Christmas Lunch

Every year we have the same Holiday plans. My parents and my sister arrive on the 22nd for Miss Vs birthday, and they live quite far away, so they stay with us until after Christmas.
During Christmas we have Charles' family come over and celebrate with us, so we have lots of company during the Holidays!

This is a picture from our Christmas lunch Dec 25th. We were 11 people in all, quite a lot for our apartment :)
Miss V had made the candles and given them to Charles as a gift - she was very proud to see them on the table.

We had a traditional Danish Christmas lunch, so lots and lots of food!! We sat at the table from 1PM until 6 PM. Lots of food and lots of fun :)

My sister, my mom share in the cooking, and Charles' brother brings the drinks. We have a wonderful time.
But every year I promise myself, that I won't eat that much EVER again!

My parents and my sister are leaving today, our home will be strangely empty without them. And I go back to work tomorrow. I work Monday and Tuesday, and then I have taken Wednesday, Thursday and Frisday off. Maybe I'll be able to sew? I have lots of stuff to finish before I can make sewing plans for the New Year!

Peppermint Bark

Miss V and I made Peppermint Bark this morning - it's her 6th birthday, so she gets to choose a lot of todays activities :)
This was so easy to make, I don't know why we have never made it before! Yum!

 

We're expecting company in about half an hour, so I have to get off the computer again...just wanted to check in and say hi - and say if you have not made Peppermint Bark already - then do it!!

Oh, and the Moriis Workshop quilt for my parents is done, it is in the wash. As it should be since they are arriving any minute now!!

So...HAPPY BIRTHDAY MISS V!

New ornaments for our tree

C and I agreed that we need some ornaments for our tree...not that our tree is half-empty or anything like that. It's just that most of the ornaments we have, are some that we have given the kids! If we don't start buying some for ourselves, we'll have an empty tree when they move out. LOL!

I got this cute coffee ornament when I was in Vienna last month. Too cute if you ask me :)

Miss V and I went shopping today, and she chose this angel for herself

The frog is for Little A

The tiger is for C - he really likes that ;)

 

I love getting new decorations for our tree. 

And so do the kids ;)

Tissueholders

I have seen these around Flickr and blogland, and I have always thought they are really cute.
But as with so many other projects, I have never actually made any.....until Miss V saw these cuties.

She went straight for the scrap baskets and choose 5 sets of 2 prints!

 

So there you go...5 tissue holders, ready to be wrapped up and given away as Christmas presents. 

Miss V is really proud of these, she chose the fabrics very carefully ;)

The countdown begins

my oh my....

Only 23 days to go...and I still have so much work to do! I am seriously doubting if I will be able to finish eveything in time for Christmas! Oh well, one day and one task at a time, and then I'll see how far I get.

And to make matters worse, Charles' 40th birthday is this Saturday...and I haven't been able to find the thing I want to give him!!! I know what I want to buy, I just can't find it!! The stress!!

Office Christmas Party

...well more like an outing, really :)

 

Every year (this is my first) the entire Copenhagen site is invited along with our families to a Christmas Party outside Copenhagen.

We took the train - never do that when it's in the middle of the first serious snowfall of the season ;) 

Anyway...the party was great! Good food, huge decorated tree, Santa came and had brought candy for the kids.
And we got to go in horse-drawn carriages to a Christmastree lot in the woods where we chose and cut down our own tree! Fun! The kids were so excited :)

 

Bringing the tree back to Copenhagen on the train was a bit of a challenge, but Mr Sødeste is a strong guy, so he managed :D

Now we just need all the snow on the tree to melt, and then we can put it up and decorate it!

Christmas preparations

I have wanted to try this tutorial since I first saw it last year. 

Like so many other things, I have been thinking about it, but haven't actually tried it until now! I found an old magazine that was going to be thrown out, and I started...

I was sure it was going to be impossible, but it wasn't that bad! I cut my strips a little too wide, and so I didn't have room for the 3rd layer - but hey! Who said I can't just leave that 3rd layer out and leave it as it is?!
That's what I did...I made a mistake by cutting the strips of paper too wide, but I made it work ;)
Now I just need to find some fancier paper - I am thinking the Christmas adds will be nice - and then I have to make some more, so we can have beautifully wrapped presents without having to spend money on the wrapping. Cool, huh?!

Merry Christmas

I made an I SPY for A for Christmas. I used the "Turning Twenty" pattern and made the blocks 12" square. I like it :) And more importantly, so does A. I especially like the binding!

I tried to use as much dinosaur fabric as I could in this, it's hard to find dino prints here, but much to my liking A refers to this quilt as his Dinosaur-quilt :D I even put a label on it!!

Miss V also needed a quilt for her bed, and I have been promising her a princess quilt for a very long time.
Sometime in November this conversation took place:
Miss V: Mom, I am looking forward to Christmas sooooo much!
Me: Yes, I know
Miss V: Especially because at Christmas I'll get my princess quilt
Me: Really??!! (slight panic and disbelief)
Miss V: Yes, mom! That's why I can't wait!

So I started sewing!!

This is the front, the panel was giving me a hard time, I have never worked with one before. Miss V loves it, that's a success if you ask me :)

I tried some spiral quilting in the purple border - fun!

