Sunday Stash #24

So much for last week's resolution...

I really shouldn't have gone checking out shops with my good friend Conny but these 4 metres of gorgeousness were basically a steal and are just perfect for the next project for my baby girl. Okay, so they sparked the idea in the first place but I won't let that rain on my parade. In 2015 I'll be making an I Spy/Solids quilt for the little one. And would you believe it, I picked my usual palette and added that dainty lilac without anybody physically forcing me! Me, of all persons, choosing a girly colour? Yep, Conny was surprised, too.

Conny also gave me these I-can't-believe-how-cute-they-are onesies and hat that she made herself. I absolutely adore them and wouldn't mind a pyjama with the print for myself... Can't wait to put them to use once the baby's big enough.

Btw, you should really check out Conny's pattern shop, Santa Lucia Patterns, if you're from Europe and in love with Indie clothes patterns but don't like ordering and waiting for them to arrive from overseas.

Happy sewing!

Sunday Stash #23

Look at my pretty Black Friday hoardings from the Fat Quarter Shop (gee, I adore how they pack our parcels, always so yummy)! I decided that I needed graphic prints that would go with the selected Cotton and Steel bundle I've made my mum give me for Christmas (still so long til it's back in my arms!) but that would also work as fillers and background fabrics in general. Hence, lots of yellow-golden and blue hues, some Remix and ever so beautiful Art Gallery prints.

Sensible me also got yards of these beauties. Perfect for backgrounds, backings, binding - I know these will come in handy.

Of course I couldn't resist buying half a yard of utterly cute and kid-friendly. A girl's gotta some have fun when she's so sensible with the rest of her fabric money. Okay, I admit it, it was all fun, though sometimes tough to pick and choose, but don't tell anyone. The Cloud 9 snails won out against two Marine Too organic prints by Birch fabrics, Whale Love and Angel Fish, both of them still absolutely gorgeous but I've already got quite a few maritime prints for the Maritime Baby Girl Quilt.

And that's it for 2014. I'm set, no more pre-baby buyings - the yarn on it's way here doesn't count because it'll become a gift for the sis. Cognitive dissonance, you're saying? Lalala, I can't hear you, lalala.

Happy sewing!

Sunday Stash #22

Uh-oh, going shopping with a fully-blown nesting instinct is no good idea, even worse when the shop you're visiting has a 25 per cent birthday discount. Then again, supporting the brick and mortar down your road and getting some exercise at nine months pregnant surely is a good thing. I mean, I also won't have the time or frame of mind for a while and it's always good to have a replenished stash, too, right? (Shhhh, I'm not even talking the Black Friday online order that sneaked in yesterday which totally fulfils the same purpose, just like the Cotton & Steel order I handed over to my mum to give me for Christmas.)

Anyway, if you're in Berlin - the Nähkontor is a lovely little shop that also offers classes. Go check it out.

I got some pretty dotty prints and a Cotton & Steel print I didn't order and that hasn't been handed over to my mum.

Beautiful, cutesy FQs and fabric scraps - just look at those mummy and baby animals. Not a chance that hormone-me could have left it behind in the cold world store. I'm also proud to have added some yellows and prints on white because I don't usually stack up on these colours.

Could you believe they had two spools of the perfect silk thread for the Eggplant Kona in my Grecian Waters HSTs? The thread I'd ordered online and showed you last week is a beautiful shade and would have worked fine but this is a match made in heaven! Kismet!

I also got some old snap-fasteners - they sell old notions, presumably from clearances, for a lot less than the new shiny ones and with the little one on the way they'll come in handy for makings - and some essential solids. They're not as drapey and soft as Kona but will work fine for the pillows they're meant for and the white was much needed for the big snowflake in my Winter Baby Girl Quilt.

It was quite a lot to carry home. Told you it was exercise!

Happy sewing!

Sunday Stash #21

I've acquired a few goodies to share on here over the past weeks and - shocker - most of them aren't going to be stashed and forgotten but are necessary for ongoing projects! Such as Gütermann silk thread for accent quilting on the Winter Baby Girl Quilt as well as yardage, quilting and silk thread for my Grecian Waters HST quilt. I set my mind on silk thread after stumbling upon this gorgeousness on Pieces of Contentment.

I'm so so excited to work on this project once the baby quilt is done!

