A recent post comment from Lynne had me laughing so hard I almost fell off my chair. It's like a letter to the editor that just needs more discussion.
She mentioned that she still loves Japanese Taupe fabrics, but has seen a lot of chatter lately about how quilters are glad that we are moving away from this boring palette.
After some searching around, it is true that there are people out there that are tired of taupes! Seriously! Sick of them, and looking forward to their exit from the quilting scene.
Maybe I'm like one of those old hippies who still likes to wear tie die clothes 30 years after they stopped being popular.
They will have to rip the taupe fabric out of my cold dead hands.
Do you love taupes still? Are you eagerly awaiting their demise?
Leave a comment so I can get a better feel of what the quilting universe has to say on this one.
In other news, I've run into so many cool and interesting goodies lately, I have to share some of them with you here: Enjoy.
Above socks by Zkano: Made in Alabama! Too cool for school. Really comfie too.
Color Block Wallet: Kids love this portable set of 100% beeswax crayons, made in Germany by NonPerishableGoods
Susan Frost Ceramics: beautiful, albeit not easy to order online unfortunately
Modern architecture & cool eats: The Shed in Healdsburg, on my short list of places to visit
Greenware cutting boards: perfect gift for a new home or even just a treat for yourself someday
Poketo: if you like minimalism and clean lines, this is a very cool online shop for adorable goodies including some Japanese pots and pans
Oyo tiny figures: Pablo Sandoval is by far my favorite from the SF Giants - not a Lego 'mini fig' but close and really cute
When I was flipping through the pages of Yoko Saito's Traditional Patchwork Lessons book, I ran into a super traditional flower basket quilt pattern.
This pattern has probably around for more than a hundred years, but when I saw it in the Japanese taupe fabrics I decided to go for it and make a small wall hanging.
I had some pre-cut squares from Pinwheels and put them together into 4 blocks. Two very high contract blocks, one low contrast one, and another with different amounts of contrast but using mostly reds and pinks.
I'm happy with how it turned out and now I need to plan the quilting.
Thoughts and ideas on how to quilt this little wall quilt?
Just a quick view of how I organized the taupe fabrics before making basket blocks out of them.
From left to right:
Lights
Mediums
Darks
Purple/Blue/Green
Red
They looked quite crazy before I sorted them but they look rather neat and tidy now.
I've never made a pair of socks over the course of a weekend before.
I would not have dreamed it possible actually, even for kid sized feet.
Truly, 'kid' sized feet of an almost 8 yr old boy are getting quite close to the size of my own feet. He's a little like a puppy with those huge feet. I often wonder how tall he'll eventually become. Much taller than me, that's for sure.
Instead of using 3 double pointed knitting needles (DPN's) to make these socks, I decided to use a teenie tiny circular by Clover. Size 1, 9" circular to be exact.
Initially it was bothering my hands to use it because the needle itself is so short. I almost gave up on making these with that needle set and cut over to DPN's.
It all seemed to just 'click' at some point, and it was really fast to knit them up. The almost knit themselves really.
If this continues my family may become really REALLY sick of hand knit socks. I take them around with me to swimming lessons, piano practice, soccer...before you know it, a pair or two show up.
Magic!
Yarn by Twisted Limone, one of my favorite shops. Socks hold up VERY well to serious punishment.
Before PIQF rolls around again this fall, I wanted to do something really inspired with the small pre-cut quilt fabric squares from the Pinwheels booth.
Does this give me just cause to buy more in October?
Maybe. Pinwheels is not on the list of vendors yet. Oh dear. I hope they go! I might actually cry if they don't.
Either way, I am in process of whipping up a wall quilt with four basket blocks made out of Japanese Taupe fabrics.
So far, enjoying the process. I was inspired by Yoko Saito's Traditional Patters Lesson book. It's got a lot of the basic quilt blocks you see in antique quilts but all done in in the taupe colors. Very attractive.
It's rare that I attend an event that I am this excited over or this pumped up after.
Now through August 26th A Verb For Keeping Warm in Oakland, CA is hosting a DIY trunk show for Alabama Chanin's DIY clothes collection.
You can try on all the finished garments from the kits that are available on the Alabama Chanin web site, and Verb will order kits for you including 10% off!
I met my friend Marianne there and we had the best time looking at all the details of the garments and trying them on. I was the most fun I've had in a long time.
After we got home, I was so excited to make something that I whipped up a skirt. Yes, an entire skirt in 1 evening. Oh yes, my first skirt that I have ever made. And in case you're wondering....it fits!
