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There must have been several of you that had your fingers crossed since this post. In case you may have missed it, or have just started popping in, we are expecting our first child in March. Wanting to sew many things for the baby's room, I feel like it is kind of important to know what we are having. But since we don't know that, for me it makes no sense to decorate the baby's room in yellow or green, only to trade it in a year or so later for blues and tractors or pinks and flowers... what is the point? That is why we are waiting until the "baby cookie" (our nickname) is here and then add the "personality" to the room. We'll have the crib and the changing table and everything else that one needs for baby's first days, but all the frills and doilies will just have to wait.
BUT... how could I let our little one come into the world with nothing from Mommy?
This is actually my very first quilt... my aunt Cathy would be proud, I think. She has been quilting for years and has talent beyond belief... I plan to share with you one of these days. But can't you just imagine snuggling up with brand new baby in this? I made the quilt just heavy enough to provide a little warmth, but light enough to be just the right weight for the upcoming spring and summer weather... and neutral so I can, as Alli suggests, find entertainment as people "stumble around" because they don't know if you have a boy or girl.
I decided to use fabrics from Tula Pink's Hushabye collection (just happens to be on sale until Saturday) because I instantly feel in love with the colorways and designs. I don't want to make too many promises about future quilting projects, but this was quite enjoyable, especially considering who I was making it for.
I had mentioned the shop from Simone some time back, but am finding that every time I visit her site that I am totally impressed with all the new creations that she has whipped up. Based in Düsseldorf, Germany, the trained tailor and manufacturing director for a fashion company, finds that she needs an outlet for her creativity. Simone offers a wide range of accessories in her Dawanda shop from sweet change purses, cosmetic bags, makeup bags, to self made cards and even camera straps.For all you photographers out there that are tired of the boring black camera straps that accompany your top quality camera, why not spice it up a bit?
Simone uses several fabrics from Tula Pink's Neptune collection, this week's featured sale designer.
... from mussels to hidden turtles and other sea creatures, the Neptune collection is the perfect fabric for any nautical fan or those eager for warmer weather to come. Are you dreaming of the beach already?
It dawned on me as I was getting ready to announce this week's sale fabrics, that I have not officially done a proper introduction of one of the collections that is on sale this week. You may remember me metioning designer Tula Pink a while back with her fabulous Neptune collection. With her current collection, Hushabye, the designer presents another equally delicious eye candy. I read in an interview a while back that the designer found it difficult to find fabrics to make things for all of her friends that were having babies, feeling like the whole teddy bear theme was not what was inspiring her for such sweet, tiny projects. So she created her own collection that did. How fabulous is that?!?... when you can't find fabric you like, just make your own.
Found in three fabulous color collections... boy, girl, or still waiting to see, Hushabye mixes and matches so beautifully.
What I really like about the Hushabye collection is while it is designed with baby projects in mind, it is still elegant enough for a variety of projects. In her usual signature style, one can find animals and creatures hidden so well in the design that one really has to look close to see it. Any ideas on "whoooo" decided to hide themselves in the second picture?... brilliant!
Tula Pink's Hushabye and Neptune collections are featured in this week's Quilt Market sale... plus one other surprise designer.
Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night with an idea that you can't wait to wake up and start working on? I guess I do... sometimes more often than I like. Sure, it's great to have have ideas constantly swirling through your head, but after some time, the not so fun part of loosing sleep can catch up.
After doing several shows and getting to meet with customers first hand, many of them communicated to me how important they find it to have a zipper in their purse, for a feeling of security. I have never sewn zippers in my purses, and only recently started adding them as an inside pocket. (tutorial here) For anyone who has ever sewn before, you know that a zipper can be the undoing of a seamstress... the kind of frustrating thing that can make one loose their religion and say things that would make even sailors blush. But nevertheless, I decided to step out and try to accomplish a satisfying result without committing either of the former offenses... here is the result.
So now I have to decided to put this new purse style into my production line (this sounds great, but in reality it is only one person in the production line... me) to see if customers like the feeling of being all zipped up.
I used Valori Wells fabric for this project, one of this week's sale fabrics... sale only lasts through Saturday.
