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.

2001 Nouveaux Modeles de Patchwork by Chuck Nohara

The Sarah Johnson quilt requires 172 'star' blocks such as the above and I just made just over 100 of them so far.

That puts me at the 60% mark. Time to turn on the gas pretty soon and bust the rest of these out.

I didn't to much quilting this weekend since we were on the go and had basically a kid birthday party on each of the weekend days.

My mom was visiting us last week and she gave me her recent copy of Quilt Mania Magazine. This is such a cool magazine - Originally published in French, translated to English but with a clear focus on Japanese style quilting.

There was an ad for this book: 2001 Nouveaux Modeles de Patchwork by Chuck Nohara in the issue I was reading. You can even look through it for a few pages if you check out the link.

This is a reprint of Chuck Nohara's book that she published ages ago that includes her new twist on 2001 traditional quilt blocks.

Looks like Quilt Mania sells the book and ships anywhere, so I have the feeling my copy might just arrive this week. My husband ordered it for me when he realized how excited I was about it. Really, I almost fainted when I learned it was reprinted.

Getting Out of Jail

This weekend was a holiday weekend in the U.S. but I'm not sure it was as relaxing as we were planning it to be.

Our little one decided to perform what shall hence forth be known as "The Great Escape" from his crib. The older one never figured out how to get out of his crib on his own. This baby is so clever.

This prompted us to convert his crib to a toddler bed, so he can come and go as he pleases now which presents it's own new fun and games in our house.

I did get some quilting done of my wedding signature quilt. Just cutting out all the pieces takes a little while, but working with all the pretty fabrics sure is fun. I have finished blocks to share with you as well next time.

Janet from Quilts A Lot blog gets my award for cutest blog post that I found this weekend. Her crochet flowers are adorable. I want to make some.

I also had a near-life-altering experience after reading a quilting magazine my mom gave me. I know - it's a cliff hanger....until next time!

J.U.I.C.E. and Thoughts on Finishing

The younger boy has a little cold again so we are doing what we can to get fluids into him. He was drinking a sippy cup and my husband asked what was in it. In order to not get the older one all excited about the potential for him to drink juice instead of milk at dinner I spelled it out, "J.U.I.C.E." instead of saying the word.

The older kid yelled out, "Hey! I can spell! You just spelled 'juice'!"

Ugh, perhaps we will need a new secret language. Our days of getting away with private conversation just ended. Gee that was soon.

I managed to finish a shawl (ravelry link) made from handspun yarn. It is very satisfying to have a project completed. I'm on the verge of thinking I'll try to finish my signature quilt in time for a quilt show in October. That would be a big push, but I'm so eager to have more finished projects.

Wish me luck!

Oh, and if you are on ravelry and want to find little old me, my username is 'Quiltotaku'.

Why is there not a version of ravelry for quilters? That would be the bee's knees.

I'm alive....and other good news (like the Happy Mother's Day Poop)

Not sure I have ever been away from my blog for this long before.

Over the last two weeks I pick up the most forceful flu bug I can remember running into. It gave me a really hard time, but I'm on top of it now with a lot of help from my doctor.

Creatively I've been sort of in a sleep state since that energy is the first to go when I don't have my health. I did a bit of spinning before I got sick so you can check that out above on my drop spindle.

The good news is that the rest of the family has already had this thing and weather is starting to warm up a bit, so it's looking more and more like perhaps Spring is going to finally be here.

I have been lusting after this book called Basket from Cloth, by Yoko Saito. Una shows off her copy here as well as some awesome quilting she has been up to.

I've also been loving the colors Jan is working with over at Be Mused.

Oh and finally, even though I was super sick on Mother's Day I still got the best present in the world. Our 20 month old decided on his own that he wanted to poop in the potty like our older kid - and he actually did it! Not that the days of diapers are quite over yet, but I can see a glimmer of hope now.

Spring has sprung....and what I learned from sleep talkers

There is always a weekend in spring in which our family plants the garden.

We have the obligatory heirloom tomato plants and this year we are expanding to also add some pepper plants. Not just any pepper plants - no, we are planting Padron Peppers. 90% of them are mild, but watch out for the last 10%. It's an exciting game of Russian Roulette when you eat them.

Hm, I wonder how that will go over with the kids...

Anyhow, the other night I was tucking in our baby (still a baby! not 2 yet!!) and he was saying actual words in is sleep. This is the first time I have heard him say English words while he was dreaming. Before this, he was just talking in baby talk.

So adorable to see how his brain develops, and makes me feel honored to teach him about language and communication.

I think he was dreaming of toys from what I can gather.

I've also been spending my weekends learning how to dye fiber for making yarn. It's been really fun and interesting but I have 1 more class in the series before it's over. We'll see if I can successfully make anything out of it.