3 birds with 1 stone :-)

1. This has been an Ufo for a long time - now it is done - I am doing a happy dance :-)
I am tired of moving this Ufo around the Quilt Corner!

2. I have signed this quilt up at my guild Tåsen Quiltelag's Ufo Challenge as 1 of 5 Ufos for the
summer, due the first Wednesday of September.
1 down, 4 to go! Go me!

3. I have decided to give this quilt to my favourite charity cause, Tepper Som Varmer ( Warming Quilts ) - to children with cancer and other long term diseases.

Brown does not fit into my home decoration anymore - that is the real downside of having old Ufos - my taste has changed!
I love how the quilt looks, so I hope it will warm a child and her family and make them feel wrapped in love.

Hanne

Care quilts weekend

This weekend, my guild Bærum Lappelag had a care quilt sew together.
We had so much fun, and many quilts were made. We will see many finishes over the next months, as most people took their tops and sandwiched quilts home to finish them.

You can see more photos from the weekend at the guild’s website, here. Click on the photo in the post, and more photos will appear.

Julie has also posted photos on her blog, here

I demonstrated the 1600” race method, as I have used in the 5 quilt tops above, and Julie demonstrated the Twister ruler.

How to make a 1600” race quilt:

Step 1 – buy a Jelly roll, or make one from your own fabric collection, like I do :-)
You will need approximately 40 strips of fabric full width, 2,5” wide, or if you like me, like to use your scraps in all different lengths, approximately 40 yards of strips.

Step 2 – join all your strips into one looooong strip.

Step 3 – join the 2 ends of the 1600” strip, sew one loooong seam (800”) and cut open the fold at the end of the seam with a pair of scissors.

Next step – do step 3 again and again, until you have a quilt top, 32 strips high.
Nearly there, just one more seam to go!

If you are a more visual learner, watch the process on YouTube here. I was inspired by this video, but I must admit I use more than 45 minutes, since I cut my own strips and like to enjoy my coffee as I piece.
I have timed my process here at home to about 3 hours, pulling fabrics, cutting, sewing and breathing while doing so ;-)

When we have the sew together of care quilts there are usually both fabrics and batting we can use from.
I  use from my own fabrics – care quilts is a good way to reduce my fabric collection and warm someone else, like a pay it forward. I like Paying It Forward!

If we all did acts of kindness,
maybe it would set the world in the right direction.

Hanne

A surprise gift!

I met May Kristin at the meeting last weekend and she handed me this lovely belated PIF gift.
May Kristin does lovely work and I am proud to own it :-)

The pincushion (from Kindred Spirits - one of my favourites), a great little basket, a notepad from Lynette Anderson and a small bottle of hand cleaner, perfect for my upcoming trip :-)

Thank you very much May Kristin!!

I love the thought of impromptu Pay It Forwards, so I will keep the ball rolling in my own way, by sending unexpected mail box joys out every now and then, without being part of any organized system.

I think we all can make a difference for someone :-)

Hanne

Paying It Forward – sort of

7 years ago my DD1 was hospitalized for months and our family was going through a very rough patch.

One day heart blocks started to appear in my mail box, from near and far away.
It was a very touching experience and I wiped my eyes frequently, feeling all the support from fellow quilters.

I wrote the names of the makers on the seam allowance of each block, so it was a touching experience again when I spread all the blocks on my desk yesterday and saw that I am still in touch with most of them, one way or the other.
2 great quilters have also passed away since then, and 1 has lost her hand skills to Parkinson’s disease.

I did not have much luck when we were doing PIF in blogland a couple of years back, as I did not receive anything from the lady I signed up with – BUT – I was lucky with the recipients of my 3 gifts, as they all liked what I made for them :-)

I have since then found that is is very giving for me to give to others, and that an unexpected gift is often very precious for the receiver, no matter if it is small or big.
I am so happy when someone is sending me a gift, and I love sending gifts to others too, brightening their day.

Well – back on track here ;-)

I am sure none of the makers of these lovely hearts will mind if I make the 41 blocks in to quilts to children with long term diseases now, so as thought, so done.
The warming hearts can now warm again!

I separated the block in to 2 piles, one mainly red and one mainly blue.
Some of the blocks are signed on the front with the maker’s name, but I think it will just add interest to the quilt.
Only 1 blocks has my name on it – it is blue, and will be a part of quilt # 2. I know what to do with it, and it will be used.

Here are the quilt top from the red hearts:

 
I have used 2,5” strips (again!!) around these blocks – colours are red and pink-red, both batiks and prints.

The blocks finish 11” and the quilt top is 44,5” x 55,5”

My goal is to finish these 2 quilts by the end of the month.

Hanne

Post office blues

Saturday noon I took my NI quilt to the post office, to send it to Canada to be quilted. It was strange to let go, and I hope the quilt will arrive safely very soon !

The first days my head was spinning with the what-ifs, like lost, damaged, delayed.......
If you wonder why I send the quilt all the way to Canada for quilting, the reason is my friend Val has a very skilled machine quilter friend, and I will visit Val soon, in April, and I hope to bring the quilt home with me in my suitcase.
Having a quilt machine quilted over the big pond by a friend of a friend enhances my travel experiences :-)

It sure is empty on my sewing table after the big NI quilt and all the red and white bits and pieces !
Before starting another quilt I am using the opportunity to get a lot of small stuff done.

These hearts and glass hearts are my Pay It Forward gifts to Elin, Nadine and Pat. They were sent on Monday and I know Elin has received hers already :-)
I hope you all enjoy them as much as I enjoyed making them for you :-)

Pay It Forward

I saw this sign on May Kristin's blog yesterday, and found that maybe I was one of the first to leave a comment on this post, so I thought, why not play along! And so I did!
I've seen PIF's on other blogs, but never early enough to sign up, until now!

Come join the fun and make the world a happier place :-)

So this is how it goes...It’s the Pay It Forward Exchange.
It’s based of the concept of the movie “Pay it Forward” where acts or deeds of kindness are done without expecting something in return, just passing it on, with hope that the recipients of the acts of kindness are passed on.

You all know I’m already a PIF type of person.
So here’s how it works:
I will make and send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange.
I do not know what that gift will be yet, and it won’t be sent this month, probably not next month, but it will be sent (within 6 months) and that’s a promise!

What YOU have to do in return, then, is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

Update:

Now I have 3 takers to my PIF :

Elin, Nadine and Pat.

Before 6 months are gone you will receive your PIF gift from me. I am looking forward to make something for you guys :-)

If you read Norwegian please be sure to visit Elin's blog and read the poem about PIF. It is good!

I really like the thought that all the PIF-ers of the blog world are making a positive gesture to make the world a friendlier place!