Lise's Blog

Fabric Book #2

2012-01-29T11:08:00.000+01:00

My theme for Fiber Fever's book page swap in 2010 was "Doors". The photo of the Greek door on the cover is first printed on cotton, then overlayed with the same print on organza. I quilted the layers together and added some hand embroidery. I'm happy with the result!

Fabric Book

2012-01-24T15:26:00.001+01:00

In 2009 I signed up for my first fabric book page swap in the Fiber Fever textile group. My theme was "Flowers". Until yesterday, the pages I received have been displayed on a wall in my sewing room. But now, at last!!, I've made the book I've planned for such a long time. The pages are 6 x 6", so the book is slightly larger.

Bossy??

2012-01-14T10:42:00.003+01:00

I made this bag for a lady who sings in a choir. The size should fit her music books. The lady's sign says: "I'm not bossy, I just have better ideas"........

Fabric Book Page - December 2011

2011-12-17T15:37:00.000+01:00

This is my December fabric book page made for Maureen in Australia. Her theme is "Spring". The fabrics are silk, most of them my own hand dyed - a stamp, some sequines, pearls, embroidery and couched yarn.

Wine Bags

2011-12-11T13:21:00.007+01:00

I've made some wine bags lately. I love this lady! She's on the front of the bag and the clock is on the back. If you click on the photos, you'll see that the sign says "It's wine o'clock", and you'll find wine botttles on the clocks.....

Fun with Felting Needles

2011-11-27T16:36:00.002+01:00

I love knitting - earlier this autumn I tried something else than sweaters, scarves and socks. First I knitted the bag and ran it through the felting needles on my Bernina and then I made the flowers and did some hand embroidery. The bag is 7 x 7" and is lined with a green mottled handdyed fabric. The funny thing is that the bag won a price - some bundles of alpacca and silk yarn - just enough for another sweater.....!

Mug Rugs

2011-11-20T10:52:00.005+01:00

At long last, I've made some mug rugs....! Mona made this pattern which has been published in "Quiltemagasinet". The grey fabric is a Japanese one, the others my own handdyed. The mug rugs were fun and quick to make. Thank you Mona for a great pattern!!

November Fabric Book Page

2011-11-11T19:56:00.003+01:00

This is my November fabric book page sent to Maria in Germany. Her theme is modern art, and I hope she will enjoy my "interpretation" of one of Paul Klee's paintings. The size of the page is 6 x 6", so some of the fabric pieces are tiny - I used Misty Fuse on the back to keep them in place!

Grey and Blue

2011-10-29T12:41:00.004+02:00

I bought the grey batik fabrics at the Quilt Festival in Birmingham UK in August, and I found the pattern for the table runner in "Quiltemagasinet" #2/2011, just added the narrow, blue border to get some more colour. Enough blocks for some cushions as well!

Fabric Book Page

2011-10-16T11:39:00.003+02:00

Once again I've signed up for a swap in The FibreFever group. We swap fabric book pages, size 6 x 6", every month. The members choose their themes for the swap - some of them can be very challenging....This is my October page for Margreet in the Netherlands. Her theme for the swap is "clocks". I used a Japanese fabric, stamps, hand quilting and embroidery.

October Walk

2011-10-09T14:39:00.007+02:00

A few days ago, "Wild and Wonderful" gave me this challenge: "Join me on hiking, tracking or just a simple walk on Sunday. Put on your walking shoes, bring with your camera (or needle and thread!) and document what you see on October the 9th - and link to my blog!"
I brought my camera, and this is what I saw (but I must admit it was on Saturday the 8th - Sunday I was busy with other things...and the rain was pouring down!):
Who said October has dull colours???:

A quilt from the stone age??:

Some of this years' last flowers in my garden:

Under Water?

2011-09-28T13:05:00.004+02:00

Maybe a kind of "under water fantasy"?? The background fabric is handdyed cotton and I've used silk fibres of different kind for decoration - also wire, beads and painted and heat distressed Tyvek. Size 8 x 10".

Marocco

2011-09-19T11:08:00.004+02:00

I've just spent a week in Marocco, an "ego-trip" - days with culture, museums, hammam, massage, shopping, garden visits, walking, walking, walking, and as always when I'm on holiday, lots of good food and wine. This time I also made some of the food myself - on a cookery course where I learned to make Maroccoan salads, bread and a chicken tagine. How fun was that!!?
Yves Saint Laurent had a beautiful house and garden in Marrakesh - well worth a visit. This is the address:
Shelves and shelves with powder for yarn and fabric dyeing. I didn't buy any, but I bought lot of spices!!

Once again, most of my holiday photos show doors..... These are from a harem in Marrakesh

The area where I live is famous for the local rose painting - I think the old painters got their inspiration from other parts of the world.....

Quilt Festival in Birmingham, UK

2011-08-17T19:36:00.004+02:00

Last week I spent some days at the Quilt Festival in Birmingham, UK. So much fun!! I met some friends from an international textile group I'm a member of, got lots of inspiration and did a LOT of shopping!! The important question on Sunday evening was: is the suitcase big enough??? It was. I even managed to pack a cutting mat, 24 x 36" in it!! I don't buy much fabric anymore, I started dyeing my own last year, but I just can't resist African fabrics. These are a few.....

