Happy Halloween: Crochet Pumpkin

Our Halloween was really fun.

Kids enjoyed it even though I was too busy putting finishing touches on a baby quilt to even think about making costume this year.

My friend Dorothee was generous enough to teach me how to crochet a little pumpkin decoration so I made one and had a great time using some of my recently made handspun yarn.

The fiber was from my favorite Berkeley shop, A Verb for Keeping Warm, and was dyed by Pigeonroof Studios in colorway "Experimental Views". Who knew it would make such a cute pumpkin.

I threw on a fake green wig and ran around in a batman shirt. Did you get out and dress up this year?

Purl Soho in Orange County, and finally meeting MariRob

So much to catch up on!

When I was in Orange County several weeks ago, I stopped in at the Purl Soho warehouse since I was lucky enough to be there on a week day. (M-F only! Bummer.)

There were lots of friendly folks there to help you with fabric and yarn (danger, this place is so much fun!) but I didn't realize I would meet a fellow blogger.

It turned out that working there on that day was Mari of Marirob blog. Her blog is just beautiful - stunning photos, awesome crafts, and she's a guest blogger for Purl Soho's blog The Purl Bee from time to time as well.

She has the most beautiful baby girl that I think I've ever seen. This baby immediately captured my heart. I had a hard time tearing myself away from looking at how adorable she is in order to buy some fabric, but with Liberty of London fabrics at 40% off...I eventually got down to the business of shopping.

If you are ever in Orange County, California on a week day this place is a must stop. My favorite store in So. Cal.

Pacific International Quilt Festival 2010

Yesterday I did a fly-by of the amazing quilt show that happens every year, very close to where I live. I am so lucky to not have to travel to see it.

It's an international show with quilts from all over the globe, and booths of goodies from every corner of the USA.

I'll have much more to say when I have some spare time, but for now I am itching to share photos of the quilts that I love with you.

There were plenty more beautiful quilts that I didn't photograph just due to lack of time. This is really an amazing show though. Check it out in person if you ever have the time.

Pacific International Quilt Festival 2010: Slide show Flickr Set from Quilt Otaku

Enjoy and consider yourself warned, there are almost 300 photos.

The Happiest Place on Earth

Our school district was out of school this week, so we took a road trip down to Southern California.

It was awesome.

We visited Legoland (which I HIGHLY recommend if you have kids under 10 yrs old). The above photo was taken there in the model version of Las Vegas, made totally out of Legos. Rides were really nice for little kids and lines were very very short, so good for those with short attention spans.

Our sons went to Disneyland, and I got away for the evening with my sweet husband.

Disneyland is usually known as the happiest place on Earth, but for me...the happiest place on Earth is actually the Purl Soho warehouse located in Tustin.

More on my visit there later, as I got some amazing new fabric and met (in person!) a pretty incredible blogger.

For now, time to rest a bit.

p.s. Anybody out there going to Pacific International Quilt Festival this weekend?

7 Years and Not a Single Itch

They say that after 7 years in a relationship, you start to get that '7 year itch' to do something else, see a new person, or even in some cases people end their marriage.

For us, it has now been 7 years, and there have been no itches or even thought of an itch.

It hardly seems like it has been that long, and if I live to be married to my husband for another 50 years it still won't be long enough for my taste.

He already has everything that he could possible need, so this year I decided to make him a little relaxation pillow out of wool.

Wool is the traditional gift for the 7th wedding anniversary, so I thought it was quite fitting.

Our 5 yr old helped me stuff it with cotton and I put some lime essential oil on there to refresh him when he smells it.

It looks very 'home made' but he loves it (and me) anyhow.

We had the extreme pleasure of having dinner w/ our boys and one of the girls who was a bridesmaid in the wedding. I wish that all of them were close enough to have dinner with us.

Thanks to my husband for not only taking such good care of me but for proof reading basically each and every of my blog posts (what a trooper!!!). xoxo

Quilt Hoop - which one is best?

We still have hot weather here, so strawberry picking is a worthwhile activity. We plucked a couple buckets of them after the apple picking was done last weekend.

When it comes to hand quilting, I've found that size really does matter.

I have an embarrassing number of quilt hoops but for the most part I use my 18" floor hoop that I got from Hinterberg on a usual basis.

I also have their 22" hoop, but I find that it is a bit on the big side for me and I have trouble reaching the other side.

How big's your quilt hoop? Got a favorite one? Maybe I need just one more?

Day Trips

Last weekend was packed with multiple day trips all in only 2 days.

We visited Berkeley to pick up my new matchless spinning wheel at A Verb for Keeping Warm. Kristine, the shop owner, was so lovely to go over all the bells and whistles on the wheel. I'm already spinning up a storm.

As much as going to 'quilt stores' (my sons call all stores that only I want to visit 'quilt stores') we needed a boy-friendly adventure too. That came in the form of a visit to the USS Pampanito.

This is a real military submarine that you can tour, walk through, and imagine that you got to sail on. It was pretty neat. I found out that if you're a 5 yr old boy or a 36 yr old man...the same 'cool' appeal applies.

