194 and away we go~~

After adding on the sections I completed in Chicago & Boston, Travel Quilt #2 now has 194 stars!! And I have "freed" 90+ plastic templates to work on the next section while we're in Greece. Yay!

Getting things taken care of around the house before we go is a bit hectic and stressful-- major home improvements right before (and during) a long overseas trip is....(not my idea?) a lot to handle, for one thing. The house looks awesome though, and I'm sure we'll be surprized by the changes when we get back. For now, I'm going to try to focus on packing and not worry about anything else. Wish me luck.

In baby news== George got his first tooth and started crawling. More like, he was happy to be able to crawl the first day and since then he just wants to climb all over everything. Good times. He has started eating some table foods too (and turning his head away from my lovingly-homemade baby purees). His current faves: asparagus and toast.

pictures, travel, and stories

aagh! no substantial posts for almost a month! I'm ashamed that I stopped documenting my life like that, how will I ever remember what we did with June?

Things We Did in Chicago:

+relaxed with family
+drank tea
+sang songs from my childhood
+spent time with Aunt Lori

+Practiced crawling
+Played with cousins (and got our first taste of rough-housing)

+went to garage sales
+Learned about dogs

It was a very good, relaxing 2 weeks with my family. George traveled well, but didn't sleep that great once we got there. It took him a few days to get into a rhythm (me too). I love love love my family, it was good to see them.

Things We Did in Boston:

+enjoy the ultra-posh hotel Costas booked
+learned to sit in a high-chair


+Played with Japanese girls


+George went to his first wedding (and the bride fell in love with him!)


+and he wore a suit!
+Visited lots and lots of friends in just 3 days
+Enjoyed the roadtrip~

Summer travels aren't over yet-- next stop= Athens. George's first international flight (any advice for how to spend 10 hours on an airplane with an 8 month old?), more family, more food, more fun. I have no idea what the status of the internet connection is at the house in Greece, will post if I can. I pieced a lot of stars in Chicago and more while Costas drove to and from Boston, I'm sure I'll keep at it through the rest of the travels, let's see how big it gets by september..

constantina!

yes, we are coming to greece! send me an email and I'll write you with the details, ok?
jessicaintheforest (at) yahoo (dot) com

more stars

Constantina asked if I've found time for quilting..

and I have, here and there. Naps are good-- he sleeps, I stitch. especially when we're not at home (and I don't have housework calling).

This week I've been sewing a lot of stars for Travel Quilt #2, and I also found time to put together the beginings of a wall hanging to match my Anti-depression quilt.

I also rearranged furniture in the sewing room, clearing one corner for some repair work on the wall (removing the airconditioner, filling in the hole), and I like it.

Tomorrow George and I are off to Chicago to spend 2 weeks with my family. The packing list is similar to the one I posted 2 weeks ago-- minus the bath towels and the lamp, and now includes swim diapers & swim trunks. Ahh, summer traveling.. we've got at least 2 more trips planned after this one (all including Costas, thank goodness). George will be a seasoned traveler once September rolls around. (and my Travel Quilt is becoming a travel quilt once again :) ).

Smith Reunion 2009

It was well worth the drive...

It was great to stay on campus again (In case you're wondering, we were in Chapin). I loved being able to see Amanda walk through campus as though it were her home, because it is, and it was my home for 3 years too. I love that she and I will always share this familiarity and common experience...

Amanda's parents and brother came for the weekend too and it was great to hang out with them. Uncle Tony is my mom's oldest brother.

Everybody was more than willing to hold George for a while and he loved the attention, especially from Alex, who would lift him up high in the air over and over.

The best part of the weekend was Ivy Day, which I think is my favorite holiday, btw. The alumnae parade through campus, past rows of seniors dressed in white. George and I marched in the parade too. He got to see his first marching band...



and a lot (a lot) of white skirts and pants..
The Junior ushers carry long ropes of "ivy" (I think it's laurel) and join the procession after the alumnae. When they are in place, the seniors walk through the "ivy" for the photo-taking-glory of all the parents waiting in the quad..

There were lots of receptions and activities going on all weekend, so we always had something to do. At this reception I let George try grapes for the first time (i bit it in half, held on and let him suck on it for a while). He wanted my brownie, but he's a bit young for that still..

Aunt Molly and George with Paradise pond in the background. Smith does have a truly gorgeous campus.
(George did a photo-shoot especially for Grama..)

