Head over heels for Bloggers' Quilt Festival

I haven't blogged that much recently but that didn't mean I wasn't sewing. I was actually working on a new quilt which I proudly present for the Bloggers' Quilt Festival!

This is also my first custom made quilt for the wife of a dear colleague. She wanted a quilt with turqouise and green and rather dark colours as it might be that their dog is snuggeling up in the quilt as well, so no white. I met the two around Christmas and brought a selection of my fabrics in the desired colours and also colours which accompany the combination.

I also brought all my quilts (..aham, four in total in fairness) to show her what a quilt is actually made of and how it feels. She picked beautiful fabrics and I was really happy that she liked my Gogglebox quilt so much that she wanted the same design for herself.

 
So I combined greens and turquoise with some splashes of red and grey and opted for this beautiful anthracite Oakshott fabrics for the grid and binding.

For the back I opted for a similar design to Gogglebox repeating three blocks and the grid with solid fabrics.

Due to heavy work load and only weekend sewing sessions it took me until now (end of May) to finish the quilt. I also only issue it at the very last minute for the Bloggers' Quilt Festival.

I free motion quilted in two different thread colours, again green and turquoise, and it really stands out on the anthracite fabrics and the light grey at the back.

I'm very happy with this quilt which I named 'Head over heels' due to the elegant Oakshott grid and splashes or red. I'm already having a hard time letting it go, it needs to go in the wash one more time and then it can go to it's new owners.

I'm happy to participate the second time in the Bloggers' Quilt Festival, this is such a great online quilt show!

I have made some key rings

I actually made these ages ago, but never got to write the blog post about it. But here they are:

All were presents to dear friends.
The first three made with ribbons from Luzia Pimpinella, a very talented blogger from Germany with a huge following. She blogs about life style, diy, photography, travel and all sorts of quirky stuff. Check her out!

And here's two with ribbons with graphics from my hometown and home area! One is for my brother and the other for my husband, he opted for the green felt, bit of Ireland in it too! 

These key rings are so easy and quick to do and they are a great small present. They won't be the last I make!

Happy Easter everyone!

Quip # 4 - Quilt in progress - Plus One

As promised I'll share the 'making of' my Plus One Quilt today in another QuiP post.
This Quip should have actually been posted before the post of the finished quilt but I was so excited about it that I couldn't wait.

So, and this is how it all started:

Selecting fabrics. I happen to collect a lot of low volume fabrics and they all seem to go very well with blues, greens and yellows and oranges.

I found a plus block tutorial with a lot of 3/4'' dimensions and that made me crazy... growing up and being used to metric dimensions that was not for me. Ultimately the first block went wrong. I found another tutorial with full or half inches and that worked better.
But even though the block was hopelessly wonky I thought I'll keep it anyway and make a rug out of it for my jewelry at the bedside table.

But everything went wrong with that one...
I wanted to try quilting parallel lines ... and that went wrong too. I rushed it and I did everything wrong what one can do wrong while quilting. Oh, and not to forget the the binding... that also went wrong and looks rather horrible. I rushed this as well...

The only good thing was it taught me a lesson.

- If you follow a tutorial, follow the tutorial.
- Preparation is everything.
- Be precise, don't rush.

With the other blocks I was really careful and they turned out to be really nice and square.

I knew I had to do something with the quilting, even though it's 'only' straight lines there is so much to it!  
I am on Craftsy and I joined the new class by Jacquie Gering 'Creative quilting with your walking foot' which is excellent and very helpful.
But she also has this tutorial on her blog.

So I taped the entire quilt and started quilting.

Nice and slow, always checking if I was still on track.

Using the little bar attached to the sewing machine really helped, but without the control measuring I would have been hopelessly off.

I quilted the lines every 1/2 inch apart because in fairness the lines were sometimes still off by almost 1/4 inch or even more.

But I am so happy how it turned out!
Here it is again:

As for the jewelry rug: reminds me every day that mistakes can only make you better!

Linking this to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced and Sew Cute Tuesday!

BlockMquilts turns one - I have organised my scraps

One year into blogging and making quilts I thought it was time to organise my scraps.

After eight quilts and a few other things I've sewn in the last year I had scraps and fabric left overs everywhere. Mostly in little plastic bags, one from every sewing project.

This really started to annoy me so I was looking into options as to how to keep the scraps in one place, tidy and organised by colours.

