A baby present

... for a baby soon to be born. A good neighbour and friend is having her third child. She suspects it is yet another boy - she has two precious ones already. So a present had to be made. The picture is cheating a little, since she already has similar shoes that I made two years ago. I just love making these bitty booties, and I thought the picture would not be complete without some in it. Tee hee. The small ball is made from this pattern.

Now let's hope she is right, or I will have to make some versions a little more girly ;)

The art of the Kuna, Panama

Two years ago our small family - two adults and two toddlers, then one and three - left the dark and cold season here, for the light and warmth of Panama.

At the time we left I had a vague idea of an indigenous people that I had heard made appliqued "pictures". When we arrived at our first overnight hotel in Panama City, the hotel dispalyed some of them, and I thought they were a treasure they showed, and that I never would be able to see them in person. I was right about how precious the Kuna art is and wrong about never being able to see them.

We spent seven weeks on the Caribbean coast - not far from where the Kuna have their own community. The women own the land, which is recognized as an autonomous territory or comarca.

The handwork of the women who make these Molas is just incredible. The work is reverse applique, combined with the smallest embroidery/quilting stitches. These pics are of two of the four I got to buy.
This with the birds is my favorite. I love the orange border.

The Molas are sold "as they are", so here is a close up of the back. They are made of three or four layers of fabric, and then the top layer is cut and appliqued to reveal the layer underneath. I have not yet attempted at trying my hand at the technique, but one day...
See ya!

Binding fabric found

This small quilt was originally meant to be a cushion cover. I am not so sure anymore. We will see. I do not have a lot of the binding fabric, so I will have to mix and match a little. But it was nice to find it - in my stash, she added with badly concealed pride - so I can finish a five year old project (!)


The day before yesterday we had the urge to bake some cookies...

Pin cushion swap

I joined a swap some weeks ago, and Annette from Denmark sent me this sweet pin cushion. It will be perfect for small applique pins. I like it a lot! Thank you Annette!
I sent this pear pin cushion off to Pia in Sweden. My version of Heather Bailey's pears, which I find so cute! In stead of ordering the patterns I impatiently figured out how to draw the pattern. So it is a little more plump and "fat bottomed" than Mrs. Bailey's pears. But I like the size. It's hard to miss with the needles while speedily sewing long seams :D I will have to make myself one as well...

This week

Rainbows have been drawn, along with "heart princesses" to adorn our fridgeOur view - to the amusement of a two year old.
On commission and a collaberation: A summer crown in October.
Dear Elin: See you soon!
Vi har hatt en deilig høstdag på lekeplassen og på tur. Amanda har vært hjelpsom og gavmild mot sin lillebror i hele dag. J: tatt = takk, tot = tog. A har laget "medisin" av soyasaus og yoghurt. Hun kaller det brunsvart sjokolade(!)

Giving Karen Edvarda away!

Meet Karen Edvarda! Let us have a give-away, I thought while making her. I will carefully wrap her up and ship her to you if you leave me a note before next friday. (Drawing on Saturday 11th)
We'd love to hear from you - near or far!

She has been given a name and a face since the last time. Her name is a combination of the names of two of my great-grandmothers. I have just found a genealogy site, and it is incredibly interesting to find out how far back the lines go. One is dating back to 1570.

Karen Edvarda says good bye for now :-) So do I as I head off to find out more about my ancestors.

Home again

Settling down to quilt a bigger quilt is like coming home again. I cannot explain why. All I know is that that is what it feels like.

Autumn is slowly approaching - but still we have some roses in the garden. A has decided to bring the game of tossing leaves inside. And our stove is ready for giving us some warmth.

Habari gani!

We have been to the land of blue seas and white sands - Kenya. My husband's parents have been residents there since the mid eighties. It was the first time our children saw their house and dogs and turtles and trees to climb. Our three weeks were much needed and our batteries are recharged anew! Here are some glimpses. Bahari ya Hindi - the Indian Ocean - just a five minutes walk away!
One of the glorious Baobab trees surrounding the house - in a sunset no less. These trees are a favorite of mine - maybe because they also are called Elephant trees, maybe of the part they play in The Little Prince, by Saint Exupery...
The children have fed giraffes and ridden a turtle, which we really could not take home for our garden. Maybe we will have to settle for planting some maize - which is also high on the wish list of a little girl.
Some flowers from the garden - meticulously gathered by that same four year old.
Happy feet - resting with powder coral sand.

Good morning!

A table mat I finished some time ago without the binding. Did that this week. Could not help but had to use it, before I finished sewing the binding down. I have not done it yet. Saving it for a little later...

Snekkerne kommer og går. Det nye rommet står med pæler til andre etasje. Travelt før avreisen neste uke. Siste dag i dag med litt pusterom, kanksje til søm?

One more try: Thanks to Ma boite a tresors - a small bag

I have made quite a few of these. They come together in just a few whiffs. Well they do after some careful dechifring of the Japanese explanations. I went with the 'numbers' - 40 cm here and 24 cm there - to make up a rectangle, and so on. I found the photographed pages of this Japanese book here. It went into my folder of favorite pictures, and I found it - rediscovered it as it were - a while ago. They make up lovely small gift bags. I tried my hand at smocking on my first, but it did not turn out well. But I have found it really does not need the smocking to turn out nicely.