Fancy yarn, embroidery yarn, sari yarn, sari ribbon, wool tops for felting:

Last time I was in Birmingham, I bought my first Thermofax screens. My collection is growing!! The stamps are wooden ones, handcarved in India.

And of course a few books for inspiration!!

Was that all?? Of course not. The suitcase was 11 kilos when I left Norway - 22,6 when I left England. Lucky for me, the limit is 23 kilos...

Flood

2011-07-24T09:53:00.003+02:00

This is what I woke up to this morning! The river is the road where I live. I was on my way for a few days off, but at the moment the town is isolated in direction Oslo and the airport and the water is only 1 meter away from my garage just now!!

Terrible days

2011-07-23T21:41:00.005+02:00

I hope you will share a few minutes with me in reflection. I have no words to express my feelings about what has happened in Norway during the last days

Problems, Problems, Problems

2011-07-08T17:30:00.004+02:00

Not much blogging the last months - hopefully I'm back again now. First some health problems - and then a complete computer crash. I had copies of most of my photos and documents, but I lost a lot of mailaddresses and useful links.... What a disaster!
Anyway, I feel fit for fight again - and the photo shows an embroidery I've made lately - size 8 x 10" - inspiration (once again!) from the British magazine "Stitch".

Circles of Friends

2011-03-25T17:31:00.003+01:00

This year, the EQA exhibition in Birmingham, UK , in August is called Circles of Friends. This is my entry, which I sent to the annual meeting of the Norwegian Quilters Association last weekend. Thanks a lot to those of you who voted for my circle!! - it will be one of 12 circles representing Norway in Birmingham ( I've already booked the tickets!!)

The Irish Patchwork Society

2011-03-20T17:46:00.002+01:00

I have a good yahoo friend in Dublin, Ireland. We are both members of a fibre group called Art4Mail. Miriam is the president of the Irish Patchwork Society, and she has told me about the society's 30th anniversery this year. To celebrate, they are running a postcard exhibition - it will be on display in the Botanical Garden in Dublin in August. They want both national and international entries, so these are the two postcards I've sent them. Postcards will not be returned, but sold in aid of an Irish Breast Cancer Charity. The deadline for entries is mid June.
If you want to send a postcard, you'll find all the details - theme, address and so on - here. The first card is pansies from my garden, trapped under organza. The second one is silk fibres felted on wool, and with some hand embroidery.

This and That

2011-03-07T13:30:00.004+01:00

Where do you keep your mp3-player in your handbag?? I've just made some of these and found them quite handy..... And where do you keep all your small items in the hotel room when travelling?? I found the pattern for this travel tray here. Quite handy as well, and as you can see from the photo, it takes up no space at all in the suitcase.

Postcards

2011-02-07T16:33:00.002+01:00

A few postcards I've made lately. The first one was made with a new technique for me. First, I quilted the background fabric, printed the motif on a sheet of water soluble paper, used matte medium on both fabric and paper (on the right side), put the two together and pressed with the back of a spoon, and voila; the motif was transferred.....Then I added some more quilting, just for fun! The next two are made with scraps, covered with tulle and quilted. Then I used a thermofax screen and glue for the feathers. When the glue was nearly dry, I put foil on top. A bit difficult to photograph, but the foil really added "bling" to the cards!

The last one is a winter postcard. I suppose some of my Norwegian readers will recognice the penguins - I cut them from a can of iced beer!!

December and January Quilties

2011-01-17T13:40:00.003+01:00

My December quiltie was sent to Robin in Australia. Her theme is nature - and I hope she enjoy these pansies from my garden. The flowers are trapped with MistyFuse between organza. The fabric is sun printed.

January's quiltie was made for Ritva in Finland. Her theme, Art Nouveau, was a challenge until I found the pattern for this small sewing machine, and let my Bernina do the job!!

Scrap Basket

2010-12-13T13:05:00.003+01:00

I found the tutorial for this basket at Ayumi's blog, here. I used linen and some cotton scraps. The diameter is 18" and the height 6". The tutorial is very good, and it's easy to change the measurements. Thank you, Ayumi!!

November Quiltie

2010-11-14T12:20:00.004+01:00

My November quiltie was made for Margreet in The Netherlands. Her theme is nature. The background is made of silk, both yarn and cocoons were felted onto a piece of handdyed fabric. The technique for making the tree is an interesting one. A piece of fabric is mounted in an embroidery hoop, then a hole is cut and setting the machine for zigzag stitches, one sew from one end of the hole to the other several times,. To finish, one gather the threads to make the branches with more zigzag stitches, and the cut out the tree. I used a variegated thread in grey for the tree, it's supposed to be a birch!

Wallhanging for a Princess

2010-10-31T10:26:00.004+01:00

More or less impossible to take a good photo of this wallhanging, but if you click on the photo, you should be able to see the details. I have a little princess in the family, and when I saw this wallhanging in the German magazin Patchwork, I knew I had to make it. The frog blogs are pockets where the princess can keep her treasureres.....

