Quilt Otaku

Oh how many feet you meet!

2012-01-29T20:34:00.000-08:00

I finally made a pair of socks for myself.

I have made several pairs already for my family, but this is the first pair for me. Funny how sometimes I get a lot more excited to make stuff for them. I did follow through and actually finished knitting a pair for me. Last time I tried this, I only made 1 sock, and you can imagine how useful that is.

The yarn (by Blue Moon Fiber Arts) was a gift from my quilting friend (thanks m.a.!) and it was really fun to knit.

The pattern is by Cookie A and called Monkey. It is so popular I think most knitters on this planet have already knit these socks.

In between clothing laundry duty this week I slipped in a load of Liberty of London fabrics. They were all quarter yards so of course they ended up in a giant ball when the laundry was finished. They are all ironed and in a neat little stack now. Just waiting for me to play with them. Oh so pretty.

This weekend was pretty slow given our little one had a fever for the better part of it and is still trying to get back on his game.

Speaking of game, I played tennis with my 6 yr old and he gave me a decent workout. I may have created myself a little tennis partner. Who knew that was possible. It all starts with love!

Blue and White Japan by Amy Katoh and searching for the Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival

2012-01-26T22:02:00.000-08:00

By this time in January, the Tokyo Dome quilt show is in full swing and plenty of bloggers have been there and shared their photos.

This year I haven't seen any photos pop up yet, so I am wondering what kind souls will be posting their photos. Have you seen any pix? AHHHH!!! I'm going to die if I don't see some photos soon!!! Don't tempt me to go there myself next year!

To keep the Japanese Quilting tendencies happy, and after reading Lis' blog post over at Piece n Peace blog, I broke out my copy of Amy Katoh's book called Blue and White Japan.

I have the version that was published in 1996/1997. There are other versions that were printed more recently. It discusses why blue and white are the most perfect combination of color, and at some level I have to agree. It's clean, simple and very easy on the eye.

Lately I've been gravitating to the color combo of turquoise and olive green, but ok...it's certainly not as peaceful as blue and white.

Anyhow, if you are looking to learn about indigo or Japanese textiles, this book is awesome. I want to visit the shop in Japan someday.

In other news, I've recently become obsessed with knitting striped yarn from Twisted Limone - an indie Brit dyer. It's so wild and colorful. I cannot help but be seduced. I named my project, "She Blinded Me With Legwarmers".

Modern Architecture Applique Quilt Block: inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright

2012-01-24T21:11:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I taught our applique class at Verb (now carrying Liberty fabric - w00t!). The block is our 9th block in a series inspired by modern architects and the work they have done in Northern California.

This block specifically was inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's Hanna House which is located basically on campus at Stanford University. It was a real blast to make. You'll have to let me know if you think it captures the spirit of the home itself.

I went there and photographed it, and wanted so badly to take a tour of it. I hear that photos are only allowed outside, not inside. They also only let you tour it if you are over 12 yrs old, and since the company I keep on the weekends has almost another 10 years to go before that point...my hope is that they keep the place in good working order so eventually I can take the tour.

Teaching this hand applique class is perhaps the high point of the month for me since the students are all so creative and lovely. They inspire me and make me wonder about what will be next once all these blocks are complete. So many many choices.

The block shown above is 99% made out of Japanese taupe fabrics. I slipped a piece of Liberty of London fabric in there because I could not resist. It reminded me so much of Wright's designs. I picked it up on my trip to Purl Soho and it's called Green Ebs on their site.

Why did I even visit Purl's site?! Now I am wanting some Elephant fabric. I digress....

While driving around I'm listening to this awesome podcast called Stash and Burn - it's more knitting related that sewing, but it's super well done and very entertaining.

The Mystery of the Middle Finger

2012-01-20T23:26:00.000-08:00

At the dinner table the other night our 6 yr old boy said, "Mommy, I heard at school today that if you show somebody your middle finger, it means something really bad."

I of course told him he was right and that he probably doesn't want to be holding up his middle finger to people.

Of course it can't be left at that.

He says, "So, does it mean the 'S' word?"

I ask in a very quiet voice so the 3 yr old cannot hear me, "do you mean stupid?"

He nods.

I tell him that it's way worse than stupid and that he should put it out of his mind and not worry about it.

The next morning we are getting ready for school and he asks me out of nowhere, "Mommy, does it mean dam?"...(or damn for that matter)

I try to find out if he knows what 'dam' implies, and he says that he doesn't understand what that word means either.

So for now, the meaning of the middle finger continues to be a mystery to us in this household, but we are not very satisfied with that ending. Oh well. Get used to disappointment.

This weekend we have Thomas the Train layouts to build, ice skating to be had, and hand applique class to be taught. I think everybody is looking forward to it.

Hope your weekend is shaping up just as nicely.

How to configure your quilt studio: out of Legos!

2012-01-14T22:14:00.000-08:00

We've been keeping busy lately as usual.

I am still hand piecing small triangles to make more patchwork balls. So relaxing and rewarding to see them come together.

We visited the Exploratorium in San Francisco with the kids and none of us were sure who had a better time, kids or parents. Usually parents can drag kids along to certain places where they will tolerate being there, and vice versa. In this case, we all had a blast which is a rare treat. You can see my 6 yr old in the above photo using their wall of bubbles. If you look long enough you might even see me in there.

We did not have time to stop in at PeaPod Fabrics, ah...next time I'll make time for those beautiful Japanese imported fabrics.

I also was aimlessly wandering around in Target tonight and picked up THE MOST amazing LEGO set ever.: Lego set 3639! It's called Emma's ~~Fashion Design~~ Quilt Studio. It includes a storage unit for your quilt stash, a desk with a laptop and a veggie sandwich, a cutting table complete with iPhone, quilting ruler, pink coffee mug, and Ott light, a camera (for taking photos for your blog), and a ~~fashion sketch area~~ quilt design wall.

You know I love Legos, but this one takes the cake. It's ME, in Lego form! Serious cuteness.

In the vein of keeping busy:

I'm teaching hand applique again next weekend on Sunday, 1/22 at Verb - Northern California Modernists at Home. You guessed it, more modern home applique blocks! Would love to meet you, come join us for some fun.
I'm becoming a student at Stitches West and trying to figure out how to design knitwear (scary!)
I've been listening to a new podcast called Knit Knit Cafe - very informative and super adorable mother/son team. Ben and Abby rock.
I'm waiting with bated breath for the new/old camera my DH found on eBay - watch out, it makes ViewMaster photos! I'll be armed and dangerous shortly.

With that, to those of you who are having a long weekend in celebration of the great MLK, do enjoy your extra day off!

The Mecca of Purl Soho: Japanese Fabric & Liberty of London Fabric

2012-01-11T22:17:00.000-08:00

While I was on vacation over the holiday I visited the Purl Soho warehouse in Tustin, California.

It is a great place to hang out and get inspired. An entire warehouse of imported Japanese fabric, Liberty of London Fabric, and a room full of yarn that is larger than life.

I ended up adopting some Liberty fabric (I couldn't help myself!) and a few other pieces of fabric as well.

Somehow I missed seeing their new submarine fabric. Gee, my kids would have loved it. Oh well, next time.

The Purl Soho staff was as sweet and friendly as ever. If you order from their web site, the gals who work here put a lot of love and care into making sure you get just what you ordered.

I had the pleasure of chatting with Jennifer while she was helping me with my order. She is one of the genius Purl Soho partners that keep all of us fabric and yarn junkies happy by making sure Purl is well-stocked.

I picked up a little piece of this apple fabric by Kokka and I am wondering if I should not have gotten a bit more of it. It is just wonderful.

Some Spud and Chloe sweater yarn also jumped into my arms and insisted I purchase it. My darling sister gave me Rebecca Danger's Big Book of Knitted Monsters for Christmas and I intend to make a bunch more of them. My knit nite friend Susan got me addicted to them.

Grab your Viewmaster and Go!

2012-01-06T23:05:00.000-08:00

Did you have a Viewmaster when you were a kid?

I did. I remember loving it. I sort of don't remember what themes the photos were that I had, but I think I had a zoo animal pack at the very least and I kept it in a thick cardboard cylinder shaped box.

Original debut of this toy was at the 1939 World's Fair and since then 1.5 billion reels have been produced.

My kids get a kick out of presents that I make for them, so this Christmas I made them a Viewmaster Tote.

The fabric I used is from Melody Miller's Ruby Star Rising collection. I've had the fabric for a while and think it is pretty difficult to find at this stage of the game as yardage.

Bag handles I used are available from SuperBuzzy (awesome online Japanese fabric shop - they even include candy with your order) and are from Leicen's Candy Pop line.

The insides of the bag are Timtex interfacing which give it that stiff construction (4 layers on the bottom - that was really fun to sew through). I put pockets on the inside that hold the 6 extra Viewmaster reels. Because the reels come in 3 packs, and I was making 3 totes, they could borrow each other's reels to see all the images.

On our 7 hour car trip from Northern California to Southern California over the holidays, my sons literally played with this toy for the first three hours, and for some significant time after that as well. It was so cute. They really appreciated the toy and the work put into the tote.

It looks like I'm not the only one in love with Viewmaster though:

Hardcore fans can have wedding invitations custom created with reel photos of the happy couple and a Viewmaster shipped to each of the lucky guests. If only I could get married all over again!
Hang a pop art retro poster up on your wall to show your Viewmaster enthusiasm
Dress your 3 yr old girl up in a head to toe Viewmaster dress. Why don't they offer these in adult sizes?!
For around $25 you can star in your very own 3D Viewmaster reel. I'll let you know as soon as a Quilt Otaku reel becomes available.
Become a serious Viewmaster photographer and tote your Viewmaster camera around with you on your next family vacation.

I realize this post is already way too long, but I cannot also resist the urge to include a link to this adorable hexagon/pentagon patchwork ball with tutorial that I saw linked to from Ms. Miller's blog created by Kristy Daum. I'm adding this to my rapidly growing "To-Make" list!

Ring it in...hello 2012!

2011-12-31T18:15:00.000-08:00

2011 was a good year and in many ways I'll be missing it.

For the holiday we did a little travel to see family which was really fun, but we saw old friends too and had quite a busy time.

For Christmas my DH gave me a new drop spindle from Golding Fiber Tools which I knew would be pretty. It is crazy or maybe just a leap of faith to purchase a spindle without trying it but people say that these spindles are very nice.

I was thinking gee, they are beautiful, and I'm sure they spin well, so why not try one.

Well, let me tell you...they are certainly worth all the fuss people make over them. I am not sure my other spindles will be getting much love from here on out. Sorry!! This Golding is my new best friend for spinning.

I did not end up finishing the sewing project I was working on for the kids before the holiday but I DID finish it just in time for our road trip. More on that next time with some photos.

I was looking through my posts from last January to see if I was crazy enough to make any resolutions. I may have been smart enough not to do that. Whew. No guilt. That was smart.

If I were to resolve to do anything differently this year, I think it will be to try and enjoy the ride. Things seem too busy these days. Time seems to be rushing past at a faster pace now that the kids are getting a little bigger.

Okok and I'll confess that in the deep dark recesses, I have a personal hankering to buy a little more Japanese fabric...I'm thinking it would be fun to pick it out myself in Yuzawaya. We'll see if I pull that off.

Happy New Year!

The stockings are hung...but I'm still sewing...

2011-12-24T10:02:00.000-08:00

Are you still trying to finish up those Christmas gifts you decided it was a good idea to make?

I'm sure you are smarter than that.

Really, who on Earth would still be sewing on Christmas Eve Day??!!

Only the crazy people. OK so count me crazy. The last minute is sometimes the only minute that I have. Who knows if I'll finish or not, and I actually don't mind if I don't make it.

In the end, the kids will have a cool hand made gift - eventually.

Hope your holiday plans are cooking up beautifully. I'm still here with my needle and thread...and loving every moment of it.

The above patchwork ornament was made for my sister's new baby who is celebrating her first Christmas this year. She's like a living doll.

Merry Christmas!!

-Marisa

Little Elf Under My Tree

2011-12-15T22:38:00.000-08:00

I took a few photos of my little one playing with the Thomas train under our tree. He loves to operate it even though sometimes it comes off the tracks and he needs a little help to get it going again.

This time of year we try to cut over to some Christmas themed kids books during evening story book time. Even though Velveteen Rabbit was first published in 1922, it starts off with the rabbit's arrival in a Christmas stocking, so I like to re-read it. So timeless. My older one just loves it.

I'm about to start to play with my patchwork ornaments. Most of the shopping is done now, and the time for resting with family feels like it's getting nearer. I'm looking forward to not having to wake up early, and to have little boys bouncing around in my lap.

Busy times for my friends these days:

My friend Sharon of Knits are for Kids is off spinning up a very colorful storm. Check out her latest hand spun yarn here, and her flickr stream here for some beautiful photos.

My friend Susan of So Sue has been off taking in the sunshine in Hawaii, but managed to tear herself away from the beach to review some local quilt shops for you here. She's also been doing some beautiful paper piecing (adorable).

