New project started the last day of March

These are the fabrics I have chosen for a new table runner. I am making this for some friends who are beekeepers. The golden hexagon fabric is perfect for this couple! I can almost hear the bees buzzing and smell the sweet honey!

All the fabrics are from my stash, so this is another stash-buster project. I think this one will be enjoyable to make!

Quilty Stitches Completed!

Finally, my Quilty Stitches cross stitch project is completed! I started it sometime last year, and put the last white stitches in yesterday. The design is by Little Miss Shabby, and shows 16 more or less well-known quilt blocks.

It has been a real pleasure working with this project, and I kind of miss it, already! What is left to do is to get it framed and hang it on my wall. The size is approx. 8" x 8", and there is a lot of tiny stitches.

Now I need to start another (small) cross stitch project, because this is just relaxing!

Have a great Easter vacation, for those of you who are lucky enough to have that!

And in the mean time: Keep on quilting!

Tree Bird Giveaway Winner

The winner of my giveaway in the Tree Bird blog hop is Brandy, congratulations!

The prize will be shipped off to her soon.

Big Baby - ALYoF March Goal accomplished

My ALYoF goal for March was stated here:

I used recycled fabrics for this quilt, and decided to use a solid light grey cotton as background. The design is called Big Baby, and is from the book Vintage Vibe by Amber Johnson. I won a signed copy of the book in a giveaway, and this is one I will cherish!

The top of the baby quilt came together quite fast, the design is simple, yet stunning. Here the flimsy is laid out on my porch floor.

In my plum tree,

the wind tried to take it...

Here it is quilted, with the binding added. The quilt is approximately 37" square after wash and dryer cycle. The binding is blue with red and white flowers.

The back was made from two recycled pillow cases, I love how the back really compliments the front! This is a quilt that can be used by both boys and girls.

It looks good in the playground.

This quilt will stay in my house for a while, because there are no expected babies in the near future, as far as I know.

It is good to finish a scrappy project, I like using recycled fabrics!


Linked up to BlossomHeartQuilt, Linky Tuesday , Let's Bee Social, Link A Finish Friday and TGIFF.

Last Day of Tree Bird Blog Hop on Monday!

Tomorrow is the last day of the Tree Bird blog hop, make sure you visit the participants:

Monday, March 23

Debbie Kratovil Quilts

how arT you?

Hill Valley Quilting

Pink Doxies. Blogspot.com

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Fabric Bias

Lovelli Quilts

In The Boon Docks

Bacon Then Eggs

Sew We Stitch

Thanks to Mdm Samm  and Lana for keeping us all in line.

Monday is also the last day to enter my giveaway. The winner will be announced on Tuesday.

Meet & Greet

Thanks to the lovely Mdm Samm who organize and sponsor this event. My mother taught me how to embroider and cross stitch when I was a little girl. I also learned how to knit, crochet, and lots of other things.

The first item in line, or hanging in the dead tree, is a bell pull that I cross stitched years ago, most likely in Junior High or sometime around there. It has got the traditional roses, and it is currently residing in my living room.

The detailed picture shows off the design in a better way. Wool embroidery floss was used in the cross stitching. I am sure I was pretty impressed with myself when I finished it!
My mother helped sewing the backing on and mounting the metal hangers. This is a treasure I will keep forever!

A few years back I was doing a lot of stitchery. This is a design made by a Norwegian designer, and I stitched it in variegated grey DMC floss. The stitchery will eventually be incorporated in a table runner.
Approximately one year ago I finally finished my 2012 Aurifil Designer of the year quilt.

I framed the stitcheries from the 12 different designers in scrappy blue and green and made a lovely wall hanging out of it.

 

More details of the quilt can be seen in this post: 2012 Aurifil Quilt.
The last project I will show is a cross stitch project designed by Little Miss Shabby, and it's called Quilty Stitches.

I think it lacks 2 rows of white floss on the bottom before it is 100% finished. This was a monthly stitch along last year. The designs are still available for free.

I think this approx. 8" x 8" piece is quite adorable! It is a very nice collection of temporary quilt blocks.When I finish the last couple of rows it will be framed and put up on my wall.

Happy Stitching!

Quilt Doodle BOM 2015 - March's Block

Here is my March block in The Quilt Doodle BOM 2015 My Favorite Things. This time the appliqué was  a Vintage Sewing Machine. I love how my block turned out. The buttons will be attached after all the blocks have been assembled and the quilting has been done.

I love this slow appliqué project!

A Bird in a Blog Hop is Worth Two in the Bush! (+Giveaway!)

When Madame Samm came out with the announcement for this blog hop, I knew I had to join. I immediately started searching my stash for fabrics with bird print. It turned out I had quite a few, so I decided to use whatever I had.

The first fabric I found was an old piece from Ikea, home décor weight, with flowers and branches, and a few birds! This was perfect for a boxy pouch.

As you can see, the spring has not come very far where I live. The snow just melted off my lawn a couple of days ago. But now, the sun gives good warmth and the birds are singing!

It turned out that the pouch was big enough to contain all my un-opened thread “jewels”; aren’t they lovely?

I decided I had to make a tote with an owl fabric from my stash.  I used a tutorial from   Adrianne over at On the Windy Side, but modified the design a little bit to incorporate a recessed zipper closure. Simple quilting on this one, straight criss-crossing lines.

The last few years I have re-discovered my passion for cross stitching.  I thought that it would be perfect to incorporate cross stitched birds in my projects. I didn’t have time to stich big pieces for the hop, so I found a free pattern of a little robin that was perfect for my purpose.