In downtown Northampton there is a mural painted on a building next to a parking lot.. It shows the history of women in the town. I only captured one corner, the most important, imo.

The List

Because Amy asked, here's what I'm packing for our 4 day, 3 night road trip to MA.

for George:
car seat, stroller
front-pack carrier
high chair (small seat that straps to normal chairs)
2 bowls, 2 spoons
4 tubs of baby puree
1 box baby oatmeal (haven't decided if I'll put some in another container or just take the whole box...)
sippy cup
6 bibs
dish soap & sponge
5 ziplock baggies
5+ plastic shopping bags (I'm sure I'll find more along the way)
50+ diapers
wipes
changing pad, disposable changing pads
Vaseline
baby nail clipper
blue nasal aspirator (i call it the nose plunger)
4 washcloths, 3 burp cloths
sunscreen, hat, sunglasses
2 bath towels
3 teethers, 4 small toys
clothes
diaper bag
3 blankets

for Jessica:
extra pair of glasses (in case he tosses mine into the pond)
sunscreen/moisturiser
shower shoes
towel, washcloth
hair dryer
3 hand towels
travel mug, water bottle, travel chopsticks, travel paring knife in plastic case
clothes, shoes
camera, charger
cell phone, charger
travel quilt #2
blue desk lamp
datebook

Well, we're leaving in about 15 hours and that's all that I can think of. Last minute items may get tossed in "just in case." We are going by car, of course, but maybe i should post my packing list for our upcoming Chicago trip just to compare. When traveling by plane I just buy diapers/food when I get there.

Oh oh, and here's my Hootie Hider. (Nevermind the messy hair, it was windy)

Travel Quilt #2 has 173 stars

and we're getting ready to travel again..

Thursday George and I will leave on a short road trip-- up to Northampton, MA for my cousin Amanda's graduation. YAY! I'm excited to go there, but a bit worried about getting around-- it will be crowded and if I find a parking spot, I probably won't want to give it up. Plus there are hills.. and hills with a stroller can be.. well, a work out. I just pray to god it doesn't rain, that would suck.
We're going to be staying on campus (I registered for reunion, even though it's not my reunion year-- it was cheaper and easier than trying to find a hotel) which should be really convenient and special. The accomodations will be bare bones (bring your own towel & lamp), but I'm eager to stay in a Smith house again. Still not too sure how things will go with George, but we'll play it by ear and try to stay flexible. My list of what to pack is getting really really long. There are the essentials like baby nail clippers, wipes, 50 diapers, and sunscreen, but I'll also need to bring the blowdryer, his highchair, extra blankets, bowls, spoons, a waterbottle & travel mug for me, and probably a few things I'm forgetting. I'll start packing tomorrow, wish me luck.

Turtle Resort

A lot of you will remember that I had a turtle.. a turtle that I brought home with me when I moved back from Japan in 2002. Makoto and I were pretty close.. she kept me company when I lived alone in Hokkaido and came with us on every move we've made in the States since then, as well as on several road trips. Since George was born though, we realized she wasn't getting the type of attention she deserved and we decided to find a better home for her.

I got a phone call last week after putting a post on Craigslist, and wow, I couldn't have dreamed of a better option for her.

Just a short drive from our house is a turtle resort-- a retired couple has turned their yard into an amazing pond/garden and they do turtle rescue as well as collect turtles as a hobby. My only regret in giving up Makoto is not bringing her to this heaven sooner.

We put her in the yard and she explored for a while, eventually finding her way to the pond.

Joan and Mike have about 15 or 20 turtles living outside in two ponds, so Makoto will finally have some company.

She wasn't in very long when this guy came over to check her out. It seemed cute at first, then I realized he's a male, coming to see the new girl in the pond, and I got a little worried for her. I hope he's nice...

She seemed happy and a bit hesitant to be there-- after she dove in, she peeked back at me from behind a rock, like she was checking to see my reaction, if I'd come in and get her. I think it will take a while to get used to her new "freedom" but Mike said most of the former pets adjust to the pond quickly. He also said we can come visit if we like, so maybe we'll go back when George is older. I was sad as we drove over there, but on the way home I felt better. This is definitely better than sitting in a tank in our living room...

