#plussquared my Beach House Quilt

No. 8 of my Finish Along List for Q2 is finished!

Today was beautiful weather and it was my day off, so perfect timing to get my #plussquared quilt to its photoshoot. As you can guess the pattern is Plus Squared by Emily Dennis and for nearly the full duration of the project that was also its working titel. Close to the finish line I started to think about it as my Beach House Quilt. I am fairly certain a sewing friend and her new summer house inspired this. Of course I do not own a beach house, but I think the colors would be perfect if I had one :)

For me the closest thing to a beach in Hamburg is the Alster. At the Elbe we actually have a real beach – at least my Mom tells me – but I have not been in ages. I love walking on the beach – through the warm (!) sand close to the waterline – relaxing vacation activity… Somehow for me it does not fit with Hamburg :)

But when we have summery or at least sunny weather, I am free & can find a walking buddy – I love the Außenalster: Parklike walkways directly at the water watching ducks, swans, sea gulls and other birds and lots of sailboats, rowing or other watersports.

So instead of photographing #plussquared in my non-excistent beach house, I decided to take it and thus you to a trip to the Alster. I promise to show you lots of quilt pictures but sorry I will also tell you a bit about the Alster itself.

“The Alster is Hamburg’s second most important river. (…) the Alster is a non-tidal, slow-flowing and in some places, seemingly untouched idyll of nature, in other places tamed and landscaped urban space. In the city center, the river forms two lakes, both prominent features in Hamburg’s cityscape.” _[Wikipedia]

The big lake called the Außenalster is the on the pictures above; a great walking route. One of my favorite iconic views of Hamburg is the fountain on the Binnenalster, the second smaller lake. In winter that fountain is replaced by a huge Christmas tree with string lights on a pontoon behind it the illuminated old merchant buildings.

On the Alster — all the lakes and the small canals that are the last step before it ends in the Elbe — drive ferry boats: Always white, with red “trimmings” and regional names. At first primarily used as public transport the Alster Ferries now are tourist attractions running various routes.

As the Alster is a river those two lakes are connected and you can also walk from one to the other – which I retried when Preeti visited me around Easter. Normally it just happens that I am either at the Außenalster or Binnenalster *shrug*

Decorating that walkway is a sculpture of a small boy with a sea gull. He is very naked so I had to cloth him Roman style :)

@Preeti: That second picture with the red S-Bahn (metro) is just for you xo

And one last picture just because I can :)

Oh, and if you haven’t been on my Instagram already. Hop over there and see the quilt waving “Hey” to you!

Hope you enjoyed my small sightseeing trip through Hamburg!

For me it means I got to tick of the third project in this quarter! And with two weeks of vacation starting this Saturday, I will drive right into finishing a few more :)

Hope you are all having fun and making progress! Best wishes
xo Melanie

So far this quarter …

Linking up at
Beauties Pageant 36 @ From Bolt to Beauty
Favorite Finish June @ Meadow Mist Design

I am linking up with the 2019 Finish Along hosts
I used to link up via She Can Quilt but she appears to be inactive at the moment. But there are so many hosts. You can find them all by using the link on the Instagram @finishalong page. To name a few Capitola Quilter, Marci Girl Designs and Sarah Goer Quilts.