Ravenhill

Quilted

My first born is now 10 years old! Today was his birthday.

My husband is just getting ready for a long soak in the tub now after all the festivities.

When he steps out of the tub this the new bath mat where his squeaky clean toes will end up on.

I used Amy Butler pre-cut charms, sewing the squares together by hand. The backing is a sturdy twill. I just tied off with embroidery floss at the intersections for easy quilting. Plus I did a tiny bit of embroidery in one of the squares just to add a little extra dimension and to highlight the flower.

These little girl toes like the new bathmat too.

Red and White Delight

My son made this masterpiece!

He loves crysatals. These are made by mixing lots of epsom salts with water on the stove until it dissolves, then insert a pipe cleaner or two in the shape you desire. Let it sit overnight. If all goes well you get some awesome sparkly and glittery crystals.

I made these for Lilly.

Red and white never goes out of style does it?

I knit up quite big mittens and threw them in the washing machine for a whirl. They came out nice and fluffy and just the right size.

 

This post was looking a bit Christmassy. So while I began writing this yesterday I decided that I had to make a Christmas doll to include in the post. Lilly helped me to select the fabrics. Then today I lazed on the sofa embroidering whilst she danced and sang and played with her dolls.

I made Lilly a doll to stuff too, because she loves to stuff with me. I had a ball embroidering little snowflakes on Rannveig to match the snowflakes on her front!

I decided to play around with the embroidery on the heart too. I think the magical time of anticipation for the upcoming holidays is upon me. Perhaps all this busy merriment was initiated by my mother's call yesterday telling that she would be coming to visit us this Christmas? This little elf finds that to be the most delightful news!

Wet paint brushes

Lilly and I dug out our watercolors and jar of brushes, filled up some glasses of water and got some paint brushes wet recently.

We sat for a long time together enjoying the painting and eachother's company. I think I got tired and was ready to quit before she was.

The theme of the day seemed to end up being mushrooms and caterpillars. I love it how she watches me and imitates but embellishes with her own style.

 

 

Winter's arrival

Just recently it was looking like this outside, pretty and fall-like:

Last Friday though we were surprised to wake up to this:

(I am behind as usual in my posts!) My husband has taken some vacation time this week and it has meant lazy and cozy days... Anyway, it took awhile to get anywere last Friday morning becuase the fresh, fluffy, cold, white stuff was such a novelty!

You can't beat snow for a good time!

It packed up nicely and really stuck onto her mittens.

I have been delighting in all the cold weather by being home and doing a bit of crafting.

I made this wee mini-quilt just for fun.

And Emma, (sorry she is now on her way to one of my supportive blog readers who said she couldn't resist...) with the pretty blue eyes I made too. She is my newest addition to my shop.

I still have small bits of this wonderful minty green vintage fabric on her headpiece left and really love using it. The fabric on her body with the white background is also a vintage treasure, a Sandvika fabric, made in Norway.

 

Thank you to all the very kind friends who left me words of understanding and sympathy about my headaches. I am doing great this week with none! Happy days are here again!

Oh, wicked one!

A very nice little someone rather reluctantly agreed to put on the hat I made form myself so I could take some pictures of it.

I think she wanted to play instead.

The photo session lasted about 5 seconds and staying remotely still didn't seem to be possible.

It ended up being fun in the end. She pretended to eat the poisonous berries from the bushes and we laughed and laughed at her naughtiness. As my mother would say: "Oh, wicked one!"

I didn't use a pattern for the hat and it does seem to fit Lilly better than me.

We are sure loving what must be the most beautiful fall ever in Norway. The leaves aren't going to be hanging on much longer though. I am braced for 5 months of dark, grey and cold. Making things with my joyously colorful fabrics, your constant and delightful visits to my blog, the laughter of my children and my husband's sense of humor should help me though coming winter. Bring it on! (I have two hats ready now, so I am prepared.) I will have photos of hat number two soon I hope!

Wishing you a fabulous weekend!

Making Paperdolls

 

We loved the week of fall vacation! Well, except the first part where I lay in bed with a terrible migrane... after that it was really nice! After quiet a month of laziness where my shop has nearly been entirely neglected I have listed a few new buntings and have more things on the way.

One day recently my husband took a trip across the boarder to Sweden with the kids. They did some shopping. Many Norwegians go to Sweden to shop as things are quite a bit less expensive there, especially items like alcohol, tabacco and meat. We were only interested in the last item however. 

When the kids weren't busy running around or biking outdoors in glorious autumn weather we spent some time making paperdolls. My son brought that bright idea home from school. There the are all lined up after a couple of sessions of drawing, cutting and coloring. I made the two on the outside, Sebastian made the boy and Lilly made the little one.

I hope you are having a most wonderful day! I expect to be better at blogging now again after having a little vacation last week! (Forgive me for being away so long???)

 

Fall break and knitting

Miss big blue eyes, her big brother and I are looking forward to a week of Fall break next week! First though big brother is going to put on his judo clothes and do battle with some other enthusiasts tomorrow. He's so looking forward to it.

I expect I will be clicking away on my needles with this project during the break, because, well, it is cold outside and I needed a hat yesterday! I am once again using the alpaca and wool yarn from Berrocco that I have left over from mitten making.

 
Click, click, clicky click... Enjoy a wonderful weekend!

Pillow talk

My hexagon pillow did take awhile to make, I had to go searching for more fabric actually, as I didn't have enough of the right colors. I had a little help from some fabric loving friends so each hexagon was made with a unique print.

However, I finished it quite awhile back, in June actually.

You know I had to dig into the archives of this blog to find this embroidery in progress. It is a great feeling to have figured out what I would do with the embroidery and I am so happy to have finished the pillow.

Pillow covers are a wonderful way to play around with a technique or idea, much more doable than tackling a quilt!

I did learn that making the covers a bit smaller than the pillow inserts would make the pillow look much plumper. Next time I will do that. In any case we have been putting these pillows to good use.

My assignment

When Mom left for home she left me with a little assignment.

She began this dress at the beginning of our visit.

And she knit away steadily. The bottom part was tricky and slow, but then when she got to the black it went quite quickly.

But the end of the visit just came too darned fast and when she asked me to finish the trim on the arm openings and to sew on the pretty clasps.

