YAY! Last Dinosaur done!

♥ ♥ ♥
Last, but not least, here is another Dilbert! Now I can start the next project!
♥ ♥ ♥

3 Little Dinosaurs

♥ ♥ ♥
Here they are, 3 little dinosaurs to put into my children's Christmas stockings. I still have to make one more for another little person in the family, then I can move on to the next project. Sew many plans, sew little time... and xmas is just around the corner!
♥ ♥ ♥

and yet another 2 x Dilbert the Dinosaur

♥ ♥ ♥
I just had to make another 2 dinosaurs...
again, I've used Melly & Me's ''Dilbert'' pattern, fabrics used are all from ''Sweet'' collection by Urban Chiks for Moda
♥ ♥ ♥

Dilbert The Dinosaur

♥ ♥ ♥
Today I started on the kids' Christmas presents, and this is what was created today; a spotty Dinosaur!
I've used Melly & Me's ''Dilbert'' pattern, fabrics used are all from ''Sweet'' collection by Urban Chiks for Moda - which I totally love
♥ ♥ ♥

Jelly Roll Xmas Quilt

♥ ♥ ♥
There's been a long while between posts... I just haven't had enough time to sew lately, but finally finished my first Jelly Roll Quilt, using the book ''Jelly Roll Quilts'' by Pam & Nicky Lintott.
Jelly Roll Quilts: The Perfect Guide to Making the Most of the Latest Strip Rolls
I used a Jelly Roll of Glace by 3 Sisters for Moda. Although this is a little too traditional for my taste, I'm still quite happy with the result. It will look nice on our bed for Christmas.
♥ ♥ ♥

Meadow Bag inJoel Dewberry & Amy Butler Fabrics

Our lovely house is suffering... I'm sewing WAY TOO MUCH these days... I just can't stop when I get in these moods. Here is another Meadow bag, this one is made with Joel Dewberry fabrics with a little of Amy Bulter's Lotus & Midwest Modern 2 range!

and yet another Meadow bag

I'm kind of hooked on these Meadow bags at the moment, so today I finished another one, this one is in ''Summer in City'' fabric by Urban Chiks, as I love this summery range!

Meadow Bag in Ginger Blossom Fabrics

Today I finished another bag, same pattern as the last one, but for this one I used Sandi Henderson's ''Ginger Blossom'' fabrics and a little bit of Lila Tueller's ''Woodland Bloom'' fabrics.
It's very pink so it's very me!

New Bag in New House

I've just finished my first bag since moving to our new house. It's taken a couple of months to settle in and I haven't been able to sew as much as I would have liked. I'm making a few of these bags as Christmas pressies, thought I'd start early this year!
This one is made with many "Summer in the City" fabrics by Urban Chiks for Moda, as well a little of Amy Butler's Lotus collection.
The pattern is Meadow from Melly & Me
Now I just have to get started on the other 29 or so...

First Pattern Released!

Over the past year or so I have received many requests for the pattern for my Pencil Roll Holder. I decided to create one and here it is:
"Little Swede Pencil Roll Holder"
The pattern is in a PDF format, so buyers will get the pattern emailed to them within 24 hours of purchase. This way it can be saved on their computer, print out if they wish and use over and over again.
The pattern is for sale in my newly opened Etsy Store:

Another Day, Another Pencil Roll Holder

I finished another Pencil Roll Holder today, this one also in Dick & Jane fabrics. I'm trying to get about 15-20 of these done by the end of the week, we'll have to see if time allows me to do it. I like how colourful this one turned out.

Pencil Roll Holder in Swell Fabrics

Pencil Roll Holder in Swell Fabrics Originally uploaded by Swede-Heart

I'm sewing again. Properly. I've had almost 5 months break from sewing, from the time we started to sell the old house, until now, finally all settled in our new house. I just can't relax enough to sew if the whole house is up side down (or in boxes) - mind you, once I get into my sewing, the house ends up very very messy. I get so into it that nothing else matters for a few hours and with 3 kids playing around me, this is a dangerous combination! I made 2 of these Pencil Roll Holders in Moda's Swell fabrics. I just ADORE the whole range of Swell - and even more the follow-up range, Sweet. I've decided that I will open up an Etsy & eBay store in the near future and these will be sold there. I will keep you posted on this blog once it all goes ahead!

This morning I began making a few Pencil Roll Holders in Dick & Jane fabrics too, I only had time to finish one today, so here it is. There's something about the Dick & Jane range I love, it's so old fashioned, yet so bright! I think these would make a nice ''thank-you''-pressie for a great school teacher or something!

Turning the house into a home

It feels like forever since I've made anything and although that isn't the end of the world, it worries me that I might never get into the mood ever again! I know it's because of the move and I still don't feel 100% settled. It takes time to get it how you want it. This weekend I've finally set up my sewing corner in the house. I don't have a sewing room, but it doesn't matter because I love to sew in the kitchen and as it turns out, this sewing corner hangs off the kitchen. It's slowly changing from someone else's house to our home. Now I'm just waiting for the sewing bug to bite me and I will get started!

