What happened?

One minute I was distracted and unsettled, preparing for my holiday and the next thing I know the holiday is over, the warmest summer I can remember has passed in a blur of lazy days and we're headed towards the end of September.

I had some lovely days in Bath and Birmingham, first visiting the Kaffe Fassett exhibition at the American Museum in Bath - a wonderful explosion of colours which no pictures can do justice. It left me with a lot of joyful inspiration.

The Festival of Quilts in Birmingham was wonderful as well with lots of quilts - both weird and wonderful! Lots of vendors and a great deal of inspiration from all the lectures I attended - I find that having some lectures sprinkled through my schedule gives me time to rest my weary feet while soaking up inspiration and recharging the batteries ready for more shopping makes for good days at the festival.
I did a fair bit of shopping, but not as much as earlier years. With everything so readily available online, I don't get the same urge to buy, buy, buy as I used to, but some unusual items like hand dyed thread, patterns and books did come home with me.

What with the sultry summer days and following lack of energy, there has been lots of reading and relaxing, and little sewing. With the cool crisp autumnal feel to the air lately I feel my sewing mojo coming back, though, so don't give up on me just yet!

Yes, I bought a few things...

 Oh, yes - I did manage to spend a bit of money at The Knitting and Stitching Show, but not too much I think... In a show devoted to knitting and stitching I had hoped for more of a selection of special wool for knitting and exciting threads for embroidery and machine quilting, but the selection was more of the garden variety. Having said that, there was plenty of fabric, wool and notions to choose from, though, so I'm not complaining! I found some lovely wool that I just couldn't leave behind. I have no plans for it yet, but I'll find something lovely on Ravelry, no doubt!

 I can't seem to leave good polka dot fabric behind, so a few dotties came home with me along with a special London fabric to remind me of the trip.

 At Fabrics Galore they had a lot of fabric with big patterns printed on home dec weight fabric. I have been searching for this stamp fabric online for a while, so when I came across it I couldn't leave it there, of course. A panel with a map of the world can always be useful...

 ... and a fabric with lots of windows is just perfect for a house-obsessed crafter, right? There are several different windows and they are quite large, so I imagine using these as the center of a design and "building" a house around them. That will be fun, I think!

I got a set of these interchangeable circular knitting needles at half price - there are four cables and eight different sizes of wooden needles, so you should always have the size you need at hand. I have been coveting these a while, but thought they were too expensive. Half price was still pricey, but I made a big saving on new blades for my rotary cutter so I'm pretending that makes up for it, ;-)!

All in all I came away with some nice things that I really can use, instead of hoarding all sort of stuff just because I could. The big stash waiting for me at home played a part, of course - I can't really claim that I NEED anything anymore - first word problems...

The most important thing I brought home with me, though, was lots of inspiration along with lovely memories of good times with old friends, and that's worth it's weight in gold!

The postman always rings...

There have been a few incoming items lately due to a few slow days during Christmas when a quick online shopping spree took place. Ahem.
What I meant to say: I have been spending a bit of money again. On fabric. And books. I have been meaning to cut down, but sometimes I just can't resist. Coming across Ruby Star Rising I had one of those moments. The nostalgia on seeing that ViewMaster Disc fabric is to blame this time. I remember really coveting one of those gadgets when I was a kid, and since I never got one, that fabric is going to make it SO much better. How's that for an excuse? ;-) I'm not quite sure about what to make yet, but the fabric is quite sturdy and would be great for a bag. So I got a bag pattern as well.

I love the big slouchy bag with cargo pockets - plenty of room for a laptop with all the trimmings. Now it turns out that I'll need a lot of different rings, swivels and hooks as well, but fortunately there is a hardware kit available, so I have an excuse for more shopping. Now if I can find a shop which sells these and also have this pattern, we're talking business. I love letters, so I just might have to make this quilt... More shopping anyone?

Colour and shape

I went into a bookstore to get a birthdaycard yesterday and as so often happens, I came away with more than I had planned on buying. No books this time, but somehow I just "needed" these bookmarks. Marketeers really know what they are doing, don't they? If these bookmarks had been grey, it would never have occured to me that I needed them, or even if they all were just one colour. A set of eight purple bookmarks? I might have glanced in their direction, but that's it. But the fact that you get a veritable little rainbow of colours? Draws me in every time! I have bought document folders, binders, paperclips, envelopes and of course crayons and pens more times than I care to remember just because they were available in "every colour", and of course you always need the full set...