I enjoyed being asked to contribute! Lilly waited patiently but excitedly to try it on one of her babies.

It fit nicely.

Grandma really outdid herself, because look at these little shoes she made too!

 

You can see how pleased Lilly is with her baby's new outfit.

 

One happy little mama-in-training.

Thanks so much Mom for this marvelous gift! And there is a sweater still being knitted to match too I hear...

Today I have spent some time ironing new and freshly laundered fabrics as well as cleaning up my sewing room. That should hopefully lead to good, crafty things. A clean space is so inspiring!

Wishing you a fantastic weekend!

Wednesdays

I love Wednesdays. My little chickie is home with me all day.

She is so often running and giggling, so somehow it is easier to catch her on the camera when she is engrossed in something. Here she was helping me make our afternoon snack.

As usual she is barefoot and today she is wearing the new pants which I made her. They seem to be a favorite already. I really love the William Morris fabric. The previous pairs I made for her with the same Onion pattern she complained that the waist wasn't so comfortable. I had used 1" elastic. For these I used 1/4" elastic that is much slacker. She likes them comfy.

Good things

Ripening berries.

Even better, picking the ripe ones.

Little hands and bigger ones.

Those berry pictures were all taken on that wonderful day at Oldemor's house (my children's great-grandmothers' house).

More bounty! This is a delightful win from Grace at Whimsyloft:

I am crazy about the sparkly glass beads she sent me.

Here are all the goodies.

Besides the beads, there was flowery felt which is completely new to me, sticker tapes which my kids adore, a pretty handmade bracelet, laces and fabrics! Thank you so much!

This was the last weekend before school and nursery school starts and it was a real treat since the weather was so nice. Sebastian was dribbling his soccer ball tonight. I really have to buy him another basketball. He doesn't really care for soccer much, has 3 or 4 soccer balls, but the basketball he had was lost.

I did a bit of knitting outside in my bikini today. Does anyone else knit while they are working on their tans?
  

They fuzzed up

Summer seems to be on the retreat here in Oslo. The warm, sunny days have become replaced by rainy cooler ones.  School and nursery school are starting in a little over a week and I am excited about the opportunity to get busy making more things and blogging more again.

I have decided that I will always show you my completed projects. You must think that I rarely actually finish anything because I never get around to snapping photos of the project when it is done?  There are many reasons for that, mainly though that the photo taking can be quite a task and I am particular about how it turns out. For instance, I finished this sweater last summer. I wasn't completely happy with the fit and hemmed and hawed trying to decide whether or not to, gulp, frog it. Come winter it got cold and I found myself needing it, gave it a try and found it wearable. I will try to post a photo sometime soon. Other projects, like this quilt, are in a stack of my Un-Finished-Objects.

Anyway, Keeping with my promise. Here is my latest completed project. They shrank, fuzzed up and they fit my son!

At 60 degrees cecius in my front load washing machine, my third attempt at felting them properly did the trick.

They turned out quite fuzzy and thick so that should keep my 9 year old, soon to be 5th grader´s, hands toasty this winter.

You can really see how soft and muted the colors are next to the vibrantly bright green summer leaves.

 
Wishing you a productive and happy weekend! You probably don't have a pile of uncompleted projects cluttering up the place like I do, do you?

Mail to cheer me up

Sarah was sweet to write me to let me know that her dollie had arrived safe and sound. She seemed to be getting along chummily with her new pal, the very cute bunny. I really love that, seeing my matryoshka dolls at home in their new surroundings.

And it was my turn to win a give away! I am mad about my new sewing helpers.

  

Look at how it even has matching glass head pins! These pretty creations are made by Theresia. Thank yo so much for brightening up my day. I really needed a boost after saying farwell to my dear Mom yesterday. Dad wrote me early this morning happy to have Mom home again safe and sound. My children though are asking why we can't move to the US. Grandparents really are special.

I finished these mittens up while Mom was here. This is the before photo. They are pretty big but as I type they are whirling around the washing machine felting away. I thought this handspun yarn might felt more than the others I have used before so I tried it on 40 degrees Celcius first. They were starting to get fluffy but weren't really felted. So in they went again on 40. (I am a bit of a chicken. I really don't want them tiny sized... They are supposed to fit my 9 year old or me.) Twice on 40 didn't do the trick either so in they are again this time on 60. The suspense is killing me... Stay tuned! 

Oh, what a wonderful visit it was with my mother! I made these while she was here and they were very much inspired by the visit to my husband's grandmother's and her beautiful gardens.

Everywhere you looked there was somthing magical to see.

Or something sweet.

Here Lilly and Gramma were peering at some treasures.

Nothing in the garden seems left to chance, even the birds are well cared for.

 

Every year she and her gardens appear in magazines, newspapers and tv programs. Here is a spread in Hjemmet from this summer.

And the gardener herself, our beloved "Oldemor" meaning great-grandmother in Norwegian looking marveous for her age of 87. The photo above was taken by Lars Lindberg.

 

Dating

I met the most handsome man downtown...

Mom offered to babysit so my husband and I could have a date. It has been nearly a year since our last time out alone. 

We strolled around town hand in hand and ended up at Oslo's oldest restaurant, Engebret.

How lovely to sit outside with my honey to a meal that I didn't make and not think about doing the dishes.

The evening was warm and pleasant with the sun shining through the leaves.

And the food was marvelous.

The wait staff supplies were all around the old statue here which made for an interesting combination.

We got home from our date fairly early which gave me time to knit and chat with mom. And now you can see what I am doing with the green yarn. I decided to pair the pretty soft green handspun yarn that we had wound into skeins the other day with brown handspun. The yarn is very special to me. As I said it is handspun, by mom's good friend Helen who passed away some years ago. She made beautiful yarn as well as gorgeous lace shawls. When she died I think she gave her entire stash of handspun yarn to my mother and she has been so kind in sharing some with me. For too long I have just had it on the shelf, waiting for a project special enough. There probably isn't ever a project that will be special enough for this beautiful yarn, but these humble mittens that I am going to felt will have to do. I am crazy about the pale green with the brown.

Happy summer days here

Mom is here! It is wonderful to be together. The first evening of her visit mom showed me the gorgeous yarn she bought at the Fiber Frolic to make mittens for Sebastian.

