baby anne quilts

cruisin'

heatherharwood@hotmail.com (heather) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 06:13:00 +0000

Karl and I just celebrated our 10th anniversary. That's right, folks, a whole decade!! We can't hardly believe it ourselves!

Since it's the big one-oh and we've got a baby on the way that will complicate any big trips like this in the near future (and despite the fact we've been saving to buy a house), we decided to take advantage of living near a port town and go on our very first cruise!

Heather and Karl are cruisers!

Although we originally planned our 5-day sojourn in the Gulf of Mexico during the week of our actual anniversary (18 May), my pregnancy demanded that we actually go in early April (see my prego post from 12 March). We left Galveston on the Carnival Ecstasy on 4 April, spent a day in Progresso, Mexico on 6 April, then Cozumel, Mexico on 7 April, and returned to Galveston on 9 April.

We really weren't all that interested in the Mexican ports, and to save money (saving for a house, remember?) we opted out of any shore excursions, but we did get off the boat and wandered the shopping and beach for a couple of hours at each port. On the ship we ate great food, relaxed with books on the deck, ate more great food, relaxed with more books in our room, played miniature golf, ate more yummy food, swam one morning while the ship was in port and everyone was on shore and no where near the pool, ate delicious food, and took night-time strolls on the deck after filling, yummy dinners!

One of the funnest parts of the cruise was bringing Flat Stanley with us everywhere! My niece, Amanda, in Detroit was doing the Flat Stanley project in her class where the kids make and mail off and paper man to someone they know in the world. That person sends back photos and letters of what Flat Stanley has done in that part of the world. Karl and I actually did a similar project for a friend and another niece while we were living in Germany so it was great fun to do it again for Amanda! We realized during our cruise that 90% of our photos had Flat Stanley in them! We really did have fun picking locations for Stanley to get his portrait taken. So...here's some photos of our fun, relaxing cruise with our new friend, Flat Stanley!

Flat Stanley and our ship!

Flat Stanley and our fun ship!

Flat Stanley and our fancy ship! (Yes, that's Karl at the bar in one of the Hawaiian shirts he wore every day or our cruise.)

Flat Stanley and the blue blue water of Mexico!

Flat Stanley at the on-ship art auction (we actually won a free lithograph at the auction)!

Flat Stanley on the Mexican shore!

Flat Stanley being beaten by Karl at minature golf on the ship!

favorite shop friday: sarah clemens clothing

heatherharwood@hotmail.com (heather) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 11:29:00 +0000

Sarah Clemens makes clothing. Girly, frilly, whimsical, a little traditional and a little raw, and oh so comfortable looking clothing!

And I just can't decide which one is my favorite...

Don't they just make you want to twirl?

Check out more of Sarah's pretty designs at her shop:
http://sarahclemensclothing.etsy.com/

today is my dad's birthday!

heatherharwood@hotmail.com (heather) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 11:57:00 +0000

I wish I didn't have your nose but thank you sooooo much for those eyelashes!!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

doors and windows 8

heatherharwood@hotmail.com (heather) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 09:44:00 +0000

Houston, Texas

Houston, Texas

Houston, Texas

Houston, Texas

Houston, Texas

prego update

heatherharwood@hotmail.com (heather) — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 14:26:00 +0000

Today I am 20 weeks pregnant....half way there!!*

So I thought I'd give you a little update on how things are going in the the whole baby-making department: cravings, aversions, annoyances, pleasant surprises, things I'm learning and the like.

Aversion: Toothpaste makes me gag. This is very annoying. I think it's the strong mint flavor (because I'm not very partial to any other minty things these days either.) I've tried kid-flavored toothpaste and that makes me gag, too. But if anyone knows of a toothpaste that doesn't have a strong flavor...let me know...please?

Annoyance: Heartburn, heartburn, heartburn. I have never in my life had heartburn. In fact, my husband had to tell me what this was. It started back in January and I would get it a few times a week. Then that turned into every day. Then multiple times a day. Then I would have to sit up in bed reading for an hour or so at night because I couldn't lay down due to the heartburn. Then I had to start sleeping propped up on two pillows because I was waking up with heartburn. And it didn't matter what I ate...I got heartburn. Heartburn sucks.

