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!

Making room

When we were in Barrington, Illinois, I bought some fabric from their Civil War section as well as some more shirtings. It's mostly destined for the wedding signature quilt (yes, I'm STILL thinking about that quilt).

The birthday season will be upon us soon enough for our boys, so we went through a lot of their current toys today.

Some will be donated, some passed along to other smaller kids, and others just organized so that all the parts are in one place. At least we have a little more space for the incoming toys.

I'm personally on a bit of a toy kick these days. I remember so clearly playing with all the old toys we had from Fisher Price when I was small. I am thinking of giving a few of those old sets to the boys for their birthdays.

I'm also obsessed with Plan Toys. Their City Station would cause me to play with it for days and days. Two of their modern racers found their way home with me this afternoon and were well loved all day long by two very competitive boys. I want to buy this 'green' dollhouse for my niece.

I'm sure there are toys from your childhood that you can almost still feel in your hands even now. What were your favorites?

Mrs. Beasley anyone?

Maybe I'm showing my age here...oops.

My head is spinning

After wanting a spinning wheel for quite some time, I decided to take the plunge and order a wheel.

We were up in Oakland at A Verb for Keeping Warm over the weekend, and I ended up picking up more fiber to spin into yarn. I just couldn't resist ordering a wheel since it makes it go so much faster, and I'm all about efficiency.

It takes at least a month to come in, so until then I'm plugging along on other projects. Still sewing, and using a drop spindle, and making a scarf of all things (yes, odd to make a scarf in the dead of summer).

We did visit the U.S.S. Hornet over the weekend as well as it was the real destination of our trip and the yarn shop was a side diversion. The kids loved it, but I think my husband loved it more. A cool spot, but a bit scary with an almost 2 yr old since lots of very steep stairs. Think we'll visit again after we're better at walking!

Travel Tote - handmade!

Before our summer vacation, I designed and made the kids little activity bags that I named their Travel Totes.

I was expecting that they would sorta like them, but the response was overwhelming. They took them everywhere and refused to even go into a restaurant without them.

It was pretty cute. Not every time you make something for your kids do they really appreciate it and love it.

While I was making them, I wrote down directions and I'm of course toying with making a pattern for them. If there were only just a few more hours in the day...hope to get to it eventually.

There were pockets for their books and other little treasures and I filled it up with pretty much 100% imported Japanese goodies. I'll have to post more photos for you. They really did turn out pretty cool.

Also on the trip I visited a quilt shop in Cedarburg, Wisconsin called Material Matters. They had some Velcro so I picked it up and added it to the Travel Tote for added security of the goodies. It was a super cute shop and I loved their collection of wool fabrics.

A Touch of Amish quilt shop in Barrington Illinois

On our recent vacation, on the way back towards the Chicago airport, we were rushing to get to my favorite quilt shop - A Touch of Amish located in Barrington Illinois.

What better way to finish off a vacation than to take already overstuffed luggage and cram a few yards of fabric on in there too.

We were cursed with traffic on the way to this shop and I was sure that we would not actually get there before they closed at 4pm. (4pm is way too early for a quilt shop to close)

My husband was driving with purpose and we pulled up in front of the shop only 4 min before closing.

I ran in and the ladies working there did want to go home and all, but they were pretty tolerant of my late shopping anyhow.

I bought a bunch of civil war reproduction fabrics and headed on my way.

This is still my favorite quilt shop on the planet. If you are in the area, I would recommend a drop in. Perhaps if you get there very close to closing time, you'll spend slightly less money.

When I find a better quilt shop, I'll let you know. For now - this place is #1 on my list. Ok that is #1 on my American list. Yuzawaya is still #1 in Japan of course.

Chicagoland and Quilting

We just came back from a week in the Mid West.

With lots of family there, we would love to visit more often but going there once every few years unfortunately will have to do for now. It's not easy to travel that far with little kids but they did very well.

I have a lot to say about the trip, but for now I will just say that spending more time would probably lead to more money spent at quilt shops.

In my last frig post, Anna went for it and posted a photo of her frig too over at Rupert Girl blog. It says a lot about her passion for Italian things.

