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

Focus project this week

My goal for this week is to finish this quilt top.

Quite ambitious, as what you see above is 2/3 of the quilt top, and what you see below is the last 1/3.
I have a few more units done, but not to many. I have been working on this Ufo through the winter, and now I am so ready to get it done and send it out to be machine quilted.

I think I can do it - one unit at a time :-)

Always believe something good is about to happen

- Hanne -

A wonderful long weekend!

Last weekend my sewing group went on our annual 4 day retreat.

We book in to a hotel not to far from Oslo, buying an all inclusive conference pack - 3 meals a day + 2 conference rooms - one for sewing, the other one for setting up design walls.

I brought 3 projects:
An old Ufo-BOM for sewing machine + hand piecing - Alle Fugler by Northern Quilts
A pair of socks on my knitting needles
My red cross stitch project

I did make some progress - the stitchery on these blocks were already made.

I did make a few threads every day on my red embroidery - it was perfect for winding down at night before bed, in my room, or as here, as my morning thread(s) before going to breakfast, seeing the day waking up and checking Instagram.

This year's project that we all do together was a nice mini bag.

I like the mini bag, and I made mine without handles. We all worked from kits, and I can see some improvement that I want to do next time I made one.

And what happened to my knitting, you might think?
To be honest, nothing much, not a stitch!

My friend Gretha has uploaded more photos from the retreat, if you want to see what we were up to through the weekend.

I am already looking forward to next year - same time, same friends, same place :-)

Hanne

I'm having fun with handwork Ufos

I feel a bit like a juggling artist, but I can assure you - never a dull moment here in Quilt Corner these days!
I am only working on my Ufos - which is great.

Some stitchery and English paper piecing - on the Cornelian quilt,

Some cross stitching and crewel work - I really had forgot how slow cross stitching really is - but I do enjoy the process.

 

And finally - I un-knitted half a sock that did not fit, found myself a better pattern and am soon having a pair of nice fitting socks instead of a knitting-Ufo :-)

   Hanne

A busy week, daily threads, and an Ufo finish

Really taking to heart how many hours of work that are hiding in my Ufo-boxes,
I dug out the Cornelian quilt blocks, and have done daily threads on the 2 remaining stitchery blocks as my daily thread(s) this week.
Daily threads do pay off, and now all the stitcheries are done.

Through the process I have decided I will alter the finished quilt a bit, and I therefore can now say I am done with all the stitcheries.

As much as I love blue, it will still be nice to put the blue DMC floss away for a while ;-)

I have been working on this quilt for 2 years, and I am now aware of what stopped it in its track:
The finished quilt is to massive for my taste - not to big - just to massive, and I am doing something about it!

I have dug out one more project to move forward by daily threads:

These Crewel work napkin rings looks so good.
They are very slow work, but I would like them finished in time for Christmas!
I think I can do it :-)

One has to have some starts too, right ?
The red table topper / candle mat is badly sun faded, and I would like a new one in time for advent.
In fact, I would like to make more than 1, but I am doing 1 at a time :-)

And finally - A Finish :-)
Dear Husband wanted another Sew Together Bag for his computer bits and bobs.
It was put to the side when it did not meet a travel deadline of his, but now it is done and he is happy!
It is in daily use - it does not get much better than that :-)

Hanne

I love my Ufos!

I love my Ufos, every single one of them (I think) - I love them enough to move them forward to finish!
I  have looked through all my boxes today. It was a journey through different stages of my quilting life through the last plus minus 10 years. I have more than what you see here.
I will never be a no-Ufo person, but less is more, and my Ufo boxes are filled with so many hours of done work. It would be a shame to let all that hours go to waste, right?

I love to decorate with quilts - plastic boxes do not look half as good as a finished quilt :-)

My Ufo challenge makes me happy - it must be a good thing with the 1 to 1 ratio.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend,
wherever you are!

Hanne

Hopes and dreams, threads and coffees

Days have been flying, filled with family, friends, going to the gym, attending lovely Jen Kingwell classes, doing daily threads, finishing some Ufos, reading good books, drinking coffees.

I signed up 5 Ufos to one of my quilt guilds' summer challenge, finishing these 4.

It is a fact that too many Ufos do nothing good for my creativity - more like strangles it - so I am taking action in Quilt Corner these days, giving myself a 1 to 1 challenge through the next year, starting now.
For every project I start, I have to have a finish!

I know that most quilters can not work like that - I wonder if I can, I think I can :-)

I started by finishing the 5th Ufo from the challenge - a stitchery bought more than 25 years ago. It has been finished in a box for years. Now I can enjoy it on my kitchen table daily.

 

Hanne