The wool and alpaca yarn by Good Karma Farm of Belfast, Maine is not only pretty for the eye but soft as can be.

Whenever we get together we seem to have skeins of yarn to wind into balls and it is so cozy to do it together. Mom holds while I wind. We chatter away, occasionally pausing to oh and ah over the yarn.

One ball done, and now it is my turn. I had a few balls to wind too. Including the pretty green in the front that I got from Ballee.

Now it is time to get knitting... and visiting.

And gardening... mom helped Sebastian to dig and prepare the soil, spread out the compost we have been making all spring, and planting seeds. It is a bit late in the season but hopefully we will get enough sunshine that some seeds might grow up into plants to harvest before the cold hits.

These are happy days here!

Sew Love Fabrics bundle

I really should be cleaning the house but...

Lookie here!!! Aren't these eye-popping gorgeous?

The wonderful fabrics came in this bundle of goodness, from my dear friend Ruth at Sew Love Fabrics.

 Jennifer Paganelli´s new Poodle line is looking so fresh.

These pretties from Laura Gunn above are from her newest collection, Poppy. I didn't expect to make any of these fabrics into dolls, but somehow I did. The colors and designs on these fabrics are gorgeous and the hint of fall in the air lately has made these rust colors appealing to me.

Laura has a wonderful touch with her work, and these fabrics are such a pleasure to work with.

Each of these little sweethearts listed here from front to back: Fru Anderssen, Fru Gress, Fru Turkis, and Fru Stavanger (so sorry, Fru Stavanger is already sold) are in my shop now.

Oh, dear, I couldn't forget Fru Rosenrødt! Here she is in the front, with the fresh roses of the season to pretty her up. We are trying to tidy and pretty up the house today for our special guest arriving tomorrow! How does one tidy up the house when it is raining out and the children are so busy with one project after another all over the house? Good thing my mother will be too excited to see us to think about how clean it is here.

Inspiring colors

These gorgeous summer colors are inspiring me these days.

I don't have the faintest idea what these uncommonly pretty flowers are called. I am sure Mom would know. She is going to be visiting us in less than a week! After not seeing her in nearly a year, you can bet we are excited as can be!

A two week visit is going to be fantastic! Little one is counting down the days and making little presents for her very beloved gramma.

My Liberty buntings have been flying out of my shop so this weekend I had a fabulous time making a huge mess! I took out my Liberty of London fabric and found new and fabulous combinations. Oh, that was a ball. This plum pretty one is now in the shop.

Aren't these common little colorful clover exquisite?

Happy colorful day to you! I hope yours is also full of inspiration and beauty!

My happy little summer world

Everything is summery and bright and pretty in my little world these days.

The children are home with me all day long, free as birds from school and nursery school. Their joy and playfulness seems to rub off on me and my creations.  

We actually do a bit of summer school at home though. The fun part is their eagerness to sit down to our home "school". Well, my little one is actually the most eager, perhaps because she hasn't really gone to school yet?

It is so sweet though because my son will now sit down on occasion and read a book for little one. Today they played monopoly together and didn't quarrel once.

I hope you like the mushroom decorations? I had to make more when I got this delicious package from a wonderful Etsy seller: Paper and String.

As usual I had some help with opening...Rrrrrriiiiip...

Then we had to look at each and every lovely one of them! They are just so color saturated and pretty! I like the weight of them, the wool in them must make them more substantial.

Now I have the colors I need to make more blossoms for the mushrooms.  I have added a few of them, some dolls, and garlands to my shop. I hope you had a happy weekend and are ready for a wonderful week ahead! I am crossing my fingers for another beautiful week and some great times at the beach.

 

Sewing for little one

Oh, the weekend whizzed by and so did our first week of summer vacation!

My favorite daughter got a new top.

She clammours for new clothes all the time and I really should pick up the pace a bit. She can really think me a bore that I am so slow about it.

I had thought it would leave the top just "plain" with no added embellishment, she however, thought a bit of fancying up was called for. So I made a wee, little ragged edged rose. It turned out that she was right, this was just what the top needed. I like the subtlety of it.

Then it needed a tag inside, this she also insists upon. Funny, the store tags I am asked to cut off, they irritate her sensitive skin. However, she would like her handmade garments to have tags to help to show where the back and front are. It is fun to make them actually.

Whenever I take photos with her we end up in stiches. Sometimes the camera shakes as much as she does while we giggle together.   

Before I run off to enjoy the rest of what has been an incredibly lovely sunny weekend I have to tell you about how Jacquie shows off how she has done up some wonderful flowers with pretty leaves and shows some great ways to use them. She made them using my Cute as a Button Flower Tutorial.

Thank you so much Melissa

The nicest goodies arrived in the mail! The incredibly gifted and kind Melissa sent these wonderful things to me. I had the supreme good fortune of winning her give away. Do you see the amazing peice of vintage lace she sent me? Oh, this brought a huge sigh of delight!

Melissa had already read this book so she offered it up for a give away. I am so pleased to be reading it.

Perhaps I should start to feel a bit guilty of winning so many give aways? The truth is I do feel a tad guilty about it, but I couldn't help but enter. Everything Melissa makes is delightful. She and I share a love of vintage textiles, especially embroidery. If you haven't already seen the baby shoes she makes then you are missing out. She salvages the most beautiful hand embroideries and gives them new life as shoes for wee tots.

This little pouch has such fine embroidery on it and was such a delightful surprise! Thank you Melissa for the amazing package!

You might be curious as to the little creatures peeking at the pretty things from Melissa? My grandmother made this baby quilt for my father, must be over 70 years old.

My grandmother gave it to my mom when we were children and mom passed it on to me when my first was born.

It has faded and is a bit frayed in places from use and love. How nice it is to think of my dear Grandma Louise, as we called her, sitting and hand stitching all those tiny stitches.

This pooch really is cute. I like how they broke up the pink, blue and green with some splashes of color on some of the embroidery. It would have been neat to know how the colors looked when new.

Wishing you a nice and hopefully creative weekend.

 

Birthday party

My little one turned 5 recently. What a fun age for birthdays! The anticipation of it was tremendous, the counting down the days and planning the party. She seems to be a big planner, just like me. I made her this bunting for the party with Heather Bailey Nicey Jane fabrics. We still haven't taken it down from the kitchen. It really brightens it up.

