Counting down to New Year

 

In less than 12 hours we write 2026..... 🎉

2025 has been a strange year sewing wise. I did not feel like following my list for finishing. For months I did not feel like sewing much at all, and that is an unfamiliar feeling indeed. 

During / after summer I gave myself a push, and and I have actually finished some project, but hardly any on my original list.

For 2026 I think I will skip making written plans and see where that will take me.

My spastic CP body has used a lot of my energy, and I will try to fight the fatigue from another angle.
I have experienced that some foods do not agree with me (or my muscles) , and that I can do something about that with my daily choices. Intermitten fasting also makes a positive difference. I have been very lazy with my IF lately and am paying the price.... Sometimes it is stupid hard to make good choices!

I can not count all the times I have thought about blogging, and ended up thinking, tomorrow or later. 

The best time for action is now, and procrastination takes me nowhere.

High on my (not written) priority list is using from my fabric collection / stash and make more charity quilts. Same goes for my yarn - use it, so I can fit something else in that drawer.

The coffee mats in the photo are made from strips of my precious red fabrics. In the photo they are not finished, but you get the idea.  I foundation paper pieced them on round coffee filters, with a helping line down the middle. I gave 2 away for Christmas and kept 2 for myself. The stitcheries was in my UFO box, from an Advent project by Helen Stubbings some years back. I did only make 4 in red. The year after I made all 24 in Advent purple. I had plans for making them into something this year, but run out of time and energy.

I will let you know how everything works out. Writing this down makes it easier.
I am usually quite private about my health, but I found it was right to put words to what have been going on. Sometimes I meet myself in the swing door .....

Wishing you and yours a good 2026 💕

Hanne

December tally

 

I made only 1 Christmas gift for sending out this year. A very special person received this card game pouch, complete with notepad and pencil. We are already looking forward to play Phase 10 with you next time we meet 💖

 

I can't say I used a lot of fabrics making these hearts, but it was great fun and I gifted one away. Will make more in the upcoming year.  The hearts are approximately 5,5" tall. Ornament or pincushion? Your choice 😊

We ran out of gift tags this Christmas, and I needed some right away. I had some cardboard tags without decoration or text, and some fabric hearts already with fusible web on the back.  I think they turned out very cute. I will absolutely make more of these next year, before shopping for anything.

I just had to try to knit these potholders, Bakers Twine. I have seen them online and bought the pattern the other day. They are knitted with double cotton yarn and in a double sided fashion. They look the same on both sides. I ripped out a crochet project that did not turn out like I wanted to have enough yarn. I am happy I did!

Tested and approved 😍

Wishing you a lovely day where you are 💗

 It is only 6 hours to midnight and the beginning of a new year here.
Happy New Year to you and yours! 

Hanne

Progress and plans

 

Some stitching has been going on this week. The snowman stitchery is done, and I am making it in to a candle mat. I planned to give it away for Christmas, but I am not sure now, as I like it so much 🎄
On the other hand, when I like something I make very much, it will also be a good gift for someone on my gift list.
The drawstring bag will be finished during the upcoming week, so I can write it down as my November finish.

3 knittings ......
The socks, for dear daughter #1, will be finished before Christmas, as will the ice blue and short sleeved summer jacket. 
The offwhite knitting in the basket - hopefully I will move it forward, but I do not expect it to be done this year.

To work, oh bold quilter and knitter 😍

                                       💗Wishing you a good day where you are 💗

                                                  Hanne

To much of a good thing?

 

I have not been holding back on starting new projects this week, and suddenly I feel overwhelmed.....

This little Norwegian stitchery I intend for a Christmas gift. Maybe it will not be - time will tell. 

Another knittting???
I do actually have a personal limit of max 2 knittings at a time. 
I have no excuse for starting a third knitting..... 

I just so wanted to make myself something with this ice blue cotton yarn, for a travel we are going on in January - less than 7 weeks away. Hopefully I can finish this one + one of the others before that?

Last night we had this season's first serving of Lutefisk. 
It was very very good 💗

Blogger is still a mess when it comes to the comments. I will continue to answer in the comment section. No mails are coming through.