October Quiltie

2010-10-14T18:02:00.002+02:00

Not much sewing the last weeks, but this is the FibreFever quiltie I've sent to Susanne in Germany. The flowers are made from all the thread snippets I've saved for weeks. I put them between two layers of water soluble plastic, free motion quilted on top, soaked the sandwich and free hand cut the flower heads when the plastic had disappeared. I then added some beading and couched the stems and leaves. Hopefully Susanne will enjoy the quiltie!

September Quiltie

2010-09-12T11:25:00.004+02:00

This is the quiltie (6 x 6") I've made for Marja from the FibreFever group. Her theme is birds. Some time ago I saw a photo of a print of the bird on this interesting blog. The blog owner kindly gave me "permission" to make the bird in fabrics. Thank you!! The fabrics are silk, and I've used metallic paints and free hand embroidery. I hope Marja will like it.

Mosaics

2010-09-08T09:36:00.002+02:00

Last week I was in Cyprus for the first time. Lots of things to do and see. These photos are mosaic floors nearly 2000 years old. I could have spent days looking at all the details! I found lot of quilt blocks on this floor.......... The next photo shows Narcissus, the young man who fall in love with his own reflection in a pool of water. The story of Narcissus and Echo is a very sad one, so sad that the gods had pity on him and turned him into a flower that grows near water so that he can always look at his reflection.

Poppies

2010-08-27T18:40:00.006+02:00

One day I would like to make a poppy quilt. The inspiration will be these annuals from my garden, called "Angels' choir". The flowers come in all shades of white, pink and red, single and double. I find them so beautiful.

Colour Wheel

2010-08-20T09:44:00.002+02:00

From the fabrics I dyed earlier this summer, I've made this colour wheel. Most of the fabrics are the hand dyed ones, only 8 are from my stash; some of the darkest hues, true red and green. I used a rainbow coloured thread for the quilting, and I think it turned out OK. The size is 60 x 60" and I've put it up on the wall close to my cutting table.

More Quilties

2010-08-04T11:11:00.004+02:00

Two other quilties (6 x 6") from monthly swaps in the FibreFever-group. I made the first one for Wendy. Her theme is "Victorian". I found the patterns for these shoes in a magazine called Stitch some time ago, and I think they matched her theme quite well. A long time since I've made hand embroidery.... The next one is for Maureen who has "Oriental" as her theme. It was very difficult to get a good photo of the dragon. I used glitter glue as decoration, but it doesn't show very well on the photo.

Fabric Dyeing 2

2010-07-20T09:35:00.004+02:00

More fabric dyeing!! Again I used fat quarters , 15 pieces, and wet the fabric in a soda ash solution. This time I put up 15 plastic cups in a triangel. 5 cups in the first row, 4 in the next, then 3, 2 and 1. I mixed the dyes, yellow, blue and red, and put one teaspoon of yellow in the cups in the first row, 2 in the next and so on. Then I turned to another side of the triangel and put one teaspoon of red in the first row, 2 in the next and so on, and the same with blue for the last side. Complicated?? Not at all, it's just difficult to explain, but if you make the triangel, you'll see what I mean!!
Then I put each piece of fabric in a plastic bag (the ones with zips are useful!!), mixed the dye consentrate in each cup with one cup plain water, poured one cup of dye in each plastic bag, closed the zip! and worked the dye into the fabric. I left the bags for some hours, and after washing, this was the result (as you can see, I put some lace and silk in some of the bags):
These are done in the same way, but with half the amount of dye:

And these are made with the left over dyes plus some black:

I'm afraid I've got more fabrics now than I can use, so if you are interested in buying some of the pieces, please send me an email!!

Leander

2010-07-18T13:51:00.003+02:00

This beauty is called Leander - one of David Austin's roses. It was planted i May, and hopefully it will flower until late autumn. I love the Austin roses, also for their scent!

Fabric Dyeing

2010-07-03T19:53:00.005+02:00

This is what my clothes line looked like this morning. I had great fun dyeing nearly 50 fat quarters yesterday: I made 3 gradations, the one on the left is the palest, the pile on the right is the result using the left over dyes - with the drop cloth on top!

These are the medium and dark gradations, and I'm amazed how many colours I ended up with using only 3 primary colours plus black. I used very bright colours, and I think I'll try the same with warmer colours. If so, I'll try to remember using gloves all the time during the process.......

Landscape Quiltie

2010-06-29T12:47:00.005+02:00

I'm a member of a group called Fibre Fever, hosted by Ati. Every month for a year we swap a fibre book page, size 6 x 6". Each member has chosen a theme for her book. This page I sent to Claudia in Austria. Her theme is"Landscapes". The background landscape is freehand pieced, the tree is made with a new technique for me. I fixed a piece of musling in an embroidery hoop, cut a square of the fabric, and sew the trunk and branches with free motion zigzag over the opening before it was cut out from the muslin. I used a variegated thread, also in the bobbin. I used a few hand stitches to keep the tree in place over the background landscape.

