Happy Mother's Day

For the most part, I like to keep the people pictures and family photos for myself, and post up some quilty-crafty photos for you to enjoy.

Today, on my 2nd year of celebrating being a mom myself, I digress a tiny bit and post this recently recovered family photo.

I have a queen sized quilt that I've been wanting to quilt on my mom's longarm quilting machine. She ended up having to clean her entire sewing room, rearrange the whole thing, and move a bunch of furniture around in order to expand the bars on it to take my queen sized quilt top. (Yes, my mom is perhaps the best mom on earth.)

In so doing, she moved a piece of furniture that came from my dad's childhood home. In one of the drawers was this amazing picture of him as an 11 month old baby, with his mom, taken in 1935.

So here's to all you mom's out there, hope that you all had as nice of a day as I did.

The Teenie Tiny Woman and knitting the Clara Dress

I was playing around with my kids this afternoon, reading through the quite book that my mom made for me when I was little.

In the back sleeve of it, there was a copy of The Teenie Tiny Woman illustrated by Margot Zemach.  

I can remember being scared out of my wits as a kid reading this book.  The sound of the ghost asking for his bone back....my mom whispering it at first...then louder...

My kids were glued to the book as I read it, so they must have been spooked too.  It's such an awesome and kind of hilarious book at the end.  If you grew up in the 70's you might even remember your mom reading this to you....."TAKE THE BONE!".  Nuf said.

Speaking of teenie tiny people -

My sister's little girl is already a year old, but still quite teenie herself.  This fact leads to my uncontrollable urge to knit for her.

Tiny people of course make it MUCH easier to create something for them to wear.  I can actually probably knit this little girl an entire dress in the time it would take for me to knit one sock for my husband. 

My only goal is to make this little object before she grows out of it.  The down side of working with children is that they are always on the move, and just because you didn't finish their garment, doesn't mean they aren't growing like weeds all the while.

I cast on the Clara Dress, so we're off to the races.  It's me vs. the sprouting princess.  Game on.

A version of it knit by Posie Gets Cozy is here.  Not sure if mine will be this pretty, but I hope so.

Yosemite

We just got back from a weekend in Yosemite this afternoon. The winter wonderland thing was certainly happening. If staying there, in The Redwoods, I can highly recommend cabin 23B. No pets, no smoking, but that worked well for us. Think a trip back there would be awesome, and next time I'm bringing my quiltin' sister too.

So what does one do late at night, in a cabin, in the woods? Well...seeing as this one had electricity, it was only fitting to try out my mom's new Bernina! Yes, she ran out and bought one, in support of my new love for Bernina. I think she's trying to encourage me to get one. Not that I need encouragement. That machine is AWESOME! She taught me how to make this adorable bag, and how to use a zipper foot. So many mysteries solved. Will photograph the bag soon.

Quilting with my mom is such a rare treat. Too bad we don't do it more often.

Ok, so I love photography as well, and shot several rolls of film. Now for the development of the film. Yes, I said film. Ok, so I use a digital camera for my blog, but in my other life (as a photographer) I am still old school, and I love my film. Calypso over the mail maybe? Hm...

And Oh, the above image is a photo of one of the pin pal applique blocks that my little sister made for me. She's soooo talented, and sooooo exact. Just my kind of girl. Beautiful work.

Pearls on the Red Sea: Birthday Shawl

My mom's birthday hovers either on or around Thanksgiving. 

This year I wanted to fancy it up a bit for her, so I knit a beaded shawl from this book called Luxury Yarn One Skein Wonders.





The pattern didn't call for beads, but I couldn't resist trying my hand at working with them, so I put a few (million) on there.  I named the project Pearls on the Red Sea since the beads look like tiny pearls.


It turns out that my mom loved the gift and was really surprised that I actually finished it.  Not as surprised as I am!  I was wondering for the last 9 months if I would ever finish this project. 

Truth be told, I've been doing a lot of hand quilting instead lately.

