Happy New Potato-year!

I recently red in a local newspaper that we can look forward to 366 exciting days in 2008, one of the reasons for that is because UN desided this is the year of the potato! Yey! Wonder what Dr.Atkins would say about this enormous betrayal against "healthy" eating-habits. Coming back to my own eating-habits in a second...

CHRISTMAS 2007

It started out great. Elina looked adorable in her new, red Minnie Mouse dress, the dinner was a success,the tree was decorated, everyone was happy and looked forward to a great christmas...
Then it got even better! I haven't been som exited about a christmas gift since I was 11 (or so), and wouldn't even hope it could be a spinningwheel, even if the box was HUGE! I've been wanting a spinningwheel for quite some time now, and planned to buy a used one while we're on vacation in July. No need for that now..!
I had some trouble in the beginning, but over the next days I managed to make a little ball of yarn, my first one! The picture came out a little dark, but it's a dusty pink/brown/beige shade. The quality isn't much to brag about, but how much fun would it be to start out as an expert?
I even tried to dye som wool myself, using red and purple. I put white, beige/brown and grey wool in the pan before heating it, and got some different shades. But the sad part is that I'm not sure I'll use the wool at all, as it's better suited for felting than spinning. Maybe it can be used in a mixes yarn, with merino? I got my first merino tops today, and I have to say it was very different from the "ordinary" wool I had tried before. I'm pretty sure which quality I'll choose in the future!

I had big plans for the christmas when it came to quilting and exercise. But that was before I got hospitalized with a painful gallstone. It passed in a few days, but I didn't feel to good for days (for some odd reason, sleeping is your first priority when you're on strong painkillers)
I've started to quilt a spring/eastern/hexagon tablerunner which turns out pretty great, I think. But I'm getting even more delayed, as the sewing machine is full of batting, and needs to be cleaned. Hopefully I'll get around to that someday... Now I'm mostly into spinning, I want to learn this! Making my own yarn would be wonderful.

The greatest UFO.

I once loved crazy quilting. it's the perfect way to use my creativity, I love projects where I get to do several different things, and isn't told by a pattern how things are supposed to turn out. Crazy quilting is perfect! You just make a few bocks, find some embellishment you'd like to put on.. and let it develop. I've never had any idea how things were suppposed to turn out, just that it had to be purple, and I wanted to use a lot of beads and buttons.
But it's so slooow! I love the idea of using years and years making a quilt. I just don't love doing it. I have 4 6" blocks for this, and to be honest, I don't think there will be any more.

Merry Christmas!

Feel like becoming a diabetic?

Come have a taste! I kind of went crazy with the frosting for this gingerbread house! But it turned out pretty cute, I think. Luckily this is an once a year-thing, as I'm feeling sick after eating the leftover decorations.

I've got my second card

I've almost been running to check the mailbox as soon as I got out of bed the last days, since I was so curious about the second card I was going to recieve. And finally it came, all the way from Tiriltunge in Tromsø! Check out her blog, she makes some really nice stuff. I love the card, she's been using angelina and tulle, a technique I'm curious about, but never have tried. Maybe this was the inspiration I needed? Thank you for the beautiful card!

They both arrived safely!

Here's the two cards I made during the "christmas card-round", and today I saw both had gotten where they were supposed to! I was a bit nervous, as the cards are soft, easy to fold, and the stamps easily could fall off.

I've got the appliqued figures from a Norwegian book, called "Tildas julehus". It's so inspiring! I had a lot of fun making these, not like last year where I sat down by the sewing machine day after day, without coming up with an idea.

Here's the cards I made last year:

Your Christmas Song Is

Redneck 12 Days of Christmas Twelve-pack of Bud Eleven Wrastling tickets Ten o' Copenhagen Nine years probation Eight table dancers Seven packs of Redman Six cans of Spam Five flannel shirts Four big mud tires Three shotgun shells Two hunting dogs ... And some parts to a Mustang GT. You don't think that 27 strings of Christmas lights are tacky And you swear that eggnog from last year is still good!

What Christmas Carol Are You?

