September Name and Claim

I have had a couple of Rest & Recovery days, with very little sewing and I have organized my projects and my sewing table.

I am ready to do my Name & Claim list for September.

Finish the 2 care quilts from this month – lacking bindings only – will be done by machine.
Finish the top on the Watermelon quilt – see blog June 19. + 20. – my September Challenge !
Continue working on Tonya’s letter project – see blog August.
Finish the last round on Crazy Quilt RR before 17. September
Continue working on my DJ blocks
Continue working on my NI quilt
Do some thread on the adopted cross stitch project from DD1

I know – this is more than 5 projects, but some of these can be finished in a day or two, and I have a full month :-)
In fact, looking at it, this is my full list of project right now !!
Not bad for one who had less than 100 more than 50 projects only few years back :-)

I have some very tempting projects in my head - I need to finish something before starting anything new !

Do you have a Name & Claim list ?

The best laid plans

There are not many days in a year when I don't touch a needle, but this is one of them.
Not for any particular reason - it is just the way this day went.
I have 2 quilts to bind and 4 DJ blocks to make, nada done.
I have thumbed some books and magazines, rested and given my desk/sewing table a Sort & Fling, and when I could have sewn this little lady happened on my sewing table


Paws on keyboard - this is my story and I am sticking to it:

I have my own recipe on how to make my people behave.
I teach by the manual
How To Please And Play Precious Me 101.
I give cat-upuncture and cuddles generously on my own schedule.
All claws and teeth one second and all fur, licks and purr the next.
I have full control over the house quilter, her sewing table and her computer as you see.
Who can stand a cuddly fur ball like myself ?
I am the queen of two households and I take full advantage - purr purr purr

Looking for Judy at Sunshine Quilts ?

Judy is experiencing technical difficulties and have set up a new blog at
Judy's Blog.

One more down and one to go !

This is Nina's Crazy Quilt Round Robin.
It will be traveling to the last participant on Monday.
It looks good, but it was hard to decide what to add.
The empty space was big, and it was also a point to not overwhelm the blue heart with to bold design, and also balance the previous work.
The hollyhock design has been spinning around in my head for some time and I think it came out very well, in my not so humble opinion ;-)
The leaves are appliqued by free motion on the sewing machine. The stem and flowers are done by hand and 3 strands of embroidery floss.
This is my contribution:
The next round is already here, as is my block, finished.It looks lovely.I plan to finish the next round and blog it before I blog my own block.
One thing that has added to this RR in a very positive way:Everybody is keeping the time schedule, all the time - in fact we often are sending before deadlines.Very good for 7 people with busy lives !

More progress

Another sandwiched quilt to work on during the weekend !
DH is going away this weekend, leaving tomorrow,
and you can see what I have planned - quilting as much as I can on this quilt and on Judy's challenge.
The blocks on this quilt are 10" finished and done with the TriRecs tool.
I have made 12 blocks and joined the quilt since yesterday morning.
This is an Ufo and it is good to have it done.
I have also put away the yellow and red fabrics and decluttered my sewing table :-)

When I need a break from big arm movements I will do the current round on the crazy quilt RR and play more with Tonya's letters.

Judy's challenge day 8

Ready to machine quilt :-)
What looks like a white outer sashing is the batting sticking out.
Last year I got several 1 meter cuts of children prints, Debbie Mumm, from a nice quilter who is cutting down on her quilt activities in favour of other activities.
She wanted them to be used for care quilts and I committed myself to use them for that.
I have used 2 pieces of blue on the back of this quilt -  one with Noah boats and one with typical Debbie Mumm things.
When the quilting is done I will take a photo of both sides.
I will still use a daily hour - or more - on this quilt until it is done, binding and all.

Judy's challenge day 7

I am not really this fast, but I make up for speed with persistence.
I have used more than 7 hours and I want this quilt top to be done tomorrow.
What you see is how it will be, with the cross wise sashing off course, but with no borders.
I like the top like it is now.
I am out of the most of these green-ish turquoise fabrics now, other than small scraps, but still have some of the fabrics I used in the middle of the blocks to use for corner stones.
My plan is to bind the quilt with blue or maybe purple.
It would be lovely with pink and turquoise binding as well, but pink would make this quilt a girl quilt, and that is not my plan.
Like it is now it is both a boy and a girl quilt.

