House Quilt - applique by hand

House quilts have a special place in my heart. I love the traditional red and white antique versions.

The one I decided to make is a more modern version. Remember those Oakshott fabrics I picked up? Well, since I didn't have a lot of them, I cut enough house blocks to make a small 16 block quilt.

The blocks come together quickly. I'm doing them all by hand, using freezer paper.

I cut out the freezer paper in the shape of the house by tracing it, then iron the waxy side of it to the right side of the fabric that will become the 'house'. After that, just pin it on the backing fabric, and turn the edges under as you go around using a blind applique stitch.

Easy as pie.

My favorite thread is YLI's #100, 100% silk thread. It is so thin that you really cannot see it in the finished block. Use the thread color of the house, not the background, or a taupe color if you don't have the right color at hand.

And if you haven't seen Kathie's house block on her Inspired by Antique Quilts Blog, take a quick click over, it's awesome. Very repro-looking but could also pass for Japanese Taupe as well. Cool!!

Hamburger Helper is not "Helpful"

In an act of desperation, and by special request of my favorite 3 yr old, I made Hamburger Helper for dinner for the first time.

Why do they call it "Helper" when it takes a perfectly delicious pound of ground beef and makes it quite icky. Even our 3 yr old refused to eat it. Smart kid.

Today was our 2 month appointment with the baby and he got his fair share of shots. He was contently sleeping off the pain so I decided to visit Green Planet Yarn in Campbell, California.

I must say that the owner of this shop was not only the most friendly and kind person I have met in ages, but she was not bothered one tiny bit when I walked into her shop with a bouncy 3 yr old and a ScreamingAtTheTopOfHisLungs 2 month old. She literally held the baby bottle while I signed my credit card slip.

If you are in the bay area, go there - take a class - buy some yarn - needles - whatever! This shop is sweet, friendly, and I for one will be back there.

Oh, and the photo above is a little collage of the photos I used on my LuLu calendar. Cool site, but a bit disappointing that they don't have a photo preview for calendars.

2009 Quilt Otaku Calendar - published on LuLu

After booking a bunch of doctor appointments for the new baby in 2009, and having some cool events to pencil in on the new year calendar, I decided to create a Quilt Otaku 2009 calendar to keep track of all the important dates.

It came in the mail today from LuLu and is so very beautiful in its huge 13.5" x 19" stunning full color. Their printing services are really high quality. I am actually pretty impressed.

Just in case you want your own copy, I make it public and accessable through this button.

The best part is that it has a lot of space, so if you're busy or have a lot of family events to write in, you'll be all set.

Pictures are all taken by me, and include photos of quilt projects, some knitting things in progress, and other pretty sewing things/creature comforts.

Enjoy!

MeMe

Posie Gets Cozy had this adorable and super short MeMe so I just have to chime in, I cannot resist. Feel free to play along if the spirit moves you.

I was going to use my yarn swift to make some neat little yarn balls this weekend but I decided to delegate the job to these little helpers. I will admit that I crave more of them as they made fast work of the yarn.

Also, I wanted to share some cool modern art that is showing at the Stanford Cantor Art's Center, and a web site that is very pretty for your weekend viewing pleasure: Roy Lichtenstein Foundation

Here goes my MeMe (allowing 1 word answers only, according to the challenge):

Where is your mobile phone? Which
Where is your significant other? Laundry
Your hair colour? Brown
Your mother? Far
Your father? Photographing
Your favourite thing? Babysmell
Your dream last night? Optimistic
Your dream goal? Sleep
The room you're in? Disorganized
Your hobby? Quilting
Your fear? Underbedmonsters
Where do you want to be in 6 years? Here
Where were you last night? Mexican
What you're not? Patient
One of your wish-list items? Kitchen
Where you grew up? Burbs
The last thing you did? Nurse
What are you wearing? T-shirt
Your TV? Off
Your pets? Not
Your computer? Seductive
Your mood? Thirsty
Missing someone? Sister
Your car? 12
Something you're not wearing? Shoes
Favourite shop? Anthropologie
Your summer? Rockin
Love someone? Many
Your favourite colour? Taupepurple
When is the last time you laughed? A
When is the last time you cried? D

Home Made Halloween Costume - astronaut

By special request of my friend Joachim, here's a picture of our tiny 3 yr old astronaut on Halloween. I made the pants and shirt, and bought the helmet from Amazon.

I got some cool patches from the Kennedy Space Center and put them on there also, but you cannot see them in this picture - I think the helmet is covering them for some reason.

