Vintage Thingies 25 - Glass

This week we go a little deeper in my newly cleaned kitchen cupboard. (I wonder how long it will be decent to call it newly cleaned?) This is Vintage Thingies Thursday hosted by Suzanne. I have added the link button to her blog in my right sidebar.



My blue glass bowl is from a small Finnish factory, but I have not looked for further details yet. I love the cut decoration on it. I think I could serve ice cream from this bowl, or use it as a vase. I have the bowl from my mother and can't remember it ever being used at home.





The next two items I have used a lot, because when I started my own household I didn't have anything else for my sugar.




This I used to sprinkle sugar on my porridge in the morning:

And this other one was when I wanted to take spoonfuls of sugar.

Now I have found better use for it and keep Karen's silk beads in it on display. Sugar is more convenient in a plastic container, when you have a family!

Have you seen all the other Vintage Thingies of this Thursday? The link list is on Coloradolady's blog.

New treasures

Today I finally get a chance to show you the loveliness I received from my dear friend Karen from UK. My daughter Kaija went to London in December, did some shopping I'll envy forever (but she bought adorable things for me, too), and met Karen in real life. Karen sent me these pieces she has made. The first one I was allowed to open immediately:




You may have seen this work in progress on Karen's blog. Once again, she has hidden the long text quotation by cutting it up and sewing back together. There is also some machine embroidery on paper, and the eyes on the edge. I will have the piece framed and hang it with the two other works by Karen on my wall.


The present for Christmas was this collection of silk puffs with embroidery. They need to be touched (but wash your hands first!), and I'm looking for a suitable glass jar where I can keep them safe but still be able to enjoy the look of them.





On Monday I was in Helsinki to see a knee doctor; I hurt my knee in September when I was walking for the pink ribbon and overdid it a bit. Good news and bad news: there is nothing they can do before it is time for a total knee replacement, but the time is not yet. I'm thinking of having a knee like the fashion models have, you know, narrower than the parts below and above it, smooth and elegant. I'm sure they only give me metal parts in my own surface material :-( . Well, it will go better with my other thick knee! Anyway, to make the most of the trip I went to two fabric shops. This is what can show of my new fabrics:



I'm planning to make a big bag for my cutting mat and ruler (I bought a new ruler with inch measures!) and the projects I'm carrying to the sewing group, so I bought the sewing prints. The dark background fabric and the striped brown fabric may come to use for my Time for Tea Swap project. I bought two other fabrics I will not show before the swap is made public.

This last fabric is heavy cotton, marked as "trouser fabrics", 20 €/kg. I'm not even tempted to make trousers of it, but I'm thinking of shopping bags for the spring and summer. I just may have in my stash the perfect dark olive green to be used for the bottom, and maybe some pink for the lining at least.

Christmas Pictures

Christmas celebration is over, last bits of the traditional casseroles finished today for lunch and we are getting ready for normal life again. The tree will stay until 6th of January, and I will slowly start packing the decorations away then. But meanwhile, let's enjoy this holiday season!



This is the most beautiful Christmas tree we have had in ages. It is placed in a new corner, behind the big dining table. We only needed 4-5 seats this Christmas, so the two chairs could remain unusable between the tree and the table.

Rudolf with his angel friend are permanent occupants of that step, and now they are enjoying the scent of forest every time someone passes the tree.

A beautiful white amaryllis from DS1 and his girlfriend. You can see through the window that we have some snow, too. Yesterday was the first sunny day in about one month, and today it is colder than for a long time: -8 C or 17 F.

We had some British ingredients in our Christmas this year. DD Kaija was in London earlier this month and she met our friend Karen there and brought me a whole bag full of presents from her. In addition to her hand made beauties she sent us Christmas crackers and Mince pies. The pies were delicious and equally hot as our domestic prune marmalade pastries. Luckily we had an educational Christmas episode of the British "Born and Bred" series on TV just before Christmas so we knew what to do with the crackers! We even managed to make some of them crack with a loud bang. Some of the Questions and Answers were beyond our level, but this one I remember: Q: Who is the most famous married woman in America? A: Mrs Sippi.

This time between Christmas and New Year is a lovely time to enjoy the Christmas presents, read the books, eat the chocolates. Very little determination and energy for blogging, just some careful planning of new things in the new year. I hope you all can have some easy time with your family. Thank you for visiting my blog, thank you for all the comments.

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!

More about thistle, and I've been tagged

After I showed the thistle picture of my domestic carelessness, I have been thinking about the use of plant fibers in felting . I found out that the only natural fiber that can be felted is wool, so the eriophorum fibers from peat are used in the felt for their ability to absorb moisture. This makes the felt feel warmer. The peat felt is mostly used for insoles and wests etc.