I hope to sandwich the quilt tomorrow so I can start machine quilting it as my daily hour on Tuesday.
DH is going away on a trip the upcoming weekend and I would like to have 2 quilts in the machine quilting stage by then, to machine quilt when he is gone.
The other quilt top I would like to finish and sandwich is the Tri Recs quilt in red and yellow.

For my pleasure and fun, as quilt snack, I will work on Tonya's letter project in between.
I plan to make that quilt 4 x 5 blocks as well.

Judy's challenge day 6

This is how far I have got today, and I like the look of these blocks :-)
I have joined the 2 last block from yesterday and started cutting for the sashing.
 

Judy's challenge day 4 & 5 combined

Yesterday life took the front seat, so today I have combined day 4 and day 5 of the challenge.
All but 2 blocks are done. I am out of the white on white I have used for the joining "cross" on the other blocks, so tomorrow I will find one in my collection to substitute.
As you see my turquoise fabrics are very much of the same, even if the prints are different, so I have decided to do that part of the blocks in whole logs.
I am making do with what I have, and it is fun. When I run out of one print I move on the next.
This photo is not much different from the previous.
It is more a matter of me knowing the other blocks are done and under the ones you can see.

A kind of finish

I am giving myself permission to call this project finished, even if all I have are these two blocks.
I have attended a class at Quilt University that did not catch my interest like I had thought it would.
So, instead of struggling myself through a quilt or maybe just a couple more blocks to make an Ufo, I am filing these with the class papers.
If I ever am going to make a quilt with these blocks I will at least alter the sizes of the flying geese to not include 1/8" in the finished size. It is not fun to work with 1/8", eyeballing 1/16" to make a block that finish 12".
In my eyes that is just that much more fun in a 4,5" Dear Jane block.

Judy's challenge day 3

I have cut the sashing strip for all the blocks except 2. I need to find another sashing fabric to use for the last 2.
Then I joined together the HST in pairs for the first 10 blocks, made the strip with the center square for 10 blocks and joined 2 blocks, as you see.

More tomorrow :-)

Tonya's letter project

Tonya is generously sharing how to make letters, and here are mine, so far.
We who are participating have promised to make a donation quilt.
I have my favourite care cause, children with long term diseases.
We send our quilts to the Norwegian Quilt Association, who distributes them to different hospitals.

The colours are not coming through right. What looks like pale yellow is a pale yellowish green.
I first planned to use caterpillar gut green, but the green and the pink fought for attention, so a paler green did the trick.
This is great fun Tonya - thank you for sharing :-)

A quilter's life is a busy life, right ;-)

I have committed my time to
Judy's challenge
Tonya's project
and my own daily hour on a (stalled) project.

So far, so good - I am keeping up, and I am having fun, which is my main reason for quilting in the first place :-)

Judy's challenge Day 2

I have made my 80 HST and I have picked the fabrics for the framing.
I choose to use the more green turquoise to make a contrast and yet keep the 2 colour feeling.
I will give this quilt as a care quilt to my favourite cause, and think this will go well both with boys and girls.
It sure takes time to pick off the HST paper, but it is good to use it too, for accuracy.
Easy Angle triangle is my favourite when I am doing HST with ruler, without paper.
Drawing a line on the diagonal and sew 1/4" from the line on both sides also works well for me when working with scraps.
In this quilt I have used 7 different blues and made enough HST for 3 blocks of 6 fabrics and for 2 block of 1 fabric.

Judy's challenge Day 1

Like a cow on green grass, or something like that :-)

I like a challenge, and I have spent an hour preparing HST for tomorrow, choosing and cutting out fabrics and spray basted HST paper to it.
This will be another 2 colour quilt, with blues and whites adding some turquoise. Turquoise is (nearly) a shade of blue, right ?
I know, turquoise is not a colour from the colour wheel and can not be mixed from any of the primary colours. Did you know that ?

I have rolls of HST papers in a drawer and I have used it today, so this is stashbusting in many ways. I prefer to print my HST from Triangulations 2.0, as you know, so these rolls have just been taking up space. I find copy paper easier to tear, even with a short stitch.

I am using my white on white prints. I loved them before, but not so much anymore, as I now prefer the more off white. I also find the white on white print "rubbery", if you know what I mean.

My plan is to make 20 blocks, but not add the borders. I like quilts without borders the best. I guess it also has to do with my fabric collection not having any long pieces. I sometimes piece borders from rectangular pieces.
In EQ5 this quilt looks good without borders. Time will tell :-)

More tomorrow.