On my to-do list for an eventual trip to Southern California is to stop in at Down Home Country Antiques as Dawn of Collector With A Needle mentions. You know I'm a sucker for an antique quilt.

When I was reading this post at Quilting with the Past, I got interested in making some knit ornaments from the "55 Christmas Balls to Knit" book. I have some yarn imported from Norway that would be perfect for these.

Going In Circles

2011-12-13T00:34:00.000-08:00

We just had our end of the year party for my knitting/quilting group.

It was a blast. There is always an exciting white elephant exchange where beautiful and coveted items are lovingly exchanged and stolen and re-stolen among friends.

We had a nice warm dinner, and some naughty but nice ice cream and key lime cookies for dessert.

Even some charming husbands joined us, so it was a nice way to basically wrap up our creative year.

I ended up spinning some yarn for the exchange, and it went to a very good home. That's me at my Matchless wheel above, spinning around and around and around

Photo by my beautiful and talented photographer-sister.

I'm always curious to see what people do with my yarn. I'm still learning about how it will turn out as a garment.

It feels like Christmas is only around a week away. Oh right...it basically is! I'm ready to spend some serious time with the kids. That's what I'm asking Santa for.

Did you ask for anything special this year?

It's begining to look a lot like...well, you know

2011-12-05T22:29:00.001-08:00

Our household spent the greater part of the weekend decorating for Christmas.

- Lights on outside of house: Check!

- Christmas tree: Check!

- Stockings hung by chimney with care: Check!

It's full steam ahead towards the holiday season, my favorite time of the year.

We had our monthly gathering of my small quilt group last weekend and I took a photo of the beautiful ornaments that my friend Carol made (above).

She has been making these for friends since the 1970's or so I believe. She's promised to teach me how to make them, so I'm very excited about that. I secretly wonder if you could use very thin handspun yarn instead of DMC floss...but maybe I should walk before I fly here.

Anyhow, thank you Carol for the beautiful ornament (she gave me the red one shown here, and I have a couple others from past years) and for allowing me to photograph these beautiful creations.

I love to make patchwork ball ornaments, but have been a bit behind in making them for the kids every year. Didn't manage to make any last year...wondering if I'll end up having a few spare cycles this year to come up with a few. They take me around 3-4 hrs each, but they are hand pieced and quite relaxing to sew up and even more fun to stuff. Time to break them out methinks.

Hope that the spirit of the season is bringing some extra happiness your way.

Holiday gift for quilters: 2012 Quilt Calendar

2011-11-30T19:32:00.000-08:00

It isn't always easy to get the quilter who has everything a perfect holiday gift.

I've found that a new calendar is always appreciated and a beautiful one can be the perfect addition to your creative space.

This year I have a special treat for you: two versions of the calendar! Quilts and Yarn.

It's a labor of love to put these together since it takes me a lot of time and thought, but flip through and check out the photos if you have a chance.

The quilt calendar is light and airy looking, similar look to the photos I shoot for my blog. The yarn calendar has a darker pallet in color and is more dramatic.

To see all the photos included in every month, click the button below, click the title, and then click "Preview". Enjoy!

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Quilts

$29.99

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Yarn

$29.99

Thanksgiving - thank goodness

2011-11-27T21:25:00.001-08:00

This Thanksgiving was like a lot of others that we've had: lots of food, lots of family...which adds up to a lot of love and relaxation time. Thank goodness for all the yummy food and for grandparents watching kids while parents (me) take a nap. Ah...I do love Thanksgiving.

We are lucky to have the chance to spend some time with our extended family this week and to enjoy being away from the usual routine.

My son found my dad's typewriter and typed a little note in the above photo. The typewriter was a novelty to him. It was kinda magical putting one letter at a time on the paper. Funny how it doesn't seem so antique to me. Ok, I'm old now.

I did a little bit of knitting during quite moments which was fun. I'm off to the races, starting a hand quilting project as soon. More on that next time.

If you haven't watched the Marcel the Shell video yet, you must, but if you live on this planet, I'm sure you already have.

My kids are starting to make their lists of gifts they want to send to Santa already. A spy kit seems very popular with the 6 yr old.

The haven't asked me for a necklace made out of Barbie doll body parts yet, which is I think a good sign, since they are boys.

I think the holiday season is officially upon us. Yeah!

1st Grade Humor

2011-11-19T14:15:00.001-08:00

My son says, "Mommy, what's your name?"

I say: "Mommy"

He asks, "What's this body part?" (pointing to his nose)

I say: "Nose"

Him: "What's in my hands?" (holds up both hands making a little cup of air)

Me: "Nothing"

Get it? Mommy knows nothing!

Ok, try that on your friends if you need to lighten up the mood. Isn't first grade the best?

Our weekend is basically house chores and the quiet before Thanksgiving.

For my eyes: Looking at all the finished modern house blocks in taupe fabrics makes we want to finish up the rest of them. I think they all go together pretty well.

For my ears: I've been listening to a couple of podcasts and some music

Knitmore Girls episode 136: I wrote in and asked a question about plying spinning fiber and they answered my question on the show. How cool is that?!

Spin Doctor eipsode 26: half way through this episode, but it talks a lot about using dye on fiber and is pretty interesting. Very informative interview with Deb Menz.

The Gotan Project: a band that makes tango music, I'm enjoying their Revancha Del Tango album.

The Nights Lights: cool chill music, good for dinner time. Discovered by my DH.

For my taste: Orenchi Raman is the hottest new noodle house in silicon valley. Always too long of a wait to get in. We are trying to try it by storming the place before it opens. I'll let you know if it's worth the bother.

How to keep your kids in line

2011-11-12T15:39:00.001-08:00

My friend Marianne made a couple of mochi mochi knit toys for my boys and they have become really attached to them.

They begged me to get the book and knit every last creation that it has patterns for.

I got a copy of it, Teeny -Tiny Mochi Mochi by Anna Hrachovec. Some of the creations are easier to make than others, but I started with the volcano.

It was one of the easier ones. The kids have a queue of other toys they want, and even my husband claimed the little dino I made, so you know they are actually pretty darn cute.

They are only about an inch or so tall and they go together pretty fast if you don't mess them up and end up knitting them twice (like I did). More info on my ravelry projects page.

My kids will stand on their heads for more of these. I think I may have finally figured out how to get them to behave. Well, at least for as long as I can keep making these little mochi's.

Japanese quilting fabrics: more is more

2011-11-09T08:37:00.001-08:00

This block above is the 8th block in the series of California Bay Area modern homes that I'm working on.

The house itself is located in Berkeley, CA and is known as the Fish House by locals but is actually the Tsui House. It looks like it would be more at home under the sea than on a relatively normal street. I used taupe fabrics that sort of looked like the ocean to me.

In other news, I was looking at Deborah Kemball's applique recently. Have you seet it yet? It's so detailed and beautiful.

Sometimes I really look forward to the weekend because I have something special going on. This Sunday, my friend Sharon and I are taking a sweater making class by this famous designer named Ysolda Teague.

It's up at Verb of course, and although I don't really knit sweaters, it will be fun to meet her and to learn something that is really new to me. And to relax for a bit of course.

Hope you have a chill weekend planned too. Or unplanned for that matter.

Quilt Borders

2011-11-06T22:45:00.000-08:00

Lately I've been thinking a lot about the modern house hand applique blocks I've been making this year.

Even though the house blocks are not all complete, my mind wanders to thoughts of designing borders.

For a quilt like this, only a spectacular border will do.

When I was getting coffee this weekend, I stopped into where I usually get coffee, and they also have the most beautiful flowers.

This time I could not leave without picking up a couple of stems of amazing Protea. I think Sierra Azul nursery in Watsonville might carry the plants themselves.

I am not sure if I have the guts to try to grow them, although I would love to try someday (anybody brave enough to have tried this out there?).

Not sure if the entire border will be made up of these little beauties, but thinking about using them somehow in the design.

Top 5 of my weekend:

1) Finished a pair of socks for my son - only took a single 100g ball of yarn, superwash merino, by A Verb for Keeping Warm in Magic Bean colorway. Used size 2 needles and 36 stitches. Easy Peasy. Okok, I still had to look up kitchener stitch video to finish the toe, but I'm not really a knitter...remember?! I fake it.

2) Made carrot ginger soup: Saute half an onion, add tons of cut up carrots, 1 box of chicken broth, a splash of white wine, and grate in some ginger. Best soup ever.

3) Felted wool Christmas ornaments: Looks like fun to make these, but not sure I could bring myself to use glue. Think I would probably sew the flowers together instead. Very cool tutorial here at Betz White blog.

4) Dreaming of visiting Napa again someday (sans kids). Would love to stay at Napa Farmhouse Inn, owned and run by my favorite coffee shop owner: Napa Farmhouse Inn 1277 St. Helena Hwy South, St. Helena CA 94574, 707-968-5441 - Someday!

5) Turning the clocks back for Fall - when else can you get an extra hour in the day?! That should happen every weekend in my opinion.

Your weekend top 5? Go!

Yarn Balls: less work than having a pet goldfish

2011-11-02T23:06:00.000-07:00

I end up with small amounts of yarn after I finish up a project.

My friend Susan got me hooked on making little yarn balls with them by winding the yarn around my thumb. It is strangely enjoyable. If a yarn ball sits around too long I get the urge to wind it into one of these. It's an addiction really. I may soon need a 12 step program.

Anyhow, if you are a fellow detail freak and have some yarn on hand, there's a couple you tube videos that show you how. The one that is similar to what I did is located here (but there are lots of them out there).

My sister sent me flowers recently and the 'fish bowl' looking vase has become my table center piece. No cleaning of the tank required.

Life is getting in the way of my quilting a bit this week but will hopefully carve out some time to enjoy some this weekend when I'm not busy eating a Bavarian Breakfast at Esther's Germany Bakery (check it out if you're in the bay area).

600th Post: Here's to a handmade halloween costume

2011-10-30T21:23:00.000-07:00

It's a bit crazy that I have had 600 blog posts.

I should figure out some big post party or a giveaway or something. I think I said that on my 500th, and am still living in guilt of not taking any action there. Oops, oh well...too busy to let it fester much!

The above photo is my little one in his handmade Halloween costume. He's ready to rock this holiday. He kinda looks like he's casting a spell on the neighborhood. Count me in as one of the smitten.

When I made the costume, I basically got a ton of purple felt, laid the kid down on the fabric, and started cutting it out around him. I sorta remember making my DH help cut out the stars and moons very late at night.

I think he would have prefered to be Iron Man or some branded character (sigh, the media) but after a lot of 'testing out' of the costume, I think he's finally embracing it.

We have a nut-free Halloween due to diet restrictions, so we got our candy from Peanut-Free Planet. It's an awesome place to get treats if you have little ones that don't do nuts.

What are you going to be this year? Have a safe one!

Taupes, Taupes, Taupes

2011-10-26T21:49:00.000-07:00

The nice folks over at One World Fabrics sent me a little gift of fabric recently and I wanted to share a quick photo with you.

Their bite sized taupe fabric packs are very high quality and I have already been enjoying using them in a quilt block.

There are general two types of fabrics that they carry: one is the 'print' taupe fabrics that are similar in concept to American printed quilt fabric. They are not double sided, but they are beautiful and have those muted tones that I love working with. The other type is the yarn dyed which are woven and more or less the same on both sides. These are my true love. So many beautiful browns....sigh...just awesome. I made an entire quilt out of these with my sister once and I'm using them also for the birthday blocks for my younger son.

If you have been working with taupe fabrics, I think you'll enjoy what One World has to offer. When I need a quick online fix I will end up heading there to see what there latest packs have in store.

I also have another finished modern quilt block (in taupes), but will save that for the next post.

PIQF 2011: Market Goodies - Oakshott fabric

2011-10-19T18:47:00.000-07:00

At PIQF this year I did not manage to visit all the shopping booths, but of course I had fun anyhow.

I never skip the Pinwheels booth. It's brimming over with beautiful Japanese taupe fabrics. By the time I got there, fabric was going fast and serious Japanese fabric addicts were snapping up the good stuff as quickly as they could. I bought what I could get my hands on. I think it was a mistake not going there first thing in the morning.

The above fabrics are from an English company called Oakshott from their Lyon line and as far as I can tell, these fabrics are not carried by any other shop in the US besides Pinwheels. I wish I could pick them up at my local quilt shop, but alas...I get them each year at PIQF.

You probably need to see them in person to appreciate their true beauty. In case you missed a look at the quilt top I made with them some time back...check out this post.

Other Daiwabo taupes were also there for the blissful taupe-a-holics and I'm using a couple of them in my next house BOM.

Places I also enjoyed:

YLI thread: They had some new metalic + silk threads. I have never seen these before so I got some to try. They also had their hand quilting thread in a 2 ply, instead of 3 ply...so thinner. We'll see if it holds up to my hand quilting strength requirements!

Cindy's Antique Quilts: If you collect quilts, this booth is a do not miss booth. Her quilts are all in really nice shape and prices are basically market value. There was a yellow lone star quilt here that I almost bought but I didn't want to have to eat ramen noodles for 2 weeks over it.

