Christmas Oratorio

Last night I went to the Helsinki Cathedral with my younger son. He is a big Bach fan and for him this was at least the third visit over the years.

 

The concert was Bach's Christmas Oratorio, parts I to III. By the time the chorus Cantores Minores was taking their places I had to put the camera away, so no nice pictures of their performance or the church itself.

 

For me this was the first time, I only knew the Christmas Oratorio from records. Being there in person made the experience unforgettable. The performance was very festive and I believe for many people it means a welcome stop in the busy time before Christmas.

New Quilt, New Tunic and Old Books and Bears

Have you seen Stephanie's Long Johns quilt? She remembered her grandfather's long johns on the washline, and made the polka dotty pieces like them, up and down. She also made a Christmas version, very pretty. She gave me the pattern for my senior home quilts, and here is what I came up with:

 

Long johns on the line are, in this climate and this family with two men and just one me, a very usual sight even today. (So there you see, Mr. Squash, you don't have to be "a woman of a certain age" to have seen that sight.)  The quilt top is made with what forms another substantial part of my laundry, men's old shirts. Old men's shirts, whatever. That's why I named my quilt Laundry Day. Take a look at Supreme Candace's version here. She too added a border, but I made an extra row too. This way the quilt will be big enough to keep any tall grandpa warm and cosy when he is taking a nap. The backing is checkered flannel like the binding. Tomorrow I'll be taking this and the Bee in my Bonnet Row-Along quilt to the nursing home.

This quilt is also my 4th project in the Special Category of the Craft Olympics hosted by Flickenstichlerin. I have been on a new sewing class, just 6 evenings with the theme tunics. I learnt to alter the pattern to my personal measures, and here is the result:

 

 

I'm really pleased with it, and the jersey's cheerful grey and greenish colours are just me. This is my 4th project in the New Category of the Craft Olympics.

 

Last Friday we went to the Helsinki Book Fair, a perfect place to test use my new tunic (can be classified as one of the "cultural ladies robes", you know the roundish ladies between 40 and 80 who go to concerts, theatres, art exhibitions and interesting lectures, wearing figure flattering long tunics/vests/jackets). We concentrated once again on the older books.

 

This raven has been on every book fair I remember.

This year the teddy bears had a special place at the fair.

I didn't even know there are so many literary teddy bears.

This one I know!

 

And here's for you, Melanie! (She is going to Rupert's cottage next Spring). Bamse is sharing this shelf with Rupert.

 

 

Do you know Rasmus? He comes from Denmark. I have read about him to my children...

... but not as much as about this brave fellow, Uppo-Nalle. He is created in Finland but according to the story he floated here from France.

Some of the teddies were really old.

Some were more famous as toys than from stories in books.

Winnie the Pooh like he originally was and what Walt Disney did to him.

The modern Pooh Corner gang.

 

We spent a lovely day at the fair and I found a used copy of the new Finnish translation of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, illlustrated by Helen Oxenbury . Perhaps I can finally read the whole story!

Have you a favourite literary teddy bear? Was he on this exhibition? I had a toy teddy bear that my best friend made for me when we were maybe 12 years old, and my childhood literary bear friend was Winnie the Pooh like Uncle Shepard drew him.

Dolls who needed a doctor

Last week I took some tiny patients to see a doctor. The dolls came to me from my mother last year, and they were so poorly! The little one had one arm loose and a severe hip condition. She was also dusty and her outfit - just underwear - was more grey than white.

 

 

 

The bigger one had her wig (my other grandmother's own hair) off and her blush was spotty and her face needed some soap and water too. Only now I noticed that she should have had an eye operation as well.

 

Luckily there is a doll doctor in Helsinki, and I had an appointment with them and left the dolls in capable hands.

 

Here are some views of Dr. Benita's surgery and shop. Some of the dolls are antique, some just old, but they are all lovely. Maija, your doll's twin sister is on the bike!

 

 

Here are two special dolls: On the right a Bebe doll from the time after the WWII when there was shortage of everything. Many kinds of substitute materials were used for the dolls' heads, and as mohair was not available the hair was just painted on. The baby doll sitting next to her is a rare specimen of plastic dolls made in Finland by Siro Oy. You could get it in exchange of newspapers for recycling, when you had collected enough vouchers.

 

This is the doctor's reproduction based on the old Finnish Martta doll called  Pipsa, made in Finland from about 1908 until 1974. The manufacture was organised by a women's association Martat, and the sewing, stuffing etc. was done by women at their home. Some specialised in sewing the dolls, others made clothes for them, and the demand was so great that the manufacture soon grew into a real industry.

 

The doll doctor with her staff also treat teddy bears and other soft toys.

 

While my dolls were taken care of, I washed their clothes. She has new rubber bands for her arms and legs now, and she has had a bath. Look how pretty!

 

Here is my other "new" doll. Her dress had so many holes that she has to wait in her petticoat until I have sewn her a new dress. Any suggestions?

Doctor Benita helped me also with this case. I don't remember ever having seen this doll's head among my mother's things, but it is one of her own dolls and must be over 80 years old. They didn't have body patterns for this size of a doll, but I got copies of a smaller doll and instructions how to enlarge them. I also bought her socks and shoes so I can sew her feet the right size for them. This is an exciting project, as I have only sewn rag dolls (64 Unicef dolls over the years, plus some other rag dolls as a teenager) until now. I will show you if I ever get her finished.

