Please visit my newest blog entries at easypatchwork.blogspot.de

the daily string on a real blog platform!

Hello everyone!! I am excited to share with you my new blog at blogspot.

I started about one year ago on a couple of different platforms to find out what works best for me and went back to the idea of a blog at another site. This helps with the site structure and allows you to go straight the the newest information. It also helps you filter out for information that you are looking for.

Please join me on my new blog. You can also view the latest photos on flickr through the menu option "things i've made." Thank you for your support.

a good quilt shop

As every good family manager, one of the yearly highlights is going on vacation and planning a successful one. We planned a very big vacation this year and utilized the last weeks of summer to visit our family in North Carolina as well as the New England States, Pennsylvania & D.C.

Over the allotted three weeks there, we drove through NYC on three different occasions, ate dinner with an Amish family in Lancaster County (Amish Country), learned about the first president at his estate at Mount Vernon, had fun with family in North Carolina enjoying the pool, experiencing a real baseball game, and putting out a fire, drove on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel to the Delaware-Maryland-Virginia Peninsula, saw Harvard & Yale University, stayed at a ski resort in New Hamphire and enjoyed a hot tub, picked our own blueberries at an orchard, ate ice cream almost every day, enjoyed four different beaches – Ocean City (Maryland), Kennebunkport (Maine), Old Orchard Beach (Maine), Ipswich (Massachusetts), learned all about ship building and whale hunting at Mystic Seaport, and enjoyed American breakfast DAILY. We drove more than three thousand miles.

And, of course, I visited four fabric shops and two quilting stores. ;-) Here are some of the photographs from two different stores.



Family Farm Quilts in Ronks, Pennsylvania

Keepsake Quilting in Center Harbor, New Hampshire

Surprisingly enough, I DID NOT buy a lot of fabric. I had my list and stuck to it. If you ever get the chance to visit Keepsake Quilting, go. My husband actually made a little detour so we could visit this shop, and it was well worth the extra trip. My kids were very good on this day. They are so cute in quilt shops; they like to pick out fabric too. I see a little patchworker in the works.

Today is Rememberance Day for the 9-11, a tragedy that plagued the United States ten+1 years ago. I remember I was working on this day when one of my friends wrote me an email from the US while I was still at work here in Germany. I didn't understand the full effects of this day and what it meant, but I have tried. My heart goes out to all the victims, survivors and relatives for what they endured on this heart breaking day.

On a happy note: Daniela - Happy Birthday!

inspiration

You never know when inspiration may hit you. When we were on vacation, I took advantage of the kiddie crayons and blank placemat (normally given at most restaurants to entertain the kids) to design one of my quilts - actually an idea that was screaming to get out of my head. This one is for a rag quilt made from baby clothes.

Breakfast was AWESOME on this day by the way. I just love American Breakfast! eggs, sausage, buttermilk pancakes, real Vermont syrup, endless coffee. We ate at All Day Breakfast in Kennebunk, Maine. Go check it out. It is work the wait!

I didn't want to forget to show you this: Bettina from our sewing group is extremely busy this year sewing her heart out.  She was working on this baby blanket (Krabbeldecke) for a couple of weeks with the cutest application of animals.  She did a fantastic job!!  She is a very talented and accurate sewer.  She has such a great eye for mixing colors too!

birthdays

My little girl is not so little anymore.  She celebrated her 5th birthday.  She is such a cutie pie, my little sunshine.  As with every birthday, I like to spoil the kids with a homemade cake for school, Kindergarten or home.  My daughter named at least five different cakes that she wanted me to make.  I decided on a rainbow sheet cake for Kindergarten and a store bought cake for her birthday party.  Yes, I bought a birthday cake.  My sister was proud of me.  Since there were only four/five guests to her birthday party, I thought it fit not to worry too much about a lot of baking and there were no siblings at the party either.  This really makes things easier.

Not only did my daugther celebrate her birthday, I also celebrated my 40th.  It is ALMOST hard to believe that I am THAT old.  Would I trade it for being 18 again?  NO.  I am happier than ever and know what I want from life.  Most importantly, I am independent and self-sufficient.  Although I notice I let my husband take care of certain things like bill payment, I still rely on myself to get things done.  No one is here to take care of you.  You have to make your own way in life, your own goals, ambitions, strengths, desires.  Find out what you are good at it and let it take flight.

