Thoughts on words

As I have been working on Gail Pan's BOM I have been reflecting on the words in the stitcheries and how they are important.
These small words that carries the world.

 

Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English lufu; akin to Old High German luba love, Old English lēof dear, Latin lubēre, libēre to please
Date: before 12th century1 a (1) : strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties <maternal love for a child>

I love my DH and my DDs!
I love my friends, I love blogging, and I love stitchery and quilting.

Love is a feeling you must take care of, if not, it will fade.

 
Function: adjective
Date: before 12th century
1 archaic : giving pleasure : delightful

Be sure to do something merry every day!

Function: noun
Date: 13th century1 a : the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires

I wish for you a joyous year in 2010 - I hope you find joy in the small things in life!

Function: verb
Date: before 12th century
intransitive verb 1 : to cherish a desire with anticipation

I hope that all that have heavy loads to bear will find relief.
Hold on to the golden rope of hope always!

 
Function: noun
Date: 12th century
1 : a state of tranquillity or quiet: as a : freedom from civil disturbance b : a state of security or order within a community provided for by law or custom <a breach of the peace>
2 : freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions
3 : harmony in personal relations

Peace - a very important word!
Find peace in your own mind and the world will a much happier place. Be the best version of yourself, always!

To all - I wish for you a year filled with all of the above words !

Carpe Diem!

Hanne
 
Dictionary source: http://www.merriam-webster.com/

The last day of 2009

Mother Nature is giving a lovely Light & Frost show these days, and I am enjoying the sights from the windows.
Even the neighbour's cloth hanging rack is beautiful with frost on :-)
Did I mention that the day is now 8 minutes longer than by Winter Solstice? I like that!

 
I dug out this Gail Pan BOM last night - 4 blocks done, 5 to go.
I have since then drawn all the remaining blocks and stitched # 5 and started stitching # 6!

New Year is the time for tallies and resolutions, this year no exception!

 
Well - even if I have both WIPs and WISPs (Work In Progress and Work In Slow Progress), as you see, I am not uncomfortable with it, and the WIPs and WISPs do not take very much place in my house or in my mind :-)

Counting WIPs and WISPs ? Nope, not really - less than 20 by a quick glance, which is Good in my book.

I do not count my pile of finished stitcheries that are not made into anything yet - they are like star shine and sugar in my day - like vitamins!
I will eventually make them in to something - I think :-)

Counting Finishes ? YES :-))

For 2009 I had 44 finishes !!
I had finishes in every month of the year, and average of 3,66 finishes a month through the year.

I will join OPAM - One Project A Month - in 2010 too - it has been great fun - thanks May Britt and Kim for keeping track and giving inspiration.

I WILL NOT join any swaps in 2010 - or thereafter!
It is time consuming, and I don't think it is not as fun as it should be investing all that time and money.
I WILL however send friends mail box joys if I feel like it, when I feel like it :-)

I am looking forward to travel in 2010, and I am looking forward to have a good time with friends offline and online.

I am looking forward to make more care quilts in 2010.
The blue and white Log Cabin blocks you can see on one of the previous photos will hopefully warm a child with a long term disease before long.

I have made some health decisions I have to follow up on.
My body needs some extra care in 2010.
I have had far to many inflammations this year. I can do something about it, and I will !
It will be a long term project - like for the rest of my life, but it will be worth it !!

I am looking forward to spend time with you in 2010,
and I wish you and yours a wonderful New Year!
May all your days be bright and may your load be light to carry!

Hanne

One last finish this year :-)

I made it ! One last finish for 2009 :-)
This Chimney Log Cabin has been very nice to work with, with different textures and my favourite Japanese fabrics with a couple CW repros thrown in.

Merete has done the machine quilting - feathers and swirls.

Tomorrow and the day after I will focus on the hexagon quilt.
I do not expect to finish the top, but I will definitively move it forward and it will be finished very soon :-)

Hanne

A before New Year shortlist

 

I don't know if you are like me, but I tend to take inventory of my sewing of the year during the days between Christmas and New Year's Eve.