We also visited the Heath store in the San Francisco Ferry Building. They have very minimalistic plates and other ceramics for the kitchen. Very nice stuff...their shop in the Ferry Building was a little small and I found myself slightly sorry that I didn't go to their factory in Sausalito. Next time.

Oh yeah, and we went apple and strawberry picking in Watsonville. It was so hot! We did grab some fruit and run though. Can you say strawberry applesauce?

One more link - check out my sister's baby's 2 yr old signature quilt block . It's really cute to see all the signatures on it. Her calligraphy is beautiful.

Spindle love

Just a quick post tonight, it's already getting late.

I finally went to Yarn Dogs yarn/fiber shop in Los Gatos, California last weekend. I picked up some fiber that is superfine merino (maybe 150's merino?) that was hand dyed by Carin Engen of thetinthimble.com.

So pretty. This colorway is called Stone. I am not sure what to do with only 2 oz of it, but maybe I'll make a nose cozy.

Could this be the swan song for my little spindle? I will always love it...but I will also confess that I'm soon to get a new plaything for spinning.

Places to go

I started reading Pride and Prejudice since I love Jane Austen and wanted something to relax a bit.

We aren't traveling much lately because we have all been sick on and off, so staying close to home and reading is our fun for now.

My older boy made a list of places he wants to visit. He made it just before his 5th birthday. I thought it was a cute list, so I'll share it here with you:

- China
- England
- Germany
- Oakland Zoo
- Canada
- Asia
- Camping in Big Sur, California
- To the circus
- Gilroy Gardens amusement park
- Disneyland
- Andy Z concert
- Alaska
- Wisconsin
- Orange County
- County Fair
- Aircraft Show
- Ireland
- Midway Aircraft Carrier in San Diego, CA
- Antarctica

I used to have a similar list on the back of my door that I would check off now and then. Those days are long gone for me, but it's an impressive list my son has here. I hope he checks them all off eventually.

Daiwabo Fabrics

Here is the '2' birthday block. I'm using Daiwabo yarn woven fabrics for these blocks. Check out the 1 yr old version here.

The older boy's blocks have hand dye fabrics by Primrose Gradations, a company that no longer shows up at quilt shows I go to but looks like I can still get fabrics online.

The older versions of the previous year's blocks for 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 are of course in the collection waiting for assembly.

My son's favorite color is pink right now, at 5 years old, which is why I made his block with pinkish fabric (photo in my last post). I love that he doesn't realize that is typically a 'girl color' (why is that anyhow??) and he just digs it for the cool color it is.

Someday in the not so distant future, his friends may convince him that pink is not a 'manly' color. Until then, I love his innocence and his passion about opinions that he has uniquely formulated all by himself.

Turning 2. Turning 5. Turning 500.

This weekend my sons had their 1 day apart birthdays and it was a lot of fun. The little one turned 2 and the older one turned 5.

Grandparents visited and it was overall pretty relaxed as we already had the kid bounce house party a couple of weeks ago.

I made a cake for each of them (yes, that's 2 cakes people!). If you want to try a left-over slice, just say the word.

More toys than I can even say grace the floor of our living room. I am living in fear of The Great Clean Up event coming later tonight.

As my boys are growing up too quickly for my taste, this blog is getting older too.

This is my 500th post and my blog is 3.75 years old or so. Who knew I would have this much fun sharing my creative endeavors and life in general with you.

My warmest and sincerest THANK YOU to you for reading, for commenting, for stopping by, and for also sharing your creative inspiration with me.

Someday soon I'll have to make a belated 500th post party gift to give away, but I will confess I have too much on my plate a this very instant.

Here's to the next 500. Cheers!

-Marisa

Riding herd

I've been riding herd on the upcoming birthday planning.

Our son's 1-day-apart birthdays are almost in hand, so preparations are well underway.

Presents have been mail ordered (no time for the mall!) and I even made a little video invite for the grandparents since they are flying in. We sorta already had their 'kid friend' party, so the real 'day of' is very relaxed this year.

Above is a photo of my very own birthday crown hat that I made based on the Creative Family book by Amanda Soule. They are fun to make and the family finally shamed me into making one for myself.

So much more going on...a new knitting book arrived in my hot little hands, an online shopping spree was had for Japanese Fabric at SuperBuzzy, and my crochet scarf was finally finished.

More on all of that soon, I promise.

Unwanted Guests: Buh-Bye

The last week has been just crazy for us.

We had our house fumigated so we ended up moving out for a while and taking a fair amount of our belongings with us.

I still have yet to unpack my suite case but at least we are not in a hotel anymore.

As an attempt to relax, I pulled out a really old project this week. It's a giant 1890's era nine patch quilt that I bought as a quilt top and basted together so I could quilt it by hand.

It's been a while since I have quilted through all 3 layers with my little thimble, and it reminded me that I do love doing it.

Hope your week is off to a better start. I was just happy when we located the coffee filters. More when the dust clears.

Finding the time

When you love to quilt, or knit, or spin, or bake...or whatever it is you do, there is always a way to find the time to do it.