Quick Crafts for Sanity

There's a flickr group called "quick crafts for sanity" and these two definitely need to be included..

first I made a spring/summer "Hootie Hider" which I use every day. I took my store-bought one and just copied it to the best of my ability, using a strip of template plastic along the center of the top so it would stand out and George and I can make eye-contact. I completely forgot I had the fabric and now I'm really glad I used it on something useful.

(*edit* I had full intention of sharing a pic of this wonderfully useful item, but when I went about my day, it occured to me that taking a picture of myself using it would be nearly impossible.. it's not that I'm against showing breast-feeding photos online, just that I'm always the one taking the pictures.. so if I'm nursing, I can't also be across the room taking a picture of myself. Sure, I could set up the camera's timer, but with a hungry 17 lb baby in one hand and the hootie hider in the other, the logistics of getting the camera set up at the right angle and pressing the right button are just... well, if I ever get it to work, I'll post then, ok?)

The next project is a terrycloth bib-- I got one as a present and didn't use it for the first 6 months because it was big-- a bit too long for just a dribble bib, but now that we're eating solids (and making messes) a longer one comes in handy. I got tired of washing the one bib every night and between meals, so I went through the linen closet for an old-but-still-in-good-shape towel, traced the store-bought bib, added bias tape from my scrap bucket and Voila! Cute, practical, and very home made.

So I'm preserving sanity and using what I have all at the same time. And this weekend we get to go to Smith and show them off, yay!

Sunday Stash #4

This week I found a sweet bee and clover print to share. I was on a mission for a while to find bilaterally symmetric fabrics to make the Gamelan block in Ringle & Kerr's Modern Quilt Workshop. I finally found the fabric but by then the momentum to make the quilt was gone...
So I have 2 yards of this and I know it would look awesome all kaleidoscoped out, but...now it's just part of my stash, waiting for its time to come.

new

Yay!

Sunday Stash #3

This navy & cream print has been in my stash atleast since 2002 when I can remember first using it in a pouch I made for Yiota. I think it must have come from Joanns or Hancock Fabrics in Chicago. Again I only bought a yard... too bad though, because now I realize it would make a really nice thick border on something.

knit

I am very lucky to have some amazing crafty friends, and the more I look around, the more I feel that George and I have been blessed with some fantastic handmade gifts which deserve parading on the blog..
Last week a package arrived from Joanna in Boston. Look at the fabulous blankie she knit! The color is perfect (the photos don't do it justice) and I'm totally impressed at her border knitting.

George likes it too. The bunny with his scarf is very sweet, but as soon as George saw him an ear went in his mouth, so I'm going to put him on the shelf until the drooling/chewing can be supervised. He has enough other store-bought toys to chomp on, I want this bunny to last a little longer.

Sunday Stash #2

From my trip to Hokkaido in April 2007. I only got one yard, haven't done anything with it yet.

Sunday Stash #1

"What's in my stash?" I asked... This morning I pulled out these two:

The first is a sweet plum blossom floral from Moda. When I took the photo, I realised it would make really nice curtains in the sewing room, but sadly I have only 2 yards. I bought it at Fabric Place in Randolph, sometime in 2007?

The second is an Alexander Henry print (?) with small asian houses. I only had a yard and used most of it in my t-shirt quilt. I wish I would have found it earlier to throw some into the front of the anti-depression quilt, I guess I'll just stick some on the back. I have no idea when I got this fabric or where I bought it. It was already established stash by the time I pulled it out for the t-shirt quilt in '07.

So what's in your stash? Head on over to Tamara's and play along.

current trends

does every modern quilter in blogland have the same fabric? Am I the only quilter under 35 that does not own ANY Fleamarket Fancy or Katie Jump Rope?

I LOVe the quilts that modern quilt-bloggers are making these days, but it strikes me a little that they ALL have the same fabric in them. Hmm. Didn't anyone have a stash before they had a blog? or is it just that everyone has more disposable income than I do? (probably true)

Shannon had asked a question about trends in our LQS, but I guess this is a trend out in blogland (because these amazing quilt-bloggers definitely aren't hanging out at my LQS, unfortunately). It just feels like I'm the odd man out, fabric wise. I love my stash, but it seems to be lacking in what's "new" and "trendy". This isn't the first time I've felt this way-- back in Atlanta in 2003 I wasn't buying the trendy fabric either, but still, my stash grew somehow. So what's in my stash? Maybe I should join StashSunday and post some treasure from my stash once a week. (sorry, i can't remember whose blog does that.. comment if you know, ok? **edit** it's 1/4 of an inch) Oh but wait, that means I'd have to go back to planning blog posts and arranging photo shoots to take advantage of good lighting, to uploading and editing photos, linking to flickr and back again. Ahh.. the good old days when I had time to do all that. Now I'm happy if I can sew for 10 minutes, take a shower, and have meals at a decent hour all in the same day.
Anyway.. i should get off the computer and go sew something while he's asleep..