Anyhow, it was a pretty simple lace project, so I would recommend it.  Add some beads to the mix if you would like to drive yourself crazy, stab your finger with the world's smallest crochet hook, and risk never finishing it in your lifetime.

Link to more info in Ravelry.

The lovely and beautiful model shown here is my dear sweet little sister.

I know, she looks like an actual model.  She always kinda has.

 (Thanks for the free modeling services, Sis!...HBD Mom!)

Finished at last! Table top quilt, hand quilted

I cannot even remember how long ago it was when my mom showed me her beautiful antique quilt top, and I said, "Oh, just give it to me so I can quickly quilt it up for you, Mom!" I think she bought it through a quilt dealer.

Well, "quickly"...doesn't exactly describe the rate at which I get things done sometimes, but I will say that finishing this small quilt was extremely enjoyable and I am thrilled with the end result.

The quilt top itself was pieced out of indigo and white fabrics by an unknown maker circa 1890. Whoever she was, I hope that she's looking down on it thinking - awesome - it's finally turned into a quilt after 120+ years.

My mom's kitchen is an amazing place with more light coming in the windows than any other kitchen I have ever been in. I can only dream of having this much beautiful light in my house anywhere, let alone in the kitchen.

She has it decorated mostly in blue and white, so if she puts this quilt on top of the center of her dining room table, I think it will look pretty smart.

I was trying to finish it for Mother's Day, so I guess it's sort of a belated gift, but anyway I think she'll like it.

Using Pigma Pens, I inked the names of her grandchildren on one of the plain white blocks. This will remain there as a permanent part of the quilt, and will not wash out.

I just love the look of inking words on fabric, and think this turned out pretty cool. She is expecting another grandchild VERY soon, so I left a spot to add the baby's name there too.

I used YLI's hand quilting thread in light brown color (to show off the stitches a bit, how flashy of me!) I have been tending to this use lately, and find that it gets fewer knots than other options.

My next post really should discuss the incredible quilted gift she gave me for Mother's Day (it's another WOW), but I'll need to photograph it for you so you can understand how spoiled I am.

Road to California Quilt Show - heading home

What a nice time we all had at the quilt show.

Lots of classes were taken, loads of new things were learned.

Lots of booths were visited and we'll have to admit that we did do a little bit of shopping. Just a bit.

I got to hang out with not only my family (including a surprise visit from my sister and brother-in-law!) but my mom's friends as well.

My mom's friends Mrs. P and Mrs. McD have grandkids too, so they were natural friends of our 2 yr old. He was loving the extra attention and kisses.

I have a pile of business cards from booths I visited and loved. A lot of them have online shops so you all will be in good shape.

My new favorite is Wooden Spool Designs. Her web site leaves a bit to be desired, but her booth was adorable! Tons and tons of hand dye wools and cute original patterns as well. She'll be at the Long Beach, CA quilt show this summer, if you're heading in that direction check her out.

I just was looking around at some of my usual fabric sources on the web and found this retro robot fabric a Purl Soho. Can I resist buying some?....perhaps. Perhaps not!

Gifts from Japan

My good friend that I used to work with was here visiting from Japan last weekend through today.

Unfortunately, I was out of town at quilt class for the majority of her visit. Boo-hoo...oh, the shopping that I must have missed! She's practically a professional shopper here in the U.S.

She did have time to go out to dinner last night with us, so we had a very nice visit for the evening, and ate some AWESOME Mexican food.

As you may imagine, Japan has some of the best food on the planet, but that being said...good Mexican is a bit tough to come by if you live there.

In typical Japanese style, my friend struggled to haul all the gifts she brought for us into our home.

For our son were packs of rice crackers. This was a huge hit. For my husband was a very impressive collection of Japanese junk food. He's a big fan, and I'll admit I never met a Pocky I didn't like.

And for me was the latest copy of Quilts Japan, complete with their calendar for 2008.

Best of all, my friend's mom is a quilter. She sent the quilt pictured above for me - isn't it lovely?! All hand done, and beautiful.

