Autumn colours and embroidery

These are my autumn flowers I bought a couple of weeks ago when I was frustrated of the behaviour of my jumping petunias. As you can see, the basket has a wide bottom and it is placed safely on the ground ;o).



I also wanted autumn colours for the little table where I keep my hand-sewing projects. I chose this vintage tablecloth embroidered by my great-aunt or my grandmother in the early years of the 20th century. After taking the picture I thought I'd better iron the cloth before putting it to the table, but when I looked at the amount of projects I currently keep on that table, I saw it would be a waste of time and electricity.

I have finished the first project of Stitchers' Angel swap and sent it abroad, but the fabrics are still on the table for the other projects to come, and of course the box with my embroidery floss, and my sewing box with all the necessary things, and the folder with the instructions for all the projects. They cannot be moved away before the sewing is all done! This is how the armchair caddy looks when it is in use:

The other pocket is hanging on the other side. -It was fun trying something new. I have made some cross-stitching when I was young, and my first embroidery was the name panel for my brownie uniform. I think I'm going to like this.

On Thursday I spent the day with my mother. DH was on a fair in Tampere and took me to my mother early in the morning and picked me up in the evening. You know what little children sometimes say to their parents: "When I'm big and you are little, I'm going to ...". This has happened with my mother now. She used to be a lot taller than I, and for a time she was a "woman of traditional build" (we both are great fans of Alexander McCall Smith's No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency), but now she has grown to be the little one. I altered two pairs of trousers she had from my younger sister (they had been shrinking in her closet), and I had to take in a lot, still leaving them comfortably wide and easy to wear.

Yesterday I was pampered: I had received for my birthday in spring a gift voucher for a pedicure from my friend P, who is a nurse and pedicurist. It was lovely! She is also the one who gave me the plastic bag with the stranger quilt pieces. I took the opportunity and gave her the quilt when we met. I found out that the pieces were from her late mother, who had made quilts for her grandchildren but not for this daughter, so I think it was just right that she now has a quilt started by her mother. She recognized many of the fabrics from her mother's dresses and blouses. Happy end!

From Helsinki (pedicure) I took the train to Järvenpää where I had errands to run, and I saw this delicious-looking apple tree at the station - you can see the old building behind the tree. The apple tree is called the "railway apple tree", it was a result of plant breeding in our other neighbour town Hyvinkää and used to decorate the railway station surroundings. The apples don't taste very good, but the tree looks nice with the hanging branches. It is less than 2 m high, easy to keep in shape by cutting away the branches trying to reach the sky.

Last night I finally had time to read some blogs and emails. I noticed my talented special friend Karen had mentioned me in her guest blog on Monday in connection with some real textile artists. She had been trying to send me emails, too, but I still have not received them. Go and see the wonderful art the ladies create!