who declines fabric given to you all free?

I must admit that I can see the beauty in much of it, and I can see the givers general idea and taste, but it is just not much ME... hope you get my genereal idea here...?

So what can I do??
Any advise or suggestions? Should I arrange a swap and/or a give-away?

I need your help here!

I went to a sale :)

This is what I brought home after one intensive hour:

It was a pre-sale for newsletter recipients at my local store. Most fabrics were 20-70% off. VERY nice considering that fabrics in Denmark are fairly expensive, compared to American prices (I have been told).

So I went for it and bought all these goodies. The store itself is tiny and normally very cozy, but on pre-sale.... well... You can imagine the crowd ;)

Anyway, I am happy with my prey :)