keskiviikko 9. huhtikuuta 2008

A very looooooong summer vacation....


There has been not much stitching lately and shall be even less as the spring progresses and the summer comes. My garden absorbs me totally, as every year. So, if somebody peaks here, don't wonder my absence. I'm safe and sound enjoying my new gardening projects LOL. We'll meet in the autumn, I hope!

tiistai 18. maaliskuuta 2008

TIFC March / Heart


For the March challenge Sharon presented a color scheme and a concept: little things that we notice. I decided to piece a heart in modified March colors for I did not find exactly matching colors in my stash. I had also the concept in mind: my 7 sweet little grandchildren!

I was not very focused stitching it... I am going to make a series of 3 hearts and this is how the 1st of them turned out.

perjantai 14. maaliskuuta 2008

Judyth's spring block





I am participating in a block swap in the CQforNewbies group. The title is spring and my swap partner is Judyth. She made a lovely challenging garden with a pathway and a big tree. I had no idea what Judyth had in mind but I tried to create a flowery spring garden with all sorts of spring flowers.

I did not use SRE for I think that Judyth does not like it. So I stitched and used some beads. On the block you can find alliums, tulips, crocus, anemones, muscaris, forget-me-nots, awakening ferns, bergenias... a kind of a picket fence...

In the upper left corner you can see alliums and pink tulips.

In the lower left corner there is a big container with pink roses and daisies. The container is made out of a print appliquée.

Under the tree there are ferns & anemones, along the pathway bergenias and muscaris.

Well, I got a bit carried away and it was hard to stop LOL. But I succeeded to stop at this point - and there is still something for Judyth to add: more rocks on the pathway, branches & leaves and possible flowers to the tree and maybe a bird bath on the empty patch...

It was very fun stitching this block, my 1st ever swap block. Good to have this to do for I have spent nearly a month without CQuing!

keskiviikko 13. helmikuuta 2008

Gifts from a CQ friend


It's so nice to have CQ friends all over the world! One of them is Helena, a Finn who lives in Germany. I 'won' this beautiful blue bookmark in her blog, only because I happened to say my comments in time. She posted also these beautiful laces and some silk ribbon dyed by her. I was very surprised and happy! Thank you once again Helena!

keskiviikko 6. helmikuuta 2008

TIFC / Childhood memories




I have stitched and stitched. .. I arranged a good lighting beside our dining table in the living room, so I can stitch while looking (or listening at) at movies. After several movies the little wallhanging is now ready.

It is very naive and primitive - but this is the stage I am LOL. No artistic work yet, maybe never... These blocks are like samplers: I have used all stitches I know so far, I think.

I am wondering what people make out of their blocks... It seems in a year I'll produce quite a pile, so any reasonable use would be appreciated.

sunnuntai 3. helmikuuta 2008

TIF Feb / Childhood memories



I've been thinking & working on our February challenge. I am going to follow both the concept and the colors. My TIF work is going to be a two (or three) blocks' CQ wallhanging. When thinking of things I am old enough to remember I want to emphasize also the ways these things have changed since my childhood.

1st block describes the change in attitudes
I was a child in the late 1950's and the early 1960's. Those were years of cold war and economic troubles. Most families were following the conventional family pattern: it was the husband who worked and brought home the money while the wife took care of the home and children. There were many conventional unwritten rules in the society - especially what a woman could do and what she shouldn't by no means do.

There has been a HUGE liberation in attitudes allover the society - and towards women especially: we have more freedom and less conventional restrictions due to our sex. I remember my grandmother wearing dresses that were so long they reached her ankles. She was very strict on her clothing, and mine as well. Walking barefoot in the summer was not decent! The housewife next door looked over 60 - although she was only 35! All this due to conventional clothing. In 1960's no woman over 45 wore a pair of jeans, they were the outfit of hippies, teenagers and rebellions.

As to education and careers there were many restrictions: this is appropriate for a female, that is not. No one could think at the time that Finland once would have a female president!

I have to mention my grandmother once again. She was a half orphan and the youngest of 8 children. At the age of 19 - in the year 1900 - she crossed half Finland in order to have a dairymaid profession. She was a 'working girl', which was very exceptional at her time. This is of course something that I do not remember but found out when doing genealogy research.

The 2st block describes technological progress
I lived in the outskirts of a small town and we had one or two cows. But I often went to buy milk with my girlfriend with a big milk pitcher. We didn't have TV until I was 10, nor a telephone until I was a teenager. At my teens my father bought his first car. Public transportation was poor, so we used a bike.

It is amazing how huge and rapid the technological development has been in many aereas. When looking now at my grandchildren I keep wondering... At the age of 5 or 6 they are professional internet users; they know how to switch between the numerous TV channels; they are used to DVDs; they are used to send e-mails or text messages on mobile phones; they know how to use micro wave ovens...

This all is amazing. So much has happened in such a short time - my lifetime.

---
This is all I intend to describe in my CQ blocks. I am after an antiqued, weathered and naive look. I'll try to keep the stitching simple, and not use any shiny pearls or beads, nor fancy threads or silk ribbons. We'll see how I succeed to interpret all this.

perjantai 1. helmikuuta 2008

The BIG recycling project


In the autumn I have sewed already a big pillow out of green dyed recycled tablecloths etc. My intention was to make a couch cover for the kitchen. But I have changed my mind: I'll sew pillows out of all of them, to be used here and there, and in the summertime in our terrace. The embroidering is quite careless, and you can see also unfitting machine sewn seams *embarassed*. Excuse is: I lost my patience!