Anna's this and that: 03/01/2008

March 29, 2008

PS spring exchange # 5

The final project is the one I made for Ela... Adapted from:

Prairie Schooler - leaflet # 118 - Farm fresh

PS spring exchange # 4

Next one is the piece I made for Sharon... I adapted it from:

Prairie Schooler - leaflet # 107 - Just hatched

Here is the rabbit I made for Donna, same design as below both different colors. For both, I used silks and WDW/GAST threads and Moda fabric on the back, sewed to the linen with tiny colorful stitches.

PS spring exchange # 2

Here is what I stitched and sent to Cheryl:

Prairie Schooler - leaflet # 13 - A prairie year

Prairie Schooler fob exchange

Here is the lovely fob I received from Milly within the fob exchange organized by Lynne in our Prairie Schooler group!

Mine left today for the US, hope Milly likes it too.

PS spring exchange from Sharon

Sharon sent me not one, but two lovely pieces! I adore the bookmark and the biscornu is so cute :) I am unsure of the name of the leaflet for the biscornu, so Sharon, if you let me know, I'll update it. I know that Sharon updated the design a bit to make it more "spring"!
I also received threads, an absolutely cute Easter egg, a wonderfully smelling candle which also has a colour I just love and spreads its perfume in the room as I type, and some rick-rack banding which will come super handy for spring designs, all this in a lovely Easter bag!
Thank you so much Sharon, I so enjoyed this exchange with you.

Better picture of...

... Tanya's new freebie

Irish Home Blessing, for Will

by Tanya Anderson, The Sampler Girl

downloadable HERE.

Stitched over 1 on 40 ct

Easter photos

(some pictures can be clicked on and enlarged, some not - I never understood how Blogger works, if you understand it, please let me know, I think it might be a codes problem when they are uploaded and in the way they are placed)

Easter brakfast - starters...

The Old town square in my hometown. I decided to show H. a fantastically restored cathedral and do the swieconka there. Shamelessly I'll copy a description from Wikipedia below:

Święconka (pronounced [ɕvʲɛnˈtsɔnka]), meaning "the blessing of the Easter baskets," is one of the most enduring and beloved Polish traditions on Holy Saturday.
Baskets containing a sampling of Easter foods are brought to church to be blessed on Holy Saturday. The basket is traditionally lined with a white linen or lace napkin and decorated with sprigs of boxwood (bukszpan), the typical Easter evergreen. Poles take special pride in preparing a decorative and tasteful basket with crisp linens, occasionally embroidered for the occasion, and boxwood and ribbon woven through the handle. Observing the creativity of other parishioners is one of the special joys of the event.

In the basket, we put a piece of bread, salt, boiled eggs, a piece of sausage, a sheep made of butter, a piece of ham - that's the basic version which some expand to their liking.

As a proof of the bad weather, the old town square was desert... at 1 pm...

The Fara cathedral - too bad I can't show nor find pictures online of the renovated interiors. They are amazing - dark, deep purple, pink and reds in gorgeous shades and styles.

More pictures from the Old Town

One of the symbols of Bydgoszcz, the monument for the victims of the II World War - a major point of my childhood. I used to visit the old town regularly with my grandparents on my tiny tiny feet, feed the pigeons, observe the fire burning...

In the background, the Town Hall.

A new attraction, Twardowski showing himself each to people gathered at 1:10 pm

Again, from Wikipedia:

According to an old legend, Twardowski was a nobleman (szlachcic) who lived in Kraków in the 16th century. He sold his soul to the devil in exchange for great knowledge and magical powers. However, Twardowski wanted to outwit the devil by including a special clause in the contract, stating that the devil could only take Twardowski's soul to Hell during his visit to Rome – a place the sorcerer never intended to go. Other variants of the story have Twardowski being sold to the devil as a child by his father.
With the devil's aid, Twardowski quickly rose to wealth and fame, eventually becoming a courtier of King Sigismund Augustus, who sought consolation in magic and astrology after the death of his beloved wife, Barbara Radziwiłł. He was said to have summoned the ghost of the late queen to comfort the grieving king, using a magic mirror. The sorcerer also wrote two books, both dictated to him by the devil – a book on magic and an encyclopedia.
After years of evading his fate, Twardowski was eventually abducted by the devil at an inn called Rzym – the Polish name of Rome. However, while being spirited away, Twardowski started to pray to the Virgin Mary, who made the devil drop his victim midway to Hell. Twardowski fell on the Moon where he lives to this day. His only companion is his sidekick whom he once turned into a spider; from time to time Twardowski lets the spider descend to Earth on a thread and bring him news from the world below.

The new attraction is especially popular among kids - first music is played, then Twardowski appears and bows to the public, then he hides while a terrible laughter is heard (the Devil)

'Bydgoszcz little Venice" - an absolutely charming part of the town, loved by all, with the river winding its way betwen a large park and old houses built 'on the river'. Still nice when I was a kid and used to have walks there with my grandparents, then left to abandon and devastared, then finally the new mayor decided to use EU and town funds to start restoring this gem. Of course i took pictures on a grey day and bad day and probably the charm is not immediately visible if at all for someone not from my town :)

A visit to my mother's, grandparents' and uncles's graves... (not shown on pictures). I meant to show all the flowers people bring for Easter...

My father and wife took 2 dogs from the local shelter last year. The 4 years old female is just the most beautiful mix breed I've every seen and she's just as sweet!