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!