A little stitcing, and knitting, and travelling and listening.

In one of the subscription boxes I get (well, I get ONE) there was a pattern + stabilizer for another pouch - a bit bigger than the last one. And I decided to use the small pieces of old Tula Pink fabrics that I found in Birmingham and the Festival of Quilts last year.

And I have to say I love the result!

The pouch is quite big, I managed to get a whole project for hand quilting in there without problem. (Just that I ended up machine quilting it instead..)

The front and back are a little different, but I've tried to use the same fabric or the same print in different colours on each side - making it scrappy, with a sense of order.

A couple of years ago I saw an advertisement for a kit from Lori Holt called Acorn Table Runner and I have been regretting not buying it ever since. Well, lucky for me someone posted it for sale on FB last year, and I bought it as soon as I saw it. No more regrets!

The size of the table runner was definetly not for my tables, so I ended up splitting the blocks into three smaller pieces. And I have to say I'm very pleased with the result. I sent a picture to the lady who sold me the kit (on her request) and she almost regretted selling it.

I've also cast on a new knitting project - and I came as far as the picture below shows before...

I frogged everything and went back to the beginning. I felt it was turning out too big and baggy, so the next time I cast on, I chose a smaller size. The yarn is 100% wool, which is lovely in the winter. 

The two last pillow projects have been completed too. The pattern and fabric for these two have been waiting around for much longer than I'd like to admit..

They live upstairs in the sewing room/guest room/gaming room as we speak. (The couch in the living room is a little crowded when it comes to pillows, but I do like making them.)

We went on a weekend trip to Goethenburg (Sweden) hand enjoyed a zoo, the natural science building with an indoor rainforest, a huge amusement park and good food.

This is how I'd look (apparently) if I was an animated character. 

Mexican restaurant for dinner one night. I loved the pictures that hung around the dining area. Lovely colours.

And I've been to another concert with my mom. This time with Rod Stewart.

Last year when we were travelling back from Birmingham, mom said that if I ever heard that Rod Stewart came to Norway she'd really like to go to his concert. Coincially a couple of weeks later I got an email promoting his concert in Oslo. 

I have a couple of finished projects left to show - but 1) I haven't taken any decent pictures of them yet, and 2) someone keeps napping on them..

I've also gotten a couple more quilt tops together - I just need to decide if they need another border first. Both of them have been waiting in line for a while now, so it was nice to finally make them a priority.

Next week I'm off to Trondheim with my mom. We're taking the train tour/detour and are looking forward to visiting the local quilt and knitting stores. And to visit some old friends. 

April’s not quite over yet, but there’s been some crafting..

I made another cushion! This one was a kit from  Sewmotin called Applecore cushion and I bought it at the Festival of Quilts last year (2023). 

It was the rainbow of Alison Glass fabric that caught my eye - helping me decide to buy the kit instead of just the pattern or paper pieces. 



On the back I used this goegeous piece of orange fabric - too pretty to cut up into small pieces. I think it works well with the colours on the cushion front and especially the binding. 


  

G is for.. glow in the dark! The faeries, windows, lanterns and animals asre all glow in the dark festires on this Lewis & Irene fabric. 

G is for.. Granger (or Grang, as the norwegian translation of the books call her). 



H is for.. humler (which is what we call bumble bees in norwegian). 



My pile of works in progress (wips) is apparently a comfy spot for napping.. I’ve just finished the top for the courthouse steps quilt - but it will have to wait before I can quilt it, seeing as I’ve run out of batting again.. (Four meters really don’t last very long..)



I’ve still not decided if this one should be handquilted or not..

This BOM (block of the month) reappeared during my big cleanup, and now I’ve started working on it. Month one is finished (missing a photo) and month two is started. 

The latest knitting project to be completed, is this Hogwarts house jacket for A. There were some new bits and bobs with this one, seeing as it’s knitted in five parts - then three parts are joined before adding the button band, and finally the sleeves are sewn in. 

I made something!

I’ve been receiving these monthly subscription boxes for quite some time now - and have made anout a handful of the projects.. which is why, I guess, I have so much «reserved» fabric laying around. 

2024 seems to be the year for making some of these (instead of working on my neverending queue of ufo’s) and one of the last projects I finished was this bag. 

It came as an instruction and a quilt-as-you-go pattern printed on a stabiliser «fabric». I wanted to use the fabric which came along in the box on the other project that was included, so I looked in my nox of leftovers and found quite a few pieces from two different fabric lines that went pretty well together, and by including some pieces of other fabric (which I’ve been saving for something special) I had everything I needed. 

Sewing the binding on the top of the bag was a little difficult as the bag was occupied as soon as I put it down beside me on the couch.. 



But I was able to finish the binding and sew the handles on by bribing Marshmallow out of the bag. 

Taking a picure of the finished bag, on the other hand, resulted in the cat being back im the bag.. 

