BOM 18 - Evening Star

Collection 18

Evening Star is a simple star that I often use when teaching foundation piecing to students. It has so much forgiveness when it comes to joining sections that the student can hide a cartful of errors. Try it I am sure you will agree.

So Many Points

Collection 54	Well this must have been one of the pointiest collections. Love Bygone Days and Blood from the Dust. They looked so different in fabric from the original sketches.	C54 Stars Upon the Snow
C54 Blood from the Dust	C54 Beside the Fountain	C54 Bygone Days
C54 Fred & Ginger	So which block is missing?	C54 Jellyfish Swirl

Norwegian Folk Museum

Well I am improving on writing posts for this blog on my iPad, although the formatting is still a struggle. Often I use a table format so that photos and writing will line up. However I haven't been able to make the tables work on the iPad and will probably have to fix these up when I return home.

Formatting and layout aside I thought people might like to see some of the embroidery work that was on display at the folk museum.

This piece was only about 25cm wide. If you are able to enlarge it you will see magnificent stitching.

Nursery Rhymes & Collection 6

Collection 6	Just a few more blocks from the Nursery Rhyme quilt. These blocks were taken from collection 6. Funny how we take a liking to a design and use it time and again.  Crystal Dreams has featured in three quilts so far.
Firstly in the original Raconteur quilt, where the colour choice was so terrible that you couldn't see it unless looking for it. Next I used it in Snippets, which is a collection of seven blocks that I taught at various retreats where people wished to start on their own Raconteur. Finally it is here in Nursery Rhymes. I know I will use it again as I have seen it made using a variety of colours in the one block and it looked good enough to try ..yet again :)	C6 Crystal Dreams
C6 Disappearing Hope	Disappearing Hope what a strange name and no idea where it came from but I do like the effect here with the blue outer border making your eyes lose the white design and focus on the blue.

Future Plans

Aren't these great? On Norway Day some men also wore the national dress and although not as elaborate as those worn by the women you have to admit the socks are to die for. I doubt I will ever try the two colour versions but I am definitely planning on tackling the cabled ones...once I manage to make some without the holes that for some reason develop when I'm making the heel. Perhaps I should just go for lace patterns, as holes are desirable there :)

Norway Day

Must say it is easier to write posts on my computer than it is on the iPad. Will fix things when I return home but for now just look at the embroidery in these outfits.

Paul and I are visiting our son Richard and his partner Hilde, in Norway and this week there are many celebrations to commemorate 200 years of democracy.

	Yesterday there was a concert highlighting the arts and in particular national costumes, called bunad.  There are many areas in Norway and each has its own traditional costume and what amazing works of art these are.
Even toddlers dress up for the day. Gorgeous isn't she? The children usually have a simplified version of their parent's outfit as the real thing is very expensive. It is such an occasion that many men also wear their national costume.		When I return home I'm going to upload a really great phot here of five girls from the same family. Their mother made their outfits and they are beautiful. The photo is somewhere on this iPad but be blowed if I can find it when I want it...don't you just love technology?
row 4, cell 1	block 5	row 4, cell 3
block 6	row 5, cell 2	block 7

The concert was free and held in the park which is overlooked by the Parliament House. 

Cheating to Succeed

Collection 52	Carol said that Erica's Bouquet was the hardest as there weren't many flowers around that size. I cheated in that I didn't stay with the design on the fabric. I had been told that the viewer doesn't know what the original flower looked like so if needed just appliqué it where needed!	C52 Erica's Bouquet
C52 Lifesaver	C52 Flight of the Fireflies

C52 Steeples Abound

C52 Michelin Babies

C52 Semaphore Flags

Fantastic Mittens

Well what do you think of these mittens? Fantastic aren't they? They were made by my son's girlfriend's mother, Ellinor, and they are even more beautiful in real life than they are in the picture. Ellinor's knitting is fantastic, stitches are all even and no holes. Unlike the socks I have been trying to knit for the past few weeks :)

As Gerringong is nowhere near as cold as Norway I am looking forward to a cold snap when I will be able to wear them. 

Weather is an amazing thing. We arrive in Norway, with suitcase full of clothes for the expected cold weather and have basically spent much of our time in the clothes we wore when leaving home plus the extra we took for our two day Bangkok stopover. I suppose I will never get the clothes side of travelling right!

Blog moved

I have moved my blog to here. Two blogs were too hard to maintain.
Come and check it out.

Purple & Green Should Never be Seen

Purple and green should never be seen...without a colour in between.  Have you ever heard that? I don't remember where I learned that fact but it is just so wrong. Even though Carol does have a colour between her purples and greens these days I figure any colour can go with any other .. as long as the setting is appropriate.  What do you think of these blocks aren't they great?

C44 The Emperor's Hat	C48 Antipodean	C47 Buttercups
C48 Change	C48 Lily Pond	C48  Incredible Lives

Carol finishes Collection 50

Collection 50	Well Carol has finished all of her blocks for Collection 50. Which is your favourite/ I found it very hard to choose. Her colours appear to be lining up similar to ones that I have chosen in the past but she still has a brighter tinge than mine.	C50 Hold Me Tight
C50 Hotel Taoyuan	C50 Morning Dip	C50 Talking Heads
C50 Sunday Brunch	C50 Moving Walls	C50 Twisting

Nursery Rhymes and Collection 5

Collection 5	Still trying to decide if I will make up the central block from Collection 5 for the Nursery Rhymes collection. Only time will tell. I am enjoying the working with brighter colours.
C5 Taylor's World	C5 Gift Wrapped <

Coincidences

C49 Looking for Isobel	Coincidences are a strange thing. Carol sent these photos to me over a couple of days and today when uploading them I was surprised that all of them reminded me of pleasant events experienced since joining with Paul.	C48 Pacman's Revenge
Grandma was Paul's mum and she was the most delightful person you could meet. She loved gardening and always had the most glorious flowers in her home..sometimes purchased but other times home grown.	C49 Grandma's Garden	Pacman... shows my age I know but this was my favourite computer game when I first met Paul. We met while training to teach deaf children and at times we would skip classes and wander through Sydney Uni with Paul pointing out significant places from his uni days. Always we would stop in at the student bar and play this 'wonderful' game...kids these days wouldn't touch it!
C49 Just the Two of Us	Funny Carol chose pig covered fabric for this block...what is she implying :) Kendall was our dog, a labrador-retriever cross. Definitely our best friend for many years.	C49 Kendall