Several of my blog followers and FB friends have often asked me about where they can buy patterns by AnnAKa - they are available from quilt shops in Scandinavia, and there are lots of links on the side bar of my blog. I buy mine from my friend Hanne who has a quilt shop in Bodø called Lappedilla, and also from Elisabeth who has a quilt shop in Sweden called Lapp-Elisa. Please contact them if you need any help with ordering patterns - they will be very happy to help you. This shows me with Ann and my friend Hanne when I went to stay in Norway for the first time in November, 2009 - I was lucky enough to be invited to stay with Hanne and to do a course with Ann - it was extremely exciting! I had such a great time there, and made friends with lots of Norwegian ladies - hei hei!! And this picture was taken when I met Ann the second time, in 2011 and I did ANOTHER course with her - I really am VERY lucky!! And of course I'm lucky to have so many Norwegian friends - especially Hanne and Eva. I've got quite a large collection of AnnAKa patterns, as you can probably imagine!
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Do you remember a few months ago I made a baby quilt for my Norwegian friend Hanne's daughter, Marthe, who was expecting a baby boy? Well here is baby Henrik - he is a few months old now, but here he is, a very handsome fellow, and as you can see he looks very happy laying on the quilt that I made for him! Marthe's sister Sofie is expecting a little girl soon, and I need to post a baby quilt off to her too!!
If any of my blog readers are local to this area (or even if they're not!!) they might be interested in a Norwegian Day that is being hosted at my local quilt shop. The owner, Karin, is hosting this day and there will be a rep from the Hurtigruten. She will describe the epic voyage along the Norwegian coast made by the Hurtigruten ships since 1870. Her talk will feature highlights from the 37 towns visited each day by two working ships, one calling from the south and the other calling from the north as they bring vital supplies to the local people. One of the stops along the route is in Bodø, just North of the Arctic Circle, where my friend Hanne has the most wonderful quilt shop - Lappedila - hei hei Hanne!!..... .....there will be coffee and waffles (Norwegian waffles are DELICIOUS and I've got my very own Norwegian waffle maker that my friend Eva bought me when she came to stay with me - how lucky am I!!) - and a "make and take" that my daughter Alice is teaching, and a free raffle too.... .....anyway, the most important thing is, Karin asked me if I could lend her some of my Norwegian projects to display in the shop. Well of course I said yes, so there will be lots of my work on display, mostly table runners, and some bags - all designs that I have made from Scandinavian patterns and magazines. Hope to see you there!! These small toiletry bags are my favourite small quilted projects, and I've been busy making two more for two very special friends that I am spending some time with over the next few days. I've used 2 different Lecien collections - the first is Durham Anew, and this fabric was purchased last year from Sew and So's in Bungay. I've added some cream vintage lace trimming along the binding and used a lemon coloured zipper. This was quilted very simply in a 2" cross-hatch design, using a variegated pink King Tut quilting thread. The pattern? Well these are based on a pattern by the Norwegian designer AnnAKa called Annas Sminkepung and I have modified the pattern a bit, as I tend to make these little bags different sizes depending on the size of fabric and trimmings I've already prepared..... .....and secondly I have used Flower Sugar, again a Lecien print, which I have combined with some white broderie anglais - I think this looks really pretty and fresh. I trimmed the binding edge with white ric-rac and used a white zipper to keep it looking bright and fresh. And labels? I added a label to the inside seam on the first toiletry bag, and as you can see I added a label as a "tab" on the second bag, along with a hanging tab so it can be hung up on a hook in your bathroom or bedroom. I do hope my friends will be pleased with these. Right now these toiletry bags are going to be packed in my case as I'm going on a trip for a few days to Birmingham - more about that tomorrow! I had seen these placemats on Anne-Grethe's blog, and was inspired to make something similar, using a mixture of linen and batiks - my favourite fabrics. So this weekend I have been busy making some placemats using this pattern, "Kveldsmat" (which means "Supper") and the pattern is from the latest issue of "myQuilt" 1/2012. As you know, I don't actually speak Norwegian - so I had to study the diagrams very carefully..... .....last year when I stayed with Eva and Hanne in Norway, I bought this beautiful piece of turquoise linen from Hanne's shop, Lappedilla, and then I bought this selection of batiks when I went to the Festival of Quilts last summer. I thought this combination of fabrics would be perfect for this project... .....linen can be a bit tricky to cut as it can slide around on your cutting board, and Hanne had given me a top tip - to iron a soft fusible vilene to the wrong side of the linen, to make it easier to both cut and