Hello good friends!

Hi! Long time, no see! Sorry I have been M.I.A. - I'm alive and well. It's just that my sewing/blogging time and energy available have greatly decreased with a) going back to my full time job and b) being in the middle of a DIY home renovation project.

But... I have been able to squeeze in a few sewing minutes, so I have some stuff for show and tell:)

1) April block for Fat Quarter Shop's Mystery BOM - so pretty in pink, red and aqua:)

2) My first ever bee blocks - for the do.Good Happiness circle. I think this color palette is very sofisticated:)

OK - I may have made a mistake in cutting the pieces for the geese, so their beaks and wings got a bit clipped. Oops! Well, I still like the block.

3) A start to the Modern She Made swap item for my secret partner - also a new color combo for me. I hope my partner approves. I think it will become a pillow...

4) As I was cleaning my sewing room the other day, I found this stack of FQs of La Dee Da fabric that I never really liked... It's just not my colors. So I decided it will become a quilt for Siblings Together and got to cutting half-hexies with my previously unused Hex N More ruler. I think this quilt will be very cool and modern and perfect for a girl or teen.

OK - time to be enter the social world of blogging - so linking up to:

Where is springtime?

It is still cold and snowy here in Norway and I can't blame the geese for flying in circles down south in stead of returning here.
Det er fortsatt kaldt og snø her i Norge og jeg skjønner godt at gjessene flyr i ring der sørpå i stedet for å vende tilbake hit.

But on a more positive note - I finished my Double Circle of Geese mini quilt/table topper last week and surprised my grandma with it today as a late birthday gift. She loves flying geese (of the quilted variety), so this was perfect for her!
Men det gode er at jeg ble ferdig med denne lille duken/mini quilten i forrige uke og overrasket min mormor med den i dag - en forsinket bursdagsgave. Hun elsker "flying geese" så dette var perfekt for henne!

As I only had a layer cake (10" squares) to work with, I had to get creative to make the borders.
Siden jeg bare hadde en "layer cake" (10" kvadrater) å jobbe med, måtte jeg bli kreativ med bordene.

I used more pieces from the layer cake on the back and added little corner pockets in case she wants to use it as a wall hanging.
Jeg brukte flere stykker fra "layer cake" pakken på baksiden og satte inn hjørnelommer i tilfelle stykket skulle henges på veggen.

You probably can't tell from the photos, but it took 11 cuts of fabric to make binding for this 21" square. So there are a lot of seams in the binding!
Det synes nok ikke i bildene, men det tok 11 stykker stoff for å lage lukkekant på denne lille duken. Det er mange skjøter i lukkekanten!

Fabric: Odds&Ends from Moda and Kona Snow

Pattern: Center block is called Windmill, designed by Lynne and can be found in this book

Finished size: Approx. 21" square

Linking up with the Let's Get Acquainted! Monday Link Up and Sew Cute Tuesday.

TGIFF! (my Cherry Blossom quilt is done)

Welcome to the TGIFF linky party! My name is Marit and I blog from the cold north (Oslo, Norway). I am so happy to have you here with me today and look forward to seeing what you all have to share!

My TGIFF project is one I am truly thankful for having completed! I cut the pieces for this last July and was just a total slow poke at getting it pieced. I finally got the top assembled in February and splurged on getting it quilted by a pro. What a treat! It just feels so strange to have something I sewed so perfectly quilted... But I can get used to it:)

So without further ado - here is my completed Cherry Blossom quilt! And yes - these photos are taken today. On snow. I said I lived in the cold north, right?

Size: Approx. 60"x60"

Pattern: Cherry Blossom from the book "With Fabric and Thread" by Joanna Figueroa

Fabric: California Girl from Moda with Kona Snow background and Kona Salmon binding

Quilted by: Merete Ellingsen of www.sy.no

And just to add to the Friday fun, I'm giving away a charm pack of Reunion by Sweetwater to one of you who link up (no matter where you live). I think this fabric is awesome, but I just can't find a project for it - so I hope one of you can give it some sewing love! 

Now - let's get this party started! Link up your finished beauties and then visit with the other party guests (don't be a party pooper). Please include a link back to this post and/or include the TGIFF button (found here) in your blog post so your visitors can come join the party.