 

 

 I'm still sorting my photos from England and will continue my travel report in the near future.

Quilt Patterns Everywhere

On Wednesday I was in Helsinki on my day off. There was a big construction site just next to Stockmann's Christmas window, and I had to take some photos of the wonderful pavement they were laying there. It is a pedestrian zone, and the tiling will cover a 250 m long area. This first part is 50 m long.

Isn't this a perfect (and difficult) quilt pattern?

One more view. The yellow shade is only a reflection on the water, the slabs are in grey and red granite.

 You can read more about the British mathematician Roger Penrose and Penrose tiling here. A less scientific and more fun approach to the subject is here. Helsinki has just been nominated  design capital of the world 2012.

The window reflected everything so badly that my pictures are of no use. Here is a tonttu girl, especially for you, Melanie!

The clock tower of the main railway station is under renovation, but look how nice tarps they use to protect the work:

The sky behind the tower in the tarp picture is blue, even when the weather is all grey.

In Helsinki I went shopping for some fabrics and things I needed, but mainly to have a pedicure. You may remember the custom order by my friend PN, a 6 m long wall hanging for her in exchange for free pedicure. I have almost all the fabrics for it from her, all I need is nice blue fabrics for the sky. I used my big box of coloured pencils for the first time to make a sketch of my ideas.

The drawing is 1 : 10, and I think I will need to make a big sketch on paper before cutting any fabrics. Luckily ther is no rush so I can postpone this project to January.

Finally I read about the results of the Tanzanian orphanage project in the newspaper. They received 177 quilts and blankets, 441 sheets and 24 pillow cases. Most of them have already been delivered to orphanages and hospitals in Tanzania.

This is a busy time, with secret projects, so there are no pictures of my doings in the sewing room. Have a wonderful weekend. It is time to light the first Advent candle on Sunday.

Catching up

Let's see if I still know how to do this. Feels like I had been away ages, and I missed reading blog posts. I was in Helsinki for 9 days, and coming home means a lot of laundry and cleaning before there is time for fun. It is only 50 km away, half an hour by train, but the sea makes the city warmer in the autum. They still had so many leaves in the trees!





At home it looked more like this in the swan pond. I think I saw "our" swan family in flight this week, at least it was 7 swans together.



The apple trees are all bare.

Earlier I was busy with secret projects, but now I can reveal at least some of them. Stephanie had her 50th birthday this week, and I made her some kitchen towels. For this one I copied the pattern from my vintage butter crock.

During the course in Helsinki I had time for hand sewing in the evenings, and I managed to finish this little candle mat. It is from a kit Candace sent me early this year, along with fly fishing magazines for Mr. Kontarankki. Don't look too closely, it was my first wool applique ever.

Sweet Melanie wanted to equip me for the visit in Helsinki, but her lavender smellies reached me right after I came back. How did she know I used my last firming cherry mask when I prepared for the hot date with Mr. K. on the Book Fair last Sunday? Well, the follow-up part of my course is in April, so I can use the lavender products then.

After I came home I have been busy working on the last orphanage baby quilt. Machine stitching is done, and I hurried to take the photo while the sun was still up. I haven't decided on the binding yet, but I will need this one finished for Monday. That is when I have a chance to deliver my things to the people who will take them to the Women's Day event on Nov. 14th to be taken to Tanzania soon after that.

That is all for today. For the final picture I want to share with you the clear autumn sky of today. I love autumn days like this.

Summer Joys

Simple joys of summer: fresh potatoes, fresh fish caught by Mr. Kotkarankki, butter and dill. Just imagine the best ever potato taste you remember, and multiply it by three if you don't live in Scandinavia, so you can have an idea of our fresh potatoes. The peel comes off by just pushing with the thumbs, then you rinse them and cook for 15 minutes. The same goes for your experiences with fried fish and fresh dill. Our herbs, berries, potatoes, everything is more aromatic because of the long days of the Northern summer. I could live at least a month on potatoes, fish and salad in summer.



This is a pikeperch or zander, caught by DH last week - I took the picture then, and we ate every crumb. It was delicious, and a welcome change from the rainbow trout we usually get from the supermarket. He was so excited when he caught this one, and a smaller one for DS1 that he had to go there today again. Fly-fishing with a two-hand rod in a big, fast river is for him like ... mmm... fabric shopping or quilting for me.

Because I was totally man-free today, I took the train to Helsinki. It was raining when I started my trip, but down in the south (50 km from here!) it was sunny and warm. This is the Esplanade park, where I took you at Christmas.

I walked my feet off, but I also noticed some beautiful details on a house from the beginning of the last century. I took some other pictures as well, but they need some background work so I will show them another day.

And of course I bought something nice, too. Some quilting fabrics just in case I happened to need them, some flannel for quilt backings, some cotton yarn and three books at bargain prices. In the top left corner is my new T-thirt.

After coming home I have already put the darker fabrics in the washing machine, finished my July block for the Country Calendar but fumbled with the picture so you will see it next time, and started sewing on the West Linn Bag designed by Stephanie. I'm using the charm pack she sent me a little while ago. This is the first time I have even seen a charm pack, so it is very exciting!