Table Runner

2010-06-22T10:12:00.003+02:00

I've just finished this table runner for a friend. I've been free to choose both pattern and colours, so I do hope she'll like the result! The fabrics are all batiks, the technique used for cutting the pieces is from a book called Skinny Quilts and Table Runners, the flowers are cut freehand.

A Kind of Roses

2010-06-05T09:34:00.006+02:00

Not much sewing these days, I spend my time in the garden. But I have finished this small wall hanging, inspired by a German quilt magazine. The center of the flowers are silk cocoons which I cut in halves, for decoration I've used metallic thread, pearls, sequins and washers. A click on the photo should show the details. It's a rather small quilt, size 13 x 16 ".

Bag

2010-05-26T21:19:00.004+02:00

To carry bits and pieces, I made this small bag from scraps. The "crazy quilter" is my favourite, I have some ideas for further use.........

Giveaway - The Winner

2010-05-26T18:26:00.004+02:00

Congratulations Lisa!! Your bag will be posted in a few days. Hope you'll like it!
Thanks to all for your kind comments!

Giveaway

2010-05-11T08:47:00.004+02:00

I think statistics are fun and interesting, that's why I installed Google Analytics and Feedjit on my blog some time ago. I'm surprised to see how many different countries my visitors come from. I "know" some of you from comments and would like to know even more. If you write a comment on this post before the 25th of May, you can win one of my shopping bags (others are for sale in my shop). The fabric is cotton with a screen print.

Inspiration

2010-05-07T13:11:00.007+02:00

Some days ago, Lappedamen gave me this challenge: Write a blog post about your sources of inspiration. Well Eva, I find inspiration in a lot of things! Let's start with this: I love doors and windows. I found this door in Sienna, Italy.

Then of course, nature; landscapes, flowers, birds, fruits, sunsets.........

I love iron works; gates, fences........This photo is from Italy, but I also have a lot from Ireland!

For some strange reason, I need some more bookshelves for my ever growing collection of books and magazines. These are a few of the magazines I like:

And of course, I find tons of inspiration on other quilters' blogs! Very often I get carried away, following a link to another link to another link.........

I also keep journals where I write down all my good, and not so good!, ideas. I'm not a painter, so I write things down, cut out and glue photos from magazines, fabric scraps and other useful things. For the time being, I'm also working on a shopping list for the quilt festival in Birmingham later this year!!

Do YOU take the same challenge?? If so, I would love to hear from you!

Silk Sampler

2010-04-28T13:41:00.007+02:00

Inspired by a German quilt magazine, I've tried free motion quilting on silk, and also some hand quilting with silk embroidery yarn. I must admit I feel more comfortable with cotton, but the result wasn't too bad (I cut away the worst parts.....!). Clicking on the photo will show the details.

Shopping bags

2010-04-25T16:38:00.006+02:00

Plastic shopping bags can be handy, but I like the cotton ones better. These were fun to make as well, I've used silk screens for the mauve and the black, discharge paste on the mauve, fabric paint on the black. You'll find them in my shop.

Elephant

2010-04-18T12:09:00.005+02:00

Inspired by the British magazine "Stitch", I have embroidered this wall hanging, size 13 x 14". The piece with flowers is a sunprint from last year which I used as pattern for the embroidery. The edging is strips of sari silk. I also used these strips for the elephant. I used shisa mirrors in the embroidery. They don't show up very well, but if you click on the photo, you'll get an idea...

Crib Quilts

2010-04-10T21:39:00.003+02:00

I've finished two small crib quilts, size 60 x 75 cm. They are machine quilted, and I used wool as batting. Both are for sale in my shop.

A Perfect Easter

2010-04-05T21:10:00.005+02:00

I've spent Easter in Italy - in Tuscany and Liguria. I think the photos describe a perfect holiday! In addition; lovely food and wine..........and of course; Italian icecream!

My Shop at Uniqueide

2010-03-25T13:09:00.003+01:00

I've opened a shop, LiseDesign, at Uniqueide.no where I sell purses, shopping totes, gifts and other items. So far, the prices and descriptions of the products are in Norwegian, so please send me an email if you don't read Norwegian and are interested in buying something. I will add new products in the weeks to come, so please check in from time to time. You can follow the link to Uniqeide and my shop on the right hand side of my blog.

Screen Printing

2010-03-23T09:08:00.004+01:00

The Norwegian Quilt Association arranged their annual meeting this weekend. I had the pleasure of joining a class called "Textile Printing" with Hanne Berg Olstad and Frøydis Myhre. During four hours we played with screens, paint, glue, foil and stamps and had great fun.
It was difficult to get photos showing the metal foil I used on both pieces. I used a special glue with the screens and then foil. I'm very happy with the result.
The background fabric for the shoes is the cloth I used for covering the working space!
I think the grafitti piece (one of several!) turned out OK. I think I'll just frame it, or maybe use it as front of a shopping bag. Any other ideas are much welcomed!!

ABC i ord og bilder - Z

2010-03-19T12:45:00.006+01:00

Z is for Zebra. These are postcards I made for a swap with an African theme.