Reets Rags to Stitches: I like to play around with felted wool, especially hand dyed. She had some cool colors and I picked up a few pieces. I use these in the birthday crowns I make for my kids, and also in other kid projects. The fun colors really scream 'kids!' to me.

Morgan Quality Products: I picked up hand quilting stencils here. They have some very nice ones. If you love to hand quilt, you will love their selection. Lots of Amish looking designs which are my favorites. I also ended up trying their soap stone quilt top marking pencil. I haven't tried it yet, but am thinking of doing a test run soon to see if it really comes out. I picked up a pack on their Bohin needles (from France!) to try some applique. I found them too flexible for my needs so I'm going back to my Jeana Kimball ones.

Lastly, there was a flier to advertise the upcoming East Bay Heritage Quilters guild show - Voices in Cloth, so I've marked that on my calendar: March 17-18, 2012. I hear it's worth seeing. I'm looking forward to checking out the special exhibit by the African American Quilt Guild of Oakland.

PIQF 2011: Pacific International Quilt Festival - wanna attend?

2011-10-15T23:11:00.000-07:00

If you wish you could attend PIQF 2011 in person you have two options:

a) Take a red eye to San Jose, California, as there is still time left: the show continues through tomorrow (Sunday).

b) Save yourself the travel headache and hunker down with a nice cup of tea to view my latest photos....links below.

The show was pretty neat, and I really enjoyed going with my friends Marianne and Susan. We saw all the quilts and most of the vendor booths.

Overall, not a lot of hand work in the show, but that is the norm these days I think. Some of the hand work we did see was awesome, and some of the machine work was also very beautiful.

The photo above is from an entry from Germany, called Annual Rings by quilt maker Petra Niermann. Looks so Amish, but more modern with the rectangles. I loved this quilt.

For your viewing pleasure:

Flickr set of photos here, slide show directly accessible here. Just under 350 photos for you this year, so set aside a few minutes so you can enjoy them.

My favorite quilt in the whole show may have been a hand quilted beauty seen here. Quilt maker Myrl Lehman-Tapungot. No ribbon, boo!

If you have a favorite from the slide show, let me know which one it is.

A couple of highlights:

There were also some beautiful Dear Jane quilts in the show which I included in my photos. I met some 'Janiacs' who had not only finished one Dear Jane quilt, but had completed a 2nd one. That's dedication for you. They were super fun and one of the gals was the aunt of a quilt maker who had her completed Dear Jane on display here (also no ribbon - ??? Judges - what is going on?)?

I also ran into Annie Smith of Quilting Stash quilting podcast. It was so fun to see her. If you listen to her podcast already, you know it's one of the better ones out there.

Joe Cunningham was spotted there as well (he doesn't know me) but I did a double take when I ran into him.

I'll cover more about the vendors in my next post. There were some good ones and I picked up some interesting new things.

If the slide show of this year isn't enough for you, I have a lot of historic photos of PIQF through the years:

PIQF Photo Collection:

1350 photos from the last 7 years of the show, organized by year, 2005 - 2011.

If that doesn't keep you entertained, I don't know what will.

Japanese Crafting: Home Made Notebook with Washi Tape

2011-10-13T18:50:00.000-07:00

I did a search recently for Japanese Crafting blogs and it is a shame that there are not more of them out there since Japanese Crafting is so unique and beautiful.

In an effort to make something Japanese and Crafty...I created this little notebook with washi tape.

Washi Tape is basically the cutest thing since sliced bread. Why would anybody ever use boring old scotch tape again, I'll never know, but I digress.

The basic construction of the book itself was inspired by this post on Angry Chicken blog that shows you how to make some simple board books to keep notes in.

I covered the top cover with washi tape, left some room to write a title on there, and decorated the back with more crazy calligraphy. More photos on Flickr.

Ages ago I did a little calligraphy tutorial, so if you're bent on making one of these, you can read about it here.

I made some of these books for my applique quilting 'students' (read 'friends') for them to use as a mechanism to track the fabrics in their quilt. More on that in another post.

Ok, so who went to PIQF today? Are you out there?! I'm going tomorrow....hopefully you left some fabric for me to buy! Only a few photos have turned up online so far.

Langston - a sweater for a pinkalicious girl, and a big event

2011-10-09T21:12:00.000-07:00

I finished knitting a size 2 sweater for my sister's older girl recently.

The pattern is called "Langston" by Teresa Cole. I found the pattern pretty easy and it did not consume a lot of yarn so it was a good use for a relatively small amount of handspun.

More info on it with more photos on my ravelry page. I am tempted to knit another one of these it was so fun.

The yarn itself came from naturally dyed 50% silk 50% merino by A Verb for Keeping Warm in this super yummy pink colorway. I forget exactly what the colorway is called, I'll find the tag it came with eventually - hopefully!

Having some silk mixed in with the fiber content really takes the 'itchy' element out of the mix for little ones. I am sure that my niece will love it, and if she doesn't maybe my sister will make her wear it anyhow.

In other news, my son (with a little help from daddy) decided to ride his bike without the training wheels. I was such an awesome sight to behold. I was so proud of his new skill. I called all of my family to let them know of the big event.

I was reading Ann's blog - Notes from the Quilt Lab - and she did a post on an antique hot pad from around the 1850's. I am so amazed that something like this could survive that long and loved seeing it. Check out her post here.

Paper Piecing: new class

2011-10-05T22:57:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to mention that I decided to teach a paper piecing class up in Oakland at A Verb for Keeping Warm.

Paper piecing is something that I have loved for ages. I'm really addicted to the 'for free' perfection of it.

We'll be making a hot pad that you can use as a holiday gift.

If you cannot join us because you are not local to the bay area, feel free to give me links to your blog posts about paper piecing you have done. I love to see what else is going on out there.

One quick question for you - has anybody seen the Richard Scarry fabric in local quilt shops? I'm looking to get my hands on some (at PIQF maybe?).

Indigo Quilt Fabrics and PIQF 2011

2011-10-03T19:23:00.000-07:00

I have spent what feels like a lifetime collecting Japanese Indigo fabrics.

There was a quilt shop a long time ago when I lived in LA that carried a lot of these sorts of fabrics because there was a Japanese owner and she had a passion for them.

These days, my new indigo fabrics come from here and there. I don't have a great source of them actually.

I used some in the above quilt block for a baby quilt. You can see the half square triangles that I made if you squint and look really hard. Can you see them? I can almost see them.

I am looking forward to PIQF though, maybe there will be some good indigo's there.

PIQF - AKA Pacific International Quilt Festival 2011 is taking place in about 2 weeks here in San Jose.

I'll be taking the day off to run around the show with my quilting friend to take photos and see what the booths have to offer.

Of course I'll post all the photos up for you, but you may want to attend in person if you can figure out how to get there. It's worth the trip.

Anybody else out there planning to go?

Baby shower block and Thangles

2011-09-29T17:50:00.000-07:00

I get so much satisfaction from taking place in a group made quilt. Some of my Verb friends are working on a little quilt for a new baby, so I got the opportunity to participate and make a block.

I decided to get SUPER fancy and use Thangles to put some half square triangles into the block.

And wow, did I get fancy. Maybe TOO fancy. Ok, definitely too fancy.

Thangles are pretty cool - they are paper foundation base that you sew fabric to that helps you make half square triangles without wasting fabric. I have used them before on several projects and find them to be pretty handy.

They've been around for a long time and they come in different sizes so you can work them into whatever you are doing. I used 3/4" finished size.

The fabrics I choose to use for the thangles are awesome and beautiful (and Japanese of course), and even look pretty good together until you attach them to each other and eat up seam allowance.

Once you actually sew them into the block, the fabrics need to be significantly different from each other, and also relatively un-busy in pattern.

I'll have to show the final block, but it turned out that my fabrics were too busy to really stand out.

Live and learn.

Liesl by CoCo Knits: a sweater just in time for fall, and a lesson on what not to say to a woman

2011-09-26T21:28:00.000-07:00

I finally finished knitting a sweater for myself, just in time for autumn.

The pattern is by Julie Weisenberger of Coco Knits and is called Liesl.

I used natural dyed sock yarn (super wash Merino) in the Octavia colorway by Verb.

Knitting this sweater was EXTREMELY enjoyable. Even as somebody who doesn't really know how to knit, it was a piece of cake and I loved every last stitch of it.

This is the first full sized knit garment I have made for an adult.

When the top of the tank was finally sewn together, I modeled it for my sons and said, "What do you think of this new sweater that I knit?"

The three year old looked up at me with his beautiful blue eyes and said:

"Oh Mommy I really like it...you look like you have a baby in your belly!"

Alrightythen.

I'm trying to be objective here (maybe I knit it, so I'm biased?) I don't think it makes me look any bigger than I am. Judge for yourself on my project page on ravelry if you dare to see the full photo. Pls note that I AM NOT pregnant.

We did proceed to have that conversation that stems on the central concept that you should not imply that a woman might be pregnant unless you see an actual dangling head sticking out.

Sigh...I hope he learns a thing or two about women along the way, if only for the sake of my wanting grandchildren in another 30 years.

Handmade Tooth Fairy Pillow

2011-09-23T18:27:00.000-07:00

It's rare that I have a true 'sewing emergency' but we had two this week.

The first one happened when I realized my son was out of clean school uniform shorts which caused me to quickly convert a pair of his old pants from last year. It's still roasting hot here.

The second one came yesterday morning when he said, "Mommy, my front tooth hurts, and it wiggles!" Oh my goodness, I haven't made him a tooth fairy pillow yet and the big event is coming soon!!

I have been waiting for this happy day since the moment I became a parent. I was so filled with maternal pride the day his first baby tooth made it through his gummy smile.

I am even more thrilled now that he is on the verge of a visit from the tooth fairy.

You could of course buy a tooth fairy pillow, but I have been looking forward to making one for so long that it was a real treat to actually sit down and sew it together.

There's a pocket for the tooth, and the first initial of his first name on the pocket. I used embroidery floss to give the little tooth a face. All the fabrics are hand dyed felted wool. The handle on top is PurlSoho's Linen Ribbon (a dream to work with, really).

We have been reading a couple of books in anticipation of this happy day:

The Tooth Book by Theo Lesieg - a real classic, even reminds you not to bite your dentist.

My Milk Toof by Inhae Lee - our overall favorite book right now. Just hilarious, well done, awesome photos, entertaining for both kids and adults. I must have in your children's library.

One final word of wisdom that will make my dad smile, and you groan: (apologies and advance)

Be true to your teeth or they'll be false to you!

Harvest Season

2011-09-21T17:29:00.000-07:00

This year our harvest has been bountiful.

I'm not a huge fan of store-bought tomatoes, but I can eat the home grown version like they are going out of style.

My sons do all the work in the garden so each and every fruit that comes out of there is like a little trophy proving that they did something right and that their hard work and dedication is putting dinner on the table in a delicious way.

We usually grow heirloom tomatoes, but didn't have the time to start my favorite variety (Marianna's Peace) from seed this year. We ended up with an interesting collection of various kinds though and they all worked out quite well.

I've been working on another class sample for a paper piecing class, so keeping busy with my sewing machine in the evenings. It looks really cute so far. Paper piecing is one of my favorite methods of quilting. No guess work, no oops - my points don't match, just 100% perfect every time.

Heaven on earth for this little control freak!

Speaking of paper piecing, I am itching to do a few blocks from this now out of print book by Shirley Liby called "Paper Pieced Sea and Shore". Have you seen her books?

It seems like they were all published some time ago (mid 1990's), but I really want to get my hands on all of them. If you have some of these little gems taking up shelf space in your quilt studio and you're looking to find them a good home...look no more! I'll adopt them!

Quilted Ornaments

2011-09-18T00:05:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, November 20th, I'll be teaching a class on making patchwork ball ornaments at A Verb for Keeping Warm.

I just finished this adorable little class sample and couldn't wait to share a photo of it for you.

For those of you who live in Northern California, I would love to meet you in class. These make the cutest little gifts and you can whip them up in no time. I'm also going to discuss inking on fabric techniques in class too, so that will be an added bonus.

Enrollment is now open!

Hope that your weekend has allowed you some time for sewing.

Japanese Taupe Fabric: where to get it

2011-09-16T18:00:00.000-07:00

Above is a photo of my son's 3 yr old signature quilt block with well wishes from family and friends. The '3' is appliqued down and the fabric is Daiwabo yarn dyed. It's got a thick weave but I didn't have a super hard time working with it.

It's not easy to get Japanese Taupe fabric if you are marooned here in the US (or other countries, for that matter) as opposed to those lucky ones that actually live in Japan.

The quilt shop that I teach at has a small but growing collection of Japanese taupes which is great, but if you don't live in Oakland, California....there is a fresh option out there online.

One World Fabrics is the new kid on the block with some very interesting Japanese taupe fabrics - both prints and yarn dyed.

You can see their entire collection here - lots to choose from. The owner, Steven, also has an interesting blog with a focus on Japanese quilting.

