So moved

Tags

jasmine samba, moving, wool batting

OK, there are two things I truly detest to do – vacuuming and moving houses and the latter is the worse….

So we went up at 6am on Friday and by 7 we where in the cars. Raining, tired…never managed to catch up with The D H even though I drove like crazy ;-o, but never the less made it too Norrköping in time, leaving the dogs and John with Sam. Went to the estate agent an finalized the deal, wen to Sam’s new apartment and unloaded my car and the big trailer. Unpacked my stuff, went back to kids and dogs, the guys carried the heavy stuff plus all the other stuff while I packed the kitchen and bathroom stuff plus Sam’s clothed. Damn, that guy have more clothes than I do…Poor Diego whined like crazy every time The DH and Sam went out the door and he never gave it up and never slept for the whole time. Moved over to the new apt, unpacked all kitchen stuff, had some McD lunch then it’s a blank until dinner – Long Horn Bar takeout.

Yesterday Sam and me went grocery shopping – he could pick up whatever he wanted – mummy paid I think we came away with 6 or 7 large bags filled to the brim. After some more unpacking I felt I just had to leave, so we left the furry girls with The DH and Sam – John with Diego in his lap and drove (in a very fast pace) back home. Diego behaved so well and managed to fall asleep after a while and when we got back home, after having his dinner he was beyond excused 

Me – I had a glass of rosé wine and when my nose found that the Jasmine Sambac plant is in bloom, on w whim I added one flower to the glass and t was yummy One of these days, I’m gonna get me a Jasmine Grandiflorum too.

He was up late with John and therefore we had a looooovely sleep in this morning, can’t remember when I had that ……

Of course I should have taken pictures of Sam’s apartment (I even brought my camera), but I never go around to it and in the end I figured that it’s more fun to show them when it’s all done. Since I will be driving down the week after next to clean the “old” apartment, return the keys to the company and take up Sam’s curtains I will take a lot of pics then.

As for now, I need to go grocery shopping for us and if I have the strength, go and pick up the package with the wooly batting.

Handiwork or not?

Tags

creativity, handicraft, machine embroidery

Yesterday The DH happily told that there is a Janome 1100 for sale on Blocket (like Swedish version but not entirely of eBay) for “just! 19.000SEK. Patting my 7700 affectionally, I told him that it’s mostly an embroidery machine and that I honestly never felt the inclination to own one I mean it – I never understood why you want one? Not even when reading the Green Fairy today and saw a very lovely quilt with fairies and such on several blocks. If they was appliquéd t wold be great work an dif the woman who made it embroidered by hand, even more but when I followed a link to a company selling the patterns I realize that they where machine stitched. Very cute stuff,, but still – machine made.

Well OK all of our stitching together blocks are most of the time machine made…but in my mind that is assembling, not very creative or handmade and not meant to be either. I mean, creativity comes when making the pattern, choosing the fabrics cutting and making it all come together. OK, how many of us makes our own patterns? Is it real creativity to use a pattern? Oh my, now I’m truly getting into the deep end…Yes I think so, but not always…when you use a pattern an slavishly stick to the same fabrics, threads etc then IMHO that is handiwork, not creativity. Like with machine embroidery –  you buy and load the pattern into your machine and thread it and – go! Where on g-s green earth is the creativity in that? Well, feel free to hit me over the head. Tomorrow all of us will travel to Norrköping (two cars and a trailer) to make the apartment ours and move Sam to it. ill probably take Saturday too, so we will all (with fur and without) sleep over. Hurray…???? Plus – it’s going to continue to rain tomorrow too

Paper piecing take 1

Tags

627 hand works, cucumbers, grape vine, paper piecing, tree peony, wool batting

Paper piecing ought to be a fail proof way of constructing quilt block if there ever was. But it is an art form that I only tried once or twice and gave up on cause I couldn’t wrap my head around which way to place the pieces of fabrics, numbers and seams and it all made my head spin.

But in wait for the woolly stuff to get here I need something to keep myself occupied with. First I thought I make some new cathedral windows or some English paper piecing hexagons but it all seem kind of boring. Then I found this site and decided to try Bowie since I liked the lay out of it in the picture. First take:I don’t remember on which blog I saw the combination of red and turquoise, but I liked it a lot, enough to to give it a try. OMG, I don’t know how many times I sew the pieces of fabric the wrong way and had to rip them out, not only that but managed to sew the same block twice, when it ought to have be one left and one right piece to match up….Hmm, was not entirely happy with the way things turned out so I started over, using the FQ bundles of gorgeous Hoffman and Kaufman prints I bought a while ago, thinking this just got to be fantastic.

