Q1 Finish A Long 2015

Lately I do not feel like blogging so what a coincidence that one of the reasons therefore is the Q1 List. It is time to have a look at it and say some words.

When I made my list at the beginning of the year I was totally sure I will finish at least two of the items on the list. One was for a swap and the other for my sons birthday. Only one did get finished till now ;(

Modern Irish Bee Quilt

I a feeling terrible about that. My month was in December 2014 and I asked all the ladies to please be fair and talk to me. I knew at that time most of us will not have time to make the blocks in December but I was hoping they will at least let me know when they might be finished. What a dissappointment! I am still missing most of the blocks and none of them was fair enough to write me a message! 

Modern Stitching Bee Quilt

This is an other long story and full of dissapointment too. I did not receive two blocks and to get an even number I prepared myself to make the blocks. It was a coincidence that someone offered me to make the blocks (I had already all the fabrics cut and ready to sew) if I make the blocks she does not want to make. I did make them but she neither came back to me when she might be finished nor did she give me back my precuts. I am terrible sad about that as I asked a million times to talk to me ...

Games of Thrones Quilt

This is the birthday quilt and it is my fault it is not done. The top is finished and I started quilting but we are waiting for the binding fabric as we both, my son and me, desided to go for a different one than we had planed. I love this quilt and am so proud how it looks so far but now it is to be patient to wait for the fabric to arrive

Big Fat Beauty Pillow

This was just burried under the Games of Thrones quilt and there it is still waiting for me.

Snowflake gloves

I did one of the gloves but it is to tight so I have to start it all over again. But in the meantime it got nice and warm so there was just no need to do so

MakeAQuiltMakeAFriend Swap

Finally this one is done! It is already with its new owner who has the same name :) She loves it, she hung it up and I am so happy about that.

So this is my Q1! Not what I was expecting and maybe not a good posting after a long time absent but I did not want to be silent. I took part in bees and no matter what I only asked them to talk to me. I know life can be hard, cruel and unfair but I think it is rude just to let others make blocks and not making theirs. 

  

Going away ...

Sometimes you have to go away. It was already some time ago Rachel asked me to join a sewing meeting but it needed a kick from May to finally book the flights. It was the perfect timing and it was an amazing weekend. Everyone had planed to sew bee blocks or pin cushions or whatever .. except me! I did not plan anything! So when I arrived I was not prepared for sewing but at least I had my knitting with me. Just in case there might be some time.

We went fabric shopping the next day and as I only had planed at this time I might find fabrics for one more bee block for Rachel, I found something else: Sweatshirt fabric! In purple! A pig piece! I would loved to get a black one too but this was perfect for my girls hoody she asked for. I also found a jersey usefull for the hood. I still had not planed to make the hoody but Rachel can be really bossy and because she has a serger she intended that I use it. So we sat on the computer looking for the pattern somewhere in my email account and after a long time (I would have given up ages ago) we found it, printed it, sticked the pieces together and were ready for sewing.

Hoody Size 158

I have to say I am so happy that she did! I have never used a serger before but it is so much easier and especially faster than the fake overlock stitch I have on my machine. So while I could read a book when I am overlocking on my sewing machine I could make 3 hoodies the same time. I am so delighted with the end result.

Hoody Size 158 with hood

There was only the cuffs I had to finish at home but just because we did not have the right fabric therefore. Otherwise this hoody was made in no time. We also used a gorgeous rainbow thread for the seams. So in the morning I packed the rest of the fabric and the hoody but after lunch we were quite exhausted but not sleepy enough. Just because the serger was still threaded and the leftover piece was quite huge so why not make an other one. There is still lots of time left before we had to leave the island. Unpacking the farbics and cutting again. There was just not enough for a hoody but why not make a turtle neck. We had great fun desiding on the go what and how we wanted to make the second "hoody" but after about an hour it was done (missing the cuffs again of course).

Hoody size 134 with turtle neck

This time we made it for my little girl size 134. First she was not happy not getting a hood but when she figured out she can hide in the turtle neck she was having great fun peeking out. The girls had great fun trying them on and dancing around. Thank you so much Rachel for all the help. I am delighted to have learned so much and now I know some easy and fast ways. Tomorrow they can finally wear them for school. I am pretty sure they hope for a cold day to get the most out of it.

Hoody size 134

Thank you so much for a wonderful weekend with so much fun! It was fantastique!