Since I've chosen English as language for Petunias' game, this will be my last post. It has been a fun challenge, and the best part is a lot of "new" blogs to enjoy.

You'll find more Z posts here!

Thank you!

2010-03-13T20:35:00.002+01:00

I really appreciate your comments, so this is just to say: THANK YOU!

Waiting for Spring

2010-03-11T11:17:00.004+01:00

I'm waiting for spring, but we still have tons of snow here. To brighten my days, I made this table runner and cushions based on AnnaKa's pattern. I've seen the table runner on many Norwegian blogs, and they all give a different impression with different fabrics. I think a white/cream one would be nice........

ABC i ord og bilder - W

2010-02-25T22:06:00.003+01:00

Another week and another letter from Petunia. Nearly the end of the alphabet for me, since I use the English one for Petunia's game. In Norwegian we have 3 extra letters.

W is for Wine and these Winebags.

For some time I have collected bits and pieces from empty wine bottles and sewed these bags to carry full bottles in!

Visit Petunia and find more W posts.

ABC i ord og bilder - V

2010-02-20T15:32:00.004+01:00

V is for Valemon.
I've always been fascinated by Th. Kittilsen's paintings. I've just finished my interpretation in fibres of "Kvitebjørn Kong Valemon" (the polar bear - king Valemon). For my non-Norwegian readers: the story about king Valemon is one of many Norwegians fairy tales. Of course the bear is a real king, and the story has a happy ending!
The fabric is handdyed and I've used wool and silk fibres, organza, velvet, thread painting and some hand embroidery. The size is 14 x 20".

Visit Petunia for more V posts!

Snow Dyeing

2010-02-16T16:16:00.006+01:00

During the last weeks, I've seen a lot of blog posts about snow dyeing, probably Germany and the Netherlands have had more snow than normal!! I had a starter kit with Procion MX dyes in the colours red, blue and yellow, so I thought it was a good idea to give the technique a try. First I soaked the fabric in a soda ash solution while I mixed the colours. I used white PDF fabric (prepared for dyeing) and a white silk scarf. I put the soaked fabric on wire racks over the kitchen sinks and covered it all with snow. First I had an idea of not mixing the colours, but as you can see, I changed my mind!!

I let the snow melt and then washed the fabrics.The result looks like this:

If you click on the photos, you'll see more of the details. The last piece shows the silk scarf which I think turned out very nice!

ABC i ord og bilder - U

2010-02-12T14:08:00.003+01:00

U is for Underwear. I made this wall hanging for a young lady some time ago. If you click on the photo, you'll probably see I had fun with all the details!

You'll find a lot of creative U posts here!

ABC i ord og bilder - T

2010-02-06T16:43:00.002+01:00

T is for Tiramisu - one of the nicest desserts I know!
There are many recipes around the world- this is the one I use:
3 egg yolks
50g suger
1 tub of Mascarpone (an Italian cream cheese)
2 egg whites
150 ml very strong coffee
3 tablespoons Amaretto (or brandy, or dark rum)
24 Lady fingers (a sponge biscuit)
50 g dark, chopped chocolate
1 tablespooon cocoa powder
First, whisk the egg whites until stiff. Next whisk the egg yolks and suger until pale and creamy. Gradually whisk the Mascarpone cheese into the egg mixture and lightly fold in the egg whites. Pour the coffee and Amaretto into a shallow dish and dip the biscuites into it. Now put some halved biscuites into stemmed glasses, followed by a layer of the Mascarpone mixture and some chocolate. Repeate once or twice and finish with a layer of chocolate and dusting of cocoa powder. Chill in the refrigerator for some hours - and enjoy!!
Of course you can make the Tiramisu in a cake tin as well!
More T posts here!

ABC i ord og bilder - S

2010-01-30T10:21:00.003+01:00

S is for Shadow. On a sunny day last August I was playing with my shadow in the water. I think the colours turned out very interesting.

You'll find other posts with S here!

ABC i ord og bilder - R

2010-01-24T17:11:00.008+01:00

A Rake is not my favourite garden tool, but maybe, if I could find a blue one! A click on the photo will show the details.

More R-posts here.

ABC i ord og bilder - Q

2010-01-15T20:12:00.004+01:00

Another week, another letter - this time Q. Of course my choice had to be Quilt!
I have just finished this one. The batik fabrics were bought on a market in Ghana several years ago. The photo is not the best, the colours are brighter in "real life". The fabrics are very different from what I usually use in quilts, so I've never known what to do with them, until I found this pattern in The English Quilting and Patchwork Magazine recently. The batting is wool, so it's a perfect quilt for my favourite chair these days.

ABC i ord og bilder - N

2009-12-23T20:52:00.003+01:00

These days, when almost everything is related to Christmas, I found it difficult to think of the letter N - until I found a photo of a Nativity scene I made a couple of years ago!

Happy Christmas everyone - and check more N posts here!

ABC i ord og bilder - M

2009-12-19T11:33:00.006+01:00

This week's letter is M, and my choice is a wall hanging called "Melons". A click on the photo will show the details.

Have a look at Petunia's blog here, to find at least 50 other M-posts!

