Linnea 'Ea' quilts...

One month has passed since the last update on my projects, so I thought I'd write down a little on how far I've gotten on all of them. This is the last update for all my projects this year, and I’m thinking of continuing next year too with  this regular posting  about how work on my WIP:s and UFO:s are continuing. It keeps me on track, and it’s nice to see how much I get done during a month. During December, the month started with me having the muscles in my right thumb really aching and sore. I blame Rainbow Scraps for that. It was already the second time I had gotten that particular problem, and I knew the only thing I could do to have it get better was NOT to use my hand. So, it meant no hand-sewing. No crafting. Basically, trying to use the hand as little as possible (which was nearly impossible) and having to eat ibuprofen and the like. Yuck, how boring that whole episode was. Then, my son got an eye infection. Then my daughter got it, and of course me too. A...

Quilt details Name, Recipient, Size, Start/Finished date, Pattern and Fabrics used "God Jul" (which means Merry Christmas in Swedish) for my family 79 x 80 cm (length x height). 19.9 - 28.10.2018. A Christmas themed basic economy blocks/diamond in square blocks, with sashings and a wide border added. About the fabrics used: The red polka dot fabric is "HO-HO-HO, Let It Snow" by Nancy Halvorsen, Benartex (style 3294, 100% screen printed cotton). I remember buying this one in the Eurokangas store in Helsinki while I was there visiting Emma C. That has to be back in 2007 or so, so more than 10 years ago! The Christmas fabric in the border is the one I bought  from Kruunun Kangas back in April The green and the white centers were fabrics I found at the stash at Arbis. The reds solids were actually two different shades, one being a rest fabric from the Arbis-stash and the other was one of the Eurokangas red solids I bought back in  April . I used up al...

I was feeling really flu-crappy three days ago. Taking care of oneself comes kinda second when the kids have the flu too. *sigh* Anyway, I was cleaning out stuff from the cutting table, since I had gotten those place-mats and towels done. And I found a small baggie with already fussy cut small Christmas blocks. So, I took the leftover natural white I had used on my Rainbow quilt, and found some matching reds, and made some not-quite-economy blocks. And no, I had no idea what to do with them. Next day, I squared them up and placed them on the design wall and tried to figure out what I could do with them. I quickly realized that unless I wanted a Christmas-themed baby quilt, it needed more blocks. I pieced together some from the small leftovers I had. (I think I managed okay with this one, the seam runs straight through the center) So...after having gone through my novelty fabrics for Christmas themed ones in green-white-red, I found one with present...

Today we've spent a fairly typical Christmas at my parents: ate a LOT of things, played some boardgames and then ate some more on/off. Good thing I wore my new dress! It was suprisingly comfy 'to eat in'. I think I have to figure out a way to take it in even more or add shoulder straps, because it almost falls off me! My brother Harald, Micke and then Birgitta. She's one of my family's oldest acquaintances. Harald - very typically - can't behave on a photo. This is all the LEFTOVERS after we'd finished eating... Like my dad said; "[He] doesn't know how to cook for any less than 25 people at any given time". So... this year's Christmas dinner left leftovers for at least 20 people. Dad still had more "lådor" that could be put in the oven... For those of you unfamiliar with the Christmas buffé of our family, then I can say it includes A LOT of EVERYTHING. The years that me and Micke have spent in Turku - just the two ...

... of which one is New Year. But that's a later blog post. Our Christmas was okay. Much more a 'real holiday' that last time we were in Ostrobothnia for Christmas. This time, instead of driving around in the car visiting various people, we got to spend quite a lot of time at Micke's mother's apartment. I actually managed to forget being stressed out over things. Some of the time. Most of the time. We visited relatives, and Micke's friend Joonas' family. I borrowed the car and drove to Kronoby to visit Sally and her family. Joonas cooked spicy meatballs when we visited, and even though he had totally forgot about my allergies it was okay. We played some games on their christmas present " Kinect " for Xbox. That was amusing, and what made it really funny was that the fact that the guys sweated like pigs when playing. It's a VERY athletic game console. It makes you exercise. A lot. While the guys were browsing through the Kinect-games on Xbox...

Last year, as well as the year before that, I baked truffle chocolate for Christmas. Mostly, because it was chocolate and candy and heck-it's-Christmas-can't-we-have-at-least-something-that's-not-healthy-to-eat. Both times, the whole kitchen was a MESS afterwards, and the whole 'event' took maybe 4 hours. Needless to say, I soooo did not wan't to see the kitchen looking like this again . And it's AMAZING how much just a simple pastry bag will help when doing this, instead of following the recipe and using two spoons (or hand and spoon like last year). Why (oh WHY?!) didn't Pirkka put that in their truffle recipe??? Yup, I'm also a Pirkka card user and a Pirkka-magazine reader. (For those of you who aren't, Pirkka is the 'loyal' customer club of one of Finland's biggest food market boutiques. Pirkka belongs to Kesko. The others are S-bonus that belongs to the S-group, and Ykkösbonus which belongs to Suomen Lähikauppa Oy). But, s...

Dear Santa, Even though my dear mother was forced to "kill you" when I was still very young (I was 8 years old, and had Santa-trauma/depression every December) , I still hope that it's okay to write to you. You see, I think Christmas has become a bit like list-mania, and I need to get on the wagon. Like I did last year . Last Christmas, I wished for 6 things . Of them, I got one: the new frying pan I wanted and we so desperately needed. I also got this amazing filé knife, which I so love my Mikael for. The rest, I've bought during the year, so you're forgiven. And the chocolate I made myself, so that's okay too. But, this year I'll be monitoring your behavior again, so here is my list for 2010: I want my Micke to stop being a nicotine addict, and be free of it once and for all. This is not a selfish wish, because I want him to stop being so frustrated all the time. He's so stressed out, mostly because of his work, so please please please t...