There is a "wurm" in the house

It is this time of the year when I am sewing like mad and trying to finish my sons birthday quilt. I did not expect him to ask me for an other one but he did. I chose the fabrics already weeks ago and had them all sorted until I run out of the white one ... just for one inch!!!! So now I am patiently waiting until more arrives. It would be boring to do nothing so I did some knitting.

I thought this one might be for myself but my little cheeky monkey took it not only for the photo shoot. I found this pattern on ravelry and as it was writen by girls knitting in Vienna and because it is calles "Wurm" I needed to make it. They are right, it is an unisex beanie and even my son would wear it .. just maybe in different colors.

I love that is has a doubled cuff which makes it so nice and cosy. I am pretty sure even if my feet are frozen on the pitch at the next ruby match at least my ears are warm. Just need to get it back from this monkey :)

Bag tester

I love testing patterns. It is a lovely way to get challenged and to learn something. I was already lucky to test the messanger bag for Katy and this time I had the chance to make my own travel bag. Did you also see so many quilter travel handmade? I was so jaleous but could never get over my fear and get started. Testing is a good way to finally just do it.

A long time ago I got myself 2m of London-Map fabric and never really found the right way to use it. I did use scraps of it but 2m is quite huge. We have a London trip planed in April so this was the oppertunity I was looking for to finally use at least half of it.

no, there is no picture without her

The pattern was straight forward and with the template how to get the most out of the fabric it was easy peasy. The only problem here is to get the supplies but it worked out fine at the end. I had to change the snaps on the front to magnetic snaps but this is just a little tiny adaption ...

There are so many pockets and I love it. There is nothing more terrible than searching in the bag. Pockets and zips, so many places to loose my stuff! Only the key can he chained in the ring ...

I love to carry the bag over my shoulder but sometimes it is handy to use handles. Now I have both and if I do not want the long strap any more, I can just unclip it.

I am so happy that I could test the pattern and make my trip to London in style. I am pretty sure I will never get lost there again :) Thank you Katy and good luck with the pattern! It was fun and I am so lucky to have my own Katy-Traveller-Bag!

Midtermbreak

Sometimes you need a break and guess what: here it is! The children are of school (but not all other activities) so there is not much time for sewing. Actually I try hard to finish the birthday quilt for my son (which I just started) but today after one block I took my girl and let her make the "City Gym Shorts" herself. I already had the fabric cut. She had to chose a second one for the binding and than we could get started. 

It did not take long until I broke the needle. Unfortunately I only had a jersey needle left but this one did fine. We need to get new ones tomorrow but today someone desided to stay on the sofa and have a good rest.

The rest came together nicely. She was so happy that she tried them on and dit not take them off again. She was asking for short pj trousers some weeks ago and it looks like we found the perfect pattern therefore.

I love the pattern. It is straight forward and easy to follow. This short was made in such a short time that she did not have time to get bored or exhaustet. Wonderful! 

Foggy Ireland

I have to say this winter was mild and nice. No frozen pipes! no closed schools! There was only one day in November, when the boys had a match, it was so foggy, it was hard to find the ball. It was strange not seing from one end of the pitch to the other but the boys had fun. Last week I went down to the beach to find this ...

On a normal day you can see over to the other side of the bay but this day you were trapped in fog. The same as today. So when we left Galway this morning to go up to Claremorris for the girls blitz we were arriving here ...

The girls had fun but I always forget how wet the ground is in these conditions. Of course my shoes were soaked in minutes but who cares! We had a great day and when we came back to Galway the sun was waiting for us :)

Birthday party again

Last week I showed you the wide open pouch for the birthday girl on Friday. Today it is all about the birthday girl on Saturday. This lady turned 8 and is in class with my little one. You know, the one who is promissing pouches to all the girls for their birthday. So I had to sit down and make an other one but to be honest, I love them. I made a flat pencil case using two economic blocks got in a swap a long time ago. This time it was about fashion: a pretty dress and nail polish! Isn't that perfect for a little lady?

For the inside I used some polka dots. I think they are always perfect. I did a little quilting on the front using a varigated pink thread. This is still one of my favorites and I just love the effect it gives.

We did not put lots of sweets inside but pencils so she can use it straight away. I was so pleased when I got the text message from her mum saying she loves it! This is the best compliment I could get!