Steven is kind enough to read my blog, and has created a coupon code for readers of Quilt Otaku. If you are like me, and cannot resist picking up just a couple more pieces of taupe fabric (or a boat load of them!) you can use the coupon code "otaku15" to get 15% off your first order between now and Dec 31, 2011.

If that isn't a green light to start holiday shopping for yourself, I don't know what is.

I haven't ordered yet, but I am thinking I may need to pick up a few things...I'm a HUGE sucker for the yarn dyed fabrics - especially love this one - and they really are hard to get your hands on. One World's prices for these sorts of fabrics are also below what I've usually seen, so that is nice too.

Thanks for your cool offer Steven, and best of luck launching your new taupe-a-licious shop!

Birthday Quilt Block

2011-09-12T19:01:00.000-07:00

The kid birthday extravaganza has finally drawn to a close.

I for one will miss this time of the year. As soon as it's over I feel a small twinge of relief as the prep and execution is complete but there is a big swell of sadness as it really is my most favorite couple days of the year.

We had a gathering for some of the boy's school friends at the ice rink, and even some tiny 2-yr-olds got out there and scooted around on the ice. It was magical. My older son decided he can now skate without leaning on the 5 gallon buckets or clinging on the side of the wall. I was so proud.

All four grandparents were present and accounted for which was the icing on the cake of the entire event.

I made birthday signature blocks for them and will be adding them to the collection of blocks. On their 16th birthday I'll turn them all into a quilt to enjoy the history of all the celebrations of the past. I like to use a black size 05 pigma pen for the inking, and I iron on some freezer paper to the back for added stability.

The kids to came to the party were sent home with handmade goodie bags. I was so rushed to get everything together I didn't get a good photo of all 20+ of them together, but I will have to show them to you anyhow in a future post.

Birthday Signature Quilt - more blocks

2011-09-07T23:19:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for more birthdays around here. My sons' back to back parties are just around the corner. I'm digging up their birthday signature blocks, prep'ing new ones, and gearing up for some serious boy party fun.

Let the cupcakes roll!

I decided to made handmade goodie bag pouches to put the little party favors in. Crazy? Perhaps. I did finish them all up tonight, so I'm feeling quite pleased.

Quilt blocks from past years are out on my bed in the photo. The set on the left of obviously the older one's blocks. I used hand dyed fabrics from Primrose Gradations (a company that unfortunately doesn't exist anymore) for the applique numbers. For the blocks on the right, I'm using Daiwabo Japanese yarn dyed fabrics.

Long weekend R&R

2011-09-05T22:05:00.000-07:00

This 3 day weekend was really restful and more or less spent with my boys.

A couple of weeks back we had silhouette artist Karl Johnson create cut-outs of our boys, and I'm really happy with the results. It was fun to have them done in person and the cut outs do look like them.

This weekend I did a small bit of quilting, a bunch of spinning (which I will need to elaborate on in my next post) and a LOT of eating.

I try not to put a bunch of food photos up on my blog because when I'm surfing out there looking for cool crafty inspiration the last thing on earth I want to do is get hungry. I may have to share my recipe for ratatouille with you. We have so many veggies coming out of the garden right now, it was an awesome way to eat them up and only makes a single dirty pot. Interested?

Hope your weekend was awesome.

Oh and if you haven't smelled the flowers above yet, they are Chocolate Cosmos and yes they really do smell like chocolate!

The F Word

2011-09-02T17:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon my son came home from first grade and said, "Mommy, there are some naughty kids in my school that say bad words. They even say the F-word!".

I, of course, was shocked since after all this is only first grade. In my mind I am already wondering if I need to transfer him from public school to to a Christian school or become the room volunteer mom or someting in order to figure out what is going on. You know I'm always up for a little PANIC!!!

I took a deep breath and asked, "Honey, what is the F-word anyhow? Can you tell me what it is that we are talking about here?"

He was reluctant to share it with me because it is "soooo baaaaad" but he eventually said in a very quiet voice: "Fart!"

I did not burst out laughing because in our house we say 'fluff' instead of that other ugly word.

Whew, bullet dodged, at least for now.

The photo above is my little man, complete with Mommy Baby Monster dolls that I made to match his PJ's. They are his #1 favorite stuffed animal right now (score one for me!).

Recovering right along

2011-08-30T22:02:00.000-07:00

Well, my fingers have finally recovered from posting such a GIANT blog post last time about all my Yoko Saito books. Thanks to those of you who actually made it through and appreciated it...you are hard core!

I managed to finish my first full sized adult knitted garment recently - it's the Liesl pattern by Coco Knits. It was very mindless, even for me, a pretty much non-knitter. I have to figure out how to seam it and then get on to blocking so I can impress my knitting friends by showing them that I actually knit something (finally!). Maybe I'll model it for you sometime soon. Perhaps I would freak you out by appearing on my own blog ala Martha Stewart.

I have also been working on some applique signature blocks for my up-coming son's birthdays. I even slipped in a block for my sister's girl since my sister is on the busy side these days with her new baby. Something tells me I may end up doing them for her even when she doesn't have a new baby, but I will confess I enjoy it so it's all good.

Last week we lost the father of a dear family friend, so I'm posting a photo of some flowers above in his honor to cheer up those who have had a very sad week. The green flowers are called 'green trick'. I found them to be quite unusual and really pretty. My kids said they think they look like grass. Here's to recovering right along as best we can.

New classes, modern house quilt blocks, and A Yoko A Day: Yoko Saito Quilt books - day 9 - final (陽子斉藤)

2011-08-23T15:20:00.000-07:00

Well, for those of you who guessed that I couldn't last that long doing a post every single day...you were right. I am WAY too busy for that sort of thing. What was I ever thinking?!

Ok so enough with the Yoko A Day, I'm done, I'm throwing in the towel. It was fun while it lasted, but jeez I just cannot do a post every day.

At the end of this post I'm including info on all the other books Yoko Saito has ever written, that I know of, that I own. There is one more out there that I don't own yet, but...I have the feeling that ugly little situation may not continue for long. If you know of the existance a book by Yoko Saito that I haven't listed in a recent post, pls do let me know so I can look into that.

In other news, I am teaching a few new classes up at A Verb For Keeping Warm. (yeah!) The first one is a machine quilt-along this coming Sunday, where folks can join and work on their in-progress projects. I am also booked for teaching some introduction to quilting classes in October. Join us if you live locally, it will be good fun.

We will be working on more applique this Sunday at Verb in the modern house applique class too. I'm using Japanese Taupe fabrics in the block this month again, as you can tell in the block above.

On to the final info about Yoko Saito Books: (if you seriously read the rest of this, I give you a gold star)
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Yoko Saito: 9th book review

Title: (unfortunately, your guess is better than mine on this one, could not figure it out although there is some more info here...I'll bet that Julie knows!!)

ISBN: 978-4-14-031126-4

Summary: Items are made out of triangle and square pieces. Projects in this book are not super complex, and there is not a lot of applique. That said, this is probably the best of all her books in terms of showing you methods used for hand piecing, and tools used. Photos are great so you can really understand what is going on (even w/ zero understanding of Japanese - trust me on this, I should know).

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Yoko Saito: 10th book review

Title: From American Patchwork Bed Quilts to Bags
ISBN: 4-14-031079-0

Summary: Small bags, and bed quilts, as the title says, but also backpacks. My favorite project is the bed quilt on p.43 called Farmer's Bowknot which is a signature quilt. Nice photos of how to make applique grapes on p.59.

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Yoko Saito: 11th book review

Title: Free Patterns (I think?)
ISBN: 4-579-11080-3

Summary: You know I love applique, and this book is really full of it. If applique is not your cup of tea, feel free to skip this one. For me, the photos are amazing, the projects are stunning, and I could see myself easily making each and every last one of them. Bags, small quilts, sewing box on p.22 is amazing, this is probably the most beautiful of all her books. Usage of french knots, just amazing.
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Yoko Saito: 12th book review

Title: 138 Original Applique Designs by Yoko Saito
ISBN: 978-4-529-04331-1

Summary: This is the other book that she has written that I would give 'MUST HAVE' status to, and it is in my top 5 list of favorite quilt books. These tiny block patters include botanicals, halloween, more robots, a portrait of Mozart (wow), another alphabet (yeah!), and a myriad of other adorable blocks. This one is worth the bookshelf space.
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Yoko Saito: 13th book review

Title:Study Book for Taupe Color
ISBN:978-4-86322-130-7

Summary: This book is limited to bags with a mix of applique and pieced quilting in different projects. I believe there is some extensive discussion around which taupe colors go well with other ones, but since my Japanese reading skills are lacking, this is a slightly less valuable book to somebody like me. It's still beautiful though and some of the bag patterns could easily be turned into wall hangings or quilts.
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Yoko Saito: 14th book review

Title: Walking the Green Quilt (??Seriously? don't trust me on this title please!)
ISBN: 978-4-14-031160-8

Summary: This book is a compilation of blocks that were released monthly in a Japanese Woman's magazine put out by NHK. It is really a handy place to have them all together in this book. These patterns are all botinicals, applique, and pretty detailed. Not for the faint of heart!
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Yoko Saito: 15th book review

Title: 120 Original Embroidery Designs by Yoko Saito
ISBN: 978-4-529-04653-4

Summary: Ok ok, I know I said that there were only 2 'must have' books, but if I could squeeze a 3rd one it, this would be it. I am not a huge fan of embroidery but there is a god mix of applique in here too (and thank goodness, also another alphabet). If you love embroidery, this book is for you. If you don't, it might not be your favorite book, but where else can you find an embroidery pattern for an ant farm?!
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Yoko Saito: 16th book review

Title: Yoko Saito's Scandinavian Quilts
ISBN:978-4-14-031153-0

Summary: Quilt designs inspired by Scandinavia - need I say more? Bags and small household items mostly. Lots of applique.
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Yoko Saito: 17th book review

Title: Patchwork Lessons
ISBN: 4-579-10697-0

Summary: Small projects, bags, and even a larger sawtooth star quilt on p.73 that looks like it would be fun to make. lots of great photos of 'how to' quilting techniques.
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Yoko Saito: 18th book review

Title: Patchwork Lessons 2
ISBN: 4-579-10759-4

Summary: Of her Lesson(s) books, this is my favorite one. The photos are beautiful, and there are some very detailed projects. My favorites are the acorn pillow on p.55, and the insane pine burr feathered star on p.77.
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Yoko Saito: 19th book review

Title: Patchwork Lessons 3
ISBN: 978-4-579-10892-3

Summary: small projects, bags, some applique, lots of embroidery. Best project here is probably p.53 - applique whale bag.
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Yoko Saito: 20th book review

Title: Patchwork Lesson
ISBN: 978-579-11174-9

Summary: Mostly hand piecing with a small amount of applique. Good technique photos including working with zippers, cute laundry line applique on p.35.
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Ok, DONE!

Whump! Marisa thuds on the floor from exhaustion after finishing 20 book reports and breaking all records of her longest blog post ever (after 580 posts, you would think I might have learned some self control, apparently not).

The crowd cheers with a standing ovation for the most complete list of Yoko Saito books ever mentioned on the entire internet! I wonder if Yoko Saito herself remembers writing all these books.

A Yoko A Day: Yoko Saito Quilt books - day 8 (陽子斉藤)

2011-08-22T00:06:00.000-07:00

Title: Daily Quilt
ISBN: 978-4-529-04780-7

Summary: small bags, mostly with applique on them, small quilts, medium quilts - some pieced, some with applique. wall hangings, spools quilt, holiday items...some of the items look similar to projects published in day 5 of my posting about Ms. Saito's books. Cream Corn quilt on p.30 is probably my favorite thing in this book. My copy is signed by Yoko Saito herself, due to a generous blog reader. How special is that!

A Yoko A Day: Yoko Saito Quilt books - day 7 (陽子斉藤)

2011-08-20T22:25:00.000-07:00

Title: 156 Original Patchwork Designs by Yoko Saito
ISBN: 4-529-04188-3

Summary: Let me start by saying that there are 2 Yoko Saito books that you MUST have in your library, and this is one of those two. This includes 156 block patterns that you will find to be unique, beautiful, and if you're anything like me, you may get the urge to make every last one of them. Some of the blocks you may have seen before, but most are quite unique. She does assemble some of the blocks into small zipper bags. P51 has the coolest little robot I've ever seen on it complete with propeller on top of his head. There are animals, bugs, botanicals, geometric designs, stars, another pieced alphabet (yeah!!!). If you don't have this book, please do yourself and huge favor and get a copy. It's going to be WELL worth your bookshelf space. I hate to pick favorites, but this is in my top 5 quilt books of all time.

A Yoko A Day: Yoko Saito Quilt books - day 6 (陽子斉藤)

2011-08-19T16:22:00.000-07:00

Title: Yoko Saito and Kids (I think?, your guess is probably as good as mine on this one!)
ISBN: 978-4-86322-084-3

Summary: Super cute kids quilts, including another alphabet quilt (my fav!), a log cabin baby quilt, Jack and the Beanstalk applique kids quilt, some redwork, on p.21, my favorite kids quilt by Ms. Saito - it has trees, houses, but an awesome road that you could use to run your toys all along. I have had several requests in my household to make this quilt. Mobile, backpack, kids hat, paper pieced ducky, place mat, bibs, p48 has instructions for this block that has 4 pieces in it...an unusual block but a very pretty one. I would consider paper piecing this (of course Ms. Saito hand pieces it).

