Spoon : Thread : Scissors (hint - in hand quilting, nobody misses the rock or the paper)

I've been doing a fair bit of hand quilting lately.

Seeing the three layers of the quilt come together and the texture of the stitches turns a plain old quilt top into something quite beautiful.

Not everybody enjoys the basting process, but I use Jeanna Kimball's basting needles (longs in size 4) and an old spoon in order to bounce the basting needle back through to the top of the quilt.

Basting a quilt is relatively quick and having it all set for the quilting part is when the real excitement begins, so I do strangely enjoy the basting part.

I don't always use a blue temporary marker to mark the quilting lines, but sometimes it's useful depending on how dark your fabrics are.  One key is to keep heat (read: your iron!) away from the quilt top after you have marked it to avoid creating permanent marks that won't come out.

YLI's hand quilting thread is probably some of the easiest to use.  I find that it doesn't get knots in it easily and it threads up through a small needle eye without much of a fight.

This hand quilting thread comes in 1000 yd spools, 100% cotton, lots of different colors available too.  You can see it in the photo above in the brown color.

I prefer a raised edge thimble for extra leverage.  

Wide Bow scissors by Merchant and Mills are quickly becoming my go-to scissors.  That's quite a compliment, considering the number of pairs I own.

Oh, and a huge thank you to Jan of Be Mused blog (who you already follow, if you are as lovely as I know you are).  The mystery quilter mentioned in my last post is Yoko Sekita. The super traditional Japanese quilts are so amazing.

Patchwork Tsushin #172

I have a subscription to both of the popular Japanese quilting magazines (Quilts Japan and Patchwork Quilt Tsushin).

Some issues inspire me more than others.  When there is a holiday issue, or one that is devoted to a theme that I'm not super into (Patchwork Tsushin #173, ahem...redwork), I can get a little less than excited to thumb through the pages.

When an issue like Patchwork Quilt Tsushin #172 comes along, I know that I will spend some serious cycles soaking up the inspiration.

On page 15 of this issue there is a quilt made out of a matrix of 392 different girls dressed in traditional kimonos.  It's not only just an awesome collection of traditional Japanese fabrics, it's an amazing showcase of some serious needle skills.

On page 12 there is a quilt made up of circular 'ball' motifs from traditional Japanese floral fabrics.  Stunning!  

Page 13 has a bag made up of cherry blossoms on hexagons, again, using the Japanese floral fabrics.

Page 28 has the most adorable bag made with a cross stitch kitty on it and some Japanese Ikat fabric.  

What really killed me though in this issue were the photos on pages 46 through 51.  They are the most detailed scenes of Japanese villages, alley ways, and homes.  Oh how I want to learn to read Japanese so I can just find out who the creates these quilts.  

Have you see this issue yet?  If you know who is making the quilts on pages 46-51, I'll email you a gold star!

When in Austin, Texas...do as the Texans do!

If you have read my blog for a while like a lot of you have, you probably well know that I'm a serious California girl.  I love living in the golden state, and the bay area weather really agrees with my system.

When I do leave home, I end up in Austin, Texas from time to time.  My goodness I get such a kick out of visiting there.

On my last trip, I took the advice of my good quilting friend Carol and had dinner at the Eastside Cafe.  They grow most of their own herbs and a lot of their veggies on the property in a garden right next to the restaurant.  Things are so super fresh.  The servers are warm and kind and the inside has different rooms because it used to be a house.

I was also wandering around South Congress looking for a couple of things in an antique shop called Uncommon Objects.  I found way more than I thought I would, so that was really fun.  The ultimate treasure was a vintage rosary for my son's first communion.  They have a funny movie of some of the interesting things in their shop.

The most fortunate thing that happened to me was walking past a jewelry shop called Limbo.  I love very simple affordable little earrings and necklaces.  I got a pair of earrings and may have to try to order online.  The shop in person is super modern and amazing. 

I did manage to avoid something that Texans call "Fire Ants."
I was like, "Gee, what's a fire ant?"

My friend laughed and said they have been known to kill baby cows.

I'm thinking it's a good thing that I didn't make intimate acquaintance with any of them.

I guess I've finally learned to appreciate good old California style ants. 