Her mom is also getting on in years and is trying to find a good home for her fabric collection. She wanted my friend to bring all of her quilting fabric over to me, but my friend could only find so much space in her luggage.

Even with limited space, she brought tons and tons of amazing fabrics, collected over many years, from Yuzawaya in Tokyo (you know this my favorite shop on the planet).

I was shocked with this generosity, but I suppose I should should have been more prepared for it considering how sweet my friend has always been to me. Japanese culture is truly a beautiful one. What a blessing to have friends such as these.

Last list - 10 things to complete in 2008, and a homo sapien brain teaser

Serious star sighting alert! This picture is from my mom's digital camera and she ran into this mystery knitter over lunch today.

I know you know who he is...right? Can you guess!?! He also makes quilt fabric (this is a HUGE hint!). Bonus points to brainiacs that guess!!


So here's my last list for a while.

10 things that I want to acomplish in 2008. Yes, this year people. Not this crazy list of 43 things to do before you die (too sad for my taste and 43 is WAY too few for me) but 10 things that in a pinch could actually be acomplished in the next year.

Let me know if you post your list...I'll have a follow up post on 1/8 (my blogiversary) with links back to your cool list!

Here goes:

1. Devote more time and energy to our family (my favorite thing to do, this one is a gimme)

2. Finish my sister’s Dear Jane Dear Hannah wedding quilt (this will be a HUGE stretch)

3. Fine tune my humble little blog, have a freebee section of patterns and handful of some small things in a little shop section

4. Write in permanent ink on my Baltimore album quilt blocks

5. Hit the gym more

6. Do something special for our house that it well deserves (new light fixtures? Paint the scary ugly kitchen?)

7. Become a certified quilt appraiser

8. Attend at least 2 major quilt shows, photograph them, and post comprehensive flickr sets for all to all enjoy

9. Be more green: seek out a CSA source for our family, grow more of our own food in the garden, and make an effort to buy locally as much as possible

10. In another environmentally friendly vein - Keep my over 10 yr old, 115K+ mile, beloved car even though it’s totally impractical doesn’t have a trunk and only holds 4 people

Creative Queue

Do you have a creative queue of some sort?

I have a long running list of projects that I want to work on, with a priority/interest order that shifts with my mood, time, and my ability to concentrate.

I find this queue of creative endeavors to be unfortunately mostly managed on post-it notes stuck to my phone, my desk, and at times (dark times) my pants.

Do you have tips on how to manage your creative projects, how to list them all down, how to organize, prioritize, and keep them all in your thoughts to someday be at last completed?

If you have good ideas on how to do this, pleeeeeease, pretty please share them with me.  I'm all ears.

Until that happy day, here are a few things I'm kicking around...not really in priority order yet (I need help, obviously!).

• Wrist Warmers (above) out of Lollipop Yarn, colorway Life Is Beautiful
• Basket Quilt: applique handles down, baste it and quilt it (small, so will go quickly!)
• Owl embroidery project from kiriki - starting it as soon as my new embroidery hoop arrives, apologies in advance to the owl, your destiny is probably to become a pincushion!
• Sweater for my 8 yr old
• Socks for my mom 
• Wedding Signature Quilt: for goodness sake it's been almost 10 years, this awesome quilt deserves better
• Birthday Signature Blocks: you have seen me working on these for ages, time to pre-applique down all the numbers for my kids and nieces
  
  
  That's the short list, I swear!

Traveling Gnome

Anybody who has seen the movie Amelie or even just had a neighbor who put out a lawn gnome for too long probably understands the urge to pull the travelling gnome prank.

Although the above gnome hasn't traveled too much in his somewhat short life, if I were a gnome I would have logged at least 6,000 miles since I last had a moment to do a blog post.  Busy busy.  Home now and happy to be back.


I knit this little gnome for my mom to take around on her travels actually (and to possible tempt her to visit me).  It's from the Mochimochi book - very addicting.