A Yoko A Day: Yoko Saito Quilt books - day 5 (陽子斉藤)

2011-08-19T02:06:00.000-07:00

Title: Patchwork of 1, 2, and 3 Patch Blocks

ISBN: 4-529-02567-5

Summary: Like the title says, these patterns are pretty simple. They are made from blocks in 1 shape (like 9 patches) or 2 shapes (as seen on the cover above) and even a few projects have 3 different shapes the pattern. Lots of little zipper bags, pretty much the cutest stuffed elephant you've ever seen on p32, adorable 'spools' pattern sewing pouch on p.35, pin cushion, doll quilts on p. 29, place mats, table cloth, full sized bed quilts, crib quilt...TONS of projects here. This book is older (1995) so finding it out in the wild might not be an easy task.

A Yoko A Day: Yoko Saito Quilt books - day 4 (陽子斉藤)

2011-08-17T23:36:00.000-07:00

Title: Happy Patchwork
ISBN: 4-14-031112-6

Summary: Pieced alphabet (LOVE alphabets!) stars on quilts, feathered stars, small needle cases, little bags, adorable dogs and bees from what looks like to be a mix of applique and hand piecing on p.21, applique flower baskets p33, super silly and perhaps best yet Halloween quilt p36, wedding ring quilts (stunning).

A Yoko A Day: Yoko Saito Quilt books - day 3 (陽子斉藤)

2011-08-15T22:09:00.000-07:00

Title: Small Quilt
ISBN: 4-529-03935-8

Summary: Includes some wool applique projects, a small quilt with star motifs (p 42. so beautiful!) usage of a zillion french knots in the border of a quilt of p. 40-41 (WOW!), small zipper bags, my favorite key ring holder cover on p33 in the shape of a small house, a wallet, a tape measure cover that looks like a dog, an adorable little zipper bag with tee pees on it...this book is certainly all over the map with lots of different projects, but well worth the addition to your library.

A Yoko A Day: Yoko Saito Quilt books - day 2 (陽子斉藤)

2011-08-15T16:37:00.000-07:00

Title: Houses, houses, houses
ISBN: 4-14-031131-2

Summary: Patterns include large quilts, bags of various sizes, pillows, tons of house blocks, small amounts of embroidery here and there that is very tasteful. My favorites are the bag that includes a tree on p.12 and the placemats that include houses on p.28.

A Yoko A Day: Yoko Saito Quilt books - day 1 (陽子斉藤)

2011-08-14T23:56:00.000-07:00

They say that an apple a day keeps the doctor away.

At the end of the summer, what could I do to spice things up and get out of the back to school funk?

How about kicking off 'A Yoko A Day'!

For the next (insert a number here) days, I'll be posting a daily blog post about a quilt book that Yoko Saito has written.

I'll be including the ISBN, and a brief summary about topics covered.

Think I can continue this for the rest of August? How many of her books do you think I have? Will I make it into Sept? Guesses out there hot shots?

Woo hoo...here we go!

Title: Basket Made From Cloth
ISBN: 978-4-579-11275-3

Summary:This book is basically about small quilted bags with a couple of small quilts, one medium sized quilt, and other small items like a needle holder and sort of a sewing box. The book includes a very large fold out pattern in the back with applique designs that are very pretty and could be used basically for any project. The handbag on p.19 is probably my favorite project, just stunning.

What I did on my Summer Vacation

2011-08-09T21:29:00.000-07:00

Not to belabor you with an essay about my summer vacation, but let me just state that fun was had by all.

We stayed in this little beach town called Cayucos, California. It is a bit of a sleepy little village, but it was relaxing, not jam packed with people, and that made for just our speed.

While I was there I took some knitting and basically didn't do a whole lot outside of building sand castles, taking photos, and putting towels around shivering kids as they came out of the surf.

Our summer is starting to draw to a close here as school starts in a week. Back to enforcement of early bed time. Hm...does that mean that mommy has more time to quilt?

If that's not a cliff hanger, I don't know what is.

Hopes that your summer is wrapping up just as nicely.

Finish Nine Patch Quilt Top: Check!

2011-08-02T20:53:00.000-07:00

The feeling of spreading out a newly finished quilt top on my bed and taking photos of it is a bit rare so maybe that is one of the reasons it is so special.

I have not decided how I will quilt this little baby yet, but I am trying to do it justice. Colors are very vivid and there is lots of empty space in the alternate blocks for some cool quilting patterns (my fav!). I'll continue to brainstorm on quilting designs for a bit longer.

So what are your favorite hang outs these days for eye candy? I could always use some cool new inspiration.

These days I'm loving:

Amy Merrick: flower arrangement and photos of her creations - elegant. Blog photos: not so shabby either.

Simple Pleasures: Quilted baskets here - check them out, adorable. How did she manage to get the new Yoko Saito book (in ENGLISH!!) before me. I'm green with envy! Perhaps not for long....

It looks like Kathie of Inspired by Antique Quilts got her hands on a copy already too! Sheesh! I'm the last one on the block to get mine.

Muji: sets of wooden blocks for kids to build and play with in shapes of New York, London, and Tokyo! If I bought these, I am not sure I would be able to hand them over to my kids.

Minick and Simpson blog: recent post regarding hand quilting, feathers, and stencils - worth a look!

That should keep you off the streets for a while! Now how about what you're reading?

Hip To Be Square

2011-07-31T23:04:00.000-07:00

I spent the day teaching quilting today to an awesome group of ladies at Verb. It was thrilling to see them turning out beautiful 9 patch blocks and spreading their wings as quilters. I get a serious kick out of seeing creative people doing what they do best.

What fun! Just a quick Hi to my students (A, C, J, R, and W) in case you are reading this. Please know it I consider it a huge honor to be one of your quilty mentors!

I made a fair number of 9 patch blocks along with the students as well and ended up being so addicted to them that a small quilt top was finished in just a few days.

9 patch quilts are so satisfying. Mine is done with Kaffe Fassett's shot cotton stripes. I made a quilt for my first son when he was born out of theses fabrics. There was a blog post entry with a photo of it posted here 4 years ago.

Has anybody besides my husband actually been reading my blog that long?

Speaking of my DH, you know I'm hosting a give away of this beautiful issue of Cotton Time (Japanese sewing magazine) over at his blog. Only 5 lucky gals have commented so far, so they each have a 20% chance of winning! Nice odds.

Want to have a shot at winning? Comment over there before the give away closes on this Wed. night.

Introducing a new blog...and something for you

2011-07-27T21:47:00.001-07:00

My DH is an avid photographer and loves to create images using traditional methods of film instead of digital capture.

His new blog is called Sunny Sixteen.

Take a wander over there. Make a comment to say, "Hey there!" if you have a sec.

If you comment on HIS blog...you'll be entered to win issue #82 of Cotton Time magazine (cover photo see above).

Comment on the post called "Matching Monsters" before 8/3/11, midnight Pacific Time to have your name dropped in the hat.

Good luck! I'll ship your magazine out to the lucky winner late next week.

Purlple Yarn

2011-07-20T22:24:00.000-07:00

I have been having fun making more yarn and also creating images of yarn balls.

This one is from some fiber I got a while ago at Verb. The wood parts next to it are the bobbins that are used on my spinning wheel. It may be hard to see the depth of purples in this tiny photo. I decided to throw a HUGE version of it up on flickr for you in case you wanted to see it in all it's glory.

This coming Sunday, I am teaching two classes at Verb in Oakland: hand applique, modern house blocks (time moved to the morning! - we start at 10:30am) and an intro to machine quilting class that I'm also very excited about. It's a class on making 9 patch quilts. As simple as the 9 patch is, it is actually one of my favorite patterns. The possibilities are unlimited.

Oh and I watched a documentary film called 'Stitched' the other day. It was pretty awesome. More about that next time.

Carmageddon - time to hunker down

2011-07-17T00:20:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't live in the microcosm of Southern California, you may be missing out on perhaps one of the funniest media events in a while.

"Carmageddon," as the media has dubbed this event, is the closure of a stretch of LA freeway that is really well traveled. They are scaring folks into staying off the roads so there is no traffic disaster. A good idea really.

Anyhow, a runner has been arrested for running on the vacant stretch of road. Jet Blue has offered to fly you around the mess for $4, and a bunch of cyclists proved that using your bike instead of taking the flight is actually the faster method of avoidance.

If you are in LA, and you are hunkering down for the weekend - well then, thanks for taking some of your down time to read my blog. If I was there, I think I would be quilting all weekend long.

Since I'm not, we had a nice BBQ with friends this weekend and I'm going to slip some quilting in tomorrow.

For now, enjoy the photo I took some time ago at the Getty Center (currently closed this weekend due to carmageddon). I used my Polaroid SX-70 camera and manipulated the image by heating it up and mushing the inks around with sculpting tools.

Berry picking adventures and the 20 year annoyance

2011-07-12T21:52:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went picking berries and the kids had an awesome time. We picked something like 12 lbs of Olallieberries and Boysenberries at Gizditch Ranch in Watsonville, CA.

The 2 yr old ate WAY more than he picked.

I am working on the design of the next modern house block of the month. This one is based on a home located in Palo Alto, CA. It's very boxy and has incredible old trees all around it. Lots of green fabric this month.

In annoying news, my darling high school friend reminded me that we have a reunion coming up in September.

At dinner I mentioned this to my husband (and of course said I have no interest in going) but I told him I thought it was like our 10th or 15th reunion or something.

He ANNOYINGLY reminded me that it's probably more like my 20th high school reunion, so I've been freaking out over that all evening.

Really? Can it be? So soon?

Maybe I should not confess this to you all as I am probably showing my oats here, but sheesh, it's true!

For those of you who are way younger than me, and you know who you are (especially those youthful babes in my weekly knitting group), pleeeeeeeeease do not make fun of me for being so darn old.

And for those of you who have had the guts to attend reunions for your 30th year, or 40th, or perhaps 50th (as I belive my dad may have actually done), you have to let me in on how you keep young at heart. From what I can gather, it's an art not a science.

Off to go apply my wrinkle cream.....

Turquoise immersion

2011-07-09T12:19:00.000-07:00

At times I get hung up on one color and find myself going for it in various different ways.

Right now, turquoise seems to have attention.

I am spinning yarn in colorway "Parrotfish" by Girl on the Rocks that I picked up at Stitches West.

Meanwhile, I'm working on a Hawaiian applique block that I started a while back. There are lots of colors in there, but turquoise is one of the larger sections.

Hope your weekend is full of color. If you are favoring a certain shade, let me know your fav!

Modern House Block #1: pattern now available!

2011-07-06T18:06:00.000-07:00

After many late nights, numerous formatting challenges, and colorful several conversations with myself (and my DH for that matter) around why it is so hard to create a PDF file...

I'd like to introduce my first pattern for download:

Bay Area Modern House Block #1
$10

Please note that in this PDF pattern download, applique instructions and techniques are NOT discussed. It is intended for folks that have an understanding of applique.

It's been a labor of love and I am thrilled to have this little creation ready to share with the universe.

Enjoy, and feel free to send your feedback my way. I'd love to see photos of your completed blocks!

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T18:23:00.001-07:00

Hope your 4th is amazing. I certainly enjoyed the extra weekend day. Summer really feels like it is in full swing now.

Quilt and yarn shopping in San Francisco

2011-07-02T12:09:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I spent the day in San Francisco with some of my quilting friends. The girl who made up our list of places to stop was very inspired, so here's the list in case you want to re-create it next time you are in the neighborhood.

1) Dynamo Donuts: Of all the places we went, this was the only one that I suggested. Go figure, it's the only one that is wall to wall delicious with sugar-laden goodies. They have the most creative donut flavors you will ever see (outside of Austin, TX) and I'm not sure you have really lived until you try their maple bacon one. It's true that everything is actually better with bacon.

2) Kinokuniya Books: They had a bunch of cool quilting magazines there and books. I picked up one new one and a bunch of plastic dolls.

3) Peapod Fabrics: If you have the chance - DO NOT MISS THIS SHOP! If you love Japanese fabrics, as I do, you must must must - I repeat - MUST - visit this shop. Parking is horrible, but the fabrics are worth it. Some American fabrics, but tons of Japanese imports. Very unique and different selection. The owner is lovely, and from Kyoto. I even managed to pick up some Richard Scarry fabric here. It really floated my boat to discover this place, in case you couldn't tell. I also picked up the fabric shown above. It's from a collection called "Modern Wa". How perfect.

4) Urban Fauna: This is a yarn, spinning, and fiber shop within a stone's throw of Peapod. A bright airy place with the most amazing katamari damacy amagrumis on display. I was in love, they were not for sale. The thing that struck me most when I was there where these kids to make felted wool toys for kids by WoolBuddy. The frog one was really cute. They seemed to have a very nice kids class schedule too. Bummer it's so far from my house.

