Travel – Page 5 – Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

August 26, 2013

ich bin zurückgekommen! (i’m back… from germany!)

I’m home from the longest vacation I’ve ever had!
I just spent a month – solo – in Germany, taking a German language course. I had always dreamed of spending a semester abroad during college, but as an engineer I didn’t have enough flexibility in my coursework. I had taken three German classes during school, all just for fun, so when I graduated and had a wide open summer to myself, I knew what I wanted to plan.

It was my graduation present to myself: a mini study-abroad, a language immersion trip. I spent two weeks in Hamburg followed by two weeks in Berlin, with language courses every morning and exploring and live-language practice – “einen Kaffee, bitte!” – every afternoon. It was wonderful. So many new foods and sights and so many words to learn.

And this is shocking, but I managed to find quite a few fabrics during my adventure! Some are standard clothing-weight fabrics with definite plans in mind. And, of course, some are a bit more fun.

I was lucky enough to find two German-themed fabrics that served as my main “souvenirs”. The top fabric features the Bremen town musicians: a donkey, dog, cat, and rooster featured in a Brothers Grimm fairytale and memorialized in Bremen by a tall bronze sculpture. My dad flew with me to Germany and we had a little “Germany trip prequel” in Bremen, where I fell in love with these little guys. They’re overly commercialized, but they’re so adorable. This fabric was made in Germany by the Westfalenstoffe brand, so it’s a truly German fabric.

The lower fabric is a stylized map of Berlin, printed on linen in the most gorgeous jewel tones. The fabric was designed and printed in Japan, but that is okay by me :) It is quite possibly the most expensive fabric I’ve ever bought, coming in at 19EUR/m. All the quilting-level fabrics were extremely expensive by my standards… good thing I was on vacation!

My favorite German saying that we learned in class: Geld spielt keine Rolle. Literally, “money plays no role”. Exercised in moderation, it was a good vacation motto for me (i tend to be too hard on myself!), although it took its toll on the weight of my luggage!

I also bought some darling Japanese prints… who could say no to those elephants with apples and bright green birdy friends? And the little blue kerchief’ed bears remind me of my beloved ninja bear.

These last two print fabrics are from the exotic land of “America”… but I couldn’t resist their bright colors. At the risk of sounding extremely boring: I’m planning on making a set of tea towels out of the spatula print, and they are going to be gorgeous.

Of course, I brought far more than fabrics home from Germany… I brought plenty of pictures and inspiration for new and wonderful things to make. So stay tuned, because I’ve got plenty of great things to share with you.

(and i promise to stop typing in german sometime soon.)

December 26, 2012

Merry Christmas!

My Christmas looked a lot like this.

andy and snowboard

This,

ben and snowboard

this,

papa on top of the mountain

and this!

colorado mountaintop (and there's my shadow!)

Hope yours was just as beautiful, fun, and full of silly jokes! Because that’s what family time is all about.

October 10, 2012

treasures from the portland flea-for-all

door of the portland flea-for-all

While in Portland, I had to make a stop at the Portland Flea for All, a store filled with antique and vintage treasures.

The bottom floor is split into small spaces, each housing an independent vendor of wares both vintage and handmade. One woman in the corner had a large assortment of vintage bowling accessories and ephemera, what a fun thing to collect!

They had some beautiful old bikes, although I wouldn’t trust their mechanical condition. The vendors clearly took their curating seriously, and the prices were fair.

The second and third floors held all sorts of wonderful old furniture. Obviously furniture shopping was not the focus of my trip, but there were some goodies. Complete 4-seat dining sets, gossip benches, dressers, and cabinets – plenty of charming choices for those looking for a “not-Ikea” home.

incredible knit fabric: old londontown

My treasures were on the smaller and lighter side: first this fabric, a yard-and-a-half of knit with the best print, in the best colors. When I showed it to Brad he declared, “Old Londontown!”, so when this shirt is made it will most definitely be called my Old Londontown Shirt. It’s a large print but it will be fun to wear.

little monkey friends fabric

I also couldn’t pass up this pink cotton with jungle friends – the monkey is so happy! The price was good on this one, too: almost 3 yards for $4! Can’t beat that.

Both of these fabrics were from a vendor who had quite the assortment of vintage fabrics, and I’m guessing she was a seamstress as well because she stocked some handmade pillows and small plush.

And the Pièce de résistance was this nautical/harbor-themed old wallpaper (click for larger image). The colors are wonderful. The aged paper is dry and slightly brittle, so I have to be careful with it, but I can’t wait to put it to good use. I may simply frame some sections, but it would also be fun to try and use it in a small space somewhere (like the lower half of a bar – I have 2 21×42″ pieces). It will be a nice reminder of my summer spent in New England.

If you’re in Portland (Maine, that is!), I would absolutely recommend stopping by the Flea for All, especially if you’re in the market for furniture, but also if you’re like me and love browsing through old things.

Now I’ve got to clean out my sewing room and start stitching up “Old Londontown”!