Christmas tree

... but no snow at sight. The little cabins look almost out of place on the market place in Järvenpää, but their Christmas tree is big and beautiful, especially after dark when the lights are shining.

 

Today is the shortest day of the year, Winter solstice. The darkness lasts for 16 hours and 15 minutes here where I live, and we have 58 minutes of dawn and dusk. At the top of Finland the last sunrise for the year was on November 25th, and the next sunrise will be on January 18th next year. This is a long country! But we'll be catching up rapidly, and in three months our day and night are the same as yours, wherever you are.

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.

Farmers' and Crafters' Market, and finally a quilt top

Last Saturday was the first weekend of September, and time for the 20th annual Maa Elää event in Järvenpää. It is a bigger than usual Farmers' and Crafters' market and harvest fair with nearly 200 stalls instead of the under 10 on a normal Saturday. There is often also an exhibition of old tractors or lorries. The first one is a grey Fordson from the very early '50s. See how small it is!

 

 

 

This red beauty is a Valmet, made in Finland.

 

 

The green one is Zetor from Czechoslovakia. The blue one in the background is another Fordson, in case you are interested.

 

 

The scent of the apples was delicious. I must start cooking my apples now too, but our eating apples are almost no longer good. They can't be stored, cooked or baked, just eaten fresh. These stalls were on the market place.

 

 

The rows of stalls reached all the way to the end of the pedestrian area. New harvest: honey and garlic, separately and together.

Autumn's flowers

more of them

Autumn wreaths made of birch twigs or willow, and hand made jewelry.

Hand knitted wool socks in every size and colour. There were stalls with beautiful handicrafts, but the best ones were hidden behind buyers' backs so no pictures of linen dresses, more hand made jewelry or gorgeous knitted scarves and hats.

 The day was chilly but luckily there was no rain.

My craft room has finally something to show. I have added a white border and a multicolour piano key border to my Helping Hands quilt top. Choosing a backing is the next step.

 

 

Farmers' Market and Harvest Fair

Last weekend we visited the annual farmers' market and harvest fair in Järvenpää again. We left home in rain, but were lucky to have sunshine for the time we walked through this marketplace and pedestrian area. You can see how dark the clouds were.

Farmers brought their harvest: chanterelles, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes and cabbages here, and leeks

Home made jams, juices and pickled vegetables

Flowers

and flowers

Dried flowers and straw ornaments, including straw goats for Christmas

The yarns in soft colours here in the front are dyed with plants and mushrooms (not the pink, I think!). They had yarns for knitters and woven and knitted shawls.

The weather is getting colder, and wearing these fingerless gloves would be a good idea soon.

Hand-made ceramics

Some of the Villa Cooper ladies with their wool socks, leather slippers and ceramics


Guess how many new ladies wanted to join the open college quilting class this autumn after seeing my pretty display? 0!
Really, on Thursday only one of last year's ladies joined me and the teacher in class. After the rain stopped, one more lady came and asked if she could join and not quilt but make herself a jacket, and we all welcomed her with open heart. Three is not a crowd here, so we need at least two more to be allowed to start the class for real. We just hope some of our regulars have been busy with work, grandchildren, harvest or summer cabin, and will be there next week full of energy and new ideas.

What's new at the fair, and stash use report for October

It takes me days to recover from a short trip, but today I'm ready to tell you about the exciting trip to Germany and back. Only on the day before we left we knew the strike threatening our flight was over and we could fly as scheduled to Hamburg. There we missed a train by minutes and had to wait an extra hour for the next train to Hannover. On the way back home we just had to change from a train to a bus and back again on another train to get to the airport so that the normally 25 minutes ride took more than 45 minutes. Careful travellers as we are, we were prepared and had still enough time to catch our flight. I could very well live without all this excitement.

At the fair, the EuroBLECH 2010 Exhibition I concentrated on comparing the methods of sheet metal working with my work with fabrics. They weld the edges together and we sew a seam by machine. They spot weld, and we can baste.  They rivet, we pin. They use roller seam welding in cases like where we need to add some piping in a seam. They use presses and cutting tools, laser or water jet to cut out shapes, we use a template and a roller cutter or the sophisticated GO! cutter. I think this satisfies your curiosity about the fair. It was spread in 9 giant halls, so we walked several km on both days. The machine colours were pretty much the same as two years ago, maybe purple is more up and gray and green are disappearing colours.