More on that later with photos of the event including my beautiful friend, DH who sat there for likely more than an hour while we drooled and kids played with ping pong balls (thank you Verb for having ping pong balls!!!), and some information about how I cheated on my homework when I made the skirt.
So run, don't walk over to Verb, try on some incredible garments, order a kit, and get cracking. The sample fabrics they had there we just stunning and so inspirational.
It's a hand work / applique dream come true.
Summer is almost over and kids are back starting to think about school.
Does that mean that I can make soup?
Recipe for best soup on earth:
1) 1/2 white onion + 2 shallots + 2 cloves garlic +4 carrots (saute)
2) add in 2 peeled Russet potatoes, 1 peeled apple, 1 med peeled yam, small amount of fresh grated ginger, salt, pepper
3) add 1 box chicken broth or less if veg are all covered with liquid (add more later you you want, note you cannot remove any to make it thicker!)
4) simmer on med-low-ish for about 30 min or until things are soft when poking w/ a fork, remove from heat
stick blend it like mad
enjoy it, don't tell anybody else how to make this, demand kisses for it or at least complements about your hair
Let's keep this our little secret, shall we?
I've taken to watching random Creativebug classes at night before bed in order to relax.
I probably should not just watch 'whatever' because it makes me want to collect more tools and get into new things that I don't have time or space for.
The class I just watched on Image Transfers by Courtney Cerruti was super fun and requires little more than a roll of packing tape. She shows you how to use it to make transparent images from your own photos and also from other forms of printed media.
I was having a blast going through my latest Dwell magazine, pulling out pages to do some transfers. Even my DH thought it was pretty cool. In the end you have these awesome stickers that you can use for notebooks or just about anywhere.
I've been putting mine on my quilter's notebooks where I store small fabric scraps and inspirational notes.
When I take my sewing machine out to the dining table my motto is Go Big or Go Home.
The fur starts to fly and the entire table is easily completely covered by my cutting mat, tools, and the machine itself.
Some time back we decided to create an eating area in the kitchen. It was not a huge space, so a round table was a good way to squeeze a lot of people into a little spot.
Have you ever tried to purchase place mats for a circular table?
Well, it's not as easy as it sounds.
After 'enjoying' overlapping rectangle place mats, and having 'fun' with their corners flopping off the edges, I finally decided to create a pattern and some custom place mats.
My first attempt at the pattern was a little small, so I made it taller at the top.
I tested the pattern with our dinner plates before I started to cut into the fabric.
When I was at The Intrepid Thread I found some gray and yellow fabric that worked perfectly with the colors our eating area.
I'm happy with the way they turned out and the family likes them a lot. I'm thinking of making a second set of them.
I wonder if anybody would like the pattern I created? I could turn it into a .PDF I think if there is any interest, give a shout.
In other news, I highly recommend that if you happen to run into chocolate by TCHO (local California Bay Area chocolate company), avoid it and don't start eating it. It's addictive, and perhaps the best chocolate I've ever had. The blue wrapper, milk chocolate version, does not mention any illegal drugs on the list of ingredients, but I've found myself choosing where to grocery shop based on if they carry it or not. Beware.
Do they have a 12 step program or something? I'm not ready to give it up yet though. I don't even usually like milk chocolate!
As you have probably noticed, I have some really specific taste when it comes to quilt fabric.
Most of my shopping is done either online at places like PurlSoho, Superbuzzy, or at quilt shows where you can run into some interesting Japanese imported fabrics.
When I discovered there is a somewhat new fabric shop not far from me, I was excited to check it out and see if anything appealed to me.
The Intrepid Thread is in sort of an industrial/office space type complex, so it took a little driving around the parking lot to find it but it was not very hard.
It is located in Milpitas, California, and has been around for more than half a year.
The fabric selection is very modern with perhaps the best selection of geometric prints I have ever run into. It feels very fresh and young compared to the other quilt shops in the area. I found myself shopping with wild abandon, purchasing all sorts of quarter yards of fabric without really knowing what I would do with them all.
They also had some very cool ombre fabric that I want to turn into a quilt border. I found what I thought was Liberty of London, but it was basically faux Liberty of London. Looking and feeling very similar to the real thing, it was around $10 a yard (instead of ~$40!), so I of course got a couple of small cuts.
Employees are super friendly and helpful, inviting me to walk around and check out their huge classroom. I felt instantly at home.
They did not have a big selection of notions, but that is the only minor ding I can give this awesome shop.
If you are looking for a better quilt shop in the California Bay area, I highly recommend that you check out The Intrepid Thread. I will certainly be back.
What did I make with all those fabrics I picked up? You won't have to wonder about that for too long...I already finished a super cute project. More on that next time.
