Finally, finally done with my Dear Jane!

Yes!! Feast your eyes. I am done. Done, done, done. Did I mention I am done? :) I can now use the title 'Goddess':) It is a strange feeling. Elation, mixed with sadness. And a little feeling of: where do I go now?

One thing is for sure. I am NOT making another one! Though I must say, working on it have made my knowledge about quilting leap forward with big skips and jumps.

So here are the progress dates. My first block was started on August 10, 2008. The flimsy was done by April 2010. I basted it during Christmas 2011, and then let it rest for a little..... until this July, 2013. I swear, I was sure it had only been sitting for under a year.... But this summer was spent quilting it. Which went much faster than I thought it would!

So last weekend I brought it with me to Sweden, had one full day of beautiful fall sunshine, ran down to the beach (without the doggies) and had ten minutes before the sun went down behind the woods.

It looks good, though? I now use it on my bed, and every night it is like revisiting an old friend. I keep finding blocks I had forgotten, and remembering how they were made. 

I remember in the beginning, how I scoured the net to find out how others had made theirs, and in the end I just sat down and figured out a way by myself. And that was fun!:)

So now... I am not quite sure where the road goes from here. I am thorn between finding some other big and difficult quilt to sink my teeth into. Or try something completely different. Maybe not quilts at all? We shall see.

Goddess out! :)

Close, close and closer.... but....

Look what I did this weekend! Yup, the binding is on my Dear Jane. And yes, I should not have cut the excess before I sewed it on. I ended up doing a zigzag seam first to make it easier.

At this time, I am done with hand sewing it down on three sides. Just one side left. This last part of the DJ has gone so much faster than I thought. I was sure I would still be quilting in October. Now it is almost done.... And it feels sad! It's been so much a part of my last four years. The reason I kept my sanity while being unemployed for too long. It kept my mind working, finding out how to solve the different blocks. And I progressed so much in my quilt-knowledge.

And only I know how many episodes of different series I have watched while working on this:)

I almost feel like I did when I was finally done with my schooling - over enjoyed that all this work finally has lead to a result and sad that a part of my life is over. 

There is no way I will start another four year long quilt project! But I do feel a pull towards a 4 000 pieces jigsaw....

There will be socks

This post is not so much about socks, as it is about a decision. I have finally realized that I have made my own punishment. I have, basically, spoiled my friends and family with homemade gifts. Sounds stupid, I know, but increasingly these last few years, I have been adding to and raising the bar so that I have not had a spare minute all fall until Christmas. Apart from making gifts. And too often I have kept on after Christmas, too.

I mean, if they got this last year, I have to do something more this year, right? At least it has to be the same as last year. And so on and so on. I never had time to do things for myself, apart from a few months in spring and early summer. Unless there was a birthday, or confirmation, or something else. Not to mention the costs.

So now they expect it, and take it for granted, most of them. I think the worst part is that I do a lot of these things for people that never can really understand the value and the work of what I give away. It makes me feel that what I do, is not of value, either. And that, is the worst part of it all.

So now I have made a decision. The big, handmade stuff is for the really big days. And for the ones who realize that a handmade quilt is several levels over a quilt bought at ikea. Though some of them are nice:)

I feel quite free, actually. Like a big burden is lifted off my shoulders. And I can finally bring back my collection of ideas, and the long list of inspiration on Pinterest!

And this Christmas, there will be socks. And that is all.

Supernatural again

I just realized that I am again choosing to watch Supernatural when dealing with long winded and boring..ish quilt work. I watched it while sewing that big hexagon quilt for my aunt, and I am using it now for quilting Dear Jane. It really works well to keep me going.

I am now over half way. Woho! It's only weekend work, I just do not seem to be able to get around to quilting during the week.

I found a new yarn place this summer. I have socks on the brain at the moment, so I was excited to find Malabrigo!! Love it. The colors are really nice, fall inspired. Love the name of the color, Archangel:)

I also bought three colors in Cascade. These will be gifts, I think, as I am not a pink person AT ALL! I actually rather detest the color, but some people, it seems, love the color. Brrrrr....

Well, this is embarrassing....

I just found out that my DJ has been lying there, basted and ready to be quilted, since December 2011! I know it is meant to be a journey, this quilt, but seriously! 

So this is what my staycation will be filled with....

It took a while to figure out how to do this. Hand quilting was out! But a big one like this is not easy to machine quilt, either. So I found my old table could help out. Just needed new legs, so off to Ikea. However, my old solid wood work table is slightly higher than tables are these days, so after several tests two big pillows, fastened to the legs, got me the right height. The sewing table needed also a little more height. I found that Agatha Christie worked perfectly. The late books, turned out, had the right height. Not sure what that means. Those are slightly more dark and conspiracy filled than her earlier books...

So here it is. The wool batting leaves a fine dusting on absolutely everything in the apartment, and the tables take up most of the living room, so I am stuck finishing this before I try to sew anything else. I will achieve my goddess status this year, it seems:)

Turns out, yet again, that DJ becomes a salvation of sorts. It helped me through a rough time the last time, and it helps me to concentrate on other things than miserable happenings and difficult times. Good thing, this.

A new life, a new name and a new quilt!

