Blog Archives

Trip to the frozen North

29/1/2011

I have some very exciting news to share with my blog followers. On Tuesday I am off on another epic journey to the frozen North - yes, I am off to Norway again - I will be staying with Eva, in Otta, and together we will travel to stay with Hanne, in Bodø, and we will be doing a course with AnnAKa. While we are travelling back to Otta from Bodø, Eva and me are stopping off in Trondheim so we can meet up with a blogging friend, Laila, and visit a quiltshop Quiltegården.....

.....it will be great to meet up with Hanne and Eva, who have both become very special friends, and I expect we'll have a lot to catch up with. I've got my thermal undies packed, along with plenty of layers to keep me warm on my travels. I'll post plenty of pictures on my blog when I get back :).....

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Schnibbles patterns have finally arrived!!

27/1/2011

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I'd ordered these Schnibbles patterns AGES ago and today they finally arrived, via a detour to my local sorting office, as there was a customs fee to pay - grrrrr - anyway, I am now the proud owner of 6 of these little beauties, that I bought from Sarah over at her etsy shop, Swellcloth. They arrived beautifully wrapped in tissue paper - thank you so much Sarah - and now just have to get the "Mon Ami" one made up and email a piccy to Sherri before Feb 1st - looks like I'll be sewing this weekend :)
These Schnibbles patterns are : Joy Luck, Jacks, Paganini, Domino, Sweet Spot and Mon Ami. Does anyone know of a UK supplier to Schnibbles patterns?? I've got the book, Schnibbles Times Two, and it's fab!!

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Woodland walks.....

26/1/2011

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If you go down to the woods today you're sure of a big surprise..... no, it's not a Teddy Bear's picnic, but lots of tree fungus.....

....it really is amazing what you can see when you're out and about with your camera.....

.....several years ago I completed this "Eva Rosenstand" cross-stich picture of fungi - unfortunately, I didn't see any of these specimens in the woods near my home!

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A trip to Halfpenny Home

25/1/2011

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Today I went on a trip to Needham Market, to visit Nicola, at Halfpenny Home. With Mr F navigating, and me driving, we made our way along country roads, into deepest Suffolk, and this is what greeted us on our arrival.....

.....as you can see, an absolute Aladin's cave of treasures with beautiful laces, linens and fabrics.....

.....all sorts of haberdashery - ribbons, threads, buttons, ric-rac, pins - I was like a child in a sweet shop as I really didn't know where to look first.....

.....my sister Lisa's crafts are for sale here (sorry Lisa - I didn't get a piccie!!!) and was the reason I wanted to visit. And I even managed to buy something while I was there, but that's a secret as it's a present for a friend :)

.....I shall be making a regular trip to Halfpenny Home now I know where it is - Nicola was really lovely (it must be the name hehehe!!) and made us feel very welcome. She made both me and the long-suffering Mr F a nice cup of tea, and she didn't mind at all while I was merrily snapping away with my camera!!

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New tablerunner is finished!!

24/1/2011

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I quilted my new runner using a longer than usual stitch, (length about 3mm), using "stitch-in-the-ditch" and then half an inch either side of each block, using a YLI varigated quilting thread in black/ white/ grey on the top and a Mettler quilting thread in the bobbin, in white. Then I quilted around each centre square using the same white quilting thread for both top and bottom. I didn't want to buy more fabric for the backing, so I used a beautiful Makower white paisley tone-on-tone from my stash - totally impractical, but it looks very funky and modern.....

.....this close-up shows the detail of the backing fabric I used. I prefer to hand sew my bindings to the back of my runners/ quilts - I use the same machine quilting thread, Mettler, using a slip stitch and a quilters knot to secure the ends, mitring the corners as I go.....

.....Prairie Points are added - and the binding is finished. I used the last of my Armo fleece for the wadding.....

.....and here it is, completed, taking pride of place on my dining room table. It looks fab!!

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A parcel from Lappedilla "Blå visdomsord"

24/1/2011

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A parcel arrived last week, from my friend Hanne, who owns a lovely quilt shop in Bodø, Norway, called Lappedilla. Inside was the fabric pack to make a new AnnAKa pattern, "Blå visdomsord" (Words of Wisdom).
The fabrics are lovely, and she also sent me a Norwegian quilting magazine, Quiltemagasinet. This will keep me out of mischief for a few hours!!

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New tablerunner..... and lots of chain piecing!

23/1/2011

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All the fabric has been cut for my new tablerunner - and now it's time for lots of chain piecing to add the inner borders (a folded strip) to each centre square, then I can chain piece all the outer strips of the block. I have adapted the pattern (Kle kjokkenet i 60-tansdrakt5) to make this runner longer - there will be a total of 18 blocks altogether.....

..... all the blocks are sewn together, and I've made the binding with the stripey fabric (I really like stripey bindings and have used this idea on several quilts/ tablerunners). My top tip for joining stripey fabric for binding, is to join the strips of fabric end-to-end rather than using a diagonal seam. Now to find some suitable backing fabric from my stash so I can get this quilted and onto my table!!

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Homespun magazine

23/1/2011

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Oh look what arrived in the post on Saturday - 2 issues of Homespun magazine. I've got a subscription for this magazine from The Fat Quarters. I'll be able to spend the afternoon reading these for some inspiration and chilling out with a cuppa :)

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Another trip to "The Pretty Birdcage"

22/1/2011

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I took a trip over to "The Pretty Birdcage" at Framlingham to see my friend Carolyn, and to oooh and aaah at all the lovely fabrics in her shop. Her website should be up and running sooooon.....

.....while I was there, I couldn't resist this bundle of fat quarters "Crazy Daisy Doodle" by Michael Miller - and yes, it's for ANOTHER tablerunner - the Java runner is now on display at Quilters Haven, so my table is looking a bit bare.....

.....I had gone over to The Pretty Birdcage a couple of weeks ago - and picked up these Aussie patterns - I'll make a start on the Christmas stitchery soon - once I've got my Norwegian projects finished :)

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Java tablerunner part 4

20/1/2011

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OK, so last week I was able to turn this bundle of Java fat quarters, oh - plus some backing fabric, binding fabric and a fabulous reel of Mettler silk-effect varigated thread (I really am loving this thread and can see my thread stash is going to increase ENORMOUSLY as there is a huge range of colours over at Quilters Haven) daadaaa.....drum roll please.....

.....into this runner - pattern by AnnAKa - Kle kjokkenet i 60-tansdrakt5 from Quiltemagasinet, issue 04/2007.....

.....and 6 placemats. I'm really pleased with how this has turned out. I still need to get some buttons to sew onto the prairie points - but have already put it to good use on the dining table!!

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<<Previous

Trip to the frozen North

Schnibbles patterns have finally arrived!!

Woodland walks.....

A trip to Halfpenny Home

New tablerunner is finished!!

A parcel from Lappedilla "Blå visdomsord"

New tablerunner..... and lots of chain piecing!

Homespun magazine

Another trip to "The Pretty Birdcage"

Java tablerunner part 4

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