Hand Quilting and Steel String Guitar Practice

After hand quilting way more than my usual amount, and having not developed calluses yet, my son asked me to play a little guitar for him.

Ouch!! Sheesh, boo boo fingers did not like those steel strings.

The wall hanging quilting is finally done and I have an awesome binding picked out. Now to have some time to just put it on there.

We had a nice weekend here. All healthy for once, that's a new one around here. Maybe the dry weather is doing us some good.

Meanwhile, I'm loving:

the fashion of Rick Owens, such cool designs....
these roses photographed by Quaint Handmade...
this kitchen (beautiful) as photographed by Lara Cameron of Kirin Notebook

Keeping Calm

The Keep Calm and Carry On quilt top is done, and I'm in process of quilting it.

I decided to use black thread to quilt it, which is a little funky, but after all it's an odd little project.

In a desperate effort to polish off the veggies that we get from our CSA, a place called Two Small Farms, my husband discovered this cool site called RecipePuppy.

Enter items in your frig, and the puppy comes up with recipes for you.

I tried snails and chocolate just to test its limits, and it didn't find anything. But, what it found for coffee and chocolate was definitely worth some thought.

And what is with this knitting site called KnittingHelp.com? Why are knitters so very cool? Where is the quilting equivalent of this site?

Continental Knitting blows my mind. I might have to invent "Continental Quilting".

Continental Quilting: Twice as fast as regular quilting with less movement of your fingers! Now...how to implement that...hmmm...

Mother's Day project: Silhouette Necklaces

Yesterday my friend Sharon, of Knits are for Kids blog, and I worked on our Mother's Day silhouette necklace project.

She turned me on to a cool web site: http://www.photojewelrymaking.com/ where we got a lot of our supplies.

Overall, the final results are ok. I would NOT recommend doing this project on a hot day, and I would also recommend that you use some kind of sealer like modge podge perhaps, on your photos. We didn't do that and some of the papers took in resin.

Anyhow, think moms and grandmothers will not notice small imperfections, they will probably just love the fact that we made them something personal.

Fabric from Singapore

In my post office box I got the most lovely package.

Mona, from Singapore, sent me the most amazing Victorian inspired fabric complete with silhouettes as part of the print!

It was such a sweet gesture and it really warmed my heart so very much.

Thanks a million Mona.

The fabric is designed by Micci for Yuwa fabric company. I am not too familiar w/ this designer, but I am off to read more about it.

I'll be working more on the silhouette project tomorrow so stay tuned for updates! My first adventure with resin.

Happy Easter!

Hope that this Easter finds your family together, happy, healthy and relaxed.

I made this bunny ages ago from Hilary's pattern, found on the beautiful and famous Wee Wonderfuls blog. Her patterns are adorable and very easy to follow.

If you don't have a copy of this bunny pattern yet, you might want to pick one up. I loved making it and I'm usually not a huge fan of stuffed dolls.

We will be hunting eggs and eating our usual Easter breakfast treat. Best wishes to you.

Inspiration

This is one of those weeks where I could just use a little inspiration.

The "Z" key broke of my beloved work laptop (from signing my initials too often at the end of my emails most likely), the baby has picked up a tummy virus, and my sweet mom left us to go back home (we tried to keep her, it didn't work!).

While my mom was here I did get some late night work done on the Keep Calm wall hanging, so should have that done quite soon.

Where are you getting your bloggy inspiration this week? Got some tips for your fav new blogs? I'm always looking to learn about more. Meanwhile, I'm clinging to:

Decaf, please

Home Spun Living

Quilt It

Quilting with the Past

Visit From Gramma

How nice is it to have my mom visiting for along weekend?

Um...how handy do you think it is to have an extra pair of hands to juggle the 3 yr old, 6 month old, and entourage of plumbers traipsing through here giving us quote on our currently leaking kitchen sink.

Talk about pulling fat out of fire...perfect timing, Mom!