This week's featured Quilt Market sale fabrics include fabrics from Jane Sassaman, not only a talented fabric designer, but also fantastic quilt designer. She redefines the traditional quilt and reinvents it into breathtaking art quilts using her colorful and strong designs in the most unusual ways. For inspiration, I included a few of my previous projects using Jane Sassaman fabrics, which you may recognize...
... a baby "teething blanket", which is on my list for making again in the future, but I think we have a while before teeth come along, and a fabric covered box (tutorial here)
From the more subdued and muted color way...
... a wallet and matching key chain, and "Thank You" cards that I use to add that extra little something to customer orders.
...and don't forget, jewelry is also on sale this week... did you know, just 7 weeks until Christmas!
Since I am essentially a "one-woman-show", with the exception of my husband helping here and there with German translations and other administrative tasks, all the work that I do with Still Water Designs is left up to me. Which means I get to do the fun part of creating, but I also have the not so glamorous tasks of taking product photos, cropping them, writing up descriptions for items, listing them on TWO sites, not to mention packing and mailing orders... sigh, too much to do and not enough time. Right now I am stuck behind the scenes preparing for next weeks sale on jewelry, but I still thought I would share what has been inspiring me these days.
I've only recently started working with Rose Quartz, and I love it! It is such a soft and understated stone, but makes me think of femininity through and through. Quartz is the second most abundant mineral on earth and includes stones such as Aventurine, Agate, Jasper, Amethyst, Onyx, and Carnelian, interestingly enough all stones that I love to work with.What do you do behind the scenes that many may not see or recognizes immediately on the surface?
As you might already know, I have been quite excited about all the goings on at the International Quilt Market, held in Houston Texas just a few weeks ago. So many designers introduced all their new collections, and I have been drooling and itching to get my hands on them. But I need room in my fabric shelves, so that is why we are having the....Wie Ihr wahrscheinlich gemerkt habt, rede ich schon die ganzen letzten Wochen immer wieder von dem "International Quilt Market" in Housten, Texas, der mich total begeistert hat. Viele Designer haben ihre neuen Kollektionen vorgestellt und ich kann es kaum erwarten, die neuen Stoffe endlich in meinen Händen zu halten. Aber dazu benötigen wir auch noch Platz in unseren Regalen und das ist der Grund für unseren...
2009 QUILT MARKET SALE!
The next five weeks we are featuring various designers collections, with week 2 and week 5 also featuring jewelry. This week's featured fabric collection include fabrics such as:Während der kommenden fünf Wochen bieten wir viele unserer Stoffkollektionen mit tollen Rabatten an. Und zusätzlich, gibt es meine handgefertigte Schmuck-Unikate in der 2. und 5. Verkaufswoche ebenfalls zu Angebotspreisen. In dieser Woche sind die folgenden Kollektionen im Angebot:"Receiving Line" from Anna Maria Horner's Garden Party... entire collection on sale!
"Fortune Sun" from Anna Maria Horner's Good Folks... entire collection on sale!
"Coco Magnolia Morning" from Tina Givens Treetop Fancy... entire collection on sale!
for upcoming sales details and featured collections, click here (in German)für weitere Informationen über unsere Verkaufsaktion, klicken Sie bitte hier.
Yesterday was a perfect fall day for a walk... not too cold and rainy to keep one inside, but just gray enough to put one in a reflective and contemplative mood. I enjoyed soaking in the sites of fall's offerings, which one could easily pass by since the splendor is not as obvious and showy as in summer. Shades of reds, yellows, and oranges are a reminder that it is just a short time before grays and whites will replace it's warm palette...
... my thoughts wander to early last summer. While taking a walk with my mother-in-law, she was filled with excitement as she inhaled long and deep the fresh summer air and exclaimed " doesn't it just smell like summer?" As I repeated her actions and drank in the deep aromatic air, it became so obvious to me... no, actually these were not the smells and the sights that are linked to my memories of the season... they were actually formed many miles from here and look and smell quite differently. As I completed my stroll yesterday, I pondered the thought that even now, I am learning new smells and sights that will one day evoke that feeling of... ahhhh, doesn't that just remind you of....Did you know that smell is the sense closest linked to memory?
I guess I have a confession to make...
Even though I sell quilting fabrics, and work with them almost daily... I have never personally made a quilt. There it is... it is out in the open for the whole world to know.