For the party with her friends she wore the beautiful dress my mom made for her. The pleats are so pretty! She also chose to wear the floral pants that I made underneath. She was quite the flowery one that day!

Here she is standing still for a moment and you can see the dress a bit better. The fabric is gorgeous. The row of carved mother of pearl buttons on the front makes it even more special.

You can see one of them up close above. 

Mom called me her little flower when I was little, and I named my little one after a flower. She is growing up too fast, but blossoming nicely. Before I get teary I will show you a bit of what I put in the shop today.

Fru Asperud and her friends would like to travel, make new friends and spread good cheer.

Playing tourist and hexagon heaven

Please don't forget me, I know I have been on vacation for too long! The visit with my Dad really was wonderful and I just didn't find time to blog.

Mostly we just had a good time enjoying time together, but we did play tourist a bit in Oslo. The photo above is Oslo City Hall.

I had to take Dad to Vigeland Park as he had never been before. You see, on his previous visits he had been so sweet to come in the winter months, and the cold and darkness during those months make staying indoors much more inviting than going out to do touristy things. So he hadn't ever seen much of our city.

The sculptures are slightly larger than life and so very life-like they are.

It was a lovely day and we nearly had the park to ourselves.

While many of the sculptures seem happy or serene, this one seems disturbing.

Now we are back downtown again, getting around by foot and public transport as I usually do. This dome-topped building is the National Theater.

The waterfront was a great place for a little rest and a bit to eat.

While he was visiting I didn't spend as much time sewing or knitting as usual. I guess I really did have a vacation from my usual handwork. This is what I started on after our tearful farewell. I am going to make a hexagon pillow. This is English paper piecing. It is so much fun. I have been stitching on the sofa, in my sewing room and sometimes out in the sunshine.

I tried not stitching through the hexagon papers, but the fabric seems to sit better when I stitch right through the papers and it appears that the papers can still be used again and again despite the pin holes. I just cut off the threads holding the papers down as soon as the hexagon is completely surrounded.

I promise to be around more! I have much to show and a give away coming very soon!

  

Spring has really come and soon so will a visitor!

We are in the throes of excitement here as we await a visitor from far off. My dad is hopping on the plane tomorrow to visit us! Yippee!

So I have tried to get some goodies into my shop beforehand!

As usual I have had a ball playing around with different fabrics: colors and patterns.

I just had to show you how incredibly fast Norway has burst into spring! 

Color has once again returned in full spectrum, the greys, taupes and other dull colors are being taken over by vibrant greens and dotted with lovely blossoms here and there.

Delicate wildflowers just budding can be seen underfoot in the woods and when I relax in the sunshine in my backyard I breathe in the sweet smell of violets that are all around in my flower beds. My little one is keeping the vases full of the prettiest blossoms.  

I combined several very special vintage fabrics on Fru Holmedal as well as some of my hand embroidery, and she is available in my shop (Sorry, she has already sold). 

 

A "new" frock

My little one has a new top.

I used an old top that had gotten snug and short. I just chopped it off right under the arms.

I gathered the thrifted plaid fabric and sewed it to the bodice.

I cut up the left over lower piece of the top to make the flowers and decorations.

The extra prettiness is actually a nice cover up for the stains on the top.

This felt good, finding a way to use an old top. Not only recyclying but also UP-cycling. She just loves it.

She's off to the woods to pick more wildflowers. I wish you a lovely weekend!
   

Spring in bloom

When the weather turns nice outdoors it suddenly seems so silly to spend time inside on the computer; so forgive me please for my absence. I have missed you, but it is entirely too lovely here in Norway these days to spend much time inside.

Outdoors now, there are so many things to discover, like the incredible perfection of my hellebore after a refreshing shower. How lovely to have so many months of sunshine and warm weather ahead of us!

Lilly and her friend picked these anemonies in the woods on the way home from nursery school today. I adore these flowers, but even more delightful was watching their pleasure in finding and gathering their bouquets!

After making the dress for Lilly I wanted to make use of extra peices of fabric left over so I made this zippered pouch. It is in my Epla shop.  

I hope that you too are enjoying beautiful days and happy times!

Spring sewing and learning something new

Spring is here and it is wonderful! No way to express it really, the immense joy of it! I try here to capture some of its beauty.

Blossoms are turning up here and there!

The surge of energy of the spring air must have encouraged me to tackle my first buttonhole. I found myself making this dress for Lilly with three buttons and that meant I had to get over my fear of learning how to do the button holes. I got out a sewing book, my sewing machine instructions, and the funny button hole foot. I used a scrap and made a few practice ones. There were a few setbacks at the beginning but I kept at it and before long I dared to do the real thing on her dress.

Here she is wearing it. The fit of the dress isn't the best, but that isn't due to my sewing skills.

She was patient and played happily with her bunnies while I took photos. As you might have noticed, they are smooching.

Outdoors we are now on our way to nursery school.

Early morning walks are always a joy, full of song, skipping and discoveries.

  

Mushroom love and painting

 

Here's me having fun goofing around with more cuteness. I couldn't help it. I love the little mushroom shape and wanted to make something new.

 

I like how they look with flowers and can't wait to make them in more colors and maybe play around with the flowers a bit too.

Mushroom Love 1 and Mushroom Love 2 are in my shop. 

Today the kids and a little friend did some painting.

If that isn't fun?

Mixing colors is definitely the best part. Who needs paper? Just swirl it up!

  

Ooooh, this was fun!

After a pleasant train jouney with my good friend and neighbor we arrived in Stokke. The view from our patio on Friday at Brunstad Conferanse Center, in Vestfold, Norway, between Stokke and Tønsberg. Our appartment overlooked some of the row house apartments of the complex.

We had a little time to settle in before heading up to our much anticipated class with the incredible Yoko Saito. Upon our arrival we found a delightful pack at each spot filled with gorgeous taupe fabrics, a photo of our project and the pattern. Most of us ripped into these goodies immediately and with much delight explored the many fabrics.

Here is Yoko Saito explaining that the three hour course is far too little time to start and complete the bag. That much I had gathered immediately upon seeing the photo of our project, and think it will likely take me weeks.

There were about 20 of us eager to learn any little quilting finesse we could. We took turns gathering around to soak up her knowledge. You can see how we squeezed in around her table, hovering over her, watching those lightening quick fingers as they demonstrated.

