week 35: Things I love

I always take lots of pictures of things I like but I never post or upload any of these.

So I came up with the idea to post every wednesday about things I love.

Feel free to join me. Post every wednesday a picture (or a few more) of things you like and tell us why.

This week I'm loving....

Having a cold iced coffee with lots of cream on a super hot & sunny day.

Hot days are rare this summer so I make sure that I have one when the sun is finally showing.

Getting candy and cakes from my dad with the cutest packaging.

It's from my fave fairy tale "Drei Hasselnüsse für Aschenbrödel". The film is from 1973 and based on Cinderella .

Cuddeling with my little Mie.

These are really rare moment because she is not the cuddle type of cat.

Spreading the love for dolls.

My little niece finally saw and played with her first Blythe. Her mum thinks Blythe are scary but I will definetly give her her first Blythe as a birthday gift when she is old enough.

                                     

Enjoying my fave instant noodles.

I tryed these in japan 2008 and bought 2 packages when I was in Hong Kong last year.

Sadly this was the last one so I need to stock up when I'm goiing to Hong Kong in november.

A date with mr. artistic

I'm a married woman since more than a week now.

I have to admit that I feel a little bit different now. I have no idea how to explain that (especially in english) but I feel really grown up now.

Calling mr. artistic my husband makes me feel like a real adult.

I know that I'm nearly 30 and I'm an adult since many years already but being a wife to the man I love makes a completly difference.

Last friday mr. artistic and I had a date. We rarely go out because of lack of money. But the main reason is we are super duper lazy.

Friday was an awesome sunny day. We had around 32°C which was pretty hot in comparison to the lousy summer we had this year.

It was a really short trip (only 4 hours) but we managed to do lots of things.

I heard from my coworker about a lovely restaurant near a little lake. We took the car and after 20 km we arrived in the countryside.

When I saw the beautifal lake I totally regret that I didn't bring my bikini. This summer was so cold that I didn't use my bikini very often this year.

There was still some time before we went for lunch in the lovely restaurant so mr. artistic came up with the idea to play mini golf.

I have to admit that this was my first time playing mini golf and I really drove mr. artistic crazy.

When it comes to sports which I don't like I'm not very passionate and never try hard to be make a good job.

Since it was already 2 pm when we finished mini golf we went straight to the restaurant.

I had somethhing typicall german. I had Schnitzel with croquettes. They had really yummy cakes for dessert but I wal already full.

After lunch we still had some time left before we had to go home (because of my sports classes).

We rented a little boat and just enjoyed the summer day.

It was the perfect date on a perfect sunny summer day.

a sunday in pictures

Sunday is always the most laziest day in the week.

Today was completly different.

I got lots of things done without complaining.

(What's in your fridge ? I serve films !)

 I cleaned the fridge and the cat toilet.

Mie was super lazy as always. She rested on the H&M box and gave me instructions.

(Mie's fave place - untill I sent the clothes back to H&M)

I made two cakes for work tomorrow. They are for the guys at work.

(gateaux de jaourt)

(almond butter cake)

 I went jogging with mr. artistic and collected some wild grown apples.

I made stewed apples with cinnamon. It's my fave dessert for lunch at work.

(stewed apples with cinnamon)

I prepared the dinner.

It's such a long time since I last had a good pizza bologna. I bought all the ingredients and made one myself.

(pizza bologna)

Pizza bologna was my fave pizza when I was in italy 10 years ago.

(yummy)

I made a really big pizza so I can still enjoy a piece tomorrow at work for lunch.

Now I'm working on a little sewing project. I started with this one a long time ago.

Hopefully I can finish it today.

(sewing)

Now I'm resting on my fave sofa and watch some films with mr. artistic.

How was/is your sunday ?

Hoppel linen collection

I always loved to work with linen.

I love the texture and the look of linen products.

I have a few lovely linen FQ with adorable prints.

I always saved those for the perfect project.

Since a while I rarely touch or use these.

Last week I worked on a linen Hoppel for a friend.

(first linen Hoppel for a friend)

I enjoyed working with linen again.

I found all the beautiful linen in my cabinet.

I couldn't resist to make 4 more linen Hoppel.

(linen Hoppel's in the row)

I finally found a way to use the little charms which I bought in Singapore last year.

(cute little Hoppel charm)

They make the linen Hoppel's even more special.

If you need a helping hand. Adopt a little Hoppel and you will never be alone.

the wedding

Yesterday was the big day.

(changing shoes before paper signing)

I got married to mr. artistic.

We have been together since 2004.

(mr. artistic and I playing with our niece)

I met him at a party when I was still a student.

I was totally drunk that night.

(signing papers)

I didn't remember his name when I woke up the next morning.

I asked for his number and gladly he wrote his name under the first text message ;)

(finally married)

Now we are married. Together forever.

(posing)

We had a small but lovely wedding.

(the couple)

Our families met for the first time. It worked great but I knew it before.

I love mr. artistics family. They are the lovliest persons on earth.

(family pic sadly without my sis who took this pic)

I'm happy to be a part of this family. I can't wait to change my last name (which won't be able before december because I booked my HK vacation with my current last name).

