Second heart

The second heart is now done. Just got to figure out how to finish the quilts off with the smaller stars and pin wheels now. But that will be fun!

Arrrgghhhh!

How difficult can it be to find someone who actually has THIS ruler in stock!!!!!! So far I've tried 12 sites and either they don't stock that specific ruler or they are out of stock.... I would love to have it for the quilt I am making for our bed since I wanted to have a flying geese border . And also for a future quilt I want to make with different sized flying geese.

Just got to keep on looking, sigh...

Snowstorm update

Yes there has been a snowstorm, we just caught the outer edge of it but that was bad enough. Very windy with horizontal snow and drifts on the roads. To top it off the temperature is now plummeting!

Nah, seriously it's not that bad. I would say its normal winter temperatures out there, about -7 at the moment with it going down to maybe -13 tonight. Still a bit of snow being blown about but generally clearing up and giving us a bit of sunshine before the sun sets.

I am off to work soon, we are going to have a customer evening from 4 o'clock until we close with lots of low prices and bargains. We are expecting lots of people and general madness is to ensue. But at the same time it is lots of fun when there is a buzz about the shop. Actually looking forward to go to work today, have you ever heard anything like that from me???

Well it also helps that our new boss D has finally told Mr B off for behaving like a shit. So now Mr B is doing his job and not hassling everyone else what they should be doing and that they are doing it wrong, he is actually not talking a lot at all. It is such a change from how it has been at our place I still can't believe it. It is bliss as long as it stays like this. So lets keep our fingers crossed that it has finally hit home for Mr B that he cant go around being a shit without some consequences.

Weekend update

We had our good friends Rosie and Fredrik over yesterday for dinner. We sometimes cook dinner together and have a lovely time doing it and then just keep on talking until late in the night. Yesterday we made pasties with three different fillings and later on we had a English afternoon tea with home baked scones, clotted cream and strawberry jam. Oh the scones very to kill for fresh from the oven with butter melting on them.

Today we went for a long walk in the snow and had pizza with the left over pastie fillings as topping plus a bit more cheese. They turned out very yummie. For dessert I made a saffron cake with raisins.

If you want to try it out here is the recipe:
200g butter or margarine
1 sachet of saffron, 0,5 g
2 eggs
2dl sugar
1½ dl milk
4 dl flour
 raisins
2 teaspoons of baking powder
Grease a spring tin about 24 cm in diameter
Melt the butter and leave to cool a bit.
Grind the saffron in a mortar together with a sugar cube.
Whisk eggs and sugar until nice and fluffy. Add saffron, melted butter and milk. Mix the baking powder with the flower and add to the mixture add a few raisins if you like. Stir gently to mix it all together. Pour into tin and bake for about 45 minutes at 175 degrees Celsius. Dust with some icing sugar before serving

I managed to do some sewing today as well and have finished the top part of the second heart and are halfway done with the bottom part. But all the strips are sewed and ready to be cut into the right sizes.

This is how it looks like. I really like how these are turning out but then comes the hard bit, deciding on how to finish them off and figuring out the size of the blocks that will go around it. But I am looking forward to it all.  I must be insane!

Outing

Yes we went to Stockholm today for a day out and about shopping! In the end it wasn't much shopping, just a new winter hat and gloves for me and a few necessities from the English Shop. Oh also a stop in one of the food halls for some lovely dried fruit and huge raisins and just a wander to have a look at all the different food available was quite what we needed. But being tired from the weeks work we should have done this tomorrow we realised coming back and falling asleep on the train.

One finished

Here is the first heart finished. I am in the process of cutting the strips for the second one but had to quit for tonight, all too tired to be using a rotary cutter..

I am very pleased and relived  that Selma liked her heart and am now a bit anxious that Ajla will like hers too once hers is done. I have already started sewing the top bit of her heart because I wanted to see how her colour choice looked together. I likes it a lot, but will she....

Monday....

Oh how I don't like working weekends! And still I have to work every other one.. But thankfully with my new schedule I only work mornings in the weekend which leaves me with the afternoons to do what ever I please with.  Which isn't much since I am quite tired from  the week before. But now I only have 3 days to work before my long weekend off!

Not done much quilting because I've been too tired after cooking and walking and washing and everything else you have to do besides quilting but got one heart almost done. Just got half of the middle section to do and then its pressing and sewing together time! And on to the next heart. They are so much fun to do and very colourful, just the way I like it!

Heart

So far so good and things are matching up beautifully. Top part of the first Bargello heart almost complete

Apples were needed since I haven't pressed it yet and the corners roll a bit because of the small squares...

Snow anybody?

Yes it did snow but not as much as they were saying it would. Just a gentle 5-7 cm which is fine. I don't really like to drive when there has come loads and they cant keep up cleaning the roads from it.

I am wondering if I am perky enough to go upstairs and sew a bit or if I am too tired from work, long day today 7.30-18.00, to do anything else then read blogs and comments on Facebook. Hmmmm, dunno really because I don't want to sew a lot of wonky seams that I will just get annoyed by and unpick in the morning but I want to do something! Might go and have a look at what I've done so far and take piccies for you to see? Yes that is what I will do!

The more it snows a tiddly pom....

Yes it is snowing here and according to the weather forecast they are saying 15 cm of new snow this evening and tonight, combine that with hard wind and I am glad I am at home and don't need to go out driving anywhere at the moment. It will be one of the joys of tomorrow to drive to work.... if I can dig the car out of course.

At the moment I am having a little break from sewing strips together for the bargello heart. Am making a lovely smelling meat stew with carrots and parsnips. Going to make home made potatoe mash and cook some sprouts to go with it and then back to sewing!

Colours....

I went shopping fabric today with my client. I just love this bit of quilting, choosing what colours to use and all the variations you can do and just stroke and pat the fabric is nice as well..... well you know what I mean.
Anyway this is what we decided on:
This is for the older girl Selma.

And this is for the younger girl Ajla

They both wanted lilacs and black but Selma could consider gold as well and Ajla wanted white in hers as well. These are now going to be turned into Bargello Hearts and then have different borders. Ajlas will have bigger stars and stripes as a finish. Selma wanted smaller stars and pin wheels but no stripes.  I cant wait to cut into these so better be going!

Ouch!

I finished off the table runner today hand stitching the binding in place and my left index finger is now very sore! I just cannot get used to a thimble! I always feel like it is in the way and I haven't found any replacement for it so I usually do it without anything to protect my finger and now it is all red and sore. But the table runner is ready and going to its new owner tomorrow!

 This is before I started sewing the binding hence the pin marks. I really really like this pattern and might do a quilt in a variation of it someday. But not now, got too much going on anyway, not to mention work is getting a bit hectic.

Some progress

Handbag is done. Don't know if its just the fabric but it looks a bit odd... And that white so called piping is just horrible, but it is my first attempt at something like that. Didn't really know how to get that one nice and not so twisted. But there you go. First proper handbag done, with zipped inner pocket and nice zip across the top as well.

And this is a bit of progress on my mums bead spread. One star done, two more to go

I've also been for my first 'consultation' with a client..... We did decide on what kind of pattern and colours the girls wanted for their quilts. Next Tuesday we are going to look for fabric and then its just for me to get started! I got an additional request to make a a table runner like the one I made for our table but slightly longer. So from now on  I will be quite busy me thinks!