Amy Butler's New Software CD

It's been very long since I last posted anything, all because we ran into a bit of trouble connecting the phone line to our new house. Today we finally got the broadband connected after nearly a whole month without it!
Midway through the month of May I received a complimentary CD of Amy Butler's new software CD - now available from her online store and The Electric Quilt Company. I was contacted by The Electric Quilt Company some 6 months ago asking if I would mind sharing some of my photos of things made with Amy Butler fabrics. I quickly sent them an email with some of my creations, but never in my wildest dreams did I think they would be published on Amy's CD!!! Amy Butler is my favorite designer, I just adore all her fabric, her patterns and designs, so to be featured on this means the world! Thank you so much to both The Electric Quilt company and Amy Butler!

IKEA - a little bit of Sweden

Today the kids and I went to IKEA. We had to get a few bits and pieces, but as usual we walked out with a huge shopping trolley full of other goodies... I love going to IKEA, it feels a bit like home (Sweden). I must admit that my husband hardly ever comes with us, he's not into shopping and IKEA just never ends according to him... I was just about to head to the checkouts but thought I'd check the bargain section - just in case. And there it was. A gorgeous little arm chair that screamed for a home to go to. I couldn't say no. It looked so perfect, had a little sticker saying ''Ex Display Stock $139 - As Is''. I could find no faults or marks, so it came home with us. I'm looking forward to putting into our new house!

1946 Quilt in Flea Market Fancy

1946
I bought this as a kit from Patchwork On Central Park and I just couldn't wait to begin to make this quilt. The pattern is made by Melly & Me - my all time favorite designers. I've been a fan of Rosalie Quinlan for years and when I bought my first Melly & Me pattern I had no idea that she was behind this label!
I couldn't believe my luck to find this kit - in one of the all time most gorgeous fabric ranges - Flea Market Fancy. I so wish this range could be re-released. Please Please, can somebody please do it - I know it would be another total world wide sell-out, even in a middle of an economic downturn...
Getting back to this quilt, it was fun and easy to make, lots of cutting though, I think it was about 400 squares cut into halves! I was cutting for 2 whole days, but it was so worth it! I'm really pleased with how it turned out and it's so far my favorite quilt to date. I backed it with Anna Maria Horner's fabric from her Chocolate Lollipop range. The colors are just perfect together, I forget at times they are not from the same range or designer!
1946

Drawing Room Curtain for my Study

Curtain for my Study

It has now come to the time to pack up the whole house and with it comes the curtain I made for the study. I remember when I first saw Anna Maria Horner's ''Drawing Room''. I just loved it straight away and fought the urge to buy it for a while, but couldn't resist in the end!
When we move I don't know what to use it for, I might have to convert it into a quilt. It's not quite wide enough for a big bed, but maybe for a single bed. Or maybe it can just be a quilt hanging over the couch or something. I will work it out once I'm set up to sew again!

Curtain for my Study

Good-Bye House!

It is almost time for us to say goodbye to our very first house. We have had some beautiful years here and it does feel strange to leave the house we've called home for more than 8 years. Although the kids are so excited about their new house, I think there might be some tears when we do say the final goodbye.
These photos are the ones the photographer took for the sale of our house!
From the front:
The kitchen:
which looks so bare and so nothing like how we've had all these years...
The lounge and hall way:
The en-suite:

Liam's Creations

One day when my oldest son was six years old, he asked me if he could sew something. I asked him what he wanted to make, and he said, A Quilt. I tried to explain that he was a little too young probably and that it's pretty hard to do, but he nagged and nagged until I gave in. This is the result:
Liam's Quilt Finished 2
Liam's Quilt Finished 3
Liam completed all the blocks by himself, he sewed them on my machine and pressed each piece afterwards. I helped cutting the blocks into 10" blocks and then he stitched the red strips. I did the quilting & stippling.
Here Liam is sewing pot holders for this grandparents for Christmas, now aged 7 and this is how they turned out:
Pot Holders made by Liam aged 7

Black Forest Bag Frenzy

Black Forest Bag Frenzy
I created a bit of a bag frenzy last December and ended up making 10 of these bags for xmas pressies. They are made using Melly & Me's "Black Forest Bag" pattern in Amy Butler fabrics that I just adore!
Midwest Modern Collection
Black Forest Bag - Amy Butler Midwest Modern Fabrics
Midwest Modern Collection
Black Forest Bag - in Midwest Modern Fabrics
Belle Collection
Black Forest Bag - Amy Butler Belle & Midwest Modern Fabrics

His & Her's Oven Mitts

I find it a bit hard to sew things for males of the family. They sort of don't want or need anything. The girls and women are easy, I can make bags, dolls, quilts, pencil roll holders, plus a whole heap of things that are sitting on my "To Do List", but it's more for the ladies, not the men... Last Christmas I tried hard to sew something for everyone, but because I only decided to do this half way through November, it was a bit of a challenge and I didn't complete all things I set out to do. This year I want to start much earlier. Anyway, getting back to the Oven Mitts. I thought that they were something I could make for a guy, so this is what Uncle Steve ended up with this year!
The pattern is "To Hot To Handle from Denyse Schmidt's book : "Denyse Schmidt Quilts: 30 Colorful Quilt And Patchwork Patterns". I had to change it slightly as I didn't have the same ribbon as she used in the book. I also made them larger than the pattern because I found them a touch small for the average guy!
Denyse Schmidt Quilts: 30 Colourful Quilt and Patchwork Projects
I also made a pair of really girly oven mitts for a girl at my gym, I think I will make a pair like these for myself for our new kitchen!

