Treasures...

How do you spend your Christmas vacation?

Stitching as a mad woman the last block of Gardener's Journal I need to relax my neck and shoulders... I look around and found a large and messy pile of Christmas fabrics in the corner of the sewing room.

After a while they were organized in a box... Cool!!!

Then I found this box. I haven't opened it for a long time... I think it's one of the moving boxes, where in to I stuffed all kind of quilting related things.

Shall I open it now?... Oh, YES!!!

Now I'm wondering,
how many treasures there was... and many, MANY UFOs too!!!!
Now you're wondering, I am hopeless...
Should I make a promise for the New Year? Focused on one thing at the time...
OK, I know me, it's no use to promise anything...

Do you know Christmas is not yet over?
Atleast not here,
because look HOW CUTE SWEET little parcel I got today


from Dolores.
Sydämelliset KIITOKSET!!!!!
I'm so touched!

Now I'm ready...

to go on with these ladies... and say...

STITCHING FRIENDS ARE THE TREASURES OF OUR LIFE!!!



HUGS to YOU ALL


We would like to thank you
for this past YEAR!!!

Satu & Fenix

Finally...

... I have waited this day...
when I can show you Secret Santa Claus projects...

But before that
I want to
thank you - Chookyblue,
that she accepted me to join in this wonderful Swap.
I surely want to be in next year too;)
Pop in her blog! There is lot of beautiful Christmas ornaments...

I got my present from Kerry

... inside it was...
a beautiful file cover with pretty stitching,
pink scissors with tag of buttons
AND yes;)
Kerry's second book
Dreaming of a white Christmas
with signature;)
I JUST LOVE THEM ALL!!!
One more time
THANK YOU, Kerry!
I really hope your wishes will come true someday!!!

I posted a present to Kris

Maybe you still remember shopping teddies,
Popcorn and Blueberry.
They have now found a new nice home at Kris.
And I'm happy for that, because I know Kris is just right person to look after them!
(although I miss them... sniff...)
Kris told on her blog about her kitchen and it's new colours. I got the idea to use red fabrics in her mug rug. I also posted piece of green and red mini-poppy fabrics by Marimekko to her... maybe she will someday sew new potholders;)

More Joy of Christmas...

These pretty things I got from Simone.
The colours, which she choosed are just so yummy... my favorites!
I love them!
And those cute hedgehogs are placed on the noteboard (a place of honour) in my kitchen. There I see them, feel happiness, remember Simone and her kindness every day.
Thank YOU, Simone!!!

One more Christmassy thing...

'Tis the Season' by Natalie Bird
is a cute little booklet, which I bought to myself for Christmas...
It will be next SAL -project hosted by Chookyblue,
starting in March 2011,
after we have finished Gardener's Journal.
Those stitcheries are SO temptive and I wanted to make one immediately.
That one I posted for Simone.
I'm already searching fabrics and threads for it.
This evening I'm going to test
Atalie's hand-dyed thread 'Noel'. I got them today from Violarium.

OH, Happy smile on my face;)
I'll stay waiting for

a NEW YEAR 2011
and
NEW ADVENTURES with FENIX
in quilting world!!!

CWD: Battle of Fredericksburg

Special Christmas Greetings to Elin!

on Christmas Day in 1862, Rebecca Lorraine Richmond wrote in her diary

Such a strange Christmas I never experienced. The reports concerning the battle of Fredericksburg grow more and more distressing. It was a terrible disaster with no redeeming feature. (quote from Civil War Diary Quilt book by R. Youngs)

This was a bit strange Christmas Day to me also - I woke up early and after breakfast spent few hours in the sewing room paperpiecing next CWD block - before Christmas dinner at my mother. I had to, because I still want to sew CWD blocks on the same date, when the notes are written.

91. Battle of Fredericksburg

I used one white prints on white fabric and two reproduction fabrics by Jo Morton.

This was also my last CWD block in this year. When I read my own notes of CWD, I realise I have sewn ONLY 19 blocks in this year. It's not many. So should I sew more in 2011???? I have now sewn 54 of 121... You find all my finished CWD blocks here.

There is quite many blocks left and this morning I made some plans for the future. I'll set unofficial goal for year 2011! Which is about 36 blocks to the end of the next year! It doesn't sound much either, but I have so MANY other project - old and I'm absolutely SURE new ones - that the goal might be too optimistic. And besides I don't know, how much time, I'll have for quilting or other hobbies in 2011... it all depends... shall I be at work or not...