As if her hands are busy enough bouncing babies and making tents w/ 3 yr olds...she is working on the above cathedral windows quilt in her spare moments. I love the indigo fabrics she's using.

In other news, "Goodness", a Japan-based online fabric shop, is closing their doors and leaving Japan. I say "Badness" to that, since it's one less beautiful source of fabric for us....(boo hoo), but "Awesomeness" to the fact they are currently hosting a liquidation sale of 40% off everything.

Quilted Undergarments

This is a photo of a quilted pantie that I designed and made.

Little did I know that I would eventually get a contract from Nordstrom to mass produce them.

They loved them so much that I've been offered a part time position on their board of fashion directors as a quilted undergarment designer.

Good thing I'm not the only one designing quilted undergarments for people who love to do quilting.

Today I also heard back on my application to be a Project Runway contestant next season, and they accepted me! I've always wanted to be on that TV show.

And for those of you still using those pesky old needles and threads to hand applique, please check out Quilt Flap's new method of using glue instead. What an excellent idea and time saving measure.

Anyhow, today's April Fool's day, and of course NONE OF THE ABOVE IS TRUE, but isn't it good craic to have some fun once in a while.

Victorian Silhouettes

I love the Victorian era, and the album quilts that came from it. You remember my old Baltimore Album...the eternal 'in progress' quilt.

In honor of that, I was thinking that adding some silhouettes of the babies to the recent baby quilts that I made as part of the label. Does that sound like a cool idea? I'll need to get a photo of my sister's baby from her, but I think it would be kinda cool.

I was also thinking of making a collection of my husband, me, and the boys to put up on the wall. Wondering if we should do them with (see above) or without the tongues sticking out...

A cool post I found on making paper version here.

Keep Calm and Carry On

Have you heard about this poster that says "Keep Calm and Carry On" and all the popularity it is achieving in this recent downturn?

I think the story is too funny, so I'm making my own version in applique for my doll quilt wall. Using the freezer paper on top method.

My friend Sharon just started a blog about knitting and has asked a very good question about why when you slip a stitch do you have to do it purl-wise, or knit-wise, and really...who cares which way? Since I'm not much of a knitter I certainly cannot help. Let her know if you have the answer over at Knits are for Kids.

I also ran into the cutest ever Etsy shop by LuckyMeBeads that sells custom made silhouette pendants. Are they not the most beautiful things you've ever seen?

Do any of you smartie pants know a good method of making photo or silhouette necklaces using resin? Oh....how I would love to try this. I'm going to start by making a silhouette of my darling husband.

And the winner is....

Hats off to all you rockin' photographers out there. Thanks for playing along and taking your before and after pictures for the photo contest!

Check out what Katie did for her before and after photos. Nice work here!

Sew Sally not only posted some very nice photos, but has an awesome pair of blue socks in progress.

Rupert Girl posted some adorable photos of her grandmother's flower garden blocks both before and after.

Patch Which posted her before pix of the cutest little camera bag ever.

Be in Red posted a before photo only so far...but her project is so pretty, go check out her blog.

Sue of Country Creatures also decided to play along with us and posted both before and after.

Diana of Dented Thimble Quilting used a beautiful blue quilt in her before and after photos.

Mari Quilts has posted before and after of her sock - so pretty! I seriously need to knit the other sock in my pair.

So out of all these awesome folks, I put your names in the hat and who won the fat quarters?

Diana of Dented Thimble and Anna of Rupert Girl!

Ok ladies - email your mailing address to me - quilt(dot)baby at hotmail (dot) com and your fat quarters will be on their way.

Oh and if you're wondering the fabric in the above photo is also designed by me and printed by Spoonflower. I'm in LOVE with Spoonflower!

Before and After photos

Looks like some of you have been busy with your cameras!

Here's my 'after' photo. No flash, no clutter, and with some cute little dishes in the corner of the photo.

The basic idea of the photo project is to get folks thinking about using a bit more natural light on their textile work.

