Of course, we're expecting!

Well, you all of course guessed it right, our family is expecting our 2nd baby.

Thanks for all your kind well wishes! You really warm my heart.

Interesting enough, the due date is only 2 days off from our son's birthday, so could be birthday cake all around depending on how things line up.

Babies of course show up when they darn well please, and I've found them to have complete disregard for their due date as a blanket generalization.

I think we'll find out the sex of the baby in another month or something, so no starting the baby quilt until I know if it's flowers or race cars.

On a totally different topic, I picked up the latest Patchwork Quilt Tsushin #142 and it's lovely. Some taupe patterns by Yoko Saito (my favorite) as well as some log cabin block ideas from Chuck Nohara (my other favorite). Overall this issue is very nice, and I'd put it up there with my favorites in the last year or so.

In a desperate maneuver of shopping therapy, I broke down and purchased an amazing hair decoration from Atelier Kanawa's Etsy shop. We have a wedding to go to in another month and a half, so maybe I'll wear it then, or maybe just out to a nice dinner. Either way, Atelier's classical Japanese training and her amazingly beautiful creations are not to be missed.

Happy Easter, Happy baking disaster, and happy best-news-ever teaser

We had a lovely egg hunt and even managed to score some actual seats in church this morning (not an easy feat!)

For our big dinner, we will enjoy a prime rib, and I decided to make an Octopus-shaped cream cheese pound cake.

Easter Octopus instead of Bunny? A bit strange? Well, I had the pan already and didn't want to get another bundt pan.

IF YOU GET THIS PAN, BE SURE TO SET IT ON A COOKIE SHEET OR IT WILL BECOME UNEVEN AND DUMP HALF OF IT'S BATTER INTO THE BOTTOM OF YOUR OVEN!

Don't ask me how I discovered that little tip. Errrggg...

As for the view in the picture I posted this time, well, it's a rare and fleeting view of my feet.

Any guesses as to why the view of my feet is going away? Hint, it's super exciting good news.

Oh and one last thing - check out this sneak peak of a baby quilt over at Happy Apple quilts. Look familiar? Hm, looks like my banner. I LOVE this quilt pattern, and think it looks really pretty in 1930's repro's too.

Do you Moo?

The above quilt was something we appraised in my class. What a pretty papercut applique. I love blue and white quilts.

Moo just gave me a head's up email on their new adorable (low cost!, $5!) business card holder.

I think it's the cutest ever. I have the leather version, but this looks like it would be a great way to stash a few extras in my diaper bag, or glove box or something.

I also stumbled across this super cool Polaroid Blog, that I would recommend you visit if you have the time. Polaroid film, as I'm sure you already know, is basically not going to be made by the company any longer. It's a dying artform, that I personally adore. Get it while you can, folks. Enjoy.

A friendly visitor from a strange land

Finally my cough is on the way out, so thanks for well wishes. Between those, the humidifier, and the extra naps (thanks honey for being on duty w/ our 2yr old) how could I not feel tons and tons better!

Yesterday my old college roommate and her husband stopped by with their new puppy. This dog was the cutest little thing on earth. My friend imported this little sweetie from Korea.

The pincushion is for a lovely new friend who gave me the pleasure of appraising her quilt collection, for practice. Her quilts were amazing, and I'm just now finishing up all the paperwork. It's taken me a lot longer that I was hoping to take, but with the germs rolling through my house, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised.

Well, here's to a good healthy upcoming week.

Crawling back to the keyboard....

So when I went to the doctor today for my cough (the one that has been my friend at 1am, 2am, 3am, etc for 2 weeks now) I thought for sure they would recommend a lung transplant.

At the very least, I envisioned them spiriting me away to the ICU for extensive upper respiratory infection treatment.

My doctor, a total sweetheart, recommended a humidifier and lots of water. I'll let you know if it's the cure.

If my cold is reading this blog.....be gone! You are no longer wanted here!!!

I will now confess to you that I bought 3 pairs of shoes online this afternoon. Yes, 3. I was in dire need of something springy, and since I bought online my husband will never know as long as I get the box when it arrives.

Well, he probably still reads my blog now and then, so maybe it's not going to be all that secret.

I also need to get online and order this brownie baking tray. It makes the brownies so that they ALL have edges! No more soggy middle pieces that nobody likes to eat anyhow. Does that rock or what?

Oh, and I created the little above pincushion for a very good reason. I know, the suspense is killing you...next time!

Cough cough, go away...oh, I'm such a basket case!

The famliy cold has landed squarely in my lap now. I've been coughing like mad for the last 10 days w/ not much sign of getting better.

Off to the doctor for me tomorrow....wish me luck! More when I'm back on my feet.

Primary election addiction

I know I admitted to being addicted to blogging in my last post, but this time I think it's time to also admit it's hard to turn off the election news coverage on TV.

The confetti, the charisma and excitement, the cheers....it's also a bit habit forming! I'm sure there are others out there that just have a tough time flipping to another channel. This is turning into a nail biter.

Slowly, I continue to do more hand stitching on the Yukata quilt. I decided to use this wine glass pattern in the indigo borders.

I also noticed this cool blog called Sew Sisters that looks like it's associated with the quilt shot. They have a nice shot of some new Japanese taupe fabric, as well as an interesting book by Yoko Saito. Hm...may have to look into getting a copy of that!!

Are you addicted to blogging?

Now there is an online test you can take to see if you are officially addicted to blogging or not.

Not that I was wondering what the answer would be for me personally (duh - yes!) but I took the quiz anyhow, and it proclaimed me to be 77% addicted. Think you can beat that?

Finally our son is more healthy this weekend, so that is really all I could want for a peaceful weekend.

Above is a picture of the Lecien fabric I picked up from Mariko at Azabu-Ya when I visited her booth at Road to California quilt show. I have yet to wash and iron it, but we'll see if I get a second wind this afternoon.

I was at the doctor's office last week, and the nurse immediately recognized my necklace as being by Margaret Sullivan. She is this jewelery artist that makes the most adorable charms, and I have one with my son's name on it that I got from a little shop in Los Altos, CA.

It's the first time anybody has ever recognized it, I thought it was cool.