Saturday was our holiday, and we walked a little in the pedestrian area of my sister's home town:

It was Halloween there too, and we saw these little pumpkins at the market.

The most exciting part of my trip was the meeting with Suzie on Thursday after the fair. I was so happy to finally meet her, and it really felt like meeting an old friend. We sat down at a café for cappucino and latte and a nice long chat. I had such a lovely time, just sitting there, letting my feet take a rest, and enjoying Suzie's company. We also exchanged presents, and here is what she made for me:

The cutest little pumpkin pin cushion! She also gave me these sewing themed fabrics, both new to me and I have not seen either of them here in the shops.

This is the bag she carried as indentification, and it was also meant for me. So suitable for our coffee time.

She included something more, but I don't know if I can show it yet, because there are others who will receive something in the same line from her. It is very beautiful and useful. Naturally I forgot to take pictures of what I packed as my gifts for her, but who cares.

The next day we started to the fair very early so we could spend some time in Hannover for shopping afterwards, and finished the shopping in the local shops on Saturday. Here are my new fabrics, 3.4 m in total.

And here with the rest of my shoppings: handles for the Ladyfingers bag by Stephanie, black and blue quilting thread, and in the background is some heavier fusible pellon.

The change in my stash in October was negative: I bought those 3.4 m of fabrics, and only used 1.3 m for sewing my little blue bag, some gifts and giving away some bits to Suzie. I hope November will be better because there will be so much sewing for Christmas.

I'm off for a trip abroad

This has been a busy time, making things not to be shown yet and preparing for an exciting trip to Germany. Exciting for two reasons: only this morning we heard on the news that the strike is over which threatened to cancel Finnair flights and we can travel in the afternoon as scheduled, and exciting because I'm not only meeting my sister Maija, but I'm also going to meet Suzie of Littlebusybee! We (Mr. K and I) are visiting the EuroBLECH Sheet Metal Working Technology Exhibition (can a girl ask for more?) and staying at Maija's house like so many times before. For tomorrow we have arranged to meet Suzie in Hannover! She lives not too far from there, so we finally can sit down with a cup of tea and meet face to face. We have been good blogging friends for over two years already.

Before the snow covers everything here for many months, I thought I could show you some before and after pictures of Mr. Kotkarankki's five-year project in our yard. Like I have mentioned in some blog posts and e-mails, he is building us a new terrace for coffee drinking out in the open air. This will be the path to the said terrace, picture taken last year when he started by removing the old concrete tiles (under the sauna window by the wall).

Here is the same area this week, with new tiles and new soil for a small lawn. We can't plant anything here because this is where the snow falls from the roof all winter and stays a little longer in spring. The first snow we had two weeks ago lasted several days but it is all gone now, and there have been sunny days. It is cold though, and the ponds in the village are for a large part covered in thin ice. The swan family and ducks are still there.

This is the newly paved area late this summer.

Back to last year: here it all started. The old concrete tiles are gone and Mr. K has started to build a very good foundation for the new terrace. Frost can make such tricks in our climate, if the foundation is not properly built. The old terrace had some dales and hills and no chance to place a table steadily any more.

This summer's picture is taken from another angle. Everything is built on level here, measured twice and some more (I was at the other end of the tape most times), and just waiting for the boards next summer. The black square you can see down on the lawn is the roof of the new pump house Mr. K built on top of our old well so we can get water for the garden hose and for the little spring to be built in the old round swimming pool he has filled with sand, on the right lower corner here.

 

All I have been able to do here to help was to make coffee and bring him bottles of cool mineral water when he was working during the hot summer days and evenings. Now it is time to put the hoe, showel and rake aside and concentrate on preparing the garden for winter. I'm grateful to have a lovely husband like Mr. K. I'm happy to go with him to the big machines at the fair and see how they cut and bend and weld and drill sheet metal, and be his interpreter and act like I understood something about the things. There will be a break in blogging (like that would be some news at the pace I have been posting in the last weeks) and a travel report will follow some time next week. I know it is not as interesting for you as a quilt show would be, but I'll do my best.

Pictures from the Elma 09 Fair

Do you remember the paper twine flower curtain from Dec 8th? Here are some more pictures from that fair. Wool rowings in lovely colours:

People could try their hand on sewing a ryijy rug. Big ones are woven in a loom.

It was also a countryside fair with farm animals. Here is Viola, the winner of the Prettiest Cow in the City pageant. With her baby. They were moving so fast that all my other pictures were just a blur.