Getting there - & sinking in

Well, I have been thinking about writing this post for - well, more or less - forever, but it's been put off over and over again. I guess, when busy times at work take most of one's enery, writing a blog post is an extra mile of work.

What's been going on lately? Emma's baptism took place a couple of weeks ago. As you can see, Emma was quite pleased with the purple monster - Ox - that she got from her aunt and uncle. ^-^ (Not one of our creations, I'm afraid, but UglyDolls are quite good at making monsters too.)



I joined a block of the month (BOM) from Buttonberry about a month ago, and a couple of weeks ago I got the first block in the mail. And, just as I receive an email telling me that block two is in the mail, I finished the first block. It's the gorgeous "Tailfeathers" by Cinderberry Stitches!

I'm using the same floss and fabric range as the pattern calls for - Patisserie, by Moda - and I just have to say that this might be the cutest, most adorable BOM I've seen in a while. ^-^It was cute as a pattern, cute drawn up on the fabric, adorable stitched - and just gorgeous sewn together. Can't wait for the next block - but, with my luck, it won't arrive until we're on the plane. We're off to Iceland in about two days time - and should really be spending the time packing, but, oh well, one can pack the night before, right?

We're spending 10 days in and around Reykjavik, so if anyone have any ideas or tips about what we should see while we're there, let us know. ;)

The feeling of vacation is slowly sinking in - although so far it's more or less feeling alot like a normal weekend - only, no alarms are set for tomorrow morning. ;D

Time continues to fly

Strange, isn't it, how time always seem to fly so fast - eventhough you have tons of things you would like to do - and suddenly it's Sunday, and it's been more or less a month since the last "real" post. Oh well.. I blame it on periods of sunshine, knitting and movies (Dr. Who The New Series and Criminal Minds are definetly to blame here). :)

Well, I think the last post contained a picture from the NQT in Göteborg - a great trip, but somewhat chaotic, considering all the people. The dinner had 664 registered guests (I wonder what happened to the dessert? o_O ), the city was beautiful, and a tiny bit of shopping was done. I only bought two things at the NQT shop area (well, three, but the last one was a gift for the summer lottery in Lørenskog, so it doesn't really count) - a jellyroll from Moda (Patisserie, to be used in the new Cinderberry Stitches BOM, which should arrive some time now in June) and a kit (sewing kit in blue/gray) from QuiltMyDesign - which I think ended up being everybody's favorite shop.

I went to my very first course in Göteborg (been sewing since I could hold a needle - and quilting since I was about 10 or 12) and I absolutely loved it! But I do believe that if I ever go to another course, I might be very disappointed.. According to the more course-experienced ladies attending, noone had ever been to a better prepared course. The lovely lady who held it, Mirjam Hakala from Finland, had prepared 10 projects (actually 12, since one of them had three different solutions to chose from) under the theme "The Quilter's Sewing Accessories" (course no. 22), and she had made models showing all of them, written great and easily understood (incredible detailed) descriptions of how to create them - and on top of it all, she had prepared individually packed kits for all models (precut fabric, paper templates, drawn templates, buttons, beads, string, everything you could possible need to complete each model)!

I brought my (then) 4 completed models to show a couple of the ladies in Lørenskog the following Wednesday, and they all agreed that I should finish all the models by the August meeting (the first one after the summer) and have a little presentation of the course. And I'm working on it. ;) As you see in the picture below, I have now completed 6 of the models, and have four kits left - although I am thinking about making the two other versions of the star (on the left) but then again, I have made these ones before, so I can just bring two of them to illustrate the choices.



In other news, I'm still knitting! I've figured out that I'm unable to read while driving (bus or car), I haven't tried sewing yet, but knitting works like a charm! So far - since April - I've knitted a shawl (picture will come soon, I just need to get a good one) and fall pants for Emma, and currently I'm working on another blanket in light wool (just to have something ready for when we go driving.

Speaking of Emma, it's her baptism next Sunday, so we'll be going up to Trysil - and so will more or less the rest of the family too. My national costume is ready (bunad, as we call it) and I have bought the shoes to wear with it, so I'll be sure to get some pictures of that too.

And last, but not least, I'd like to say "Hi!" to the wonderful girls from Lillehammer, who we shared table with during the dinner in Göteborg. It was lovely to meet you - and I hope we meet again soon. :)

I'm off to get some lunch now - and possible a walk outside in the sun. A Frozen Cocoa seems very tempting (it's actually very very nice).

Have a nice Sunday!

NQT in Gøteborg

A bit chaotic - and some waiting.

Tempus Fugit - Busy Times

Well, it's been a while, and although I've thought about blogging every now and then, time just hasn't been on my good side. Much thanks to this little girl.

Meet Emma, our niece and the newest member of the family.




There hasn't been much sewing going on lately, more knitting, actually. In the picture above, taken on her first real trip outside in her stroller, Emma's wearing a hat I knitted up the night before (the other one she got was a little tight, and nobody likes a tight hat, now do we?).

But I think - maybe - I'll manage to get a more creative post together soon. Sometime. Maybe. ;)

We're off to Göteborg next week - for the Nordic Quilt Meeting. I should definetly manage to get some pictures from there. :) And maybe, just maybe, Cinderberry Stitches will finish her new BOM soon too - my fingers are itching!

Monster's on the subway?!

Just kidding. :) A friend showed me how to do this a while ago. Pretty neat, huh?

Preparations and finds

On Monday we went out to Sandvika to deliver the two quilts I've entered in the NQF (Norwegian Quilt Association) yearly meeting/exhibition/stuff. It's the first time I'm entering an exhibition, and I'm both excited to see how my quilts are doing - and nervous, because, well, nobody wants to hear bad things about their work, right?

Anyway, this is a glimse of what I've entered - my Truly Scrumptious and Annie's Calendar Quilt. I feel bad for not having any of them up on the wall yet, but to be honest, we don't really have the space in our apartment..


I took a walk downtown after work one day, and came across this old - once painted over - sign, and - well, yes, I do live with a graphic designer who collects pictures of old signs, so I've just had to get influenced somehow, right? - well, I just had to take a picture. it looks like the sign for Johs Falkenberg (as in Johannes Falkenberg, I'm wondering what kind of business that was..) might be handpainted or "stensilized", but it looks way cooler and prettier then those plastic signs they use now. :)


And lastly, this guy was put up on a wall in our neighbourhood a couple of weeks ago. I think it's a stensil too, not quite sure.. but it's really cool and incredible detailed. Too bad, though, I know that tagging (as they call it here in Norway) isn't allowed and it ruins the buildings, but things like this one is actually pretty to look at and makes you smile. :) Sadly, when I came home from work today, someone had painted over him.. :( I still wonder who made him - and if the artist has more creations like this one around the city.

One Picture a day - 6, 7 & 8

This weekend was truly coloured by the cinematic kind : two visits to the movies (Watchmen and The Secret Lives of Bees), and a ton of films and series on DVD.

One picture a day - 5.

Quiz night!