Thursday, June 14, 2012

Sewing green and going green(er)

P1060567Dark green is not my favourite colour, but it is nice to work with different green fabrics together, mixing old and new, dark and light.
My dear sister in law is celebrating her birthday in a few days, and she wished for green and red placemats for their  cabin in the woods.
She will get these 4 placemats, and my dear brother in law will get another set of 4 when he is celebrating his birthday in a month :-)

P1060569If you look closely you will see I have used several 4-patches, and all 4 placemats are a little different.
It is done on purpose, so I can add the next set and maybe even a third set, without having to pay attention to the placing of the different green fabrics. Piecing from my green fabric collection, that can be an advantage.
I do have enough binding fabric to make all the placemats match in the end :-)

P1060570My youngest daughter returned to Norway today, after having been a student in Tarrytown, New York, for the past 9 months.
She brought gifts for all of us - and she always brings the very best gifts!
I got a lovely double porcelain coffee mug with a lid, decorated with cats, my favourite sweets taste - cinnamon flavoured. (Very hard to come by here).
I also got good coffee beans - I love fresh grounded coffee.
Not to forget 3 thimbles - one from New York, one from Washington and one from Orlando.

It is so nice to have DD2 home again!

P1060572These 2 books also arrived here today.
I am looking forward to read them both :-)

hjertescrollWhat about the going green(er)?

Since having had to rest more over the last weeks, I have enjoyed going through my fabrics, books and notions.

I see that I have a lot in my room, and I can gain from using what I have at hand for a while.
Before you think I will go cold turkey on buying, please draw your breath ;-)
My taste has changed over the last years, and I do not need to keep so much in store in my room.
I am also done with making care quilts for now, so the turnover will not be as quick as before.

I LOVE to hand piece and to do stitchery, so I do not need so much fabric at hand as before.

I will as long as I can piece from my own fabric collection, but will buy what I Need - like Borders, Backing, Binding and Batting - the 4 Bs - for starters, so I will keep my favourite quilt shop in business.

The same goes for other things in my house - use and enjoy what I have - being a little more mindful about what is already here, and buy only what I Need.

I am not sure how long I can do that, so I am proud of myself for every day I can make do with what I have.

I will not apply the Low Buy to books though - I love my books and I Need my fix of inspiration every so often :-)

This is my plan, and I am sticking to it to the best of my ability!
Should I save some money I will put them in my travel account!

hjertescroll

Waking up this morning, I smile,
Twenty four brand new hours are before me.
I vow to live fully in each moment
and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion.

Thich Nhat Hanh

Hanne

9 comments:

  1. Hi Hanne! Nice gifts you have made - and nice gifts you got from your daughter! Greetings from the Netherlands :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Flotte gaver du har fått av dattera! Tydelig at jenta vet hva mora hennes setter pris på :-)
    Koselig!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Flotte grønne bordbrikker;så lurt det der med 4-patch! Hun blir sikkert glad. Hyggelig med spennende og gode gaver fra din datter.
    Good Luck med alt:-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I share your thoughts about the buying. It makes me happy to create something new from the old fabrics handed down to me, and I wish I could finish more projects.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Kjempefine brikker! Jeg sydde grønne til meg selv da jeg bodde i Bærum, så de er noen år, men stadig i bruk. Jeg brukte sure grønne stoffer. Flotte gaver du fikk!

    ReplyDelete
  6. It's so nice to read your blog. thanks to You I have got a brand new portion of energy:D. How you could be so optimistic? ha en fin dag :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Fine Amerikagaver. Og dine forsetter om å bruke det du har og kose deg med det, og kun suplere, er helt supert. Er akkurat hva jeg tenker og gjøre og. Ha en fin helg.

    ReplyDelete
  8. That sounds like a wonderful plan...We could all do with buying a bit less and enjoying what we have a bit more......

    Thanks for the tip on the green placemats........ I think I will make a few placemats for myself soon using things I already have of course.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Iforonwy10:01 pm

    Hello Hanne,
    Love the hexagons. You have inspired me to dig out some unfinnished hexagon pincushions and get them finnished!
    Hugs,
    Eluned

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting my blog :-)
Your lovely comments are very much appreciated.
Wishing you a wonderful day, wherever you are!