Viewmaster - the good old fashioned toy

I realized how behind I am on mounting recent viewmaster film we have shot into paper mounts for the kids to use in their viewmasters. 

Let this blog post serve as a piece of string around my finger reminding me to take care of that in my ample spare time.

Above is a photo of my DH and my dad each playing with their 3D film cameras.  Does 3D + 3D = 6D somehow?  Perhaps not.

I really love this silly photo for some reason.

In other news I broke out the sewing machine this weekend and that was productive and fun.  I sewed up a simple table runner.  More on that soon.

I also am on to the 2nd sock of a pair I'm making for my mom who really appreciates what I make.  I get a kick out of making things for people who really love them.  Coincidence that she gets more stuff that other people?  Not hardly.

Quilts Japan and Patchwork Quilt Tsusin January 2014

I look forward to seeing the first issue of the year come out from both Quilts Japan and Patchwork Tsushin because they have the calendars in them.

Some years I pick up a second copy for my mom because the calendar is so knock your socks off incredible.

Other years I cry over quilts that just don't speak to me or photography that could have used some help.

This year both calendars are a bit on the so-so side.  You can judge for yourself, but I'm not sure I'm over the moon about either of them.

The issues themselves are a different story.

Quilts Japan #156 is an incredible issue.  It's full of the bright primary colored floral prints that I love and have collected for a while.  The quilts are bold and beautiful.  This is one of my most favorite issues.

Patchwork Tsushin #177 was lukewarm for me.  It has a lot of holiday projects as well as some whimsical designs with pom poms and ric rack.  Not my personal favorite, but somebody with a sweeter cuter aesthetic might really love it.

Either way, it's nice to kick the year off with some Japanese eye candy, that's for sure.

Oops I Did it Again: Handsewn Book

Handmade books have crept into my heart lately so I made one for my mom's birthday gift.

The cover is hand marbled paper that I purchased.  Someday I would love to try to make some myself.  I think all I need a this point is two seconds to rub together.  Interesting how difficult that is to find sometimes.

I hope she gets some use out of it.  I did some calligraphy for her on the inside cover to personalize it and attached some Japanese index label stickers by Midori to the back inside cover using a couple pieces of washi tape.  The sticker tabs can be use to divide up sections of the book for different topics.

When I was in Kinokuniya recently I picked up a book that of course is in Japanese so I cannot even read you the title.  it is an adorable 'stick figure' -ish style that looks super Japanese.  It's pretty cute.  I'm not quite able to draw everything  but some things are so simple that even a kid could replicate them.  Picture of the book cover here.

On other fronts, we are starting to attend Christmas Tree lighting ceremonies, holiday school band concerts, and think about where our own decorations are hiding in storage.

And the other night I unfortunately watched the first disk of Game of Thrones.  Oh my goodness, too intense for me...off to remove the rest of the disks from my queue, pronto!  Who has a stomach to watch such things!?  Wowza, not me.  Do you guys watch this?

PIQF 2013: Favorites and Loot

PIQF was a cool show this year and it's almost impossible to pick a favorite.

That said...in case you didn't have time to get through all the photos I posted, here is my short list of really memorable and inspirational quilts - stand outs that caught my eye:


Octopus Garden by Carolyn Winfield

Anne's Quilt by Samantha Ricks - Hawaiian blocks

Wayside Strawberries by Nicole Pullman - hand applique, patterns by Jeanna Kimball - my favorite
My Mom's Jane by Carrie Britten - traditional Dear Jane quilt, beautifully executed, stunning reproduction of the original 1863 quilt

All in The Family by Nancy S. Brown - when Nancy puts a quilt into a show it is always hand applique, and usually the most interesting quilt in the whole show.  This was no exception.

Kingyo (Goldfish) by Naomi Yamamoto - incredible fish, I took tons of detailed photos

Moonbeam by Fumiko Matsuu - beautiful collection of indigo fabrics, super Japanese look

Life by Yoshiko Katagiri - beautiful spiral quilt with an amazing collection of Japanese floral fabrics

Let's Go Party! by Keiko Ike - beautiful machine work, won the best in country award from Japan

In terms of vendors, I had fun looking around and did pick up a thing or two, but not a lot of shopping for me this year.

My most exciting find was marbled fabric.  There is a fabric artist out of Oregon named Marjorie Lee Bevis who makes marbled fabrics by hand.  I picked up a couple of pieces and hope to make them into book cloth for some book covers.  They are unique, no two are alike.  I found them affordable for hand made fabric. 

The other thing I got excited about was the Seam Fix thread eraser.  You are supposed to be able to rip out a seam and use the tip of this plastic bee-hive shaped wand to collect the loose threads so they don't get re-sewn in the wrong place.

