After finishing up the Log Cabin top, I still had about an hour before I had to start dinner. It wasn’t enough time to do anymore sewing, but it was enough time to prep the last two Kittens in Cups!

It doesn’t look all that exciting, but that’s the last two ready to be sewn up!

I set to it the next day.

It didn’t take terribly long, but sadly I had to go run errands. So sewing them into a top with their four mates had to wait for the next day.

Because they are so big (20″) putting them all together went reeeeeally fast! And as you can see, Burton is thrilled about this one.

Completely unplanned, but it turned out the same size as the log cabin quilt – 50″ x 72″

And of course….

I’ve got that fabulous minky for the back. It will be my first time quilting with minky, so hopefully that goes well. I had just enough of the stripe that came in the collection for the binding.

So now… the only quilting projects I bring from 2025 into 2026 is my blockhead quilt (it’s still in a time out while I decide how I want to continue it) and the leader/ender postage stamp quilt (which was always going be a long-term project.

I have a new commissioned quilt project – and I can’t wait to show you! Stay tuned!

I had a smashing start the the New Year’s Tiny Needle work. I was able to move the hoop up

AND.. I got all the whirly swirly branches done above left witch. AND almost all of the owl. He still needs wings and eyes/beak filled in with orange. This coming weekend will hopefully see that happen, along with the whirly swirly branches above the right witch. After that – I’ve got a big night sky to fill in above them. That is going to be a slog!

On Boxing day, we woke up to the amazing ice storm I showed you the other day….

It definitely wasn’t a good day to go out (not that I was planning to), but it was a good day to stay in and play in the studio. I had a couple projects on the go that I hoped to clear out before the new year.

The first was the batik Log Cabins

They just needed to be arranged and sewn together into a top. It actually didn’t take very long.

The weather was so crappy, I kept Furby in for the day. He protested by joining in on the sewing process. Burton wasn’t overly thrilled with his participation, but we still managed to get it together and put a quick border on it.

The boys were all pretty excited about that.

It finished up at about 50″ x 72″. So a nice lap size. I have a nice littlev white/grey batik for the back, and some pretty pink for the binding. This is all packed up in a bag – ready to head to Mom’s for quilting!

That basket is overflowing with all the little Leader/Ender two-patch postage stamps turned into four patches. Yep – we worked our way through them all already! Burton, is not nearly as excited about that as I am.

But… now that we have four patches…

We can turn them into eight patches! That certainly sounds exciting to me!

Boxing Day, we woke up to an ice storm. They’d been predicting freezing rain, and they were right. It went on almost all day.

Just before dinnertime, I went out and took some pictures.

Thankfully, we didn’t lose power – though some areas around us did. For us it was all very pretty.

Especially the next morning when the sun came up

Absolutely magical!

I mentioned ages ago that I really wanted to get Rupert the Squishmallow Shark pet bed. But I refused to spend $50 on a pet bed he likely wouldn’t use.

Well… last week, Dave and I were running post-Christmas errands and stopped at Shoppers. There… on clearance…

Yep. A Hello Kitty Squishmallow pet bed. And as you can telll. I bought it. Why? After refusing to get the shark one…

1. Hello Kitty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2. It was on clearance – just $15!!!

For that price, it was worth the risk. I brought it home, put it in one of Rupert’s favourite sleeping spots and hoped for the best.

Success!!!

Hello 2026! It’s always exciting to welcome a brand new shiny year!

Like all years, I hope this year brings health and wellness to all my loved ones (including all my dear readers!).

For the house, I hope it brings us a chance to finally start tackling the rooms inside. As many of you know, this house is stuck somewhere between 1960 and 1970 when it comes to walls and floors. When we first moved in we managed to update just two rooms – the lower living room and Dave’s studio. Then we had to focus on bigger/costlier projects (drying up/insulating the basement, replacing all the windows, and updating the HVAC). That left us with four bedrooms, two bathrooms, the upper living room, dining room and kitchen left to update.

Our mortgage will be refinanced in June, and I’m hoping that will help us consolidate some things and free up some cash to do a couple of rooms. We’d like to start with my office and Dave’s workout room/guest room. I think two rooms is a good goal for this year.