Pleasant surprise: My doctor got me a prescription medicine for the heartburn this week...oh. My. GOODNESS!!! My life is good again!! Pregnancy is fun again! I love my doctor!!

Another pleasant surprise: I have full, soft, pretty hair! I had heard that pregnancy makes your nails and hair grow faster. I couldn't care less about my nails but I was surprised to find that my hair isn't just growing a little faster, it's getting fuller and softer, too! My sister and I were cursed with thin, straight, thin, thin hair. And now...for a little while at least...mine's looking pretty good! Good baby!

Craving: Thousand Island salad dressing was my most favorite salad dressing as a kid. And then I grew up and discovered there were more salad dressings in the world besides Thousand Island and I've rarely touched it since. In fact I became much more partial to vinaigrettes. One of the nice things about this pregnancy is that I've been craving healthy foods, especially salads. But the dressing? Thousand Island, please!! In fact, I'm really not digging the vinaigrettes anymore and the thought of Thousand Island makes me salivate! (Really! I'm salivating right now!) I'm reverting to my childhood!

Something I've learned: You can't go on a cruise if you're 24 weeks pregnant. Karl and I are celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary this May (I know, right?! 10 years!!). And since it's kind of a landmark anniversary and since it's our last chance for a big getaway before the baby comes we decided to go on a cruise! So we booked it for the week of our anniversary...and THEN saw the fine print! If you're 24 weeks pregnant or later they won't let you on the boat! And how pregnant was I going to be? Well, a lot later than 24 weeks. So...a long customer service phone call later...we got the cruise changed to April when I'm in my 23rd week of pregnancy.

And how's the baby itself doing? Well...see for yourself:

Everything's healthy and strong and in its place! We just got this ultrasound on Tuesday and we opted NOT to find out if it's a girl or a boy. Even though everyone seems to hate us for it, we like the idea of drawing out the excitement and anticipation and adding a fun surprise at the end of all this!

*A note to those not in the know...the normal gestation period for a human baby is 40 weeks. I've always hated it when my pregnant friends talk about their pregnancies or their babies like I should know exactly what they're talking about when I've never been pregnant, never had babies and have no clue. Heck, I'm 20 weeks pregnant and still have no clue. So...for all you clue-less like me: 20 weeks is exactly half way...even though an on-time birth is considered anywhere between 38 and 42 weeks, 40 is average.

favorite shop friday: mayberry sparrow

heatherharwood@hotmail.com (heather) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:37:00 +0000

I love rubber stamps. I never know what to do with them...but I love them. Today's shop is Mayberry Sparrow and has not only some wonderful handmade rubber stamps, but I just might be able to find real use for these...

custom bookplate stamp

garment tag washing instructions stamps

And these are just so great I have to find a reason to use them...

lucky origami crane stamps

mamaw's sewing machine stamp

But if you're like me and still can't find reasons to use rubber stamps, Corra of Mayberry Sparrow has other great handmade stuff in her shop like...

Fiona's crazy quilt notecards

soda pop can ornaments

If for no other reason to visit Mayberry Sparrow (at http://corrabelle.etsy.com/) at least check out the story behind the name in her shop Profile or read her fun blog! Some people are just born with great creating genius! But that's one reason why her stamps are so great...she let's us do some great creating with a little of her genius!

kikeriki

heatherharwood@hotmail.com (heather) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:30:00 +0000

When I was a missionary in Germany many years ago, I learned that German roosters do not say "Cock-a-doodle-doo!" They say "Kikeriki!" It never occured to me that different cultures would reproduce the sounds animals make in such a completely different way!

Last year I somehow stumbled on the coolest website called BzzzzPeek. Their mission is to record children all over the world making animal and vehicle sounds so you can hear and compare them. And it is the cutest site!