Did I meet all my goals for the year - not really
Did I add to the WISP pile more than I finished from it - no :-)
(WISP = Work In Slow Progress)
Did I finish something every month - One Project A Month - yes :-)

Can I focus on a couple of projects for the last days of the year and move them forward - yes :-)
Can I possibly finish one more quilt this year - yes :-)

The 2 quilts above are my focus projects until they are done - both of them!

Hexagon quilt - lacks 2 long joining seams and a little more than half of the edge fillers.
I will put the border fabric in the washing machine tomorrow.
I do not think I can finish this top in 2009, but it will only be a matter of days in 2010.

Chimney Log Cabin quilt - lacking only binding. The binding is in the dryer as we speak.
A bad shoulder has kept me away from the sewing machine for quite  a while, but today is the day - I will add the binding so I can sew it down over the next couple of days. I think I can finish this binding in 2009 :-)

Hanne

The Christmas days

Merry Christmas - God Jul - to all!
I hope you have had a lovely celebration!

   
In my area we have not had this much snow falling in so few days since 1973 - that is quite a while……

This is my veranda, filled to the brim with snow, and you can see it is hanging from the roof too.
Never wish for a white Christmas - you may get what you wish for!
It was not me sending that wish though - promise !! ;-))

 
I don't think I ever got this many quilty gifts for Christmas :-)


I am sitting here enjoying my morning tea, with a very soft scarf around my neck - life is Good !

Hanne

Christmas can come!

 

The last cakes are baked over the last 2 days
Julemanna - not looking the very best this year, but the taste is very good!

Risboller - Puffed rice and chocolate - DH's favourite.

Gingerbread cookies - they are soooo good, and nearly gone now, as we had a lot of visits here yesterday :-) We have to make more next year !!

The house is clean and tidy, with Christmas decorations all around.

The last Christmas gift is finished - today :-)

The Christmas tree is decorated and the world outside is white.

Mr. Nisse (Norwegian Santa)  is willingly sharing his mandarins :-)

The pork rib is in the oven, ready to be served in 90 minutes, at 5 pm, as the tradition is.

I wish you and your family the very best for the Christmas.
May your Christmas be filled with love and peace, wherever you are!

Christmas hugs from
Hanne

Counting down

All the Advent candles have been lit, and there are only a couple more days to go.

A small gift for my niece and her fiancé. I have made many of these small bags this year :-) Nice for cookies, sweets, nuts or to keep tea candles. 

This is the very last of my Christmas stash - and now it has moved out of here, to a friend who is great with making gifts for friends and co-workers. 
I have now enjoyed these fabrics and am happy to pass the rest of them on :-)
I am really not a gold print and Christmas print person.


As I am  cleaning and organizing for Christmas, I found that is was good to put all my hand quilting thread together. All fit in one nice box :-)

My sister in law and brother in law have wished for a Christmas tree mat for a while. I think this turned out very nice! 
The squares finish 5". It can double as a table cloth too :-)

I have one more gift to go - not a big one, and I think I will enjoy making it, tomorrow.


We are still not done with all the preparations around here.
It would be nice to just chill out like the furball :-)

PS. The stitcheries from the earlier post are Kristin Langebråten designs and Northern Quilts designs - both Norwegian designers.

Hanne

4th Sunday in Advent

The queen of the household has graciously accepted a new cuddle and control spot in the sewing corner.
One can not let the house quilter sew without occasional supervision :-))

 
The last 4 Advent Calendar packets are opened and the favourite part of Christmas, Advent, is coming to an end.
I got beautiful gifts in my calendar today:
A very beautiful makeup purse from Bente - the very first makeup purse I have ever got as a gift!
A very cute box from May Britt - maybe for my morning tea ? or buttons ? or ribbons ?
A fabric bowl for snacks for Christmas from Nancy,
and
a scissors fob from Stina.

Thank you all, for the beautiful gifts, for lightening my Advent time, for being my friends, for sharing my Advent joy :-)

I had to take a closeup of the fob - isn't it gorgeous ??
Mini strawberries in wool decorated with embroidery floss.

