One-Yard Wonder - Mailbag Picket Duo

I am still waiting on that darn batting! I am going to have to contact the company and ask them if they could trace the package. I will never be able to finish all those quilts at the rate they are shipping! So what to do? Maybe a trip up to Stuttgart to pick up a bit of batting?

I have to keep myself busy with another One-Yard Wonder project... I don't know about you but I can never have enough storage so this time around I decided that I needed the Mailbag Picket Duo!

I used the same fabric as I used for the curtains in the study for the exterior bag and some plain white cotton for the lining.  It looks perfect!

I don't like how the bags were hung up in the book. So I used small curtain rods instead. I might still put a little snap button in the middle of the bag so they don't gape open like in the book after using it! But it is a quick project, and if you are in need of little pockets, I would definitely recommend those!

I still have a little bit left over of the fabric. I might use it for the computer table cloth...

Take care,

Me

One-Yard Wonders - Jewelry Roll

I've been working on so many quilts! I really enjoy making them but it usually takes a long time until you can "see" the finished product. So, since I am still waiting for my batting to arrive, I thought that I should pull out my One-Yard Wonders book and choose something out of there.

I remembered that I saw the jewelry roll back in May on the Pink Chalk Studios blog. I guess the bright colors just really made it memorable since I couldn't even remember it being in the book :-)

Here is a picture of how it looked in the book:

I checked if I had the required materials (thank goodness!) and got started on it right away. The project itself was fairly easy. I mean, yes, there are the time consuming things like working with pattern pieces, ironing on the interface pieces. But the directions are pretty clear. It took me about 2.5 hours from start to finish. And this is what I ended up with:

I will probably make a couple as presents. But I will have to change a couple of things:

1. I really don't like the tied ring strings (not tied in the picture above). I think that the ribbon will start to show a lot of wear after repeated use. I have to think of something better and maybe easier than the constant tying next time...

2. I also don't like the overall ribbon closure. Yes, it looks fancy but again, it will probably show a lot of wear soon! Maybe a velcro closure?

Do you like it?

Take care,

Me

That Darn Snail Mail!!!

I ordered more batting from JoAnn's four weeks ago... It still hasn't shown up! I know, I know, it takes time especially with mail being sent to an APO box. But I can't finish some of my quilts because I am waiting on that darn batting!

So what am I going to do? Start another quilt top of course! 

I found some fabric that I bought a couple years ago. I don't know for what reason, but hey, who cares? Not me obviously ;-)

Here is a closer look:

So I looked through my patterns for inspiration when I looked over to P who was watching TV cuddled underneath one of the first quilts I ever made. 

In fact, I made that quilt with my older sister in mind. But it just never felt like 100% her! My mind was spinning and I realized that I really enjoyed making it, and that it is easy to put together! So I resized it to a queen size top and cut out the squares. 

And of course, I have started to sew them together... and there are a lot of squares! 

At least it keeps me occupied! LOL

I wonder how many quilt tops I am going to have finished by the time the batting arrives...?

Take care, 

Me

12... Time just flies by!

P had another b-day. She is now 12. Mind you, she is acting like she is 16

 ;-)

My baby is getting older and changing in front of my eyes!

But the one thing that never seems to change is her sense of humor,

her wit,

her kindness,

her love and understanding,

and her sense of humor!

I am proud that I can call her my daughter!

I am looking forward to hopefully many more years with her!

Take care,

Me

P.S. Thank You for all the calls and wonderful presents you guys sent our way! She truly felt loved and special...

Left Overs

I had a few small strips, muslin and binding left over after I finished the brick quilt "Walking on Roses". I sure was tempted to throw them away. But something inside me just cringes whenever I put a usable (at least to me!) piece of fabric in the trash.

So what do do? Place mats of course! 

You can never have too many! Or in our case those are actually our first ones. I sewed the strips together and cut them into  4  4.5"x14" long  pieces. I cut the muslin so that I would have 3.5"x14" on one side and 13.5x14" on the other side of each pieced strip. 

I think I must have spent about 1 hour per placemat (piecing and quilting) and another 45 minutes to attach the binding by hand. You can sew the binding on by machine but I just don't like how that looks!

Here is the front:

And here is the back:

The only caveat is that the place mats are so light in color. I am pretty sure that they will be covered in food stains in no time. But then I can always make more with all the other scraps I will accumulate :-)

Take care,

Me

Do Fish bite Humans?

M and I were stationed in Ft. Riley, KS for five very long years! Now, don't give me wrong, each place has its pros and cons, and we certainly enjoyed our tour. However, would we want to go back? Probably not.

But anyway, one of the places that I remember from KS is Milford Lake.  There we went for long walks,  had picnics with friends and family, learned to drive there, and I was bitten by a fish!

It was a very hot day which turned in to an even hotter and humid night. We decided to meet up with friends at Milford Lake to indulge in some midnight swimming. So off we ran into the clearly marked area for swimming. It was dark but enough light came from the lights of beach lights so that we could see what we were doing.