5) Urban Burp: Tons of vintage fabrics from the 1920's and earlier through around the 80's. I bought a piece of ABC Carebear fabric here, believe it or not. Crazy!!! I'm going to use it as a quilt backing.

6) Lunch at Samovar tea house: In all the years I've been going to the Metreon to check out the Sony store and to SF Moma, I cannot believe this was so close and I have never been before. The food selection is very international. I got their iced black tea and it was out of this world. Planning to go back here.

Whew! If you can hit all of that in one day, then my hat is off to you. And if that still didn't stop you and you want more...how about stopping at Flora Grubb. It's a very cool looking plant nursery, but I have yet to visit in person. It's on my list for next time.

Infant knit hat - fit for a forest sprite!

2011-07-01T23:01:00.000-07:00

This is the second hat I whipped up for my baby niece.

I know, using an ugly doll to model it is a bit of an oddity, but anyhow it kinda matched the shape of his ears, so it had to be done.

The yarn is handspun. I am starting to wonder if I like knitting or spinning more. At this point I think spinning is actually the winner.

This weekend we are in town celebrating the holiday. Lots of stuff in plan though.

To Do:

1) See Cars 2 movie - am I the last person on the planet to see this? The little one has never really been to a movie on the big screen. I am so excited about this.

2) Take photos for more modern house quilt blocks - time to get ready for next month's class. I will make my confession to you now that I did get some new fabric recently for this project. I cannot wait to quilt with it! More on that soon.

3) Write up a blog post about our quilty adventures in San Francisco for you all to enjoy the links.

4) Investigate putting PDF modern house quilt block patterns up for sale on my blog...shouldn't be rocket science, right?

5) Catalog some of my quilting books on my new app - iBookshelf - it's kinda cool. Maybe I can stop wondering which books I have and which I don't!

What's on your to-do list this weekend?

If you don't have a good list yet well then - start by voting on my hand quilting poll if you haven't yet - it closes in only 3 days! Oops, make that 2!

Handspun Baby Hat and other quilty adventures

2011-06-28T17:35:00.000-07:00

I hand spun some naturally dyed fiber that I got at Verb (is there another place to get fiber? I think not!) and knit up a super super tiny hat.

My new baby niece needs to be spoiled so no commercially created, acid dyed, itchy scratchy yarn would do. No no no. This baby needs cashmere, merino, and angora hand spun by her favorite (ok, I'll admit and only as well) aunt. More info on ravelry here.

The bunny that is serving as my 'model' here just so happens to have the same sized head as a newborn baby, so it's an interesting and handy way for me to check if the size is right or not. I sort of made up the pattern but it is inspired by the cover of Joel Hoverson's "More Last-Minute Knitted Gifts."

Don't tell my sister, but I'm trying to surprise her with another baby hat in a different shape. She has a 2 week old baby, so I'm sure she doesn't have time to read my blog these days. Let's keep this quite, ok?

Oh, and last Saturday one of my amazing quilting friends took us on a whirlwind tour of San Francisco to explore a bunch of quilt related shops. I will compile a list of links with some info on them in case you need to plan your own similar trip someday.

Quilt Shopping around Chicago

2011-06-26T11:48:00.000-07:00

Those of you who guessed I was in the mid-west when I took the photo for my last post - well, you were right!

I was outside of Chicago, IL in this town called Barrington. The quilt shop - well worth a visit - is called A Touch of Amish.

They have a big selection of reproduction fabrics, shirtings, and fabrics that would look really nice if you are working on a traditional quilt pattern. The ladies who work there are very friendly, and the number of bolts of fabrics they have is pretty impressive.

Fabrics I picked up there are photographed above.

I didn't have time to really tour the area there, but I fear that there are two other shops in that general area that I should have visited and didn't have time to actually get there.

The first one is The Quilt Merchant in Winfield, IL. Have you ever been there? It looks like they specialize in Civil War reproduction fabrics. It is on my list of places to hit next time.

The second shop is Pieceful Gathering in Fox River Grove, IL. It was probably within driving distance of where I was, but we were on a very tight schedule with our grandmother's birthday party, so did not make it here either. I'm sure I'll be back to Chicago again for family visits, so will certainly not miss this next time.

Brain Teaser

2011-06-23T23:05:00.000-07:00

Ok fancy pants...think you know your quilt destinations?

Well, leave a comment if you can guess where I was when I took the above photo.

More stories coming soon about what I did there, and what I could have done in the general area (and didn't! AAHH) and you'll also know what part of the country I spent my summer vacation.

Hope your week is wrapping up well. I have a huge and very quiltish weekend in store!

Pacific International Quilt Festival 2011 - everything but the kitchen sink

2011-06-20T19:38:00.000-07:00

Our visit to gramma's 90th birthday is over and fun was had by most.

The party itself was awesome, and it was great to see her. She really loved the scarf that I knit for her and we posed with her wearing it for a photo together.

My husband and little one managed to come down with a summer cold as we were traveling so they had less fun than some of us.

The boys did see fireflies for the first time though (we don't have them in California) so that was magical.

Speaking of magical, what to my wondering eyes should appear in my mailbox while I was gone but the Pacific International Quilt Festival 2011 catalog.

Time to mark your calendars: San Jose, CA on October 13 - 16th! Classes are open for registration. I was surprised that there was even a small amount of hand work classes listed, so that seems nice. There is also a class on how to photograph your quilts which I found very interesting.

Entries for putting your quilt in the show are due Sept 1. I don't think I'll be entering anything this year, since I'm planning on winning Best In Show next year with my taupe modern house quilt (ahem).

I'm going to attend again of course this year and will be taking photos for you, same as last year (and the year before, and the year before, and....you get the point).

Gift for the 90 year old who has it all

2011-06-15T22:16:00.000-07:00

Our gramma is turning 90 next week, and for some time now I have been thinking, "Gee, what can I get her?"

Well, she used to knit a bit and I think she likes handmade things, so I ended up knitting a small scarf for her. It's in a crazy golden color, one of those striking jewel tones that I like a lot. I hope that she finds it soft and comfy and that it brightens up her birthday.

I have some notes on how I made it in ravelry here, but the pattern was very easy to memorize even for somebody who is really a quilter and occasionally fakes knitting projects.

The yarn I used is Malabrigo lace weight yarn which is so soft, I cannot tell you in words how soft, you really just have to touch it yourself. It did have some knots in the ball though, and I think knitters who know what they are doing really hate those. I kind of ignored them and kept going (probably not the right thing to do, but come on here, I'm a quilter!).

I also got her an electronic photo frame and my DH is helping me fill it with photos of the kids. Probably she will like that a lot better than the scarf, but I wouldn't blame her.

So here's to us all living to see 90, living to still do aerobics at that age (as our gramma does), and to gracefully getting older since - gosh - isn't that what we are sorta doing anyhow?

And Yes, I know I agreed to stop buying things on Etsy (or at least try to stop!) but I could not avoid one very tiny relatively inexpensive little teenie thing....Retro Scandanivian Style Star Wars Posters!

Maybe they sell 12 step program guides on how to give up Etsy...Hey, can I buy one of those on Etsy? Ahhhhh!

More House Blocks, and increasing the family headcount

2011-06-12T23:02:00.000-07:00

Another teaser photo of the latest taupe modern house block. Next class is the 26th of June at Verb - join us if you can!

I am thinking of putting the patterns up for sale on my blog, but it's been on the busy side lately. That will be my project for early July.

Meanwhile...My sister's new baby has arrived. She is healthy and beautiful and my amazing sister got through it all in her usual supermodel style complete with poise and grace.

Giving birth is a magical event, and even my boys (including the 2 yr old) were stunned that this tiny new cousin has arrived and is now open for having her toes tickled. I could go on for pages here, but let me just state for the record that she is awesome and we are all so lucky to know her.

I started the worlds smallest baby hat for her today. I think I can finish it pretty quickly. I wish I had completed a new quilt for her, but that is also on my to-do list.

In other wanderings, if you have the chance, pls do check out Lori's blog - Humble Quilts - her recent cherry block is really adorable, and her blog in general is beautiful.

Japanese Taupe Fabrics - never too much of a good thing

2011-06-04T21:08:00.000-07:00

I was looking through my stash of taupe fabrics in preparation for my next house quilt class later this month.

There were so many beautiful ones, it is hard to choose at times. Especially when working with the subtle shades of taupes I have found that seeing them in daylight is an important part of the process.

It isn't always easy for me to pick out the fabrics during the day since my creative work is mostly limited to after hours, but I was able to look while the sun was up today so that was nice.

In the afternoon I visited with my monthly quilt group, which was fun. It's always awesome to see my old friends and get inspiration from the projects they are working on.

The hostess let me see her fabric collection as she had newly organized it, and she stores her fabrics as flat as possible with really not that many folds in it.

Since I have a BUNCH of fat quarters, I end up folding them a lot and putting them into bins. Seeing how she organizes makes me wonder if I could find a way to store my fabrics with less folds in them so that they have less chance to have permanent damage due to the folds.

How are you storing your fabric these days? Am I the only one obsessed with stuff like 'no light' getting in, and 'no folds' causing permanent creases?

Have a cool tip for me to avoid crease lines? I'm all ears.

Oh, and for fun, I posted a "Do you like to hand quilt?" poll - cast your vote!

Fantastic Fabric Folding: Folded Flowers

2011-06-01T23:13:00.001-07:00

When I was thumbing through my latest copy of Quilts Japan May 2011 Issue #140, I was reminded of how pretty folded flowers can be.

On page 44 of this issue there is a little wall hanging of folded flowers where the blocks are made from tiny floral print fabrics.

This got me to thinking about the possibility of making folded flowers out of Liberty of London fabrics. Although it would be a decent chunk of work to undertake a quilt like this, it is hard to resist the temptation to start something up.

As an experiment, I took some small floral fabric and worked one small block up to see how hard it is to do. The pictures in Quilts Japan were helpful, but of course the text is in Japanese (which I cannot read).

I then remembered that I somewhere had a copy of Fantastic Fabric Folding by Rebecca Wat. This book was published back in 2000 and is still available at Amazon here.

On page 25 there are nice diagrams with explanations in English that help you make these cute little flowers. The book itself has lots of other cool folded fabric flower projects too.

Not starting a big new quilt project tonight or anything - after all it's almost midnight - but tomorrow is another day!

Quilted art bags - for kids, and encounters with handmade fabric

2011-05-27T22:13:00.000-07:00

Last weekend my 5 yr old son went to the birthday party of his twin girl schoolmates.

I heard that their favorite things included art supplies, so I jumped at the chance to make some cute art pouches for them.

When I make bags or things that need to hold shape, I bring out my super heavy interfacing: Timtex. I used a couple of different linen fabrics, with the Timtex inside.

It was fun to whip these up. I used Velcro to create a closure mechanism on the inside of the flap. The size of the pouch was designed to house the contents I knew I was putting inside.

Superfun and adorable for two very cute little girls. I hope they enjoy them. I did my usual calligraphy on the front with their names and I had my son sign his name on the back using a pigma pen.

On a different note, I discovered the most amazing fabric printing artist the other day. The very talented Gina Pericini started selling her hand printed fabrics up in the fabric/yarn shop that I teach in.

Her etsy shop is called Flock Home and includes the most adorable fat quarter packs. I find it rare to encounter fabric that is hand made, and even more rare to find it so clean and with such beautiful designs.

I'll take some photos of the fabric I got to show off in a future post. I am thinking of making a protective pocket/holder/bag for my Japanese quilting magazines using her fabrics.

Thimble Cage and more fabric I 'need'

2011-05-20T22:13:00.000-07:00

Finding the perfect thimble cage is not easy, as it turns out.

Thimble cages are used to hold your thimble in a beautiful cage, as a necklace when you need to pause your quilting, so you don't lose track of them. There is a small ring on top that slides off towards your neck on the string and the cage opens right up.

I wanted to get just the perfect one to hold my favorite antique Simons thimble.

After looking at some pretty ornate ones, I settled on this very minimal version that is available from The Colonial Needle Company.

It is called the thimble teardrop cage by Roxanne, which is a brand that makes various kinds of quilting supplies including needles.

I will warn you that it isn't quite large enough to fit my serious workhorse thimble, though. It's huge so I guess it makes sense, but just so you know...when I go to do a large amount of quilting...my thimble of choice is the Raised Edge Thimble by the Original Needleart Guild

It looks like there is now a new model out that even includes dimples on the top sides of the thimble. That looks like it would be interesting to try. It would probably give you some additional options in how you use your hand.

I was looking around at Superbuzzy (awesome online fabric shop, lots of Japanese fabric, awesome service too)....and ran into some Lego fabric. If you know me, and how I love to spend time with my sons, you know how much we all love Legos. When I saw this I said, "Wow, I NEED that fabric!" Seriously, does somebody like me ever 'need' any more fabric?

In this case - of course!