Well, ok. This post isn't really a deviation from my usual G-rated content, nor will I cover actual topics similar to those discussed in an unmentionable song by Rihanna.
I'm not exactly thinking of using whips and chains in my quilts.
I have thought about using chains before since Chanel uses them in their jacket liners to weigh down the garments.
In this case I actually have leather on my mind.
It's mostly CreativeBug's fault!
First of all, I ran into the above pot holder when I was in The General Store recently. It reminded me of the free form stitching that is the crazy cousin of Japanese Sashiko.
It's certainly a quilted piece but the tiny bit of leather dresses it up and makes me think it will last longer than if it had a simple fabric loop.
I also happened to wander past Elke Bergeron's CreativeBug class on making a leather clutch. I watched the 25 min class and got really excited to incorporate a little bit of leather in some quilted projects like pot holders or maybe small bags.
Elke herself makes some really beautiful bags. I will be keeping an eye on her work.
Meanwhile, I want to check out some leather in person and may plan an excursion to Tandy Leather in San Bruno.
There is an etsy shop called bookhauathome that has some leather and fabric bags that would also be fun to use to tote around a small hand quilting project and your keys and wallet. Nice muted colors. Just beautiful.
Summer camp continues around here and the kids have been enjoying some relaxation.
Our 7 yr old has taken up making friendship bracelets like MAD!
We can hardly make him put them down when he needs to go the the bathroom. If that's not dedication, I don't know what is.
I'm modeling his first fancy one in a "V" shape. It's amazing how much fun you can have making these for friends and how much people appreciate getting them. I really love mine.
It's been a super busy week for me and I have so many more topics to cover, but they will need to wait for next time.
The winner of the Sew What! Skirts book give away is Barb!
Barb, drop me an email at quilt (dot) baby at hotmail (dot) com and I'll send your book out in the mail to you next week. Enjoy it!
Hope you are all having a nice and quilting weekend.
I've been getting the very strong urge to spend another day in San Francisco. Calling my name for a visit soon is:
- March - A kitchen shop, but more like a gallery of what your kitchen decor may want to look like when you finally get around to that remodel
- Flora Grubb - My favorite nursery on the planet. Always a challenge not to spend my entire paycheck in 1 visit, or buy too many plants to fit in my trunk
- Peapod Fabrics - quilt shop with tons of Japanese influenced fabrics. Nuf said.
- Smitten Ice Cream - using liquid nitrogen, they make your favorite flavor from milk, cream and other good stuff. Located in the Proxy Project - a 2 block radius of coolness in the previously-questionable-now-hip Hayes Valley area of SF
When you put some borders around your quilt blocks, you usually think long and hard about what fabric to use, how thick to make them, and if the are 'just right' for the quilt.
In the case of my modern house quilt, I apparently did not observe my usual process.
The fabric I used seemed like a good idea at the time.
Once I had lived with the completed quilt top for a while, I realized that I was not in love with the border fabric and that the value of it was overall too dark.
At that point, I started to get really intimate with the dreaded seam ripper.
I carefully remove every last piece of it from my beloved applique blocks and breathed a sigh of relief.
The blocks went back into being stored in a huge flat three ring binder and I have not touched them since.
Or until now.
I finally found a better border fabric. It is polka dot.
I know, really...polka dot? Wouldn't that be too busy? Well...not really.
Lecien is a Japanese fabric company that makes many of the taupe fabrics that I like to use in my quilts. They have a cool list of fabric shops by state in the U.S. that carry their line.
My rotary cutter and rulers are out. I'm starting to cut new pieces of borders to re-sew them to the quilt. This polka dot fabric (the lighter, bottom one in the photo above) is the one that I'll be using.
The darker polka dot fabric on top is something I may also play around with, but not sure it will make the cut for this subtle quilt.
Oh, and lastly I finally saw the 200 follow mark being broken for my blog. To you dear new followers, you warm my heart so. Thank You!!! A huge virtual hug to you.
The knit turtle was feeling lonely.
I created him a best friend to hang out with.
They have already started causing trouble together.
It's rather cute.
It seems like they enjoy playing tag in their spare time.
When I was listening to a recent podcast by The Spin Doctor (a very good podcast about spinning yarn) Jillian was saying that she would love to make an A-line skirt someday.
I too am getting more interested in sewing clothes, as another outlet for applique and hand work.
This book, "Sew What! Skirts: 16 simple styles you can make with fabulous fabrics" by Francesca Dehartog and Carole Ann Camp is an interesting read if you're looking to jump into the waters of simple garments.