Also, the results of the "Quilt Block Election" are in....looks like Nine Patch is the winner. It's such a fun and easy block. Log Cabin was a close second.

Vote Early, Vote Often

As Al Capone recommended...Vote Early, Vote Often.

Personally, I did the former by sending my vote in through the mail ages ago. Looking forward to my friend Julie's election party later tonight.

Personally, I would love to hold my own little blog-election. Please comment and vote!

If you could make only 1 quilt pattern for the rest of your life...using whatever fabrics you like...what pattern would it be?

Let's see who would get elected. Personally, I have to vote for the 9 patch.

Three cheers for democracy. On a day like today, I'm thankful for those who have come before us to create and defend it.

Bulky Yarn and Purl Soho in Orange County

We took an extended trip to Orange County, California in order to get to know my sister's new baby girl. She is a living doll, and meeting her was an amazing life experience. Definitely in my top 10. I'm an Aunt!

A happy side effect of being down in that neck of the woods was a visit to Purl Soho's warehouse and the accidental meeting of Jen Hoverson (co-owner, and sister of Joelle Hoverson). What a very nice girl she is and so accomplished for her age, she looks like she's hardly out of high school, so pretty.

I am still sticking with my story that I don't know how to knit, but I was not able to resist picking up some more yarn. This "Bulky" yarn from Blue Sky Alpacas knit up a kid-scarf in no time at all, with only 2 balls of yarn in "Curry" color.

Our 3 yr old loves it and even had it on in the house yesterday.

As the Purl warehouse is one of my favorite, if not my most favorite, places to shop...there were of course many other items that found their way home with me. I know, the suspense is killing you, right?

Boo to You!

All I can say is a quick BOO and Happy Halloween to you all.

I have kids to dress, and candy to give out. Hope you all have a great one this year.

And Oh Yes, I did make my son's costume again this year (last year was probably better) but he looks so very cute in it. Pictures after the dust clears!

Japanese baby girl quilt - moving ahead!

After several days of feverishly working on the Japanese baby quilt for my sister's beautiful daughter, I finally have all the blocks complete.

Next step is to get them all together, then the bliss of starting to hand quilt can begin.

Some quilters love to make their tops, and send them off to be quilted by somebody with a long arm. I will confess that I love with the quilt is finally ready to be quilted, and think that step is perhaps my favorite part of the process.

Since the end of the growing season is almost here, I have to share a link with you to Stockton and Co. This adorable print of sweet little veggies makes me enjoy all the more our final veggie boxes that will come from our CSA Two Small Farms in the coming weeks.

Without those veggie boxes...I'm wondering what we'll be eating all winter. Dare I mention the words "Frozen Veggies"? You know those are practically curse words in California.

Felted Pumpkin - world's tiniest pin cushion

I created this supertiny felted pin cushion for my friend Marianne, who met me at PIQF again this year.

She knitted THE most adorable booties on earth for our new baby...picture coming soon...and was a complete sweetheart about walking around the show at the snail's pace that characterizes somebody traveling with an infant.

I'm a felting addict now...I'm going to have to make more of these tiny pin cushions.

In the spirit of making my house a complete messy wreck, I spread out the blocks for my sister's baby's quilt again, and am feverishly working on them whenever both boys fall asleep at the same time. That isn't often, but I am making progress here and there. It makes me happy to do anything creative lately.

So is everybody out there as addicted to Etsy as I am? Who are your favorite sellers? Please do share them with me! Here are a few of mine:

Sonatine: Japanese 'cute' fabric
Chocolate Swirl: Mostly Japanese craft books, but other goodies too.
Matatabi: Cute fabrics as well, Love this apple one.
Pippijoe: Adorable fabrics, I have not ordered from here yet, but would love to.

Oakshott Fabric

Have any of you smarty pants quilters run into or used Oakshott Fabrics yet in your quilts?

Susan at Sashiko and Other Stitching Blog has used it in a block made from this cool book.

I bumped into it at PIQF at the Pinwheels booth and fell head over heels in love with it. They are solids, and stripe fabrics but have an almost indescribable 'glow' about them. Amazing...true beauty.

After I got it home and washed and ironed it, I just cannot stop running my fingers over it in admiration of it's sheer glimmer and unique glisten.

Unfortunately, Pinwheels only had it available for sale in small packs where the colors were put together for you in a grouping, and you know I really need to pick my own color sets for myself.