Lastly, I also found this pretty print and bought two metres for some cushion-y goodness in the future, a cheap end of  bolt cut, and snap-fasteners to replenish my stash after making baby's first dresses.

Happy sewing!

Sunday Stash #20

So, most of my recent fabric hauls have been purposeful with specific and special projects in mind. Ever true to myself and like all of us I couldn't resist adding some not quite so project-bound beauties to my stash. It's all about the larger picture and the ability to pull from our stash, right?

All of these were on sale on top of being on my most beloved colour spectrum or by Lotta Jansdotter whose fabrics I love, too - so how could I possibly not make them mine?

I'm happily working away on my Maritime Baby Girl Quilt as well as baking some goodies to take to a dinner with friends later in the day. What a busy yet absolutely lovely weekend.

Happy sewing!

Sunday Stash #19

I spent a dull weekend in bed sleeping off a nasty cold but that's rather dull to talk about, isn't it? I'd rather look at the latest pretty additions to my stash and fantasise about the things I'm currently making as well as take a look at yours and fantasise some more. Come on and join the fun over at Molli's.

Alexander Henry - Heath in blue, Frau Tulpe Design - Circles in teal, Kokka - turquoise dots on brown

Happy Sunday and happy sewing!

Sunday Stash #18

What precedes a weekend dedicated to sewing? Fabric shopping of course! After a busy week I really needed that little endorphin high that shopping in a beautiful store brimful of even more beautiful fabric and accessories can give you. Also, I had a gift card - a lovely belated Christmas present from my in-laws - to spend. Whoop, absolutely guilt-free fabric shopping! I went into the store with the best intentions, as in not spending the whole load and saving a fair amount for later. (If you're guessing how that ended I'm pretty sure you're guessing right).

So I got batting for the baby quilt that I've been sewing this weekend - so excited about this one! stay tuned for the next post - and then dived into the gorgeousness around me and had a very very hard time deciding which pretties to take home with me. Never fear, though, I solved this conundrum of old. Nah, who am I kidding, I did some math and took what I could get of what took my fancy the most which resulted in spending all of my gift card. (Told you!) No regrets, though!

I love the turquoise and yellow prints so much and they've got such a cute name, too: "Sow the love".

Happy sewing!

Linking up with Molli's Sunday Stash, this week over at Sarah Quilts.

Sunday Stash #17

So, Christmas is over once more. Are you all returning to normalcy or still feeling stuffed and like slumbering away the days? I know I'm doing the latter in an absolutely guilt-free manner. Yummy food, good wine and mulled wine, reading books, knitting, enjoying the lights of our tree, my nephew's laughter - Christmas was absolutely lovely and I'm trying to salvage the mood for as long as possible.

It was an extra nice Christmas as I got to spend it with my gran and her grand cooking again after not being able to do so last year. Even better, it was the first time that my husband, my sister's husband-to-be and my nephew joined our family on the 24th and 25th. The years before my wedding it was just us girls going back home until the 25th and then spending time with our guys and their families in Berlin on the 26th. Seeing my gran age isn't always easy (and difficult to accept) but seeing her being surrounded by all of us and loving every minute of it was fantastic.

But onto the eye candy you've come for. Christmas without fabric - these days I don't know how that has ever been possible. Here's my Christmas loot thanks to my mum who let me shop with her credit card a few short weeks ago.

Three yards of navy blue Simply Style zig zags which will surely become a skirt.

Yard cuts of Retro chevrons and Glimma kites.

Half yard and yard cuts of prints from the Enchant line. Those animal medallions are so so sweet.

A yard of Children at Play - this has been around long, hasn't it? I've finally succumbed and will keep this in my stash for one or two future baby quilts.

A  yard of cotton slub duck for new cushion covers.

Fearing that the fabric parcel wouldn't make it through customs quickly enough - a realistic one, it arrived just in time last Sunday - my mum got me some yarn and knitting needles for a loop and hat.

I'm glad she fell in love with the wool because I don't really feel it, neither colour nor texture (though I can always use more needles!). My mum's often spot on regarding my taste but when she's off she's off by a mile. Anyway, it's all good. This way I can make her something she'll enjoy and give back for the many things she's done and keeps doing. Now I only have to find the right pattern - and time. As I'm not going to stress about this - the weather is still very mild in these parts - it might just turn out to be a Christmas 2014 thing.

