Red and Hot, but not Quilty

What I've been up to this week...




Working on a little quilty project, but it's a gift, so no sneak peeks!

Also finally visited Vaasa's watertower - cloudy day, but still great views!

Red Hot Update

Don't worry, I haven't totally forgotten how to sew during all my travels. I'm now up to 37 red hot flowers. I'm still not entirely sure what I'm going to do with them, but I know I'll decide on something eventually!

In fact, I just discovered a cool idea on someone else's blog for some of the loose red hots that haven't been turned into flowers yet. I'm going to assemble the components for this little project to bring along on my next trip, but won't post more about it for a couple of months, because they might make nice gifts for a few people who might be reading my blog!

Tagged and Travels

Jodie tagged me while I was traveling, so I thought I'd transform her challenge into a way to share a few photos from my recent travels in Finland, Russia, Sweden, and Norway, so here are eight tidbits from my recent trips:

1. another Hedgehog living in Vaasa (June 21st)


2. inside the Church on the Spilt Blood in St. Petersburg (June 26th)


3. St. Basil's Cathedral in Red Square (June 29th)


4. Marimekko Factory Store in suburban Helsinki (July 2nd)


5. crossing the Arctic Circle in Sweden (July 5th)


6. cod drying in Norway's Lofoten Islands (July 7th)


7. Nordkapp, Norway with the midnight sun (July 14th/15th) (Europe's northernmost point - actually, the northernmost point is at Knivskjelodden, where we hiked to the next day)


8. reindeer at the airport in Kirkenes, Norway (July 19th)


(map of Norway travels)

I'm Back!

Back from the north of Norway last night, not sure where to start...

I'll start with some quilty news:


I received my doll quilt while I was away - what a great little package to have waiting for me upon my return! Thanks so much to Lene in Denmark. I love that she used 'vintage' fabrics, I love the red polka-dots on the back, and how dense the quilting is. Thanks, Lene!!

I'll be mailing off my doll quilt tomorrow (but will wait to post photos until it's received). I intended to be early with it, but I hope the recipient will forgive me for the delay!

Don't Worry

I haven't driven off a dock, I'm just busy with one trip bleeding into another - this time to the northwest, camping in northern Norway! Lots of posts to follow at the end of the month - including Russia photos, Marimekko Factory Store purchases, and hopefully some sort of quilty news, too!