You have probably guessed by now that I’m back from Norway. :-) It was such an amazing trip and experience, and I met the most wonderful people! Since I have too many pictures to share, I’ll try to keep it brief. And if you are just here for the quilts, make sure you scroll all the way to the bottom to see more of that quilt up there.
Jarom and I stopped in London for a few days of sightseeing on the way. It was our first time there, and we had the best time. I’m already dying to go back. There was too much to see, and not enough time!
After London headed home and I traveled on to Oslo for the Norwegian Quilt Festival. It was a huge event (The first like it in Norway!) that shop owners Kathrine, Asne and Siw planned, and they knocked it out of the park. There were classes, exhibits, and booths from shops all over Norway for shopping. I did a lot of shopping...
Each day I taught a different class and had different students. It was so much fun meeting a whole new group of ladies every day! Here's Round and Round class on the first day:
Mini Quilts on the second day:
(The top one was a video on Instagram, which is why it is a little blury)
Starlight quilts on the third day:
And Swoon quilts on the last day:
Oh, and trunk shows and other events at night. It was quite the crowd!
All of the teachers were well taken care of and we even got some sightseeing in. Oslo is such a beautiful place, and it was extra special for me, since the Olaveson side of my family immigrated from there when my great grandpa was young. I've always hoped I could visit someday, so it was such a treat to be able to experience Norway. I hope to return there as well with my little family.
The chocolate. Did I mention the chocolate?
On the flight home, I couldn’t help myself, and had to draw up a quilt based on a beautiful rug I saw in the Norwegian Folk Museum. So, meet Norway!
Abby quilted it with a small cable pattern, and I love how the quilting is so simple, but beautiful. And it looks a little bit like a sweater, doesn't it?
Thanks Abby!
Oh, and of course, a Mini Norway too. :-)
PDFs are available in the shop now, and paper patterns have been ordered. They should arrive and ship sometime early next week.
Both of them were such a delight to piece, and are so special to me, since they will always remind me of the time I spent in Norway.
Next up? Quilt Market! I’m leaving for Houston in the morning. Things never seem to slow down around here lately. If you want to keep up with Market (and everything else!) real time, make sure to check out my Instagram (@thimbleblossoms) or Facebook. While this blog will always be a space I can share the big stuff, it just isn’t practical to blog as often anymore. There are so many tools that are better suited for the day to day stuff now, and they are quick! Plus, there is an amazing quilting community over there- we have such a great time. (By the way, did you know you can access Instagram online, that you don’t have to have a smart phone to see it? Here’s the link, in case you want to follow along.)
See you soon!