I have this very strong urge to go on a basting binge.  Yes, to baste all the quilt tops I have laying around waiting for some hand quilting love.  Once they are basted they seem to quilt themselves and 'poof' finished quilts are flying off my hoop.  For lack of a quilt basting fairy visiting my house, I will have to get off my tuffet and have a basting party.  Wanna join along?

This week I started to run low on these little notebooks I sometimes make for myself and my sister so we can jot things down in them.  I ordered a few more chip board covers so I can make another batch.  I decorate them with calligraphy on the outside to make them a little special.  They cost only around $1 each to make, although they do take me a few minutes to put together.  


On the machine quilting front - have any of you out there got an opinion on Aurifil thread?  I've been hooked on it lately and wondering if I'm the only one in love with their 50wt cotton.  Maybe there are an army of quilters out there that feel the same.  Agree?  Disagree?  Never tried?



I recently got a question about how I made the quilt in my banner.  I'll have to do an upcoming post on that.  Oh and while I'm at it, maybe a little give away too...hm...ok, soon!


Wish me luck on my baste-o-rama.  I'll be reporting back with my amazing progress (ahem, hopefully)!

Japanese Fabric Collection

My fabric collection is one of my most beloved tools.

I put a lot of time and energy into finding just the right tones, textures and colors so that the next project will push my creative limits and become something beautiful.

A lot of quilters call their fabric collection a "stash" and I'm not sure I like the sound of that.

"Stash" - sounds like some disease you should have treated, or a bad habit of filling up your spare bedroom with items you will never use or need.

My fabric is my 'collection', and my tool to create what I love. I'm thrilled to have such a well stocked arsenal.

Where do I end up looking for fabric these days? Here's my top 5 shops (this week at least!).

1) http://www.azabu-ya.com/
The above fabric was purchased from this shop

2) http://www.purlsoho.com/
Love their Japanese section

3) http://www.superbuzzy.com/
Not sure what type of fabric this is called but for lack of a better description "Japanese cute" is probably pretty close. Shop owners have excellent selection.

More Japanese cute is here, but these guys don't ship to the states.

4) http://www.reprodepot.com/
Adorable fabrics, very nice customer service, awesome.

5) http://www.quiltessentials.com/
Material Poessessions - quilt shop near where my mom and sister live, they have a great taupe collection in their shop (I don't buy online here, I do it in person).

Got some other links for me? Please let me know!!

Two baby quilts for "Twin" cousins

First of all, thanks for the ideas of how to get rid of my little veggie box kitty pooper.

I think that last post scared it off, because it hasn't been back since. If I see any further deposits, I'll be sure to put some of your ideas into practice. Oh, and don't worry, I haven't gotten near the poops, since I know it's not a good idea being pregnant and all...My sweet husband has been the clean up crew.

The picture above is of a "Popcorn Hydrangea" that my grade school friend gave to me from her garden, but I could not resist and just ordered some plants for our house.

In case you have the time, you should know that the Doll Quilt Swap is on again and currently taking sign up's. They will cap it at 100 people, so sign up now if you want a spot. I participated in the past, and there are some amazing little quilts that get created here.

I am not signing up this time, however, because I have my hands full with the "Twin" baby quilts.

Probably haven't mentioned this before, but my little sister is pregnant as well and is due on the same day as me. I know, it's incredible, but yes, it is the same exact due date.

My sister decided that between her, my mom, and myself, we would each make 2 baby quilts - one for each of the cousins. They need to be the same pattern and size, but the colors and themes can be different since my baby will be a boy and her baby will be a little girl.

I've started cutting a few pieces, and getting really excited about it now. We are taking a class together this weekend to spend some time working on them. Once I have some finished blocks I'll post pictures for you to check out.

Quiltin' with my mom

So, while we were relaxing in our Yosemite cabin, I had the great pleasure of quilting with my mom.

She showed me how to make this adorable humbug bag. It's super easy, and you can really make it in any size you like. I threw a bunch of thread spools in mine, and it seems to be working well.