Diana over at Dented Thimble (what a cute name for an adorable blog!) has posted both before and after photos. Go check her quilts too...so very pretty. Thanks for playing along Diana!

Have you been to visit Lucy at Attic24 yet? Her blog photos are very nice and perhaps will give you some inspiration.

I also ran into this adorable little water color artist, Angela Vandenbogaard and her sweet prints for sale on Etsy: jellybeans. I think this idea of using dots to make trees is very cool and would translate well into quilting.

Quilter/Knitter Photo Contest: Let the games begin!

Wow, I'm thrilled that so may of you want to play along with the photo contest! Let's do it!

Above is my 'before' photo (as you may have guessed).

Photo Contest Rules:

1) If you want to participate, leave me a comment.

I'll assume all those that commented on my last post are already participants, but if you haven't commented yet, please do so I can add you to my list.

2) Take a 'before' photo of either a finished project or a project that you are working on now. Your project should be something handmade (ie. quilt block...knitted item...clothing you are making...etc). Post the photo on your blog or flickr. It's the honor system, so try to restrain yourself from reading my rockin' photo guide before you snap the 'before' photo.

3) Read, follow instructions, and gain inspiration from my Blogger's Guide to Photography: your pictures will rock in 10 painless steps.

4) Take an 'after' photo and post it to your blog or flickr. I want us all to have at least a few weekend days to shoot photos, so I'll check back on your progress on Monday night Pacific Time, March 23rd, so finish your photos by then. Leave me another comment when your 'after' is posted so I can check it out!

5) If you play, you'll have a chance to win a fat quarter of the above fabric that is designed by me and produced by Spoonflower. I'll randomly choose the 2 winners out of all those that participate, so good luck!

Photo contest - interested?

I finally wrote the beginnings of the "Quilt Blogger's guide to Photography - your pictures will rock in 10 painless steps".

Before I post it up, I got to thinking that it might be fun to host a little photo contest.

In order to participate, you would take a 'before' photo of a project you're working on before you read the guide, then post the photo to your blog or to flickr.

It wouldn't even need to be of quilt blocks, but it could be of a clothing project, or a knitting project. It could be any hand made project actually.

Then, you'd need to read my 1 page guide to improve your photos, and after reading it take an 'after' photo of the same subject. Then you would need to post your 'after' photo too.

Let me know if it sounds like fun.

Quiltmania Magazine

I suppose I couldn't pull a fast one on you. My last post was of course a picture of binding - and as Amy guessed, it is for my sister's baby quilt. Well done rock stars.

You are well aware that I would not miss a single issue of Quilts Japan or Patchwork Quilt Tsushin.

Since there are only 6 issues a year of each of these, it's easy enough to keep up, and I'm really glad that I don't have to collect any other magazines.

That was until I bumped into Quiltmania.

This magazine is so beautiful. It's discusses all the cool Japanese quilt designers and is in ENGLISH! Yes, sports fan, this is basically a Japanese quilt magazine that can be read by mere mortals like you and me.

Lucy, of Quilting with the Past Blog, is a recent contributor to the magazine. If you haven't had the pleasure of visiting her blog please go see her beautiful quilts.

Thanks for turning me on to the magazine Marianne.

If you want to subscribe, you can call around to your local book store and pick up a copy. Inside the copy you can sign up for $56. I think that's the best deal I've found so far, it looks a lot more expensive to get a subscription from Amazon.

Brain Teaser and zillions of cool links

OK Braniacs: Got an idea of what the above is a photo of?

I'm sure some of you can guess it!

Our little almost 6 month old got his first cold and is really suffering, so think a happy though for his quick recovery...poor little dear.

If you have not seen this video/song by Oren Lavie on you tube, please look at it - you WILL smile. I beg you to view it. Just beautiful.