      💗Wishing you a wonderful day where you are 💗

Hanne

April finishes

April was a good month in the Quilt Corner 💕

First I finished this shopping bag with sashiko.
It was originally my March focus project ( #3 ), but life interfered with sewing, as I said before. 
Anyway - it is done, and it was shipped to another part of the country as a gift for someone special - and it got there in time for April 7th. It was very well received.

Next I finished these 4 Advent / Christmas coasters. 

They have been started years ago. The design is by Natalie Bird, as a wall hanging. We do not have much space for wall hangings anymore where we live now, but coasters are in daily use.

I try to finish something Christmas-y every month this year, just for the fun of it.

This is the April (#9) Chookshed Stitchers 2024 Challenge 😊

The stitchery is from many years back, design Bronwyn Hayes / Red Brolly.
I never get to many of these pouches. They are good for so many things, like projects, toiletry, and what not. They pack well, both in a purse and in a suitcase. 
Sometimes I make them with a bottom so they can stand up, sometime I don't.

I looked through my Chookshed Stitcher 2024 Challenge list this morning. 
I have finished 5 of 10 - and some of the unfinished ones are big projects.
I need to give them some attention so I have a chance to finish all in time 😊

Last, I finished these 2 pairs of socks for my grandsons last night. 
My dear daughter 2 showed me a photo of Paw Patrol mittens early in autumn last year, and I agreed to make some for my grandsons.
Well - I did not like the process and the first mitten was put to the side, about half done. (That is how knitting Ufos are made)
I un-knitted the mitten in winter and started a pair of socks instead. I had to change the pattern some to fit, but that went well. 2 boys = 2 pairs of sock - that is how it is.
I must admit that the embroidered faces was so slow to make, but since yesterday was the last day in a month I thought it would make a nice finish. I have been procrastinating like forever......

Since I already have the rule of just 1 knitting project at a time, now I can start something new - and I will, shortly. 💖

New month, new chances! 

💖 Wishing you a good day where you are  💖

Hanne

April focus projects

 

# 9 is the magic number in the Chookshed Stitchers challenge this month 😍

My # 9 is the red stitchery with the yellow fabrics.

The stitchery is designed by Bronwyn Hayes / Red Brolly.
It is from back then when stitchery was so new in my part of the world that shops here did not carry any yet. These have no year printed on them. It would have been fun to know how old the are.

I found these on Ebay, from Australia,  and I can still remember the joy and the anticipation waiting for the mailman. I did not find all of the 4 different designs all at once, so I was often waiting for something nice to arrive. 

Postage was not so high back then, and fees and VAT on international private small scale shopping was not a thing yet. 

I love pouches and will turn this stitchery into a special bright one 💗💛

The square stitcheries I will turn into Christmas coasters.
Designer is Natalie Bird.

I have a little quirky plan to finish something Christmas-y every month this year, if I can. 
March did not deliver, but I can always do 2 this month or another month.

I will start April with these 2 projects and see where it brings me.

                                                                            💗

On another note....

I tried to delete many unused blogs and add some new blogs to my sidebar reading list yesterday. 
I used a lot of time on that, deleting, saving, deleting, saving, without any luck.  Whatever I did, the end result did not match the effort, and nothing could be deleted.
The widget I had was most likely outdated.
I deleted the old widget this morning and started a new list today, but it will take some time to put everything in there again. I did visit many blogs yesterday, and I met many that were not updated for years, some were deleted, at least one was red flagged by my security system.
The new list will be blogs that I want to read, updated through the last 12 months.

Have a good day where you are 💗 

Hanne

March = no finishes

 

The best laid plans and all of that......

My focus project # 3 (my own priority) - turning the sashiko into something useful and pretty for a special person in my life, with a deadline, 
 and the project Deana drawn for us, #4, which turned out to be the Raspberry tea quilt from Sue Daley are not done.

I did join together the last 9 block square and cut fabric for the sashing around the focus block in the middle of Raspberry Tea quilt.  Other than that, nothing much happened on that project.

