Happy New Year

I have finally sat down with my new laptop (I turned 50 in October and the family gave me a Toshiba) to make a post. I have been thinking about posting a lot lately and wish I'd done it yesterday as I'd planned, to finish up the year so to speak. But cooking took more time than I thought and then I actually sat down in front of the TV, which happens almost never and I ended up watching it until two in the morning.

But on to some quilty things.

Here is my Elm Street, finished. It covers my guest bed, but is actually to big for it.

I told my mother about Bonnie Hunter and how she uses pages from phone books to sew strips on. This is what mom came up with. I fell completely in love with this quilt while I quilted it for my mother. It will go to my younger brother. 

I went on a UFO finishing spree the last few weeks of the year and dug up some blocks from swaps which I then sewed up in tops. Here are two of them. Attic Window with winter theme.

And one with Christmas theme. Both tops need borders and I'm waiting for a bit longer days and better weather before choosing fabrics for the borders. The days have been very dark lately. 

                                                   

At the beginning of the year I started a Block of the Month for a internet group I'm in, with the history of Iceland as the theme. 

I used the Attic Window pattern to finish the blocks into a top because we were looking through the windows of the past. I chose dark blue for the sides and snowy pale blue for the bottom because I started and ended the project in the darkest time of the year with much snow on the ground and covering our windows. It's the same here though, regarding the last border/s. I will wait for better light to choose the fabric, but I can't wait to long as the ladies are waiting for the last/finishing file.

Somehow I put the strips of fabric on the (to me) wrong side of the blocks and I could not see the 3D effect. (Although I see it now, could not see it when I first took the photo)

So I ripped and resewed and am happier with the top now. 

The wall behind the fleece I use as design wall looks terrible lavender in the photos, it's not quite so bad in reality, but I was finishing up lots of rests of paint, purple, blue, yellow and pale, pale sand and this was the result. This reminds me that I have yet to make a post about my new sewing room that I moved into last winter (2012)

I am making Bonnie Hunter's new mystery, Celtic Solstice, but it's not going well. I sewed over a pin in November and the needle position is not quite right since. I forget it half the time and the tri rec units are not very forgiving when the seam allowance is not accurate. Sigh. This quilt will be for DD2 and her Hubby to be. They will get married this coming summer. I offered her the Elm Street but she said it was just not in her colors. So she chose the colors for the CS and they are blue, green, burgundy and then I added grey for the fourth color.

Now I better post this while it's still New Years Eve. Which reminds me, last night was not New Years Eve, oh no, not in Iceland. It was Old Years Eve. Tonight is New Years Eve.

Sunna.

Finally.

Blogger has finally let me in again, wonder if I can comment too. I have also tried to comment as anonymous, but the result has not been rewarding. Am seriously thinking about moving my blog, this is just to much bother.

But enough of that, might as well use the opportunity to post a few photos. I'm still sewing and quilting a lot and have started quilting for others. 

First of all, here is my version of Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street. I though, call it Elm Street (not kidding) and have added borders since this photo was taken. I plan to quilt it this summer.

Here is an orphan quilt I made and gave to charity. The alternate Nine Patch blocks were supposed to be the first step in a mystery on a Yahoo group I'm in, but I forgot to read ALL THE WAY through the instructions and ended with 32 "wrong" blocks. And although the quilt is much to busy, I like it. 

Star swap blocks with alternate Hour Glass blocks. This also went to a charity and has the bright stars.

Here are the earth colored stars, the Hour Glass blocks have different lighter fabrics, but the dark fabric is all from the same piece. 

And here is the last quilt I made for charity this spring. The top came from a friend who didn't like the top. When I mentioned it would be perfect for the charity I sew for, my friend handed the top over to me and told me to finish it then. I added the borders that calmed the quilt down and it's actually very pretty. 

A few years ago I was given a panel that I had no idea what to do with. Then one night when I was just about to enter the dreamland I  remembered the witches and wizard fabric I bought about ten years ago. And that was it. I finished the quilt and mailed it to a friend in Louisiana who gave it to an (hurricane) Isaac victim. 

The quilting.

The back is a soft old curtain and I found it funny that it had all the same colors as the front. Perfect.

Wonder when blogger will let me in again, I admit though that I don't try every day. Lol.

Sunna.

PS. This post was very easy to make, managing the photos is much easier than it used to, so if I can get in again soon I might continue with blogger. We'll see.

Few more quilts.

Both my uncle and his wife turned/turn 70 this year and I thought this would make good snuggle quilt in their summer house. It was a quilt a long that Joanne at Thread Head hosted and was a bit of a challenge. The blocks are 9" and were great fun to make. I love the alternate blocks. I posted a photo of the top when it was finished and in that photo one of the alternate blocks was turned wrong. It took my mom to see this when I oh, so proudly showed her the photo while visiting in the city. The block has been turned right.

 

This top was made last winter and mailed to a friend who finished it and donated it to charity.

Here is the finished mystery from last year sewing day with Gudrun Erla at GE Designs I did not like the open spaces so appliqued little flower baskets on them. I'm not that much of a quilter yet that I'm comfortable whit quilting in open spaces like that. But I will be, I'm slowly getting there. Hm... and then I quilted this quilt to death. This quilt has yet to find a home.