Here it is :-)

The quilt is 48" x 72".
I machine quilted 1/4" inside every 4" square and where the 16 patch forms I have quilted the inner 4 patch in the ditch.
I am nearly out of blue-ish purples after making 2 colour purple and white quilts for both DDs, and the binding is made from 3 different purples.
This will be my DD1's lap quilt on the couch. She already has one for her bed, which I made some years ago.
I must admit I broke a sweat when I was ironing the newly washed and dried quilt this morning, seeing that one of the purples had bled.
This was a very expensive hand dyed fabric I had bought here in Norway several years ago.
It was prewashed.
I put the quilt in the washing machine again, with colour catchers and it came out all right !
The bleeding was not that very noticeable before the washing either, but the knowledge would have bugged me.
I know I will not save these hand dyes anymore !
The company making them is not in business anymore, and the fabric is not that pleasing to work with - to thick - like sheet quality.

I did it !

My DD1's double 4-patch quilt is finally done !
It is in the washing machine as we speak, 11.20 pm.
I will take a photo in good daylight tomorrow.

This, together with Judy's challenge, starting Monday, will be my next projects to focus on.
The yellow and red quilt is made with the Tri Recs tool.

I started using my yellow scrap strips, but after doing the Sunshine Quilt in July, I actually have to cut more yellow strips.
I do not plan to make this quilt so big, 4 by 5-6 squares maybe, the squares being 10" finished.
I will donate it with the Sunshine quilt.

The charm of the daily hour

Some bindings take forever, and this one is one of them.
Had it not been for the daily Do It Now hour this quilt would have been lost in the pile of "some other day" projects.
I guess I have stretched myself a bit to long by doing 2 quilts in the same colour combination in very short time. Here is the other, for DD2, finished June 27.
Both DDs are happy for their quilts and this too will be finished, during tomorrow - I promise, hand on heart :-)
Approx. 6 meters of binding left to go - including the joining binding on the back side. I machine quilted this quilt in 2 sections.


This little sweetheart has spent 2 days here. She will be going home to her own home this evening.
Her favourite sleeping spot is by my feet, by the computer table, with the electrical cord from my wall lamp somewhere touching her body.
She has full check on the computer and sewing area from her spot.
She is a very good tempered little cat - very friendly, but no lap cat. Her purr is load and clear and she loves to have her belly cuddled when she is good and ready for it. Then she becomes the loooongest little cat you have ever seen.
She has very good instincts and have had her taste of flies and small spiders on the veranda.
We have all got our daily dose of cat-upuncture :-)

Making progress

I have nothing new to show today, so I want to show a toiletry purse I made last year - my own design.
It is so high and deep shampoo bottles can stand up, and it has pockets with elastics inside.
The batik was fun to use, with the colour play in it. Curved piecing was fun too, by machine.

When I am done with DD1's quilt I can give you some measurements for napkin box if you like.
I made my first by cutting up a cardboard box many years ago. I still have the cardboard pieces.
It is not my invention. I saw on in a market and thought I could do one too.
As you see, I could :-)

I am working my daily hour(s) and I am 1/3 done with machine quilting DD1's quilt.
I very much like to finish it before this weekend !

The sweet taste of success :-)

The gift for my niece is done and I am doing a happy Snoopy dance again :-)

My plan for today was to do 1 hour on the napkin box and then work on DD1's quilt.
One stitch lead to another and the hour passed without me wanting to stop.

The napkin box is slow work - it has double stiff batting, it is lined, the side seams are double (French) and the bottom has a binding.
The napkin box alone does not look like much of a gift, so the idea to make some potholders to go with it was born.
I have used the Tri-Rec templates.
It has been a long time since last time I used the Tri-Rec, so I messed up the cutting at first and had some waste of batik.
Oh - never trust a busy brain ;-)
I have not a thread left of the light blue background now, which I also used for backing of potholders + lining of napkin box.
It felt nice to use one of my best batiks as well - for my favourite niece (the only niece) :-)
I have to practice using my best fabrics, and not save them until they are not my best anymore!

My plan for tomorrow is to work on DD1's quilt.
Hopefully I can finish it this week.
As my alternate project(s) I will do a cross stitch of Eyore I adopted from DD1 and some DJ blocks.

Progress !

I am doing a happy Snoopy dance here - just for fun -
for being a quilter, for filling my goals today !