(wife & husband)

It's the beginning of a new part in my life.

(wedding gift from my sis)

Hexagon project

I have always many sewing projects in progress.

One of my fave projects is the hexagon quilt.

I started to cut the 2 x 2 inch squares in may 2011 when I was on a trip with dad & sis.

Since may I worked nearly every week on this project. I cut templates & fabrics, sewed templates and finally put the hexagons together.

Last week I finished 127 hexagon flowers in different colours and fabrics.

(hexagon flower tower - 127 flowers)

I used all my quilting weight fabrics (no linen or medium weight fabrics) except for the grey and the black ones.

(hexagon quilt - planing)

Last week I took another big step. I draw the pattern for the quilt.

When I draw the pattern I planed to use 130 hexagons. But after some calculating I thought it might be better to add 13 hexagon flowers to make the quilt wide enough to use it as a blanket.



(time to start putting the quilt together)



So here are the plans for quilt:

- 143 hexagon flowers made from 1001 coloured hexagons

   I finished the first 127 flowers so I already used 889 hexagons.

- sash the flowers in ash kona

  I have no idea how many grey hexagons I need to make. Must be something around 1500+

- quilt size: around 112 cm x 182 cm

   I might add another row with 13 hexagon flowers when the quilt turned out to be to small.

(ash sashing)

Last weekend I finally start putting the first flowers together. I have to admit that I used every free minute to work on this project (which wasn't a lot since we visited mr. artistics parents) but the result is already breathtaking.

(first 10 flowers sashed in kona ash)

If I add one flower to the blanket each day this project should be finished in 143 days.

But since I'm working on a few projects it might take a little longer.

I'm not sure if anyone is reading my blog but I'm looking for someone who likes to swap 18 little fabric squares (2 x 2 inch) with me.

I'm looking for 6 purple, 6 dark pink and 6 orange squares for my hexagon project.

I run out of different fabrics and I don't want to buy any fabrics just for some tiny squares.

So if anyone wants to swap some little squares with me feel free to contact me .

vintage plus

I can't remember the day when I started to work on the plus quilt.

It must be early may when I ordered some vintage sheets and scraps from Jeni's shop.

(first order)

At that time I didn't know anything about kona solids so I went to my local fabric shop and picked up some coloured cotton fabric.

The quality is nice but not so soft like the kona solids.

(may 2011: first 211 squares)

Gladly a friend of my dad gave me a box with left over fabrics with some lovely solids inside.

I have no idea where they are from or if they are 100 % cotton but I liked the colours.

(june 2011 - lying out the fabrics)

Now 3 month later my first big quilt for myself is done . It's made from vintage sheets, vintage fabrics from my personal collection and some unkown solids.

(mr. artistic hiding behind my quilt - still wearing his sport outfit because we took this pic after jogging)

I'm so proud that I finished this baby. I made lots of mistakes and I learned a lot this time.

1. Order the backing early

(at least 2 month before starting the project because shipping to germany is slow)

2. Buy the right batting.

(I ordered my batting 3 time because I always bought the wrong one)

3. Don't use a cross for the backing if you want to quilt straight lines

(when you are not able to place the backing correctly)

4. Use batting spray.

(I will never use safety pins again. I looove batting spray)

(back of the quilt - made vintage scraps and kona espresso)

I'm so happy that my first quilt is done. Sometimes it really drovse me nuts but I'm glad that I finished it.

I'm a bit sad about the quilting. The stitches really came out nice but I really wanted to quilt straight lines next to the seams.

Sadly I had to change my mind because I wasn't able to place the backing perfect to match the quilt top.

The diagonal lines are nice but I think the plus pattern looks much nicer with straight lines.

Today we have the stupid cold german weather and I can snuggle under my new quilt.

(label for my second quilt)

strawberry fields forever

Every time when I take the glass with homemade strawberry jam out of the fridge I remember these warm sunny days in june.

(flowers)

I was back at my grandparents home for a few days.

I traveled with my dad.

(my dad)

We took our bikes for a fun and long ride. My dad brought me to places where he spent the most awesome days in his childhood.

(dad's bike)

I love the home of my grandparents.

The house is full of childhood memories.

Each summer untill I turned 18 my sis and I spent a few weeks durring summer at their house.

My grandma made clothes for my dolls and my grandpa build houses and beds for them.

(road back to my grandparents home)

Since my grandma dies last year the house feels empty.

I miss her and seeing her knitting and sewing.

This month she would turn 90.

My grandpa misses her a lot.

He picks flowers for her every week and arange her picture that she can see everything.

(flower)

I will keep the memories of Lomnitz (this is how the village is called) in my heart forever.

Once my grandpa isn't on this earth anymore I won't be able to go back.

(dad picks strawberries)

I'm glad that I had an awesome time with my dad around this area this summer.

We visited friends, explored amazing little castles and went strawberry picking early in the morning.

(me strawberry picking)

Since june the summer is missing in germany.

Cold weather , rain and grey skies.

But I still have the pics to remember the fun times <3.

(picking strawberries at 7 am)

And I still have the homemade strawberry jam which makes me happy.

(fresh strawberries frsh from the field)