white and grey

... and log cabin of some sort. I loved Alexias request for Bee Modern Too. Much room for playing. Thus, I made too many blocks - four to be precise - while I was experimenting with value.

Care for my thoughts while constructing them? Tell me, if it bores you to death.

Top right: It all started with the white piece (having little white flowers on it) and the letters. I decided to frame it in charcoal, which makes for a great contrast without being harsh. Next round was supposed to be bright again and to soften the it a bit I added the grey dandelions. The blocks has now a focus on the left side so I thought to emphasize it and add some tiny dandelion with the last stripe.

Bottom right: As the grey text and the charcoal fit quite nicely, I pieced a stripe and framed it white for showing it off. I wanted to add some Hope Valey, so this was the next round. On the other side, a whole round might easily look boring. Hence, the charcoal stripe that also mirrors the long center. Next round some white again and some grey dandelions for fun. I inserted the white into the dandelions to create a connection of the white and grey of the outer frame.

The construction of the other two blocks went similar except that I tried for the top block to fit in a stripe of all my tiny leftovers pieced together and for the lower on to fmatch some lines to create some sort of intersection.

family

bussy days here: some sewing, guests, kids catching a cold - the poor little one can't even breathe enough to eat anything. Thus, playing mostly inside and toys everywhere. You know what I am talking about, right?

Speaking of which, where the heck are they.

Maybe somewhere else....Oh, no. Monsters have taken over our living room.

....arrrgh....

Alright, just the kids. Maybe, someday we will get some parts of the cave back ;)

next time more about the sewing

color inspiration

Remember my short trip some days ago? In Austria, houses often have lots of murals on the outer walls, which can be quite beautiful. I took pics of some of them as inspiration for later. For example, the post office was a bright white buidling having an aqua gable and aqua window shutters as well as a mural in dusty blue and mustard. The colors looked great together and when I find some fabric I will have to use this combination for a new project.

winners

Thanks everybody for stopping by and playing along. And now.........tammmtammtamtam.............!

The Innocent Crush fabrics will go to Isabel, my lucky comment #19.

The surprise for my followers was chosen very old school LOL It is more fun this way. KRAFT*CROCH will get a small, very girly scrap bundle. I hope you like it :)

Congrats, you both will get a mail asking for your address. I will send you your packages asap.

fresh start

Took some days of for a bit of walking and some cross-country-skiing (only above 1200 m) in Austria. No internet. No mails. No blogs. Just a bit of knitting at the evening. It was quite relaxing, despite the sour muscles. Now I am just happy to be back for some sewing at the weekend. Today, we (i.e. me and my little assistent) drew a bit and finished a softie we started to sew last year. I also put together a stack of white, off white and grey fabric for some bee blocks for Bee Modern Too.

books for toddlers

I know, I know. Books aren't really something of my creativity, but somehow reading and telling stories helps crowing our imagination. Which might someday help being creative. My kids are eating books. The big one (2.5 yrs) loves his book and divided them into books he might enjoy himself and books which has to be read with Mum or Dad (he is quite specific on this). Our mini (11 months) is more the literally kind of guy. He bites big holes in every book he can reach! Therefore, we keep looking for nice books to keep reading interesting vor all of us.

Shouldn't be difficult. The texts be at least a bit appealing, knowing that we will have to read it quite often. The big one loves to handle them himself, thus, they should be sturdy - would be a big plus. We love nice illustrations with attention to details. Oh, and we like to add some books with new subjects. Unfortunately, it seems to be sometimes difficult to find something alike. Thought, I could show you our beloved books and maybe you tell me about some of yours?

Today: Good Night Gorilla (translated into German 2006)

The book doesn't have much of a text since the story is told by the pictures. There is lots of room for stories and just gazing at the lovely images. My favorite of all the animals is the mouse that goes every with its banana. Wonderful book!

giveaway

giveaway, originally uploaded by Mighty Crumble.