Not that it is a big deal or anything, just an observation. And look, these are really sweet - I just noticed that they look like little houses! Maybe I can use them as inspiration for something quilty ;-)

This little guy came home with me as well. Luckily they only had him in one colour or I would have come home with a whole family of them. But he is such a clever little chap, that it might even have been a good idea.

Look what he does. He is a book-holder. I always find it a bit difficult to use instruction manuals and the like while working on the computer, but this guy helps. Not only does he hold the book open, but the book can actually stand open on the table next to the computer as well so I can work through the lessons using both hands on the computer and not have to keep propping the book open. Not such a bad day of shopping after all!
I resisted the sweet little clip on lamp to place on the top of your book, but come to think of it, my computer corner can get a bit dark...

I think I'm in love again...

I've been doing a bit of web surfing lately, and I keep coming across all sorts of loveliness which has me reaching for my credit card, but so far I have managed to quell the urge to spend madly...

But have a look at this book by Anne Kyyrö Quinn and that gorgeous cushion on the cover. I'd love to have a go at making one like that, but I keep telling myself sternly that I'd probably give up halfway across - that's an awful lot of felt to cut and stitch, I imagine. I think it might be made like this awesome wreath found via Whip-up. With at least 286 felt circles to cut and fold, this is a project I'll only admire from afar - I know my limitations!
Now I might just be able to stick with this (unless it sticks to me...) lovely model of a Scottish tenement house from Finch & Fouracre found via India Knight via Jane Brocket - wow, I'm amazed that I actually remember the circuitous route that brought me there...

Or maybe I should rather go for this "Tinyment" (love that word!) which comes ready to fold. At 6 cm tall, all that detail is amazing - it's even got it's own little TV aerial!

Not that I haven't had enough to spend money on lately - I've been dragging home bags full of Xmas-pressies every night this week, but at least I'm almost done! I had to give up on finding my sister a new garlic press, though (found her something much nicer, though!) - you'd have thought that such a humble utensil would be available at a reasonable price, but no. All the shops that sell cookery stuff seem to have gone down (or up?) that same superior designer road and expect me to fork out at least £45. For a garlic press? As if.

Distractions

I was visiting Sew and So to buy some tapestry wool, needed to finish a cushion I started ages ago, when I came across this:It tickled my silly bone, so I wanted to share it. Now, I didn't order it - I told myself sternly that it would take me ages to stitch and then where would I hang it? I have oodles of floss and heaps of charts for great things to stitch lying in wait, so I really need to keep myself in check here. Here's the link though, in case you find you need it ;-) And Bothy Thread have so many other fun charts, like the Cut Thru' series and the other silly samplers of teapots and bras... Have a look if you dare!
I thought this is rather cute too, link here. Like a country style quilt, in fact. There's also one with cup cakes - so tempting...
I didn't buy any though. And in my eagerness to resist temptation I even forgot to buy the wool I needed. Now dare I make another attempt...?

Finding time to shop and sew...

Yesterday my sis and I had a little shopping spree at the garden centre. The car was filled with plants for my balcony pots (mind you, it's a small car...) and then we had a lovely lunch of boboli filled with curried chicken and celebrated the arrival of summer with Italian ice cream - mmm, lovely! The cherries came home with me for an evening treat.

And then it was back to sewing again. I decided to go with the Meadow pattern (from Melly & Me) and although those curved seams were a bit daunting, I'm happy to say that so far things have worked out quite well. I'm using a thin batting instead of interfacing, so the pieces have been quilted - I just like that soft look that quilting adds. I'm not entirely sure about the fabric I have used for the top though. It is a lovely fabric, but since the main fabric is slightly greyer, they don't seem to play together as nicely as expected, it makes the main fabric look dirty, I think. I added a strip of that black and cream check to the lightest fabric before cutting the pattern piece, and I think that helps. I think I'll also add some red yo-yo hearts as a finishing touch. The pattern doesn't include any inside pockets, something I think all handbags need, so I'm working on some ideas here. And then I'll have to decide which fabric to use for handles. Now I only have to find the time to finish it. And to get those plants sorted out, and to do a bit of dusting... And do you know, I think Jody has found a great solution there - go check out her craft clock!