Look what I've got!

At Hobbyboden I've joined a "christmas card round", where a lot of people are sewing cards which are beeing sent to one of the others. I'm supposed to get two, and today the first one came, from Limola
Thank you for the beautiful card!

An early christmas present

I've wanted to buy the Quilting Arts magazine for quite some time now, and finally I did. It's great, but makes me feel like the biggest amateur in the world. People are so creative, have so much stuff they use in a new way that I never could think of! How do they do it? And where do they put all their art quilts? I'm new to this. I've done some crazy quilting in the past (will blog some photos of it soon), but never got my own style, and ended up stealing so many ideas that it ended up like something that wasn't completely mine. And it's slow too. Veeery slow. I'm not to good at bending crazy quilt-rules either, so I think I might make something in the middle. Between mixed media art quilts and (more or less) traditional crazy quilts. The comforting part is that I'm new to this. Maybe I'll develop over the years?
I bought some other small presents for myself too, a couple of rayon threads and top stitch needles. The thread is ment for machine embroidery, but I think it looks great as a quilt thread on smaller works as it is variegated and shiny. The green looks amazing, the other one I'm not to sure about. "Earth tones" can be almost everything!

I hope I get some time and inspiration to create something inspired by these great magazines during christmas.

As for now, I'm baking and cleaning for christmas. Which means I've baked much more than we'll ever manage to eat, and been thinking of and planning to clean several rooms, but haven't done any yet. And still I'm bragging about how I'm not getting stressed! I might say something else when there's not any more room in the freezer and the house looks like hell. (Or MORE like hell) I've been making gingerbread. For me it's the ultimate childhood christmas tradition, and they have to be decorated with frosting! I kind of went nuts and bought a 25 piece cake decorating set from Wilton, several cookie-cutters, some sprinkles (shaped like cows, jewish stars, dinosaures, mickey mouse and pink breastcancer ribbons!) A little childish perhaps, but my baby girl is my excuse. She's going to get a proper (childish and fun) christmas!

Here's a healthy alternative to the hearts above! Looking like this they got to be healty, right?

Countdown

I'm feeling the need to start panicing! The house looks like a mess, and the freezer is packed with different kinds of breads and buns since I have a "thing" for baking at the moment. Christmas is getting closer, and I'm just doing the things I want to do, not the things I should do. I'm spending too much time in stores and the kitchen, and I'm having a great time!

Look at this! So small! Is it the mother-instinct kicking in when I just had to buy them?

I even got to use the sewing machine a little bit! While making some cards I just had to make a few seams, as I felt I haven't got the chance to use it in weeks!

Christmas mode

I've made som more christmas decorations, using scrapbooking paper, ribbons, lace, buttons, glitter and everything I could find in my stash. They turned out just like I wanted them, homemade and a bit old-fashioned. This was so much fun, so I'm already making some more!

I'm addicted!

To ravelry and knitting! I'm the slowest knitter ever, and get bored ages before I've actually finished something. But then something suddenly happened. I'm still slooow, but somehow I've managed to finish a thing or two before starting a new project. I have some trouble understanding that, as there's thousands of patterns on Ravelry, and I want to knit them all!

I've made this vest, a Garnstudio pattern using Angora-Tweed. It didn't turn out perfect, but ok enough. It's the first vest I've ever knitted, that's kinda fun. I've also started a baltic hat for the model above, but there's a bigger chance it'll end up in the garbage than on her head, I'm afraid. I've put it aside for a while, and someday I hopefully will see the joy in weaving in 60 loose threads. (right!)

My active project is a "something" for "someone", who happens to read my blog. It's a christmas present, and I hope to finish it by Desember 1. Then (if I don't get any other clever ideas along the way) I'll start making a shawl for myself. If you happen to know where to find glassbeads big enough for knitting, please let me know!