Lately, I've been finding the time here and there, but not as much as I'd like to. I take a portable project in the car and work on it for maybe 15 min/day. Doesn't sound like much, but it keeps me feeling like I did something that I love that day.

I'm not getting any younger this week. In fact, quite the opposite. But as they say, it's better than the alternative.

Being able to claim I'm '30-something' won't last forever so for now I'm enjoying it.

Here's to the start of a new year for me. I'm hoping it's better than last year. If I could have just one wish for this next year it would be for the health and safety of my friends and family.

(insert blowing out of birthday candle sound here) FFFffffff!

Kindergarten: one giant step for parent-kind

There are days in your life that certainly qualify as major milestones. Your wedding day, when you first get your drivers license, the day you give birth.

For me, today is one of those days: The first day of Kindergarten.

As we walked up to the brand new school with brand new teacher and brand new kids, my son held my hand and said, "I'm shy, Mommy".

We got to the door of his classroom together (still holding hands) and as soon as we got very close, he just ran right in and never looked back.

He's just that kind of kid, a real go-getter and a lover of life and new experiences. I have almost cried several times when talking to friends about our first baby going off to 'big kid' school. I am so proud, I just cannot say.

Above is a photo of the vintage Fisher Price toy that I got for his 5th birthday which is coming up soon. I had the same one when I was a kid. I hope he likes it.

Quilt Blogs with Beautiful Photos

Busy week for us, but the highlight so far was having my knitting group over to catch up and visit.

Some people look forward to their weekend time, but I look forward to 'knit nite; or quilting night as the case may be.

I worked a little bit on this scarf I have due to a general lack of energy to pull out the sewing machine. I'll get back to that soon.

Meanwhile, I ran around the house taking photos for you with my lensbaby on the camera. It's like a lens and a slinky at the same time, really fun to play.

You know I love to take photos, and maybe some of you remember the photo tutorial I wrote some time ago about how to take better blog pictures of your projects.

What are your favorite blogs with beautiful photos of either quilts or knitting? I'm looking for fresh new inspiration. Maybe you have some ideas for me.

Lately I've been lurking around on:

Brooklyn Tweed

Minick and Simpson

Knitspot

Handmade by Alissa

Red Pepper Quilts

Famille Summerbelle

Quiltsalott

There are millions out there, but I'm over the moon when I find a blog that not only has beautiful projects, but beautiful light as well.

Batter Up: Baseball field birthday cake

Just a quick post since it's late.

I wanted you to know that with a lot of good ideas from my mom and sister, and some help from my husband in moving around giant sheet cakes, the 5th birthday party was really fun and our son loved his cake.

My sister told me to smash up some cookies for the 'dirt' of the infield, so I did that and it turned out looking really nice.

The kids that attended the party signed his birthday quilt block too. More about that next time.

I Heart Linen: Pincushion

Here's a quick photo for you of the pincushion I made from Rashida's book I Heart Patchwork. A really cute little book. Her version of the same thing is posted on flickr here. (Thanks sister for passing this link along!xo)

Working with linen is such a challenge for me, coming from only quilting with 100% cotton fabrics. Is there some trick to it that I'm missing? Whenever I use it, I feel like I'm working with jello. (click here to see my fav clip about jello, warning - there is sound)

We will be having an early 5 yr old birthday party this weekend and I'll be decorating a cake to look like a baseball diamond. This will be a great creative stretch goal for me to actually make it look like a real ball field. I wish that my sister or my friend Jennifer lived closer. I'm sure they would just do it for me.

Anyhow, here goes....wish me luck.

Favorite Kid's books...ideas anyone?

I finally made something from the I Heart Patchwork book, but I need to photograph it in good light for you. It's the little flower pin cushion.

I'm preparing for the boys birthday parties, so looking around on Amazon. Think that perhaps I'll get a couple more Rubbabu ball toys for them. These things are simply awesome.

Also looking at some Caledecott winners. Picking just a couple of books is hard because they are all so beautiful. Do you have any favorites? It's hard to find something better than Flotsam.

The above is some Joyland Melody Superwash yarn I'm using on the Catherine Wheel scarf that is currently my portable project of choice. Mostly due to my fear of having my beloved quilting scissors taken away during air travel. Home sweet home, glad to be back!

My Tanktop = His Super-Cape

It turns out that if you are an almost 5 yr old boy, and take your mommy's favorite tanktop, and slip your arms through the arm holes such that the rest of it drapes off of your back, it acts just like a super hero cape.

If you run around the house like this yelling "I'm Batman!" for a while, during which time she is busy doing laundry, you will probably not even be caught for a good amount of time.

During that time, you might even create a bond with your mommy's favorite tanktop such that you develop a new sense of entitlement to said tanktop.

For now, I suppose it has a higher calling.

In spare moments I have been working on another Catherine Wheel scarf, and not doing a whole lot else. Although I am reading lots of quilt books and documenting some ideas for projects in my project journal.

Oh and every night I'm reading a book called "How I Became A Pirate" so I'm getting good at speaking 'pirate' too. Shiver me timbers!