While the other half of the class was engrossed over Yokos magical hands, we were put to task: cut uneven strips of fabric from our lovely new stash. The pretty wooden tool was a gift from Yoko. It is a very handy Alex Andersen 4 in 1 tool. The facing end that you see in the photo is what you use to press the fabric instead of using an iron and board.

This is my first wonky log cabin block. We each made two during class, while the remainder of the time we were watching Yoko and learning. I don't think Yoko was impressed with our speed at hand sewing. After we had been stitching for a very short time she seemed to wonder if we were finished and then asked if we mostly used the sewing machine. That did seem to be the case for most everyone.

We learned we would only need 25 blocks to make the bag. When we are done with them we are to use turned edge appliqué to sew the blocks together in a haphazard fashion slightly larger then the pattern.

To arrange the blocks she told us to pin them in place onto the paper initially, when they are in the desired position we are then to pin the blocks to eacheother removing the pins from the paper.

She showed us what to wear on our fingers to protect our fingers and make it easier to push the needle through the layers.

The metal gear on her left thumb is a thread cutter. That really must make it quicker than locating the pair of scissors to cut the thread. I think I might get one of these. I must say the speed of her tiny perfect stiches was quite phenomenal.

I think this will take some practice.

 

Yoko and her assistant also went around the room checking to see what needle size we were using. I didn't have the correct size at all, mine were far too big! She suggests size 12 for sewing the fabrics together. This is a petit needle with a very small eye. If you look on the table you can just see her orange plastic needle threader. This might also be a good investment. I am sure that in another decade or two I will be thinking these clip on magnifying glasses will be just the thing too.

Yoko must have the worlds most extensive collection of quilted items. This seemed to be her sewing bag.

Here Yoko illustrates how we to baste the bag before quilting. I am now thinking this will take months not weeks.

Here we learn how to put the parts of the bag together. Meanwhile the translator is having trouble remembering that she is supposed to speak Norwgian to us, not Japanese. It is comical and we all get a bit confused.

The straps you slide inside here like this. I adore the lining fabric she used with the leaves and berries.

I thought you might enjoy a few close ups of Yoko's bag.

The handles are so pretty with the cotton trim.

I really hope I remember all that I learned.

When I arrived home my family met me half way, dear husband helped me with my luggage. I don't think I have ever seen my daughter any happier. She was like a little puppy, bouncing around me and nearly knocking me over with all her hugs and kisses. It was nice to be missed. There is way more to tell, but I will have to wait for another day. For now here is the progress on tmy bag:

12 squares are done, 1 more nearly completed, leaving me with 12 left to go.

I hope you too have had a most satisfying weekend? 
 

 

Going away for a sewing weekend!

Well, I found out on my last post that when it comes to sunshine and spring weather, there aren't too many who are willing to share. I grudgingly have to admit I understand. I had a ball reading all the funny comments, thanks so much for making these chilly days more fun!

I am going away tomorrow for a sewing course and weekend!

I am practically giddy and don't know if I will be able to sleep tonight. My husband said at dinner: "Well, it has only been a decade since you have gone off on your own for a night away from the family." He is nice to encourage me to enjoy myself. I hope he is still just as supportive when I arrive home on Saturday evening after leaving him alone with the children for nearly two days and he sees me laden down with bags and bags of fabrics.

I finally opened an on-line shop in Norway! It was something I have considered for ages but just got around to it now. My shop there is called Ravenhill, I know, really original. The site is called Epla, meaning apple. I think it might be fun for my non-Norwegian readers to see what creative people are making in Norway.

Should you ever want anything from my Epla shop don't hesitate to ask me, I can easily transfer it to Etsy instead.

While I am gone you might enjoy this fabulous blog I recently found and fell in love with.

Knitting magazine to pour over

This Designer Knitting Spring/Summer 2010 issue arrived in the mailbox today and I flopped down on the bed to page through it during a blissful moment of quiet in the house. It seemed a bit early for this type of skimpy fashion considering our current weather which you will understand as you read more below. All those airy holes don't have any appeal at the moment.

Aren't these light and airy? At the snail-paced slowness that summer is approaching I figure I would likely get two weeks to wear one of these sweaters before autumn arrives. If I am lucky.

These sweaters both look like a fun challenge, but what I really would like to make next is a sweater for Lilly.

I am slowly working on making some double pointed needle holders with handy slots that are labeled with sizes so you can just grab the ones you need and get knitting, no more need to find the right size by guesswork or measuring them. As long as they are in the right slot it is easy as pie.

Speaking of pies, here is one little cutie-pie outside making some snow pies. Now I am seriously starting to wonder if the snow will be completely gone by May? It is still knee-deep. I love winter, really, it is a nice time of year, but it seems to be hogging most of the year. I don't think it is fair to spring, summer and fall. Don't these seasons deserve some time too? I am partial to spring.

Old man winter has definitely outstayed his welcome this time. 

Wishing you a most happy weekend and please send us some melting rays of beautiful sunshine! 

Something new, but will they like it?

Luckily I know how to blur out the untidy house in the background. Macro is so handy for poor housekeepers like me.

Having a pretty bouquet on the table is really all you notice, not the clutter around. Does wonders. Stacks of fabric have almost the same effect too, right?

The reason I am a poor housekeeper is quite simple, I spend quite a bit of time catering to my children's every whim. They probably wouldn't see it quite that way, but they do seem to have urgent needs for so much of my attention. The other reason the house isn't likely even remotely likely to be featured in Better Homes is that I am usually dreaming up new things to sew and surrounding myself and the rooms with my supplies in a mad creative frenzy. So these birds are my latest mess-producing idea.

I must admit that every time I am going to show something new I get nervous, will they like it I wonder? I fret that the birds might look silly. In any case, I have made a few for the shop and a few for gifts. Some have loops for hanging and others have brooch backs for pinning on.

My children are my biggest supporters, they always smile with delight when I make something new. They also want to keep them all. Today though they fought about who was going to help me put the orders together for mailing off. They are a tremendous help after the quarreling is sorted out and they can settle down to business. I hope I won't get in trouble with the children's labour laws...  