My aunt is an absolutely fantastic quilter and would love nothing more than to pass on her passion for the "much patience required" past time. I have long since admired her work, as well as other talented quilters, and am almost blown away and sometime left breathless... especially when I look at some of the incredible art quilts out there because I can at least recognize and appreciate the time that it took to make them. But I have to admit that I am a "let's get it done", "don't bore me with the little details" kind of a girl, which could explain having never picked up the art before.
I know since our announcement of the "pitter-patter" of little feet on the way, you must have expected to see some upcoming baby projects... me too! It is like I have itching fingers to get started, but without the "green light" to get going.. because during the last ultrasound some little one did not want to cooperate with us. (must be a trait from "daddy"... hee, hee) I am finding it quite difficult to sew gender neutral things because if it is boy, I want to go all out with tractors and trucks. Of course, if it is a girl I want to create with pretty and feminine fabrics... what is a girl to do?!?
But I have decided that I would like to prepare something special for baby while I have the time... I envision wrapping the little one in this small quilt for the ride home. Baby's First Blanket... soft and warm, and made with love. Keep your fingers crossed for me that it actually comes to pass.
One of the first things that happens to a gal when she reveals to the world about the upcoming "pitter-patter" of little feet, is that she receives what seems like a mile long list of what "to do" or "not to do" during pregnancy. Of course many things on the list go without saying... such as smoking (not a problem here), beer, wine, and alcohol in general (even the thought of the smell turns my stomach), and coffee/caffeine (poor husband now has to drink coffee on the other side of the table). Even though I have not fallen victim to such vices, and junk food and McDonald's at three o'clock in the morning have not tempted me, I have been struggling with one "don't" since I started the list... SUSHI!
Other sushi lovers might understand the difficulty of such a task as to avoid the actually rather healthy delicacy. Rice, vegetables, and fish... really it only takes a short time of looking at all the thin and attractive people in the Asian culture to realize that they might be doing something right... but the hang up is that "preggies" shouldn't eat raw fish.
Well, they say if you can't get in the front door then try the window... so I did! Not all sushi is made with raw fish (even though tuna is my favorite), so cooked crab and fried shrimp were a quite tasty substitute. Last weeks trip to the grocery store found me lingering in the international food section for everything that a girl might need for the inexpensive, DIY at home alternative.
It was actually quite fun to settle in for a Friday evening, "couple's night" before the baby is there, and prepare sushi together. It is not that difficult, but you just need a little time for the whole chop session. It is less about the process and more about the time spent together.
Needless to say, it was yummy, fresh, and divine... just the way forbidden fruit should taste.
I can remember when we went on our Honeymoon almost three years ago, the airline we were traveling with had called us to the front desk to clarify something with our flight plans... "Familie Richter" (Family Richter), they called over the loud speaker. When my husband had returned, he turned to me and said "Family Richter"... that's right, we are a family now. What a simple, but yet life realizing statement.
I guess at that time I had never really viewed us in that way yet, and the definition of family these days really is quite a stretch from the traditional definition in my parents day. Often I have thought of a family as more than just two, but in today's world two is all you need. In January we will celebrate three years of being a family. In this aspect it is my husband that I have turned to and relied on, who I have shared the deepest things in my heart, my joys and my sorrows, and he is the one who simply walks beside me in life ... and that makes him my family.But as most things in life, some things change. Some good changes some bad, some that make one reflect and ponder, and some that happen so quickly that you do not have enough time to process the reality of it. And we are now in that season of change... a redefining of what we have called family over the past three years. I guess it is kind of fitting that we become three in the third year of our lives together...
While I have loved my life and my "family" these past few years, there have been times that it has seemed like someone was missing... simply that I have felt like someone else should be there. So in our season of change we are halfway there, halfway there to meeting the special someone that is growing inside... that someone who will make our family more complete.
Last year my grandmother sent me a wonderful surprise package. I had been telling her that I would be needing to make my Thanksgiving meal this year from scratch and needed to "invade" her recipe box for just how to do that. I guess in the States, we have gotten accustomed to having everything ready made... just add water kind of thing. So she had lovingly packed boxes of stuffing, and cans of cranberries and pumpkin for the event... everything that I needed for our traditional fall meal. I did make a pumpkin pie and discovered the second can this last week... what a perfect ingredient for a fall cake.