Elin, you suggested one block in a week. It might be a hard schedule for me and due to the dates in a book... quite impossible to fulfill in some of the months... but shall we try? Four blocks in January? I planned that my four blocks are 87, 6 (they are both blocks with notes first of January... I'm gonna 'cheat' a little and sew atleast other one before New Year's Day...there is still one left for year 2012), 66 and 67.

So 'full' speed ahead...;)

Blocks 92, 93 and 96 with block nro 91.

PS. Tomorrow or on Monday, I'll show you my SSCS goodies - posted and received!
I'm thrilled...
THANK YOU, Kerry!!!
And Simone for your sweet presents, KIITOS!!!

With all our heart,
we wish you

VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS
AND
MORE HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Santa Claus = JOULUPUKKI is just spoiling me.
Look, how cute presents he brought me yesterday from my friend Simone!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
You are so sweet, Simone!

Here, in Finland we open our presents on Christmas Eve...
so only 3 nights...

Australian Homespun nro 90 postitetaan....

.... IRMALLE!

Myös Hannele oli arvonnassa mukana, mutta tällä kertaa Fenix valitsi - hetken mietittyään - Irman arvontalipukkeen.

Lämmin kiitos teille molemmille!!!
... ja iloista joulun odotusta...

Pieceful Friday Night Sew-in

In the beginning I planned to sew only these two project:
Butterchurn (Le Petit in November) and few star blocks from joyful Colorful Christmas fabrics
yesterday....
but you all know me... I'm such a weathervane!

First I finished Le Petit -project of December
I'm pleased that I did it on time - my first finished Le Petit;)

I sewed my Prairie Point Christmas Tree as a size of greeting card. The folded triangles are one inch squares (really petit). The whole tree is about 3 1/2"x 3 1/2". Perhaps I'll do them more in the next year... but only perhaps;)

After that I look at the fabrics and read the pattern of the next Le Petit - project; MON AMI... and there I was floating far away...
... I totally forgot my plans of Friday night sew-in...

I ordered Mon ami pattern (by Carrie Nelson) some months ago, since then it has tempted me... a LOT!

As Carrie is writing in her instructions, it was love at first sight, when I saw it.
I also wanted to use the same fabrics.
When I read the instructions further, I noticed there is 134 half-triangle squares!
Oh my!!!
But then I remembered, I have some time ago purchased the ANGLER!
Well, NOW it's the right time to learn and use it!!!
And Fenix agreed;)
although first he was all too anxious... and we had a little argue - look at his expression.

The Friday night went on...

...only two blocks made of Colorful Christmas

... and Butterchurn is still...
to be continued in the future...

Somewhere there...
- in the middle of the heat of Friday night -
I manage to nearlyfinish the case of the cellphone for my mother. Only the button is missing...

The rest of the evening I spent knitting a woollen sock, while watched the movie.

In the end it was quite pieceful night here!
Briefly...
TWO works finished;)...
oh, and three started!!! (should I shame on?)

Happy fourth ADVENT!!!!
THE C is almost here;)

Hei, tilkkuilijat Suomessa...

... minulla olisi yksi ylimääräinen,
Australian Homespun -lehti.
Ei Fenixin alla oleva yksilö;)
Se on lehden 10-vuotisjuhlanro.

Jos haluaisit sen omaksesi,
ole hyvä ja lähetä minulle s-postissa osoitteesi sunnuntai-iltaan mennessä, niin laitan sen ensi maanantaina postissa tulemaan sinulle päin;)
PS. Jos halukkaita on useampi, niin arvomme su-iltana yhden onnekkaan!

Friday Night Sew In... with Tablerunner

Last night I got some 'free space' in the sewing room...
while Fenix sat in the kitchen and watched (=dreamed of catching) our new Christmas Tree.

Even so I didn't get the tablerunner finished
- I'm going to continue with it today -
because I wanted to try those tiny wonky stars. The block is about 3"x3".
Warning: they are extremely addictive;)))

The pattern of the Vintage ribbons - tablerunner is from the Moda Bake Shop. It was released just before Christmas in 2009. And I have dreamed of sewing it since then... And the fabrics by French General for Moda are my favorite ones... you can find two of them in this runner...

This was a tale of our Friday night...
nice that you joined it;)

I Rushed Home Through the Snowstorm...

... and found a note:
YOU HAVE RECEIVED a PARCEL!
Oh, back outside and to the post office...
where I got a large letter from the
Cottage on the Hill
and inside it was...

my SSC present
and
BEAUTIFUL decoration!!!!