I found these really nice over sized jars during a trip to Ikea. They hold one liter, are about 7 inches (18cm) high and about 4 inches (10cm) in diameter. I have seen people using these in their kitchens filling them with pasta and rice and all sorts of food... well, I have a different agenda!

I started off with buying 8 of them, but quickly realised that I needed more to cater for every colour. I first had yellow and orange in one jar and also turquoise and blue but realised that they need an own space. So now I have 11 of them.

I know the glasses are rather small, but I think this is good because my plan is to use up the scraps as quickly as possible. What I love about the glasses is that I can see the scraps all the time. I keep on changing the glasses so that colours are always in different locations. That's almost like having a scraps design wall!
 

Naturally I did my first scrap project straight away: a coffee cozy!

My husband loves coffee and  so I made one for him.
I opted for greys, yellows and browns and used a strip of velcro rather than a button, I thought this is a bit more manly!

We have these cardboard coffee thingies laying around the house all the time. So I just took one apart added the width of the velro on each side and finished was the cozy!

It's funny, I can actually see every sewing project in that tiny little thing.
I'm glad, my husband is actually using it and we have less rubbish at home.

How do you store your scraps?

Linking this to the German Montagsmacher!

My first finish in 2015 - Plus One

I have my first finished quilt in 2015 to show: Plus One!

I showed photos of the first plus blocks already in November in line with my turn of the Around The World Blog Tour as it was still in progress. Now it's finally finished and I'm very happy how it turned out!

I used a selection of solid fabrics in different shades of green, orange, yellow and blue.
Ever since I've seen this beautiful quilt by NZ quilter Adrianne of 'On the windy side' I wanted to make one myself and started collecting lots of low volume fabrics and started sewing the first blocks.

I went with a simple diagonal straight line quilting with what will be my all time favourite Aurifil thread with colour shades from white to light grey. The colour changes of the thread are so subtle but still visible and give the quilting a beautiful depth.

 

 And that's how the back looks like: 

Almost as nice as the front! 

I just love the little orange birdies of Lotta Jansdotter's fabric line 'Bella'!

So why is there a 'one' in the quilt?
Well first of all I always try to come up with something different in my quilt designs, even if it is a quilt block design which has been done so many times by other quilters. In this case I just wanted to add a bit of interest and draw the attention to the 'one' in the quilt as it stands for my 'plus one' - my husband!
I placed the 'one' so that when I'm wrapped up in the quilt on our couch that the 'one' points towards my husband.... awww! 

And here he is:

Always supporting me and holding up my quilts for photo shootings - thank you!

I really like the +1 idea, the next baby quilt I'll do might have l+l=ll in lovely baby colours? I'll see how this turns out. Already excited about that!

I had a few difficulties with these blocks at the beginning.... I will do another blog post about it later and will also tell you about how I did the straight line quilting.

Linking this to the German Montagsmacher and  Crazy Mom Quilts!

Fresh start - please comment

New year, fresh start.

As I started my blog in March last year I didn't know that I only made commenting on my blog posts available for Google+ users... I want to change this now as some people stated that they would love to leave a comment but don't want join Google, which is understandable.
So I checked out my settings and I found the box I need to untick in order to make commenting available also for non-Google account holders. But I will automatically loose ALL the lovely comments I got since I started my blog (respectively: they will not be visible anymore...unless there is a computer nerd amongst you who can tell me how I get them back???).
All these lovely comments will only visible on my Google+ account.

I have been avoiding this decision for quite some time but have now decided that I will change the settings to make commenting available for everyone with whatever account. 
I'm very sad to see my blog 'blank' with no comments at all...

So you guys, go ahead and comment and make me a happy girl again!

At this point I want to thank everyone who visits my blog and make me feel that I don't only write this all for myself! Thank you!

Quilts I made in 2014

Here is just a quick mosaic with the finished quilts from 2014.

I'm very proud of all these beauties to be honest. I made all of these!!!
I am also very excited about 2015 and all the things to come.
Happy new year to you all!

A published Christmas table runner!

Oh, I'm very excited to show you my very first publication today!
Oh Mann, ist das aufregend, ich kann euch heute meine erste Veröffentlichung zeigen! 

I have been asked by the German Patchworkgilde if I wanted to contribute towards the latest issue of their magazine with a theme of 'Modern Christmas'. I didn't have to think twice. Of course I wanted!
Als ich von der Patchworkgilde gefragt wurde ob ich zum Thema Modern Christmas etwas beisteuern möchte musste ich nicht lange überlegen. 