ABC i ord og bilder - L

2009-12-11T11:25:00.003+01:00

L is of course for Lise - and a photo of my roses. The petals and leaves are real - trapped under organza and ironed. It should be possible to see the details by clicking on the photo.

You'll find more posts with L here.

ABC i ord og bilder K

2009-12-04T16:53:00.003+01:00

K is for Kalogria beach, also called Zorba's beach.
In 1917 Nikos Kazantzakis came to the village Stoupa which is situated 38 km southeast of Kalamata on the west coast of Greece. (For those who love olives, the Kalamata olives are the best!!) Kazantzakis settled down in a small cottage among the eucalyptus trees close to this beach and recruited Georgios Zorbas as his engineer in a mining business. The business was no success, mainly because of shortage of fuel during World War #1.

Kazantzakis success was his novel about Zorba the Greek - and most of us know the movie - and Zorba's dance. In the novel Zorba danced on this beach, but I think the movie was filmed somewhere in California!

Yes, I have spent some holidays in Stoupa - it's a favourite!!

Winter Bird

2009-11-30T17:22:00.005+01:00

I found this motif on a Chistmas card, and thought it could be nice as a small wall hanging (the center panel is A4 size). I painted the background fabric with silk paint. The branches are painted Lutradur, free hand cut and machine quilted with variegated thread and some hand embroidery. The blackbird is cut from black silk and I felted some black and grey silk fibres on top. If you click on the photo, you should be able to see the details.

ABC i ord og bilder - J

2009-11-27T10:15:00.005+01:00

This week's letter in Petunia's game is J.
In January (I hate that winter month!), I hope these jars with Jam and Jelly will remind me of July!
You'll find more J posts here.

Purses

2009-11-25T20:10:00.003+01:00

As a lot of other Norwegians, I've made these purses. The pattern is AnnaKa's, and as always her instructions are easy to follow, and it didn't take me long to make them.

ABC i Ord og Bilder - I

2009-11-21T17:28:00.004+01:00

The Inspiration for the letter I came when I prepared yesterday's dinner which was an Indian meal. The photo shows some of my Indian cookery books. I love to cook, and when I have plenty of time, an Indian meal is my first choice.

You'll find several I posts here.

Rusted Fabric

2009-11-17T11:27:00.005+01:00

I cut the rusted fabric I made some months ago, and this is the result. The cattails are made in a faux chennille technique, the leaves are thread painted on organza, the flies are a copper knitting yarn cut in small pieces and sewn to the background with tiny zigzag stitches. What I like best are the dragonflies. I stamped the background and free motion embroidered with metallic thread anlong the lines. Did the same on organza, cut them out and fastened the body with a few stitches. If you click on the photo it should be possible to see the details.
The size is 26 x 28".

ABC i Ord og Bilder - H

2009-11-13T15:35:00.003+01:00

A new letter - this time H - which I found difficult. The only idea I came up with was H for Houses. I looked through my photos, and found some fabric houses. The first one is a wine house - made for one bottle!

The next one is a wall hanging - maybe a village in Provence?

This one is also a wallhanging - in the lover right corner there is a photo print on fabric of a postcard from Fredrikshald in 1916. It was sent my grandmother for her birthday. You can click on the photo to see the details.

The last house is a sampler, size A4 - I was just playing with some fabric scraps.

You'll find more H posts here.

Scrap Quilt

2009-11-09T17:57:00.002+01:00

I've finished my scrap quilt!! It's quilted in the ditch, so it was a BIG job! The quilt measures 44 x 65" and since I used wool for battting, it will be perfect in my favourite chair during wintertime.
For some strange reason, the drawers where I collect scraps, are nearly filled up again........

ABC i Ord og Bilder - G

2009-11-06T18:09:00.010+01:00

This week Petunia says G, and for me;
G is for Garden journal and a Garden center in Greece.
These pages are from a garden journal I made last year:
When on holiday in Greece this autumn, I spent some lovely hours at the local garden center. The only problem was that I couldn't bring one of the topiaries, or other goodies, with me back home!!

I love the way this pot is decorated!

You'll find more G posts here.

A Rainy Day and a Pair of Old Jeans

2009-11-04T13:06:00.003+01:00

The weather is perfect for sewing: cold and wet. This is the result after a day like that - plus an old pair of jeans! And there is still fabric left for a box or two.........

ABC i Ord og Bilder - F

2009-11-01T12:06:00.007+01:00

F = Fuerteventura

Fuerteventura is one of my favourite places for a holiday. It's the second largest of the Canary Islands, and has a long and interesting history, and of course all one needs for a holiday: sun (the sunniest of all the islands), fantastic beaches (152 - 50 km with fine, white sand and 25 km of black volcanic shingle), lovely food (shrimps in garlic oil is one of my favourites), great temperatures (it rarely falls below 18 C).

Villa Winter is one of the interesting places to visit on the island. It's a lonely place on the south-west coast. One can only reach it on a bumby road which is very dusty!

Don Gustavo (a German engineer called Gustav Winter) built the place, when the southern parts of Fuerteventura was declared a military zone after Hitler "helped" Franco in the Civil War in Spain.

