A new family member

Snuppa
Curious, playful, placid – loved.
I think we are about to be adopted =^__^=

Alma Svensson’ apron

This small quilt represents my time as a mom of two toddlers. My children were three and one and I was at home with both of them one day. They were watching a film about Emil – one of Astrid Lindgren’s many well loved characters.

To the eye of a grown up the set and decor is a joy - the clothing, and interiors of early 20th century Sweden. And of course the log cabin quilts covering the beds. Even Lina, the maid, has a quilt.

I grabbed my bin of scraps and found a favorite blue and white stripe for borders, similar to Alma’s, Emil’s mother’s, clothing.

The whole thing was put together in those few precious moments of quiet time. A+J were happy watching their movie, and I was peacefully sewing.

I never found the time then to quilt it by hand – finding time for that seemed an impossible task…  My skills in machine quilting were not very good. So it is roughly quilted by machine.

Now it is an entry in Park City Girl’s Blogger’s Quilt Festival. Go have a look at all the wonderful quilts!

… and the color inspiration

A summer dress. That would make it a summer quilt – no? Or perhaps as a memory of summer…

OK. I’ll leave it at that. To go listen to some more fab radio at BBC radio 4.

My daughter’s quilt

… or learning by doing.

Last month my girl and I had a blast choosing fabrics for her first bigger quilt. I was feeling half an inch of guilt for not having made something for her in a long time. Oh, well. She went through the piles of fabric in our book shelf. And pulled out some oranges, pinks and a red/white dish cloth she had to have in there. Also some blues had to be added – nice to see her pinkish taste slowly  changing.  I added some of my favorites in tune (or so I thought) with her choices.

Having found Diane Gaudynski’s blog some time ago, I’ve been inspired to give free motion quilting a go – again. My abilities as a machine quilter will most likely never reach anything close to her level of artistry, but I sure enjoy the free motion mojo. Diane suggests novel quilters to try their hand at bigger tops. So I had to try it. American Patchwork & Quilting magazine  featured a nice blue and white quilt in their August 2006 number. I reduced the size a little. It’s about a 53 inches square.

I think Diane Gaudynski has a nice idea about starting out big(:)). I learned a lot as I went along. It was a lot of fun.  I goofed up majorly (is that an adjective?) in places. I don’t care. I only hope my daughter will like it.

And she creates her masterpieces on her regular (?) sewing machine. An intriguing thought.

Sewing down the binding is soon done.  

I pieced squares for the back, something that would have been impossible if it were to be hand quilted.

Please bear with me for indulging in such an amout of pics.   

Just taken away by the joy of being able to show something being very close to being finished – in less than two months from start to finish. Pretty revolutionary by my standards (LOL).

Take care. xo

Shirt madness

Call me mad - I'd be the first to admit to such a label. After seeing Anita's progress on her version of Kaffe's Shirt Stripe Boxes quilt I had to tag along. I went to our local thrift shop and found some beautiful men's shirts. To say the least, I went bazookas. For 20 shirts I got 20 per cent off. The gentleman in line in front of me was wondering if I was going to dress up the whole neighbourhood. I did not dare tell him my intentions with my scoop;]...

Now I have to get myself a ruler to cut them with. I am really looking forward to starting this project. It has been on my mind too long - practically ever since the book came out.