Olivine Tulip And Sweden

Olivine Tulip Flower Quilt Pattern | Whims And Fancies

 

Purchase Olivine Tulip Pattern

 

A real quick quilting update before I dive into the next part of our Sweden journey.  I’m  not sure if you remember that a couple of months ago I started working on a stained-glass-themed quilt using Downton Abbey fabrics.  I was very surprised to win the Pantone Quilt Challenge, 2014 with a quilt I made for my kitty when he was ill.  I got a gift certificate from Fat Quarter Shop which I finally used to purchase this beautiful set of fabrics.

I designed a set of four stained-glass-themed flower quilt patterns.  Since I love geology and they started looking very much like crystal flowers, I decided to name them after my favourite minerals.

I made a tulip for the third flower as I like them even more than I like roses.  I named this block after a beautiful green mineral – Olivine Tulip. 

 

It is a very easy 12″ flower quilt pattern, which is available in my shop.

 

 

Kyanite Iris Flower Quilt Pattern | Whims And Fancies

 

Purchase Kyanite Iris Pattern

 

 

Selenite Clematis Flower Quilt Pattern

 

Purchase Selenite Clematis Pattern

 

These are the other two flowers from the series that I have already finished making.  They are also 12″ blocks.

 

Now lets go off to Sweden again.  Last time I paused our journey while overnighting at Umeå.

 

 

Umea Sweden | Whims And Fancies

 

 

This was a quick photo of the town centre that I took before heading out.  Umeå has birch trees planted on every street, hence it is often called the City Of Birch Trees.  It was a long day of driving.  We stopped at a few a places, enjoying the scenery on the way to the destination.

 

 

High Coast Sweden | Whims And Fancies

 

 

Around midday we reached Höga Kusten (High Coast) and had a delicious fish lunch by the sea-side.  It was a beautiful sunny day, actually a bit on the warm side.

 

 

Nordingra High Coast Sweden | Whims And Fancies

 

 

In the afternoon, before heading out of the High Coast area, we stopped at a pretty little town by the water called Nordingrå.

 

 

Hudiksvall Sweden | Whims And Fancies

 

 

We had been on the road for a while already and a break was needed.  As we were passing by Hudiksvall,  I remembered about the old warehouses there.  We turned into the harbour and walked around a little.

 

 

Hudiksvall Sweden | Whims And Fancies

 

 

The sun was already setting and we still had a few hours of driving ahead of us.

 

 

Falun Sweden | Whims And Fancies

 

 

Next morning we woke up in Falun.  The city is in the Dalarna region, home of the Dala horses.  We wanted to see the now retired copper mine called Falu Gruva.  We had pre-purchased our tickets for a guided underground tour already, but we still got there a little early.  We spent the extra time at the exhibits in the surrounding historic buildings.

 

 

Falun Sweden | Whims And Fancies

 

 

The guided tour was incredible.  After donning raincoats and helmets, we started our descent into the mine with our very knowledgeable tour guide.  At one point during the tour, he turned off the single source of light in the mine.  I have spent a fair amount of dark nights outside, but it is really never completely dark. There is always at least starlight.  The darkness in the mine was so complete and engulfing that I felt claustrophobic.  I don’t think I will ever forget that.  Imagine the people working down there and sometimes getting trapped!

 

 

Falun Sweden | Whims And Fancies

 

 

Afterwards I wanted to see the old houses painted in Falun Rödfärg, Falun Red.  The lady at the desk marked a couple of old neighbourhoods on the map for us.  One of them was right across the street from the mine.  The workers from the mine lived here before.

We had other plans for the day, but we were having so much fun exploring around the mine that we decided to spend the day there.  I got a little tin of Falun red paint and a couple of little dala horses that I can paint myself.  I also wanted to buy a souvenir Dala horse and it had to be from the Dalarna region.  We had just enough time to stop by the tourist office to purchase a horse for myself and a beautiful mug each for my husband and our wonderful pet-sitter.

It was time to head out of Falun and drive off to Stockholm.  Hope you will be joining me next time too!

 

 

Previous Sweden Travel Story

Kiruna To Umeå

 

-Soma

 

 

 

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Selenite Clematis And A Few More Drawings

Stained Glass Selenite Clematis Flower Quilt Pattern | Whims And Fancies
 

Purchase Selenite Clematis Pattern
 

I continue to sew the blocks for my stained glass flower quilt using the Downton Abbey fabrics.  I was looking up different varieties of dogwood flowers one day when I came across a picture of a four-petal white Clematis.  Right then I knew I had my next flower quilt pattern.

I wasn’t very sure about using the black fabric for the flower, but I really like it.  As I mentioned before, I am naming these flower patterns after my favourite minerals since these flowers look like they are made of crystal.  This one is named after the mineral Selenite, a simple but beautiful mineral.  

 

Selenite Clematis is another fairly easy 12″ block.  It can be found in my shop.

 

 

Stained Glass Kyanite Iris Quilt Pattern | Whims And Fancies

 

Purchase Kyanite Iris Pattern

 

I am approaching the end of my index card paintings.  I have only one more set to show you after this one.  Without further ado –

 

 

icad 2015 - Snowdrop flower painting | Whims And Fancies

 

Snowdrop

 

 

icad 2015 - Star trails painting | Whims And Fancies

 

Star trails on symmetry of colours

A Flickr friend called it “deconstructed ancient light”.

 

 

icad 2015 - Garden bench painting | Whims And Fancies

 

Garden

 

 

icad 2015 - Rain painting | Whims And Fancies

 

Downpour

 

 

icad 2015 - Airmail painting | Whims And Fancies

 

Airmail

 

 

icad 2015 - Hot air balloon painting | Whims And Fancies

 

Hot Air Balloon

 

Canson is a French paper manufacturing company owned by the Montgolfier family.  The Montgolfier brothers created the first hot air balloon.  This card was inspired by a painting of the first public demonstration.

 

 

icad 2015 - SS Great Britain ship's propellar painting | Whims And Fancies

 

Voyage

 

Inspired by Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s SS Great Britain

 

I tried yet more new techniques on a few of these cards.  I learned so much about working with mixed media.  Thank you again for all your lovely supporting words!  I always enjoy knowing about your favourite ones.

-Soma

 

 

 

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