Shine bright like a diamond

My Starburst quilt is finished and I LOVE IT! It's the best quilt I've ever made.
Min Starburst quilt er ferdig og JEG ELSKER DEN! Det er den fineste quilten jeg har lagd noensinne.

Let me share som photos with you:)
La meg dele noen bilder med dere:)

The full quilt (sort of)
Hele teppet (nesten)

Here you can see the quilting pattern quite well.
Her kan du se quiltingen ganske bra.

I used 2 similar prints from the fat quarter bundle to make the binding.
Jeg brukte 2 lignende trykk til lukkekanten.

To get this finished today, I had to machine quilt the binding. I didn't like how much "flap" there was on the back and added a second line of top stitching to secure it in place, which worked out well.
For å bli ferdig til i dag, sydde jeg på lukkekanten med maskin. Men jeg likte ikke hvor mye ekstra kant det var på baksiden og sydde en ekstra søm et par mm inn og det funket fint.

Love how vibrant this is!
Elsker hvordan fargene stråler!

Fabric: Salt Air by Cosmo Cricket for Moda with Kona Snow background
Size: 57"x57"
Pattern: Starburst (free tutorial!) by Melissa at Happy Quilting


Linking up to:

 TGIFF which can be found this week at Quokka Quilts

*Starstruck*

No, not in a celebrity way - I couldn't care less about famous people! But in a quilty way (of course)!
Nei, det er ikke kjendis-stjerner jeg bryr meg om, men quilte-stjerner (selvfølgelig)!

I've been seeing so many cool star quilts and really wanted to make one for myself. Maybe several different star quilts. I think I have a thing for them...
Jeg har sett så mange stilige stjernequilter og har villet lage et selv. Kanskje flere - tror jeg har dilla på stjernemønster...

So last week when my California Cherry Blossom quilt was misbehaving (it needs an evening with the seam ripper now) I decided I needed to start something new NOW and it should include stars.
Så forrige uke da California Cherry Blossom teppet mitt var rampete (trenger en kveld med sprettekniven nå) bestemte jeg at jeg skulle starte noe nytt NÅ og det skulle ha stjerner.

Enter the Starburst pattern/tutorial by Melissa at Happy Quilting - and what do you know - she is in the middle of hosting a quilt-along for that very quilt. I was about 3 weeks behind and decided to catch up (because I couldn't NOT join).
Så da ble det dette Starburst mønsteret - og oppfinneren var midt i en quilt-along som jeg bare måtte ble med på (selv om jeg var 3 uker på etterskudd).

So these were my last 4 sewing days:
Så dette var mine siste 4 sydager:

Thursday evening - select fabrics (Salt Air by Cosmo Cricket for Moda) and cut, cut, cut
Torsdag kveld - velg stoff og skjær, skjær, skjær

Friday evening - some last cuts and mark all the diagonal lines for HSTs and such (booooring!)
Too boring to photograph.
Fredag kveld - skjær ferdig og merk alle diagonalene som trengte det (kjeeedelig!)

Saturday nap time - chain piece HSTs and Geese in the Corner
Lørdag formiddag - sy sammen masse deler

Sunday morning and nap time - press and trim HSTs and chain piece and press my Flying Geese.
Søndag formiddag - sy flere deler

Sunday evening - assembled the first block, but for now I only have a photo of the layout.
Søndag kveld - sydde sammen den første blokken, men for nå har jeg bare bilde av delene lagt utover.

So there - I am caught up! And let me say, I LOVE that this is coming together so quickly. And Melissa has a great way of sewing Flying Geese that makes no waste and makes 4 at a time! Check that tutorial out here - I generally hate sewing Flying Geese and this made it so much better.
Så der - jeg er a jour! Og jeg må si jeg liker hvor raskt dette går.

Those were my last few days of sewing. How was your weekend? Crafty?
Så det var sydagene jeg har hatt i helgen - hvordan var din helg? Kreativ?

Linking up with Beth at Plum and June for the Let's Get Acquainted Monday Link Up - a great place to meet new bloggy friends and get inspired:)