My mom - minun äiti

Annikki Eeva Kallio (née Metsberg)

May 12, 1919 in Viipuri, Finland - March 23, 2014 in Toronto, Ontario Canada

She passed away the way she wanted - peacefully in her sleep.

Tuesday Treat

This post is picture heavy.

The birthday cake. Made by my daughter, Patric's mama.

The presents.

Choosing the best cupcake - NOT the candle.

This one mama.

Good icing.

Really good icing.

Want some mama?

Boy, that was good.

A Big Birthday

This

little

tyke

 named

 Patric 

is

a big one

year old today.

Happy Birthday Patric.

Two updates

So, here's the March installment of the BOM From Head to Toe - A Knitter's Gifts.

 Two socks. Just pieced - not paper pieced which was nice. I don't know why I chose polka dots but there it is. They didn't take long to do at all and measure 10 inches square.

And here is the updated photo of the Champagne Quilters' quilt. This was the beginning of the evening. Marg only had a couple of stitches to put in before...

we took a couple of turns on the frame (on the right.) We're getting there - it's slowly getting smaller.

I'm linking up with The Needle and Thread Network, Esther's blog and What a Hoot!

Spring

I'm sure it's just around the corner - but which corner? Not here - not yet.

8:30 a..m

 The snow that the weathermen had promised began.

 It started with a light dusting.

About 1:30 p.m.

The roads were covered.

It's still coming down and there's more to shovel. At least the children are not at school. It's March break for them but unfortunately, the snow is not packing snow so that means no snowmen.

Unfortunately, a quilt guild meeting got cancelled tonight. Too bad since I live right around the corner from the meeting place and the storm would not have affected me.

If you are affected by this last (hopefully) blast of winter, stay safe.

I shall return with more fabric/sewing/quilting stuff later.

Many, many thanks

I have been fortunate to receive some wonderful giveaways.

This came in the mail. Karen, of Selvage blog, had a giveaway last month and I won.

 Here it is. A little purse ornament and to decorate it up, Karen put some colourful scraps inside.

Thank you Karen.

Did any of you take the book tour last month for Stephanie's (Loft Creations) new book?

Well, I did and I won a copy of her electronic version from Margaret at A Sampler of Stitches.

Thank you Margaret and thank you Stephanie.

And now, a late thank you to Ulla of kotkarankki blog. In December I won a giveaway that she had on her blog to celebrate her 600th blog post.

I took this photo from her blog. There were so many things in the package that I felt it was an early Christmas present.
 There was authentic Finnish rye crisps, gingerbread (like my mom used to make) that were in a tin with Moomin characters on it, cloudberry chocolates and chewing gum. Ulla even included some Finnish Novita Nalle wool so I can begin making socks. The felted leaf has a bar of soap encased in it and just to the left of it is a small black tin of Vitalis cream for chapped lips and hands that has come in very handy this winter. There was also a CD with typical Finnish dance music that my mom has appreciated.

My belated thanks to you dear Ulla. I can only say that Christmas preparations overwhelmed me and then those little boys came to visit so my mind was preoccupied.

I have been very fortunate and very lucky.

More...

snow.

On Sunday and...

a bit more yesterday. However, it should be above freezing by Friday (3 C).

 I've done more work on BOMs. This one is from Quilt Doodle. See the button on the right hand frame. It's another big block. I now have no more useable blue background fabric with the moon and stars. I found a close match that is almost a solid. It does have a pattern but it's muted.

 

This is the March installment of Cathy's Carousel BOM. I played around with the settings. 

 I thought about changing the block but then...

I stuck with the plan - almost. The small squares were supposed to be two different colours set opposite each other. It would make sense if you made a whole quilt but this is only one block. However, as I set the blocks on the floor, I came to the decision that I will be changing the layout of the quilt a bit.

Some of you expressed a review of this book. It's a YA (young adult) book. Not very big - 83 pages. It takes place during the second World War and is about a little five year old boy who spends the summer with his Norwegian grandmother in rural Minnesota. His mom is working in Chicago while his dad is fighting overseas. I found it depressing but there is a lot of love between the grandmother and the boy. The quilt in the title is a large piece of cloth that is added to whenever a member of the community or one of their relatives dies. The women all get together and add to the quilt while telling stories of the one who has passed. I have read other Paulsen books and this one is supposedly based on his own background.

Once again, I am linking up with The Needle and Thread Network and also with What a Hoot!