Lastly,  here is another top I mailed to my friend, it was made at retreat in May and is a Moda Bakeshop pattern.

That's it for now.

Sunna.

Blogger let me in.

I have been trying to get in to my blog for some time and had no luck until now suddenly. Blogger always told me I had no blog and invited me to create one. Huh. I can't keep up with this one blog so I'm certainly not going to start new ones.

When looking at my last post I realized I had not posted about the six quilts I gave to a children charity (here in Iceland) last May. This one I made with all my pink and purple orphan blocks. The size is 59 1/2" x 46" and I love how it turned out.

 This quilt and the next were made with 12" Lotto blocks I won from a group I'm in on Yahoo. First time I FM quilted feathers (in the borders) and I was content with the outcome. And the size is  41 1/2" x 35 1/2".

 First time also that I FM quilted swirls (in the centers) and I was pretty happy with them too.

About a year ago I went to a retreat where I got a small romantic jelly roll in a package exchange. I found this pattern in a McCall's magazine when I came home and whipped up this quilt in no time. The border fabric I found at Good Will. Someone had given away a table topper made from this fabric and it had never even been washed. It was perfect. The size is 53" x 44 1/2".

And the last two quilts are made of 6" blocks from a quarterly block swap I joined in 2009. Two blocks for each member every three months, never the same pattern twice and no white or creme background. Now that was a fun challenge.

There are a few blocks the same in both quilts, I had a few extra blocks when a couple of ladies quilt the swap and I also dug up some orphan blocks from my orphan box to get the needed number of blocks for the quilts. Then I used Hour Glass blocks as alternate blocks which is a favorite with me. One quilt was quilted with swirls, but the other with FM fans. I wont do that again on such a big quilt. The outcome was ....... lets say artistic and leave it at that. Sorry how dark this photo is. The size of those quilts is 68 1/2" x 50".

That's it for now, I have another finish, but I'm going to give that quilt it's own post.

Sunna.

Hi there

Long time no see, I've often thought about making posts, even composed many in my mind, but then had no energy to actually do something about it.

I tried to use the new blogger look, but could not get the photos to upload, guess DD2 will have some teaching to do when she comes home for the summer in mid May.

Here is a quilt that has been waiting thread basted since 2010. I wanted to practice on my FMQ before quilting it. At the time I finished the top I was over the moon with it. It was the most beautiful top I'd ever made. I still love it.

Then one day in last about two weeks ago I realized my new DIL's birthday was coming up and when I started thinking what to give her this top popped up in my mind, the rest is history. Lol.

I still have long to go at FMQ, but I'm slowly getting there.

I actually got a lot better recently when I slowed down. Wish I'd done that sooner.

And here is the back, it's half of a flannel duvet cover I got on sale.

I'm getting warnings from blogger that I haven't upgraded or updated or something and as result one thing or another will happen on May 31st. Strange thing is I can't get logged on blogger through the link they give in the mail to fix or do whatever it is they want me to do. Guess that will wait for DD too.

Sunna.

Christmas

Merry Christmas.

 

Sunna.

Eight quilts found a new home

The first photo shows the quilting in one of the quilts shown in the last photo. I'm blogging for the first time since Blogger changed and I'm having some difficulty adjusting.

All the photos show quilts that went to a new home this December, there are lots of children that come to this home to stay, some for long periods, other stay not as long and I gave the quilts to the home with the words that it was up to the workers there if the quilts would be given to the children, or if the quilts would belong to the home. I took the photos at my mom's home. The panels are from old curtains that I was given because the owner could not bear to throw them away.

There are three elephant/lion quilts.

 I wish now that I'd only made two of them, with six animal each, like the doll quilt.

 When I was quilting the panel quilts I got to thinking that the older kids tend to be forgotten so I finished making the rest of Bonnie Hunter's Virginia Bound blocks that I'd used some of to make the quilt I sent to Japan, there were three more stars in the Japan quilt so I made the top and bottom border bigger to get it to similar size.
 

I also finished Log Cabin blocks that I'd been making, using strips that for various reasons were not fitting in with the hero blocks I sometimes make for my guild. There is no log the same in these 7" blocks and I love how the quilt turned out. I'm definitively going to make more of those blocks and I'll be using this setup again too.

Two  more of the smallest quilts.

Boy, am I having trouble with this new blogger features.

I was going to make good on a promise to post about my sewing machines, but I can't find the photos I'd taken of them and I don't even have four of them around as they are in the city undergoing repair and/or cleaning and oiling. I have no idea when I'll get my machines home, but I will make a post about them when I have them back. 

One of the machines was given tome last November. It's a Pfaff 262 (made in 1965- 68) cabin (hope this is the right word) machine and I've sanded and oiled the cabin. It's looking good although the door is missing. The machine itself has a very good motor, but there are to many things wrong that it would cost as much as a new machine to fix it proper. 

So the repair man is going to fix it so it sews straight stitch only and I'm happy with that. You wouldn't believe how beautifully quiet the motor sounds. I'll be able to sew long into the night without bothering hubby after I move the sewing room upstairs to the room next to the master bedroom. LOL.

Sunna.