The only problem was that I had never sewn something for Christmas before and now I needed to submit photos within 4 days, well then.... a few late night sewing sessions later I had it done. 
Das einzige Problem war dass ich noch gar nichts weihnachtliches genäht hatte und nur 4 Tage Zeit hatte bis zum Einsendeschluss von Fotos. Ein paar nächtliche Nähstunden später war ich dann aber fertig.

I decided to make a table runner for my kitchen dining table. I made improv Christmas trees with assorted brown and red fabrics from my stash and despite my white dining table top I opted for a white background fabric. I then chose a bright red binding so that the table runner really stands out and the red 'pearl bracelet' fabric by Lizzy House was just perfect for it.
Ich habe mich für einen Tischläufer entschieden und dafür rote und braune Stoffe aus meinem Vorrat benutzt. Trotz des weißen Esstisches habe ich einen weißen Hintergrundstoff gewählt, der mit dem knallroten Binding aus dem roten  'pearl bracelet' Stoff von Lizzy House aber perfekt passt. 

In the magazine is actually a tutorial by Brigitte Heitand of Zen Chic who explains exactly how I did my modern Christmas trees for this table runner too. There's actually another great tutorial by Christa Watson of Christa Quilts using the same method.
Im selben Heft gibt es auch ein Tutorial von Brigitte Heitand of Zen Chic wo genau erklärt ist wie ich auch meine Weihnachtsbäume genäht habe. Es gibt außerdem hier ein Tutorial von Christa Watson of Christa Quilts wo das auch noch einmal erklärt wird.

It actually was strange to get out all Christmas decoration in mid October to take the photos, but it also really made me look forward to Christmas!
Es war schon ein bisschen komisch Mitte Oktober den ganzen Weihnachtsschmuck für die Fotos rauszuholen, aber seit dem habe ich mich sehr auf Weihnachten gefreut.

The table runner is roughly 40 x 190 cm / 16 x 74'' in size and here it is again in all it's beauty!
Der Tischläufer ist ca.  40 x 190 cm groß und hier noch mal in ganzer Schönheit zu sehen!

I just want to take the opportunity to wish you all a peaceful and happy Christmas!
Ich wünsche euch allen ein friedliches und frohes Weihnachstfest!

I'm linking this with the German Montagsmacher!

Around The World Blog Tour - Welcome to Germany!

I have been nominated by my Blogger friend Sarah of Cedar Fork Stitches for this Around The World Blog Tour all the way from Montana, USA. She did a great blog post, so go and have a look!

So, there are five questions to answer, here we go:

How does your writing/ creating process work?
Inspiration is everywhere. Before I started quilting... well, I won't say that I didn't take much notice of the world I live in but since I started sewing quilts I see quilt patterns everywhere! In advertising for example.
 

Some pavements would make great quilts! 

 A trip to Ikea can make me all excited as there are suddenly five quilts I want to make!

There's also inspiration in people's clothing or bags. Therefore I always have a small sketch book with me to quickly sketch what I've just seen or even take a sneaky photo with my mobile phone. 

I also use the sketch books to simply put my thoughts on paper, and most importantly draw up the quilt designs.

I also have some great books where I draw my inspiration from. Most of them I bought during my honeymoon in May 2013 in the States (most people probably buy clothing and souvenirs, I bought quilting books and fabric!).

My husband gave me a subscription to the Magazine 'Love Patchwork & Quilting' as a Christmas gift last year, this is such a great magazine!
I also follow endless creative blogs, I love Flickr and I'm active there as well. The online quilting community is such a great place to dive into!

So I am constantly collecting ideas; with some of them eventually materialising into quilts and other things I sew. 

How does my work differ from others of its genre?
Well, that's a difficult question. I'm only quilting for 1.5 years so I guess I haven't found my own style yet. I always try to come up with something unique in my quilts, something I haven't seen before even if it's a pattern that has been done by other quilters lots of times I try to make it my own.

My Phoenix quilt for example was inspired by the 'Ice Blue Quilt' by Jacquie Gering and Katie Pedersen from their book 'Quilting Modern'. I used the crazy piecing technique and followed the basic principle of the quilt blocks but made the quilt my own.

As for my Regatta quilt: this quilt was inspired by the 'Step Lively' quilt by Kathreen Ricketson from her book 'little bits Quilting Bee'. I used the same piecing principle but took a completely different approach on the design.

But I'm also happy to follow tutorials and work from patterns if I like the design. There are so many beautiful quilt and block designs out there by so many talented people, so why not make one of their designs? And I still consider myself a beginner, continuously practising different piecing methods and free motion quilting. So far I have used different quilting designs on all my quilts and I am not afraid of trying something new and to continuously expand my quilty comfort zone.