My grandnephew were christened yesterday:) His parents decided on a church christening, which is a very beautiful ceremony. His three godmothers (yes, three:)) all wore their folkdresses, while the baby wore the christening dress his father had worn on his big day (made by me:)). At the end of the ceremony, all the godfathers and godmothers, his parents and the minister placed their hands on him to bless him. 'Nary a dry eye in the house:) And he was quite quiet the whole time, just looking around him with his big blue eyes. I think the beard of the minister were very interesting.... 

So now he has a name, Simon (or the Norwegian equivalent of). 

 His grandaunt had to make a quilt for him, to start him on his new life:) It turned out pretty good, I think.

 It has ricracs, so that he can use his little fingers to pluck at.

 And prairie points, also to pluck at:)

There should be some activities for him to experience as he soon starts to crawl and explore:)

Dress rehearsal

Next Sunday, this little bundle will be celebrating his christening. So we needed a dress rehearsal to see if the dress fits.

I crocheted this at the age of 15. For some reason.... I guess I needed a challenge. My niece and nephew have used this for their christening, and now the second generation will be using it. We have an heirloom in the family:)

It fits, and it seems he enjoys wearing it. If he still does after several hours... Well, we shall see:)

Soon done

I am working on a gift that can not be shown yet, but here is another gift that I can show:)


My great nephew will be baptized in June. Midsummer evening, actually:) So he needs a quilt, right? This one is almost done. Just need to appliqué six sail boats and 47 double prairie points. So.... Nearly done....

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He needs socks

- said the mother of my grand nephew. Could I knit some?

Two days later: how many do you want? I am on the fourth pair....




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Dogs and ice

I had three days off, and spent them dog sitting in Sweden:) wonderful, just me, two big dogs, huuuge wood and the biggest freshwater lake in Sweden.


I finally got a picture of the hexagon quilt in its natural environment. My aunt loves it. Looks good!


I could only get pictures of Freya. Odin was just impossible, and camera shy.


Lots of ice still on the lake, but at least it broke up while I was there. Something to see!


We spent most of our days outside, so we were all exhausted by the end of the day. The dogs have the couch in this house, but Odin gave up and let me share it with Freya. Good of him:)

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Welcome to the world

Here he is, my brand new great nephew:) In a small family, even becoming a great aunt is a big thing. He took his time arriving, and caused his mom and dad a little trouble, but now he is here. Healthy and beautiful.


According to his proud father (my nephew) his eyes are so blue that they shine like something metallic:) And his grandad (my brother) had to swipe away a tear when he met him the first time. My unemotional brother:)

I look forward to get to know this new person as he grows up. And to observe these new things happening among my nearest. Both will be interesting. And fun:) We all so desperately need something good and positive in our family now, after cancer scares, relationship break ups and two counts of dementia - all in this last year. Now we want to concentrate on something small, gorgeous and positive. Our little prince. Welcome to the world:)

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Until Easter

There is a Christmas song here in Scandinavia that tells us Christmas lasts until Easter. And this year it has! My last Christmas gifts (almost) were given away last week. She wanted a black quilt. I found this pattern in a magazine, and just did a little color switch.


I split between three 'color ways'. The grey with black in one corner, pure black in the middle, and then black patterned in the other corner. Hard to see the details, but it turned out pretty good, if I should say it myself:)





Yeah, still snow here. Still very cold, too. In the middle of March. Sigh


I tested out another block before I found the other, but found this to be a little too much work. But it made a nice pillow to go with the quilt.

Looking at the pillow like this, I am amazed at how straight the pattern is. I always struggle with small pieces, but this seemed to have just fallen in place. You can sometimes be amazed at what you can actually produce:)

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Such a long time

I have been working like a busy bee crafting since long before Christmas. Not shown a lot of it, since several of them have still not transferred ownership. However, next week will hopefully see a few of them out of my house!


Here's the smallest ones. I finally broke down and made purses... It was fun. There might be more of these in the future:)

The quilt will be shown next week. Just in case she reads my blog:)

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What ever time that will suit you

My great nephew can arrive any day now. Though, it's still a few weeks left. But the gift to welcome him into this world, is taking over my bed to be blocked. The only thing left is to sew on the backing.



That one.... I am not so sure about... I will have to figure something out. But as the lady who knows these things said, we don't want little fingers to get caught in the threads on the backside. I got the softest grey flannel.

The idea comes from this blogger.

She based it on a pattern for mittens, these ones.

And then she got the designer to expand the pattern, so that it covers a slightly larger area than a mitten:) nice of her:)



I thought it would be harder than it was, to follow a pattern like this, but it was surprisingly easy. Well, a few mistakes here and there, but still:)

Other than that, I am a fourth day of a flu..ish thing. My throat does not feel good. Sigh. Work again on Monday. We shall see how that works out.

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Dark illusions

I just finished a latish Christmas gift. A black and grey striped scarf...


that looks slightly more sinister when you slightly change the angle :)


I think this has been the most fun knitting I have done in a while. The illusion grew as I knitted.


Front

.
Backside.

Not sure if the recipient will ever use it, but he will definitely enjoy it:)

Pattern from Ravelry, Mark's Skull Illusion Scarf

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