The same thing – a lot of sewing and unsticking….but in the end I kind of got the hang of it and the last triangles went like a charm. But. The block is even uglier that the firstIt’s so bland and boring that it hurts, take away the brown and you could use it as a meek baby blanket. Even John who is a sweet and kind soul (at times LOL) thought it was boring… So I’m going to pick another pattern from that site and start over, using my kind of colors

In the greenhouse the cucumbers have started to bloom and the grape vie is growing and both have flowers and this tiiiiiiny grape clusterBoth my tree peonies are in bloom, one of them has (after The DH ran it over wit the lawn mover when t was new) grown immensely and after the rain one day earlier this week, they had folded their petals.Today is Swedens national day and we are all of and since tomorrow s Friday and John is  of from school, why go to work? So 4 days of free time (except for the usual chores) = yayyy

Absent

but not absent minded ,-9 I’ve meant to take some new pics of the greenhouse, but during the day it’s to sunny and as soon as dinner is done, I seem to forget it. Will try to remember tomorrow.

After pondering the batting question for Stevie’s Garden, I have now ordered a package of wool batting since it has more loft than my cotton one. The DH and Beth have decided (LOL) that I am to use the green backing and they are so right – it goes best with the top, even though it will be a wall hanging. I think. The DH looked at me with big eyes when I told a possible fate for the finished quilt and exclaimed “are you going to give it to her??? OK hon, I re-consider, but you know that we don’t have any free walls in the house where t can go? Hmmm, I think he rather use it as a comforter in the RV than it leaving our home. Yeah, the RV is a part of our home

Reading blogs is so fun and inspirational and I have several quilting ones I read every day and today I found THIS project. I have always found paper piecing very backwards to do and the few times I have tried, made my poor brain almost cave in. But today I think I finally got it and tomorrow after cleaning girl have been here and me driving my dear friend B here and there, I will pick out some fabrics to try it. The DH though thinks I ought to start some kind of project including Vatican floors…now that is mind boggling if ever…I’ve been watching the first season of The Borgia’s and how I would love to be able to take stills of these floors and work the designs into a quilt… Well, I have even ordered myself yet one more book – tis time on McTavishing and start to dream big an impossible dreams of a Long Arm – yet again….So there you go, three projects; quilting Stevie’s Garden, make something out of floors and a rather simple little paper piecing. Oh don’t forget, I promised I help B with putting in an elastic in her daughters new skirt and then shorten it….

New stuff

Tags

bougainvillea, fabrics, green house, stevie's garden, wide backings

OK, it took a while longer to get these pics out there, but here they are:

The pink backingI think I’m going to use for this But I bought a green one as well that might add a little bit more oump to the project?Honestly, I can’t decide….. Since the flat rate box could hold 11 more yards, I got these new treasures as well:As always I pat them and whisper prrreesssssioussss and hope that they will talk to me and unlock their secrets LOL.

The green house pimping continues, the other day I bought a gorgeous bougainvillea:that I planted in the urn that The DH bought me The tomatoes are thriving in our bedroom window and soon need to be re-planted again. The chillies though, seem to take it’s own good time to grow up. Like Diego ROFLMAO.

Have  lovely weekend though.

Oh yeah or Oh Yay?

Tags

box of fabrics, religion in blogs, swedish customs

The package arrived yesterday and of course Swedish customs had slapped it with some additional taxes and fees. But not as worse as I expected, so I ended up paying like like less than 2/3 of what I have to pay for fabrics over here. And then I have not taken into account that 6 of them 17 yards are wide back and that I can hardly get here and if I do (only found 6 or so different fabrics so far) one meter (almost a yard) will cost me 30€ (38.66USD) plus shipping.  And I paid 13.95USD pr yard :-O Now all understand why I do – not – buy fabrics in Sweden if I don’t have to. Well, pics will be posted later today.

I love to read good creative quilting blogs, don’t you? From both professional quilters and amateurs. But what absolutely make me want to kick out like a horse is when they blend in their religious beliefs…..well in an amateur one, I might understand it although I stop to read, but the professionals??? I simply can’t see what good it is for your business if you go all hallelujah?? All quilters/readers are not religious and/or of the Christian faith….well, when I’m on my soapbox, I just have to say that I truly detest when parents force feed their kids with religion too. Our parents might have been hopeless in some cases, but their motto was; never force your religious or political views on your kids, but let them grow up finding their own way. Good for my sis and me and I raise my kids the same way!

Ack, of the soap box and go get myself some bags of Leca pebbles and some potted herbs. Time to plant the grape vine and the last of the cucumbers. More later.

Fifty shades of – green!