Pouches are the best birthday gifts

It is always hard to find a present for the birthday child especially as they already have everything they want. I made a little pouch for birthday girl last week and it looks like she is happy with it. So I thought it might be a good idea to make two more. The first one for a girl getting 12 so she needs one that is slightly bigger. My son chose fabrics and style (Noodle head) and I was the lucky one putting it together.

It might have been a mistake to promise to fill this with sweets but I had to keep it. Even if I chose to make the medium size it is really huge. The tutorial was great and it was really easy sewing.

He really chose a fun fabric. For the zipper end I tried to fussy cut one of the gorgeous prints. When I was finished I realised it might have been a good idea to put a snap at the end but it was to late. I did not want to ruin the bag again as usually the snaps are not so easy to attach. Next time ... maybe!

Last I put on a charm on the zip and than I was done ready to go sweet shopping :)

Linking up with Finish it up Friday

Sewing for the boy

My son has come to an age where it is hard to find clothes that are cool but not babyish. He had a hard time finind one hoody he likes but otherwise our search to fill the cupboard is usually without success. So the next step is to make them myself. We found a pattern and were eager to start until we realised: there is no place to get farbics! I always thought that is unique to quilting fabrics but that was not true! I love to touch the fabric I buy especially on clothes but we had to order again. I only ordered a "trialfabric" as there are so many different discriptions out there that I got totally confused.

The good thing about that shop is, you can order samples (what I did) and I have to say they are fast! So my morning was blocked with printing pattern, glue the pages together and after cut them again. At lunchtime I was ready to trace the pattern on the fabric and could start sewing. The pattern was straight forward - except: I am not that into cloth sewing so if you want me to make two sides of one template please tell me to flip the it!

So I had to cut the hoody twice ;( Anyway I made it almost through before the rugby training and finished the last three seams after. Just in time before he had to go to bed to have a go! He loves it!!!! And what about me? There are several things I am not happy with: the fabric is to thin, the hoody makes waves, the pocket shows the inside fabric, ... oh I could keep going!

On the other hand he is happy with it and wears it every day! But this is exactly what I wanted isn't it? So I have to forget about the little mistakes and be happy too! His sister already asked for one too so I might go big shopping to make at least one more.

Work in Progress ... or so

There is not much sewing going on in this house at the moment. I had great fun yesterday going to my son's school and making cinamon roles with his class. It took the whole morning but there was also a lot of time waiting while the dough was resting. I was prepared therefore and had my knitting with me. After three days one sock is almost done and the other one already started. These are so fast and she is happy with the fitting :)

no, I did not put the needle there!

There has also been some shopping the last weeks and finally it is all here. My son chose white and blue for his birthday quilt and I have to cut a million squares now. It is going to be awsome ... if it works out :D so wish me luck (I see myself doing the same procedure as last year: quilting at 2 am on his birthday)

If I will ever find time there are some more fabrics I can use  .. I don't know what for but am sure there will be the perfect project one day :) I can start this weekend as my little one is invited to a birthday party and I like to make her a pencil case or just a zipper pouch. 

The last fabrics arriving here might be perfect for a pillow for my little one. Just as long as she is small enough and not asking for cool stuff.

I have a lot of plans the next days including a lot of rugby and taking pictures in action! Happy weekend :)

Waterford and a short stop in Kilkenny

This year the weather during the Christmas break was not so bad and we desided to head south. For only two days we went down to Waterford. We chose a gorgeous hotel in the middle of town which had a swimming pool just in case it would be raining all day. Time to relax and do nothing, that was the plan!

Ok, it is not me doing nothing. The next morning after a nice breakfast we went of to conquer the town. Unfortunately the Waterford Christals were closed that day and only the showroom was open to have a look around and shop. We watched the movie in the hall but shortly after it was finished we headed on to the museum. We had a very interesting guide who discovered with us the story of Waterford and Strongbow. First thing we learned is that Connacht, Munster, Leinster and Ulster are not (only) rugby teams!

Waterford has been a very rich city in the early years but it was also often involved in war and intrigues. Of course the catholic church played a big role in Waterford too. Not a long time ago they accidantly found the cloth of gold. It is faszinating walking around and looking at all the details. Just stunning!

The weather was getting better and we headed of to Hook's lighthouse in county Wexford. I have never been in a lighthouse and could not wait to get there. We chose to take the fast way and crossed the river by ferry instead of driving around.