Have you ever swam in a lake at night? It's creepy! The further out you go the less you'll see. The guys were making all kinds of jokes like how lucky we all were that no baracudas and sharks were in this lake. Just creepy and it didn't really help me and my over active imagination...

Ha, the wonderful memories! Anyway, suddenly I felt a bit of a sting on my thigh and I decided that midnight swimming wasn't for me and left to dry off. Up by the cars, as I was drying off I checked the area were I felt the sting earlier and realized that I had some marks there. I checked in the light, and saw that there were bite marks! M still tells me that fish don't bite but I swear they do.

So fast forward about 8 years, and I am back with P and M at a lake in Austria. We decided to have dinner at a local shore restaurant. M ordered fresh fish from the lake, and this is what they brought...

Do you see the teeth? Aren't they just huge!?! I have never seen those kind of teeth on a fish. But then I normally don't buy fish that still has the head attached :-) I am now more than ever convinced that I was bitten by a fish! What do you think? Do fish bite humans? :-)

Take care,

Me

P.S. The fish was delicious! :-)

Camping at the Plansee

We have a few must-do-things planned this summer. One of them was a bike ride with overnight camping. M planned it all out

M and P went on a very long bike ride (30kms) to the Plansee in Austria.

They made it there in 3.5 hours with quite a few steep hills. I met up with them in the evening to bring them their camping gear. The weather was actually a bit chilly (15 degrees Celcius) and I was glad that I had opted out of this little adventure. Truth be told I hate camping. I want a comfy bed and my own bathroom! I had enough of the uncomfortableness and sharing thing in the Army!

M was miserable all night. He said that his back was hurting and that next time he would definitely bring an air matress along! P had no problem at all. She said that it just got a bit chilly around midnight. But M put a third sleeping bag over them and everybody got toasty again.

The next morning the sun was shining. And by the time I came to pick them up, the lake had heated up enough that swimming was a definite possibility!

Unfortunately I didn't have much time because I had to be back by lunch time for a surveillance at work. But we spontaneously stopped at the side of the road and climbed down to the shoreline. 

M changed in to his swimming trunks and took the plunge. The water was really warm and I wished that I had my bathing suit on. P didn't want to go back up to the car so she just jumped in with her clothes on.

Even Jake enjoyed himself. We threw a stick out in to the water and he swam out to retrieve it.

We definitely must go back on a hot day just to go swimming. I might get over my fear of fish biting me (another story to tell!) :-)

Take Care,

Me

S and her Aunt

I never had a really close relationship with any of my aunts. They lived an hour away from us and we saw each other on holidays or whenever my parents scheduled a visit. 

P is so lucky to have her aunt living only 5 minutes away from her. They have had a close relationship ever since we got stationed in Germany! My sister spoils her. She spoils her not only with things but most of all time! I hope they will continue to be this close to each other even when we eventually move on to our next assignment!

Take care,

Me

Parent-Child Relationship

I've started to work through our Venice pictures today. I came across two pictures that seem to perfectly show how the relationship between a pre-teen/teenage kid and the parent is:

On one hand you have the loving and cuddly side. The kid leans in to the parent, enjoying the love that is given to them. S/he accepts what the parent offers and harmony is all around them...

On the other hand, you have the situations in which the parent and the kid do not agree on anything! The kid wants to be independent and doesn't always make good choices... The parent watches on and in the end just wants to strangle them! Maybe some sense will come back to the kid... as if! :-)

I do have to admit that for the most part we enjoy those "strangling" moments! And just fleeting moments they are! Before you know it they are gone and the good times are back! 

In retrospect M and I often laugh about the stupidity from either her side or ours (but mostly hers! we are after all the all-knowing adults! LOL) that contributed to those tense moments! 

Take care,

Me

A Wild One

I just mailed another box! This time it is filled with things for N's b-day like the "wild" quilt! I am curious to find out if she likes it or not!

I bought the black and white zebra stripes from a quilting store during my state side visit. The blue and pink zebra stripes as well as the multi-colored animal stripes were bought from Wal-Mart. 

Would I do that again? Probably not! The blue and pink zebra stripes were fat quarters. Wal-Mart put a huge metallic sticker on them. Those stickers left a nasty residue when I pulled it off. So I had to wash them before I could cut them up. Well, the washer got rid of the sticker residue... but it also faded the fabric. I wasn't a happy camper at all! I checked on the web about ordering more pink and blue zebra stripes but couldn't find any! And I thought zebra stripes were pretty trendy...

But it all worked out in the end!

The fading works actually quite nicely in the quilt. I guess it grew on me ;-)

Take care,

Me

S's Christmas Quilt Update

I finished S's quilt. It didn't quite turn out to be like the drawing.

As I started to sew the charm squares together, I realized that I liked to have one big column of them instead of four. So I just sewed them together and added a border.

Here is a closer of it. I just want to wrap it around me..

I quilted it with squares that radiate out from the center. You can see it if you click on the photo :-).