The sashiko - no progress at all in March.

Life interfered with my plans - and when life does that, I know it is good for me to relax, re-think and re-prioritize.

Come to think of it - I did have a finish in March 😃
I am still working on shrinking my light pink and peach fabrics. 
Chooky showed us a lovely table runner when we last had a Zoom meeting, and I just had to try the technique, since I already had that template, still wrapped in plastic 🙈

This quilt top is approx.. 55" wide and 65" long, and it is ready to be handed over to the next person in the charity quilt maker group, to be machine quilted.
Did it make a dent in the soft pink stash? I do not really see one, but I think it did, since I have been pulling fabric from here and there, from several boxes.

This project had some progress, 

this project had some progress,

and this project had some progress too!

All in all, in retrospect, I see that I have got quite a lot done, even if it was not on my original March to do list.

Wishing you a lovely day 

Hanne

New Year 2024 - Hello, I am ready 💓

There is something calming about the first days of the new year.
 
I am not really one for resolutions, but I like to have some goals, one way or the other. 
I will not be a better person by the end of this year, or any year, but maybe a bit wiser, who knows.
Priorities will always change, the older I get. Some years will treat us better than others.
I have high hopes for 2024 💓

Chookshed Stitchers 2024 Challenge:

Deana have drawn project #6 for us to work on. That is not mandatory, but when I saw that the #6 is a bag with stitchery and applique (on her list), I thought I could do my #6 too, along with my #1 which have a set deadline. 
My #6 is this stitchery candle mat by Bareroots. A few threads a day do make a difference.

The fridge still contains leftovers from Christmas, so dinner will be very easy today.

Yes, I do love baking - this is bread rolls with leftover grated cheese, chopped leek and a little splash of double cream that needed to be used, diluted in water.  Not to leek-y, but with a little kick.
I freeze the bread rolls and take only what we need out, when we need it. A short thaw in the microwave and it both smell and taste really fresh and good.

Today dinner will be chicken soup and bread rolls

We have got a lot of snow - I am happy I do not have to go out today.
You'll find me in my sewing room.

Have a lovely day where you are 

Hanne

The day before the new year

 

Tomorrow the new year starts. It is a time for a little reflection. 

I am happy for my family and friends.
I am happy about having happy plans for the new year.
I am happy for having a safe home and enough to eat.
I am happy for living in a county with good health care for all. 
I am happy for fabrics, good tools, lovely embroidery floss and beautiful colours.  

I am happy for being me, through good days and not so good days.
I am happy for daily threads and black coffee in the mornings

I

I have started the after Christmas clean out in the fridge 😊

Yesterday I baked bread - putting in a piece of cut up sweet bread and some milk that had been in the fridge for a while in the dough. Homemade bread is the best.
Some store bought marzipan got baked in the oven as cookies. I baked them exactly as I bake cookies from self made marzipan. I wonder what made them to hard baked under. Some additives in the marzipan I guess. DH think they are perfect as is. They will not last long 😁

The clementines we bought for Christmas this year was not the best, so I cooked them with some sugar and some pectine and used the stick mixer to make a smooth bread spread. It tastes good and will be perfect for breakfast and toast. 
Fruit salad for dessert was not wrong either - clementines, seedless grapes, some pineapple and some raisins. I thought it would last for today too - it did not 💛

I am not one for resolutions, but I have some plans that will make the new year a good and fun one.

I wish you and yours the very best for the new year 💖

Hanne

Time flies

I did not realize how fast this summer went before I checked my last blog post.
Good intentions and all that went with the wind.

It is never to late to pick up where I left 💓

I have no demand for pink quilts (anymore) , and have decided to use as much as I can of my pink fabrics for charity quilts for long term sick children, through the Norwegian quilt association - Tepper Som Varmer ( Warming Quilts) 
I have made 35 blocks for this quilt. The 3 blocks by 3 blocks was to see how these blocks work together - and I think they work perfectly.
I am part of a group making care quilts, so one of the other ladies will do the quilting - a win win for me, as machine quilting is hard on my left shoulder.

I am very fond of baking. 