I cannot resist giving you guys some info that I gathered while at Stitches West. Even though I'm not really a knitter, I learned of some cool shops out there:

Asciano Fiber Art Tools: This booth was scary amazing beautiful tempting. They specialize in hand crafted (read works of art) tools such as knitting needles, crochet hooks, drop spindles. All to DIE for. So, if you need a gift for that knitter/crocheter in your life, or if you're married to Ms. Quilt Otaku and you have no idea what to get her for her next birthday...this shop is a must check out.

Toots Le Blanc & Co.: If Yoko Saito could knit, she would love this shop. All natural colors, muted, taupes, awesome yarns. Really beautiful and classy.

Sheila & Michael Ernst: These guys make BEAUTIFUL glass knitting needles. So artistic that you won't drop any stitches because you'll be busy looking at your needles with admiration.

Carolina Homespun: Not much that the booth didn't have, but I got some adorable little tiny crochet hooks from here - called "Hook/Point 'Wanda' "

Serendipity Spinners: A local spinning guild in San Jose. I have no idea how to spin yarn, but they seemed eager to teach anybody interested to know, and meet on the 3rd Saturday of the month 10am to 4pm in the San Jose History Park, 1650 Senter Rd. under the big oak tree. Sounds like fun.

Stitches West 2009

Stitches West 2009 is a knitting convention that is on this weekend very close to my house in San Jose, California. My buddy Sharon and I will be off to check it out tomorrow morning.

My quilting friend Marianne already went, and said it was super cool. Thanks again for visiting Marianne, and for the sock yarn! Perhaps there are more socks in my future.

I did actually finish the sock (photo above) after taking the sock class at Green Planet Yarn and spending some quality time with a knitting book. I'm still wondering what an SSK is....sigh...I will never be a 'real' knitter.

For all you Dear Jane Quilt addicts, and you know who you are (ahem, Lynn of Craft Sew) - check out Purl's sale on Dear Jane fabric. At 40% off who could resist?

Happy Fat Tuesday!

Today is Fat Tuesday - the day before the start of Lent - a season in which Catholics often give up something ie. coffee, sweets, diet coke...I'll be giving up all of those three. Think I'll make it to Easter without cheating?

Here's another fabric design that I made with my fav new buddies at Spoonflower.

Being able to design your own fabric and have it sent to your door is such an awesome pleasure.

My one concern with their fabric is - will it stand the test of washing and UV and time in general? I suppose the only way to answer that is to make a quilt with it.

Chalk another project onto my to do list.

In case you feel the urge to applique a tulip quilt, please visit Samsy and check out the adorable block that she just made. Love it!!

Hand Dyed Fabrics

The above is a picture of a quilt that was hanging up at PIQF last year, I did not make it, but I drooled over it and photographed it a couple of times. The quilt maker took a class from the owner of Primrose Gradations.

Primrose Gradations used to be my favorite vendor at PIQF. Each year I would visit their booth and scoop up pieces of fabric large and small.

Their colors are awesome, and really were 'my kind' of fabrics.

I made a baby quilt for a friend's baby using exclusively their fabrics.

Until now, I thought that they were out of business, but it looks like you can buy their fabrics online! Yip-eee!!!

I'm dying (har har har) to take a class from them on how to dye fabric. Maybe some time in the future. They don't live all the far from my in-laws.

Christening for our little one

On Saturday, we Christened our baby son. He was an angel and did not even cry a tiny bit when the water was poured over his head.

So many friends and family members were here to celebrate with us, that the weekend was one of the nicest on record.

I managed to do a tiny amount of knitting on my sock, but that was all in terms of creative work for the weekend since lots of other cool things were going on.

I must say that Blogger is making me a bit nuts by not letting me left justify my text. Perhaps a sign that I need to go to bed.

Let me leave you with a link to some beautiful paintings by Duane Keiser. He has a very interesting project to paint 1000 tiny paintings. They are pretty affordable and tiny and adorable. I'm thinking of saving up to get one...in any case, enjoy.

Wouldn't it be fun to make 1000 tiny quilts? I think I'd settle for finishing 100 of them!