52 craft projects // luxurious loop

Sometimes I have a mile-long to-do list but I have an idea for a quick project that I wanna try really quickly. Usually it ends up not being all that quick but with this project I was lucky.
There was a fabric sale at a local fashion designer's studio today and she makes the most gorgeous (and expensive) clothes out of luxurious fabrics so I just had to buy some fabrics (again... I know. But this was a once in a lifetime twice a year opportunity so I couldn't resist). When I got home and wanted to put the fabric in my closet I realized I had some space issues. So I did something very responsible - I decided to use up two of the four fabrics I bought right away.


I love cowls and I wear cowls/scarfs pretty much every day from September to May. And every other day in the months in between. So it's totally reasonable to make yet another cowl, right? Only this one is different because it's a cowl made out of fabric, not yarn. And I don't have anything like it in my closet. Okay okay let's be honest I have the vinyasa scarf that I love but it's not handmade so it doesn't count.

Back to the story. I made a really quick and simple infinity scarf (how many different words are there for those things!?). Cutting and sewing took about 20 minutes. Cleaning up my desk/sewing machine/floor/kitchen table took another 20 - at least. But 40 minutes is still considered a quick project, right?

The apartment under mine is currently empty because all the electrical wiring is being redone. Turns out a huge empty apartment with all the wallpaper torn off makes a pretty rad photo location. Not to mention that there aren't any weirdos walking by and asking you what you're doing (that happened to me once... pretty awkward situation.). A big, empty apartment with lots of cool walls and no observers is definitely more in my comfort zone.

The fabrics are both very soft and luxurious - the pink one has silk in it and the black&white one is a wool/alpaca mix that's very soft and warm. These kinds of fabrics are usually way out of my financial reach but for 5-7€/m it's within my student budget.
I cut the pieces to be 16" x 55". The scarf has the perfect length and I can comfortably wrap it around my neck twice. Definitely one of my favorite pieces I've made this year!

ps: the first picture was a blurry outtake but I kind of liked it anyways. A 'toy camera' effect sometimes does wonders to a picture...

This is project #24 of 52 craft projects I'm attempting to complete in 2013.
You can see all the other projects I've complete so far here.

hello, fall!

Knitting season(also known as fall) has finally begun!
Fall is my favorite season (I say that about every season but it's true! I might have four favorite seasons...) and I can't wait to pull out my winter jackets and ride my bike to uni being covered under several scarfs.
Fall is also the traditional list-making season. I make lists for just about everything... Christmas gift ideas, lists of new recipes to try, fall activities to do, knitting projects to cast on...
Here's a very short version of my 'looking forward to' list this season:
- lots of in class knitting
- wearing hand-knitted sweaters and boots
- homemade chai lattes
- making my own pumpkin spice syrup
- planning (& making) Christmas gifts
- hosting craft parties at my place
- baking lots of cookies
- decorating my walls

What are you looking forward to this fall?

'A Walk in the Woods' - Quilt Top

I bought this 'A Walk in the Woods' jelly roll in Canada. Last year. It's been patiently waiting in my stash for me to summon up the courage to untie it. It's almost too pretty to use!
I decided to make a cross quilt out of it because I needed something mindless and quick. Patching the crosses together took me three evenings/nights. That was back in June. Then my exams started and the quilt top went into my ufo drawer.

I know it's a shame to leave an almost finished quilt (or so it feels...) laying in my ufo drawer for months. I'm not trying to make excuses but it took some time to find the fabrics for the borders.
First I thought about using one of the gray fabrics from the Walk in the Woods collection. When I saw the prices (and realized the fabrics are hard to find because the collection is discontinued) I decided to go with a simple white border. Easier said than done.
I went to about five fabric stores, had my mom look at craft fairs, went to several fabric markets... nothing. This particular white seems to be impossible to find in Germany.
So what to do if you can't find the fabric you're looking for? Ask the designer.
Yepp. I asked Aneela Hoey in person (well sort of... via instagram) whether she knew of any coordinating solid white to go with the collection. And guess what? She answered within several hours!! I couldn't believe my luck. Apparently it's a 'bleached white' that's available from bella solids by moda.
Well I didn't find that particular fabric but I found a kona cotton bleach white.

Adding just a white border was too boring so bought the blue mushroom fabric when I was in Berlin.
For the binding I'm gonna use all the scraps from the collection I have left to make it fun and colorful.

I also found the perfect quilt backing fabric in my stash. It's a soft flannel that I originally bought to make pajama pants. Well, two years later it's still in my stash so I figured I'd just use it for the quilt.

Now comes the worst part: waiting for my mom to quilt it!

fabric sources:
'A walk in the Woods' jelly roll by Aneela Hoey for Moda: Hamels fabrics in Chilliwack, BC, Canada
'bleach white' by KONA cotton: Quilt und Textilkunst in Munich, Germany
'blue mushrooms' by Aneela Hoey: Volksfaden in Berlin, Germany
quilt backing fabric (brand unknown): Alfatex in Göttingen, Germany

baking days // pumpkin pie

I love fall for so many reasons, but one of the most important ones is that it's pumpkin season!
One of my favorite childhood memories is carving pumpkins with my family. So when I saw the first pumpkins at the supermarket I couldn't resist buying one (or two...). The other one is dutifully acting as my new door stopper. Don't ask.

There's no such thing as 'canned pumpkin' in Germany so I had to make it from scratch. The pumpkin puree is super easy to make: wash and cut your pumpkin into pieces (I used a Red Kuri Squash (Hokkaido) because you can eat everything - including the skin!), boil it with very little water on medium heat for 15-20 mins. Next puree it with a hand blender et voilà, you've got delicious, homemade pumpkin puree!