Finished at last! Table top quilt, hand quilted

2011-05-17T22:33:00.000-07:00

I cannot even remember how long ago it was when my mom showed me her beautiful antique quilt top, and I said, "Oh, just give it to me so I can quickly quilt it up for you, Mom!" I think she bought it through a quilt dealer.

Well, "quickly"...doesn't exactly describe the rate at which I get things done sometimes, but I will say that finishing this small quilt was extremely enjoyable and I am thrilled with the end result.

The quilt top itself was pieced out of indigo and white fabrics by an unknown maker circa 1890. Whoever she was, I hope that she's looking down on it thinking - awesome - it's finally turned into a quilt after 120+ years.

My mom's kitchen is an amazing place with more light coming in the windows than any other kitchen I have ever been in. I can only dream of having this much beautiful light in my house anywhere, let alone in the kitchen.

She has it decorated mostly in blue and white, so if she puts this quilt on top of the center of her dining room table, I think it will look pretty smart.

I was trying to finish it for Mother's Day, so I guess it's sort of a belated gift, but anyway I think she'll like it.

Using Pigma Pens, I inked the names of her grandchildren on one of the plain white blocks. This will remain there as a permanent part of the quilt, and will not wash out.

I just love the look of inking words on fabric, and think this turned out pretty cool. She is expecting another grandchild VERY soon, so I left a spot to add the baby's name there too.

I used YLI's hand quilting thread in light brown color (to show off the stitches a bit, how flashy of me!) I have been tending to this use lately, and find that it gets fewer knots than other options.

My next post really should discuss the incredible quilted gift she gave me for Mother's Day (it's another WOW), but I'll need to photograph it for you so you can understand how spoiled I am.

Quilt Blocks of Modern Houses: Block 4

2011-05-13T22:14:00.000-07:00

I'm getting all excited that our next Block Of the Month is coming up at Verb in a couple of weeks.

The house we are doing this time is very simple, but turned out oh so pretty. I literally cannot wait to see how other people are coming along with their amazing and beautiful blocks.

In case you are in the California Bay area, it's in about a week on Sunday May 22nd, at 2:30 pm.

This weekend is a busy one for us. There is an awesome event at the Children's Museum of Natural History that is all about Wooly Mammoths - in Fremont. We are hoping to find the time to check this out.

It got me thinking about "Wooly" Mammoths. Like "wooly"? Really? Do you think I could knit something out of them if they were still around? Maybe they would be adverse to the idea of a haircut from me?

Anyhow, I mostly never post more than one photo per blog post, but I cannot resist ending this on a funny note. It's the weekend after all. The below is a photo of my youngest son having a conversation with a sheep last weekend at Happy Hollow.

Mother's Day Bliss

2011-05-09T21:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my family took very good care of me for Mother's Day.

My husband really spoiled me by making the boys write out personalized cards to me (including pictures they drew).

We had an awesome brunch, but there were gifts too, so I am sort of feeling like it was my birthday, not Mother's Day.

Anyhow, there was an antique quilt I had my eye on that was floating around on eBay, so he bought that for me. I've always wanted a double wedding ring quilt, so now I have a very classic 1930's example to add to my collection.

He also gave me a vintage sock yarn ball holder made out of bakeware (pre-dates plastic) from Katrina's Wool World. It's adorable and fits my small balls of handspun yarn perfectly too.

If you are a mother, I hope you had a wonderful day. Goodness knows it isn't the easiest job you'll ever have, but at least you can probably say it's the best one.

Patchwork Quilt Tsushin #161

2011-05-05T18:05:00.000-07:00

The April 2011 issue of Patchwork Quilt Tsushin is packed with goodies.

On the cover, they feature a redwork alphabet block, which is covered in flowers and adoring little girls. It's a pretty cute alphabet, and the insert includes all the letters (of course).

My favorite page is actually page 41 where Yoko Saito has an article on how to make a bird block and a beautiful flower block out of taupe fabrics. Really pretty.

There is also a beautiful taupe bag on p. 29 that features a swallow bird. Swallows are really famous near the town where I grew up in Southern California. I should probably try putting some on a quilt. Their shape is very unique.

I just heard that another issue of Quilts Japan arrived in the San Jose Kinokuniya shop so part of me wants to run over there and pick it up before they close tonight.

Hope your week is going well. I am finally feeling healthy so I'm back at it with my hand quilting.

Spring Fever

2011-04-29T19:15:00.000-07:00

Our Easter was so much fun. My boys found many candy filled eggs left by the Easter Bunny.

Since then, I have been under the weather though - complete with fever and cough that is certainly not helping me rest.

When I get run down, my creative work goes south first, so quilting and other fun endeavors have been more or less on hold around here.

I have been catching up on blog reading though, and found:

How to make Peeps into S'mores - that's my kind of left-over!
Spoiler Alert: Next year's Star Wars themed Lego Advent Calendar contents revealed - wow cool.
Yoko Saito has finally published a book in English (and French too!) called Past and Present My Quilting Life. I see a copy of this coming my way eventually...
And last but not least, you know I have spent too much time reading random blogs when I start to wonder if a toilet that opens its own lid for you and heats your feet as well would not be a fun addition to our home. Wait a sec, this toilet is worth more than my car!

Gosh, I hope this cold leaves me soon!

Happy Easter! Basket Quilts anyone?

2011-04-23T14:37:00.000-07:00

If you are celebrating Easter this weekend, I wish you the happiest Easter ever.

For this holiday, we decided the dessert featured will be a cream cheese pound cake, topped with strawberries and home made whipped cream. Yummy!

On the healthy side, we are also trying to recreate a salad recipe that we love - it's from a big chain restaurant - California Pizza Kitchen - (do these exist outside of the U.S.? I am not sure I have ever seen one). The salad is their Cobb salad, and we are going to try to make the ranch dressing from scratch too.

A while back, I picked up bunch of antique quilt blocks, one of which you see above, that are all the same, and have these chocolate brown and aqua green baskets on them. They are all on point, and are so very adorable.

I hope to find just the right sashing fabric for these blocks eventually so I can finish up a very spring-ish looking quilt.

Class cancelled this month...but have a cake pop!

2011-04-17T09:51:00.000-07:00

Looks like not enough folks to hold applique class this month at "Verb", but looking forward to resuming in May.

When we were at a birthday party last week, my friend made these cake pops for everybody. She got the instructions on Bakerella. I thought, wow, these are pretty darn adorable. I think they will show up at our next birthday party.

Japanese Taupe Applique and modern quilting

2011-04-16T13:40:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is our April class where we applique modern house blocks over at A Verb for Keeping Warm in Oakland.

This house is a beautiful one, and another in the BOM series that our class is working on. If you have the time and live locally, come and join us...this block will be a piece of cake.

I spent this week in Austin, Texas. If you haven't had the chance to visit there, I would highly recommend it. I could really see myself living there. It is quite hip.

One of my Texan girlfriends turned me on to these beaded wrap bracelets that are popular there. I broke down and bought one, and after realizing how expensive they are online I guess I should have bought 2 when I had the chance. Oh well...Chan Luu makes a bunch of them that are beautiful but on the pricey side.

Another beautiful link for you is over on "oh, hello friend" - check out this post on twinkle lights. So pretty. Not only would I love to do a photo study like this to take amazing pictures of them, but I would also like to think about how to get some of them up in my back yard!

It's raining, it's hailing....

2011-04-07T22:34:00.000-07:00

It was so strange to experience a brief hail storm today. I love it when the weather surprises me. Especially when I have an umbrella in my trunk.

There is a cowl in the Last Minute Knitted Gifts book that I would like to make someday.

I picked up some Jade Sapphire lace weight yarn in colorway "You Say Tomato". It's bright alright. Same color as my teapot! I wound it up on my little yarn swift that I have, but someday I plan to get a yarn swift like this one from Bluster Bay Umbrella Swifts.

I will need a good studio to keep it in first though. It looks huge. I will eventually make something with it ah, but for now I just love the way it feels.

Liberty of London fabrics fall into that category for me. So soft, almost too good to cut up and quilt with them! Hope your week ends up well.

Oh, and if you have ever been to a cool yarn store or quilt store in Austin Texas, let me know. I might end up visiting there.

Out like a lamb

2011-04-03T23:12:00.000-07:00

My son came home from school and was amazed that I knew the 2nd half of the phrase describing how March weather comes "In like a lion" and goes "Out like a lamb".

It's true though, now it finally feels like spring to me. Time to take the camera outside!

As you may know, I love photography and am always trying to improve my own photos. I spent the weekend taking a photo workshop with this photographer named Eddie Soloway.

It gave me some fresh ideas on making photos, and perhaps it will get me out with my camera a bit more. Eddie is very inspirational and quite known as an excellent teacher.

When I was in San Francisco about a week ago, I ran into another photographer named Jeff Chih.

He had a really interesting photography equipment set up and was creating a stop motion video. We walked in front of his lens at some point so perhaps my family is in one of his 'movie' images. He was very happy to chat about his work and a super friendly person.

Anyhow, if you have a spare 2.5 minutes to watch something beautiful, check him out on youtube as Vista Point Studios or see the 'video' he created when I ran into him by clicking here. Pretty cool.

Special Quilt Exhibit: Infinite Variety

2011-03-30T06:40:00.000-07:00

As a general rule, I take all the photos for my blog, but today I am making a special exception.

My friend, Janneken Smucker, emailed me the above photo of the quilt installation she visited.

The quilts are red, but I am green with envy that I didn't see them in person.

This amazing exhibit, Infinite Variety: Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts, runs through today 3/30/2011, and is located at the American Quilt Museum in New York City (Park Avenue Armory).

If you don't happen to live around the corner from there, I noticed there is a flickr set of over 500 photos that visitors have posted here. Probably not as good as actually being there, but worth a look all the same.

If you do live in NYC, I would think that you are already putting on your coat to head on over to this.

Thank you Janneken for tipping us off to this awesome show and for sharing your photo. For those of you who don't know Janneken yet, she is an amazing young woman who is perhaps one of the worlds leading experts on Amish Quilt history. Check out her book here on Amish Crib Quilts.

Liberty of London - in Japanese!

2011-03-23T08:33:00.000-07:00

I could not resist this book when I was at Kinokuniya the other day.

ISBN978-4-7966-7826-1: It came with a little plastic bag with handles. I think it would be good for small projects. It was a bit on the plastic stinky side though, so I am going to air it out first!

Photos include swatches of current fabrics, photos of models wearing garments made of their fabrics, and stories about the fabric designers.

Brian Wildsmith designed a fabric for Liberty that includes old airplanes. Oh, I need to figure out how to get some of that. If you have seen it around, let me know.

My love of Liberty of London Fabrics has lead me to collect them over the years. I have lots of little bits and pieces now and I am almost to take a deep breath and introduce them to my scissors.

Have you ever made a quilt out of their fabric, or sewn up something? I would love to see your photos!

Corned Beef & Green Mac-n-Cheese

2011-03-17T23:12:00.000-07:00

On St. Paddy's day we usually try to do something festive.

This year, I was frankly....just tired.

My husband ended up cooking the entire very traditional corned beef and cabbage meal complete with un-traditional mac-n-cheese dyed green.

Kids loved it.

I also learned that corned beef is usually pink due to the preservatives in the meat. Who knew. I also learned that 'corned' is actually from the English reference to kernels of salt used to brine the beef.

Who Knew!

Hope the wind was at your back today - here's a big Slainte! (Cheers!) from me to you.

Butterflies in my head

2011-03-15T17:48:00.000-07:00

I have been fitting in some spinning and quilting here and there, and managed to cast on a new knit scarf as well (and promptly frogged it both times). Eeek.

I was surfing around and saw a few blog posts entries that started with "My favorite thing to do at home is..." and that got me thinking about what my favorite thing would be. There are so many it would be hard to narrow it down to one. I might be tempted to answer ..."assemble Lego sets" but maybe I should think on it a bit more.

In other news, some people get butterflies in their stomach but I seem to have them on my brain.

Have you seen this awesome butterfly quilt tutorial by Mrs. Schmenkman? Sooo cool.

I am not sure if I am allowed to blog about the person who I am thinking of making some sort of a butterfly quilt for....but she is due to arrive this summer. She isn't mine of course, well...not directly at least.

More on that later. I must flutter off and help with homework.

Japanese taupe fabrics & wishes for Japan

2011-03-12T18:02:00.000-08:00

Showing a photo of some fabrics that I recently got from Verb.

They are all imports from Japan.

Reading many headlines about their recent earthquake and the loss left behind.

When you live in California, like I do, you understand the impact they can have. Cannot help feel for families touched by this horrible natural disaster.

Thinking thoughts of recovery and comfort for those in need.

I went to our local yarn shop this afternoon with my friend Sharon of Knits are for Kids. She picked out yarn to start a new sweater.

She will have it knit up in no time, while I still lack the courage to start an adult sized sweater. Maybe it's because I have so much quilting to do!

Japanese Quilting Blogs - in search of

2011-03-09T17:29:00.000-08:00

My mom's antique 1890's indigo and white mini-quilt is getting quilted little by little.