I started out doing one hour work on my nieces birthday gift, and then moved to the next stalled project, this pillow.
It got the rest of the day, and now it is done, buttoned backing and all.

This pattern is from Once Upon a Vine and it is from 1998.
I can remember buying it as I thought the block with the text and the embroidery was so cute.
This was a long time before stitchery became popular.
I still think the pattern is cute.
I started this pillow in late May, early June, and it was planned for my DSisIL's birthday.
It is a bit to bright to fit in her living room but will look perfect on her veranda or at her summer house.

Thanks to my personal challenge of 1 hour work on an Ufo or stalled project every day in August I have made progress on 2 projects today :-)

Unfortunately my iron made a ugly brown mark on the pillow so it is now washed and looks all right again.
My good iron died on me earlier this week, so I have used an old iron, which I now remember why I put away.
It is ok for ironing one shirt but left on for more than a short time it sort of leaks brownish steam.
I went out buying a new iron this afternoon.
I like the iron soles that can be scrubbed clean on need.
Using fusible web a good clean is needed every now and then, even if I am ever so careful.

Tomorrow I will keep on working on my niece's birthday gift +
my DD1's quilt. I need to join the rows on it and prepare it for machine quilting.
I like to alternate between 2 projects.
When alternating I do not get sidetracked so easily.
If I can get DD1's quilt done soon she will be very happy.

The little cat has visited here today and we will cat sit her 3 days next week.
She sure is very cute and she is a great helper with organizing and checking fabrics :-)

Some thoughts

These last days so many people have had their thinking caps on, and many good thoughts have been shared.

Jeanne had a great post on what kind of quilters we are, and I said I am an artisan, as I thought so at the moment.
Well - I am wrong, I am not an artisan, nor an artist, nor a technician, but a mix of all.

In fact I think I am a freequilter - a twist on freethinker :-)

Merrian-Webster definition of freethinker:
Main Entry: free·think·er Pronunciation: -'thi[ng]-k&r
Function: noun: one who forms opinions on the basis of reason independently of authority; especially : one who doubts or denies religious dogma - free·think·ing /-ki[ng]/ noun or adjective

I like techniques and I love a sharp point, like in Dear Jane,
but I do not lose a minute sleep over a blunt point, if I otherwise did my best.
My best is a reflection on where I am at the moment, quilting wise.
My Dear Jane quilt is full of blunt point applique, but that is where I was at the moment, and I Love and am proud of every block :-)
I absolutely love to try new techniques and new challenges in blocks, not for the perfection, but for the feeling of being able to do it.
For every new thing I learn quilting wise there are 10 more doors to open, 10 more new things to dream and to try - like a upside down pyramide with me at the point looking forward - oh joy, all that fun ahead !
I am thriving on challenges - it is my reason to quilt :-)
Yet - I love every moment of making a quilt for a child in need - in any technique.
If I can wrap a child in a soft quilt and happy colours I am happy too.
I absolutely love to make utility quilts and items for my family and people I love too.

Artisan - yes and no - I feel I am to restless and curious to rest in the artisan defenition, and I do not do many crafts, like many do.
It might be different in English, but in Norwegian artisan is very women craft related - a little heavy on the traditional side.
Yes, I like traditional methods, but I also like to try new methods and new ways of thinking.
I have been critizised by crafts people for using "new" methods in quilting, like rotary cutting and sewing machine....
In my eyes traditions are art(isan) heritage in constant development. What I am passing it on to my girls and my students is not only what I have been given from the women before me. It is the knowledge from women before me plus my twist on it I am passing on.

Artist - yes and no - when I am doing something new and inventive it might be called artistery, but as the daughter of a man who has fed himself and his family by his art I have respect for the word - and not.
My father always quote something that goes like -
Art comes from knowledge,
and not from will.

In Norwegian - for my Norwegian friends -

Kunst kommer av å kunne,
hvis det hadde kommet av å ville,
ville det hete vilst !

It is a play with words, but nevertheless very true !

A well known quilt art quilter that I know told me not very long ago the reason she turned to art quilt is that she can not sew a sharp point if her life depended on it -
and she admires all who can.
Something to think about !!

So - quilting wise I am touching all walls - tradition, artistery, artisan, technician - and I will keep on doing so - one foot on the ground - in tradition and skills - and one foot up in the air, in movement - to new places and new challenges - and my head up in the clouds - in dreams and inovation.
We have a Norwegian saying that goes like:
One who stands with both feet on the ground stands still.