All wrapping paper and ribbons have to be thoroughly cat checked. The duties of a house cat can not be taken lightly :-)
Note from the furball: Can you see that I have moved in permanently ? A lot of duties to catch up on here! PS. I have lived here permanently a while now, but all these Christmas preparations are quite new to me.  Purr purr.
  
Krumkaker are done, as is the dough for gingerbread men and Julemanna. Christmas meat for the smorgasbord is simmering in the kitchen

Now it is time for some sewing!

Hanne

Treasures going to the box

As said before, stitchery is the most relaxing work I can think of, and I enjoy at least 1 thread of stitchery as good as daily :-)

I had plans about making more gifts than I have done, or rather, other gifts than I have done, but the best laid plans and all that…..
I have not been as sewing machine compatible this autumn as I was planning and hoping for.

Anyway - these stitcheries are now going to my treasure box for other occasions.

Maybe this is a good start on next year's gifts - you never know :-)

Hanne

Christmas sewing and mail box joys

 
As you can see I am sewing under supervision :-)

The furball is acting strange these days.
I think she is bored since the world has frozen over, and there is nothing much to chase or catch outdoors. It is -16 degrees C outdoors. Brrrr

I have now cleared the drawers top and put a small quilt there, in case she wants to supervise more :-)

I have not sewn much on the machine lately, but you can see a glimpse of what I am working on, under the stitcheries.
7 by7 squares, squares finishing 5".
I will machine quilt it tomorrow and add some appliqué in the corners.
The recipients are someone I hold dear, and they wished for a Christmas tree mat last Christmas.
I have cut the squares from many different reds - it looks good :-)

My favourite relaxation work is stitcheries - and these 2 stitcheries I have enjoyed a lot. I will not finish them into anything this year - just add them to my box of finished stitcheries, so I can make something nice some other time :-)

This has been a lovely Friday!

I have got acupuncture today. It does me so good!
After I have been to my dentist, repairing a broken molar, and it could be done for a fraction of the price I anticipated (no root canal or crown - yet).

When I came home I got these lovely surprises in the mail - the next 2 blocks for my Svennebrevet BOM,
and a very heart warming card with some special treats from Satu. I love the vintage card, the beautiful ribbon and the variegated thread.
Thank you very very much Satu !! :-)

Now I am enjoying a glass of good red wine and will do another thread on my stitchery.
Life is good :-)
I hope you enjoy your Friday too!

Hanne

Stitches

Early morning, candles on the fireplace and a large mug of hot tea - life is calm and good.
I treasure my morning candles and morning tea more than you can imagine :-)

The hexagon quilt is coming along nicely too :-)
2 long horizontal seams and a lot of edge filling pieces  left to do.

My plan is to finish this quilt top in 2 halves and join the last horizontal seam just before adding the border.

Hanne

Treasures !

Today I had a trip to Lappemakeriet to enjoy the Quilt Café they host every Tuesday.
I had a plan for some Christmas shopping in one of the other shops nearby, which went well, thank you :-)

You know me - I love soft colours, soft green, soft pink, Japanese taupes, offwhite, CW repros - and I got it all today - and I have a plan :-)

The red and white block book has been on my wish list since I saw it at Bente's not very long ago :-)

The above mentioned fabrics and block books - I can get lost in plans and sewing for a long long time !

Hanne

A very touching gift

I tried to get the furball to behave and model for this sweet gift I received in the mail today, but I think she thinks we are fussing to much these days ;-)

From my dear friend Wenche I received this lovely little stitchery pattern saying:
* A good friend is worth more than gold *

and a very cute magnet saying:
*Nobody can do everything, but all can do something *

Thanks ever so much Wenche :-)
I am so happy you are my friend too !!

I think I have to dig out some soft pink floss to do this stitchery. It looks perfect for a nice spring-ish project :-)

Hanne

Stitchers Angel Swap 2009

Finally my Stitchers Angel gift arrived !

My angel has been Ruth Stark from NJ, USA.
I do not know if Ruth has a blog.

Thanks  for the gift Ruth.

Hanne