I bake most often with yeast, like bread, bread rolls, and cinnamon rolls.
A batch of cookies is never frown upon either. 
I was short of chocolate chips, so these are with some chocolate chips,

some Smarties and some some raisins. Very yummy!


I hope you have a good day where you are 

💖

Hanne

Some Ufos are finished - and time flies

 

Long time no see. 
A long winter is slowly coming to an end, and with the increased daylight comes new energy for humans and nature. I have not spent much time in my sewing room lately, but my knitting needles have been kept quite busy.






Since sewing room activity has been on the back burner, I has not much to show, but since I am quite determined to not start more projects right now, everything is under some kind of relative control. 
I did work on these small stitcheries during March, but not many, so I have some unfinished blocks to bring in to April too. 
I have not started any new stitcheries, for which I am quite proud, but I have some on my list I want to do after I am done with these small gems.

Through March I finished (ripped back and started again /Ufo ) the orange pair of potholders + used up the rest of the green yarn from stash for 2 more pairs. One of the pairs are given to someone dear as a gift. 
As I like to bake bread, my potholders are constantly used, and the ones we had was worn pretty thin.

This pretty sweater is finished, thanks to my determination on not having more than 2 knitted projekts going at a time. The yarn is a mix of cotton, viscose and linen. It is nice for a summer sweater, but it did not make my heart sing.
Note to self: Yarn bought online is not always what you think colour wise or quality wise when it arrives at your home. 
Generic yarn brands are not the same as the top shelf brands - nuff said 🙈 

I have another sweater on the needles - 100 % merino wool. It is a good yarn to knit with.
I should be knitting smaller things rather than big sweaters. My hands would thank me 

I feel an urge to stitch coming  - see you soon 💓


Hanne

Making plans

 

Maybe it it the season, maybe it is my age - I need to organize my projects and my fabrics. 

I want all my fabrics to be at hand when I need them, not tied up in a gazillion projects. 

I have given this not to old English Paper Piecing project priority over the last week, and now the piecing is soon done. Only 4 more squares to go, before I will have to find a border fabric and applique the whole piece of EPP down. 

I have 69 of 72 blocks done for this project - Raspberry Tea Quilt by Sue Daley. 
I have recently worked out a plan for the 3 last blocks + joining of blocks + quilting. 
I want to be done with the whole quilt before to long. I have set a time limit in my head. I will reveal it at a later point, not now.

I hope your weekend has been nice - ours has been nice and busy 💕

Hanne

Tomorrow is never a good plan (for me)

I have been lost from my blog for such a long time - I am sorry for that.

Life has interfered with online time - some vacation, some family time and some other things going on, and the old procrastination called Tomorrow, Tomorrow

I have got a date for a hospital stay today,  in a couple of weeks from today.
I can feel it lifted a heavy weight off of me. It will be good! I am prepping stitcheries for the time after.

 💓

I have scheduled a maintenance service for my sewing machine too.
It is needed, and it is nice that it can be done while I most likely will not need the machine.

I have been working away on my already started projects through the summer, like I planned earlier.

💓


I have not counted my finishes yet - it has been a mix of older and newer projects.

The cushion above is a Kaffe Fassett design that I gifted myself for my birthday in April, and finished last week.  It has more than 26.000 stitches and it was very fun to do. It is wool thread on cotton aida. It looks good in my living room. Maybe I will do more embroidery of the same kind in the future.


Have a wonderful day, wherever you are!

Hanne

Making a list, checking it twice

 

A while ago I gave myself a limit of 2 ongoing knittings at a time, and it has worked so well. 

I have found that mindset is good for my creativity and my will to finish what I start.
Did I mention I now have only 1 knitting on the needles, but have the freedom of starting one more, if I really feel like it?

It is time for my stitchery projects to get the same "treatment" 💓

Here you see 4 unfinished stitcheries:
The red Christmas project is Merry Little Christmas by Kathy Schmitz

2 small stitcheries by Anni Downs, Hatched and Patched. They go into the same project, but still 2 unfinished.
The last stitchery is from Snow Days by Crabapple Hill Designs - I am unsure if it is my 10th or 11th block of 12.

