The Yellow Lessons Learned Quilt

I recently finished another quilt. A quilt that is definitely not one of my favourites. But I learned a lesson or two making it.

I started out with some improv blocks I made about 1,5 years ago. Then we had an improv class during our MQG Bielefeld meeting last year. I neither liked the improv cutting nor the colors.

I decided to combine them with a rich and saturated yellow – now was better – but still not exactly my cuppa.

I had that quilt top sitting around for a year or so before I started basting it. And it would have stayed in that state had I not needed my basting needles for another quilt. I started quilting “Atomic Squares” on the yellow background. This design is one of my favourites from the book “Free Motion Quilting with Angela Walters”.

When I returned from London, I had learned so many new FMQ designs in Trudi’s Class that I decided to use this un-loved quilt as a Free Motion Practice Quilt and to try different FMQ designs in different areas:

Big-Ls…

Wavy lines and shells and clam shells…

A giant flower…

A feather, some swirls

…and some petals and leaves…

I used a white binding and my favourite zig zag finish.

I liked the “Atomic Squares” best and will definitely use that design again. I did not mark the fabric, I used some seams as guidelines and had a small ruler at hand to doublecheck the size of the squares from time to time.

I forgot to take a photo of the backing, it is pieced using leftovers from the top.

All in all, it is a fun little quilt, I am glad I finished it at all.

Besides the technical lessons I learned (improv cutting and piecing, colour combination, FMQ designs, etc.), I learned something more: perseverance (I finished it after all) and acceptance of imperfection (I forced myself to NOT rip out those ugly stitches).

Oh and by the way, I learned to NOT quilt so close to the edge of the quilt that half the stitches are buried underneath the binding ):

Many lessons learned – even if the result will never be a favourite. Because most of all, I learned that improv is not my cup of tea at all. Give me squares and rectangles and circles and triangles. But no more improvisional cutting and peicing, please…

Thanks for visiting!
Christine

Benzine and Adrenaline

This is completely off-topic but it was so exciting that I have to share what I did this weekend.

We left the boys with their grandparents and my husband took me to Hockenheim Racetrack. On Sunday we watched the International German Superbike Championship and on Monday he attended a racetrack training:

And then something incredible happend. I was asked if I wanted to be passenger on a BMW S1000RR. I did not even hesitate when I heard who was going to be “my” driver: former MotoGP Professional Jürgen Fuchs.

Next thing I know is this:

I borrowed a racing suit…

Jürgen explained where to place my feet, hands, butt and head (o:

and we were off…

I can’t even beginn to describe how it feels to accelerate on a 200hp machine to >200 km/h and  to come back right the next moment to 1st gear for a hairpin turn.

Let’s just say the acceleration is the fun part…

… And the throttle caused sore muscles even after only three turns.
I’d do it again anyway – as long as it is a professional driver who knows how to handle passengers (o:

Result of the day:

So many new things learned and a memorable experience won.
Thank you BMW Motorsport Crew!!!

Sorry if I bored you, I just couldn’t resist sharing this impressive adventure.
Christine

Bits and pieces

Somehow my sewing creativity is still in vacation mode. I may have left it here:

I don’t feel like starting a new quilt. I made some totes instead.
Six of those gift bags and two of those robot totes for kindergarten.

The bags are fully lined and I used some ric rac to add an extra little something.

I did some secret sewing for Brigitte (following her pattern, no creativity needed).

Then the fabrics for Annabella’s month (August) of Sew-Euro-Bee-an arrived (after they were returned once because the postman was unable to find us. Stupid fellow…). She chose a Churn Dash Block and sent out two colourful prints and some low volume bits for the background. My first Churn Dash Blocks ever and certainly not the last!

Thanks for sending out the fabrics again, Annabella! I loved making your blocks!!!

And about a week ago, Brigitte let us have a go at her longarm machine. You can read more about that MQGB adventure here.

Look at their faces… can you guess what my first stitches looked like ?! FMQ on a longarm is soooooooo difficult IMHO. Moving the machine instead of the fabric feels weird and the handles are soooooo far away from the needle.

So, not much creativity over here. I hope that I get back into the mood soon. I have not been reading blogs much and perhaps I get tempted by some eye candy when I resume my daily blog-reading routine?!