I ended up using four different recipes because most (American) recipes just said "mix the canned pumpkin with ___ and pour into store-bought crust" - what!?!? Does that count as 'baking' in the US?!
Anyway, I made the pie from scratch including the pie crust etc. and it was really good. Though I have to admit that it was the first time I've had pumpkin pie so I can't really tell how good it was in comparison to other pumpkin pies...

Does anyone know how to prevent the filling from cracking after baking?

52 craft projects // shirt coasters

Am I the only one who thinks it's hard to find gifts for men?
My uncle and his boyfriend invited us to their 101st birthday(my uncle turned 51 in August and my uncle's boyfriend turns 50 tomorrow) so of course a present was needed. They just moved to a new apartment that I haven't been to (yet) but I know that they wanted to buy lots of new furniture. A pillow for their couch was out of question since I don't even know if they have a couch yet and if so which color it is.

My mom collects old shirts to make quilts etc. out of them. My uncle and his bf received a shirt quilt a couple years ago and they love it. So I thought why not make something out of shirts (mainly their shirts... probably.) so if they don't like the colors they are to blame because they chose them in the first place ;)

I decided to go for a very simple classic pattern. There's just something about anything log cabin that I love. So I picked a couple of scraps from my mom's old shirts stash and made six coasters. You might remember these coasters that I made last year. I use them pretty much every day and they've been in my washing machine so I know that the interfacing works great for coasters. Never change a running system, right?

I did some veeery basic quilting (my mom the pro quilter is probably ashamed of my non-existent quilting skills...) just to hold the whole thing in place. I used fabrics with very different textures - some were very thick and sturdy while others were thin and slippery. Take that and a moody sewing machine and you've got some wonky yet very cute coasters, if I may say so. Definitely a cute and rather quick present - and suitable for men :)
This is project #23 of 52 craft projects I'm attempting to complete in 2013.
You can see all the other projects I've complete so far here.

craft fair preparations

I'm currently preparing for a craft fair on Sunday. It's been so much fun making cute things out of fabrics I bought this summer!
The sheep fabric is from Sweden. We were at a huuuge thrift store (four stories!!! heaven!!) and my mom found adorable sheep curtains. She let me buy them because she's awesome. The fabric is a mix of cotton, linen and polyester so it's pretty sturdy. Also have I mentioned that the sheep print is adorable? The fabric is by far the best souvenir form the trip!

If you're a local, it would be awesome to see you at the craft fair!
Herbstmarkt in Ebergötzen
Sonntag, 22. September
11:00 - 17:00 Uhr
Sporthalle Ebergötzen

A friend of mine who sells beautiful hand dyed yarn will also be there so it's definitely worth to take a look. Say hi if you're there :)

Day In The Life: September 2013

I think it's fun to document my daily routine from time to time. I'm still on summer break and my roomie isn't at home. An average day in e.g. November will look very different. So here's what Sunday, September 15 looked like for me.

7am Awake ahead of my alarm. Checking mails, texts, instagram, etc. on my phone before I get up. It's incredible how many texts I get at night although my friends know that I won't respond until the morning.

7:15am Cat food for Lina and black tea and a super quick banana smoothie for me. Yepp, the only straws I have are the ones I 'steal' at starbucks. Their size is just perfect and I don't like flexible drinking straws.


7:30 checking mails, reading blogs and cleaning my kitchen.

7:55am watching a Tom Odell concert online(I had never heard of him before Saturday when I saw him live in my hometown. But I'm pretty hooked since the festival!), drinking a second cup and writing a to-do list for the day. I don't seem to function without to-do lists... even on Sundays!

8:00am sewing. I'm currently working on a Christmas quilt. It consists of 24 log cabin blocks so far... not sure whether I wanna add more or add huge strips of a solid white fabric to make it more of a blanket size rather than a dishtowel size...

11am second breakfast and vacuum cleaning the apartment.

11:30am kitty play time!


11:45am taking a shower and getting ready for lunch at a fancy restaurant.

1pm lunch with my grandma, uncle, dad, sister and brother at a fancy restaurant. There was much more food than we could've possibly eaten. My favorite? The crème brûlée :)

4pm at my parents' house for some tea and homemade cookies (yupp, I can always eat cookies. Even after just spending two hours at a restaurant eating non-stop!). Also using the opportunity to wind the rest of the wool I need for my current knitting project. I don't have a yarn ball winder so I always use my mom's - one of the many great things about sharing hobbies with your mom ;)

6pm back home. Collecting some apples from the garden, checking on my very pathetic-looking plants(ever wondered why most bloggers stop sharing backyard pictures in September? It's not pretty, that's why.) and taking a short walk to stretch my legs.

7pm washing apples so I can make fresh apple sauce for breakfast tomorrow. Some more kitty playtime while talking on the phone to a friend. Also checking my to-do list what's left. Putting my timetable for the next term together. These are just the lectures, which means there will be like ten discussion groups added to this. I'm trying to squeeze all my classes in from Monday-Thursday so I can have Fridays off to work. We'll see about that...

9pm watching 'Tatort' (a very popular German TV series and the only television I watch because you can legally watch it anytime you want for a week after it has aired.) and there may have been a couple of sheep cookies involved... Also drinking one last cup of tea (rooibos this time) and knitting. There's a sweater in the making :)

11:30pm talking to my mom on skype who's currently in France working at a quilt show. Of course Lina is always close. Finally going to sleep at 1:30am.


I mainly documented my day because I realized that I've been taking hardly any pictures this summer. I've thought about printing some photos for my project life album (I have almost two months of catching up to do. Yikes!) but really, there isn't much. I can't wait for fall because fall means MAKING stuff and having stuff worth taking pictures of. Hopefully there will be many things worth photographing in the next months :)