More Pencil Roll Holders

I thought I might add a few photos of some of the many pencil roll holders that I made for gifts to friends and family last Christmas. Seeing I can't sew at the moment with only a week till we move to our new house, I thought I might spend a little time showing some of the things I've made before starting this blog.
Being a Hello-Kitty fan since a little girl, I knew I had to make a few of these!
These were the very first ones I made, once I made one, I couldn't stop and just continued:

Our new House

This is our new house! I feel so lucky to soon being able to call this home. The kids are very excited too. The boys will now have their own room after sharing a room their whole life.

Moving house!

We are moving house in a little more than a week now. This is me sitting in my study, surrounded by boxes up to the ceiling.
It feels like an eternity since the day we found the house till the day we are moving in! It has been quite a stressful, yet an exciting experience. We weren't actually planning on moving, we were quite happy where we were, life was traveling well, but I suppose both me and my husband (Jason) have talked about it many times over the years, but I really didn't think it was ever going to happen. Then one Saturday night Jason found this house on the internet that he wanted to look at. So the next day we did and I just loved it.
After only a few minutes in the house, I was planning where I could put our furniture... From then on it was a whirlwind experience of organizing bank loans (major stress), quickly selling our home (major stress too), pack and organise everything (very time consuming). Which is why I've hardly sewn at all for the last 3 months. I had to pack all my sewing stuff away for when we had open for inspections and now everything is in boxes ready to be moved!

Big Nap Pillow for Stephanie

Originally uploaded by Swede-Heart

It's been a very long time between posts! All because we are in the process of moving to a new house. It's been a whirlwind of packing, selling our old home, organising things... as well as still keeping up with the 3 kids and all their activities. I've missed my sewing so much and although I had packed it all up, I had to open a few boxes last week just to do a little bit of sewing. I decided to make a present for our niece, Stephanie, who is having her Christening this week. I made one of these for my daughter Mia, about 2 years ago, and she just loves it and won't share it with anyone! I thought it would make a nice pillow for Stephanie too!

This is a big TV pillow for our niece Stephanie as a Christening pressie, using Amy Butler's pattern; Big Nap Pillow.

This is the second one of these that I've made, the first one was for my daughter Mia who loves her "flower" and won't let her brother's use it EVER!

I've used mostly Sandi Henderson's fabrics from Farmers Market & Ginger Blossom range. I used Heather Ross's Bicycles on Pink as main fabric.

Kaffe Fassett Wall Hanging - Work in Progress

Kaffe Fassett Wall Hanging - Work in Progress

Today I decided to start a wall hanging using some of my Kaffe Fassett fat quarters that I have lying around waiting for me to use. This is the first time I've attempted to use a Drunken's Paths pattern, so hopefully it will turn out ok.

Rocket Quilt for Liam

Rocket Quilt for Liam
Big sigh of relief! I just finished this quilt for my oldest son Liam. My other little boy is turning 6 today and I had hoped to have both quilts completed by today as they share a room. Now they will have a Rocket Quilt each! Next I need to make some curtains to match their new quilts.
In this quilt I used fabrics from Two Young Street Rocket fabric range and Denyse Schmith's Katie Jump Rope (Bandana blue).

Rocket Quilt for Liam

Chocolate Honey Joys

Today the kids wanted to do some cooking. Liam decided that they were going to make Chocolate Honey-Joys from his own "Kids Cook Book". Dylan & Mia gladly agreed that these would be perfect for afternoon tea. Amazingly there were no fights during this cooking session and all three had fun. They were very yummy and by the time dad got home from work there was only 2 left...

Pencil Roll Holder featured on Sew,Mama,Sew Blog!

Originally uploaded by Swede-Heart

I just feel so excited! Today I learnt that one of my Pencil Roll Holders is featured in the Sew,Mama,Sew Blog! I can't quite believe it myself! It's a real honor! I made quite a few pencil roll holders for Christmas presents for friends and family last year. These four below were for my gorgeous Swedish girlfriends; Eva, Ulrika, Solveig and Astrid!

Hop, Skip & A Jump : Rocket Quilt for Dylan

Hop, Skip & A Jump : Rocket Quilt for Dylan
I've been meaning to start a blog for a while now, but just never got around to it. Well, here it is, my first blog entry!
This is the first completed creation for 2009 - a Rocket quilt for my son Dylan for his 6th Birthday! It was really easy and fun to make, only took 2 days to complete from start to finish. The pattern is Hop, Skip & A Jump from Denyse Schmidt's book "Denyse Schmidt Quilts".
Denyse Schmidt Quilts: 30 Colourful Quilt and Patchwork Projects
I appliqued a Rocket on it which I found in The Australian Homespun No 67 (Vol 9.12).
Hop, Skip & A Jump : Rocket Quilt for Dylan