What I've learned recently

I have spent a lot more time moving my sewing machine from storage (read: the floor of my office) to the kitchen table than using it to actually quilt lately.

The baby was sick last week and has been out of school again this week with no-fun-at-all high fever.

Who knew you could get so many germs rolling through your house during summer. I thought this was illegal.

Anyhow, this is what I have learned lately:

• If you have 2 kids, they will ALWAYS poop at exactly the same time.



• If you have 2 kids, they will NEVER nap at the same time.



• If your 2 kids share a room and 1 of them wakes up screaming in the dead of night, the other one will ALWAYS wake up and climb into your bed.
  
  
• It is possible for a 3 yr old boy to bump his head on a door jam so hard that a golf ball sized lump forms, and the 3 yr old will then most likely look into the mirror and say that he cannot wait to show his friends at school.
  
  
• If you are driving around in the car with your girlfriend for a relaxing trip to the farmer's market, it is highly likely that your 3 yr old boy will pick that very moment to ask you how is it possible to pee if you don't have a penis.



• If you work full time and raise 2 little boys, you do way less quilting than you hope and dream of doing, but you have way more fun than you ever thought possible.
  
  OhMyGoshTired, but still in love with my life here,
  
  Marisa
  
  ps. if you have yet to visit Red Felt Flower blog, please do so and enjoy the beauty.
  
  pps. if you want some free goodies and you love photography, visit Chara Michele!

Long Beach International Quilt Festival 2009

This weekend my mom and sister visited the Long Beach International Quilt Festival.

I will freely admit that I felt a small tinge of jealousy when I happened to call them and they were chatting to me about how much fun they had and how crowded it was.

Not sure I plan to go to it next year, but they did pick up a couple goodies for me, so not a total loss. One booth I would have certainly visited is the Shibori Girl Studios booth. Perhaps I will have to go after all next year.

In other weekend adventures, I did chain together a few more signature stars, and managed to baste another small quilt, so not at all unproductive.

At one point, I decided (why, oh why) to bake some french macaroons.

Please stop me before I bake again! Seriously.

I DO NOT heart French Macaroons.

The French Macaroons kicked my tail. I tried a different recipe (the chocolate version) and instead of sticking to the paper like last time, they were as dense and as disgusting little chewy balls of goop. Oh yeah, and they looked uglier than sin as well.

My husband thinks I should raise the white flag. I think I should call in the expert.

Japanese crafting - Yoko Saito's new book: Taupe Color Study

Ms. Yoko Saito has of course done it again by putting together a beautiful book on the use of taupe fabrics in quilting. In case you are looking for a copy of it: ISBN978-4-86322-130-7 Study Book for Taupe Colour.

This book is full of small projects, mostly little bags. I love it and would use many of the patterns in either full sized quilts as blocks or in small wall hangings or quilts.

I'm still cookin' along, making little signature quilt blocks...slowly but surely. My boys both fell asleep at the same time for about 30 min today so I was feverishly sewing away. I'm trying to batch process about 35 blocks at the same time.

Will post a photo of them once I get some more assembled.

In other news, I'm addicted to this band Mates of State. Are you a fellow addict? Yes, it is embarrassing that they did an Orange County (the TV show) song but they do rock seriously.

I just ordered the new Mates of State album from Amazon along with a boat load of "just corn". Who knew little boys would eat unlimited quantities of veggies if only you freeze dry them?! Go figure.

Road 2 California 2009

Road 2 California quilt show is planned for next January and accepting applications from folks to host quilts in the show as well as sign-up for classes.

Classes that interest me are by Jo Morton because her quilting style is very classic with an emphasis on hand work.

Maria, the owner of Pinwheels, is also having a class on making a little taupe bag, which is another one that looks very good to me. On her web site, she is selling these incredible 4 inch long zippers for coin purses - all in taupe colors. Super cute, super affordable.

The above photo is a quick snapshot of the pieces I'm cutting out (STILL!!) for my Sarah Johnson quilt. Progress is a bit slower that I might like, but I'm plugging along at it.

Happy 4th of July

Hope folks in the U.S. had a great long weekend for the Fourth of July holiday.

We did a lot of relaxing, and I logged some serious time holding the baby and tickling him. Important work, to be sure.

Quilting-wise, I did cut out and prep some more blocks for the Sarah Johnson quilt. Hopefully I can carve some time out to work on it this week.

My favorite blog post read for the weekend was this one by Oiyi. As if being an incredible knitter isn't enough in and of itself. No, Ms. Oiyi is off dying roving and spinning it first before she knits up the worlds most beautiful creations. I'm almost inspired enough to buy my own sheep. So very pretty.

I will also confess that the above patriotic quilt is not my own creation. It's a gift from my lovely and talented quilting sister.