Reverse Applique: What's Black and White and Red all over?

The conventional answer to that one is The Newspaper, but I'm not sure anybody really reads that anymore these days.  A bit of a shame really, but too easy to get news on your tablet I think.

Although my initial efforts at reverse applique on jersey fabric (ala Alabama Chanin) are far from perfect, they are moving along, and IMHO looking rather cool.

This one is white on top, black as the 2nd layer with some pinkish red paint.

I made a front and a back and hope to turn it into a bag eventually once I get more than 2 seconds to rub together.

To those of you who have been hanging out recently at Quilt Market, it all sounds very exciting this year.  I'm looking forward to seeing all the season's new fabrics for us quilters to play with.

Little Oak Cardigan: Road Test & Preschooler Extortion Practices

Towards the end of the school year our local public elementary school hosts an amazing art show.

It is combined with an open house event where you can enter your child's classroom and visit with the teacher.

This year the event did not disappoint. 

The children sometimes adopt the theme of a famous artist's work for their own original painting.

This year was not only a feast for the eyes, but included a small dosage of preschooler extortion as well.

I finished knitting the Little Oak sweater, and of course my 4 yr old still refuses to willingly put it on. 

He is very interested in increasing has saving account though, so for 2 dimes and 1 nickel, the sweater was donned and some photos were finally taken.  

Giving in to your pre-schooler's extortion tactics: questionable parenting technique
Getting photos of him wearing your knitwear:  priceless

Reverse Applique: Alabama Chanin Project

I have been working on a mini-table runner using reverse applique and methods invented by Natalie Chanin.

The project itself has been a joy to create and it is a secret (perhaps not so secret now) gift for a friend who hand carried home some serious goodies for me from a recent trip to Japan.

She may at times read my blog, but truth be told, I cannot contain myself from sharing this little photo of the project, and hopefully my friend will love it.  I think it is turning out quite pretty.

It's not quite done yet, but it isn't that far off either.

In other news, I am still working hard on a super top secret quilt project that is just perfect if I may say so myself.



And finally finished is the sweater for my 4 yr old.  I need to put buttons on it still, but it is adorable and he is willing to try it on for $.25 per session.

He even modeled it for my friend the other day and ended up with $.50 total.  Smart kid.

Are you ready for Mother's Day?  Maybe you are wondering where the perfect place is to take your special mother.  How about packing a picnic and heading towards a Peony Garden.  That sounds like a good idea to me!

Playball!

I'm probably not the only person on planet Earth that loves Baseball season.

In past years I have cheered for my old home town team.  I will admit that I still love them, although I also cheer for the new home town team these days.

If you're into baseball, you may wonder if it's possible for one person to like these two teams.  I'm might be the only example of this sort of a sports fan.

Major league sports aside, this year is a very special season.  Our son has decided to play ball this year, and is having a great time at it.  He even received the 'Game Ball,' last weekend, a great honor going to the player of the game.

I have been knitting a little sweater called the Little Oak Cardigan by Alana Dakos during the games.  It's sized for our 4 yr old who's opinion on the matter is:

"Mommy, I don't really want a sweater."

Sigh.  I will finish it anyhow, and at least make him model it for a photo.  It may then be shipped off to a niece so that it will be actually worn.  

How I managed to produce a kid who doesn't like hand knit sweaters...I will never know.  Good thing he's so cute.

Meeting Natalie Chanin at A Verb For Keeping Warm and...brain teaser answer!

The brain teaser post was so long ago that I'm sure you all know you got the right answer.  It was of course the ark from the Raiders of the Lost Ark movie.  The Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana, California had an exhibit of items that were brought in not only from the movie itself, but that were also real 'found' objects from actual real live archaeological digs.  

It was really cool.  We had watched the movie before going to the exhibit so the kids were excited to see all the stuff from the movie in person.  I'm not sure if kids or parents enjoyed it more. 

I recently had the amazing pleasure of visiting A Verb for Keeping Warm's stitch-in session with author Natalie Chanin.

My friend and I headed up from San Jose to Oakland in rush hour traffic, but it was after all very worth it.

Natalie spoke of her current endeavors as well as thoughts for the future of her company.  I didn't get the feeling that she is super keen to write another book, but I did beg her to anyhow since the first three books are so amazing. 