Abused socks

Socks is one thing I just don't enjoy knitting. But I enjoy cold babyfeet even less, so I had to make a pair. They're made of 3/4 a ball of Noro Kureyon, (colorway 207) and I knitted them om thinner needles, to get them as thick and warm as possible. Then I started abusing them. Kureyon gets a lot softer after beeing put in some really hot water.. And I felted them just a bit against a cookietray, to get a soft and fluffy look ;)

Happy with the result, even if I don't like the colors. But the yarn is really fun to knit with! More about these socks on my Ravelry.

Little miss Fancypants!

Look what granny made for Elina! A jacket and pants, both in soft alpacka. I have no idea how she managed to knit the pants, after having laser surgery on her eyes.. That seems like something as impossible as walking through a swingdoor with skies on.. But she managed it anyway, and both the jacket and the pants turned out great. Elina will use them a lot this autumn and winter.
The jacket-pattern is a tiny version of an adult pattern from Garnstudio





And look at this! She even sent a note to my boyfriend, who has other talents than washing clothes... It says "Handwash only" for you non-Norwegians ;)
Impossible to misunderstand, even for a guy!

I'm playing with glue

As you might see, I've made some ornaments. And it was fun too! Usually I make (or at least start to make) things that neeeveeer get finished, and I get bored. Almost all the time...

But not this time! These were quick, the white one in front took me 4 minutes to make, plus the time it took for the glue to dry. Check out the sequins on a string I've used for the hanging.

The picture isn't the best, in the back you can almost see a red beaded thing.. It's a steelthread heart I've winded red beads around.

My "goal" is to have as much homemade christmas decorations as possible, the most important thing is that they tell a story, not that they look perfect and match.

I seached around the net for some victorian ornaments yesterday, and as always, I get tons of good ideas just when the stores are closing for the weekend. But tomorrow I'll get some paint, a few new balls and some more glue to play with :) More christmas-ish projects on it's way!

6 months today!

Mommys big girl..

I've been to Lofoten!

And while driving there we stopped at a fabricstore.. and I also found one in Lofoten. So I got some fabric, mostly japanese. The plaids are quite hard to find in stores here (or at least I think so, I try to stay away from fabricstores, as I don't have millions to use on fabric every week..) The prints are a toile, a Lecien, and a beautiful pink called Silence beauty. Love them!

When I got home on Monday, two packages from Ebay had arrived! Some Moda fabrics, and one I fell completely in love with, the yellow roses from Mary's muslins! ! bought two yards of that, and a Moda Chelsea boutique in tan and red, to use as frames. The other fabrics are smaller pieces. I regret not buying more of the light blue Moda Shangri-La fabric.. but that's just another reason to buy more, isn't it?

While driving, knitting is the perfect waste of time. And of course, I've started something new. With old yarn! This is a silk/cotton yarn I got from Angelita when I was 19. I've had leftovers for 6 years, I hope they'll come in handy now! (Which means I hope I'll finish this one)

I've knit 8 squares, all started in the middle. The colors are white, cream, golden, tan and a little grey. Wonder how it turns out.

Childhood memories.

I've saved some animals from when I was little. The oldest one is a cat I got from a friend when I broke my arm. I was six. The other animals have I collected over the years, and the miniature perfumebottles on the top was collected while I was in my teens. Some of the animals are broken, amazingly many feet are missing...

The shelf/cabinet (which has a plastic lid as well) was found at a flea-market in Sweden about a year ago. I will always remember that trip, because i was pregnant, and had a lot of "signs", but couldn't figure it out.. I even had a baguette and 3 buns for breakfast without thinking there might be something wrong! So the cabinet is a memory too.

I'm getting things done.

Things are moving forward. I'm quilting, blogging, knitting (a new blanket, haha!) All because I'm to lazy to keep my house clean. Anyway, I'm working on two projects:

The first, a hexagon tablerunner. I've used all the "weird" fabrics i could find in my stash, and also bought some new ones (that's the most fun part, isn't it) Ordinary cottons, some crushed velvet, satin, brocades and some really thin fabrics.

The frame is a velvet I found in Sweden this summer, and I didn't bring the rest of the project to see if the colors co-ordinated. Which they didn't. I think the frame is way to dark, but on the other hand, it really makes the pinks glow! And why didn't anyone tell me that quilted velvet looks amazing? I'll use this kind of fabric again when I quilt.. Very soon!