Ravenhill seems to be enjoying a bit of time in the limelight lately. I really want to thank Rosemary for featuring my doll in a matryoshka post. My needlebook also got noticed on Joy Ever After. Finally Camilla also featured my creations on her colorful and inspiring Danish blog. Thank you all!

If looking at Emmiline's blog gave you a taste for Norwegian interior decoration blogs you might enjoy this blog too.

New fabrics, pouches and a new blog crush

 

Saturday I went shopping with my Christmas gift card from my husband and came home with a nice little stack of fabrics.

I went looking for aquas and turquoises but there really wasn't much to find in those colors, but I had much luck in the pinks, yellows, reds and oranges.

The white polkadots on the sunny yellow seemed just right to line this pouch that I made.

This floral fabric is a heavier weight, with a linen feel but I think it is a vintage cotton. It has been in my stash for awhile and it is one of my favorites. I used a bit of vintage trim for the side tab and really like how it looks.

These new pouches are now in my shop where it is looking so sunny and bright. Norway is brightening up these days but we still have piles of snow, absolutely no sign of bare ground, and some mornings it is bitterly cold and frosty.

Mornings like this I am so glad to be able to return to my warm house to de-thaw my fingers which have turned numb from the photo session outdoors.

Before I go and make my son his afternoon snack (well, it is more like a huge meal, he eats so much...)I wanted to show you a most wonderful blog.

Emmiline did an amazing and entirely wonderful feature about my dolls yesterday. Anyone who regularly reads my blog has likely had it up to here with my dolls, I just don't seem to be able to stop making them... but I thought you might enjoy her blog because it gives the most marvelous glimpses of her lovely Norwegian home. Just take a look, you will see!

 

Douple pointed organization

Somehow during Winter break last week I got out of my blogging routine, and I have missed you all! Now we are happily back to our regular daily routines after a lovely week of holiday, and I promise to be around more. I just dropped Lilly off at nursery school where she will play, sing, eat and play outdoors for 4 hours.

She was jolly as can be as you can see and walked the entire way herself. (She is still fond of sitting in the stroller, but promises that when she turns 5 she will no longer use it.)

Before I scurry off to photograph some new dolls and other things, I have to show what I recently sent to my mother. She had been saying how much she needed an organizer for her double pointed knitting needles and so I surprised her with one!

I used a William Morris fabric, which I knew mom with adore too. The most challenging part was these little balls on the ends of the ribbons. My first attempt was near perfect, very round, but the second ball, was alas a bit oblong. I guess that is charm of handmade?

I made a slot for each set of needles, labeling with both millimeters and the American sizes. I just love my own needlecase where I have done this. I wasn't completely happy with the rather primitive patches that I hand stitched in place. I plan on making some dp knitting needle rolls for my shop, but I have another idea for the needle sizes.

The funny thing is that my dad was nearly as pleased by this gift as mom was, because he won't have to listen to mom spending an eternity trying to dig through her bag of needles anymore. Her knitting needles are now all in their propler slot, ready for action.

Knitting on the journey

We just arrived home this evening, 4 weary travelers after a little trip to Belgium! I don't know what happens but both times we have taken this journey we have forgotten to bring the camera along, and I had been so determined to remember it this time! I did snap this photo of my knitting project before our trip and it is what I brought along to keep me busy when not coloring or playing cards with the family on the journey.

I am making socks, once again with another recycled cashmere that I purchased on ebay. The yarn isn't very kinky despite it's past life and it is so soft. My black pants did get a bit furry looking though after the plane ride.

Lately I make two socks pretty much simulaneously, it seems to go faster that way. I take the yarn for one sock from the center of the ball and yarn from the outside of the ball for the other. I do the casting on and the ribbing on one, then the other. Then I get down to the heel on one, put that aside until I get to the same place on the other. When I do it this way I can easily ensure that I have done the same number of rows on each one, and that they will be just the same size. I find it easier to see that then when I did one sock at a time. I am still not sure if these are going to be a gift of for me. They are really looking like just what I need...

Back to our trip, and the never-ending topic of the weather... When we left Oslo it was -17 C and it was +10 C in Belgium! Wow, that was a delightful change for us! It certainly felt like spring with the soft rain that fell most of our visit. Upon our return the newspapers here tell us that we can expect 3 more weeks of bitter cold! I guess I should keep on knitting! 

Treats

These springtime-fresh and dainty blossoms appealed to me on another blustery cold day in Norway.

The children keep asking what it will look like when all of the tulip bulbs they planted last fall come into bloom. Then I talked to mom yesterday and she tells me of looking at her hellibore and how it is growing and doing well. Mine is so very well covered with a thick layer of snow, but will be a most welcome sight when the time comes.

Another treat came in the mail to brighten my day even more. Isn't it wonderful how little gifts can appear when you need them most? This prettily quilled card really brightened my day! Simone sent me this card, above, and the button bookmark pictured below.

Simone, thank you so much! Blogging is incredible. Simone won my last giveaway and she wrote me the card telling me what a thrill it was to win, especially since it was the first time. How delightful it was that she would take the time to let me know and thereby spreading even more joy, because that really made me happy to know how much she appreciated it. Maybe you would like to see a bit of the Japanese book, Story Quilt? You can find it here on Amazon.co.jp with ISBN 4391133318 or 9784391133318.

I have never seen anything quite like these small appliquèd stories.

The author imagines children in every imaginable type of play, sometimes simply and other times with painstaking details.

I adore this little scene. I like how she has kept the faces so simple, but uses so many textures in her fabric selections.

There aren't detailed instructions for each figure, but she does step by step instructions for a couple of her figures.

The book seems like it will be a great source of inspiration. I hope this was a little treat for you?

We have a wonderful week now ahead of us. My two little cherubs have winter vacation and my husband is going to have a couple of days off to enjoy it with us! We certainly have a winter wonderland to ice skate, sled and ski in!

 

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Since making garlands and needlebooks with doilies I have accumalated a few scraps from the precious handmade vintage treasures. Not knowing what to do with them and not wanting to throw them away I have held on to them.

I considered that these lacy scraps might do well transformed into hearts. So Here I am sewing one onto a piece of linen. I like how it it turning out, how it ends up slightly ragged at the edges.