Given I have done my fair share of ripping things out, I'm interested to test this.  More news after I give it a try.  Looks like fun though.  Using the tool that is, not ripping out seams.

Creative Queue

Do you have a creative queue of some sort?

I have a long running list of projects that I want to work on, with a priority/interest order that shifts with my mood, time, and my ability to concentrate.

I find this queue of creative endeavors to be unfortunately mostly managed on post-it notes stuck to my phone, my desk, and at times (dark times) my pants.

Do you have tips on how to manage your creative projects, how to list them all down, how to organize, prioritize, and keep them all in your thoughts to someday be at last completed?

If you have good ideas on how to do this, pleeeeeease, pretty please share them with me.  I'm all ears.

Until that happy day, here are a few things I'm kicking around...not really in priority order yet (I need help, obviously!).

• Wrist Warmers (above) out of Lollipop Yarn, colorway Life Is Beautiful
• Basket Quilt: applique handles down, baste it and quilt it (small, so will go quickly!)
• Owl embroidery project from kiriki - starting it as soon as my new embroidery hoop arrives, apologies in advance to the owl, your destiny is probably to become a pincushion!
• Sweater for my 8 yr old
• Socks for my mom 
• Wedding Signature Quilt: for goodness sake it's been almost 10 years, this awesome quilt deserves better
• Birthday Signature Blocks: you have seen me working on these for ages, time to pre-applique down all the numbers for my kids and nieces
  
  
  That's the short list, I swear!

Mind the Gap: self striping sock yarn

I am hand quilting away like a mad person, but top secret project so no news of it here.

These little crazy colored socks did get finished recently while on vacation, so I'm sharing a quick snapshot of them with you.  Even the presence of my mom's loving coaxing could hardly get the reluctant model to keep them on for more than a couple of moments.

They are done though, and they look adorable.  Maybe he will warm up to them.  They are slightly big, so he as some time to change his mind and get some use out of them.

The yarn is by British dyer Trailing Clouds.

Quilt Binding: Little Pieces of Heaven

Is it a normal practice to use more than 10 different fabrics when binding a quilt?  

Have you ever used more than one?

I think the most I've ever used has been around 6 different fabrics.

For the quilt I'm working on, I have a ton of cool fabrics that I'm going to combine together for perhaps the most funky binding of all time.  

Is that crazy?  Maybe.  Why not though.  Life's short.  My work is starting to get a bit more crazy the older I get.  Stay tuned for the results!


There are a lot of 'how to make quilt binding' tutorials out there.  I couldn't find one that was exactly the same as the method I use, but the one by Crazy Mom Quilts is a pretty comprehensive one. 

In searching around, I'm getting tempted to create my own 'Ultimate' binding tutorial.  Hm...adding that to the to-do list. 

If there is a guide out there that you use every time, let me know your favorite!

Pearls on the Red Sea: Birthday Shawl

My mom's birthday hovers either on or around Thanksgiving. 

This year I wanted to fancy it up a bit for her, so I knit a beaded shawl from this book called Luxury Yarn One Skein Wonders.





The pattern didn't call for beads, but I couldn't resist trying my hand at working with them, so I put a few (million) on there.  I named the project Pearls on the Red Sea since the beads look like tiny pearls.


It turns out that my mom loved the gift and was really surprised that I actually finished it.  Not as surprised as I am!  I was wondering for the last 9 months if I would ever finish this project. 

Truth be told, I've been doing a lot of hand quilting instead lately.

Anyhow, it was a pretty simple lace project, so I would recommend it.  Add some beads to the mix if you would like to drive yourself crazy, stab your finger with the world's smallest crochet hook, and risk never finishing it in your lifetime.

Link to more info in Ravelry.

The lovely and beautiful model shown here is my dear sweet little sister.

I know, she looks like an actual model.  She always kinda has.

 (Thanks for the free modeling services, Sis!...HBD Mom!)

My Friend the Quilt Artist: Carol Current

I have had the pleasure of knowing quilt artist Carol Current for more than ten years, and it is a treat to enjoy not only her friendship but the visual feast of the quilts she designs.
Ages ago I started quilting because my mom is a quilter.  It's always interesting to learn how other people started and what inspired the spark.

For Carol, she started sewing when she was little by making clothes for her dolls with a neighbor friend.  

As adults Carol and her sewing childhood friend luckily found themselves at an art quilt show on campus at Boston University in 1987.

Carol was amazed by the quilts there, but the most memorable were a crab quilt by Ruth McDowell (photos of some of her quilts can be seen around), a piece by Judith Larzelere, and a quilt titled "Unwinding the MBA" by Caryl Bryer Fallert. 