I am so happy to finally got the new blog running. Procrastination could be my second name. To celebrate I am giving away some Innocent Crush of Anna Maria Horner. You can win five half-yard-cuts of the shown prints! To enter just leave me a comment and say hi. Additionally, one lucky follower will get a little surprise.

Giveaway closes Jan 15th. Winners will be chosen randomly. Please make sure that there is a possibility to contact you by mail.

Good luck everybody.

Edit: Giveaway closed. Winners will be announced soon.

reflections 2010

Looking back on the sewing scene of 2010, what trends stand out in your mind?

Hmm, everybody seemed to be very excited about participating in bees and swaps as part of the vivide online community. Hexagons for anything instead of flowers and mug rugs were also some trends. Another trend, which I am still not sure whether to like or not, is the frequency new fabric lines are coming out.

What were some of your favorite things?
Getting to know a lot of other crafters! I met some amazing and inspiring people online :)

What was your very favorite fabric collection or print?
This would be Echinos Spring 2008 collection, being slow enough to discover it only last year. The fabric feels gorgeous and I love most of the prints and color combinations.

What was the best thing you made in 2010?
Does finalizing count? This little critter would be it. Not? Well, the best thing I did last year is actually nothing I can show. It is about trying some techniques as tackleing free motion quilting. About stretching my comfort zone regarding fabric choices, color combinations and else. About less procrastination and more finishing things. About not worrying all the time that I will mess everything (it still might happen but it is not the end of the world). It all sums up to getting more confident. Love it.

What is one of the best things you saw that was made by someone else?
Hard to pick one. Here are some of the wonderful things I saw.

 

Click here for credit

What do you think 2011 has in store?
I assume that more independent designer will get more attention and that the market for organic fabrics will grow. Hope for both.

Anything you’re ready for the sewing world to get over?
Instead of releasing so many fabric collections at the current frequency with sometimes just variations of a them, I would rather prefer fewer collections and more distinctive designs.

What’s on your sewing agenda for 2011? What are you excited about? What would you like to learn more about?
Bags are on the agenda: Travel bag, back bag and messenger bags will need to be replaced this year and I'd like to try sewing me news ones with water proof materials. Didn't try them before. I am also gonna test more natural battings. The regular cotton batting makes quilts a bit heavy and less cuddly. Therefore, I prefer some mid volume polyester battings for my quilts. Will have to look a bit around since the battings have to be reasonable priced, easy to wash and dry and pleasing touch.
The new lines of Birch Fabrics coming this January will hopefully soon be released. Need to make plans for them.

Design

Still under construction. The header will stay awhile until I shot some nice pictures to make another one. Need to look for background or how to implement my own background respectively.

owl, the kit(e)

Seems I am not over owls yet ;) This one is a swap candy since my partner loves owls a lot. It is a dyi kit: All bits and pieces can be readily ironed on whatever you want. The main body is sewn together, eyes and wings can be adjusted to own liking. Just for fun, the owl has a kite coming with her.

But look, just after hatching it quickly leaves.

2011 and a new beginning

Time flies and I really should set up my goals for 2011.

• Setting up an English version of my blog. Apparently already done, although there is still some work to do especially regarding the design. This is something I am planning for months. I am getting so many inspirations from blogs and other crafters at flickr and learnt so many new things. Unfortunately, German isn't the best language for giving back at least some of this input, is it? Nice side effect: Practising English.
  
• Keep both blogs running. Some older post such as tutorials will also be translated and reposted here.
  
• Getting more organized. Kind of a long term project. Need to minimize and organize. A better time management would also be fine.
• Using my stash! Sounds stupid but sometimes I just forget to use some older fabrics in my projects when having a stack of new fabrics in front of me. Additionally, it is always good to refresh my stock. Best would be to only buy as much as I am using up this year, which is a rather ambitious goal for me.

These will be the most important plans besides all the smaller projects on never-ending to-do-lists and some ideas I might want to bring to life. Sounds reasonable, don't you think?