Some of my favorite people are so very far away and I thought I would surprise them with some special valentines treats. I ordered some delicious looking caramels from this nice Etsy shop, Calabasasas Candy  Co run by Cheri. My Dad called me to thank me for the treats, and he exclaimed over how beautifully they were wrapped and how they had come with a surprise extra treat to sample.

I hope you are having a fine day filled with love.

 

Flown in

At our house we daily revel in the antics of the birds who come to our feeders right outside our kitchen window. We have a couple of bird books at hand to identify new birds that we aren't familliar with.

I have been wanting to make some bags with birds and now they are made. I finally found a good enough reason to cut into the gorgeous Japanese fabrics I had been saving for a special project. The teal and pink fabrics have the most wonderful linen like texture on the yarn dyed and woven fabric.

These bags are all in my shop. I will have to get busy because my son wants one and so does my daughter. They will be quite handy for storage of their small treasures, like marbles, toys, or things we might find on a walk.

A nice day in Norway

Wednesday's there is no nursery school. It is lovely to not have to go at by a certain time and to have one less lunch to pack. Today was especially nice because we had another little friend over for lunch and lots of playtime.

In between loads of laundry, helping with snowsuits and boots on and off, a game of cards, etc. I have been organizing my ribbons. Some have been looking very pretty in glass jars on my shelf. Others have been stored in a pretty wooden picnic basket. Every time I went to find a ribbon I had to paw through the worst tangle.

All I did was cut rectangular peices of cardboard and then I cut several slots on the sides for the ribbons to be wound around. After winding them on I pin them in place.

Both my 9 year old and my 4 year old were able to help with the ribbon winding. It took Lilly awhile to get the hang of it, but she tried again and again until she managed. We all just love working on little projects together.

Working on a quilt

My beloved pincushions from my dear blogging friends are helping me in my latest projcet. The square log cabin pincushion is from Mette and the mushroom is from Kristin. I think the presence of these gifts from such experienced and talented quilters in my sewing room is giving me courage to attempt this.

I didn't plan on it. My tummy was still growling and uncomfortable, but somehow I found myself picking out fabrics, sewing them together and making a quilt. The bright colors seemed to offer comfort and distraction. I looked into a box I've stored of charm packs, I found 3 that seemed to work together: Erin McMorris, Kaffe Fassett and a third which I don't recall.

Each part of it is so pleasurable: selecting the fabrics, arranging them, the repitition of the sewing and ironing, all the while being completely engrossed.

The best part though was when my kids came home after a Sunday matine with daddy. When they saw the quilt top all laid out on the floor just like this their eyes lit up and they exclaimed and oohhhed and ahhhed. I couldn't have been happier.

Now, as you can see I have to sew the white strips on the ends, figure out a backside and then even tougher, how to quilt it. I haven't ever made anything this big and it isn't even very large, crib size, it says on the cottong batting (60"x46"). That makes me laugh, because it seems huge to me! I think it will make a good lap quilt for the children. I rearranged the squares until my head was dizzy, and I still see some annoying repeats, but well, hopefully my eye will improve with practice.

Right now I am a little nervous about the how to make a quilt back exaclty the right size. It is just a tad bigger than my usual matryoshka dolls and a bit bigger than my comfort zone of the familiar. Just don't put any pressure on me for a deadline for being finished...

Birthday Roses, a bug, and a small project

These beautiful pink roses were from my husband yesterday on my birthday. I had a lovely day except for getting a tummy bug.

My 9 year old son who also got the tummy bug in the middle of the night last night got to stay home from school today. He has improved as the day has gone by and borrowed the grown-up camera and took the above perfect shot of my birthday bouquet. That is the nice thing about tummy bugs, they can be quite intense but generally pass quickly.

This morning while my husband slept until nearly noon (yes, he got the birthday tummy trouble too and stayed home from work.) the children and I spent a bit of time going through fabric for a little tiny project I am going to do. My son took this photo too of me looking trough some treasured Japanese fabrics.

These are the two Japanese fabrics I chose for the 9-patch squares I am going to be hand sewing together. This is a very small project I am doing, from the Yoko Saito book, which I believe is called Square and Triangle.

By the way, if you ever want to preview or purchase Japanese books and magazines online I often use ebay. Many of the sellers scan a good portion of the book onto the site to give you a good idea of what you will get. I go to ebay.com, then I do a search for Japanese crafting magazine, Yoko Saito, Japanese quilting book, etc. You should get up a number of results and then when you click on one that looks interesting, give the page time to download and you can browse to your heart's content. Here is a good peek into the Square and Triangle book!

And here I am sewing according to Yoko Saito's instructions. Using a water soluable pen I traced a paper square onto fabrics that I cut out leaving a .7 seam allowance around the blue marks. Then I sewed two squares together on one end. The stitches should start beyond the blue line. You can just see my knot on the outside of the blue lines. I did a running stitch all the way across. It goes pretty quickly.

As you can see I have sewn three rows of 3 squares together and have finger pressed the seams in alternating directions.

 

Yoko recommends pinning the pieces together as I have done here. Can you tell I am having a ton on fun?

Now I have ironed the 9 patch, cut out two layers of cotton flannel, several cm larger than the 9-patch. I cut the bottom layer of fabric the same size as the flannel. I have once again used the water soluable pen to mark where I will be doing my quilting stitches. Now I am ready to baste the sections together.

I look forward to working on this over the weekend. Perhaps you have some nice project to work on this weekend too? Wishing you a lovely one!

Buttons, take two, in color

Here are my trapped flower buttons again. This time in color. I wish I knew more about them. They seem so special and unique. If anyone has an idea of how they make these, when they were made or other information about this type of buttons I would love to know.

The jars are also from one of my thrifting adventures. I can never have too many containers.

I wonder if you thought the buttons prettier in black and white or in color?

I wonder what you did this weekend and if it seems to fly by for you too? I spent a bit of time sewing and lots of time laughing with my family. My son has been annoying us for a time by scaring us, you know, jumping out from behind a curtain and roaring "Raaaah!" We finally realized that he really wanted us to scare him! Now we are having the most outragous time trying to frighten him. He loves it and we all laugh hysterically, every single time.

Black and White buttons

The vintage buttons in the forground are some of my favorites. I was going to use them on the secret Valentine's gift I mentioned yesterday, but then had another idea. When I got them out though I thought I should show them to you. I found them at a flea market. I should explain something about many Norwegian flea markets. They are held by sports teams or bands, to raise money for the group. All items for sale are donated by people wanting to help or to simply get rid of no-longer-wanted items. So someone just gave these wonderful buttons away.