Not bad for my first "practice" try. Now to make some in taupe colors....

This link is to a similar bag, w/ a free pattern and the real pattern is only $8!

Inspiration

This is one of those weeks where I could just use a little inspiration.

The "Z" key broke of my beloved work laptop (from signing my initials too often at the end of my emails most likely), the baby has picked up a tummy virus, and my sweet mom left us to go back home (we tried to keep her, it didn't work!).

While my mom was here I did get some late night work done on the Keep Calm wall hanging, so should have that done quite soon.

Where are you getting your bloggy inspiration this week? Got some tips for your fav new blogs? I'm always looking to learn about more. Meanwhile, I'm clinging to:

Decaf, please

Home Spun Living

Quilt It

Quilting with the Past

A little treat for you

I mentioned before that I have modern design on the brain.

After designing all the modern house blocks, I felt there should be something next in a similar style but with a twist.

There are some free applique patterns in the works for you.

Keep an eye out...the first one is coming soon!

The complexity of these blocks is dramatically reduced as compared to the modern house blocks, so that should make for super-fast sewing time.

And in celebration of Mother's Day, I would like to thank my own mom for being so sweet to me and our family.  Having a mom is a huge blessing, I probably don't have to tell you that.  

I started reading through historic blog posts that mention my mom and she is either giving me fabric or other quilting goodies when I talk about her, or helping me finish projects.  Thank you Mom! xo.

I also want to wish the other moms out there a very happy day.  Raising kids is something that most of us really do devote our souls to and is more of an art than a science.  Perhaps Mother's Day is the perfect excuse to get out and have an annual picnic.  Enjoy the day.

300th post - oh so much to say!

What can one say except for "WOW" on your 300th blog post. Not sure I have ever had this much fun.

Deep bow to each and every reader out there who takes the time to come along for the ride here. Thank you!

Emily from Ravenhill was kind enough to bestow the "Arte y Pico" blogger award to me (I'm blushing here) for being a creative blogger with originality. Thanks for the honor! I get to pick 5 other bloggers to pass it along to, here goes.

Award looks like this (ooohhh....ahhhh) - 1. Pink Chalk Studio - lovely projects here, very 'art quilty' feel, beautiful photos, huge inspiration.

2. Moving hands - would you like a little Japanese flavor with your crafting addiction? Oh so beautiful projects, pictures of Japan, loooooooove this blog, makes me want to move to Japan.

3. Oiyi's Crafts - for a woman with a tiny baby, this blog has way too many cool creations to be true. Encourages me to be myself, not just a mom, but a crafty artistic person.

4. I heart linen - If you don't read this blog yet - what planet are you living on?! Hello! Rashida lived in Japan, works with lots of imported fabrics, is a super-mom, just started working on her own book, and would have to be my personal best friend if she lived anywhere near San Jose, California (which she doesn't - boo!).

5. Kirin Notebook - Lara not only makes the most adorable things on earth, but she does it with her own self-designed fabrics. Ah...to be that cool...

(Rules below at the end of this post, if you want to continue with the fun for those of you who I named.)

Our friends at Moo have done it again. They are now offering FULL SIZED business cards. Ok... must have these...they are so affordable, and have the same incredible feature of allowing you to put a different picture on each and every single business card (pack of 50 = up to 50 different images).

Finally, that super tiny tiny pin cushion above is a gift I made for my sister. You may remember the strawberry one I made a while back.

I sent her one before, but it was lost in the mail, so my mom agreed to hand carry this one so it would not be lost in the universe again. This time, I got fancy fancy, and attached a silk ribbon to it, so she can hang it off her favorite pair of scissors while quilting and have a very handy spot to park the needle when taking a little break.