Happy Birthday to all those who have birthdays in the summer.  I love having a summer birthday.  I loved getting an ice cream cake on my birthday...especially from Carvel.

prairie traditions- a new quilt

Sometimes when you run across fabric, if you are like me, you just have to buy it even if you don't have a pattern.  I fell in love with this fabric and bought a 10" layer cake.  The fabric line is Simple Abundance for Moda Fabric.  I designed a simple Monkey Wrench pattern some know it as a Churn Dash, some as a Double Monkey Wrench.  It is an easy layer cake pattern you can sew together with little fuss.  I used up the excess to create a border and kept a red to bring it all together.

I am still working on finishing up the binding and free pattern.  I can't wait to share the entire quilt with you.  I would like to see your fabric choices for Prairie Traditions!

my patchwork group

As some of you may know, I go once a week to "get away from it all" to enjoy the pure tranquility of just sewing for four hours.  If you don't have this outlet, I highly suggest you finding the right one for you.  I have realized over the years, that when this is missing from my weekly schedule, I am no longer balanced. 

I have grown together with the ladies of my Wednesday night patchwork class over the years and watched them progress in their skills, techniques and design qualities.  We challenge one another and ask for advice as well.  This is my extended family.  I would like to share their projects with you to show you what great patchworkers we have right here in GERMANY.

The first picture above is Evi's beautiful pillowcase which matches the "Krabbeldecke" she sewed for a friend.  She put a lot of work into both, and the are so cute and cuddly.  Her sense for fabric is great!

The second picture is a 40 cm block from Dagmar's sampler - our project for the year aka our "Jahresquilt."  The artist here is Bettina who also has a wonderful sense for fabric and color coordination.  She has sewn together half the sampler and let me tell you, I would love to have this quilt.  She is a very accurate patchwork and a great sense of color.

The last and favorite picture is of Dagmar, our instructor and my dear friend.  She celebrated her birthday on this night - no break for her - she wanted to spend it with us!  She is a wonderful person who always has an easy going sense of life and cheerfulness!!  She comes from Friesland and has the cutest accent.  I enjoy visiting her at home and sitting, chatting and sipping tea.

Thank you ladies for being my friends and allowing me to show your work and photos online!  I look forward to sharing more photos of my group!

patchwork weekend!

This past weekend I participated in a weekend patchwork class taught by Sabine of Quilt Oase in Nersingen and learned something new.  Although I go almost every Wednesday to a patchwork class, sometimes you just have to experience something different to learn something new and expand your horizons.  I did just that this weekend.  Thank you Sabine!

Oh, I nearly forgot.  My hubby was so kind and took the kids with him to Oma & Opa's house.  I had the whole house to myself.  Thank you, Sweetie!  After the class on Saturday, I did some shopping in the city.  I even bought dinner for one as well as a pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream.  I was in heaven.  It was really nice to remember what life was like before I was blessed with a great husband and kids.

patchworkwochenende!

Am Wochenende habe ich an einem Wochenend-Patchwork-Kurs bei Sabine von Quilt Oase teilgenommen und habe etwas Schönes und Neues gelernt.  Obwohl ich fast jede Woche an einem abendlichen Patchwork-Kurs teilnehme, manchmal muss man einfach was anderes tun um seinen Horizone zu erweitern und etwas neues zu lernen.  Das habe ich letztes Wochenende gemacht.  Vielen Dank Sabine! Trotzdem freue ich mich jede Woche auf die abendlichen vier Stunden.

