New Year new sewing

First off I had a little second Christmas - I won a selfmade FQ bundle from Andrea @ Quiltmanufaktur

We have a fabulous pink for my pink therapy quilt - trying to overcome my aversion, green because well if you have a look around, I simply love green. Wealso have blues, because I found out I have hardly any dark blues - well at least not ones I like, then of course I couldn't miss that purple - anyother favourite of mine - and to balance it out a red.

I got a good deal of sewing done on the Christmas Mystery Quilt - but I don't really like the diamond part (step2) so I'm thinking of comingup with an alternative filler for those parts - maybe a marine pointy block with neeutral background ... like last years Celtic solstice pointy blocks ... or furthering the yellow/turquoise checkerboard

Löni

luckiestestest day this week

I could have kissed the post man - if I would have been home wen he came by - he dropped two swap parcels. My Doll Quilt for September and my very special "Swap°pen auf Deutsch" cushion .

Ahh and I had this crazy idea about finishing up the Red Herrign top ... it works out fine - I might add a row in the future ... at the bottom or the bottom and the sides who knows I don't have batting to finish it anyway at the moment.

I decided to go for bigger sashing there because it helps with the shift of the blocks - if you loko at the others with thinner sashing at the top/bottom of te blocks you will see that the "herring bone" pattern gets shifted quite a bit to the right ... I tried to avoid that - the bigger distance with the sashing makes up for that to some degree. Oh and turning the top up sided down helps a lot because it changes the way you look at the shift. [Do I make sense?]

Ohh and I get to drive home and enjoy some motherly cooking - and it's finally autumn - we broke the zero degree margin tonight and we have heavy fog with sight under 50 meters - cycling was hell this morning - the should make pedestrians wear head lamps and reflectors ....

Löni

One Block Wonder

I had this plan to get two Quilt Alongs done while on semester break, but I feel like I did most sewing while still writing papers and now that classes have started again  ....

Well this is a late night picture of my finally finished One Block Wonder quilt top for the Quilt Along #1 - now that all is sewn I see that maybe some blocks need to be changed, but I'm not going to get out my seam ripper.

Löni

thursday sewing marathon

So yeah - sport is unhealthy - I realize that time and time again ... but I just can't stop - well that's what tape is for right?!

Yeah I had some time to catch up on some sewing - of course the I really had to get going with the Red Herring, it's a QAL project that's been on since the beginning of September.

               

Yeah well I'm not this focused on one block kind of person, so catching up was hard work - but I managed to get a sort of chain piecing system going. I did each step with all 8 strip sets, so after a few hours and hmm a little bit of Longmire (the TV series) - ok lots of - I had a 3x3 layout ready in the evening, and as it's autumn the light is gone early, so there are only crappy pictures.

I think it was Claire who wondered what lamb sausage is - well it's really just any kind of sausage made from lamb meat - in this case it's liver sausage, Fleischwurst (ask wikipedia) and some hmm well I really have no idea and the dictionary isn't really helping with explaining German sausage variations in English ... maybe I should just send a tin hmmm customs won't like that ...

Which is why I can't possibly really explain how to do "traditional" (that is traditional in my family) Maultaschen (filled pasta) are made because you need special sausages - it's really interesting how every country has its own special kind of filled pasta ... Anyway grandma is happy to have a full freezer again ... ohh and that's a "pasta board" there ... very useful for all kinds of fresh pasta ... but then there are only two kinds one really needs - Maultaschen and "broad pasta" for "Krautnudeln" (cabbage pasta)

aye the "old" Ladies at work (that is mom working and granny giving 

not always so useful comments) and me taking pictures

Hmm yeah I always get a little sentimental when I was home and got all the good food and then go to the stores here just to see bewildered faces when asking for some ingredients, I guess I will have to learn how to make my own sausages eventually ... or just move back ...  It would all be so much better if they could just get themselves to make some decent lye rolls ...

Löni

first day of the holidays

Well ok it's probably more the second day - I spent the first one cleaning up and doing laundry and packing and cutting fabric ... After an unusually uneventful train journey I did dive head first into sewing ...
Ok it did take me a while to set up the sewing machine - the old Lady is a bit well, let's say she sometimes has her own mind. I should probably introduce her to you at some point - it's an old PFAFF machine, and probably the grandma of my main machine and mother of my heavy duty machine ...