For instance, in Croatia a dog says "vowvow" and in Japan a cat says "miamia".

And in America flies say "bzzzz" while in Germany they say "zoomzoom" but in France they say "bzzzzpeek"!

german music: karpatenhund

heatherharwood@hotmail.com (heather) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 07:20:00 +0000

I'm missing Germany today and since I can't eat Doenners nor ride the train to Karlsruhe nor gaze at the Black Forest out my window at least I can still listen to German music!

Today's group is from Cologne and the girl lead singer in this band (Claire Oelkers) is also a VeeJay for German MTV which is how I first saw her. Karl told me she also had a band and then I heard the band and I really like the band! And now you get to hear the band!

The band is called Karpatenhund (which literally means Carpathian Dog).

They have kind of a fun pop-y sound typical of a lot of German popular music (sounds that get stuck in your head but you really don't mind). Here are a couple of their best known songs:

Zusammen Verschwinden (Disappear Together)

Gegen den Rest (Against the Rest)

And I always really liked this one, Ist es das was du wolltest (Is that what you wanted)...

See? Happy stuff!

If you like like I like you can listen to more here.

happy heart day!

heatherharwood@hotmail.com (heather) — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 08:24:00 +0000

Enjoy someone you love today!

I am!

favorite shop friday: vintage kids books

heatherharwood@hotmail.com (heather) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 10:00:00 +0000

I've always loved a good children's book. There is nothing better than a delightful story with charming illustrations. Now that I'm expecting and have an even bigger reason to start collecting my favorite children's books I've been finding the desire to not just find the best new books but to scout out all the favorites I was reading as a kid. And this week I found the perfect shop to help me do that: Vintage Kids Books.

A fellow Texas mom finds vintage children's books you remember and love and many you wish you had. Then passes the chance for you to buy them at super deals.

I can't wait for my baby to be able to read Mouse Soup (by the great Arnold Lobel) all by himself which I read through I don't how many times as I was learning to read.

I still remember exactly where all the Nancy Drew books were in my town library growing up...it was the first shelf I went to when we took our family trips to the library. You better believe I want a daughter of mine is going to get the chance to solve mysteries with Nancy and George with their classic 1950s covers.

And then there are the books I never had but I can't imagine would not be cool to have...like this 1958 book on space travel...written before anyone was even traveling through space!

Vintage Kids Books is filled with great books for kids waiting to be discovered and re-discovered and you'll find it at http://vintagekidsbooks.etsy.com/. Plus this shop has a great blog, http://www.vintagechildrensbooksmykidloves.com/, where you can keep up with the latest book finds and reviews of tons of great vintage books.

Now go read a book!

babylein

heatherharwood@hotmail.com (heather) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 07:44:00 +0000

Yes, yes, I know. I disappeared off the face of the earth. Actually I've been here I just haven't been here.

So what have I been doing? Well...not much actually. It's amazing how a change of scenery can completely throw your routines off.

Plus, I've been a bit distracted and unfocused lately...

...why is it that pregnancy causes your brain to turn to mush?

doors and windows 7

heatherharwood@hotmail.com (heather) — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 15:23:00 +0000

Steinbach, Germany

favorite shop friday: mister rob

heatherharwood@hotmail.com (heather) — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 14:11:00 +0000

Today I bring you the delightfully wonderful work of Mister Rob!

Mr. Rob Ryan has a wonderful little shop filled with the most wonderful tiles, screenprints and lasercuts from his UK studio.

The skill involved in his work is impressive enough, but it's the simple imagination that goes into his designs that make him unique...

These are words and images I would like to invite into my world! Invite them into yours at http://misterrob.etsy.com/.

spam-a-lot

heatherharwood@hotmail.com (heather) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 06:16:00 +0000

On one of our days in Minnesota we took a trip to one of the funnest places I've ever been...the Spam Museum. Yes, that's right...Spam!

In the little community of Austin, Minnesota, the Hormel plant is in full swing making so many food products Americans love and one that if you don't love it, you have to have a least have a sense of humour about it (because Hormel certainly does!).