New house

While waiting for more quilting pictures, you might like to take a look at my new house. I really like the raw, untreated zink surface of this house and have been searching high and low for one ever since I first spotted one in a blog more than a year ago. I've come across them in webshops a couple of times, only to find they were sold out minutes before I placed my order. Imagine my joy when I walked past a florist's on my trip and found two of these nestled in among the geraniums outside! Luckily there was room in my suitcase, and I stuffed it with T-shirts so it held it's shape all the way home. Oh joy! I just love it!
And there will be quilting pictures tomorrow - I've done 3/4 of the quilting on my Mod Sampler today. When the thread started snapping, the bobbins started fighting the thread and a needle broke, I decided to call it a day and take a long walk instead. That did both me and the sewing machine a lot of good, I think ;-)
The machine is now clean, oiled re-threaded and ready to go, so there will be more quilting tomorrow, and then pictures... Just wait for it, it might happen ;-)

Back on track

The days getting lighter and finishing a small project seems to have helped, and I'm back on track, quilting my Sunflower quilt again. I had the day off from work today and spent my morning quilting. I have five big blocks and the borders left to quilt, so I'm getting there...
I'm not making any bold statements about how much I will do during the weekend or anything - I usually end up putting a spoke in my own wheels somehow whenever I do that. So let's just say that it is all about enjoying the process and not about finishing - OK ? At least that's what I tell myself whenever I stray from my plans ;-)

This afternoon my sister and I went on a shopping spree. I bought some great cups and mugs, all black with these stripy saucers that almost make you dizzy looking at them. They didn't have small plates to go with these, only dinner plates (!) but I saw some nice white plates with black flowers at IKEA on my last visit (which I didn't buy then, because they didn't have cups to go with them).

Some lovely roses also made their way into my cart along with some scented candles. The pizza is almost ready and the wine bottle is open, so we're all set for a lovely evening here.

Fabric confessions

I must confess. I have been shopping this summer. A lot. My sister and I just went on a short trip at the beginning of my holidays. It involved among other things a visit to two quilt shops (of course - that's the first thing one looks for in a new place, right?) and then I spent the rest of my time off at home. Hence the great surge of activity - Olympic quilting and the Sunflower quilt, etc. But, there is always the lure of the internet....
Not that I'm blaming anyone, but blogging is becoming an expensive pastime... No sooner do I find myself at somebody's beautiful blog reading about the fabric they design, or use, than I find myself browsing online stores... This summer I have been eagerly reminding myself of how much money I have saved by not going anywhere fancy on holiday, so some fabric purchases are just the kind of thing I deserve, right? It's beeing downright thrifty, because of all the airfare saved, even if the fabric is new...

I hadn't realized how much of it there was already, and I'm still waiting for some Farmer's Market on backorder, so there is no doubt that I might soon apply for a black belt in fabric shopping... So let's have a closer look, shall we?
Some lovely brights by Anna Maria Horner (the one in the upper right hand corner is actually just the center of a HUGE flower!), Kaffe Fassett and Heather Bailey.

Amy Butler and Sandie Henderson could be best friends, these pink and green florals seem to belong together.

Some Ava Rose and coordinating stripe. I'm not to be blamed for these actually - they are for my sister, who fell head over heels in love with a quilt pattern and wants me to make a quilt in those exact fabrics. Luckily (because there's a lot of stitchery on it) she only wants a small wallhanging, not the lap sized one in the pattern - I will get around to it eventually, I suppose...

These two Alexander Henry fabrics were just too sweet to resist. I have some freestyle quilting in mind for the light blue background of the apple and pears one to make the fruit really stand out.

Red and white is always right - the solid one is corduroy - for a bag, I think. And a blue and white polka dot will always come in handy...
That floral with the orange background gave me a warm fuzzy feeling, and I had to find some more oranges to go with it in case I didn't have any in my stash... My mother exclaimed when she saw it that my gran had an apron just like that when she was a child, so that might explain my wave of nostalgia - no doubt it was hanging around somewhere in her little house in the country when I was little. Not that I need any justification for my purchases, don't get the idea that I'm beating up on myself here, because I have been having a lot of fun shopping! Now I just need to come up with some new projects to use them in.
I have some ideas already...

And I'm not just idly stroking my new fabrics - I'm about to watch a good movie while stitching the binding to my Olympic quilt. There will be pictures...

