Coasting

Remember those belated birthday gifts I was working on in January? I finished up the last two today, along with the coasters for Ibby Bee's coaster swap. Here are the two sets for friends here in Vaasa - they're both made using AllSorts's criss-cross coaster pattern. I'll post the third set once they arrive on the other side of the Atlantic!

A Little Shopping

I was a little naughty today and bought this fabric (from the remnant bin, but at 25€/kilo, not very cheap) and two skeins of yarn intended for making simple slippers out of knitted squares. I'm still intent on learning to knit in the months ahead!

I never posted a photo of this Christmas gift I received, but I'm just so in love with the fabric that I had to post a picture! This pillow was a gift from my aunt - the fabric is a Pottery Barn motif called 'Swedish House'.

Sneak Peek

I hope that my Winter Four Seasons quilt will arrive in England very soon. I thought I'd post a little sneak peek. This is the card I enclosed - "Hawaiian Snowflake Quiltscape" by Rebecca Barker. (The red and white in the background is the quilt!)

Socks and Swaps

I received these awesome warm socks on Friday from a friend's mother in Hämeenlinna. She knitted them for me to thank me for hanging out with her granddaughter when my friend was unexpectedly at the medical center. No thanks were necessary - we always have fun hanging out even though we share no common language and sit with a dictionary and draw or watch subtitled episodes of Little House on the Prairie - but the socks are very much appreciated! One of my goals for the coming summer is to learn to knit socks!

Hopefully there will be posts here about that adventure in a couple of months. In the meantime, no time for any craftiness these days. I received a great treat in the mail on Friday, though - coasters from a coaster swap I'm participating in. They are from Ellen and she very generously included some extra treats, including my very favorite kind of chocolate and a homemade/homegrown lavender sachet! They're criss-cross coasters made from gorgeous April Cornell fabrics from Moda. Thanks!! They look great on my white coffee table. (Photos of my coasters to come once they arrive in New York.)


Did a little sightseeing with a friend who was visiting from Helsinki this weekend. We drove down the coast to Närpes and Kristinastad, and across Finland's longest bridge to Replot. Photos of the water/ice under the bridge and the belltower of the church in Replot. Gorgeous sunny winter weather here today!



My Winter Four Seasons quilt is finally in the mail now. I hope the recipient will forgive me for the delay. Sometimes life gets in the way. Photos to follow when the quilt arrives in England!

More Birthday Gifts

Here are two more of the belated birthday gifts I've been working on - two reversible reusable shopping bags made from African fabrics I received as a Christmas gift this year. A friend traveled to Tanzania in November and sent me some beautiful fabrics, including two pieces of kanga. Here's a little more information. Aparently these fabrics are purchased to wear more for the text than the pattern. One of the two fabrics I used in these bags contains the words Nampa Kwa Nafasi Lakini Hana Kaisi, which one of her friends translated roughly to mean: I give him/her his/her share but he/she is worthless!! One of the handles on these bags is made of the strip with these words and that one is a gift for a translator/language teacher friend. (No subtext implied! She is very valuable.)

I hope I'll have time this week to finish up the last two little belated gifts and I'm finally mailing off my Four Seasons swap quilt on Monday! There might be some more aprons in the works, as well. I finally found the post that inspired me with the one I made last week. Thanks Joyce!