She basically took up quilting then and never looked back.
I don't have a copy of  "The Quilters:  Women and Domestic Art, an Oral History," but it comes recommended by Carol so it's on my short list to check out and perhaps on my list for Santa too!

Carol designed the small quilt above as a gift for a good friend.  I was trying to steal it from her before it got to her friend (who I'm sure is a lovely person, and deserves it very much), but you can't blame me for trying.  It's an amazing piece, stunning in person.

The design was inspired by a fireplace screen and she used a lot of Japanese fabric and embroidery in the creation of the quilt. 

I cannot restrain myself from putting a second detailed photo in:

Thanks Carol for sharing your quilt with the readers, and your story of quilted inspiration.

If others would like to share your story of why you started quilting, I'd love to hear about it.

PIQF 2012: Another good quilt show

Pacific International Quilt Festival, or "PIQF," is one of the larger quilt shows in the US, and I'm lucky enough to live almost next door to it.  

This year, there were many incredible quilts, but of course I had my favorites.

I cannot walk by an album quilt without snapping a photo of it.  There seemed to be more of them this year than in other years.

A quilter who I met there last year, Laura, had her Dear Jane quilt in the show, and it was stunning.  She used only two fabrics in the entire quilt.  Such discipline.  Such a beautiful result.

 
I did not know many people personally who had their quilts hung up, but there were the usual famous folks like Mary Mashuda and Nancy Brown.

There were some interesting vendors there, but I only really picked up a couple of small things.  Ok, a very affordable antique quilt top also found its way home with me.  Nothing that I couldn't fit into my purse though.  More on the interesting goodies soon.

Meanwhile, sit back, relax, get a cup of coffee (you might need it) and enjoy the vast amount of photos I took for you and posted on flickr.  Note there are a couple of hundred of them so skip around as you see fit.

I photographed the quilt first, then the ribbon and information on the quilt.  I didn't always photograph the information sheet...mostly I did that when there was an award or when I was really enjoying the quilt and wanted to make a note of the story behind it and the quilter.

PIQF 2012:  Slide show and flickr set (490 photos)

I was especially inspired by the work of: 

Cheiko Baba (Traditional Japanese village quilt)
Rita Verroca (Baltimore Album quilt shown above) and
Yoshiko Katagira (featured quilt artist from Japan - insane fish quilt).

And if you just want some beautiful photos to watch while you eat your lunch, you can get a lot of inspiration from the historic photos of this show.  

Below are links to all the photos I shot and posted over the last 7 years. 

If you look at them all, you have either been reading my blog for waaaay too long, or you are my mom, who faithfully looks all my photos every single year.

PIQF 2011

PIQF 2010

PIQF 2009

PIQF 2008

PIQF 2007

PIQF 2006

PIQF 2005

The Teenie Tiny Woman and knitting the Clara Dress

I was playing around with my kids this afternoon, reading through the quite book that my mom made for me when I was little.

In the back sleeve of it, there was a copy of The Teenie Tiny Woman illustrated by Margot Zemach.  

I can remember being scared out of my wits as a kid reading this book.  The sound of the ghost asking for his bone back....my mom whispering it at first...then louder...

My kids were glued to the book as I read it, so they must have been spooked too.  It's such an awesome and kind of hilarious book at the end.  If you grew up in the 70's you might even remember your mom reading this to you....."TAKE THE BONE!".  Nuf said.

Speaking of teenie tiny people -

My sister's little girl is already a year old, but still quite teenie herself.  This fact leads to my uncontrollable urge to knit for her.

Tiny people of course make it MUCH easier to create something for them to wear.  I can actually probably knit this little girl an entire dress in the time it would take for me to knit one sock for my husband. 

My only goal is to make this little object before she grows out of it.  The down side of working with children is that they are always on the move, and just because you didn't finish their garment, doesn't mean they aren't growing like weeds all the while.

I cast on the Clara Dress, so we're off to the races.  It's me vs. the sprouting princess.  Game on.

A version of it knit by Posie Gets Cozy is here.  Not sure if mine will be this pretty, but I hope so.

Becoming a Soccer Mom

I never thought I would become a 'soccer mom' but it's starting to feel like I am one.  Ok, I am one.  The above photo is from our 7 yr old's recent practice.  If you squint, you can see a tiny team of avid soccer players running across the field in the distance.

Although soccer is a huge passion for our son, signing up for a team has meant less family time, more running around town, and some adjustments.

Pressing on, and enjoying the kids play their hearts out.  Do folks out there quilt during soccer practice?  I'm thinking...applique, right?

Quilt wise:

Liberty of London Scrap Challenge: anybody can afford a couple of square inches of Liberty, but hard to decide what to do with those teenie pieces.  Some great ideas here.