After a rather grey winter the first sightings of blue sky from my home office/sewing spot was very welcomed. Since then we’ve had a relaps of snow at least four times - sneakers and thin coates one day, showelling snow the next.. 

I hope the rest of the year will continue in this crafty lane. 🤞🏻

F is for.. Flipflops! This is my block for week 12 of the #focuscuttingsewalong hosted by @naomialicec 🩴

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March update

Believe it or not, but there has been time for crafting this past month! And now I have a decent stack of quilttops ready for quilting. Last week I picked up the 4 meters of batting I ordered online (400 centimeters/160 inches) - and last night I prepped and cut the batting, making some of the quilttops ready for quilting. I honestly thought that 4 meters of batting would last a little longer than it did, but I could just prep four quilttops - and if I join two pieces together I think I might be able to prep another one. Then I need to see if I have any backing that's big enough..

One of my finished projects is this tote bag. It was a quilt-as-you-go kit from one of the Sew Sampler boxes from Fat Quarter Shop. Instead of using the fabric that was in the box (that was used for something else) I ventured into my box of leftovers from other projects. Most of the fabric came from two different lines of fabric with the theme of sea and sea creatures - and I added a couple of other pieces of favorite fabric. The furry "thing" is not part of the tote bag, nor a decoration.. 

It's the cat. Which really enjoys to crawl into or inside everything I try to make. Which is sort of cute - and a little annoying. When she thinks I've worked enought (or too much) or spent too much time crafting, she'll either sit on top of things (my laptop, the sewing machine, the fabric I'm using/cutting, and so on). Most of these things are OK, but there was a big fat "no-no" to be playing in the quilt tops when I was trying to get the batting ready. Grumpily she observed me from her cat tower..

P was on a cabin trip with a friend a couple of weeks ago - and I think Marshmallow missed him, because as soon as he came home and opened his bag to unpack it... well, you can see for yourself. 

Underneath my ironing board I've placed this furry cat cave/pillow, hoping that she'd stay here instead of in the middle of my projects or work stuff.. She does crawl in and enjoy the comfy furry-ness, but her favorite is still to sit on my lap (while I try to work) during meetings. 

A turned 9 on March 1st - and last Sunday we finally celebrated her with the girls in her class. This concludes three weekends of celebration - and I am DONE with baking cakes and preparing stuff. Atleast until April 10th, when it's P's birthday.

Last night there was a little Goldielocks-situation when A was going to bed. As the littlest bear found Goldilocks sleeping in his bed, Marshmallow was comfortably sleeping in A's bed/covers. 

F is for.. Frodo! This is my block for week 11 of the #focuscuttingsewalong hosted by @naomialicec 🌋

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Marshmallow considering her next move.. #gusandbellabox @gusandbellabox

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Latest finished projects

There's been much work and not much crafty-time so far i 2024. Which is a bummer. Crafting gives me energy - but seemingly all my time is spent working or following up activities within the family - and when things finally calm down, it's time for bed. This week is the kids' winter vacation from school (week 8 each year in our part of the country). And this year I've managed to get some alone-time (well, me and the cat) and I'm trying to squeeze in as much time crafting as possible. Sewing, in particular. 

I managed to start and finish this zipper pouch from a kit the other evening. It basically took me all evening - from dinnertime to bedtime - but the endresults were kinda cute. This was a kit from a Sew Sampler Box (a subscription from Fat Quarter Shop), and included stabilisers with printed pattern, fabric, zipper and sewing instructions. I learned a little from other people who've made the same pouch (my mom included) and decided to skip the stabilisers on the lining fabric, thus making it a little bit softer, and quite a bit fewer layers of fabric to sew through at the end. 

It was nice to finally finish one of the projects from these boxes - seeing as I have a "few" in storage waiting to be made. (The box comes monthly, and will always contain a pattern or two, some fabric - not always the background required - some notions and new to me items that I can try.) The techniques used in these patters are not always ones that I use often, but it's good to be challenged sometimes, and to learn new things. The fabric and colours too are not always in my usual scheme, but that too is fun. I don't think I'd buy all of these lines of fabric if I was to select them myself. 

I've also been knitting a bit. I've knitted a cowl in handdyed yarn (Garnsurr), which turned out thin and stretchy and nice to wear (I'm almost always cold, and I get headaches if my neck gets too cold). The cowl is called The Traveler Cowl and is designed by Drea Renee Knits. I knitted the women's size and used almost a whole 400 meters/100 grams skein of yarn. 

And lastly (well, actually the first finished project of these three) is my little Going round in circles-project. I bought these four packs of fabric, thread and buttons at the Festival of Quilts last August, and finally finished them into this little table topper piece. 

I'm currently working on two quilt tops, which I'm hoping to finish tonight - I doubt it, though, things have a tendency to turn up and change my plans. I have some birthday presents to wrap too, one more week and Aurora will be nine years old. 

This took all of last night.. but turned out quite cute. 🥰 #sewsampler #sewsamplerbox @fatquartershop

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