Oh, eines habe ich vergessen.  Mein Mann war so nett und hat die Kinder übers Wochenende mit zu Oma & Opa genommen.  Ich hatte das ganze Haus für mich alleine gehabt.  Danke dir, Spatzl!  Nach dem Patchworkkurs am Samstag habe ich in der Stadt gebummelt.  Anschließend habe ich Abendessen + Ben & Jerry's Eis nur für eine Person (mich) gekauft.  Ich war im siebten Himmel!  Es war wirklich schön wieder zu erleben, wie es war, bevor ich mit Mann und Kindern beglückt war.

monday morning blues

Over the weekend we had  glimpse of spring.  Today, however, the overcloud has returned.  Oh, I am so looking forward to springtime and summer for that matter.  I finished up block one from the patch-along.  The instructions will be posted soon.

advanced sampler patch-along

I get together with a group of ladies on a regular basis, and our leader, Dagmar, wanted to make a sampler this year.  What a great way to test my skills.  I made my own sampler pattern and added a few things that are interesting and challenging to me.  The blocks are 12 inches, because I can't quite seem to get the metric system to work with my 1/4 inche frame of mind.  I also made some connecting blocks quite large to give the sampler blocks more unity.

I chose the fabric line Fandango by Moda.  Do you notice the choice of colors for 2012?  Last year I was totally in into red!

If you would like to patch-a-long, drop me a line, and I will post your blocks as you go.  All of the blocks you can dowload from your EQ7 software.  I will try to upload the blocks as I go so you can get an impression.

pledge update

I sent off my two quilt tops from last year to Brigitte Heitland of QD Service Long Arm Quilting in Werther, Germany.  (She quilted a couple of blankets for me in 2010 which I was very pleased with.  She is such a nice woman, full of inspiration and warm heartedness.)  We quickly agreed on the "bubble bop pantograph" for my American Primer patchwork lap blanket.  I received the blanket back on Saturday and couldn't wait to put the binding on it.  I finished it up yesterday and here it is.

London getaway

This doesn't happen very often, but I had the chance to go on a business trip with my husband to London, England for a couple of days.  The kids were warmingly cared for by Oma and Opa during winter break, so I was allowed to jet off with hubby.  What a blast!  The flight took just 1 hour and 15 minutes from Frankfurt.  We stayed at The Strand Hotel on Strand which was the most perfect location to go site-seeing.  I hung around with the boss's wife, Uli, while the men worked.  She was a very knowledgeable woman who showed me the sites as we toured on a double-decker London bus.  In the evenings, we were reunited with the guys and went out for dinner and our daily pint.  If you ever get a chance to visit London, don't hesitate - GO!

Here are a few snapshots I took with my mobile or Handy as it is called in Germany.

frühstück mit der mädels

I took a break from life today to have breakfast with the girls.  I don't know if this is common in the United States for Family Managers, but it is quite common here.  We like to invite other full-time, stay-at-home mothers for breakfast usually with champagne and catch up on the lastest news.  I had a really nice time with my girlfriends.  I would like to do it more often, but time seems to always run away from me.  I presented my two best friends with the EP Easy Everyday Table Runners.  I was sad to see them go, but happy I found them a good home.  I think they both enjoyed them.

happy valentine's day

Well, the kids tried to "let the cat out of the bag" by telling me that my husband had a surprise for me.  But I was very surprised when he presented me with a brand new ipad2.  I am re-entering the world of technology again.  Sometimes I really miss living in a bigger city especially my last city in the United States - Greensboro, NC.  Shopping is so rewarding and therapeutical at the same time. 

I feel the jolt of life surging back through my body.  I told my husband that we have to get back on top of the up-to-date products again.  His eyes lit up and started talking about a theater-sized 3-D flat screen tv for the living room.  I have always told him, that if we get a new tv, then we need new furniture as well!

happy new year!

I am looking forward to a bright new year with many changes and suprises.  (I turn 40 this year!)  Thank you for supporting my website and reading what I have to babble about. 

I made a pledge to myself that I would get some patchwork tops off the my long-arm-quilter.  I finished prepping the tops over the weekend cutting the strings and sewing the edge up.  I also ordered some pretty fabric for the blanket backings.  I am anxiously awaiting the finished product.  I will probably dream about it tonight.

My husband was in the United States (in Jacksonville, FL) a couple of weeks ago and bought me some fabric.  He didn't just buy me fabric, he rented a car and drove to three different fabric/quilting stores to find me at least five different fabric lines.  The one line I really wanted was/is Parsons Gray - Curious Nature which comes out in February.  This is really a dandy fabric line bursting to say - I am WOMAN, hear me ROAR!  I love my husband.

I look forward to getting the sewing machine out soon - maybe tomorrow!

Thanks for stopping by.