So, yeah, Hormel built this whole museum dedicated to Spam. The museum is, of course, very educational: you learn about the history of Spam, the role Spam played during World War II, and how Spam is made and canned. And it's all a ton of fun: race each other in canning Spam, play a game show testing your Spam knowledge, and, of course, watch the entire Monty Python Spam skit. And then there's the gift shop with not just every variety of Spam you didn't know existed but over 300 objects with the word Spam on it.

And if you didn't like Spam already going into the museum...well, you're still not going to like Spam coming out. But you'll be able to give Spam some credit for providing a really fun afternoon !

old-fashion american road trip

heatherharwood@hotmail.com (heather) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 15:04:00 +0000

What is it about a change of location that totally messes up your routines? My day-to-day really hasn't changed much since moving to Texas but I just can't seem to get my blogging in anymore!

I suppose I am having new distractions. My husband just found a new job in a little town just west of Houston so now we're hunting for a new car and a new home and I'm still job hunting myself. But we took a break from all of this hunting for Thanksgiving last week and drove up to Minnesota with my parents to spend the holiday with my mother's sisters and their families.

Rochester Minnesota is about an 18-hour drive (20 hours with rest stops, gas stops, and food stops) from Houston and we drove it all straight through. It was actually not a bad drive at all. And I have actually been craving a good road trip for a while.

I realized while I was living in Germany that road trips are truly an American thing. No one loves their cars so much, has such a lack of a train system, and has created an entire highway/interstate culture like Americans.

I noticed driving long-distance in Germany that you just don't get those long stretches of roads with nothing. There is always something. European towns are so compact with relatively little distance between that you're always within sight of at least a village and the major cities are never more than an hour or so away from each other. You never get "away" from anything.

As you drive cross-country in America, as many of you know, most of your trip is going to be empty fields of grain or cattle with the occasional farm house and truck stop and last-stop-shopping for American Indian artifacts and hand-painted billboards advertising the state's best BBQ. I missed those long stretches of flat plains and the endless winding through mountains without seeing a bit of civilization.

So this road trip to Minnesota really made feel that I arrived home.

And our Thanksgiving was really good, too!

favorite shop friday: la belle fairy

heatherharwood@hotmail.com (heather) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:29:00 +0000

I've just finished reading some books written in a Victorian fashion with much talk of cravats and petticoats and waistcoats and corsets and so I've been in a lady-like Victorian kind of mood and began eyeing what corsets could be found on Etsy. I've found the funnest shop filled with pretty corsets prefect for when I'm in these period piece kind of moods!

La Belle Fairy is your one-stop shopping for all your cinching, boning, lacing, flattering figure needs!

Such pretty shapes...

Such soft satins...

Such romance and femininity...

So much fun!

And don't worry about fit...these corsets are custom made in Canada to fit your figure!

Of course you need a corset! Find your perfect figure at http://labellefairy.etsy.com/!

my sister, the cupcake baker

heatherharwood@hotmail.com (heather) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 08:25:00 +0000

Man, have I ever been neglectful!

Sorry for the lack of posts the past couple of weeks...I've been getting settled here: getting over jet-lag, sprucing up my resume for job-hunting, hanging out with family and trying to get used to being in America again. I'm missing Germany something awful but I'm seeing a lot of perks to being back in Texas...like the yummy Texas food and spending more time with my family than I've had for the past two years (or more!).

One thing I've been especially enjoying that combines food I can't get in Germany and my family is my sister's new cupcake business! She started up a cupcake baking business, Seriously Cupcakes, this past year and I've been dying to taste her work for months, espeically since Germans don't make cupcakes...but now I'm cursing her evilness because I'm surrounded with cupcakes I can't stop eating!

