AnnAKa's Advent's calender

Last summer I got a little chock. My daughter-in-law saw the pattern of this advent calender lying beside my sewing machine in the sewing room before it was so untidy that you couldn't get in there. Now she asked me if I could make two for her children. I said no, but I would make one for the children because I think one is enough. It isn't so cheap to make and there are lots of work on it. At this moment they do not need two of the same kind but maybe later on I will decide of making another one.

I started the work when it was raining most in the summer, but she never saw it. It was not difficult to make and soon it was finished. Now I have given it to my son for giving it to his wife. I haven't heard any comments yet, so she might have forgotten. They are all so busy these days.

News

Since my last contribution on my blog I have finished more of my WIPS. This time it is a Stitchery for my grandaughter. I bought it from Kathrine's Quilte Stue some years ago. I embroidered and finished it. Then I made the mistake that was the reason for not fullfilling it. I cut off the batting and backing before I sewed on the broders. Therefore it was put away. I didn't know what to do.

When I tidied my sewing room I decided to finish it and now it is done. My granddaughter will have it as a Christmas present. I quilted it by hand.

Weekend in Grimstad

This weekend I have been to Grimstad to participate in a lection with Lone Schaadt from Denmark. She has tought Curved forms. She was a very good teatcher and we all learned much. Those who arranged the weekend were "Meretes lille atelier" and "Quilt'n" in Arendal. Good work from those who arranged it.

I have never visited Meretes Lille Atelier before so on Saturday morning I went there. She didn't only had fabrics but many other things as well. Take a look at the photos I shot.

There were four different classes and you can see some of the teachers here. We stayed at Rica Grimstad Hotel. I am not sure of how many participants there were but there were many, all enjoying themselves. Outside the sun was shining all weekend so I found it hard to sit inside all day but the class was so enjoyable and the teacher so clever so I forgot all of the weather and concentrated on what we learned instead. We learned Curved forms and it was not very difficult. Lone's technique was great and easy. I think I will do more of it later on. What I did was this: Not very much, wasn't it? However, I had to leave the class at this time to reach a birthdayparty for my granddaughter in Oslo.

WIPS

Since last time I updated my blog I have tidied my sewing room. When we moved home from our holiday up in Hemsedal in August I only placed my things on the floor in my room and left them there. When we finally moved home it was so untidy that there was only a narrow path to my table. Something had to be done, so I told my husband to leave me alone for a couple of days and started the hard work. It was a complete chaos. I kept on from the early morning till late night for more than two days but then it was done. I found several projects in slow progress “Wips” and decided to finish them all before I started something new.

Here is the first one of my Wips: last year’s Christmas Mystery from QuiltSkandinavia and Merete Veian. I had done two of four blocks and they showed nice flowers. I finished the last two and made four placemats which I took with me up to the cottage in Hemsedal without taking a picture last weekend.


Next, I found many precut squared batic fabrics that was probably made for making another bag like this one: I made another one but have still some precut squares left.

Then I started on my liftcurtain. I made the panel a couple of years ago, but when I had finished the machine quilting it was a “pocket” in the pattern and I lost the interest for a long time. Now I have ripped up all the stitches that were needed for doing the machine quilting over again. I machine quilted it over again, put on the batting and made the lift curtain and hang it up.

The next project was from some old jeans I had. I had cut and sewed together a few parts a long time ago. What I planned to make I cannot remember, but now I decided to make a new bag. You can never have enough bags, can you? Here it is.
I show both sides here. I used the pockets on the jeans to get the effect of just a jeans. Inside I have made many pockets, also one with a zipper.

Then I used some leftovers and made a new little purse and a little one for my mobile. Here are the picture of those items:

The only thing left now is a stitchery for my granddaughter a couple of years ago that is almost finished. I made a mistake and cut off the batting and the backing and there we are. I am not sure of what I will do next to finish it. She will have it as a Christmas present.

Summer

All together it has been a wet summer at least in my part of the country. The first weeks were terrific, hot and sunny and we only spent the time on the beach. Absolutely wonderful, actually. When the rain started I also started to sew. During May and June I finished three big quilts, that was before the hot weather set in, had them machine quilted at Merete Glenne Ellingsen at sy.no and have sewn the binding by hand now and then during the rest of the summer. I can tell you it was many metres. When my daughter-in-law saw this one she wanted it for her little son so he will, for Christmas. It is called "Prairie Paisley". I fell for it the moment I first saw it. I bought the pattern when I was in Paducah in April last year.

This one I have sewed on for more than six year all by hand, English paperpiecing. Even the border is sewn on by hand. Merete has cusom quilted this one so beautifully. I washed it after it was finished because I once spoiled some red wine on it and tried to remove it with water, but it got worse. After I washed it in the washing machine it was quite clean. Then I put it in the drier and it got an oldfashioned look.

The quilt to the left is the third big quilt I finished in the first of the summer. It is called Patchwork Party because you had to purchase all the 12 blocks in different quilt shops all over the USA. All the shops also offered finishing kits for it and they all were very different. I choosed this one that is called "Geese on the Prarie" and it is now covering our bed out in our summer house.

My daughter-in-law saw my cosmetic bags in the bathroom one day and asked me if I could make her some and one rainy day I did. Here they are. I gave her all three. She also wants some for her children and I will make some more when I got the time for it.

So now I guess you have an idea of what I have done during this wet summer.

Weekend in Kragerø

The second weekend in June I went to Kragerø for a weekend with some of my quilting friends. I took a class with André Wallenberg where we made handbags with many smart details. We were at Anne Berits's Broderibua in Kragerø where she has a lovely place close to the sea.

It was a nice and sunny weekend but a bit windy and quite cold. Neiter of us had taken enough warm cloths with us. André Wallenberg, on the photo to the left, tought us how to make beautiful handbags with many smart details. One evening we were served a delicious fishsoup made by Anne Berit and fresh scrimps. The food were overall good during the weekend and the hospitaliy and kindness we met there were very nice.

My friends and I hired a small camping hut which had a shower. The others who hired a camping hut had no bathroom facilities at all but had to go to the public one. We had lots of fun during the weekend and drank a lot of wine as most women do when they are on a break like this.

There were other classes there as well and I would have liked to attended them all. Here you see a few examples from each class taken before we all left.

The last photos shows all the bags from my class lined up when we had finished.

Nqt in Gothenburg

This is the winnner quilt made by a woman from Tromsø. The competition was about "Building bridges". When I took photos from the competition I didn't know that this was the winner. The next photo is a detail of the first photo.

Since last time I wrote I have been to NQT in Gothenburg and met with many other quilters. I stayed at the Riverton Hotel very close to Folkets Hus where the shops were situated and some of the exibitions also vere displayed. Since much of my family live in Gothenburg I arrived there on Wednesday and stayed a couple of nights with my cousin and his wife. We had a very nice time together. On Thursday we went to the cinema to watch "Angles and Demons" that is made after a book written by Dan Brown and with the same name. It was very close to the book and I liked the film very much. Do I have to say I read the books a few years ago? Afterwards we went out for a late supper in a nice restaurant near the Avenyen.

Then there was time for me to move to my hotel near the city centre. Hotel Riverton was a renovated hotel that were absolutely top for women. Everything you needed was in the bathroom. The bed was good and the breakfast superb. Not that I am very hungry in the morning but I like to eat something. On the last evening we went up to the skybar in the hotel and had a drink. It was a wonderful view over the whole city. Quite spectacular. The photos show some of the women I was with during my stay in Hotel Riverton both during the common dinner on Saturday night and afterwards in the Sky Bar.