It's said that the villa was built by war prisoners (there is a mysterious cemetry near by), that there were plans to build a submarine base in the village, that Nazis sailed from the small harbour over to South America after the 2nd World War - and a lot of other stories. I don't know what's true, but I've been there, and the villa is still there, and there's the most fantastic beach there. Well worth a visit.

My favourite place on the island is a small fishing village called Morro Jable. a beautiful beach there as well, some 30 km long. Parts of this beach is called Playa Esmeralda and is one of the top ten beaches in the world.

Of course I had to make a fabric postcard from Morro Jable!

You'll find other F posts here.

ABC i Ord og Bilder - E

2009-10-23T10:42:00.009+02:00

This week's letter was an Easy match:
E is for Elvis
I made these fabric postcards a while ago for a postcard swap with the theme Elvis - and had great fun finding song titles I could use!

You'll find more posts with E here.

Very Happy!

2009-10-20T10:54:00.006+02:00

I feel very happy (although I'll miss the flowers on the blue background)! A company had theese quilts for a while, and I hoped they would buy one or two. They bought them all!!

ABC i ord og bilder - D

2009-10-16T16:58:00.006+02:00

This week's letter is D. My first idea was Diamonds - but that was Difficult - only a Day Dream.
Therefore my choice is Doreen who lives Down under. I belong to a group called Fibre Fever. Each month we swap a mini quilt (size 6 x 6").
Doreen is my swap partner this month. Her theme is butterflies, and I sent her this crazy quilt earlier this week. This was my first crazy quilt ever - and I think it will be the one and only - I haven't made any hand embroidery for a long time.........!

You'll find more D posts here.

ABC i ord og bilder - C

2009-10-11T15:59:00.007+02:00

This week's letter is C, a letter which we only use in the Norwegian language in names and in words we borrow from other languages. I didn't know what to photograph, until yesterday's dinner! I made taboule, and the main ingrediense is Couscous! You'll find more posts with C here.

Here's the recipe:

Prepare 4 portions of couscous. Add a dressing:

1 tablespoon (or more) of chrushed carlic, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1/4 cup lemon juice, 1 teaspoon lemon zest, 2 - 3 tablespoons chopped, fresh mint or 1 teaspoon dried, 1/3 cup olive oil

Add the dressing to the couscous together with: 1 cup chopped parsley, 1 chopped, small red onion. Mix well.

At this stage, the taboule will keep in the fridge for several days. And now for the fun part: Add your favourites for a salad! I added shredded lettuce, aspargus, shrimps and tomatoes. You could try hard boiled eggs, cucumber, leek or what ever you prefer. Enjoy!! I found the recipe on Ann's blog - if you check it out, you'll find more goodies.

Work in progress

2009-10-09T19:07:00.003+02:00

96 blocks for my scrap quilt are finished. It's like being back to childhood's puzzles.... I'm not sure what to do next, probably a border of scrap squares and then one or two plain borders. Sewing the blocks together is OK, but pressing them, is a nightmare!!

ABC

2009-10-06T15:47:00.009+02:00

On Lappedamens blog, I found a link to a game called "ABC i ord og bilder" (ABC in text and photos). The challenge is to post a photo and text every week connected to a letter in the alphabet. I missed the first week, which of course had the letter A as topic.
I have choosen B for Blue for this week. I made this blue cow a couple of years ago. It's one of two happy cows I sewed as place mats. Somebody actually stole this one from the Bernina shop in Oslo where it was on display, so I only have the photo left!

Greece

2009-10-04T14:26:00.006+02:00

This is where I've spent the last days; a small town in the Halkidiki area in Greece. Beautiful beaches, lovely temperature, nice people as always in Greece, and the food was great!!
Back home we've had the first frost.........

Scrap Quilt

2009-09-22T11:17:00.003+02:00

Something HAD to be done!! I found a pattern for a scrap quilt calling for 1,5 " pieces. Hundreds and hundreds of them.... Cutting, cutting and cutting........:

Work in progress:

No doubt, I prefer making crab quilts and other small quilts!!

Lizard on a Ladder

2009-09-10T09:06:00.003+02:00

This lucky lizard is one of several patterns from Karen Eckmeier . I didn't follow her descriptions, but I'm happy with the result anyway! The background is scraps from my rusted fabric, and I've used scraps from silk saris for the inner border and hanging. The size is 16" x 22".

Sunday's Report

2009-09-07T16:29:00.003+02:00

Another sunny Sunday - a lovely view and lots of mountain cranberries.

A Princess for a Princess

2009-09-04T11:13:00.005+02:00

I've made this quilt a couple of times before, but the family's youngest princess needed a wallhanging.....The pattern is from the Norwegian magazine "Familien". For those who know H.C.Andersen's story about the princess who couldn't sleep because of a pea under all the mattresses, you can see the pea if you click on the photo! And, yes, I know Andersen didn't mention frogs in his story, but one never knows with frogs...