She gave us choices of all the colors of organic cotton jersey that her company uses for their clothes so we could combine them in different ways and have a small fat project to experiment with color.  

The clothes that some of of the students were wearing were made from some of the books.  They were just spectacular. 

Natalie is super down to earth and just about the nicest person I think I've ever met.  She was so sweet to spend time with us and to teach us a bit about her hand stitching processes.  I am off to try and make a garment now.  Not sure if I'll start with a tank top or a skirt, but either way the wheels in my head are turning.  

A little photo of me and Natalie.  I'm on the left, she's on the right.

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Brain Teaser

Just a quick brain teaser for you to wrap up your weekend.  Excuse the fact that it isn't exactly related to quilting.

Anybody out there recognize this object?  

Clue: I ran into it recently in Southern California.

If you live there, you can visit it too but only through April 21st.  My boys (even the adult one) got a huge kick out of this exhibit.

Alabama Chanin - some serious fun

When I originally broke out the airbrush and painted some fabric for an Alabama Chanin style test project, I also created a darker color piece.

I'm not sure that I love the dark red paint on white fabric that I used previously, and question my wisdom in using light silver paint on dark gray fabric.  When I look at the work that Alabama Chanin does that appeals to me most, it is actually the lower contrast look that I gravitate towards.

Next time I'm going to try the silver paint on white fabric, and some black paint on the dark grey fabric to try and achieve that elegant low contrast look.  Her long bloomer skirt is an example of this style.  Anna's Garden Swing Skirt is another beautiful example.

For now, it's all just learning and refining the basic skills of using the template and an airbrush, which is new to me.

It isn't that hard to pick up, but like everything...it will get better with some practice.

I'll be putting some black fabric under this gray that you see above and starting in on the reverse applique next.  

It's all quite addictive really.  The reverse applique is super portable and a perfect project for baseball season!

Playing with Twined Knitting and Secret Ops Quilting

At Stitches West this year I took a class on Twined Knitting from author Laura Farson.

It was very different than the usual knitting method, but pretty cool, and very Scandinavian.

Maybe the brim of a hat or the cuff of a glove will have something like this going on in the future.

There is an interesting Ravelry group on twined knitting where you can learn more, if you're interested. 

I really like this hat pattern called Undergrowth.
 
Are you planning for Mother's Day yet?  If your mom knits, maybe a wood DPN holder by  Knitzi would put a smile on her face.  Wow, there is even a carved version in walnut.

Spare time is at a premium for me these days, but what little of it I do have is devoted to a new top secret quilting project. 

It's a surprise for the person to receive it, so I'll leave it at that for now to be on the safe side.

Spring Fever

Am I the only one with Spring Fever?

Ok so it doesn't snow here, but still.  We could use some warmth!

I 'borrowed' these flowering twigs.  

Really.

They were on my side of the fence.

What was I supposed to do?!  

The vase made me do it.

Liberty Love

It's been a very 'Liberty of London' sewing day for me.

I decided since I have recently discovered how much fun it is to work with cotton jersey fabric that I would make some napkins out of Liberty fabric, and put a jersey binding around the edge.

Wow, what a horrible idea!

The Liberty fabric is so delicate and thin.  The jersey is so fat and stretchy.  I ended up with a very 'interesting' little creation, and promptly returned to my previous method of just rolling the edges in.  That seems to make some pretty cute little napkins.  

Save yourself!  Do Not combine Liberty and jersey.  What (!!!) was I thinking.  My love affair with jersey has gone too far.

Ok, that said, I recently got a copy of Alexia Marcelle Abegg's book called Liberty Love: 25 projects to Quilt & Sew Featuring Liberty of London Fabrics.

Most of the quilt projects in there are not as complicated as I usually go for.  I do like them, but I'm not sure I'll make them all.  The bags were really cute and there is a little girl dress pattern that I really liked.

There is a sweet little log cabin pin cushion as well.

All in all, an interesting book, although a bit on the simple side for my personal quilting taste.  But you know, my taste is really a bit freaky.

Little Oak Cardigan by Alana Dakos

Alana Dakos is a talented knitting designer that I have met at Stitches West a couple of times.