I also discovered that Round Cord Elastic by Stretchrite can be used as a launcher of sewn and stuffed items. Cool, a little danger. Just what the almost 5 yr old wants.

Open your kimono: What's on YOUR frig?

If the front of your frig isn't a commentary on your life, I don't know what is.

Some refrigerators are cute, some are ugly, and some just funny.

I dare you to take a photo of the front of your frig - right now, just DO IT, and post it on your blog. What does it say about you? What does my photo say about me?

Pretty much everything I think.

If you do it, let me know and I'll check it out, for sure!

Going Japanese? Start with your nail polish

When I was picking up soy sauce (after I picked up my latest copy of Quilts Japan) I could not resist getting the most immature sparkle nail polish I've ever seen at our local Japanese market.

It's by pa and it's amazing. I know that you can only get away with these sorts of nails if you are either an actual Japanese person or a 10 yr old American girl and I don't fit either of these descriptions. Oh well, life's too short - right?

This weekend we have some big plans - berry picking! I can almost feel a pie coming on. Can you make something similar to gooseberry fool by using either olallieberries or blackberries? Hm...maybe we'll give it a shot.

And yes, if you're wondering, I'm still making star blocks! An oddly, still enjoying it all. Have a great weekend.

Daddy Dearest

Some dads don't mind helping out with the children.

Some dads actually enjoy it.

Then there's the dad of our boys - he pretty much lives for it.

For Father's Day this year we went to Point Reyes National Seashore which was so beautiful. We took a small hike to the beach and the baby got a real kick out of his hiking backpack.

After getting half way back up the hill I was wishing that I would fit into that thing.

I did knit a little in the car on the way there, so fun to get a little something creative done.

Here's to all the dad's out there.

For my husband who is the ultimate father to our children, and for my dad who was always there for me as a kid and still is for that matter.

Check out my sister's blog for some really funny-cute photos of her with our dad.

I'm still at it here.

I'm still at it with my reproduction signature quilt. Lots more work ahead but I got some squares started last night during our knit night which is progress so I'll take it.

We found out that our friend in the group, Sharon, who I mentioned in my last post, is having a baby girl. Oh...finally! A baby girl will be around. What a blessing to our little circle off friends and the universe in general (especially if she's half as smart as her mommy).


Life has been so busy lately that I will confess that my creative endeavors are not progressing at a very fast pace. I'm going to chalk it off to the ebb and flow of things.

Because it's been a little on the busy side, I will break a couple of blog traditions here for you. I never post more than one picture, and rarely any of myself. Well, here goes. Just keeping it light. Sorry, it's a little corny.

Found it!

Just a quick note to let you know I cleaned off my desk, and yes - there is still a desk under all that clutter. Good to know.

Also a recommendation that you check out my friend Sharon's newly completed shawl - WOW-Beautiful. She's an actual knitter, I have learned so much from her.

In case you are planning on going to Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara, California...it takes place in October and the class schedule just came out yesterday. I'm thinking I'll sign up for the Hawaiian quilting class. It's very short, and I have wanted to make a Hawaiian quilt for a long time.

I also wanted to volunteer to assist Deb Roberts in quilt appraisal this year, but she already has several folks wanting to assist her so unclear if I will end up doing that or not. Well, I'll keep my fingers crossed I guess. Still trying to further my education in quilt appraisals.

Shirtings make me tick

I could write a sonnet about shirting fabrics.

I collect them, I use them in my quilts, and I am always hesitant to use one of them up 100% just in case I need a small piece for a charm quilt or something.

Probably that's a crazy idea, but I only ever use 90% of any of my shirtings leaving at least a 6 inch wide piece left in my collection. Maybe my niece will make a quilt out of them someday long after I'm gone.

My signature quilt is coming along. Of all the star blocks I need to complete the quilt I am exactly 74.8% done with those, but hey - who's counting?!

For some cool photos of a baby quilt - check out on Mariruru blog by Mai. She hand quilted it and it's pretty darn adorable.

Temptation is making me think about creating a toddler quilt for my little one since he's getting too long/tall for a baby quilt and could really use something a bit larger.

(insert wrist slap here)

Stay focused! Finish the signature quilt!!! Sigh...........ok.

ps, it looks like Kathie loves shirtings too.