Poor birdies

I went on a quiltstore run during work hours today.... Sometimes during winter you just get desperate to be out in the daylight! And desperate to see fabric! On my way back I went by some bushes filled with birdies. I don't know if they were too cold to move much, or that being city birds, they can deal with people passing them by - but they even sat quietly until I got my camera up and zoomed in!
Almost a christmas card worthy, that one:)

I know they do it to keep warm, but I love how they puff themselves up:) In Norway, even in the cold winter, people are real good at feeding the birds, so they do quite well. I really enjoy watching the big flocks gathering in the bushes. And the noise they make! Winter can be so cold and dead, it is nice to see some creatures surviving here, except us.... :)

Oh, and if you wonder: No, I do NOT like winter!!!

Not much left

... on my 'making Christmas gifts list', or
... of my energy....

I have had to buckle down and admit to myself that I have been pushing it a little too much this year. I was so sure that my bout of depression was a result of not having a job, and that it would miracously dissappear when I started working again. Hah!

We have an expression in Norway - 'nissen følger med på lasset'. Roughly, when you move, the housegnome follows with, i.e. you are not rid of the problem just because you move, or change jobs or... do other stuff. You have to address the issue, not just the sympthom.

I hate that... sigh. On the other hand, it isn't much fun when you loose the desire to sew, knit, take pictures, find new things to do and so on. So I will not try to overextend myself when it comes to handmade Christmas gifts - people will have to live with bought gifts. I will not work during the Christmas break. And I will take one day at a time. Sooo easy....

Anyway, photos! Yes, finally. I took a day off to go Christmas shopping and ended up driving to the End of the World instead. I climbed and crawled my way over wet rocks as far out as I could go - never been this far out before. It was a miracle I made it out without injuries.
The weather was grey, but heck - light is light. And these days we have few hours of daylight as it is. I am fascinated by the curves that the waves have created over millions of years. Such soft shapes.

This was as far as it was possible to get without a boat. But I made it:)

This year I am buying my own Christmas gift - a new camera! Getting it soon. As for crafts - nothing to show until after Christmas, since they all watch my blog. Darn....

Frustrations and annoying solutions

I am in the middle of knitting christmas gifts. I am knitting something for the third time, but this time it completely eludes me!!! After a while you just have to admit defeat, as annoying it is, and start over again. This time - smaller needles. Starting all over again - such annoyance. Sigh. Oh well! In the middle of annoying solutions, I have started on my tower of fabric from the previous post. It amazes me how the same block can look so different, just because the difference in colours:) It is fun, but I can't really indulge in them at the moment. Soon:)

Step by step

It's been a while since I cut all the fabric for one quilt first and not during my sewing. This bundle took me two whole days - spread over two weekends. My back...
This is how 510 pieces looks like, from 30 different pieces of Hideaway fabric. I really should spend the time finishing christmas gifts, but it just felt so good to start something new - for me, this time:)

I am sure a little sewing now and then between the knitting and stitching would not be so bad? Gifts will be done, I promise:)

On my way to work....

I have to admit, I am not fond of fall. When I am having a dark period, like I have had for a while now, fall becomes even more sinister. It is the prelude to winter, after all. Winter, which in this country means you don't really see daylight much during the work week. It is dark when you leave for work, and dark when you leave work. No hourlong daily lunches in Norway:)

Sometimes I force myself to notice positive things with fall. This morning, for instance, the morning sun spread gold over the ground as I walked through the Royal Park on my way to work.
And the ducks waddled around. Don't they leave for warmer parts now?

As for crafts - it is the beginning of the Christmas gift making period, and nothing much I can show on the blog! Though I have now started to cut these fabrics, so that I can hopefully make myself the Alpine star quilt. A little bit of colour and cheerfulness during the long winter. Never knew how much TIME it takes to cut all the fabric for one quilt all at once, though! Still not done....

Celebrations....

With regards to the previous post - the quilts made is for my new webshop! I decided to try to do something with all I make, so I opened a little store through a Norwegian webshop for handmade stuff. I figured it was a good way of celebrating my 49th:)

You can visit the store on this link: Lenes Lines. There is also a link on the right side. Only in Norwegian, at the moment.

I celebrated my birthday by visiting my aunt and uncle deep in the woods. We went for a long walk with the dogs in the beautiful fall weather.

Stepping forward

Here is my weekend.
Sewing bindings on seven quilts. Sorry about the blandness of the colour, but Sunday gave us greyness and rain, hard to get good pictures.

I have big-ish plans for these quilts. A little scary, too, but it seems to be the step foward I need to take. I have procrastinated long enough. It should have happened last fall, I have to get my guts together and do. I just have to..... do some other stuff first. hehe:)

At least I am closer now.

I have lots of stuff on 'the wallpaper' as we say in Norway - in process, but this is christmas stuff time, and I can't show much. So frustrating....