Quilting, ripping tearing...

ormsommar window quilt, originally uploaded by -syko-.

It is one week left to the exhibit , which means I am trying to finish all the thread works I've started on and trying even harder not to start any new ones. The quilt above is called Snake Summer and accidentally became a window quilt when I hanged it on a white curtain to be able to study it on a distance. I just loved how all the patterns and textures shines through so now I have decided to only add a white backing fabric and maybe just quilt the snake in the ditch and hopefully there will be a window to hang it in at Pellas (the link goes to an article about the museum in a local newspaper, for those who read Swedish :).
The big quilt is coming up nicely after some ripping, tearing and swearing. The quilting is the text to a traditional Swedish lullaby, Vinden drar, that our little exhibition is named after. It tells about a sailor boy that leaves his girl crying on the shore. Don't cry my friend, he says. Think of all the good times that are to come. A chest full of silver and gold, silk and velvet cloths, all of that I will bring to you.

I loved to imagine how the silk and velvet fabrics looked when my mum sang this song to me when I was a kid!

*edit* I do not use the BSR for the quilting, I could not get it to work so I just use the regular mending foot...

A flower fool

My mum has been here the whole week and we have had a very nice time working on our exhibition. There is less than two weeks left, luckily my mother has been very productive so I can take my time and work on my big pieces (one wip here). It is the biggest quilt I've worked on my bernina aurora so far, cross your fingers! I will take pictures when it's all finished and hanged.
One day we took a break from sewing and went to the garden center, we both fell hopelessly in love with this beauty. Which resulted in the quilt above. Roses make me weak. And the fact that my peony will bloom this year gives me chicken skin.

Stage fright

Quilted clouds, originally uploaded by -syko-.

Today I have made some progress on my quilt for the LARK book. I made the backing, the quilt sandwich and started on the quilting. I have also written half of the instructions which makes me quite proud of myself :) Clever me decided to use the Two sole walking foot and the BSR system for the first time for a project that is going to be featured in a book... Not much practicing going on here. I DID try both on a tiny little trial piece before I started though. I also suffered from a slight stage fright before I started, it's been awhile since I quilted something this big. It was a nerve wracking start, but I think it's going to be alright. Good, but not perfect. My new favourite phrase.

I made the quilt top last autumn so the colour scheme is not the one you've seen here for the last few weeks :)

Thank you very much for your kind and encouraging comments on my last posts! I try my best to get back to you with an e-mail or a comment on your blog, but sometimes there is not enough time. I still read and appreciate all your comments very much! Thanks for being there!

Nightlife

Summer houses in a row, originally uploaded by -syko-.

Yawn. I didn't get my beauty sleep for a couple of nights so I'm a little off. My happy little baby E is showing that he will son be 2½. He has major mood swings during the day, cry attacks at daycare and apparently processes this during night. Last night he woke up several times screaming: "No, it's mine! I had it first!" Which led to me lying awake thinking about the best ways to arrange papers for the bookkeeper.

Next week I will quilt and write the instructions for the baby quilt I am making for the LARK book (Baby quilts) I will participate in. It will be published some time next Autumn. They wanted us to send a baby photo of ourselves so I have had a fun time looking through old pictures. My mum has tried a lot of different hairstyles :) I hope to show you some quilt progress next week! Cross your fingers that Aurora does her job well!

I have added a few fishing boats and Summer houses to the shop.

Happy weekend!

A peek inside the studio

My studio window, originally uploaded by -syko-.

My son who has had a bad version of the stomach flu is finally up on his feet again. And he eats again! I hope we have had our amount of winter illnesses for this year now. Me and little E went out to play in the snow(!) and to catch some sunshine(!) and I thought my studio looked quite fun from outside. I'm making a Spring/Summer collection of house ornaments, my first project on the new sewing machine. I had to start out with something safe and easy. Which was completely silly of course, since I've been sewing on Bernina's all my life (well, nearly). I haven't tried the BSR system yet, which is an automatic stitch regulator for free motion quilting, I'm sure I will have a lot of use for it. The machine also came with a two sole walking foot for quilting. This I can't wait to try out, I've heard it is really good for larger quilts. Aurora is actually my first sewing machine, the one I've been sewing on until now belongs to my mum so it was about time she got it back. Even if her first Bernina from the 70's is still going strong.

I had an order for a shoe bag waiting so while at it I made a few laundry bags for the shop too. I got the romantic paper it is displayed on from Elvina, a very nice shop and cafe here in Turku, they sell danish home-decorating stuff, on-line as well.

Did I mention that I love my new sewing machine?

Hello from the sofa

Featured on Sew, Mama, Sew!, originally uploaded by -syko-.

I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day! I enjoyed my day in Helsinki very much, but I came back with a cold :( I want to get back to you soon to show some pictures from my visit to Pulu and above all show off my brand new Bernina aurora 440 (which I've been too tired to try out yet). Now I will proudly direct you to the Sew, Mama, Sew! blog, my quilt was "quilt of the day" on Thursday, and I will head back to the sofa (I would do the happy dance if I wasn't so tired...). Check out the other featured quilts of Sewmama's quilt month, they have picked some gorgeous pieces of art!

Thanks for your comments on my crochet post, my collection of wonky stars is slowly growing!