Fun mail

One thing leads to another. As I mentioned earlier I bought a set of DVDs from Quilting Arts earlier this spring*. As these things tend to, one purchase soon led to another, and some online shopping later, a parcel arrived from Keepsake. I discovered in their latest newsletter that the Kaleidoscope Kreator was on sale, and having watched the DVDs with all the fun you could have with this software, creating all sorts of caleidoscopic images from your photos, I just had to have it, didn't I? A roll of gorgeous felted wool also found its way into the shopping basket, along with some other goodies.
One of the programs demonstrated this ruler for cutting circles along with a special rotary cutter for those tight curves, so naturally I'll just have to give it a go... And a CD of quilting motifs will always come in handy, wont it? Am I going to have a lot of quilting fun this summer or what? Expect to hear more about it!

*The first set on the page I linked to - I wouldn't be surprised if I feel the urge to order the second set too, though...

Gray day - with lots of colour

The weather today didn't tempt me into venturing outside. The wind has been howling around the corners of the building carrying fistfuls of sleet. I had planned on taking lots of photos today, but the light wasn't really up to it.
I started a project I have been putting off for a while instead: tidying and putting away fabric. The plastic crates I keep them in (mushroom crates, free from the supermarket) were a mess, so I spent some time sorting through them, rediscovering lots of gems and making decisions about new projects. A sewing basket for my mother and a folder for travel documents (like this) are among them.
Even though I probably have enough fabric for a lifetime of projects, that didn't stop me from buying some more. The temptation from Jane's post yesterday was too great, and I just had to order some of this!
Having sorted through all my fabric and put everything back in it's place again, under a wide shelf underneth the window (sorry, the direct light made it difficult to take a good picture, but you get the idea) I spent some time working on this (second picture). It's almost done now! I also finished my table runner and the baby quilt yesterday, so all in all I have been rather industrious lately, haven't I? Pictures tomorrow. And what started out as a gray day became quite colourful after all!

Well I did, didn't I?

You didn't think I could go to the quilt shop and just buy what I had planned on buying now, did you? I got some batting for the tablecloth. That yellow striped fabric was the kind of yellow that goes with anything - a nice stash addition. I saw a New York Beauty quilt somewhere recently that had used that green fabric in the quarter circle in the corner pieces of the blocks to great effect, and since I have a NYB on my to do list, I decided that I needed this.

And then there was a very sweet fabric with little sayings. Great for labels and postcards. I found it virtually impossible to get a close up, so no picture, but the one that won me over is a broom with the caption: "Housework when done correctly can kill you" - my kind of motto! I also found some nice mother-of-pearl buttons for a couple of jackets I'm going to sew - found some great knitted fabric the other day. And, believe it or not: I got some yarn! I'm not that much of a knitter these days, but I have been stash building for a while now, and have knitted some scarfs and this little hat, among other things, so maybe it's time to start something bigger. The Frost Flower Leaves shawl is what I have in mind. Am I crazy? Maybe so, but I have decided to enjoy the fact :-D

And the backing fabric that was the reason for the shopping spree? Didn't get any! I decided I had just the thing at home, a nice floral which will do nicely...

Living in the present

After a trip down memory lane the other day, it's time to show what's going on in the present. We're enjoying lovely summer days, shared with cruiseloads of tourists - here's the view from my balcony of the QE2 leaving after it's latest visit, to the soundtrack of "We'll meet again" on full blast from loud speakers at City Hall. She's a beauty, isn't she? A lot of the more modern ships look like floating hotels, but this one looks the way a ship should look, I think.
Back to the homefront, where I have finished all my kaleido blocks. I obviously can't count, so I ended up with 31, so there is one more than I need for my tablecloth. I started stitching them together by machine, but found that I haven't got the patience for all that stopping and starting to adjust the fabric every time the angle changes - it must be the heat, because that sort of thing usually doesn't bother me. Anyway, I decided to stitch the blocks together by hand, so that's what I'm doing now, and it doesn't take too long, because I keep having to do 'just a little more' to see how it turns out... - told you I was having fun with this one, didn't I! I have found a bright green fabric, similair to the flower stems in the original fabric, to use for extra pieces in the corners to make it square, and for an outer border.

This is the fabric I have used for all the blocks, by the way (I should have learned by now to run and iron over the fabric before I point my camera at it...), amazing isn't it, the variety of blocks you can get from just the one fabric? The fabric is "Estrella" by Valorie Wells for Free Spirit Fabrics.
I'm off to town now - having the quilt top almost finished is the perfect excuse for visiting the quilt shop. I haven't been there in a while because of long days at work, but I'm just going to get some backing fabric, and that's all! I think... -And they have probably not got any new fabric in since my last visit...