PIQF (huge quilt show in San Jose, CA): less than one month away.  Time to charge up your camera battery. To answer you questions - No, I don't have a quilt in the show this year, but thinking next year will be my year.  Yes, I will be taking lots of photos for your viewing pleasure.

Other wise:

Camera tatoos:  Love photography like I do?  Want a tattoo of your fav vintage camera?  Lack the interest to commit to a permanent tattoo?  Photojojo has the coolest temp tattoos I've ever seen.

Artwork of Jes Hunt: out of the UK - I can imagine now cute a collection of her little Hinterfolk would be...


Are any of you fabric genius types out there good at screen printing?  I'm so curious to learn about it.  Thoughts on where to start?
 

The Perfect Gift for a Quilter: Needle Case

My mom created the cutest needle case on earth for me with this Japanese ladybug fabric.

I think it turned out just perfect.  Had to share it.  

Do you ever photograph your needle cases?  I would love to see how you store them.  Email me a photo of something unique you have come up with.

There's a story behind the needles I'm keeping in this case, but that one deserves a post of its own I think.

A little treat for you

I mentioned before that I have modern design on the brain.

After designing all the modern house blocks, I felt there should be something next in a similar style but with a twist.

There are some free applique patterns in the works for you.

Keep an eye out...the first one is coming soon!

The complexity of these blocks is dramatically reduced as compared to the modern house blocks, so that should make for super-fast sewing time.

And in celebration of Mother's Day, I would like to thank my own mom for being so sweet to me and our family.  Having a mom is a huge blessing, I probably don't have to tell you that.  

I started reading through historic blog posts that mention my mom and she is either giving me fabric or other quilting goodies when I talk about her, or helping me finish projects.  Thank you Mom! xo.

I also want to wish the other moms out there a very happy day.  Raising kids is something that most of us really do devote our souls to and is more of an art than a science.  Perhaps Mother's Day is the perfect excuse to get out and have an annual picnic.  Enjoy the day.

Which Came First...and an upcoming quilt show: Voices in Cloth

I know, I know, we'll never know which came first.  Firstly though, I am addicted to these teenie MochiMochi knits.  I will have to be restrained in order to stop making them.  I knit one for my mom as a thank you gift for her every time she visits me.  I would love to figure out how to knit a super tiny R2D2 robot.  She got this little golden chicken in the mail today.  I don't think it actually lays golden eggs, but you probably don't need to feed it either.

Raise your hand if you are heading off to the East Bay Heritage Quilt show called Voices in Cloth this weekend!  

I hope to go and take some photos for you.  There is a special exhibit by the Oakland African American Quilt Guild that I'm excited to check out.

With any luck, my modern quilt block patterns will be for sale there at the Verb for Keeping Warm booth.  They are a little difficult to print and mail out without bending them, so it's a great chance to get them if you're so inclined...

Traveling Gnome

Anybody who has seen the movie Amelie or even just had a neighbor who put out a lawn gnome for too long probably understands the urge to pull the travelling gnome prank.

Although the above gnome hasn't traveled too much in his somewhat short life, if I were a gnome I would have logged at least 6,000 miles since I last had a moment to do a blog post.  Busy busy.  Home now and happy to be back.


I knit this little gnome for my mom to take around on her travels actually (and to possible tempt her to visit me).  It's from the Mochimochi book - very addicting.

I have this very strong urge to go on a basting binge.  Yes, to baste all the quilt tops I have laying around waiting for some hand quilting love.  Once they are basted they seem to quilt themselves and 'poof' finished quilts are flying off my hoop.  For lack of a quilt basting fairy visiting my house, I will have to get off my tuffet and have a basting party.  Wanna join along?

This week I started to run low on these little notebooks I sometimes make for myself and my sister so we can jot things down in them.  I ordered a few more chip board covers so I can make another batch.  I decorate them with calligraphy on the outside to make them a little special.  They cost only around $1 each to make, although they do take me a few minutes to put together.  


On the machine quilting front - have any of you out there got an opinion on Aurifil thread?  I've been hooked on it lately and wondering if I'm the only one in love with their 50wt cotton.  Maybe there are an army of quilters out there that feel the same.  Agree?  Disagree?  Never tried?



I recently got a question about how I made the quilt in my banner.  I'll have to do an upcoming post on that.  Oh and while I'm at it, maybe a little give away too...hm...ok, soon!


Wish me luck on my baste-o-rama.  I'll be reporting back with my amazing progress (ahem, hopefully)!

The F Word

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!).

Finished at last! Table top quilt, hand quilted

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.

Japanese Quilting Blogs - in search of

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.

Old School: Hand Quilting

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.