The flowers are actually pink. I think I will have to show them in color soon too. I added two new bags to my shop today. They are bright and colorful and wouldn't really fit with today's post.

I am already dreaming of flea market season opening in a few months. Better yet, talking with mom today and discussing possible dates of future visits! This is really going to help me through the remainder of the winter.

Second Post of today

This is unprecidented, writing two posts in one day. The first one from today is below. I had to write again when the very kind Tia let me know of my terrible mistake. You see the Japanese book I told you I used to make the slippers for Lilly was the wrong book. Poor Tai had gone out to buy the book and when she got home she looked and looked but didn't find the slipper pattern in it. I am so sorry and I had to write immediately in attempts to prevent anyone else from buying the wrong book.

Here is the book with the pattern for the slippers I made for Lilly:

Here is where you can pick up the book on Amazon.
ISBN-13: 978-4834727142
You can see the book's version of the slippers below. I love the hand stitches on the straps.

Please forgive me for my error. I will try to double check things from now on. Since I was already scanning for this post I thought why not show a bit more of this great book?

This is a dress I really want to make for little one before summer, or it might make a nice tunic over a turtleneck and tights for winter.

Isn't this a cute purse, with pretty Liberty of London, lace and linen?

This little number I would like in my size. I haven't time for making things for me though, today I finished two pairs of super-fast and simple elastic waist pants for my 9 year old son. Now Lilly is clamoring for some new pants too.

Upcycled luxury knitting

I got to put my feet up for this foto shoot!

I didn't get to keep the socks though. They were a Christmas gift for my dear grandmother-in-law. The socks are fantastic though. I loved them the 5 minutes I wore them to take the photos. They are pure cashmere. Recycled! Yes, I bought the wonderful yarn on ebay from one of the sellers there who painstakingly unwinds sweaters to harvest the yarn.

This is the third time I have bought yarn this way, and yes it does come a bit kinky. However, each time I have made wonderfully soft and beautiful things from the upcycled yarns for just a fraction of the cost of what it would have cost to buy the yarn new. I didn't even steam these socks and they came out lookiong nicely I think. The pattern is from the really marvelous book: Favorite Socks, by Ann Budd and Anne Merrow.

The pattern was so simple and fun to do. It is definitely one I would like to make again.

Meanwhile I have another project to work on. Here is another upcycled yarn, this time merino and angora. The halo around it is so nice as is its feel, pure softness. I will be making some super fast and simple socks for my little one who really does't like to wear socks very much. Hopefully this pair will persuade her that socks can be a good thing.

Little slippers

Today a few of my newest matryoshkas were featured on Cuteable! Fru Stabekk wasn't featured but she is one of my newest creations in my shop.

The icy air doesn't seem to want to let up and as I have mentioned before is giving me a wonderful excuse to stay indoors and keep warm at my sewing machine. What is the point of going outside actually when it is -20 Celcius? So I made these slippers for little one to keep her small toes warm on our now chilly hard-wood floors.

I used this Japanese book for the pattern. Here is the link to it on Amazon.jp:

The slippers make the second project I have completed in this book and so far so good. I have enjoyed both immensly and they have both turned out as I had hoped. I blogged previously about another Japanese book and my projects here and here.

The bottoms are three layers, with the bottom two quilted together as you see above. I used the same fabric for the insole and underside, and for batting I used a vintage wool blanket. The thick blanket and quilting give good structure to the slippers and warmth as well.

I dug into my mother-of-pearl button jars to find a couple of matching buttons to add as decoration on the straps. I have used snaps for closure. I still (sheepishly) haven't learned how to make button holes. Maybe Mom will teach me on our next visit? I selected Jennifer Pagnelli's wonderful fabric from the line Dance with Me for the outer fabric.

And here we were today playing concentration and little one is wearing her new slippers.

She still doesn't even know all the numbers or letters on the cards but she can match them! Getting a photo is hard work too when they are moving around as much as this little energetic one does. It is a good thing I have learned how to lose with grace because it happens alot when I play cards with my kids.

I hope you will have a lovely weekend!

Lilly's new doll and doll clothes

Lilly was excited as can be at Christmas when she opened up her doll and doll clothes from Grandma and Papap (her grandfather.)

She was promptly named after me, because of the curly hair.

Here is one of the beautiful peices of clothing my mom stitched up for little Emily. I wish this little red fleece with the beautiful black glass buttons was in my size!

Mom made this beautiful dress too. The fabric is delicate with the pretty blossoms scattered all over it and is so lovely, trimmed with dainty lace. Lilly's intense concetration gives a good indication of her pleasure in playing with her new dolly.

Back to Black and White Monday

The snow we got during the holidays made everything white and lovely.

It seems it tastes pretty good too. Yes, there are some fine things about snow in the winter.

A couple of my favorite gifts this past holiday

This adorable little mousie was a gift for the entire family from my dear little daughter. What a great project that they made at her nursery school, where they felted the body, glued on the parts and then even made a house.

She had us all curious as anything about the gift and she allowed her big brother the honor of opening it up.

This was another gift that I just love! Mom and dad treated me to this sea urchin ornament from an Etsy seller who I know well, Estella!

I have long admired her work with finds from nature and must have mentioned this to my mother since she surprised me with it!

Estella actually works with her mother making things and have an impressive total of 4 shops on Etsy. This fabulously creative duo has an incredible range in their abilities. Thank you Mom and Dad for this beautiful ornament! I is also a lovely reminder of the beaches of Maine and all our trips when I was growing up, where we discovered sea urchins, crabs, starfish, etc. in the warm tide pools.

Happy New Year!

Mom loves to knit too and she made these for Lilly.

She made up the design herself! I sure love how she combined the two-colored knitting with the cables.

 
This time of year I miss the family a bit more than usual, so we are already dreaming about our next visit together.

Meanwhile we are enjoying the snow! This hat I made for Lilly. It is really nice on cold days, made from alpaca. Things actually warmed up today, it got up to -8 celcius. We were all tired after staying up until l past midnight to see in the new year so today was a good day for snuggling on the sofa and reading good books.

Have a fabulous weekend!