A Wee Quilt, and Helsinki, Finland

I think I said we were headed to Latvia from St. Petersburg.  oops.  That was incorrect.  Our next stop was Helsinki, Finland.  It's been more than a month, so I guess I can excuse the slip.

I have to say that the thing that shocked me the most about Sweden, Finland, and Denmark was the filth.  Litter, graffiti, cigarette butts EVERYWHERE - I don't have any desire to return.  I had great hopes for Finland...after all, Marimekko, right?  I saw one sign advertising it, but nary a thread during our 3 hours on shore.

Like the other port towns, the view on approach is filled with cranes.

 When we docked, I was surprised to see this athletic facility, complete with two pools built right out to the sea.  To the right of the photo was a large ferris wheel, and in the distance is a marketplace.

 Here is a better view of the market, with the orange and white tents.  The buildings in the background are town hall and other government buildings.  I believe they were originally built as palaces, under the direction of Peter the Great.

There really wasn't much to see during our three hour bus tour.  We stopped to visit this sculpture, celebrating their most famous composer.  I've since forgotten his name.  She told us to, "come back and tell me what you saw.  One person told me it looks like angel wings!"  Well, other than the obvious "organ pipes," it looks a lot like a mop head to me.  Can you tell I'm in my fourth decade as a housewife?

 We also stopped to see their "famous" Church of the Rock.  Have you heard of it?  I had not.  We marched up this narrow cigarette butt-littered sidewalk to the top of the block.

 This is the entrance to the church.  It was built in a crater, blasted out of the rock.  They charge admission to enter.

 Here is the interior.  The dome is made from woven copper wire, which I have to admit was pretty amazing.  The slats around the dome admit natural light.

Our last stop was Parliament Square, which was preparing for a garden event.  They were in the process of rolling sod onto the concrete plaza.  The church overlooking the square is a replica of St. Isaacs in St. Petersburg.  The stairway leading up to the church is quite steep, and not recommended if you are at all out of shape.

 Up we climbed.  Here is the view looking down towards the harbor.  It's past the buildings behind hubby.  On the right is a university, and behind him, you can see the fresh sod.  The light poles were hung with giant bluebells.

 We went down to the marketplace, but did not buy anything.  I didn't really want anything to remind me of Finland.  Why?  Because, unfortunately, this was my takeaway: 

After seeing Estonia and St. Petersburg, where the people have a sense of national pride, everything was well cared for...Helsinki?  Not so much.  Or maybe we were on the graffiti/litter tour?  Who knows?  I just know that if I were going to drive a busload of tourists around my town for three hours, I would make a concerted effort to show beautiful highlights.  Wouldn't you?

Last week, I was productive.  Oh, it feels good to say that!

I may not have made anything large or impressive, but for me?  Quilting is about creating and the process.  And last week?  I really needed to finish something.  Anything.

A few years ago, I made a 12" quilt for the SAQA online auction, which coincidentally is going on as I type.  You can buy an auction quilt from this website.  I've purchased many quilts from this auction over the years, and have never been disappointed.  I receive a beautiful 12" quilt; SAQA receives money to fund their programs.  This is our primary fundraiser of the year.  (I'm telling you, as much as I am reminding myself.)

Anyway, I made this little quilt, back in 2014, and called it, "Sing Praise."

Doggone it.  I don't know why it's turned on its ear!  You're going to have to tilt your heat to see it properly.  As with many of my projects, I had trims and leftovers.  I'd sewed the trims together, and have had a 7" x 6" piece of green scraps floating around the studio for three years.  Three years!  It was time to do something with it, or dump it.

Well, I don't dump anything.  I trimmed 1/2" from one side, and stitched it to the other, making a 6.5" square.  I then appliqued a couple of birdies.  hmmm.  I had little birdie templates on my sewing table.  I don't even remember what they are from, maybe postcards?

They needed some feather-stitched wings, and some greenery to hide beneath.

 Here's a bit of a close-up.  I could have done a better job with value, but then birdies don't like to be too obvious when they're on the ground, right?

When finished, I faced the quilt and mounted it on stretched canvas (which had been painted black).  I need to get more hooks and wire to hang them, but I think I'm pretty happy with the end result.  They now are in the stack of 6" mounted quilts made for our 2017 Sew Eclectic Challenge.  Now that I've finished another one?  I want to do a sixth.  These things are addictive!

And I've sewn more than this, but I'll save it for another post.  Happy Stitching!!