I want to be in movement :-)

On stash sizes this is where I stand -

Your stash should not be bigger than you are comfortable with,
both size wise and mind wise.

Mine is a bit on the uncomfortable side size wise - you have seen my stash here
This is the space I have to my use in my not so big house.
I can use some of my fabric collection to get some more space :-)


These roses are for you, reading all the way through.
Maybe you are a freequilter too ? :-)

A personal challenge

I am adding an extra personal challenge for August for myself.

In fact the No Buy will not be so hard for me,
so I want to add a daily hour of Do It Now - a daily hour work on a stalling project.
First out is the birthday gift for my niece, starting tomorrow !
I know I was not to start anything new before I had finished 3 projects,
but this is a Got To Do, before it will be a Should Have Done.

Will I get some company ?

Naming and claiming for August

Looking back on July, it has been a nice month sewing wise.
I have not met all my sewing goals, but as we say around here -
I set the goals, I can change them.
Right Linda J. ? - you told me so once.
Or - feel free to add an extra week to a month whenever you feel like it.
I am doing it every now and then, and it feels good :-)

I have had some finishes and I have not started anything new, which is as good as it needs to be !

Setting goals for August is not difficult:

First and last - I want to have fun ! :-)

Well - other than that -

• I want to finish DD1's quilt
• I have a round on the Crazy Quilt RR to finish and send before August 28
• Finish pillow for DSisL asap
• Make gift for niece asap
• Finish a care quilt to send off by end of August together with Sunshine quilt.
• It would be nice to do some DJ blocks and NI blocks too, in between.

I have joined the August No Buy which I see more like fun than depression ;-)
Like a new meeting with my friends the fabric pieces.
The Sunshine quilt was made all from fabric strips and pieces already in my collection,
and it was very satisfying to do so.
In fact I am contemplating joining Cher for the rest of the autumn, more or less, but I will not sign my name just yet.

One word meme

This is going around right now - do it too, if you like :-)

One Word for

1. Yourself: creative
2. Your partner: caring
3. Your hair: short
4. Your Mother: absent
5. Your Father: creative
6. Your Favorite Item: computer
7. Your dream last night: none
8. Your Favorite Drink: tea
9. Your Dream Home: this
10. The Room You Are In: sewing
11. Your pleasure: quilting
12. Your fear: snakes
13. Where you Want to be in Ten Years? home
14. Who you hung out with last night: DH
15. What You're Not: patient
16. Your Best Friends: dear
17. One of Your Wish List Items: travel
18. Your Gender: female
19. The Last Thing You Did: dinner
20. What You Are Wearing: skirt
21. Your favorite weather: sunny
22. Your Favorite Book? mystery
23.Last thing you ate? chicken
24. Your Life: ok
25. Your mood: relaxed
26. The last person you talked to on the phone: DD2
27. Who are you thinking about right now? DH

Meet Tullerusk

Also known as Lille Rusk ( Small Crumb )
9 weeks old, owned by DD1, but being partly fostered in our home as well.
DD1 just moved to a student apartment, by herself,
and Lille Rusk is keeping her company.
We have agreed to be part time parents for her - when DD1 is occupied elsewhere.
She is a sweet little fur ball, all teeth and claws and soft cuddly fur.
She is semi long haired, a true street mix.
I don't know what it is with quilters and cats, but it sure is something :-)

One stitch at a time

This is the Ufo I am working on now - a pillow for my DSisIL's birthday.
It is belated, but she does not know, as we have not yet been invited for cakes and coffee ;-)
The applique pieces are now on and I have used free motion applique with the darning foot.
I am working on the details by embroidery needle now.
This pillow is bright, brighter than the photo shows,
and I think it will look best on a veranda or in their summer house, hence the quick applique.
It is a use it an use it up pillow, more like a bouquet of flowers in fabric :-)
I think it is nice to put a lot of work into some things and less into others - and I am in this for the fun, right ? :-)

My DBIL, DH's brother just had his 50th birthday, and this quilt that I finished in March will be his gift. An idea for use of 9-patches ? This is 9-patches and rail blocks only.
The family was away in Europe on his big day.

Come to think of it they will most likely have a "one party covers all" soon, as my niece and nephew soon have their birthdays too.
Which reminds me that my niece has asked for something specific from my creative corner as well.
I better get to work, and I better start writing my daily threads in my sidebar, like I did before - it was very inspiring !