Another Quilt

I bought this fabric layer cake "Central Park" from Kate Spain from the Arts and Crafts store in Stuttgart the last time we were up there. I loved the colors in it and didn't have the heart to cut it up. So I decided that I would make a "Snowball" quilt. I used a soft grey to complement the colors in the fabric. I am thinking of gifting this to our foster niece on Christmas...

And here it is:

I think that I might need to add some quilting in the middle of each block... what do you think?

And here is the back:

As I was cleaning up after myself, I came across the cut of corners of the snow ball blocks. They were just too cute. So I started to play with them and came up with another wallhanging:

It is now hanging above our guest bed. I

I guess you could call this a "trash to treasure" quilt :-)

Take care,

Me

Arts and Crafts Fair in Benediktbeuern - Part 2

One of the booths at the fair had this "spinning" (or so I thought!) wheel sitting if front of it...

Someone from the booth took his time to demonstrate this old way of weaving. 

He told us that the Celtics used to weave their bands like this. You basically manipulate the thread with those card boards. It was a lost art but an archeologist found one of these card weaving machines and reconstructed it. So there has been a new revival of this wonderful art. He also said that it took him 3 years of practising before he was able to do the band that is laying right next to him. 

Pasha decided that this would be her souvenir from the fair.

Pasha always had this fascination with grave yards. So we can’t get near a church without Pasha asking if there is one close by.

Most of the time we take the few minutes to walk through it. We always wonder what kind of lives people led… were they happy? Were they loved? Pasha loves to speculate about that!

Of course, if I get to go to an Arts and Crafts fair, she needs to have her grave yard visit :-)

I don’t mind (at least most of the time!) because there is just a quiet peacefulness that sneaks in to my heart during our walks… weird!!!

Anyway, this time we found a really great tombstone. I wonder if it is real or man-made? What do you think?

And because it would be just weird to sign off with a tombstone as the last picture, here is a picture I took of Pasha during the fair. 

Hach, I am in love with her baby blue eyes...

Take care,

Me

Arts and Crafts Fair in Benediktbeuern - Part 1

If you drive from Munich to Garmisch, you'll see a brown sightseeing sign for the monastery Benediktbeuern. We've never stopped there before until now. I don't know anything about it except that it is still used by monks and that Tobi had stayed there for 3 days in with his 4th grade class. Well, we are going back to "discover" it but this time we went there to see the Arts and Crafts fair that we saw advertised all over the place for the last couple of weeks!

Martin, Pasha and I walked in and just stood there for a couple of minutes. We looked at each other and said that it almost was too much to take in. The colors and textures were just so amazing! Pasha kept on saying: "Come here, look at this!"

And that was just the beginning!

We saw quilts...

... clothing....

... art....

... and much much more!

Next year I am going to bring a lot more money with me than what I had on me this time!!!

Take care,

Me

Did you miss me?

September is one of the busiest times in my office. Not only are we dealing with the end of the fiscal year (and all the paperwork that's involved in that) but we also have a lot of classes starting and ending as well as a few conferences thrown in to the mix. Add the beginning of the school year and you have total chaos!

I didn't have much personal time. The little bit that I did have was spent with my family. Friends and the blog were sadly neglected! But in the next few posts I am going to catch you up with everything.

Now where do I start? There's is so much to show you, so I hope that you won't mind that I am jumping around a bit...

I finished a couple of quilts!

One of them is my love bird quilt. The pattern is from "livin' large" by Heather Peterson.

It is a generous lap size. I am thinking of gifting it to my niece on Christmas. I love the birds! 

I don't know why it is so blurry...?

Another quilt that I finished is "Blue Star".

Martin really loves how the blues and the grey compliment each other!

Do you like it?

Take care,

Me

Surprise Email

I got this email yesterday from my best friend yesterday. Normally that wouldn't be anything too exciting. But you see, any email from her is great news because she has a "tough" time writing them! I can't say anything about that because I am the same way... LOL

Anyway, this email was really special. So special  that it made me walk around with a smile on a really stressful day! 

You see, she wrote that she made her first quilt!

It took her two days from start to finish! How awesome is that?! 

The best part is that her youngest son must have used it right away for nap time. 

Just Too Cute!!!

So J, now that the quilting bug has bitten you, what quilt are you planning next?

Take care,

Me

September won't be very sweet!

I have been examining my dietary life style the last few months. My dad was diagnosed with diabetes! he is able to manage it through diet but has insulin on hand for extreme days. Both my grandmothers on my dad's and my mom's side have/had also diabetes.

I have a very sweet tooth (as my thighs and behind can testify to it!) which worries me quite a bit. I don't want to end up being diabetic if I can help it. So I decided that I need to cut my sugar intake (as if that is so easy!) or at the very least drastically reduce it!

It took me a few months to come up with a plan gather my courage and will power to tackle this issue!

My plan is that I will cut out my daily candy bars, pastries/cakes and chocolates for the month of September. At the end, I am going to see how I feel without that additional sugar. Birthdays or holidays are exempt for the most part!!!

I know there will be days where I will fail. I guess you could say that I am a realistic! I am not going to beat myself up too much about it. But I also won't give up. 

P wants to cut down on her junk food as well. I am curious how that will go!? you know that kids are a synonym for sugar! LOL! 

I'll let you know how we are doing...

Do you have an addiction you want to work on?

Take care,

Me

P.S. Today is my first day and I already bought myself a Twix! Granted I haven't eaten it which makes me wonder if the act of allowing myself to have it, makes it easier to say no to eating it? Hmmm, something to ponder...

P.P.S. Do you remember how "Twix" used to be called "Raider"? 

I still remember all those commercials in which the people do the two finger gestures! 

Perfect Summer Dinner

It has been so hot the last few days that M and I don't feel like standing over the hot range to cook! So M had the glorious idea to make a tomato-mozarella salad with celery and fresh corn-on-the-cob. On top of it, he was brave enough to turn on the oven to bake up some croissants.  Heaven!

It tasted just as delicous as it looks!

After dinner, P decided that we needed to play a game. She had a specific game in mind - "Sorry"! M wasn't too eager to play that particular game! It might have something to do with the fact that he has only won once maybe twice in a ll the years we've been playing...!

He started out very well. He had two game pieces in "home" before P or I could say "Sorry"! But then (as usual!) it all went down hill...

P put in a game piece and kicked his game piece back to start a million times (at least if felt like that emotionally to him! LOL)!

And then I got two "home" card within 5 minutes and the game was over! I was the glorious winner (very humble, aren't I!), with him being 2nd (barely!) and P being 3rd. We all had so much fun that I am thinking of reinstitution Wednesday's game night. It is very good for my self-esteem!!! LOL

What game did you play last?

Take care,

Me