So either I had you stumped on the last "riddle me this" or perhaps my not-so-common item is more common than I thought. Several of you who guessed already knew because you have one yourself:
Eierschalensollbruchstellenverursacher
Huh?!? ... you might say if you don't understand German. (yup, that's all one word!... don't worry translation coming)
Since moving to Germany, there have been many traditions that I have come to learn, and one of them is breakfast. Since hardboiled eggs for breakfast are more common than scrambled or fried, not to mention the eggcups that one puts them in, I have had to learn the "art" of how one actually gets into the egg. If you grew up in Germany, you have probably been taught since a small child how one does this... but for the beginner who has never done it before, a big messy, lop-sided, eggshells everywhere breakfast is not the kind that I dream of, so... that's why I asked for an:
Eggshellbreakingandperforatingdevice for Christmas this last year. (aka Clack... the sound that it makes)
Just put the metal cup on top of the egg, lift the little ball to the top, let it drop and Clack! you have a nicely perforated cutting line to get into your egg. For the average German this might seem completely unnecessary, but for the average Ami, it's a must have.
I inwardly laughed when my husband's Omama admitted that she was a little embarrassed when she bought it because she felt like the other customers and sales clerk were thinking... "what, she doesn't know how to crack her egg open by herself?!?" Which just shows me... it's the common, everyday things that seem so natural that one never has to give it a second thought, that seem to stick out as so uncommon to that someone learning to call this new place and this new culture... home.
Want to read more about the differences between breakfast in Germany and America? Follow the link.
Sometimes I enjoy a little bit of random, how about you? It was fun for me with my last riddle that I posted and I thought it would be interesting to share one of the presents that I got this year for Christmas. It might look a little odd, but it's something that I actually asked for. If you happen to be on German soil, you might have seen it before.
How about if I throw a couple of hints your way:1. It's something that I use almost every day2. Even though I use it so often, it is not exactly common for the average, typical German household to have. (but it is made in Germany)3. The German name actually has more letters in it than the alphabet (but that doesn't necessarily narrow it down a whole lot)From the the statistics on my last "Riddle Me This", there where a lot more of you stopping by, than let me know that you did... that just means that I love your comments ; )
So every riddle must have an answer, right?... and I have to say that I really had to do a little digging to find very much on this once loved fabric collection from ca. 2005/2006. Who would have ever thought that now it would almost be considered vintage? I had some really good guesses, and even though the design and the colors are quite similar to one of Heather Bailey's earlier collections, Freshcut, it does NOT have her name on it.I guess I wanted to share about this fabric, because perhaps some of you that are new to the quilting/sewing scene may not be familiar with the earlier works of this famous fabric designer... Isn't it just "simply charming"?
Before there was Belle, before there was Lotus, Nigella, Midwest Modern, August Fields, Daisy Chain, Love, and Soul Blossoms, there was Charm... Amy Butler's fourth fabric collection for Free Spirit fabrics (she is now with Rowan/Westminster Fabrics). I found the collection in three colorways, and if you scour the internet long enough, there are still a few fabrics to be had, but are often rare.
Amy still offers stationary that includes a few patterns from the Charm collection and one of her free patterns used the collection for a very fun and vibrant quilt. So, just one last little "teaser"... my own Charm purse is in the works and almost done... I am now having to wait on the lining fabric shipment to come in, but doesn't patience make one all that more "charming"?
While blog surfing this past week, I stumbled onto a quilting blog and was totally inspired when the author shared her own personal fabric stash... it was not because she had miles and miles of fabrics to drool over and envy, following the golden rule of quilters that "she who has the most fabrics when she dies,... wins!" My inspiration came when she confessed that she keeps her stash relatively small, being quite frugal with buying fabrics, and putting every little scrap to good use before she invests in more.... hmmm.
Sometimes I have the tendency to use a fabric for a project and love it so much that I want to hold onto it for future projects... or just in case I need it down the road. In some cases, this has paid off finding that perfect matching fabric years later that looks like it was made to go together. But I guess this attitude got me thinking... what am I waiting for?!? I loved these fabrics when I first bought them, why not use them?
So even though I never make New Year's resolutions, I do set little goals for myself throughout the year... and my new goal is to pull these out my fabric stacks again and turn them into what I envisioned from the very beginning.
What goals have made for yourself that you are either working on or have already accomplished this year?
I've been working on a new purse pattern these last days, and have been really pleased with the results. It seems that every fabric that I even glance at for just a moment is telling me to make a purse out of it. I'm just itching to get a big production line going. Without having a physical store to "test" the purses, it is basically blind production without the immediate feedback until we have our big show this summer.
Unfortunately since I am waiting for a big shipment of zippers, I have to put them on hold for now, but I've been having fun with scraps these days. I used up the last of my zippers to whip up a few "scrappy" wallets from leftover fabrics from my "loop-de-do" scarves.
It feels so good to be sewing again... fall was the busy season for my husband (which basically meant extra, extra baby duty for me), we were gone in November - what you didn't know we were in the U.S.?!?, and December we all took turns being sick. January, was just figuring up from down. But, I guess you could say that I'm back in the saddle again... can you hear the buzz?
But what I am working on I don't want to reveal just yet. Let's just say my lips are sealed... or should I say all zipped up!
But what I am working on I don't want to reveal just yet. Let's just say my lips are sealed... or should I say all zipped up!