Anyway I did get some sewing done yesterday - as I decided not to wait on the last bee that is hmm ignoring me and went ahead and assembled the top.

ehemm yeah I folded it over night - you will see the reason in the next picture - and didn't iron it for the photo shoot

In the evening I went for a puzzle - while watching, or rather listening to an Austrian movie I knelt on the floor arranging and re-arranging and changing and ... I'm really glad my mum has such a large free space in the living room .. I'm sure to spend some more time arranging and re-arranging in the next few days.

Today I spent most of the day in the garden, planting a rose and some other perennial things, and a few strawberries that are of the early kind, and I got the wood I need to fix the wood-shed roof ...

Tomorrow is for visiting the park I worked at for a year, getting tea and some fresh meat and tinned sausage, and catching up with old friends ...

The Ladies - very headstrong ---- the meat is the kids, nieces, nephews

the drying beds for herbs and in this case flower petals for teas .. 

Löni

1 gone 1 to go

Lovely news ... paper one is history! On I go to paper two which is the more interesting one, so it shouldn't be to troublesome to get it done, apart from my general dislike for papers and preference for any other kind of exam.

I did start with a trial block for one of the QALs because I was going crazy at my desk -  so this broken herringbone trial block is the first of many for my "Red Herring" Quilt with the MSBHQAL.

I did manage (don't ask me how) to send out my August Bee blocks for the NewBee Bee and BeeBiased. Of course it was only late night sewing therefore I own only crappy pictures.

I did get some more BeeBlocks myself for my July Queen Month ... I got very beautiful Angel Block for a no-show Bee and am still waiting on one more block.

I guess from now on I will always plan to finish Bee Quilts earliest 2 or 3 months after the Queen month. For my other Bee-Quilt I will sew the missing block myself I'm a bit mad at the uncommunicativeness of the Bee, but I can ignore people too.... I just want to finish it. Here is the JulyQueen update ...

Löni

Heureka! It's over!

Well some might know .. some don't ... I had my last exam today for the Bachelor - I'm done no more exams. Well that's it 3 1/2 years of lecture notes sorted and filed.

Well to endings - and new beginnings (in case you should be one of the really really nice people who send me real letters, would you mind holding off until I can give you a new address? should know that until the end of the week)

Well I also have a quilty finish - not a complete quilt BUT my Easy Street top is finally done - any tips on how to quilt it?

see the thing is pretty huge so I'm having a hard time taking pictures of it - oh yes and I did a third star:

 Leo

weekend sewing

Well there wasn't that much weekend sewing this weekend - and the only thing I blame for that are my new glasses - it's amazing how much more dust and loose threads I see with them.

Remember the Rose Compass Doll Quilt I showed you last week? this is what I got in return:

Ok but that's nothing I did, not my sewing. It's made by Lizzie.

I'm still working on my Easy Street Quilt, and it will take some more weekends - I sewed on the 4-patches in the wrong way, so I need to change that before I sew them together. But I have done the smaller half for the assembling. This thing is damn huge - used up most of my free space on the floor. I knew it was not small but not that it was going to be that big?!

As I'm usually at a loss what to do for my Doll Quilt Swap partners, as they are so hard to pin down and tell me what they like or don't like. So this month I go on "likes the Quiltville blog". So I'm using my Easy Street cut offs and rests. Hope that will work. The triangle squares ar about 3,5 inch square ...

Leo

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weekend sewing

I've started sewing the 3rd clue - using a "two in one" method". If you want to see how far the other Mystery Sewers have come follow this link to Quiltiville

These are my trial "brave new world" blocks

And becuase I was catching up on the flying geese on Friday they belong here too. And the reason why I didn't get to do much mor on the Easy Street bits, I'm done piecing this quilt and I used the ES pieces to get some order in my chain piecing.

Opps yes, the screw must have come loose - the needle didn't come out of the project anymore - but no worries that was a really easy fix - but it was a first timer. I'm almost through with the straight lines. I did stitch in the ditch on the sewing lines that enclose the center fussy cut pieces and now am doing that wriggly-straight line quilting

Of course this weather condition helps

Leo

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Easy Street Part 1

I let myself be talked into joining the Easy Street Mystery Quilt - not that I put up much of a resitance. And I will manage because I have a personal trouble shooter

So far it included a lot of cutting - some lat night sewing

and now the rest is watiing to get sewn and ironed

that is what I'm reading instead of doing the important sewing

and that happens if I feel a bit gloomy on a gray November day and want to finish watching Torchwood ...