As soon as you are in the middle of the river you can spot the lighthouse even if it took another half an hour to get there. The lighthouse is open all year and can be visited by a guided tour only. Every floor has its own story and it is very interesting.

It looked so much more fun when I was watching "Eliot, das Schmunzelmonster" a long long time ago. This lighthouse is the second oldest standing but the oldest still working and on our way back we could see the light blinking. It is said they are going to shut it down soon which I found really sad.

The next day we made our way back home. This time we wanted to take the way passing Kilkenny where we could have a short walk around. It was very quiet there (of course, it was Sunday morning). We parked in a shopping center in town and walked of. Shortly later we found the castle where we finished the history lesson. The castle was refurbished so only the outer walls are real while the rest inside is mostly rebuild. Of course we met Strongbow again and one lady was so nice to open the childrens playroom. It is fascinating in a time of tablets, laptop and television the children still get big eyes playing with the toys from a long time ago.

It was a great way to spent the Christmas break and learn a little more about the country we live in. I would love to go again and see the Chrystals and have a visit to Wexford too.

Schnitzel and Boom Swap

I love swaps! It always gives me the oppertunity to try something I usually would not make. This was the third round of this swap but the first for me.  It was also the first time I did a swap on Instagram. It is different to the other ones and there are still some things I need to get used to but it was a great adventure.

There are 950 participants in this swap so we got seperated in different groups. I was in group MofABriawna and it was fun. It was a little more quiet than the swaps I used to participate but that has do do with me not following all in the group. The first email inculded my partner and I had to laugh out lout when I read her name: Anneliese! Yeah, me and my partner shared the same name! How fun is that? The rest I had to read over and over again. Let me show you what she wrote:

Fabric Likes: ......., metallics, batiks, black and white, coral, pale blue, all of the greens in the universe

Greens? Greens! Lucky me homework can be boring so I took out all the magazines and books I had included my green fabrics and some batics I had in stock and started searching for the right pattern. I also used a colorwheel to find a complimentary color to give the greens a little splash.

When I found the Dresden template I knew this is it going to be. I made stripes out of three greens and one orange, cut a freezer paper template for the Dresden and started cutting. After I made the corner on the Dresden I put them together in order so the orange is "walking" outwards.

I love this bird sitting on the wheel. I quilted in rounds in four different colors: red, yellow, green and grey leaving the peaks floppy on the background. I used a FQ of batic blue I had but it was slightly to small for the dresden so the corners now are on the binding which I love.

The only struggle I had was the label. I usually forget about them but this time I tried to use the ones Ali designed. I cut a piece of freezer paper and ironed some fabric on top. It went throught the printer but the sounds were quite scaring. The printer survived and half of the label looked great. The other was wonky! I cut the label in half and put the upper (good looking part) in one corner and wrote on an other piece of fabric for the other corner. I hope my partner don't mind :D

This morning, when my phone woke me up there was the big surprise! Whyle I was sleeping this little mini arrived at Anneliese's house! I was so pleased to read all the comments. I have to thank everyone as this was quite out of my comfort zone. I am so glad she likes it! Thank you for being my partner! I really like what I made :)

This is my first finish of FAL 2015 and I am glad to have something to link up with crazy mom quilts

Finish A Long 2015 - The Q1 List

I am looking forward to our new host Adrianne.

It is going to be an other fun year finishing projects I once maybe a long time ago, I put on the shelf! Some of them have to be finished and some have a deadline but one or the other might just be there because I have an idea and I want to see it become real.

1. Modern Irish Bee Quilt

The blocks are arriving and hopefully this quilt will be done at the end of Q1

2. Modern Stitching Bee Quilt

someone is waiting to snuggle in so time to get it done

3. Games of Thrones Quilt

a quilt all about the house of Tully and Game of Thrones for my boy's birthday

4. Big Fat Beauty Pillow

Made the top and started quilting but I did not like it. Need to rip it and start again so I can replace the Christmas pillow on the Sofa

5. Snowflake gloves

these are going to be for my little girl and she loves gloves 

6. MakeAQuiltMakeAFriend Swap

don't want to spoil the color but hopefully I get it finished in time

There are some more projects on an other list and I hope to get them done too but with three quilts it is going to be challenging enough. So fingers crossed and with a little support from my "designers" there should be at least two finishes!