Both kids were happy with their quilts, and so am I!!

We had a very happy Christmas, I hope you all did too.
Little A and I have been sick for a little over a week, though, so that slowed everything down a bit.

Now I need to see if I met my sewing-expectations from last New Year, and decide on my goals for 2010!

I hope you and your loved ones had a very merry Christmas!

We had a great Christmas

and a busy one. We had Violas daycare come over Dec. 20th, then family and friends on her actual birthday, Dec. 22nd.
She loved all the attention, and I cannot believe I have a 4 year old daugther!

My parents and my sister stayed with us for Christmas, and we had a great time :) They loved their quilts!
Charles was SO surprised, he thought I was making him a laptop-sleeve. He loves his quilt, and actually shed a happy-tear when he opened his present!

Dec. 26th we went to tivoli, and had such a great time. Everything was beautifully decorated, Viola and Ask just loved it...and so did the rest of us :)

The Christmas tree in this next picture is not yellow, it is absolutely covered in lights!
and look....something for me too...

I am a so happy everyone liked the things I had made, it was so much fun! And definately worth all the stress :)

I have promised myself to be better prepared next year. Sew some of the gifts throughout the year....and have my deadline be Dec. 1st!!
I finally started the Rocket Man quilt for Ask. Not that I have done very much so far. Lol!
These are the first 2 stars. They are made from 2½" squares and scraps.... The white stars on the blue fabric in the star on the left...they glow in the dark!!
How cool is that?!

Hopefully it won't freak Ask out!

Thank you Anne!!!

Christmas came to my home from Finland, beautifully wrapped in giftbags for me and my family :)
Anne sent me this wonderful wooden napkin-holder, already filled with the most beautiful Marimekko napkins!
And look at this Moomin fabric? It is sooooo fantastic! This photo does not do it justice at all. I cannot bring myself to cut into this, so I have plans for a quilt where I don't have to. I love it so much!
Look at these aprons for Ask and Viola! Are they not cutest aprons you have ever seen? I am going to bake something with the kiddos tomorrow, just to see them wearing these lovelies :)
And while we bake, we will be listening to Finnish Christmas-music! I am absolutely speechless. Anne, your generosity amazes me! Thank you thank you thank you!!!
But...it doesn't stop here... Anne included a calender that must be every quilters dream! I know it is the most fabulous calendar I ever saw.

Each month has a little pocket, and Anne put a beautiful fabric in every single one!
Look at these..... I did seriously consider posting all twelve months of 2009 in this post, because it was so hard for me to leave any of these pictures out.
But you will get to see them...I am going to make my own block-of-the-month from these. One block featuring that months fabric :) It will be that special quilt of my very own that I have dreamed of making!

Thank you so very much Anne! I love everything you sent! It is unbelievably beautiful. People like you just make me want to cry! Happy tears ;)

I finished Spaceboy and Robot!

I finished them last night :) After taking Ask to the craft store to buy felt and wool. He was not happy! If you haven't tried any of wee wonderfuls patterns, you should! This was so easy to follow, and I think they came out cute :)

Because the kids have been sick, I have been inside for almost 2 weeks, only running the most important errands. So going out yesterday was fun :)
Christmas decorations are up everywhere!

This is the department store I showed you on the bike-ride. Now it is all decorated :)
These windows are beautiful! The windows are decorated in the colors of the rainbow, here is the yellow window..
I tried to get a shot where you could see them all, but no luck, there were too many bikes parked in front of the store :(

This is another department store, they have these huge Christmas-ornaments on the side of the building
They change color
Viola desperately wants one of these for her room :D
And another window....going through town is going to take so much longer this next month.
Both because there is just so much for the children to look at, and because there are so many people everywhere!!!

All part of Christmas....and really.....I love it :)

42 days until Christmas....

....and 17 days until December 1st! And I am finally done with Violas Advent calendar bag. Instead of hanging all 24 presents on a regular Advent calendar, we give the children the presents one at a time every day in December. That way they don't get too impatient, and I don't have to have 48 little presents ready by December 1st. LOL! Viola will be getting her presents in this bag -I am ashamed to say, that Ask may have to wait until next year to get his very own homemade bag :(
The little house is made from "Welcome to the North Pole" by Piece O'Cake Designs.
I tell myself that he is so young still that he won't mind -please just agree with me! LOL!
I lined the bag with a Michael Miller Christmas-print. I bought this fabric last year, or the year before, and I love it! The only reason I haven't used it is, that I couldn't bring myself to cut into it. I am happy that I didn't, because I really like it in this project.

I have made some progress on my hexagons... I unpicked the brown, didn't like that after all... Charles wants me to make a quilt. Are you kidding me?! That would take me forever! But so far I am happy sewing these, and I like how scrappy it is :)
I really shouldn't sew anything that isn't a Christmas-present, I have so many to finish, and only 42 days left!
I finished the blocks for my sisters quilt, I am still undecided as far as sashing goes....white or linen? What do you think?
I'm leaning towards white, probably because that is what I have in my stash!

I also should tell you, that Dana at Old Red Barn is having a give-away... She is giving away 3 (!!!) quilts to 3 winners.... Go visit her, but don't win the green quilt, I want to win that one. Me and 800 other bloggers.... LOL!