THANK YOU, Kerry!
(as you see we both love it - a lot)
You made our day HAPPY;)
despite all the snow!!!

It's Friday Night Sew-in tonight
SO
LET's Create something...

SBS News - shortly

95 blocks sewed, 45 ahead in 2011...

These are my last SBS blocks in this year

C-1 Contrary Husband

G-4 Chimneys and Cornerstones

In year 2010
I made 45 blocks
and
after a small calculation
It's even possible
that I have sewn all the SBS blocks
till the next Christmas;)
Oj, I wish I could find a suitable fabric for the sashings...

Snowy Tuesday Evening!
I'm not sure which one is better...
over too much
rain or snow...
Atleast when it's raining,
you are not disturbed by snow-ploughs at nights...

93. Itsenäisyyspäivä

Kuvatunnelmia tältä päivältä...

Hyvää itsenäisyyspäivän iltaa!!!

Miniatures from Miniatures

This year has offered a lot of fun stuff in quilting...
sometimes I have felt really overloaded;)
Now it seems that the same will continue on the next year;)
Oh my...

In January Cheryl is giving us instructions for a new sampler quilt,
the modell is from 1880's, stitched by Barbara B. Snyder.
Blocks are 5" x 5".
She has already made two blocks
and today I was in the world of miniatures...

Block 1
I'm gonna use mainly these fabrics from Julie Hendrickson's Miniatures for Windham Fabrics.
Those 4-patches are 1"x1"... IIIK!!!
I think I would have never ever manage to sew them without training with the small pieces in Gardener's Journal!

And today was also THEday
when we sewed Gardener's Journal blocks A,B,C,D,E,F and H together

Fenix wanted to show you his place at the door - personally;)

This was a HAPPY day,
hopefully,
You had it too!!!

Happened in This Week...

On Sunday
WE wrapped our first Christmas present to...

and on Monday
began it's loooooong journey to......

On Tuesday...

... we solved Merete's Jul Mysteriet 2010.
Only
we haven't yet decided,
what shall we do with the blocks?
These might be nice tablemats, but there is only three...

On Wednesday...

... we had more things to pondering...
Shall we lay the blocks of Butter Churn (Le Petit Project)
in this way: lay-out 1
or
in this way: lay-out 2
Please, HELP Us!!!

On Thursday...

...we finished the stitcheries of next block of Gardener's Journal.
So there is some piecing ahead...

And Today

We sewed the last shared BOW of SBS in this year.
It was A-2 Shoo Fly,
but we have already sewed it, then we substituted it with

A-1 Mosaic Nro 3

It's nice
that you found time to visit and read
in our week...

Friday Night Sew in... turned into Hearty

I was out of my plan last night...

Saturday on my cutting board
there is more less finished blocks than I planned:(
ONLY 5 blocks for Butterchurn -quilt and 3 pink blocks for Remember Whoo Loves You -quilt:((

... but I sewed first part of X-mas Mystery, second is waiting...

AND after that
my Friday evening turned into

VERY, very HEARTY business!!!

My mother has 80 anniversary today
and
I made few hearts for the decoration.
Anyway it was nice to sew something, while listening Renee's concert.
Those rock- ballads were quite interesting...

Have a lovely Sunday!

Link to Renee Fleming's Concert

Greetings to Christy
and everyone else who is interested in listening Renee's beautiful voice tonight.

The concert is broadcasted by YLE Radio 1 and you'll find the station here. It will begin at 19.00 Finnish time (the broadcast time is 19.03). And you'll find the list of the songs here.

Enjoyable evening!

Am I Stucked in Lilac?

It's funny
- earlier I haven't liked lilac fabrics -
but now almost every time, when I'm searching my boxes of stash I pick up some lilac or purple.

Oh, I must get rid of it...

Tadaa... no lilac, no purple...

Tomorrow is Friday Night Sew In
and I planned to play with these colours,
while listen a direct broadcast of Renee Fleming's concert.

Le Petite project in November is 'Butterchurn' by Sherri Falls of This & That. I didn't have time to purchase the pattern, so I improvise... My Churndash blocks are about 4,5"x4,5". And I use some Christmas prints.

Today a nice mailwoman brought me
two charm packs of Moda's Lily & Will range (sweet pastels from Bunny Hill Designs)
and
pattern of Remember Whoo Loves You -wallhanging (designed by Acorn Quilt & Gift Company).

Hopefully I have on Saturday something new to show...
until then
Have a nice sewing time;)

SBS BOW - L-10 Contrary Wife

PS. I finished all SSCS gifts and they are now ready to wrapping...

