Summertime

vinden drar, originally uploaded by -syko-.

We are back home after a wonderful Midsummer with good friends in the archipelago. The exhibit is now hanged so I am free to move on to the next (secret ;) project. The kids are home so I will try to take some time off too, the best way to relax is to get away from all projects. Today I hit the Summer sales with little E and we had a really nice time. Big E turns six tomorrow so we got her some nice clothes. We stopped at a café for a snack and took the bus home (taking the bus instead of the car is a great adventure for the little boy!).

I have posted more pictures of the exhibition at flickr. I am sorry that I did not take any close-ups of my mums work! The actual hanging was more challenging than making the big quilt, I thought, but I think we finally managed to hang everything quite nicely. The mostly white backgrounds of our textiles look great against the old logs.

I got the opportunity to exhibit at Pellas because I worked there as a museum guide 10 years ago when I studied Ethnology. Since that the house has burned down and been rebuilt again! The fire was a great tragedy in the small community and it feels very good to see the house rebuilt again. This year it is open to the public again and I am very happy to be part of it!

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.

Auction is up!

The Craft for China charity auction is now up, for one week only! Please follow this link to see the quilt I donated. There are a lot of gorgeous arts and crafts, please take a look, get yourself a piece of art and help orphans in China! If I had any money to spend I would most certainly invest it in this piece by Rob Ryan. You also have a great chance to snatch Little Red Riding Hood & Wolfie by Linda C Norton, too cute!!!

Go here to read more about the fund raiser.