Hoping I am not the only one who feels uninspired somt times… Are you?

Have a great new week!
Christine

Newborn Kimono Top

A picture post.

My favourite part: the scrappy bias binding - made entirely from bias tape leftovers.

It’s size 0-6 months of this free pattern. Thank you for sharing, Amy!

Happy Sewing!
Christine

A fourth birthday

Last week our youngest turned four. He asked for a “Pirates” birthday party and we asked his little guests to dress up for the afternoon. And they all did! So my husband I had 7 little Pirates to entertain that afternoon.

We had a great time and the weather was oh sooooooooooooooooo nice! The kids had their cakes and dinner outside (not many sticky fingers and therefor not much dirt inside the house, yay!!!)

We had a Photo-Treasure-Hunt that took us through the forest for 40 Minutes (each clue was a photo of the place where I had hidden the next clue/photo).

The hints took us back to our sandbox where I had burried some “golden” coins, glittery “pearls”, a little glow-in-the-dark-skeleton and some glass-jewels for everyone.

To prevent the keener kids to take away ALL the treasures, they were asked to just collect the treasures that were pictured on their individual treasure-card (aka the photo I had previously made of a set of treasures).

And here is my little pirate and his big skeleton brother (-:

For dinner we had “Seasnakes with Pirate’s blood” (aka Spaghetti with tomato sauce) and some syringes filled with “Pirate’s Blood” and “Krakens’ Guck” (aka Jell-O)

We had so much fun (and I was sooooo exhausted that evening…) and I think this was a birthday party to remember (for all of us).

Next up is big bro’s birthday in October… so many preparations… so much to do…

I hope to be back with some sewing news soon!
Have a nice weekend everyone!
Christine

New to me in August

This month I tried something new. I found a super soft cotton print and decided to make a scarf. And as it was very thin I thought I could as well try to make a rolled hem…

After some unpicking (and swearing…), I finally managed to make do.

I am not even sure that I handled the special foot correctly but the scarf was hemmed eventually. More photos when that thing is gifted (o:

Have YOU tried something new? Come, share!

Happy Sewing!
Christine

Sewing Room Update

During the last weeks we made more improvements downstairs (in my sewing room).

I made a Design Wall out of one left-over woodden panel and some flannel. Yay!
Here you can see it covered with blocks from our “Sew-Euro-bee-an” online bee.

I still owe you a picture of my FMQ Setup. It is sooooooo much easier to quilt on a built-in sewing machine than on the small extension-table that I used before. Thank you again, Dad, for building this table!!!

Oh, and did I mention that my husband gave me a giant cutting mat for my cutting table as a birthday present? It is custom made so it covers the top completely.

The centimetre grid ends at 145 cm!!!

But the most important thing and the best decision ever-ever-ever is this addition:

We moved in an old table and two IKEA chairs and most of our boys’ creative stuff. This decision was made after they “accidentially” coloured our sofa with their felt-tip markers. I made room on the shelves for their crayons, felt-tip pens, pencils, stencils, stamps, small scissors, colouring books, blank and coloured sheets of paper, decorative-hole-punchers and of course for their perler beads.

Somehow my boys love perler beads. Our youngest (who BTW turns 4 next week) is so proud when he covered a “mould” entirely with beads. And above you can see our eldest (almost 6 yrs) who loves to invent new forms and shapes.

Together we regularly (almost daily!) spend an hour or two crafting downstairs. I really enjoy watching their progress and sharing my passion for crafts with them.

The downside is that the craft room is so much messier now (at least I can now pretend that it’s the boys who make it messy… ehem)…

When I our eldest turns 6 in October I plan to give him his first sewing book. I showed him how to hand sew a little felt bunny this easter and he was quite keen to try it again. With the long winter months ahead I thought it might be a good idea to revisit hand stitching. I thought I’d give him “Sewing School: 21 Sewing Projects Kids Will Love to Make”. Any objections or better ideas? I’d love to hear what you think about sewing books for kids.

Happy crafting everyone (o:
Christine

P.S. If you came over from Ellison Lane Quilts and her “Studio Spotlight”, here are two more photos of my sewing room to give you a better idea.
And you can find even more photos here…

Thanks for visiting!