I guess I have really been on a roll with fall decorations and now those yummy meals that only taste good this time of year are working their way to the top of my recipe list. I find that I am pulling out my favorite cookbook quite often these days. Filled with all the basic recipes and simple "how-to's" of cooking, my $2.75 flea market find, Better Homes and Garden New Cookbook, has been well worth the money. You can even still see the price sticker at the top.
So for traditional coffee and cake time this last week with the in-laws, I made a really yummy pumpkin nut bread. Even though it is technically a bread, it is sweet enough for most Germans to enjoy it as a cake. Spicy, moist, and delicious.
Pumpkin Nut Bread2 cups flower
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup shortening or lard
2 eggs 1 cup canned pumpkin (or fresh pureed)
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins
Mix dry ingredients and set aside. Beat shortening and brown sugar together until well combined. Beat in eggs. Add pumpkin and milk and mix well. Add flour mixture and mix well. Fold in nuts. Turn into a greased loaf pan and bake at 350 for 55 to 60 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes and cool completely. Wrap and store overnight before slicing.
Yum-deli-icious!
After reading Juliette's and Jeannette's comments on my last post, I was really glad that I had decided to do a post on how to make a fall/autumn wreath, or any wreath for that matter. It really is simple and lots of fun and leaves one with that satisfied feeling of... "yeah, look what I did... I made it myself". So to get started, you need:
Foam Wreath Ring (can be purchased at most craft stores, in Germany I got mine at OBI)Floral WireWire CuttersMoss, selected Flowers & HerbsCover the foam wreath with a section of moss at a time. I used fresh moss here, but Spanish moss also works great as a base. Wrap the floral wire around the foam wreath form securing the moss in place. Add a second layer of moss to the first section and so on until your foam wreath is completely covered. Do not worry if your wire is not green, this is not seen once the wreath is complete.
Select fall flowers. I simply used flowers and herbs from my garden, shrub cuttings, and berries from bushes in my back yard. If you live close to a wooded area, a walk can be a great combination of getting a little fresh air and a fun collecting time. Look for unusual items and even items that might already be dried. In this case I used dried poppy heads and hydrangea that was well past it's bloom. Herbs also add a great smell to a wreath and often dry beautifully. I happened to use basil and oregano flowers in this wreath.
Group flowers together to form a mini "bouquet". You can alternate flowers that are used in each section if so desired. Secure the bouquet together by wrapping the floral wire around the end of the bouquet. After a few turns, attach the bouquet to the moss wreath using the floral wire.
Create a second "bouquet" and layer it, slightly overlapping the first bouquet. Continue the same step layering the flowers so they all lay the same direction until wreath is complete. For the last section I tuck the last bouquet slightly under the first so the wreath has a full look.
Tah Dah! See, I told you it wasn't that hard. Happy Creating!
You've heard of Amy, Heather, Anna, and Tula around here, but have you ever heard of Jason? In the female dominated world of fabric designing, sometimes the male presence is overlooked. Two of my favorite male fabric designers on the scene these days are Joel Dewberry (coming soon) and Jason Yenter. You may not have heard of either of them, but their work definitely speaks for itself.Started as a small retail business over 30 years ago, In the Beginning Fabrics was founded by Sharon Yenter to provide high quality fabrics for crafters and quilters. Since then the business has grown and her son Jason now not only runs the business, but designs fabric for the company. What I love about Jason's work is that it is an explosion of graphic and radial symmetry combined with strong colors.
With purple being the trend color for the season, it is just perfect for fall projects. Jason Yenter's Floragraphix IV fabrics, also in deep, rich reds can be found here.
This is actually my very first quilt... my aunt Cathy would be proud, I think. She has been quilting for years and has talent beyond belief... I plan to share with you one of these days. But can't you just imagine snuggling up with brand new baby in this? I made the quilt just heavy enough to provide a little warmth, but light enough to be just the right weight for the upcoming spring and summer weather... and neutral so I can, as Alli suggests, find entertainment as people "stumble around" because they don't know if you have a boy or girl.
I decided to use fabrics from Tula Pink's Hushabye collection (just happens to be on sale until Saturday) because I instantly feel in love with the colorways and designs. I don't want to make too many promises about future quilting projects, but this was quite enjoyable, especially considering who I was making it for.