sew. I used some vilene H180 that I normally use for stitchery..... .....I quilted these placemats very simply, with a cross-hatch pattern on the linen and "stitch-in-the-ditch" around the batik pieces..... .....then these placemats were finished off with a couple of prarie points, and I used a striped batik for a single-fold binding. I have made 4 of these placemats, and have enough batiks and linen leftover to make a runner for a table too. Now woul these look good on your table when you're having coffee and cake?? Or afternoon tea? It's the new term at quilt group, and I've got the perfect project to take along to complete - Siris Duk, a tablerunner pattern by AnnAKa. I had bought this as a kit from Lappedilla when I first met Hanne in November 2009..... .....I had already made a runner for my dining table table with this kit in 2009. I had saved all the left-over scraps, and luckily had enough to make a smaller runner for my coffee table..... .....I had already pieced the runner together earlier this week and made a start on the quilting - stitch-in-the ditch to start with, followed by a random cross-hatch pattern which was then embellished with some cording (this is made MUCH easier with a special cording foot)..... .....so last night at the quilt group I was able to do this - some machine applique - again, I used a button-hole stitch for this. The heart shapes were fused into place with steam-a-seam-lite (see previous blog post about how to do this). I didn't get to bind it last night as I was a bit busy chatting away too..... .....anyway, this morning I've finished sewing on the binding - I have used the same fabric as the backing (Peace On Earth by 3 Sisters for Moda). Oh and finished with a flourish of course!..... .....now I can have the same style runner on the dining table AND on the coffee table. Wonder how long it will be before it's covered with mugs, newspapers, magazines, the laptop etc etc! WARNING!!! here follows a series of pictures of fabulous quilting magazines, Norwegian patterns (for runners and placemats and quilts and bags and cushions) and some absolutely-to-die-for fabrics. If you love quilting, you'll be green with envy - if you're Mr F you might have to lay down in a dark room for a few hours - anyway, let's get the party started..... .....firstly, the Christmas in July edition of my favourite Australian quilting magazine, Homepun, from The Fat Quarters based in Northumberland, full of projects that I can't wait to get started on, and Quiltemagasinet, a Norwegian magazine that I subscribe to, and is sent to me from my friend Hanne..... .....then this arrived in the post - a beautiful kit from Elisabeth at Lapp-Elise to make an AnnAKa pattern "Sommerblomster" (Summer Flowers) and in a parcel from Hanne, there's yet another AnnAKa pattern "Jordbærdrøm" (this one translates to Strawberry Dream) and will make a bag, placemats and potholders, and both patterns use a mixture of piecing and applique..... .....yes yes yes, there's yet another AnnaKa pattern, "Enkel sommerløper" (Simple Summer runner) together with all the fabric to make a tablerunner - this pattern also involves piecing, applique and stichery - Hanne I'm going to be VERY busy hehe!..... .....this beautiful pack of fabric came with the AnnAKa pattern "Britt-Lisa`s Blomsterkurver" (Britt-Lisa's Flower Baskets) and is a pattern for a tablerunner with matching cushions, again using piecing, applique and stitchery. These colours and fabrics are so beautiful - Hanne puts the most wonderful kits together.... .....and finally, some Myquilt patterns - they are a bit more difficult, and I will probably need help from my Norwegian friends Eva and Hanne to help me translate these!! A couple of days ago my friend Hanne sent me a HUGE parcel from Norway - the latest AnnAKa designs, and the material packs to make two new runners..... .....Helårspynt - rich oranges and reds - can't wait to get this one made up - .....and Lilla fristelser - this will look lovely on my table - hmmm - if I made a start now could I get this one finished ready for Easter?? This is the kit "Puslespill" that Hanne sent me last week - lots more machine applique!! Once the pieces were fused to the background block, I used Vliseline Stitch-n-tear on the back..... .....my favourite wadding for tablerunners is Pellon, and this is a fusible one - I iron the wadding to the backing fabric, this elimates the need for pin basting..... .....and I prefer to use 505 spray to baste the runner to the pellon ..... .....and finally it is quilted, bound and decorated with Yo-yo's. I used a King Tut varigated quilting thread shade 991 for this - yes Heather, this was in my thread stash!! - and hey presto - another runner completed! AnnAKa's latest pattern, "Puslespill" (Puzzle pieces) has instructions for both a cot quilt and a runner and pot holders. So today the postman delivered another parcel from Lappedilla, with a material pack containing all the fabrics including backing, and ricrac to make this runner.....as you know I don't have many of those!! Now have I got the right colour thread for quilting this?? Better go and have a look in my thread stash - I might be some time!! |
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July 2023
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