The first project was a French Press Cozy. I had bought one on a Christmas market several years ago, and used that one to make my own pattern.  The cross stitched robin was put in the center, surrounded by a bird fabric from BasicGrey. 

My most time consuming project for this blog hop was the table runner. It is my original design.  

Two cross stitched robins are incorporated in Economy Blocks. The yellow/orange batik is a perfect match with the center of the Oxeye Daisies. Also in this project I used the BasicGrey fabric with “zillions” of little birds. The runner is quilted with the walking foot in a quite dense grid. 

My last project was started two days before my day in the hop. Close to where I live there is a colony of rooks, and when I am out walking I am fascinated by these birds. They are so “well dressed”, wearing a tuxedo every day; they are really beautiful!

This is my meager attempt of portraying a rook in a mini quilt, my original design. I used batiks for the background, where the yellow represent s the grain fields which the rooks often feed from.  The tuxedo is represented with a feather-like shiny black fabric from my stash. I quilted the piece with “organic wavy lines” in grey and brown.

The final picture shows all my projects together. I stumbled upon this sheer burnout fabric with birds all over, added a green solid on the back, and voila (!), I had a wonderful background for my display.  Adding a beautiful orchid and my antique gold rimmed mocca cups, the display couldn’t be any better.

Who wants to join me for a cup of coffee?

Please visit the other bloggers presenting their projects today:

Friday, March 13

It Seams To Be Sew

Life in the Scrapatch

Amy Stitches

Lakeshore Stitches

Needled Mom

Quilt in a not - Shell  <---YOU ARE HERE

Suebee's World

Here is the Full Schedule for the Blog Hop.

Thanks to Lana and Madame Samm for organizing this wonderful  blog hop.

NOW FOR THE GIVEAWAY!   The giveaway is now closed. Congratulations Brandy!

If you have come this far, you are probably wondering where the giveaway is?! Well, you have come to the right place, it is here!

What’s up for grabs today is a zippered pouch with a couple of owls on the front. I made the pouch  using Noodlehead’s  Open Wide tutorial.

For the giveaway, answer the following question in the comment section: What is your favorite bird, and why?  If you would like to become a follower of my blog, too, I wouldn’t mind. 

I will let Mr. Random.org pick a winner on the last day of the blog hop, March 23. The winner will be announced as an edit to this blog post on March 24, as well as contacted via e-mail. Make sure you have a valid e-mail address.

I will ship the prize anywhere in the world!

PS! Look who almost photo bombed me: A magpie on the neighbor's roof!

It soon got company of another one, so who knows; maybe we will get magpie babies in our neighborhood this year?

Until next time: Happy quilting, and make sure to enjoy the spring!

Progress on my ALYoF March Goal

After working hard this weekend on my projects for the upcoming Tree Bird blog hop, I had to do something else to "take a break".

I cut all the pieces for my ALYoF March Goal, that was presented here . I changed my mind on the background, and decided to have a solid light grey fabric there, instead. The big piece of the recycled material may become the backing.

Now I have to return to my blog hop projects, see you on Friday!


Here is the full schedule for the Tree Bird blog hop:

Friday, March 13 It Seams To Be Sew Life in the Scrapatch Amy Stitches Lakeshore Stitches Needled Mom Quilt in a not - Shell Suebee's World Monday, March 16 Sew Peace To Peace Moose Stash Quilting Buzzing and Bumbling I Piece 2 Mary Quilt Doodles Just Let Me Quilt Les Quilts A Stitch In Time Tuesday, March 17 Tomorrow's Treasures Today Childlike Facination Stitch and Quilt Quiltsmiles Ella and Nesta's Little Room Thimblemouse and Spouse Gracie Oliver Arts Wednesday, March 18 Red Eye Crafts Marjorie's Busy Corner Ridge Top Quilts Stitching By The Beach Seams To Be Sew Living My Dream With Work In Hand Thursday, March 19 The Raspberry Rabbits More Stars In Comanche Sew Many Yarns Super Mom - No Cape! Stitchin By The Lake Jane's Quilting Quilting Through Rose Colored-Trifocals Quiltscapes Friday, March 20 Freemotion By The River Sew Incredibly Crazy Tea Time Creations Baa's Amazing Adventures! Selina Quilts Ramblings of a Quilter Busy Bee Quilts Grandmamas Stories Monday, March 23 Debbie Kratovil Quilts In The Boon Docks how arT you? Hill Valley Quilting Pink Doxies. Blogspot.com Elizabeth Coughlin Designs Fabric Bias Lovelli Quilts Sew We Stitch

Birds, birds, birds

Every spare moment I have these last few days revolves around the flying creatures. When I come home from my job I am working almost frantically with my projects for the Tree Bird blog hop.

I am not using the "specified" fabric line for the hop, it is perfectly OK to use any kind of bird fabric as long as they have connection with trees. These are samples of some of my fabrics.

A few of my projects are already finished, and some are in the making. The time this weekend will be utilized to finishing the last stitches (I hope). The weather forecast predicts stormy weather, that's perfect for being inside sewing and quilting.


My day in the blog hop is the first one, Friday 13th (!).

The full schedule for the hop is here: Tree Bird Blog Hop

I hope to see you on Friday next week, and I promise to show some good looking projects!

ALYoF 2015 March Goal

My goal for March is to make this pile of recycled fabrics,

into a baby quilt looking something like this:

This design is called Big Baby, and is featured in the book Vintage Vibe by Amber Johnson.