So...being the little googler (is that a word?) that I am...I clicked over to their web site on the above link, and found hoards and masses of amazing colors, patterns, and solids.

I emailed them to see what shipping a couple of meters would cost, and within less than 1 day, Michael Oakshott (owner?) emailed back that it would only be just over $12 US.

Perhaps think I can feel another small quilt project coming on soon....maybe with some of this sage color.

More on PIQF 2008

My favorite quilt from the show this year was by Nancy S. Brown, called Pup Art.

All hand applique and hand quilted. I hear she teaches classes at New Pieces in Berkeley. Note to self - enroll sometime soon!

Glad you liked the flickr set of this year's show. Of course I only took pictures of the quilts that I had time to see (given I had my 2 kids with me) as well as the quilts that I really loved. The pictures are by no means a full set of all the quilts at the show.

I also uploaded a flickr set of old photos from last year's show that I loved:

PIQF 2007

and for those who really cannot get enough...

PIQF 2006 and while I'm at it -

PIQF 2005.

And if you can sit through all that, then you'll have felt like you spent the last 4 years at this quilt show. Nuts.

Other shops that I hit on my second day -

Bonnie Blue Quilts: From Katy (outside of Houston) Texas. They have some incredible Civil War reproduction fabrics. My mom got us a pack of their purple fabrics to share. Oh so pretty.

Cindy's Antique Quilts: From Clinton, Oklahoma, Cindy's shop is more of a museum for sale than a shop. Her quilts are MINT and amazing. She has a huge stack of 1850's red and green quilts that will make you want to empty your bank account right then and there. I'm soooo on the brink of putting one on her lay away program. It is awesome-cool that she offers one. Will my will power (do I have any?) prevail?

On a totally different topic -

Hwireroad.org: My wild and crazy bay area best friend, Julie McDonald, is making a journey on her scooter from California to Washington D.C. to meet people and discuss the upcoming presidential election. Her story is quite interesting, even though I must admit I wish she would just come home soon and drive around town in an actual car or something. Check it out if you have time or just cannot get enough of American political issues.

Pacific International Quilt Festival (PIQF) 2008

We spent a good chunk of the afternoon enjoying opening day of PIQF.

Please see the flickr slide show that I put together for you.

I took a couple of pictures each of some of the quilts I was really in love with, so I need to warn you that there are just over 250 pictures in the show, so watch it while you quilt or something.

The quilt that my sister and I made for my mom with the taupe houses was hanging in all of its glory on the wall (above), in a very good spot actually.

It didn't win a ribbon, which didn't surprise me at all. I was surprised however at some of the awesome quilts that were there and didn't have ribbons, so I was in excellent company.

Most of the vendors that were there had nice things. Some of my favorites included:

Attic Heirlooms: They had tons of beautiful wools, and accessories. I was hugely sucked in by the amazing ladies that worked at the booth - so friendly! as well as their beautiful goods. All the way from Portland, Maine.

Bird Brain Designs: These girls had antique spools for sale at reasonable prices, as well as the usual yummy wools. Why am I so into wool? I think I'm addicted. I cannot stop. This shop was very bad for me! So pretty.

Pinwheels: Duh, taupe fabric central. I didn't visit their booth yet, since time was limited, but I'll be heading back tomorrow and checking them out in person. Cannot wait!! My buddy Holly who I ran into said it was awesome, of course.

Midnight quilt sleeve

Does it make sense to stay up until midnight putting a sleeve on the back of my quilt just so that I can actually get it into PIQF?

Good idea or not, it seemed the only time I could find to actually prep my quilt for the show. It did actually get delivered on time, 10 min before the cut off to take it there, with the help of my mom and husband (thanks guys).

Whew.

I found this shop in Campbell, California called Recycle Bookstore. They take your books from you and give you cash or store credit.

I have this idea to clean out all my old novels that I've read, take them there and walk away with some more children's books. That's all we read anyhow these days.

With Halloween only around the corner I decided to pick up a book called New Moon. It's all about vampires.

Does it freak me out to read it during 2 am nursing sessions?

Not really. Well, OK, just a little tiny bit. That's the point though, right?

And if you really want to freak people out, try the "zombify" or "blood stain" functions on your family photos at Picnik.

BOO!

Nuggets from Heaven

We were wandering through the Apple store last weekend and my husband treated me to an amazing new iPod in purple. I have already established a love affair with it.

As we were leaving the store our 3 yr old saw a chicken nugget laying squashed and abandoned on the floor. His instinctual reaction was of course to eat it.