Tags

brugmansia, cucumbers, Diego, fifty shades of green, stevie's garden

Waiting for that huge box of fabrics (at least in my word)  that by some mysterious reason was released by Swedish customs yesterday and on it’s way to me and then – went back to customs and now it’s been cleared since yesterday.been there since day before yesterday. That box contains among a lot of other yardage, the backing for Stevie’s Garden. I do have picked out the fabric for binding  (dark brownish red and kind of taupe thinly striped) but is not entirely sure there is enough. If  make the strips 1.5yrd it might do, but I have to make it a single binding instead of the double I always do.

Since I am in a place where I need to keep occupied (not to go totally bonkers) I have started to embroider a flap thing for a small sewing thingee from Bareroots. I don’t know why, but I have the hardest of time to get even back stitch even….since it’s such a small piece I might cut out  anew piece of fabric and start all over again. And I did. Still, even though the stitches is much better, the design is still very boring – opus….

In the greenhouse right now – 5 pots with angels trumpets (brugmansia) and the buckets with cucumbers. The tomatoes and hot chilies I have brought indoors to the bedroom window where they have started to thrive Outside – just kaboom and we have fifty shades of green – all happening at once.

Last – little Diego who just love the porch swing and jump up on it by himself

Hand stitched in Sweden

Tags

cucumber, melon, Sandra Leichner, stevie's garden, tomato

I think I forgot to tell that the full Stevie’s Garden top (with the exception of the borders) are finger turned and hand  stitched. No glue, no interfacing – just tiny appliqué pins, needle and thread

If I had known at the beginning that I do now, I would just had made the vine and left the leaves until last. As it was now, I had to take out some of them to create space for some of the last flowers.The first stems I did according to the instruction using bias strips, but when it came to the more delicate flower I found them overwhelming and used double rows of stem stitches instead.
All the small circles I did according to Sandra Leichners method (read it through) using no templates or anything. As with everything else, practice make better;.) so when I arrived at the last ones, they turned out almost even.

I fet that a garden needs butterflies, so I added some – a girl has to be creative at times – or??

Sam is still home and will stay for dinner – my mama heart sings. I’ve re-planted some morning glories and anxiously watch my tomatoes that still is rather puny, compared to the cucumbers. I wonder if I’m to get some melon seeds or if it’s too late in the season to plant them now?

One big order

Tags

stevie's garden

First of all – I am still blown away by all the lovely and warming comment’s I have received here and on some of the Yahoo groups I belong to. Oh my, they have made my heart sing and one in particular by no one other than the bad boy of quilting - Mark Lipinski. It made me so proud I could burst – tralllalla

Now that the top is done, I had to find a fitting backing and I did at ToB at an affordable price. The downside was that it didn’t fit into a regular flat rate envelope and I did want it in one piece, so the shipping would cost me a whooping 61USD Now, for that amount of USPS cost I could add a LOT more yards of both regular and extra wide fabrics to the box. Asked The DH for advice and he just said “go with it, if you have done something great, now isn’t the time to get frugal”. So now I have 17yrds (seventeen!!!) yards of fabrics waiting to be shipped to me. HAHA, I’ll bet that package will not slip though Swedish customs unnoticed….but as with everything else, the cost per yard is still round 1/2 of what I would have to pay here and  - that particular fabric can’t be found in any Swedish shop anyway.

Sam and me took a walk with the dogs in the morning, it certainly shows that he has been at practice at a doggie daycare cause Arwen behaved so well on leash that it was unbelivable. Oh it was lovely to be able to walk with Fiona beside me like in the good ol’ days

Scoot over – I know there is place for the both of us in that basin….

Tags

stevie's garden

Loooookkkkkk: It’s all done – well at least the top Stevie’s Garden is Hmm, had to hang it outside since there is no room inside and it’s windy so the piece don’t hang completely straight, but you get the drift. I do think I will add one single butterfly to the right to even up the composition. But I am kind of pride of myself, for pulling it all of imagine, I’ve done all that with my own hands!!! And I am mighty pleased with the border fabrics, they came out the way I had imagined. The outer one I had to splice (do you say that when it comes to fabric too??) and I worked quite hard to make everything match up. And then I mitered the outer border corners, working as hard to get them even….the only thing is that the border pattern in the corners don’t match up. But even though I have read the book on Binding and Bordersback and forth, I really couldn’t figured it out. But in time I will. Figure out how you do that, that is. Now what remains is to sandwich it and then – quilt it = mofasa….family word (adopted from The Lion King) which means – the worse thing ever;-) To bad I don’t live in Utah,close to the Green Fairy.…

BTW – Sam is home for the extended weekend