A summary of the last two weeks

Last September the quilt guild planned a weekend of sewing together (sy-sammen) and decided to bring my sewing machine with me, to get some things started and finished. Well... I couldn't for the life of me find my sewing machine bag! So annoying.. So, I ended up bringing with me a bunch of prepping, drawing and cutting for the first day - and the second day I brought my sewing machine in a bag from the Festival of Quilts (merchendise from my first visit back in 2017, a jute bag). Well, it worked, the sewing machine fitted almost like a glove (but carrying the thing was a pain in the...). 

So! Come February 2023 and the next weekend is getting near - and I still have not found the bag. I have turned the attic upside down, looked in every box and closet. Considered if I had lent it to someone... or if it had been thrown out during one of our cleaning sprees..

I brought with me epp and prepping, again, but still a little pissed about the missing bag.. 

And then, hubby goes to Spain and I'm spending an evening scrolling, looking for alternatives and possibilites of buying a new one (yikes, those things are expensive!), when I just get the whole "this is insane" and "I know I have one" - leading me to return to the attic for another round of searching.

And what would you know, in the back - the completely opposite end of the attic from where all the other bags and suitcases are stored - wedged between the wall and a cardboard box (not mine), partly underneat the boxes from some kind of Nintendo system - and no less than 4 (yes..) chess boards, a tiny part of my sewing machine bag is desperately trying to get my attention! 

*yay!* It literally took me 6 months to find it, but now I'm ready for my guilds next sewing arrangement! 

For Christmas my mom made A a wallhanging of a unicorn from Elizabeth Hartman (Lisa the unicorn) and I've been thinking about how to hang the quilt in A's room. Normally I'd use a board or a piece of wood and two hooks, but seeing as she often changes her mind about where and what to hang, I didn't want to put too many holes in the walls. Cue our latest visit to the used stuff store (OMA). 

They had two (I regret not buying the second one too) cast iron things for hanging traditionally woven wall pieces, and the size was just PERFECT for A's unicorn! 

I've also bought new socks.. because I thought they were funny - and because they matched a sticker I got from Fox and Cactus. 

Just waiting for Winter to end so that I can stop wearing wooly socks again.. 

My block for week 6 of the #sbyskalsal relates to me watching movies and series while crafting. LotR and GoT are two of many alternatives that comes to mind when I think about previous crafting and entertainment. I hardly watch anything without a project to work on. 🤓

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This is my block for week 5 of the #focuscuttingsewalong hosted by @naomialicec 🗺️ These vikings were just too cute not to use, and represent Norway and our history pretty well. 😊

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My first block for the kaleidoscope epp sewalong hosted by @emilydoesepp and thr @stepbysteppc ❤️ January’s theme is Sense of Place. Living in Norway - and making a block for January - more or less mean snow.. So here are some skiers out in the snow (one even fell) surrounded by iceblue snowflakes. ❄️ ##sbyskalsal Apologies in advance for the spamming of blocks following this one.. 😇 I had to wait a little extra for my templates and paper, but now I’m ready!

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A Finish on a Tuesday

My mom and I have been exchanging Advent calendars for a few years now. In a smaller scale, considering that we only prepare parcels for each of the Sundays in Advent. In these parcels we include things that we think the other one would like - being a pattern, fabric, sewing notions, hand cream - or parts to make a project.

I don't remember when, exactly, but mom included the the background fabric, the readymade shapes and a description of how to join the shapes into this heart. I think the pattern was called Chrysanthemum Heart. (One quick google check later and yes, the pattern is called Chrysanthemum Heart.)

This kinda disappeared between ongoing and new projects for quite some time, until last year, when I created the list of all projects in my drawer of waiting. Just after Christmas I decided that now's the time, and seeing as my mom made hers with fabric from Tula Pink, that I too would do the same. 

I couldn't resist the skull in the heart, it fitted almost precisely in the shape too!

I've done very simple quilting: once around the heart, and then three times around the outside of the big heart approximately 1/4 inch apart, in three different colour quilting thread (blue, pink and purple). 

On the back I used the Jen Kingwell fabric that I won in the last quilt guild meeting. (Very happy with using something so soon after acquiring it, and there's not much left either!) And the binding is some leftover binding from my Nebula (also Tula Pink). To make it nice and squishy I filled it with two pillows that appeared mysteriously when I was finding the Christmas runners and decorations. 

Another project crossed off the list! *yaaaay*

Round up January for the #focuscuttingsewalong hosted by @naomialicec ❤️✖️ The first month and the first theme of the new shapes are over. Ready for February! 😄

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Random pictures and happenings in our home.

The January meeting of the quilt guild was an inspiring one. We had a visitor, telling us about her quilting life and journey - and she brought with her so many gorgeous quilts! 

And, for the second time in my three years as a member, I won in the lottery! Two beautiful, large pieces of fabric (the floral one is from Jen Kingwell).

There's been a long period of greyness around here lately. It is very tiring, especially when it's dark when you go to work - and almost just as dark when you get home again. The snow (appearing and disappearing as the temperature swing and the rain comes and goes) makes it a little lighter, and the sun is finally lenghtening it's appearance a little bit more each day.

Right across the road from my bus stop, there are some birches. In the summer they're green and glorious, in the fall they light up with everchangeing colours - and in the winter they look something like the photo above. Now, this picture is in black and white. Mostly because the streetlights here are of a shade of orange, tinting everything you try to photograph containing white with a hint of orange.

I like photographing trees. Here are some on the side of the road as we're out driving. It was really freezing that day.. 

On our way home from school one day, the sun shone warmly, giving almost a feeling of spring. 

You can see the snow and ice starting to melt on the branches.

I'm not often wearing seemingly glow-in-the-dark protective gear at work, but sometimes I have to. To be honest, this was the second time in my ten years working there I had to wear protective gear. We were visiting the construction site of another project, which was fun and interesting. 

At home we've finally hung the kids' baptism plates (containing information of their birth dates, time of day/night, weight, length and time of baptism). The bottom one is A's, the middle one is P's and the top one is mine. There's no picture on my plate, but a sketching of a mother and baby. 

Ending this post, I'm including a picture from the Disney film Robin Hood, which appeared on one of the social media platforms that I use. It is just incredible. I mean, just look at that face! (Not to mention his arms..)

February is here! I hope January was kind to you and that February will bring you inspiration and crafty goodness.

This is my block for week 4 of the #focuscuttingsewalong hosted by @naomialicec 🍓 Winter’s long, and I long for Summer and strawberries..

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