More focus projects :-)

Here are my next 4 projects to move forward :-)
I can not and will not promise to not work on anything else, but I will promise to give these 4 some special attention.

Maybe you recognize the knitted leaf pattern on the back of this jacket from the last post?
It is the Løvfallskardigan - Falling Leaves Cardigan, by the same designer, Strikkelisa, on Ravelry
It is fun pattern to knit!

I am enjoying making my Focus lists - lists are good!

Be creative - make a list!

Hanne

Busy month - Focus Fun

Focus is good - focus brings my projects forward, step by step, stitch by stitch :-)
The table cloth from last post is finished and I am very happy about it.
It is perfect for my coffee table!

Another finish is this heart cushion, and I like it very much!

I love hearts, and these hearts are a celebration of the most important things in my life -
my precious family, my love of creating, my lovely home and my good friends.
I am so grateful for all these things and what they represent to me!

I guess I am a not-so-secret knitter, knitting more and more, in between other fibre activities…..
I enjoy browsing Ravelry, and found this shawl (Løvlisjal / Lovely Leaf Shawl)  by a Norwegian designer, Strikkelisa.  I had great fun knitting it, and I am looking forward to use it a lot through the upcoming winter.



If you have followed my blog a while, you will know that I am not much of a brown / beige person.
Well - when doing renovation in Quilt Corner this summer I had to move EVERYTHING out of my room, and when putting things back, it became very obvious that I have A LOT of beige and brown fabrics that have accumulated over the years.

There is no better way of shrinking a stash than to use it, so I will be making brown and beige quilts for charity - Tepper som varmer - through the winter. These 2 big quilts below hardly made a dent in my beige and brown stash and they are both 60" by 80".
I have friends who will machine quilt them both - I can do what I like best - make tops!

It feels good to brighten someone's day with a quilt!

Wishing you a wonderful day
wherever you are!

Hanne

What makes an Ufo - and what makes it move again.

Through this year I have very much focused on finishing my Ufos,
of which I have many (yet).

In the process I have met some mind boggling truths, and come to a deeper appreciation of who I am in my creative process.

First of all - fabric kits are not my thing!

I like this table cloth, I love the pattern (which I have managed to misplace), I love the fabrics in the pinwheels, the rest of the fabrics not so much, but the whole thing had to be bought as a kit when purchased.

I did not like the fabrics in this kit for the sashing, which made this project come to a halt several years ago. I found some other fabric to suit my taste in my own fabric collection. Then I did not like the fabric for the corner triangles - another halt. Another dive in my own fabric collection - and then the whole project was put to the side.
I thought back then that I had to find a grey fabric to match the side triangles - I could not find any that I really loved, in spite of shopping several. 
I was bored! It was not fun anymore!

Well - there is no time like the present, so I dived in to my fabric collection this morning, following my heart for a light border, and now a piece of the light fabric to the left is in the washing machine.

Yellow sticker note to self -
Do not buy kits unless you love all the fabrics.
You can wait for the pattern to be sold separately at a later point!
Buy only fabrics that you love!

Goal: I want this table cloth finished asap!

Wishing you a creative day
where you are

Hanne

This summer's focus project

This project, United Stitches, by Rosalie Quinlan, has been a focus project for some time.
I do, as you know, enjoy having a focus project that I can move forward over a period of time - a project that I can enjoy with my morning coffee.

Since Quilt Corner has been down for renovation in real life for a while, it has also been good to have a project that can easily be carried around the house, no sewing machine needed.

Above are the first 12 blocks - below are the next 7 blocks.
Now there are 13 more blocks to go.

 

 

 

My goal is to have all the 32 stitcheries finished by the end of 2016 - I can do it!

Wishing you a lovely day
wherever  you are

Hanne

Alle Fugler BOM finish

I have debated with myself whether to blog backwards or to start “at the beginning” of my writer’s block, which really has been quite a while, but I have decided to do a little of both.

It has been busy in Quilt Corner in 2016 – not with starts really, but with many finishes, both big and small.
I know I have blogged about Alle Fugler BOM quilt before, and now it is all done, binding and all.

Nothing beats the feeling of a finished big Ufo, ever!

I bought this BOM from Northern Quilt – the design is Northern Quilt & Helene Juul.
It came as a kit in 2010, and it is still for sale.

Merete Ellingsen has done the machine quilting.

So much happened in 2010.
We had a death in the family and life in general was bumpy, so the first 3 months of this BOM got stuck in a box until autumn of 2015, when I decided to make this quilt one of my focus projects.
With the supportive cheering from friends, I could do it!