Award rules below:
1) Choose 5 blogs that you consider deserving of this award based on creativity, design, interesting material, and overall contribution to the blogger community, regardless of the language.
2) Post the name of the author and a link to his or her blog by so everyone can view it.
3) Each award-winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award.
4) The award-winner and the presenter should post the link of the “Arte y pico“blog , so everyone will know the origin of this award.
5) Please post these rules.

Moo-rific! Moo-tastic! Moo-licious!

My pack of mini-cards came from Moo today, and all I can say is I am their biggest fan now.

If you have not ordered these with pictures of your quilts or your kids or even your big toe, it's time to visit Mooooooo!!!!

I'm in love. I called my mom (yes, she quilts too) and said - wow Mom, these really are cute, I mean adorable...seriously I want to walk around and look at them all day, they are really awesome, so cute.

She said - gee, Marisa, are they really cute? Ha ha, ok, people, maybe I'm a little too into the Moo, but anyhow, it's novel...simple things for simple minds I guess.

In other news, tomorrow, 8/29 is the last day to post mark applications for entry into PIQF (Pacific International Quilt Festival) so I'm off to sweat it out, and finish my applications. They have rejected me before....so stay tuned to see if they take my quilts.

I'll have to post some pix of the quilts I'm entering. Think a happy thought. The quilt show is juried, meaning they are super picky and only take quilts that are "worthy".

Am I Worthy? Only time will tell!!!!

Birthday Party: Party On!

Our boys birthdays are over and I must say that I'm a little sad since the preparations for the kid party and all the hoopla of the fiesta itself was such a huge blast.

I will have to give you a party brain dump in my next post.

Some of you asked a couple of questions about the birthday crowns.

I used Timtex or Peltex inside the two layers of felt in order to give the crown a lot of body and stand up to the battering it usually takes from my kids.

C&T publishing has everything you could want to know about Timtex in this blog post. Peltex seems to be another version of the same material - which is just thick interfacing.

I don't really prefer one or the other, I've used both in different crown's I've made and they both work well.

And to answer your other question, yes, I did make the crown adjustable by putting some simple ties in the back. Thought it would be more comfie than elastic, and with the size of my kids' heads...you never know how big they will actually get!

My mom was here last weekend and brought some goodies from Purl Soho for me. You gotta love these Lorna's Laces Shepherd Striping Sock Yarns for 40% off. Score! Thanks Mom.

Miracles

I will admit that part of me was wondering if my mom would ever get around to making the log cabin blocks that we wanted to use to set the Dear Jane blocks for my sister's wedding quilt. She's busy, has tons of projects going on, is playing around with her new long arm quilter, and is of course also working.

After my visit down there, I have seen that these little miracle blocks have not only be created by my uber-talented mommy (seriously, a dedicated and precision machine piecer) but they have come together to make this quilt look more miraculously spectacular than I was expecting. This is only a portion of what the finished quilt will look like, but I think we are seriously off to a good start. Thanks Mom for your hard work, this quilt is a 2 heads are better than 1 story.

Mpix (awesome place to print your photos, or blow up photos by the way) is having a sale for the next 7 days. I suppose this only applies to people here in the states. Not sure, anyhow, if you order this week, you can get business cards printed - 100 for $10. This includes double sided, full color, and for gloss it is only a tiny bit extra. Thinking it's time to get some quilting business cards!

First Day of the Rest of my Life

When I was a kid, my dad would always tell us that today, is the first day, of the rest, of your life.

Well, yesterday I resigned from my job of 7 years, in order to move on to another company also still in high tech.

Today was my first day not working. I have a little time off before I start the new job. I'm so excited and thrilled to spend some extra time with my favorite little person (baby?). Now that he's 18 months old, or he will be tomorrow actually, it hardly seems like we have a baby on our hands.

It's very strange to have left behind so many friends, but I don't really plan to lose any of them, so that is the good part I guess.

So, above is an amazing quilt that was given to me by the mom of one of my great friends I met through working with a team of Japanese co-workers. This girl is so amazing, and her mom gave me a TON of incredible quilted items. This wall hanging is for girl's day, I think. Hopefully I have that right.