In addition to the stitcheries I have 2 other pieced patchwork projects + a hand quilting project I want to move towards the finishing line this week.  

Never a dull moment, right?
I probably have some more stitcheries here, somewhere, but I choose to focus on many small victories instead of beeing overwhelmed with whatever I may find.

I do like Mondays. It is like fresh start, every week. 

After physiotherapy and workout I will be back for stitches and coffee - a good start to a good week 💓

May your day be good, wherever you are 

Hanne

This and that

It has been a long time since I did much sewing machine work, and even longer since I did any machine quilting to speak of. I need to use from my fabric stash, and I like to make care quilts / charity quilts for children. My local university hospital has asked for quilts for baby ICU, and the sizes they ask for are doable for me on my domestic sewing machine. I do enjoy using the Double Dresden ruler to cut the tumblers. I have some other templates from the stone ages - Quilting from the Heartland -, but they are in set sizes. 
Set sizes are seldom the size I really want to work with.....

The after math of covid is still present, so I am taking it easy. I will not win any speed contests, but I do enjoy the process, which is a good thing and what it is all about here in Quilt Corner.

 
Finding that I had 8 spools of the same colour of the same machine quilting thread just make it as clear as mud that I really need to use from all kinds of stash for a long time 😂

This is from the prepping process of Kathy Schmitz' latest Christmas pattern. I thought I should get a lot done through Easter, but that did not happen. I have appliqued some trees and stitched a little here and there. I am thinking about digging out all my Christmas half done projects and see if I can get some of them done in good time for Christmas this year. That would be something 😁💓

It is lighter and brighter in the evenings here now. I love spring and summer. I hope we get good weather for outdoor stitching!

Wishing you a lovely day where you are - take care 💓

Hanne

Happy Easter

It has been a long time since my last post.  

In the beginning of March a dear relative passed away, and my husband and I traveled to the west coast to attend his church service and burial. 

It was a beautiful service and it was very nice to touch base with other dear relatives. 

Unluckily I caught Covid during the travel. 

The sick days was not hard - and the only symptom I had in the beginning was a raspy voice, but no sore throat. I got some long time effects that has not left yet, being very tired. I am much better these last days, and this too shall pass. 

Sewing has been on the back burner, but I have managed to finish a couple of knittings, while watching to much TV 😄

The small placemats above are also done, and I use them frequently while drinking morning coffee or having a cuppa and a cookie.
Design is from @zeriano on Instagram

Some more hearts has been made into blocks. 

 I have had most energy in mornings, for housework, baking, knitting and sewing. I have taken advantage of that. Dear husband appreciates a cookie with his afternoon coffee. I do too. I prefer home baked goods when I have time.

Easter has been very nice so far, staying at home. I hope your Easter have been nice too 💛🐤

See you again soon 💓

 Smiles from 

Hanne 

Inspiration - I have stopped waiting

I admit that I have been sitting and waiting for inspiration for a long time, 

even if I know in my heart that waiting makes no difference - action does.

💙

Yesterday I decided to give the blue 4-patches an hour, and before I knew it I had worked for more, with a smile on my face and a happy dance in my feet.

I have not counted my 4-patches, but I can see that I need to make more (or maybe not)  to make a lap quilt. 

I am planning a border with piecing in it too, so I think my 4-patch piece has to be like 43-45 inches wide.

Some of the fabrics brings back very good memories, like this little bunny and flower fabric I got from a friend years ago. I got a bento box cloth, and I have cut into it with respect, using every piece I have cut. I think it might be a polyester cotton blend, but in this case I have decided that it does not matter - looks, memories and happiness are more important.

 

Today my oldest daughter and I are mending a zipper in a pair of jeans, and altering some oversized sweaters. 

I do enjoy mending clothes it they can be used longer. It feels meaningful. 

I have turned off the 24 hours news from the war in Ukraine. 

My heart bleeds for the people of Ukraine, and for all the Russians that do not want this war!

💓 I hope for peace soon 💓

Hanne