So I don't really know what I do differently to others, I guess I just try to make great quilts!

What are you working on?
Oh, there are so many things!

I have finished my 'Sea Breeze' quilt top, I had a QuiP about it in summer.

I just can't decide on a design for the back, and since this is quite a summery design and a small quilt size I guess this can wait until spring.

I have made some maple leave blocks recently. I really like these blocks, they were my first attempt to HST (half square triangles) and this is so quick to do! Well, autumn is almost over and Christmas is approaching so, hm, I'll finish it next autumn then...  :0)

I have also just finished a 'secret' as yet to be published Christmas table runner which I made for the forthcoming issue of the German Patchworkgilde magazine. The magazine comes out on December 15th and I'm quite excited about it! I will blog about it later, for now I can only show you a small snippet here:



At least that is done on time!

Furthermore there is this plus quilt I am working on that I have 3/4 of the blocks already finished and I hope to have the quilt done by the end of this year.
 

And I also started crocheting (or 'croshiting' like my mother in law puts it). My dear friend Eva made  a loop scarf herself which I admired a lot. I asked her if she would show me how to do it. So I just bought some wool and a needle and started. Despite my aversion towards wool and knitting from a primary school crafting class trauma I guess some 30 years after that I'm finally over it. It's actually fun and at the moment I enjoy sitting on the sofa, cuddled up in a quilt and crocheting away.

Why do I write/ create what I do?
As an architect I am drawn to clear lines, shapes and the simplicity of things in general. I tend to have a minimalistic approach in my quilt designs (that's actually the 'M' in blockMquilts!) and try to follow the principle of ' less is more' (quote by star architect Mies van der Rohe).

Studying architecture was a lot of fun, it's very creative and I could expand on my design skills, make 3D drawings, renderings, make models of my designs and set out drawings and presentations. College projects aren't real, so you can go a bit crazy on them as no client needs to be convinced and doesn't have to pay for it.

I worked  for almost 14 years on building sites managing the construction process, writing specifications, doing quality and cost control, assessing and approving invoices up until the hand over to a happy client.

This is a very rewarding but also a very stressful and time consuming job with very little design input or space for creativity. Unless you consider it creative to solve problems of how the air duct clashing with a cable tray can be re-routed without having to lower down the suspended ceiling; all on time and budget of course.

I didn't really miss being creative until I've seen and touched a quilt. I knew I had to make one myself! Suddenly a whole new world lay in front me and I found a new way of expressing myself by way of making something hand crafted, something individual and on top something what gives you warmth and comfort. I made a decision to change my field of work shortly before that quilt encounter, so I guess this was a happy coincident.
 

So why do I create what I do? Because I can! Because designing, making and finally cuddling up in a quilt is so rewarding and satisfying. Not to mention the reaction of people when you give them a quilt or other sewn things as a present!
I have so many ideas and, despite the new job description with almost regular working hours, I still have too little time.

So I hope you liked what you read and got some inspiration out of it.

There are so many bloggers taking part in this blog tour that I had difficulties nominating someone who hasn't blogged about it already. So if you are a blogger and if you haven't blog hopped around the world please feel free to feel nominated! Please comment here and let me know what you're up to!

I'm linking this to Quilt Story,  Freshly Pieced and the German Monday Makers aka ayliN-Nilya and Suleon.

My first QAYG Project or Why you should believe in pink

I have lots of lovely friends who love these little things which make them feel special and me feeling thankful that I have them in my life.
Ich habe viele tolle Freundinnen die diese besonderen Dinge lieben, die sie einzigartig und mich glücklich machen dass diese Menschen Teil meines Lebens sind.
For special occasions I do sew lovely things for my friends, like this zipper pouch here:
Für besondere Gelegenheiten nähe ich gern Dinge für meine Freundinnen wie diese Kosmetiktasche hier:
I made this for a friend who loves pink. Everything pink, because pink makes her happy.
Ich habe dieses Täschchen für eine Freundin genäht die Pink liebt. Alles Pink, weil Pink sie glücklich macht. 
In ihrem sehr geschmackvoll pinkig eingerichten Apartment hängt ein Poster mit einem Zitat von Audrey Hepburn und das geht so:
In her very tastefully all-sorts-of-pink decorated home she has one poster with a quote of Audrey Hepburn and that goes like this:

“I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles.”