Leo

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Newest Arrival

Today my August Doll Quilt arrived. My partner missed part of the street in my address when she send the first quilt. So it never arrived here and she generously offered to make another one.
Which arrived some time during the weekend - I jsut found the notice card to pick it up this afternoon (hence then "in the dark" pictures). Well I like it very much, freash summery colours for a dark time.

And hehe yes there are some nerds - I blame Dawn, she send some of them when the DQ-Swap started, and I sort of like them a great deal. They just taste like nothing I get here. Ehh I just need to figure out how to open the box.

Ohh and of course I had a wonderful time at home ... doing a photo shooting with the (can I still call it) birhtday kid in the garden - ehh yes before the serious work began, there is no earth on the quilt:

And now the reason why I constantly complain about the lack of mountains in the area I live in at the moment

Leo

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Wednesday

This is a mixed post - I should be packing, I'm going home tomorrow.

But I first had to celebrate with a Pumpkin Pie - my BA thesis is now waiting in line for the two Profs to grade it.It was very delicious, with some whipped cream, Japanese cinnamon tea and a few hours of card games ...

And I got tagged by Catherine from Knotted Cotton I'm not a fan of the chain things, but I will answer her questions of course ..

So - WIP pictures and answers mixed together -I started on the binding for my mum's birthday present:

Why do you blog?

Hmm good question - I don't know anyone sewing that actually lives anywhere close by, I like to get comments that why I do is nice and not get those "aha and what do you sew taht for?" - guestions. Ohh and of course it's a way to use my English, it's one thing to read and watch movies, actually having to write it is harder

What is your favourite thing about blogging?

To discover new ideas, whatch pictures, get to knew random things about other peoples lifes .. I'm curious and nosy. Getting nice comments I can answer to -  that is more than just: "I like the orange", "That is nice"

Would you consider that you are the same person in real life?

No - absolutely not ... I'm much nicer on the internet, but that's probably becuase it's easier to ignore not so well liked individuals. But my tendency to start babbling is always there - not always to my advantage.

I finished and sent of some bee blocks:

What would you change in your life, if you could?

Hmm my life hasn't been long yet, there aren't really any bad choices I wish I could change. Except - I would want to go back to my 18th birthday and not make my mum so mad that she refused to make a cake (I had a talent for that)

Where is your favourite place to be?

Ohh that is a hard one, anywhere with mountains and forrest around could become a favourite place - I'm just not made for flat coasts ... I always love the sense of "feeling whole and home" when my train goes through the first mountainy region while travelling towards "home".

Do you admire anyone (historical or contemporary) and why?

My mum, she put up with me for 21 years - I'm not always easy

A historical person - well I think there are too many amazing people that just made a living and went by completely unnoticed, so I don't think I want to pick anyone famous.

 
I came a litle fiurther on a secret swap item:

What would you do, given sufficient funds?

I want a house with enough land for a huge garden, a small part near the back door with vegetables and a big orchard further back. Ohh and some sheep ... Ohh and all of that preferably in cycling distance to a workplace - just in case I run out of funds.

What makes you happy?

Very philosophical - making others happy .... on a lower scale - running around in a warm downpour during a summer thunder storm, go sledging in winter, build snowmen, have someone do the dishes after I cooked ... a cup of hot chocolate and a good book in the evening ... 

What is your favourite food?

That is a righ out mean question - how am I to decide, I love chocolate sure, but always chocolate - no thanks. I  enjoy traditional Swabian dishes (don't feel bad if you don't know any), I like lasagna, I like porridge, I like vanilla ice cream with hot raspberries ... ohh I could write down a nearly endless list. I do not like most of the innards, I'm no potato fan and I do not like leek soup. Oh and I'm a bit vary of seafood.

Ohh and I got talked into joining a QAL (now that I'm almost doen with my first - see the birthday present) - so I picked the colours, I just forgot to put the orange on the pile ...

Have you ever had an adventure?

Ohh sure - well for me they were adventures. 

What is the thing you've done of which you are most proud?

 I have not the slightest idea - I don't think I ever really did anything special, I jsut do what needs to be done ...

And the tag asked for eleven random (11) things about myself
1 I'm a bookworm
2 I own far too many DVDs
3 I enjoy a good beer
4 I love driving a tractor
5 I write tons of snail mail
6 I don't like telephones
7 I can't decide between tea and coffee
8 I will be done with my Bachelor in Spring
9 I like dark bread with butter and raspeberry jam
10 I wear woolen socks in the months with an "r" unless it's really really warm

11 I collect all sorts of things

Oh my that is one wordy post - sorry.

Leo

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