Through the Summer Stash Challenge I have learnt to know many wonderful new bloggers. One of them is Messy Karen. I don't know if she really is that messy, but it is easy for me to remember which Karen is which, because Karen from Contemporary Embroidery surely is not messy. She keeps working with white silk all the time, and doesn't need to wash the finished cloth. Anyway, my new acquaintance the colourful Karen has now tagged me to tell six random facts about me, so here it goes:

1. link to the person who “tagged” you. - it was Messy Karen, link above

2. post the rules on your blog. - here they are

3. write six random things about yourself. - comes after the rules

4. tag six people at the end of your post. - well, it can be more or less

5. let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

6. let the tagger know your entry is up. - will be done in a minute

Six random facts about me:

1: I married my husband 28 years ago, 364 days after I saw him for the first time

2: I love flowers but not gardening

3: Recycling is important for me and I believe I have raised my children to think positively about it too

4: I spend way too much time by the computer

5: I have never had long hair

6: I don't drink coffee but about once a week I go to the cafeteria in town and have a latte and a croissant

I will not tag anyone by name, but I invite all summer stash challenge quilters to this game if they are interested. That will be about 50 people. Your names are on the right sidebar.

It just happened that I had a picture of my special treat on the computer and so I had a picture for this post too. In about an hour I will go and have my latte and do some grocery shopping, and of course I will have my recycled shirt Mauritz bag for the groceries.

Home decorating

Earlier this year I bought an embroidery from Karen, and later she sent me another one as a gift. My flyfishing, flytying DH had two hobby-related pieces of graphics as a Christmas present from our daughter Kaija. It took some time but now all these pieces of art are framed and hanging on the wall.


This place is at the end of the staircase leading upstairs, the only place where you can get close to the wall without moving heavy pieces of furniture. Only here it is possible to see all the delicate details of the embroidery and the engravings. I am very pleased with the result. The three pictures on the left, with black frames, are by my father.

This is all for today,we are having a thunder coming closer as I write this, and I will turn off the computer. My Summer Stash Challenge top is sewn together and ironed. Next I have to go and buy some fabric for the backing, because I have no big pieces in my stash, and no batting. I have not yet decided how I will make the framing and binding.

Virtual friends materialized on my kitchen table

Today I went to the doctor and had an injection in my knee. It feels kind of awful and hurts half the day afterwards, and I am every time horrified to go there, but it really helps for the ache and pain for a long time. Today I just need to take it easy and not run up and down the stairs all the time. This scary and unpleasant day was rescued by this lovely mail I got from Ewa-Christine as a swap for the white silk spools I sent her last week. She really is challenging me out of my comfort zone to try something new, and now I have the material for it right here.


And last week the horrible weather day was rescued by this lovely mail from another blog friend, Karen. You can see better pictures in her blog.

It is wonderful to have found new friends at this age, friends who may live on the other side of the world, but still seem to be just a click away. It is very exciting to read and see pictures of the creative process of talented people. Very often I don't know how to comment, but I return to my favourite blogs almost daily. It is possible to find so many "kindred spirits" and writers who share the same interests. I learn a lot by seeing other people's work, and sometimes I just enjoy what I see.

Next time I try to show something new I have made, today I just wanted to share this with you.

Lucky winner

Yesterday I was busy making a bag from my new Japanese book. I made it bigger and in many ways different, but I was inspired by the picture. I also made a stupid mistake but noticed it so late that I decided to ignore it and just try to make it disappear: I sewed the side ends together before a) adding the floral print to the top, b) adding the batting, and c) quilting the whole thing. Pictures will come when I have finished the project. I still need lining with pockets, and the handles.


Today is very windy and snow is falling. My husband is away for the day (usually he comes home for lunch), and so I have to take me by foot to the train. In this weather, and because it is slippery again, it will take about half an hour. Luckily I'm going to have a haircut, which is always nice, so it is not so bad after all. And I had a good start for my own time this morning when I came to the computer. I always check my e-mail first, and there was a message from Karen. I won one of the pincushions on her giveaway! I don't know which one I'll get, but I think they are both lovely.


Because I don't have any new pictures of my recent work, I show something I have made ages ago. This little "everyday angel" has a mouth and rosy cheeks, too, but my pictures are not always perfect. I wish you all a good day and a smile on your face.

Happy homecoming and lovely mail

Look what I found yesterday when I came home:

My own self-made daughter, here showing me the new program to make my fotos better. She is the technical genius behind this blog, a treasure in more than one sense. (She is aka paperiaarre , which is Finnish for 'paper' and 'treasure'). And then today the mail brought me these:

Inside was this:

And this:

from Karen. The brooch is absolutely beautiful and just what I wanted, and the piece of embroidery will be framed. My own work is so different that they couldn't be combined, and I just want to be able to look at this whenever I want. Thank you Karen!

No more text today, I want to enjoy the company of Kaija. Tomorrow we will go to Helsinki to a handicraft fair! I look forward to it, it will be such fun going there together and comment everything and do some shopping.