The plan is to get the tablerunner finished by (this) christmas, it doesn't look too bad. I've quilted 1/3 so far, but haven't cut the binding. I used the spiral quilting pattern once again because I thought it was sooo much fun.. But then it became boring after 2 1/3 project. I have to think of something new now.

The other one is (surprise, surprise) another tablerunner. In dull greens. I got a load of japanese fabrics from Lappeteknikk and wanted to use them together in a project with some other dull fabrics. I went into my "ugly box" and found some olive florals, went into my "to good to be used box" and found a japanese mushroom-pattern. And I also found some beige and a more bright light green to make it a little more interesting. I've even used some christmas fabric! This isn't like anything I've made before, so I have no idea how it turns out. So far I like it, and I think I know what fabric I'll put around it, as a frame. My favourite, sage! Oe will sage make it to dull? We'll have to see.

I've been tagged.

By Elin

7 things about me:

-I'm scared to death if I see a balloon. It's even worse if it's beeing held by a small (unpredictable) child.

-I often buy shoes without trying them on.. And I'm almost as often to lazy to return them if they don't fit.

-I often dream I'm a sexually frustrated man. I have no idea why.

-Manequin-dolls scare me almost as much as balloons. Every doll or "thing" that look like a full-scale human is really creepy. And now we're moving into "2 meter tall creepy moving-santa-season"... please help me, someone.

-I come from a family where long and intricate conversations with ourselves is pretty normal. My brother is the master of this "skill", but I'm not to bad either.

-I start a crochet or knitted blanket several times every year. So far I haven't finished any of them. I threw away two of them recently.

-I had cupcakes for dinner today... *blush*

I'm to lazy to tag anyone else, if you want to tell something about yourself, please do so. It's fun to read!

A treasure hunt and a ton of potatoes!

Yesterday I went to a market, or a gathering of crafters selling their work. It's a huge happening where I live every year, and for the past two years I've been more or less broke, and drooling over this extremly cute "Carrot House". Yesterday I had the money to buy it, and even a frame! Fantastic! I really love all the small details, the windows, the flower, all the colors.. everything! Looking forward to getting it up on the wall.

I even found some treasures at the flea-market, two old booklets with lots of knitting and crochet patterns, I just love the purple shawl! I looked through the pattern, and it looks like something even I can manage to knit. Yey! I also found a book about interior decorating, from the 40's, and some fabrics. Who doesn't love flea-markets?

I have tons of treasures found on flea-markets, a great deal of my fabrics are secondhand. I like plaids, and they're usually easy to find, but the hard part is finding the ones which is 100% cotton. I've had one or two surprises while ironing fabric that looks like cotton, feels like cotton... but isn't cotton. That "fake" sheen isn't always that easy to discover in a crowded room with little light. I have no mercy with synthetic fabrics that looks like "the real thing", I throw them away as fast as I can.

And look at this! At least we're getting some of our farming right. This is about 1/4 of our crop, to much for us to eat. So we're giving some of it away. Hope they'll enjoy it! We will, for sure.

What I've been up to!

I bought some scrapbook-stash just a few days after I gave birth.. And now, 5 months later I've finally made a page! Wonder when I'll get to finish the next one.. in February?

This was FUN! But I don't have that much stuff, and will continue to use most of my money on fabric, so the scrapbook will not turn out to be fantastic.. Maybe it's just a matter of taste, I will not buy everything I find interesting, but try to use my imagination. For example, the dotted lines around one of the ultra-sound pictures and the hearts is a vitrea glass-paint. I haven't painted glass for ages, finally this came in handy!

Tomorrow I'll continue looking through my stuff, and see if I'll find any buttons, stickers, iron-on transfers, laces or other cool stuff i can use. Yey, this is so fun! And very sofa/TV-friendly! I bet I'll get to hear a lot of movies while creating memories for my baby ;)

No time to quilt.

Everyone who's a mother know how it is when the baby's getting teeth. None of us have gotten any proper sleep the last week, and quilting is far down on my to do-list.

