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.

Sing with me

You might have noticed the Craft for China thumbnail on the left? I have donated this little quilt for an auction to benefit orphan girls in China. The auction will begin June 1, 2008, I will let you know when! Please spread the word about this! Artists such as Rob Ryan, Elsita and Carla Sonheim have made contributions to it. I can't wait to see what they have donated! You can see a list of all participating artists here. Business on etsy has been slow lately. I have tried not to freak out and have been creating and listing new stuff. I also opened up a new shop(!) on DaWanda, which is Etsy's European cousin. It is based in Germany so I will have a good opportunity to use the German I was taught at school and never really used. Except for when I went to Switzerland and I had to start all the way from the beginning, the pronunciation is so different! The prices on DaWanda are in Euros so I feel like home. But not as home like I do on Etsy. Not yet.

One of my not so secret talents is that I have a song for every situation, songs just pop into my mind in various situations, songs that I often did not know I knew. So here's the first theme song for today, why don't you listen to it while you look at my latest creations (please)! I bet you will sing along! I call the mini quilt above Up, up and away, as you might have guessed. It is one in a series of three. One will stay at my exhibition over the Summer. One is still available on etsy.
*edit* It sold, I should stop complaining...
This is a new zippy pouch, I think I need to take a new shot of it, the dotty background makes it look a little dull. T suggested this tune by Pink Floyd as a theme song for it ;)
For this bag I guess I should have picked Sail away by Enya, but since I have a fear of having it ringing in my head the rest of the day I thought it best to introduce to you the Finnish band The Rasmus and Sail Away.

Have a wonderful weekend!

The party is over

I can finally hear the silence from the kids room... It is not easy to fall asleep after a wonderful day like this! Big E had a birthday party for her friends from Kindergarten today. She turns 6 June 25th, but many of her friends start their Summer vacation from the beginning of June so it is a tradition to celebrate her birthday a month early. She does not mind! I forgot to take the before shots, sorry! I made simple party bags for the kids to take home from white tulle and a piece of ribbon to tie it, fast and pretty! Our daughter does not like strawberry cake with whipped cream on top that is usually served at parties in this country so the dad (aka ice-T) opened up an ice cream bar, which was very popular. Big E was very content with her day, especially since her "littelest pet shop" family grew with a butterfly, a cat and a bird that is "soooooo cute".
So apparently there was no sewing to be done for me today, tomorrow I will quit the party planner job (I did enjoy it!) and go back to crafting. First I will finish these small quilts. Then I will make some patchwork tote bags in navy colours, a project I started a year ago, but those colours are always in this time of year, aren't they?

Young artist and a mini quilt

This proud little girl has finished the first project she has ever sewn on the sewing machine. With a little help of course, and the little brother helped to stuff it (wanted to be involved very badly and now wants the pig for himself...). As you see on Big E's pattern it was supposed to become a waving teddy bear, but at some point we just came to the conclusion that it wanted to become a waving little piggy. I found a blank card among the lot I got from the printers on Monday so Big E drew this little piece of art for her grandparents. You can see little piggy sitting on the back of the bike.
Lesley, who made me this lovely quilt, received her swap quilt today (in time!) so now I can show you the whole thing. Close-ups here and here. So glad it arrived safely!