Spring is here

some of the first flowers found in the garden

the kids are back jumping and playing in the garden

...and I was online fabric shopping.

SouleMama Sponsor This & That from Japan

and Volksfaden Spring Sale

and I´ve ordered Sew La Tea Do from Pip from Meet me at Mikes

Table runner

Yesterday I´ve tried to sew my first quilted table runner. I wanted something blue on our table but I had no tablecloth or table runner in blue, but some white blue fabric. So this is what came out in the end. Good enough for the moment but totally improvable ;)

Back and front are from blue white IKEA fabric. As batting I´ve taken some fleece from a cheap fleece blanket. Finished measurements are 48cm x 148 cm.

A new needle roll and a shawl

I´ve been a bit selfish lately and made things for me only. As I recently discovered how to sew needle rolls to organize my stuff I am on a mission to make some nice ones for me. I wasn´t very satisfied with the DPN roll I´ve made but I think the crochet hook roll turned out perfect. So I´ve tried to copy the crochet hook roll for the DPN. And it worked. The closure is not perfect jet but otherwise it is exactly how it should be. The button-hairband method for closure didn´t work, as the roll is to large and the hairband stretched to much.

And a little pincushion inbetween.

Finally I´ve finished my Stripe Study Shawl.

A nice and clean new shawl design from Veera from 100% rain


Pattern: stripe study shawl
Needle: 4mm circular
Yarn: Old Maiden Aunt Alpaca/silk (in bras taps and oak) and ColourMart Cashmere Merino Lace weight (in ecru/used double)

This was the first time for me that I´ve blocked a shawl with blocking wires and I´m impressed! Oh what a difference. Maybe I´ll get modeled shots of the shawl when the sun comes out again and someone is here to take a pic.

For now that´s all, I wish you a nice day and take care my friends.

Pillows for the boys

I just totally love this fabric (Willow grove by Alexander Henry at Volksfaden) and had to use it for something. Felix loves it too and so it became a nice pillow. The back is this fabric. And little Emil needed a pillow for himself too. He received a little bird pillow.



I wish you all a nice Sunday.

A bit of distraction

I´m so worried about the Tsunami and earthquake in Japan together with the radioactivity, meltdown, nuclear distasters that I nearly get crazy. So I do what I usually do when things get to much...I distract myself with work or recently with sewing.

From the recently bought IKEA fabric I´ve sewed 2 pillowcases for the parents bedroom. I love the little bird in the middle of the pillow. It´s so cute and the fabric very soft and smooth.

Back and front of this bag. Again IKEA fabric (a heavier one this time) with birds on it. The bag looks better in real and is the standard shopping bag with lining and pocket I´m sewing a lot lately.

To continue with the bird theme, a little birdy decoration. I just wanted to try out if I´m able by now to sew curves. I think it works now. Some weeks ago I´ve tried to sew a bird but it didn´t work out. I´m getting better.

And finally 2 little pouches, as one can never have enough pouches in the house. Just in case. I don´t know why the picture is turned side up. What a crazy day.















I wish us all the best especially the people in Japan.

The Quilt is finished

and my husband likes it. He has chosen the design and told me everything he doesn´t want in his quilt and this is how it turned out.

exactly how my husband wanted it

colourful, friendly and bright colours and a simple design and NO triangle or shar angles

the size is nice too...1.25m x 1.80m

soft back in lightgreen/natural stripes

So my dear husband has a blanket of his own for little naps or tv watching in the evening. I´m happy that he likes it and have already some ideas for future projects. But for now I´m going to sit in the sun and enjoy a wonderful warm spring day. I wish you all a nice weekend :)

So far so good

There isn´t much to show and tell these days as all the projects I´m working on are larger ones and nothings is finish ;)

But for those who are interested (and keep asking) what crafty stuff I´m doing inbetween, here are some updates.

The Quilt for my husband is put together so far. Only the binding is missing. Until now I´ve never sewed on a binding (I´ve never sewed a Quilt too), and I have to decide what fabric to take and HOW to make it first :)

                  

In the evenings when watching a bit tv I keep on knitting on my Stripe Study Shawl from time to time. 

 

 

At the beginning of the week we made a short trip to IKEA to buy some new fabric for bag making.

So not really exiting news but thats how it is. The quilting is really exciting for me. I´m happy that it is quilted and that only the binding is missing. I´m thinking of adding a binding in yellow/white stripes. For the backing I´ve used lightgreen-white striped fabric from Westfalenstoffe. It is very soft and nice. The batting is cotton batting bought at butinette. It was the online shop I found around here that carries a cotton batting for a reasonable price.

A wish you a nice rest of the week :)

Last week

 Last week I did some sewing and planning new projects. I´ve made some bags (without photo) which are already sold (yeah!!!).



I´ve sewed bed pillows for each child in his/her prefered fabric. There were so exited when I received the new fabric this week and that I decided they should get something from that colourful stash too.

Owls (Teresa), Skulls (Philipp), Peace sign (David) and Giraffes (Felix)

For my large project were I sew new covers for all the pillows on the (3 different) terrasses in our house I continued and got another 5 pillows done.

 

63 squares of "ready-to-sew" fabric for the new patchwork blanket for my dear husband.

this is how it should look when sewed together

And because a little wool playing in between is always good....

I contiued a bit on my ripple blanket....if I should get bored I already have a stole

A nice and clean new shawl design from Veera from 100% rain


Pattern: stripe study shawl
Needle: 4mm circular
Yarn: Old Maiden Aunt Alpaca/silk (in bras taps and oak) and ColourMart Cashmere Merino Lace weight (in ecru/used double)

 Stripes and garter .... I HAD to start it!

I had both yarns in stash as I´m going to knit as much from my stash as possible. But I´ve bought both yarns online. Both Old Maiden Aunt and ColourMart are UK based and excellent Online yarn suppliers with perfect customer service.

First steps

The plan for sewing a Quilt in a nice size to cover an adult is still alive. Maybe it is just going to become a Patchwork blanket but this doesn´t matter. Both would be nice.

No I don´t just throw the fabric around and clutter the floor....I am planning a quilt!

 
As the new bought fabric arrived yesterday and is washed and dryed already, I´ve started to search the house for additional fabric and found some!

old shirts from the boy and husband, 2 old skirts from me and one dress from Teresa when she was about 6

buttons are off, now the cutting begins

Because this is really not the most exciting activity, the little one takes a nap :) Oh how sweet he is!

Wish you all a nice day!!!

New stuff to play

While the new fabric that arrived today is drying...

.....and waiting to be admired and folded...






....I´m happy reading my book. I wanted this book for so long and now had the possibility to get it! It also came today and I love it! Elizabeth Zimmermann is my knitting Guru. When someone would ask me which book I love most, I would answer "The knitters Almanac" by Elizabeth Zimmermann. But "The Opinionated Knitter" seems to become a favourite too.

Which is your favourite EZ book?


The new fabric (yes I know it´s quite a bit....but you know...shiping and so...) I´ve ordered in two different online stores and both shops are great. M is for make is UK based but with moderate shipping costs to Austria and the shipping was fast! And Volksfaden which is in Berlin/Germany. Usually I don´t like to order from german shops as the shipping is always high and it often takes about 2 weeks (thats my experiances with different yarn and other online shops from Germany)...BUT Volksfaden is different. The shipping costs are not high and they ship fast! I´ve bought 3 times now from them and always got the fabric within 3-4 days. I totally recommend them, and M is for make is small but fast, friendly and nice too.

I wsih you a nice day, but have to go now....offline reading :)