Luckily we got to him before he got to it, but it was a close call.

The guy behind us exclaimed, "Cool, free food."

Sorry to gross you out, but I thought it was pretty funny.

Oh, and according to the above photo, I was crazy enough to start another chevron scarf, even though I really cannot knit, but I love having something portable that is easy to pick up at any time.

In other cravings...I am LOVING the Civil War Diaries blocks being made by Judy of Quilting with Ragdolls. What beautiful work.

Think that book may find itself into my collection.

Pacific International Quilt Festival 2008 - I'm in!!

PIQF is one of the larger quilt shows in the U.S. It is coming up later this month, and they are very picky about what quilts they take into the show.

They have actually already rejected me in past years (boo! Are they nuts?), although they did take 2 of my quilts last year.

Anyhow, this year they accepted the only quilt that I tried to enter, so I AM STOKED!

Come to the show and check out my taupe quilt in person.

It's been just wild lately running all around town, and trying to learn how to leave the house with a 3 year old and a newborn. If my mom were not here helping me, I'd probably be sitting on my couch drooling for the better part of the day.

I just picked up the above shoes for our 3 yr old from ebay, they are by See Kai Run. I am so in love with their shoes. Oh, and the girl versions are really to die for.

1930's Trip Around the World Quilt

Here's a picture of my living room after I got a sleeve on the 30's quilt that I just bought. I think it goes well with the rest of the house and makes a bold graphic statement. Happy little quilt.

I have birds on the brain since I saw Karissa's post at Kitty Kitty Crafts. Her mobile is AWESOME, and she even gave me a link to the pattern. I sooooo have to make one of these. Or 5 of them...

Thanks Karissa for your awesome post, and generally awesome blog.

Also on my brain is Fontifier. You scan in your own hand printed letters and they create a custom font for you. Has anybody tried this? It sounds so cute!

5 years of bliss

Today is our fifth wedding anniversary.

I must say that it hardly seems like it has been that long. But after all that we've accomplished, it's been a very busy time indeed. My sweet husband is my true love and my hero all rolled into one.

This photo was taken on our wedding day and in truth we were in love then, but are so much more in love now. In love with each other, in love with our little boys, in love with the friends and relatives that support our now 4-member family.

Hopefully we'll be lucky enough to celebrate many more such special days. Tonight we went to Evvia in Palo Alto. It was a splendid meal and I'd recommend it highly to anybody. Excellent and interesting dishes as well as awesome service. Check it out when you are in the neighborhood but leave little ones at home.

I really want to get to this pumpkin patch sometime soon with our boys. I think Uesugi Farms would make for some awesome photo opportunities.

Fall is one of my favorite times of the year.

Front door curtain - Etsuko Furuya fabric

Here's a quick picture of the curtain that is finally finished and on our front door.

I used fabric from Etsuko Furuya that I think I got a Purl Soho, although it's been so long since I bought it that I could have also picked it up on ebay. My memory is certainly not what it used to be back in the day of sleeping through the night!

This afternoon I just got the 30's repro quilt hung in our living room. It looks pretty cool. I'll have to grab some pictures of it during the day tomorrow so you can check it out. A bit on the bright side but still very pretty.

What's the highlight of your Wednesday evening? Well, for me....tonight...it's the episode of Project Runway where they pick the final 3 designers that will show at fashion week. I'm not really a TV person, but I'm a huge junkie for this show and can hardly wait another couple of hours until it airs.

Alden Lane Nursery Quilting in the Garden 2008

This afternoon we had the treat of attending the Alden Lane Nursery Quilting in the Garden event in Livermore, California.

It turned out to only be about a thirty minute drive from our house, and we didn't run into any traffic, so it was a breeze to get there.

Tons of quilts were hung up over the nursery's plants. They put up clothes lines and clothes pins to hold the quilts up. Below you can look at all the amazing plants they have for sale.

This year there was even a little jazz band for entertainment, as well as snacks for lunch and cool drinks. That was a good thing, since it was over 90 degrees out there!

For the kids there was a play area that was seriously cool. They sell play structures, so they have huge ones for 'demo' purposes. Our 3 yr old loved it. They even had a maze made out of hay bales.

I put a little slide show together on Flickr for you to enjoy. Not as good as being there, but it will hopefully be close enough.

Oh, and just ran into the cutest blog ever - Mint Basil. Check it out if you have a sec. I'm jealous of her recycled Japanese newspaper basket.