Rusted Fabric

2009-08-31T09:27:00.004+02:00

Making rusted fabric is a fun and unpretictable process. What you need is cotton fabric, vinegar, cling film and a rusted owl! or another rusted item... Wet the fabric in vinegear, wrap it around the rusted item and cover it all with cling film. All you have to do is wait. It depends on the temperature how many days.........

Here's my result after 3 days with sunshine:

Another lovely Sunday

2009-08-24T14:50:00.004+02:00

A lovely place for Sunday's lunch! Lots of wild blueberries as well.........I wonder what happend to this moose - and when. I found one leg some meters away - someone must have had a big meal!!Playing with my shadow in the water

Sunflower Quiltie

2009-08-19T16:37:00.003+02:00

This is one of my sunflowers for a swap called "Sunflower quiltie". The background is decoupage on muslin, the flower center is faux chenille and some beading and the petals double fused batik and organza.

Poppies

2009-08-08T19:45:00.003+02:00

No sewing this week - I'm enjoying gardening. These are poppies called "angel's choir"

A Kind of Klimt

2009-07-30T12:22:00.003+02:00

I found the pattern for the wall quilt in the German magazine "Patchwork and Quilting". When it was nearly finished, I saw the tea mugs in a near by shop,,,,

AWARD

2009-07-28T21:50:00.005+02:00

Gudveig sent me this cute award. Thanks a lot!! You made my day....

Sunday's pleasures

2009-07-26T19:58:00.004+02:00

No sewing today, but lots of other pleasures:

Discharge Paste

2009-07-25T08:46:00.002+02:00

I've been playing with discharge paste, and this is the result:

I think the rose leaves turned out nice, but I have no idea what I'll do with the fabrics....

Summer Swap

2009-07-15T13:51:00.002+02:00

What a long break!! I do hope some of my blogging friends are still there....Would be nice to hear from you again!

This is a quiltie (size 6 x 6") I've made for a swap called "House Quiltie". It will be on it's way to US tomorrow!

More Quilties

2009-02-20T09:39:00.006+01:00

I have received the two first quilties in a swap in the Art4Mail-group called "Seahorses and Mermaids". Peggy made the first one, Nicki the next. It's a good idea to klick on the photos to admire alle the details!! Thanks a lot ladies.

This year I have joined a fabric book swap hosted by Ati in a group called Fibre Fever. Each partisipant has decided a theme for the book, and every mont we'll send and received a page for the book. This quiltie is the first page of my fabric book made by Marja in the Netherlands. Marja wrote that it shows winter flowers growing from their bulbs, longing for spring. Just what I needed - they say we have 3 times more snow in Oslo now than normal! Again, please klick on the photo to see the deatails.

Seahorse Quiltie

2009-01-17T13:53:00.004+01:00

Art4Mail, a Yahoo-group I'm a member of, do not only swap postcards, but also inchies, Dotee-dolls, flat dolls, pin cushions, and this time Quilties (size 6 x 6"). This is one of three quilties I've made for a swap called Mermaids and/or Seahorses. The background fabric is hand painted, and I've been playing with more paints, free hand quilting and the embroidey unit for my Bernina.

Cyber Fyber

2009-01-04T15:42:00.005+01:00

CYBER FYBER EXHIBITION is an international fiber arts event at Gallery 80808/Vista Studios, 808 Lady Street in downtown Columbia, South Carolina, on view from January 8th through 20th, 2009. The focus of this exhibition is to highlight the influences of Internet access for today's fiber artists. How I wish I lived closer to South Carolina!!

This is my entry for the exhibition, postcard, #118:

Postcard 118
http://lise2007.blogspot.com/NORWAY
Posted by Cyber Fyber at 3:52 PM

Thanks to Susan Lenz for the idea and for organizing it all!! What a job it must have been, putting it all together.

Snakes and Ladders

2008-12-30T18:28:00.003+01:00

I think this game is called "Snakes and Ladders" in English - anyway it's a fun game to play for "childish" persons. I made it for my grandson for Christmas.

Happy New Year To All My Visitors

Goodies in the Mail

2008-12-23T18:13:00.004+01:00

I've received my Shades of the Forest quilties from Lenna's Creative Swaps. Thanks to Kiki, Fabienne, Wil and Sharon for your beautiful work!!

Then 5 lovely Christmas ornaments from Beate Knappe's international ornament swap. Great fun! I'll join next year as well, Beate!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Emma's Tree

2008-12-04T09:26:00.005+01:00

In the Art4Mail group we are doing a Christmas swap called "Emma's Tree". This is my tree, which will be in the mail for Canada today.

One of the members of the group lost her daughter Emma in breast cancer some years ago. This pattern is made in honour of Emma. Finished, it measures 22 x 19". I loved making the tree, and I've printed several prints and will use them as this years Christmas cards.

I think it's very touching of Miriam making this tree and name it after her beloved daughter.

Book Cover

2008-11-27T16:33:00.006+01:00

Some time ago I found a tutorial on Gina's blog for a book cover. I think it's a great way using scraps. This is my first attempt, and I think it turned out OK. The flower is also made from scrap, some painted and heat distressed Tyvek from another project. You'll find the tutorial here.