This year I got her Little Oak pattern in an effort to teach myself to knit a real cardigan.

Not much risk, given the version I am making is for a 4 year old person.  

Even if he never wears it, I'm looking forward to learning a lot and getting ready to maybe make a cardi in an adult size.  That would be a lot of yarn!

Alana has an incredible knitting podcast called Never Not Knitting.  The theme song itself will hook you.  Click here for the song.

Making Natalie Chanin Turn Her Head

Natalie Chanin runs an awesome clothing company Alabama Chanin.

Her clothes and household goods include a lot of hand applique.

I decided to try my luck with a project in her style so I broke out the air brush and my DH got me some protective masks for lungs, eyes, etc.

My first attempt was a bit wild, but I think will get better at it with practice.  I may try to to something fun with this.  Not sure if it will be a t-shirt, or what, but maybe just a practice swatch or a place-mat or something. 

I can say that doing this sort of painting would be more fun with less wind.

That said, I will need some more practice.  Stay tuned!

Oh, and she has new jersey available that has been dyed using natural plant-based dyes.  If that isn't the coolest ever, I don't know what is. 

From the Chanin site I watched a video on the photography of Leslie Williamson.  She wrote a book called Handcrafted Modern which looks quite amazing.

Every Flavor Socks

Similar to the famous Harry Potter "Every Flavor Bean" where you're not sure if you will get honey or toe nail flavor, I am still knitting what I call the 'Every Flavor Socks."

Have I gone too far?  Of course you may not want to wear these into the board room, but if you're a 4 year old boy, you might be able to pull it off.

How much color is 'too much' anyhow?  

There is much debate on this topic.  It really depends on what school of thought you are from.  The Kaffe Fassett school may think that even these socks are quite tame!

Yarn by British dyer Trailing Clouds in colorway Mind the Gap.  

The best part about knitting for feet this small is that it takes hardly any cycles to whip up a teenie pair of socks.

Of course you have probably seen this viral knitting hip hop video already, but it you haven't, it's pretty silly/cute.

Log Cabin: it's not just for quilts anymore

A little quilting humor here - introducing the "log cabin" PBJ ("peanut butter and jelly). 

In truth, it's a Sunbutter and Jelly, but close enough.

I'm not sure why the kids liked this more than the usual version, but it was sort of a hit.  I cut one in half square triangles too, but my DH had to eat it.  Kids wanted the tall version.  

Good clean fun.

I'm not the only one cutting these in funky shapes.

Mochimochi Land: Knitting a Piano

For a while I was wondering if I would ever actually finish making this knit toy.  

With a smile on my face, and a couple octaves of piano keys smiling as well, the piano is finally done.  

My 7 yr old loves it and was even willing to help me stuff it.  

Now the 4 yr old wants me to knit him a drum set.  Um...well...not sure Anna of Mochimochi Land has a pattern for that one yet.  

Perhaps that's good.

Oh, and my friend was kind enough to knit the keys for me.  I may have never finished it otherwise.  Thanks So Sue!

It Itches!

I finally finished the first of the Every Flavor Socks for my 4 yr old.

When he tried it on he immediately said, "It ITCHES!"

Sigh.

Do I make the next one just so he'll pose for a photo?  Or wash it and hope it gets softer maybe?

Oh dear.  The calamity.

Maybe I should restrict my knitting 'gifts' to the feet of my DH instead!  Not sure he could get away with these colors however...hm.

Or perhaps just time to get a copy of Franklin Habit's book for story book time.

Quilting with Sue Nickels: CreativeBug

CreativeBug is an online class service where you can subscribe or pay by the class, but it is a pretty awesome way to learn in your PJ's.

I recently watched all the classes they have with Sue Nickles and really enjoyed them.  They are well done and really informative.

In the corner of my eye, I spied some incredible wood pin cushions she was using.  After a brief email exchange and a very affordable purchase, Sue had a couple of these handmade creations on the way to me in the mail.

When I got them I was over the moon.  I do love a good pin cushion, but one with a cute little cover?  How awesomely portable!  Perfect for quilters on the run.  Super slick looking. 

Sue Nickels is perfectionist and the kind of quilter who knows how to get the blue ribbon.  I highly recommend her classes.