For my gardens, I hope it brings rain!!! As you know, last year was very dry, so some better weather would be great. I didn’t expand the fence borders as I’d hoped, so I plan to that this year. But as I noted last year – not to buy more plants, but to spread out the ones I have a little better. I am going to start lots of seeds in seed snails this year. I’d like to promise that I won’t buy ANY new plants, but we both know I’d be lying. Maybe I can limit it to one or two new roses that I don’t really have room for…

For crafting…

First, I’d really like to clean up my rage craft table. I’m hoping to do one project a weekend this winter before gardening season gets under way

Second – continue knitting from the stash. If I can complete at least 12 knit projects this year, I’ll be a happy lady!

Third -for quilting… like my knit projects, I’d like to complete at least 12 quilts. I did eight last year, so squeaking out 4 more shouldn’t be too hard if I set my mind to it. I will also be using only stash – because I am literally tripping over fabric in my studio. I really need to pare it down to a more manageable level!

I hope 2026 brings us all everything we hope for.

Well, here we are on the cusp of a brand new year. And what can I say about the old one? 2025 wasn’t a bad year…. but it wasn’t a great year. It was just a year.

We lost Relic, but gained Furby. Everyone in our circle is in pretty good health. Careers are doing their thing. We had some small adventures – trips to Toronto, our favourite petting zoo, a museum. I spent lots of time doing what I love – gardening and crafting. Life just continued on.

Looking back at what I hoped from last January’s post…

As noted, we didn’t do any house projects, as the furnace/heat pump/water heater we installed ate up all our house fixing budget for the year. That said, I am very happy with the purchase. My utility bills have dropped significantly, and as predicted, it was so nice not having to install “window shaker” a/c units, nor to listen to them all summer. The heat pump has been great for keeping the house cool in the summer. And in the winter it still does most of the work – the gas furnace doesn’t kick in until the temps hit -10C. Other than the siding, we’ve done all the “big” jobs in the house. The rest is just making the rooms pretty (ie updating walls and floors)

We didn’t put as big a dent in our debt as I’d hoped, but we managed some. We are certainly no worse off than we were at the start of the year.

Last January, I said I hoped to expand the fence borders in the garden. I didn’t do that. Instead I expanded the front gardens. It certainly wasn’t my best gardening year, but it wasn’t a bad one. I planted lots of seeds, but of course, I bought many new plants, even though I said I’d try not to. (Not going to lie, I didn’t try very hard)

I did manage to knit exclusively from the stash as I’d planned. Quilting… not quite, though it wasn’t terrible. I mostly used stash, only buying new fabric for some backs for Christmas quilts. The rest of the fabric purchases were just thrift finds I couldn’t pass up, so I don’t think they should really count.

Tune in tomorrow to see my hopes for 2026.

I didn’t do a Tiny Needle Year in review because there were really only two projects this year. The first was Relic’s Wildflowers, which I started in January.

and the second is, of course, my witchy sampler, which I’m still working on and will be well into 2026.

For the last weekend in 2025, I had the honour of two stitching helpers (Burton is that black blob in the middle of the photo – it’s a little hard to make out features in all that floof).

With their help, I made excellent progress. Second witch’s sleeve was complete, along with her raven, and all the little woody/tree bits at the side.

And, we even had time to add the orange bits to this section (ravens’ eyes, buttons, hat bands, and candle flames) so you know what that means….

Next time I sit down to stitch, I’ll be moving the hoop up! Now that’s some real excitement for New Year!

It’s unusual for my knit output to exceed my quilting output…

But I completed 12 knit projects in 2025. There are only nine pics, because there are two kitty-cat hats just not two pics, and the set of orange/burgundy socks are each a project.

And the last project I finished up yesteryday!

I started these socks for myself the day after finishing Dave’s Uncle’s hat. They are made from some Opal yarn I had in my stash. They look almost identical – but if you look, the sequence is off just a couple rows between the two socks. I did not do this on purpose, they just knit up that way. I love Opal yarn for socks. It’s not the softest, but it’s VERY hard-wearing. Which is good. Part of the reason Imade these it because I tossed three pairs of worn out socks just before Christmas.

So yep they are for me. And you may be thinking…. but Valerie, don’t you prefer ankle socks? I do. But I also like being able to do this with my socks!

Now… back to the year round-up stats:

As you can see…I mostly knit hats and socks this year. Six socks, five hats and one bulky scarf. I was so happy to make the Deathflake hats at last – I’d had the yarn and plan for ages. And I’m always thrilled to knit another kitty cat hat and continue that tradition.

All projects, with the exception of the shorty socks and the Opal pair, were gifted.

My knitting time is mostly week night evenings after dinner, so I like to keep the projects nice and simple. Socks, hats and simple scarves are ideal. This trend will probably continue into 2026. Though part of me is itching to knit something light and lacey….