I'm getting more and more ufos, so far this is my "active" ufos:

-A hexagon tablerunner

-Another hexagon tablerunner (addictive, ok?)

-A pinwheel quilt (I think I can call this an ufo now, I've been working on it for over a month, but haven't done anything the last week)

-A blue simple quilt

The top is finished on almost all of these projects, I just have to order some fabric for the backsides, and hopefully go back to quilting soon.

I have a plan, though. I'll finish all of the quilts mentioned above, and then start on a "pink but not to cute"-project for my little girl. I want to use some large-scale Amy Butler, Kaffe Fassett and Heather Bailey fabrics, and mix the cute pink with some orange and yellow, and maybe a light green. I'll have to find a pattern for a simple block, to fit the large patterns.

Pink and yellow are traditionally two colors I just don't like, but lately I've started to see how they can be fitted into a quilt with other colors, and actually work. I used to buy a lot of blue, purple and green fabric, without having any idea how to put them together with other colors.

So i studied my quilt books, and started buying the same shades as I saw in quilts I like. That way I ended up with less novelty prints, and more plaids, reproductions, japanese and almost solids. I had to learn how to buy fabric, for sure. And I've spent some money while learning ;)

A tiny quilt.

About two weeks ago, a festival was held a few hundred meters away from our house. I checked the local newspaper, and found out when Chris Cornell was going on stage. Then I sat down by my cutting mat and sewing machine, opened the window and started making this tiny, red quilt while listening to The Master of Grunge (who is still rather good looking, close to 45)

I had already cut tiny scraps into 1,5" squares, and started sewing 4 of them together, forming a new square. Then I cut it again to make it even smaller. They're not even an inch now!

The whole quilt is about the same size as a LP-cover, or 30 cm. Perfect for a christmas nightstand!

I have fallen completely in love with the swirly quilting, I've used it two times in a row now. It's so much fun, and I love the look of it. I think it really adds a new layer to a simple quilt like this one.

I'm going to make another quilt in the same colors, but not the same pattern. After all, I still have hundreds of 1,5" squares in red and pink I need to use..

I might add that even if this is a christmas quilt, I haven't used any christmas fabrics. None of that typical Santa/gold/dark green/mistletoe stuff.

I'm the worst farmer ever!

I just love the idea of growing my own food, eat it as fresh as possible and know that it didn't travel half around the world to get here. How wonderful wouldn't it be to make a salad without going to the supermarket at all? Well....

Where are all the big, fat juicy tomatoes?!

And why does the carrot look like this?

Even children can grow tomatoes and carrots!

A brand new blog!

In English! Wow..

I already have a Norwegian blog; http://blogg.hobbyboden.com/halijens but now I wanted to make a new one. The community where I keep my old blog is maybe best suited for knitters, since there are more knitters. I hope to get to know more blogs and quilters by making this new blog!

I've only been quilting for about 3 years, and for sure still have much to learn. I get inspired everywhere. Nowadays I'm making a pinwheel-quilt, a tiny christmas tablecloth/dollquilt, and I'm thinking about an art-quilt with lots of applique.

I like to try new things all the time, you might say I haven't found my own style yet.. But it's coming!

Inspiration today:

-This amazing Norwegian quiltbook, Quiltegleder. I got it from a bookclub the other day, and love it! The colors are fantastic, the authors use repro-fabrics, Amy Butler fabrics, a lot of buttons ans sequins! A lot of traditional blocks in not so traditional colors. Me like!

-Kaffe Fassetts "Brocade Flower" in ochre. What a fabric! I got to have it! This is a rather "easy" Kaffe Fassett fabric to use, as it doesn't have to many colors in it. I love his flowery patterns, but too often I find it too difficult to put them successfully into a quilt.

-Kristin Lavransdatter. Sigrid Undsets amazing triology about a woman in the 14th century. 1269 pages of wisdom! My hand kinda hurts...

I used to hate reading old-fashioned language (this was written in the 20's) but now I've changed. It's interesting and fits the story well.