I am wondering though if I should give it to S. She saw "Walking on Roses" as I quilted it and just kept on saying how much she loved it! Maybe I should switch the quilts? What do you think? Stick with the original plan or switch them? Either way I am going to be happy because I love either one of them ;-)

Take care,

Me

Horrible Morning!!!

I am normally an easy going person in the morning. But not today…

The list of “awful” things that happened in a span of 1 hour is long:

1. I woke up at 07.30. My morning routine is missing by now 30 minutes!

2. I break a glass as I am trying to pour my orange juice.

3. I can’t find my Iphone. I looked everywhere for it… I must have left it at work! I hate that!

4. I get a call from work. Then another, and then another. A crisis that has to be dealt with because of stupidity!

5. I mark my white shirt with a blue pen! Whatever, I am still wearing it! It’s only the size of a pin head. Unfortunately it is right above my heart. I wonder how noticeable it is?

6. I am out of diet Sprite. And all I have at work is warm water.

7. And as I am getting out of the car, I look down at myself and notice that my white shirt does not only have the pin mark but also some orange spot that is more noticeable than that stupid pen mark! I don’t have a shirt to change into with me and have to wait until lunch to do change. Crap!

8. Oh, and I am still trying to make up the 30 minutes! :-(

I so want to go back to bed and start the day over…

I hope your day starts better than mine!

Take care,

Me

The Ever Changing Weather in the Alps

Sunday afternoon gave us one of the more powerful (but short) thunderstorms that the Alps are known for.

We left for the commissary (5 minute drive) and the sun was shining. The temperature gage read 27 degrees Celsius. By the time we got there, these clouds came rolling over the Zugspitze. The lightning was beautiful!

You can see the rain falling on this one...

We were 5 minutes into shopping and we heard loud thunder and rain. P called us on the cell phone to let us know that large hail was hitting the window. She closed all the windows and let down the wooden shades for extra protection.

We were at the register paying for our groceries when we looked outside and the sun was shining again.

Here is how it looked like right after the thunderstorm.

Steam was rising off the asphalt! The temperature gage was now reading 16 degrees Celsius.

The fire department was all over Garmisch. 15 minutes of hard rain flooded quite a few basements and roads, as well as damaged trees that had to be cut down. Thank goodness our house and basement were just fine!

Take care,

Me

Walking on Roses

Yup, I am calling my brick quilt "Walking on Roses". It reminds me of the cobble streets in Nuernberg! I am so happy with it.

Here is a closer look at the fabrics!

The instructions are so easy to follow. It really was a lot of fun making this quilt! In fact, I am in the mood to make another... So how about it J? Would you like to make this one?

Let me know....

Take care,

Me

A Sunday Morning

The following statements are defining P’s morning today. Her room is a mess! She is missing her DSi and her Ipod!

 She saw them last when she shoved them somewhere on Tuesday. Today is Sunday! She didn’t say anything the first few days, and we were gone on Friday and Saturday.

Today, she needs them and started looking around. She finally came around to ask me for help. However, she also asked me not to yell at her when I entered her room. You see, I only go into her room (if I can help it) on Wednesday and Saturday to make sure she cleaned up her room. Well, to my defense, it always looked great when I checked!

Today, she asked me to help her. So I started to look in her closet and dresser, under pillows and in baskets. I shouldn’t have! She kept on telling me that I promised not to yell. My face got redder and redder… I was working really hard on not to yell! It didn’t work out though… In the end, I just broke down. Her pants in her dresser were all crazy, she had everything (shoes, clothes, books, cds) thrown in her bags. I was frustrated!?! She told me that I should learn to clean her room at her own pace! So I walked out of her room! The end result of this?

I was mad that her room was such a mess and she was crying because I yelled at her!

M came in to from his walk with Jake and talked to P about her situation. He explained that she could just take her trash out of her room as she was walking to the kitchen or the bathroom since she was doing that at least several times a day at least! In the end he asked her: “So on whom do you have to blame your messy room on?” Her answer: “The messy elf king!”

He walked off laughing and I had to smile at her! Shoot, it sure took the tension out of the situation!

Take care, 

Me

P.S. The photo was taking in Venice last weekend :-)

Fabric Decisions

I ordered the fabric for N's quilt a couple weeks ago. I decided on Amy Butler Love Bliss line because it seemed to be so like her - vibrant and fun! I think I told you about it? 

It finally arrived! But it's not as turquoise as I thought it would be and now I am questioning my choice... What do you think? Will a 12 year old like a quilt made out of those?

Take care,

Me

Brick Quilt

I  came across this wonderful website Stitched in Colors on which I found this beautiful quilt along called "Color Brick". Let me tell you it was very tempting to start another quilt. So tempting that I couldn't say no. My only excuse is that I had the perfect set of fat quarters in my stash.

 It said that it was a beginners quilt so I figured that the cutting and piecing could be done in one night. Yeah, right! Too much happened (work, making it bigger, and a missing piece of the backing) and it took me 3 nights. So this is what I am quilting now...

I am in love with this pattern. 

What do you think? Would you like to try this one for our quilt along?

Take care, 

Me

P.S. I will tell you the story of the missing backing later :-)