Susan seriously makes a good cupcake! I'm deeply impressed at how good she can make a simple vanilla cupcake with vanilla frosting (but it's probably the vanilla sugar, vanilla bean and Madegascar vanilla extract she uses in both the cake and cream cheese frosting...not to mention the obscene amount of butter). Just when I thought I was starting to get tired of eating such rich little cakes, she brings over some coconut cupcakes with coconut cream cheese frosting (a total of 6 sticks of butter went into these little bits of heaven) and I'm hooked again.

If you're in the Houston area and are interested in getting addicted to some amazingly good cupcakes, you can contact my sister, Susan, through her cupcake-y blog, No Seriously, No...Seriously.

americans!

heatherharwood@hotmail.com (heather) — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 05:09:00 +0000

And so...we are back in America.

Our long traveling went smoothly. But we're feeling a little more European than American right now with all the streets feeling too wide, the cars too big, the city too sprawling, and the east Texas air too humid. We're going to have to do some adjusting! So let's make this an All-American post today! And what's more American than Chuck Norris!?

Are you familiar with Chuck Norris' 1986 cartoon, Chuck Norris Karate Kommando? It is horribly made, kind of strange, and hilarious.

This is one of my favorite clips from the few episodes that got made. I find it strangely poignant.

Is Chuck trying to tell us something about American culture? Discuss.

favorite shop friday: loyalty and blood

heatherharwood@hotmail.com (heather) — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 03:50:00 +0000

Today is Halloween (and I wish you all a fun and happy one!) but I'm spending my holiday traveling from one continent to another! I'm flying over the Atlantic today making that same great journey my ancestors made 150 years ago when they decided to immigrate from Germany to the United States. Except my journey will be made in a crowded airplane instead of a crowded boat and I'll arrive the same day I leave instead of weeks later and I'll be comfortably dressed in a T-shirt instead of a corset with my airplane snacks and books in a tote bag. So in honor of my long flight abroad today, let's take a look at look at some great tote bags and comfy T-shirts with images of ships and flight and family monograms and a new home, shall we?

Allow me to introduce Loyalty and Blood! This is a very cool shop of T-shirts, totes and jewelry.

The T-shirts are beautifully done with strong simple graphics...

The totes (my personal favorite) are screen printed with gorgeous alphabets...

And the jewelry is unique and carries on the vintage feel of many of Loyalty and Blood's other designs...

I love this shop. I love the vintage yet modern designs and I can wait to add one of those letter tote bags to my new American shopping trips. And, of course, this necklace is just the thing I need for my new home!

Find more of Maggie and David's brilliance at http://loyaltyandblood.etsy.com/!

quilting politics

heatherharwood@hotmail.com (heather) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 08:57:00 +0000

Flag, 1915, made by Belle Engley of Kingston, Michigan. cottons, pieced, 78.5 x 67.5 inches. Collection of Marcia and Ron Spark.

The US Presidential election is only a week away. Karl and I will be making it back to the States in time to vote on the 4th, but we decided to go ahead and send in our absentee ballots last week, so our choice has been made and our duty as US citizens is already taken care of. But I know many of you US Americans are still making choices and looking forward to voting next week and I got to thinking, being the quilter and history buff that I am, about the roll quilts have playing in United Sates politics.

Did you know that quilts have played an important role in American politics?

It's only since 1919 that women in the US had the right to vote but American women have been playing an active role in politics since long before that and largely through their quilting.

The 19th century brought a growing population through immigration and and growing populations mean growing social problems. Women created organizations to improve education, prisons, temperance in drinking, abolition of war and slavery, and women's rights. The money to run these causes were raised at fairs, festivals and bazaars where they sold their baked goods, needlework and, yes, quilts.

The Civil War brought more cause for fundraising and more quilts being made to finance the buying of gun boats and hospital supplies and still more quilts were made to send out to the soldiers themselves. Quilts were used by Abolitionists to express their antislavery viewpoints and the names of traditional quilting patterns were changed to reflect their views: for example Job's Tears became Slave Chain and Jacob's Ladder became Underground Railway.

In the 20th century women continued to express their political and patriotic points of view through quilting. Magazines and newspapers called for quilts to send to "Our Boys Over There" and to sell to raise money for the war cause.