I spent some time with my monthly weekend quilting friends last weekend and progress was certainly made.

Recently I have been trying to look for Japanese quilting blogs out there.

I know there have to be tons (zillions?) of Japanese quilters who work in taupe fabrics, love Yoko Saito, love Chuck Nohara, love Suziko Koseki.

Where oh where do I find links to these sorts of blogs?

I even resorted to translating "Taupe Quilts" into Japanese, copying that into search engines...I must be doing something wrong here. Oh, bother.

Anyhow, my knitting/quilting club is about to come over tonight so off to feverishly scoop some toys up off the floor.

Husband Scarf & Antique Quilts

2011-03-02T21:13:00.000-08:00

I am knitting away on a scarf for my husband.

I will come clean here and state that I LOVE to knit for kids because they are so tiny, and I kinda don't love to knit for adults. Those projects take forever.

When I met my husband, I thought - wow, what a tall and handsome man.

While I knit this scarf, I am wondering if it would not be just a little faster to finish this if he were not so tall! ;)

I am making all sorts of mistakes in this project, but I press on without taking stitches out. If you want to see the 'real' version of this scarf, I recommend you stop over at my friend Sharon's blog - Knits are for Kids. Her project really looks great. It almost inspires me to rip out my mistakes. Only almost though.

She found this cool scarf pattern and I started it because I wanted to be just like her.

The quilt in the background is a recent antique that I picked up from Etsy. The seller has a couple other cute quilts for sale right now - check them out.

Modern House Applique BOM

2011-02-24T20:06:00.000-08:00

This Sunday, I'm teaching the Applique Block of the Month at A Verb for Keeping Warm.

Come on and join us if you live in Northern California, it is going to be so super fun.

The theme for our class is modern homes and the block this month is based on a home designed by Joseph Eichler, a well known modern architect.

A few of my quilt group friends live in his homes and they are beautiful and filled with light inside. Hopefully I'm doing this one justice by the quilt block.

A couple of notes for you on goodies I picked up at Stitches West last weekend (in case you ever knit):

Imagiknit: Very interesting yarn booth that was there at the yarn show. I could not help but get a little bit of their Madeline Tosh yarn (lace weight) and also some Malibrigo yarn (again in lace weight).

Sincere Sheep: My friend owns this shop and dyes some beautiful yarns and fibers with natural dyes. I got some goodies to try and make socks.

Feeling Ewe: (link is email address only) What a cute name! I could not resist their superfine Merino and cashmere blend. I got some to play around with that was a natural white color.

Becoming Art: The fiber that I got in this booth was wildly beautiful and is part cashmere again. I am a sucker for it right now.

Finally, and nothing to do with Stitches West...

Have you seen this fabric with Unicorn Meat chart on it? Odd, right? I am attracted to it somehow, don't ask me why.

Stitches West 2011

2011-02-20T10:17:00.001-08:00

I visited Stitches West this weekend with my friend (and knitting genius) Marianne. It's a HUGE knitting convention in San Jose, CA and not far from where I live.

With something greater than 1000 shopping booths, it was amazing, and overwhelming at the same time.

Since I have learned to spin yarn recently, I was on the look out for cool fibers and also fun tools. A bit of yarn found its way into my shopping bags as well even though I was not really there to buy yarn.

The one thing that I found at the show that I COVETED but of course didn't buy because it was on the expensive side:

Horse and cart scissors from the Bagsmith booth.

They almost killed me with their beauty. I can see them sitting next to me (in my dreams!) while I hand quilt all my finished quilt tops. If you have not used their scissors before, please do put them on your list to check out. I find them to be the very best around for applique.

I'll have to write another post with links to what I did end up buying since you may enjoy knowing about it.

Old School: Hand Quilting

2011-02-12T08:35:00.000-08:00

I've been working on hand quilting this very small antique (circa 1890's) quilt top for my mom. It's been a lot of fun and isn't in terrible shape for it's age.

I am not sure if I will actually finish it before her visit here. I am thinking at this point that I won't make it, but we'll see...

This morning we are heading out to do some photography and for a family adventure in San Francisco. It's a bit of a drive for us, but it's worth it.

We're going retro with our photography and shooting film. My son saw my husband loading up a camera and organizing film canisters and asked, "What's film, Daddy?"

Wow, am I really that old? Guess so! Here's to some good old school fun.

Quilts Japan #138

2011-02-06T10:54:00.001-08:00

If you have not grabbed a copy of Quilts Japan issue 1, 2011, vol #138....maybe now is the time.

The pages are full of traditional brightly colored quilts, similar to that on the cover, and they are all really detailed (of course) and beautiful.

The best part of this issue is that it includes the Quilts Japan 2011 calendar.

This calendar has inspirational quilts on every page. It's really a nice one.

Patchwork Quilt Tsushin also has their first volume out for the year and for some reason the quilts in the photos are not speaking to me. I think it's a personal taste thing, but anyhow, the Quilts Japan calendar is not to be missed.

I got some hand quilting done yesterday when my quilt group came over to visit, so I'm feeling like progress is being made there - woo hoo!

Does quilting and Superbowl mix? Hm....

Handspun Leg Warmers for a 2 yr old Ballerina

2011-01-29T17:39:00.000-08:00

I finished a pair of leg warmers in only a couple of evenings for my sister's little girl. She is a tiny ballerina, with teenie tiny legs, so hopefully these will be to her taste.

I road tested them on my 2 yr old son, and I'm not sure he's a fan. Not sure he'd make much of a ballerina either in fact.

Couple more photos of them over on ravelry.

This weekend is a catch up one but I am spending it all with my family so it doesn't get better than that.

I saw this automatic lego sorter online and though, gee, the reason parents give kids legos is to entertain them for as long as possible.

Are they nuts creating a product that speeds up the lego building process? I need to have a chat with the inventor of this. They must not be an actual parent.

Modern Quilt Blocks and reminder to check out Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival

2011-01-23T21:07:00.001-08:00

Today we kicked off our first applique block of the month at A Verb for Keeping Warm up in Oakland.

I had it in my mind to make a modern house quilt for some time now, and it turns out that the folks who joined the class are super into architecture and design so it was a very cool fit.

Students made some awesome blocks, very very modern. My block is pictured above. I used some of my favorite Japanese Taupe fabrics in more or less a muted colorway.

In case you don't know about the Great Quilt Festival at the Tokyo Dome....you should by now. It is my dream to attend it in person. Every year I say, "I AM GOING THIS YEAR!!"

Alas, I did not get to go in person this year, but I have high hopes that with some potty training for our little one, we might be easier travelers next year.

Anyhow, worry not my friends.

There are generous photographers/bloggers out there that attend the show pretty much every year, and some of them take incredible photos.

Jen of Moving Hands blog has already posted a lot of beautiful photos. Thank you, and well done!

If you know of more photos, please feel free to comment here with links. I'll look at every photo. Maybe even look twice.

Hand Applique Class - Modern Houses

2011-01-15T11:02:00.000-08:00

I'm almost done with the modern applique block I designed for my upcoming hand applique class.

We are doing a block of the month, and the class is taking place in Oakland, California at A Verb for Keeping Warm.

We're meeting next Sunday, January 23, 2010 in the afternoon. Join our class if you have time.

I'm going to design a quilt block with the theme of modern homes...one a month, during the year. The colors I'm using for fabrics are all Japanese taupe fabrics.

Let me know if you have been working on any projects using Japanese taupe fabrics, I would love to see them.

White Elephant - Handspun yarn

2011-01-09T16:46:00.000-08:00

My knit nite friends were over for our holiday party last week and we had a real blast.

I even taught one of the husbands how to make yarn using my spinning wheel. He actually wasn't half bad at it.

The white elephant gift I got was awesome, some beautiful yarn that I'm planning on using to make a scarf for my husband, and needle holders for when you make socks. So cool.

I ended up giving away around 300 yards or so of handspun (photo above). The gal who got it is a seriously talented crocheter and I just cannot wait to see what she does with it. The fiber is hand dyed by Pigeonroof Studios in the Collision Course colorway.

I'm sure you know about this already, but have you checked out Barbara Brackman's new Civil War Quilts blog? It's pretty darn cool.

Because I Told You

2011-01-05T17:14:00.000-08:00

When my 2 yr old asks me, “Mommy, can I take my socks off now?”

I say, “Why do you need to do that right now, honey?”

He says, “Because I told you!”

I’m starting to wonder if he’s saying that only because every time he asks me “Why?” ….my answer right back to him is, “Because I told you!”

What an embarrassing reminder that they are so good at acting as little mirrors. It looks like Because I Told You will be the theme of our conversation for the foreseeable future. Time to embrace it.

Tonight is our big knit night annual holiday party. We ended up putting it off for a while because my house had the stomach flu on the day we were originally hoping to have it.

All of us or so excited to exchange white elephants. Above is a photo of mine, but you’ll have to wait and see what’s inside!!

Holiday Handwork

2011-01-03T00:08:00.001-08:00

I did a tiny bit of hand quilting over the holiday break. Working on quilting an antique quilt for my mom as a table runner.

Thinking about my resolutions for last year - did I really do any of them? Gosh, do I dare go back and read them?

Thinking that the end of this wonderful vacation is about to occur. Can it be? How did that pass so quickly?

Happy New Year to you! More soon.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T15:42:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas morning was awesome. Santa must have had us on his 'nice' list this year.

I knit the above socks from some yarn I made on my spindles, before my spinning wheel came into the picture. If you want to get into spinning, a spindle is an easy and fun first step.

Handspun yarn has a certain look to it that makes it more textural. I really prefer it over commercially created yarn.

My biggest surprise gift was a new Baltimore Album quilt pattern collection: Lady of Victory.

There is an apple wreath block in here that I really just must make. It's amazing.

We're expecting guests for dinner, and the turkey is in the oven. Not sure it gets better than this.

Well, ok, we could be expecting my parents and my sister's family for dinner (which we aren't), but that is the only thing that would make it better.

Merry Christmas to all of you out there. May the rest of your holiday season be filled with health and peace.

Visiting Santa

2010-12-23T22:20:00.000-08:00

We went and visited Santa last night.

The boys whispered in his ear all the toys they have been dreaming of getting into their clutches.

When he first saw us, he called to each of us by our names!

It was very impressive.

When I looked closely in his eyes, I felt like I knew him from another life somewhere. Like I might have worked with him at some point in my career. It was a comforting feeling, as if he was an old friend.

Anyhow, I'm a believer, so we gave him his cookies and dropped off our letters to him.

I'm still wrapping gifts here...am I the only procrastinator?

To those of you who are still getting ready....you're not alone!

The Christmas Calm

2010-12-21T23:01:00.000-08:00

I can almost (but really not quite yet) feel the calm of Christmas coming.

It will be awesome to spend a few days away from the daily grind and with the family. Kids are so adorable right now, and in love with the idea that Santa is coming.

I am SO looking forward to putting a new-to-me antique quilt top into the quilt hoop. Once I'm actually on vacation I think that is the first item on my to do list.

Well, after all the gifts are wrapped.

Today my 5 year old asked me, "Mommy, what is your favorite thing of all?"

I told him it is our family, of course. And he agreed that family is also his #1 most favorite thing.

He then asked me what my 2nd most favorite thing is.

I answered that it is our friends and he agreed again that his 2nd most favorite thing is our friends.

He keep going though to my amazement and asked me what my 3rd favorite thing was.

I said that it is our planet Earth and he agreed that it is his 3rd favorite thing.

He then asked me, "Mommy, do you want to know my 4th favorite thing?"

I replied that I was very interested, and he answered with one word:

LEGOLAND!

Okok, message received...we'll find a way to get back there again.

Is your stocking hung yet?

2010-12-17T22:55:00.000-08:00

Well, our house is finally decorated and stockings are hung.

Ok, truthfully we hung them and the 2 yr old tried to yank them down, so we promptly un-hung them.

That's how it is in our house this year. Breakable ornaments on the top half of the tree only please.

We have most of the shopping done I think with a few final hold outs that we have yet to find the perfect item for, but I would say it's trending in the right direction.

For me, this holiday is going to be about pampering ourselves which translates to not material goodies or toys but...

More Sleep!

Yes, our holiday goal is to get 8 hrs of sleep a night. Who knows if we can pull it off over our break, but I think we would all be so much better off for it.

I have a couple of handmade projects I'm cooking up for the break too. Think anybody would notice if I pretended to cook the turkey and ordered a pre-cooked one instead so I would have more time for quilting?

Shhh don't tell!

What I'm loving lately:

1) Tanis' awesome star ornaments from Tanis Fiber Arts

2) Wool Felt mistletoe from Ohdeedoh, and not to mention her link to the minimalistic Muppet poster - I kinda need one of these...embarassing but true. I should really stop here, but have you also seen the Modern Gingerbread Houses - too much!

3) This lace fence as mentioned on Famille Summerville (I used to hate these kinds of fences, and now I want one - it looks like knitted lace to me!)

4) The sing-a-long iPad app that lets you sing Glee Karaoke songs - wow, do I really sound that bad?