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Meeting Norwegian friends

17/8/2011

It was really great to be able to spend a few days with Hanne and Eva. While we were there we met Merete, who is a long-arm quilter in Norway. I saw some of her work when I stayed in Norway, and it is really beautiful.....

.....then we bumped into Merete again the next day! We also saw Heidi Bolgnes several times (another lovely Norwegian lady who I met in February during my travels) - sorry I didn't get a photograph of us together Heidi - maybe next time?.....

.....and I was really excited about meeting two Norwegian sisters, Anne-Grethe and Mona (they are also nurses, something else we have in common!) and I have been following their blogs for a few years. We all had the same bag, "Håndbagasje" (hand luggage) by AnnAKa, and several ladies all stopped to take our photographs.....

.....I "borrowed" this picture from Anne-Grethe's blog to show you what I mean - do you think they were saying "oh there's that famous Nicola Foreman" hehehe.....

.....and finally Eva and Hanne on our final night in Birmingham. We had such a great time together - shopping for fabric, looking at a few quilts, shopping for fabric, chatting, shopping for fabric, eating - oh and by the way we had time to do a bit of shopping for fabric too! I really am very lucky to have such good friends.

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Festival of Quilts 2011

16/8/2011

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A few months ago, when I stayed with Hanne and Eva in Norway, I told them how wonderful the Festival of Quilts is. It is held at the NEC in Birmingham, and usually I just go for the day. Then I hatched a great plan - I would book a family room in a Travelodge in Birmingham, and maybe Hanne and Eva could come to England for a few days holiday so we could all go to the quilt show together.....

.....there were hundreds of stalls selling so many lovely fabrics and threads - it was really hard to know where to start!
It was great to meet Kim, from The Fat Quarters in Northumberland, where I get my subscription of a great quilting magazine - Australian Homespun.
Together with Debbie Johnson she has just written another book,"Shopping Days" and is available on The Fat Quarters website.....

.....and then I met Mandy Shaw, of Dandelion Designs, who had a beautiful stand filled with her designs and projects. She lives near my neice in Hailsham, so maybe I can plan a little shopping trip next time I go to visit her.....

.....and here's Holly, who was helping out on the Quilters Haven stand - I haven't seen Holly for several months, as she used to work at my local quilt shop, but then moved to Cheshire, and lucky girl - she now has a job in another quilt shop!!
Tomorrow I'll show you pictures of the Norwegian friends that I met in Birmingham.

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Home from Birmingham

15/8/2011

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Well after a short break in Birmingham with Hanne and Eva, I made the long train journey back home to sunny Suffolk. We'd had a great time together at the Festival of Quilts, and I think I saw more Norwegian friends than English ones!! I met Merete and Heidi, who I had previously made friends with when I stayed in Norway in February, and I also met two of my Facebook friends, Anne-Grethe and Mona, (they have FABULOUS blogs) which was VERY exciting!
As you can see from the picture of my luggage when I arrived home, my suitcase was bursting at the seams and my shopping trolley was full to the brim of fabrics and threads and ribbon and books and all sorts of quilting paraphernalia! Well now I need a cup of tea and a long soak in the bath and tomorrow I'll share lots of piccies of my trip to Brum.

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Off to Birmingham :)

11/8/2011

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OK blog readers - as you can see my suitcase is packed - and I have got some VERY exciting news - I will be taking a few days break from blogging as I am going to the NEC at Birmingham, to the Festival of Quilts, and will be staying there for a few days - no, not actually staying with the quilts!! - but in a Travelodge - with Hanne and Eva!!! I am so excited - it will be lovely to see them again. We'll do lots of shopping for fabrics and threads (oh Heather I NEED a few more threads), and looking at quilts, and a bit more shopping, and some workshops - and if there's time, we'll do a bit more shopping. Well, we don't come home until Monday - what else can we do?
AND I'm also going to meet up with Merete, who I made friends with when I stayed in Norway, and also hope to meet up with some FB friends, Anne-Grethe and her sister Mona - gosh I'm giddy with excitement!! And poor Mr F is probably looking forward to some peace and quiet while I'm away!

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Ladies who lunch and sew and knit and crochet :)

7/8/2011

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My friend Heather came up with a BRILLIANT idea - a day at her house for like-minded ladies, to sew and knit crochet and of course EAT!! I made pavlovas to take along for a shared lunch(with eggs from my hens, of course) and off I went. Anyway, this was my project for the day, a stitchery pattern by Leanne Beasley, called Peace and Plenty, shown here with my very useful Couch Companion.....

.....and here I am teaching Sian how to make a boxy-bag - she was an excellent student, AND she managed to get if finished which is more than can be said for my stitchery!! Oh well, just have to take it with me on the train later in the week ;)
There were lots of other activities going on - (mostly eating and talking) but there was crocheting too and general oohhing-and-ahhing with a show and tell. We all had a great time, then left poor Heather to tidy up!! looking forward to doing it all again soon ladies.

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Sondre's quilt - in progress

5/8/2011

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Last night I went along to Quilt Club, and made a start on this quilt - I really love these fabrics and colours - anyway, I was stitching like a mad woman, and managed to piece the whole quilt top - this picture shows the checkerboard centre panel, but I have also sewn on the narrow blue borders and the wider cream panels - it looks fab!.....

.....and these Jelly Roll strips will be pieced together to make the back. Guess what I'll be doing this weekend ;)

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A baby quilt for Sondre

2/8/2011

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I have some very exciting news - my friend Eva from Norway has just become a Grandmother, and I am making a quilt for the new baby - a little boy called Sondre. I bought this Jelly Roll and fabric (Lily and Will by Bunny Hill Designs for Moda) from Quilters Haven. This will be quilted with a cream Mettler thread.....

.....I am using this pattern by Teaginny Designs that was a free download from the Moda Bake Shop website. Sorry, but I can't post any more pictures yet as I have a very tight time scale to work with - but more about that later on :)

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Just Wing It - completed

1/8/2011

This is the quilt that I first blogged about here - and Mollie had left me a comment about this quilt, asking me about the backing fabric that I had used, as she's also making a quilt with "Just Wing it" fabric, so I promised her I would add a post to my blog especially for her :)
The backing was pieced, with a half metre of "Just Wing It" fabric that I bought from Quilters Cloth and with a white-on-white spot fabric from Quilters Haven, sewn to either side.....

.....I have used Quilters Dream wadding in "Select" weight for this project, and I've quilted this firstly with "stitch-in-the-ditch".....

.....then I used lots and lots of straight-row quilting, each row half an inch apart, using white Mettler quilting thread both in the top and in the bobbin. I didn't bother to mark any rows, I just used the edge of the walking foot as a guide. This picture shows the front of the quilt..........

.....and this picture shows the back of the quilt, which showcases this beautiful fabric with flowers and butterflies. You can get a copy of this free pattern, by the very talented Oh,Fransson! from Sew Mama Sew....

.....and finally the binding - I used a green and blue print from the "Just Wing It" range by Momo for Moda, again from Quilters Cloth. This is for one of my colleagues, who is expecting her first baby VERY soon :)

Forward>>

Meeting Norwegian friends

Festival of Quilts 2011

Home from Birmingham

Off to Birmingham :)

Ladies who lunch and sew and knit and crochet :)

Sondre's quilt - in progress

A baby quilt for Sondre

Just Wing It - completed

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