Well, I hope your celebrations were filled with as much love and coziness as mine.You've not only been following the good and shiny but also my tribulations, my nagging, my ups and downs, even my absence - thank you and thanks for continuously dropping by and sharing your thoughts and positivity with me. I'm hopeful that 2014 will bring many an adventure and also more time spent sewing, knitting, and blogging to share with you. I'll find a way to make it so.

All the very best and happy sewing!

Sunday Stash

This weekend I've been feeling like a bear of sorts preparing for hibernation or a baby with a sleep eat repeat routine. A nasty cold knocked me out right after the work week was finished, sigh, but I'm confident that another herbal bath and early night will have me restored just in time tomorrow.

Since I've got no finished skirt to show you, much less pictures of me outside wearing said skirt, I thought I'd show off what I couldn't resist buying the other day when I went into the store for necessities only - it's always like that, isn't it? - two luscious fat quarters. No idea what they'll become but I had to have them.

Taking a peek at a different front, progress on my sister's scarf has been slow but I've knit up the first blue ball and am set to soldier on this coming week.

That's it folks, just a quick update. Now come on an join the Sunday Stash fun over at The Floral Suitcase.

Happy sewing!

Sunday Stash - Yarn, Yarn, and Some Fabric (long post, scroll down for fabric)

First things first, I'm alive and well and very busy. Four out of five applications led to interview invitations. Once the first two resulted in job offers I cancelled the following interviews because I knew from advance information that number two had the best pay, a more challenging work description, and I felt really good during the interview. It's still only an intern but I'm still really happy with my decision because the team's super nice, pay has improved a ton from the previous intern, thus alleviating our financial situation, and suddenly the prospect of a real job is on the horizon, too. These past two weeks have flown by without sewing but with the fulfilling knowledge of moving on and upwards and with the not unwelcome rhythm of a regular work schedule.

Knitting, however, has continued. Evidence A.

I still like the pattern but I think I might unravel these 30 cm of work again because I don't feel the width at the moment. The first ball lasted longer than I'd anticipated so I could make it wider without losing the length I want. For now, I've put it away to ponder my options. Instead, I've started this loop.

Jenny Faifel's lucky no 7 in a thicker yarn. This is a wearable test run - I love these colours! - for the scarf my sister would like for her birthday in late November made from this fingering weight yarn.

I'm not completely over my dread of the time-consuming thinness but seeing the progress I'm making with my scarf I'm a lot more confident about making that deadline.

The pattern is yarn-hungry, roughly three balls of 120m for 45 cm (18'') so I've stocked up and even had to reorder the grey at the shoppe. Some thicker grey wool (right side) for a warm hat begged me to be come home with me.

Yesterday was quite the stash day. On top of yarn from the first store I stocked up on wadding, rattles and a squeaky sound-making thing for plushies at store number two.

Half metre cuts of these pretties had to be purchased and are likely to become seasonal cushion covers.

All I had originally intended to come home with were these essentials for a new skirt from my tried and approved Burda pattern. Hehe. I think it will look simply fabulous with the zig zag loop. Also, it's got to have pockets. I pulled out my lovely Alice skirt the other day and have fallen all over for pockets again.

Last but not least I even bought elastic to fix the husband's sweatpants. Something he's asked me to do for months. *hangs head in shame* I have to put this out here with a picture or it might take another shamefully long period of time before I tackle it. Hah, fixing things simply isn't fun and therefore no priority. Am I right?

Another pretty addition from three weeks ago which will leave soon is this beautiful mirror ball dot print. I'd seen the collection over at Molli's and knew it was perfect when my sister asked me to make new cushion covers for her brown sofa. Now I only need to sew them!

Oh, and another important addition made a week ago is this Cake Cabarita Knit Top pattern that I bought from my dear friend Perlendiva to finally make a perfectly fitting top for myself. She just opened Santa Lucia Patterns to make it easier / quicker for us Germans to buy indie designer patterns. She's even offering translations. Go on and take a look. I think she's doing a fantastic job and am hoping this business will take off in no time.

Whew, quite the post. Congrats and thanks if you've made it to the end! I really hope more regular posting and blog reading will resume once I've really settled into my new routine. It's weird to neglect this space and my crafty friends like this.

Happy sewing and join Sunday Stash, this time hosted by Blossom Heart Quilts!