Oh, what to do?!

Quilting is pretty therapeutic for me. It's just you, the quilt and the machine. Once I get into a rhythm my  mind just works through whatever is upsetting to me. I was pretty upset on Friday because I wasn't sure if I would be able to go to work on Monday due to the government budget crises. So I was able to get one huge 6 hour quilting session in this Friday evening. M and P just left me be and I quilted until my fingers bled... just kidding. But here it is...

Isn't it beautiful?! This quilt is going on the bed in the guest bedroom. 

I love this fabric line from Tanya Whelan. And I think I have the perfect excuse to order some more fabric from this line since I have two twin size beds in the guest room and I need a quilt for the other bed. I picked the pattern out last night but more on that later :-)

There is one more thing... I have lots of little half squares left over from this beauty. 

I would like to make a pillow cover. But I am not sure which pattern to pick. So I took photos from each one and I hope that by looking at them that way, one will jump out at me yelling "Pick me! Pick me!"

Which one would you pick?

Today is such a beautiful day. M and P worked together to put up the trampoline. It was wonderful to hear their teasing banter and almost no argument at all ;-)

I also made lots of pictures from the car on the way home from the commissary. 

Look, the tree blossoms are out. I love spring!

Take care,

Me

My Doodle Stitch Along

I was looking through the little deer track blog a couple months ago and saw a post about a doodle stitch along with a link to the Lark Craft's blog.

Look at that boy and girl! This is my stitched out version...

They reminded me of kids in traditional Bavarian costumes. So I had to join in this stich along. It didn’t take long to stitch up each motif and it kept me busy while watching TV :-)

But what to do with these little stitched up motifs? 

I was really happy that Aimee posted the idea of a little mini-quilt. I sandwiched batting between some muslin and started to play with placement of the little motifs on it. After I decided on where to put those I cut up some of my favorite fabric scraps and placed them all over this little mini-quilt.

I hand sewed each piece of fabric on it. My fingers still ache just thinking about it. But it was well worth it in the end!

But now I had another dilemma on my hands… where should I hang it? I don’t have many walls in our apartment that can be used to display things. So it ended up in the study. 

I love it!

Take care

Me

Embroidery a.k.a Not Another One!

Embroidery has been on my mind for a few months now. Not that I need something else to consume what little time I have left in the day. But yes, I seem to have picked up a new hobby. I don't even know how it happened! I saw a picture on some blog (and I can't even remember which blog...) and I clicked on a link which led me to another blog and to another. 

During that particular journey across blog land I came across Little Deer Tracks.  Her embroidery is so beautiful and inspiring. I noticed that she had a book out called "Doodle Stitching".  It is geared toward the beginner. Well, that would be me...

I got it from the library to get a closer look. There are 4 sections in this book. The first two are Embroidery Essentials and how to get started. I just copied down the essentials and bought them on my next trip to the crafts store. It wasn't expensive at all.

The next section is on embroidery projects. There are 29 of them. They range from embroidering scarfs to skirts to pillows. There is something for everyone. I started of with a simple stitch sampler. The french knots were the hardest to learn. I couldn't get them to be tight. But I beat the french knots and they are now my best friends :-)  I really like how the author describes each stitch. I felt like she was sitting right next to me guiding me through each single step. 

I have to admit that I haven't made any of the projects yet. However, I bought a wonderful pattern from the author's etsy shop. It reminded me of P. I wonder if that's how it looks like in her head when she thinks up one of her wonderful stories?

Take Care

Me 

P.S. I renewed the book three times. I tried a fourth time but someone already had a hold on it and I had to relinquish my copy. I ended up buying the book as well as Doodle Stitching The Motif Collection. Now whenever I sit in front of the tv I have some kind of embroidery project in my hands...

Quilt Ladder

I have a few quilts. Some would say that I have more than a few quilts :-) However, we can all agree upon that quilts are too pretty to be hidden away in closets. I had them laying on the sidearms of the sofas but I didn't like this very much. So I brainstormed with my husband M. about it and we came up with the 15-minute quilting ladder.

I went to the local hardware store and picked up 2 2x4's and one long dowel with a 1.25" diameter. One of the store clerks was kind enough to cut the dowel in to 4 22" sections. I think the total cost was about $15. At home I put everything on the floor and decided on the distance between each section. Once I found the right distance I marked each 2x4 with the position of each dowel. I drilled holes in the 2x4's at each marked point. I also marked the middle of each dowel and drilled a hole on each side. 

My husband stepped in at this point to help me put everything together and voila I had a simple ladder to display my quilts. It takes 15 minutes to put everything together but it will take much more time to paint it. I haven't made up my mind to what color I want mine to be. So it is still unpainted... However once I do paint it I will show you how it looks like.

Now keep in mind that this ladder does not support the weight of a person only of a few quilts. :-)

Take care,
Me

Livin' Large

I have a love affair with fabric. I could buy fabric like there is no tomorrow. But I do have a hard time using all that lovely fabric because I don't have the heart to cut it up. I was talking to a friend of mine about this and she recommended the book "Livin' Large" from Heather Mulder Peterson. I had to order it right away even if it was a bit on the expensive side

. 

This book is just so lovely. It has eleven projects with many variations from which to choose. I decided on the Kaleidoscope pattern to feature some beautiful Delilah fabric. The cutting information were very precise. I didn't have a lot of fabric leftovers.  I didn't use the assembly instructions because I like to put a quilt together my way. The end result is the same though. I am now in the process of pinning it and hope to have it all finished by the next weekend because I still have a ton of projects waiting for me...

Take Care

Me

Barbie Bear in Happily Ever After

Have you ever heard of the musical "Happily Ever After"? I didn't either until P got a part in it when our school decided that this was going to be our middle school play this year. She was chosen to play Barbie Bear. 

The entire cast worked very hard for the last 6 weeks with 2-3 practices a week to put on an unforgettable show. We had the pleasure to watch the first show yesterday evening. I was blown away. There is so much talent in our kids and it makes me tear up every time I get to see them perform. 

However, I am very glad that it is over now and we can get back to some normality around here :-)

Take care

Me

Fasching in Garmisch

Fasching in upper Bavaria is quite different to what you are normally see when you view pictures of Fasching in Germany. Upper Bavaria is a place that not only takes care of it traditions but it also practices them. This year we were lucky enough to be downtown when a group of locals dressed up in traditional Bavarian Faschings costumes walked through the pedestrian zone of Garmisch.

They were giving out shot glasses of liquor and animated people to dance with them. Both P and M were game enough to dance with the old "lady".

Imagine P's surprise when the old "lady" picked her up and twirled her around...