I like the idea of drafting your own pattern since it is very custom, as recommended in this book. It seems faster to me when a full size pattern is included by the author, but in this case it's a draft your own approach.
The book has spiral ring binding so it sits open next to you as you are sewing. Oh how I wish more books were bound like this.
You can probably use some quilting weight cotton for some of the projects here if you have a couple of extra yards laying around and you want to try to have a little fun.
This book got 4.5 out of 5 stars at Amazon from over 100 reviewers.
It could be your very own book, from me to you, if you do the following:
1) Leave a comment on this post before 9pm PST Sunday 7/21/13 - tell me why you are excited to make a skirt.
2) For extra credit, say in your comment that you put a link to this post from your blog and I'll put your name in the give away pool twice.
I am SO close to having 200 followers. Wouldn't it be nice if I could break past the 200 mark? Help me out here....good luck!
Eating cute little turtles is hardly something I intend to start doing.
In fact I was shocked that there are lots of recipes out there for them. I was thinking that they are too adorable to eat. Apparently not!
Anna Hrachovec, the mastermind knitter behind MochiMochiLand just came out with a pattern for a tiny turtle.
I knit this to match my 4yr old's most recent socks. He is actually willing to wear the socks now that he has a matching turtle! Wow, a small miracle.
Mind the Gap self striping yarn in tons of colors, made it easy to find a good color combo that pops.
I'm slipping a couple more photos in here for you, I just cannot resist.
After several hours of hard work, the tiny turtle progressed from the starting link on the ankle to half way up the shin.
He really is small as you can see. Knit on size 0000 needles! Yowza. Teenie tiny.
Putting the binding on a quilt is like putting the icing on a cake.
Every binding chef probably has their own secret recipe for the perfect binding.
I will tell you my recipe. It's a bit of religion really. If you make your binding differently, tell me why and maybe I'll try a taste!
First you will want to know how big your quilt is. Measure all the sides and add them up. If you're lucky, the opposite slides are equal lengths. If that is not the case, you can do some wet blocking with pins to try and help yourself out of that little jam.
I cut 2.25" wide pieces of fabric, all the way across from selvage to selvage (which is usually 44" or so on quilt cotton). I have found that is the thickness that looks good in my opinion. Any thicker and it starts to look like more than just a little frame. It can overpower the quilt.
Some quilters cut binding on the bias, which is also a good practice, but not necessary unless the quilt will get a lot of washing.
Joining the strips together on the diagonal put less stress on the fibers and give you a longer lasting binding. I always do that.
I make sure that the total amount of binding inches is enough to go around the quilt + 10 inches extra for corners and joining together at the end.
For example, if your quilt is 80" square, I would cut (80x4)+10 = 330 inches.
Wow, I did some quilting math for you.
Oh, and I don't use pins as I machine sew the binding on the front of the quilt. I just guide it along with my fingers only. I know....No Pins! Horrors!!! You're thinking I've lost my mind, right?
I use hand applique to sew the back side of the binding to the back side of the quilt. I use cotton thread, not silk applique thread (pretty but not tough enough for binding I've found).
If you're still awake here, give yourself a gold star.
If you want to see an incredible online class on the topic with really awesome video, see Sue Nickel's Creativebug class on Quilt Finishing and Binding. I just watched it, and it's amazing. It might just be the best $15 you ever spent.
I'm also thinking of doing a little give away later this week, so check back soon.
The 4th of July is one of my all time favorite holidays.
Some extra time with the family while school's out is an awesome treat.
This year the holiday weekend was a busy one. Lots of running around:
Monster's University - enjoyable movie, albeit slightly scary to our 4 yr old at a couple of points
Giants Baseball - fun to beat the Dodgers! We had some nice seats there this evening
Heath Ceramics - a beautiful shop in San Francisco...if you are looking for Alabama Chanin's new plate, better wait until it's back in stock. I did not get my hands on one. We bought a coloring book instead.
General Store - this funky spot in San Francisco is oh so much fun. Japanese imported household goodies, and adorable hip clothes. R.P. Miller t-shirt was my favorite discovery. Unfortunately not shown on the General Store web site, but available here at Gravel and Gold. I dislike un-soft or itchy shirts. These T's are 100% cotton and soft as can be.
Oh, yes...and I finished knitting a pair of socks, and finished quilting my secret quilt project!! How's that for progress. Heh!
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.
I wish I could drop this photo in the postal mail to all of you since our summer has been going so swimmingly (pun intended).
I'm here quilting away and enjoying feeling warm finally.
This is my son, skipping rocks out across the Pacific Ocean. What a lovely sight.
Happy summer. Let me know if you have some major projects that are moving ahead. I feel like I'm making progress!