It was recently finished, and my husband likes the quilt so much I now have given it to him.

The striped binding, which I really think lifted the whole quilt, I found recently at Lappemakeriet.

This is how this Alle Fugler quilt process has been:

 

Wishing you a lovely day
wherever you are

Hanne

Writer's block - and a big finish

I think I am lucky who have not experienced a writer's block before,
but when it struck, it struck long and hard. It has been unpleasant, for months, with a lot of thinking I want to write, I want to write, but I just can not find my writing mojo.......

Starting to write again feels like breaking in a new pair of shoes, and I am looking forward to the writing process getting in flow mood again.

I have been busy with the needle through 2016, and focusing mainly on Ufos, and have many finishes to show for it. Luckily I have never experienced a quilter's block - I hope I do not jinx myself by saying that...... I think not!

My plan is to blog sort of backwards, starting with my latest finish, the Some Kind of Wonderful quilt - My Favorite Things, a stitch-along from several years ago (2011- ), hosted by Chookyblue on Stitch-A-Long

I am so in love with all Anni Downs' designs, and this one is no exception.
This is my first big quilt all needleturn appliqued. I think I really love this quilt even more now than when I started it. Meeting Anni in Norway was special too!

Merete Ellingsen has done the machine quilting.

Wherever you go,
go with all your heart!

Hanne

Every stitch counts!

I have been spending a lot of time with this quilt top, Alle Fugler, by Northern Quilts lately, and now it is done and delivered to Merete for machine quilting.
It feels so great to be done with this quilt top!
Last time you saw it, it lacked the lower 1/3.
That part had some machine piecing, some appliqué and some stitchery, all in all 32 units

Hand work and colourful treats always go well together :-)

The beautiful candle is hand painted by my youngest daughter's mother in law.
She is so skilled and she urges us to burn and enjoy her candles.
Much like how I urge the recipients of my quilts to use them :-)

My dear husband never complains when I spread out on the dining room table, as long as I put away the blocks if we invite guests :-)

He likes this quilt very much, so I asked if he would like to have it for himself, as a gift from me, and he is very happy about that.

I will not be slow putting binding on it once it returns home :-)

* Wishing you a happy day *

Hanne

Small and big finishes :-)

I so love every design from Anni Downs, Hatched and Patched,  and this little sewing caddy was so much fun to make :-)

You can find the pattern in her latest book, The Story of My Day.

2 weeks ago I went down with the worse cold of the decade, and I did not have strength to do much more than coughing for several days.
Many hours were spent under a quilt, napping and watching mindless TV.

I knew I were on the mend when I could hold my knitting for a couple of hours a day.
Knitting with variegated thread always spurs me on, as I so enjoy seeing how the patterns and colours comes to life.
My dishcloths are in great demand - that is a very good thing, so I can knit more.
I love the lace patterns the best, but this pattern called Cupid's Arrows also turned out nice.
The design is by Bittami.

My favourite aunt is 75 years old today, and this is our gift to her!
I so enjoyed making her this lap quilt and I hope she will use it a lot, both indoors and outdoors.
Merete machine quilted this quilt for me with a nice flower pattern all over.

I so enjoy making these plus blocks for plus people in my life, so after 2 quilts I am still not bored.
I have another plus quilt on my to do list in the foreseeable future :-)

- Wishing you perfect moments wherever you are -

Hanne

Focus project February

I started this quilt, Natures Journey by Anni Downs / Hatched and Patched,  about 1 year ago, with doing appliqué on the border blocks.

I did the most of the big border blocks (6 inches) and after a while something else caught my interest and the blocks were put in a box.

I love Anni Downs' designs and it really was a shame to have this beauty in a box, so I decided to give the project full focus through February.

Since I am working from my own stash - as  you know, I am not a kit person - it really took some time to find the colours that make my heart sing,
I like clear colours, light colours, but not to bright colours.

Work wise, I sort of jump from one month in a block of the month project to another and back again, depending on the finished project. I am not at all good at following someone else's suggested progress.
I am sure that is why most of my block of the month projects come to a halt within months.

After restarting the project I finished the centre appliqué block, then worked on with the checker board border.

Next in line was the appliqué square border between the centre block and the checker board border.

Placing the squares was a challenge too, but it turned out great.

It was a beautiful sunny day, and it was a dream to work with colours. The winter sun is very bright and gives good colour reading, and sunshine always boosts my energy too!

As the mid section was joined it was very inspiring to finish the last blocks for the applique border.

All the tables in my home has been used over the last weeks - and here is the finished quilt!
Merete at Sy.no has done the machine quilting.

- Wishing you a wonderful day where you are -

Hanne