But I'm happy to see that with the right to vote, women have not entirely given up the public voice quilting gave us. One of my favorite modern quilters, Denyse Schmidt, has made this beautiful quilt to help raise funds for the Barack Obama campaign. You can find her fundraising page by clicking here.

No matter what your political sway, quilts like this help us to remember, at least help me to remember, that voting is an earned right for all of us. I'm glad my voice in politics today is counted in the private ballot box but I'm also glad that there were many women before me that took advantage of a public voice through fabric and needlework. Although a quilt didn't "count" in elections, they certainly made a difference in our history.

Stars and Stripes, c. 1876, cottons, pieced, 12.5 x 15.5 inches. Thelma Moore-Morris Doll Quilt Collection.

Facts and photos from The American Quilt: A History of Cloth and Comfort 1750-1950 by Roderick Kiracofe

favorite shop friday: made with love by hannah

heatherharwood@hotmail.com (heather) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 17:50:00 +0000

I've been a big fan of today's shop for a long time. Mostly because of this...the Schwarzwalder Skirt!

And since I'm saying goodbye to my Schwarzwald this week, it seemed the perfect time to feature Made With Love By Hannah!

Her prints and skirts perfectly capture the kitsch that Germany is so good at (which is why, I guess, they invented the word for it). It's a cozy kitsch that I see so much of around my home from the knick knacks cluttering the local Biergarten to the gnomes and sheep and cherubs covering the lawns in our neighborhood. So Hannah's shop makes me feel right at home!

Visit Hannah's haven for all things knick knack-y and ric rac-y (or if you're just feeling homesick for Germany like I will be!) at http://madewithlovebyhannah.etsy.com/ and check out her blog at http://madewithlovebyhannah.com/WordPress/ for sneak peek at what she's been creating!

mein schwarzwald

heatherharwood@hotmail.com (heather) — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 10:12:00 +0000

After two years and one month in Germany, Karl and I are moving back the the US at the end of them moth.

We had hoped to make our home here, which started out as a temporary 6 month assignment for his job, into a permanent home, but things haven't worked out as we hoped. And now we're returning.

The decision has made us sad because this is so much our Home. This place has affected us in many ways for the better. There is so much we are going to miss about living in Germany. One of which is the view out my window of the Black Forest. Every day we've lived here I've been amazed that I'm so lucky. Often those thoughts come when I look out our bedroom window at the beautiful green forested mountains with its castle ruins.

I've been trying to soak in that view as much as possible this past week since we've learned we're going to be returning to the States at the end of the month. Unfortunately, it's been a rainy and foggy week and there hasn't been much to see out my window...

But I've taken many shots of our view over the past two years, I love it so much. So, in farewell to my beautiful view, here's my little bit of the Black Forest for you to enjoy, too...

...*sigh*....I'm sure going to miss this place.

favorite shop friday: plum creek mercantile

heatherharwood@hotmail.com (heather) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 09:00:00 +0000

This week's shop is as simple and brilliant as it's products...reusable food bags!

Say goodbye to going through boxes of throw-away plastic baggies and say hello to Plum Creek Mercantile.

Candyce provides you with fabric food baggies, the perfect size for your sandwich and snacks, and quart-size and gallon-size bulk food bags.

They are pretty, washable, reusable, made with natural cotton and close securely. They are perfect for packed lunches, your toddler's finger foods, travel snacks and whether you want to save some cash on repeatly buying plastic throw-away baggies or have the environment's health in mind.

Find your food's next best friend at http://plumcreekmercantile.etsy.com/.

fall in the forest

heatherharwood@hotmail.com (heather) — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 19:20:00 +0000

In the past couple of weeks, the autumn season has hit the Black Forest in full force and it is beautiful!

This past Saturday Karl and I went up into the Forest mountains with our cameras and our friends, Thomas and Denise, to enjoy the colors...

Denise tries her luck...

doors and windows 6

heatherharwood@hotmail.com (heather) — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 07:54:00 +0000

Bruges, Belgium