Taupe

My quilt shop got a new line of fabrics last week. I have been admiring those Japanese taupe fabrics from afar for a while, thinking that they weren't really my cup of tea - "I'm more into bright and cheerful colours, really", is what I have been telling myself. But then I saw this bundle lying there so innocently...
"Hm, that's nice", I said to myself on Tuesday (when I popped in to buy a birthday present for a friend), "but I'm not buying...".
On Thursday I had to pop in again to get some pink quilting thread for my current project, and I noticed that same bundle again. "Hm, that's ever so much nicer than the others with those pinks and blues included" I told myself, paid for my thread and left.
On Saturday however (yes, I know - three days a week - I confess - I'm an addict!) most of the other bundles were sold, but "mine" was still there. And what do you know - before I knew it it was mine!
Not a big surprise really - I'm a pushover when it comes to fabric! So now I'll have to come up with a project to justify the purchase. I'm thinking handbag/tote or something - these nice subdued colours work so well together and won't clash with whatever I'm wearing, is what I'm telling myself. I have been noticing a lot of nice Japanese handbags in magazines and books lately, so now I'm on the lookout for a nice pattern. There was mention of a new book that would be in at "my" quiltshop this week - but I'm not even going in just to look - I think...

Back from Birmingham

I'm just returning to earth after a visit to the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham. It was my second time, and it was great! There was so much to see that there was no way one could see it all in the time we had. The range of work is very big - everything from waving amateur quilts to professional works that knocked you off your feet. And that's what I find so fascinating about this festival, that beginners' works are accepted and hung right next to the experts' - it makes me think that I might actually venture to enter one of my quilts next time...

This tulip quilt was really fascinating. And Janet Bolton had her own exhibition with lots of different pieces. I knew they were small, but hadn't realized how small. Some of them were tiiiny! This one was the biggest of the lot. And it was lovely to meet Janet and chat with her as well.
In the Russian exhibition this great "night at the Opera" (I don't know if that was what it was called) was full of excuisite detail. You could read different stories from what was going on in each box - a wedding party, a mafia boss with his young mistress, a young woman with a vampire...

There were beautiful landscapes - this one used gauze to great effect for the foam of the waves.
Michael James had his own exhibition of recent works. He held a great lecture about his work, and found it really interesting to hear about his career and how he works. This one shows images based on photos of different works from the archives of a gallery (I forget which one), and the background yellow and purple bits are actuallly photos of the interior of the building.
Floral quilts were everywhere. This one has ribbon roses,
while this one is machine appliqued.
Swedish artist Ulva Ugerup had made a hot and cold quilt with teamugs that could be hung either way and was heavily embroidered.
A New York Beauty in great colours! I have been meaning to try my hand at this block, but have shied away from it so far, maybe this one will give the inspiration I need to get started.

It is really unfair to show just a few quilts, because there were so many that deserved to be mentioned, but I'll share some more over the next couple of days.

Kaffe Fassett had a great exhibition, showing quilts from his latest book "Kaleidoscope of Quilts". They are really stunning, but silly me, I didn't take any pictures, thinking "I have bought the book", so I don't have any to show you. But take my word for it, they were great. If you like his work, the book is really worth buying. The quilts have been photographed on different locations in Malta and the pictures are stunning. Kaffe's (look, on first name terms now...) lecture was really great as well - he is such a charming man and presents his work so well. After book signing in the shop (yess! I got a signed copy!) that sold his fabric he gave a tour of his exhibition and we got to chat about his choice of fabric and pattern - that was really the highlight of my visit to the Festival!

I also had a lovely chat with Dorothy Stapleton who is retiring from quilting - at least teaching and lecturing. Lovely lady with a great sense of humor!

I must admit I did a little bit of shopping as well... Not so much fabric - some of Kaffe's and a bit of batik, and some Fossil Fern. I got lots of other interesting bits and pieces though: hand dyed embroidery thread of different weights and colours in silk, cotton and linen, some silk and chiffon fabric for embroidery, shisha mirrors and silk cocoons and some issues of Quilting Arts and Cloth Paper Scissors - I think I might as well get subscriptions - I have been buying so many back issues lately...

That's enough gushing from me today. I'm trying to get back to normal here after being away on holiday for a couple of weeks. It's back to work again on Monday, so I'd better get some more mundane projects out of the way - washing, ironing and some boring paint jobs I have been putting off for too long. And then I might get back to my sewing machine again...