X-mas Mystery

It's starting to feel more and more mysterious on these days...
Merete Veian has revealed the first part of her traditional Jul Mysteriet at Quilt Design.
You'll find the Intro here.
The next three part she'll reveal on this weekend, starting on Friday.

In this year I'll try to be in from the beginning... so the strips of fabrics are cutted;)
Merete ask to choose golden-yellow, pink and white-beige fabrics,
but I didn't find matching colours... and...
There is three blocks coming and we can use them in pillows, a tablerunner, tablemats or else, I decided to cut these fabrics.

Why don't you join too?
;)
Let's do it with the mysterious ways...

Popcorn and Blueberry...

... are here!

Presumably they have had some fun time together...


Have a especially fun week!

A Spooky Sneak Peek

After short coffeebreak
I returned to the sewing room and found very odd bogey on the floor.
Whoooo... is there?
Oh, it's you;)))

I have very little to show you... because of this time of the secrets...
But journey with Sylvia's Bridal Sampler has continued with two blocks.

B-2 Gulf Star

It's my 90th block, so there is only 50 left;)

H-8 Pinwheel 1

I'm still struggling with those tiny cross-stitches,
hopefully I'll finish it tomorrow.
Then I must hurry with the next Gardener's Journal block. I haven't even traced the stitchings of it - yet. IIK!

Last weekend I sewed the last blocks for Euro Bee. I will show them later with all other blocks, which I have made since March. If you don't want to wait, you'll find photos of Euro Bee blocks here.

But now,
It's late...
and time to go to sleep...
hopefully I don't have nightmares;)

I MUST Show you...

...THIS SBS block!

G-5 Mariner's Compass

I was very afraid of it... and thought I will never succeeded with it...
but miracles happen;)
After
some hours... much of pressing... most tiny paperpieces... bucketful of patience and concentration
VOILA!!! There it is!
...I was ready for adding many delighted comments on my SBS journal;)))

My eyes are so sore and blurred like that photo because of those tiny cross-stitches,
but I will do it - till the end.
One big problem is that the evenings are so dark and I'm lack of a good lighting - I mean REALLY good...
But I'm over the half way;)
So better use the daylight as well as possible
and leave the computer...
... I just wanted to show you that compass...

Until next time;)

Decorating Home and Some Updates

WARNING! A lot of photos...

Hello Everyone
We are still here;)
We haven't been here for a while, because
we have been busy with our new curtains - in the living room, kitchen and bedroom.
Especially the ironing of them is so FUUUUUN - purr,purr!
Our next decoration project will be the renewing of the cushions.
But it's totally the other tale...


Here is the latest blocks of Sylvia's Bridal Sampler.
I had to search more background fabric from my stash. Luckily I found this gorgeous rose print from Makover (blocks K-3 and A-3). The range is Rose Bouquet. Unfortunately I bought it only 1/4 yard and when I tried to buy it more, it was sold out:(

I should have updated Satu's Flower Garden, on Thursday. But somehow time flies SO quick and I have felt little tired in the evenings... But better now or never...

My dear Teddy Redcheck is introducing you my pile of hexagon flowers. There is now 25 pastel flowers... and more is blooming...

Fenix also wanted to show you some
flowers. I let him introduce the latest four with three frosty flakes.

But you see, he is so big that you can't see all the flowers...

So...

I had to ask Fenix to leave and I took a new photo without him.
I'm so sorry, Fenix. I will photo you on the other time, I'll promise.


What else we have done...

A Gardener's Journal block C is still unsewn together.
Girls Day Out blocks 8&9 are really unstitched!!!
Butterfly Garden block 7 is almost done. Only two miniblocks undone;)
My first Schnibble project 'Paganini' is... just in the beginning.

I'm feeling a bit of pressure, because all these blocks or project should be finished in this month!
IIK!!! What shall I do?
I must focus now.
So I decided...

- focus on GJ and BG
- not even try to finish GDO blocks
- try to sew as far as possible 'Paganini'

Why I decided this way,
it's because
Christmas is coming
and
I have a lot to do before it...
for example in the next week I'll cross-stitch this secret project.

Tiny stitches with only one strand of DMC.
I surely need a good lighting or spectacles.

Today we prepared the balcony for the winter.
It's looking a bit of naked...
maybe we must supply some conifers or atleast twigs of them.

Have a nice week!

PS. Don't worry, if you don't hear of us in the near future, we are probably working with the secret projects... Shh... helping Santa...