George's first quilt shop

yesterday the weather was nice so we took a walk down to the local quilt shop.
The walk wasn't bad-- it took less than half an hour, but the sidewalks in this neighborhood seriously need to be re-done. At one point there was a 4" drop.
George was good at the shop, flirting with the ladies and being cute on demand. He was patient while I browsed the scrap bin but after 10 minutes or so I knew I'd be pressing my luck to dig further. I paid for my scraps and we headed home again. It was so nice to be with quilters again. I'm hoping for more nice days so we can add this to our weekly routine.

April 1

I didn't finish anything (wisps or otherwise) in March, but I did start not one, but TWO new projects. I'd like to call them quilts, but with my uncertain sewing schedule I don't know how far I'll get with them. The coin quilt progressed rather quickly.. here are the strips laid out on the bed in the guest room (hey, no one's living upstairs, why not take over the entire second floor with quilting?). I've got 2 more coin strips to piece-- both are already stuck up on the design wall, just waiting for a chance to be sewn together. I could go up and work on that now actually, seeing as George went to bed early tonight, but I want to post a full update first.

As I was going through fabrics for the coin quilt I kept coming across these great dark blue batiks that I had cut up for another project long forgotten (a block swap from 2003). I have an odd number of 6.5" and 3.5" blocks already cut, and about 1/4 yard left of 4 fabrics. I decided to bite the bullet and try to make geese, finally, from this tutorial that Jan mentioned here (yeah, some 16 months ago.. did I really wait that long?).

They came out pretty good, but I realized that my machine's foot is wobbly and that's part of the reason I can't get a consistent 1/4" seam. Anyway, I think I'll use up the rest of my batik squares and pull together a lounging throw (EQ snapshot forthcoming), if time (and motivation) allows.

happy mess

Real sewing has been going on in my sewing room.

I can cut on my cutting table, and I even put up a make-shift design wall.

Although it's not as well organized as some other sewing rooms out there, it's working for me so far. And hey, I'm quilting again.

And the discussion continues..

I guess I took too long to post my next discussion question, because Shannon posted one of her own:

what is trendy in your LQS (local quilt shop) or guild and do you like the trend?

Hmm... I do have a local quilt shop, less than a mile away, which is the closest I've ever lived to a quilt shop, but I haven't been there since before George came along so I don't really consider it my quilt shop yet. And since I've been in NY I haven't joined a guild yet either, so no wonder I was so happy to get to the quilt show this weekend, I guess I'm really out of the loop..

At the LQS they seem to be really big on kits. If this is a trend, I can say I'm not a big fan. I love using my own stash and coming up with my own quilt ideas though I may be heavily influenced by quilts I've seen online or in person. the idea of putting together a quilt that someone else has designed and chosen the fabrics for (and often, the patches are already cut out) while easy, it seems like half of the fun has been sucked out of it. I don't know, that's just how I feel now.

If you want to answer the question, just let Shannon know, k?

Empire Quilters Show

Yay! I got to go to a real quilt show! There was so much to see and George was cooperative and charming as usual. I took a few pictures but most were blurry because George was bouncing and kicking in the baby carrier.. I'll upload them tomorrow and see if any are salvageable. The Empire Quilt Guild says that they're going to post photos on their website shortly, so maybe I can just link you over there...

(p.s. Thanks Becky for the pic!)

An extra step in the quilt making process= Play

How do you keep a 5 month old happy while you iron freshly washed fabric?

First you drape the fabric over your head and around his, making a tunnel.

And when that gets old (you can play for a while if you've got a large variety of colors..), drape a big piece over the baby swing. He was happy under there for at least 10 minutes.

So the fabric is washed and ironed, and sitting on my cutting table just waiting for the next free minute or two..

starting something

talked to shannon again today.. she encouraged me to go play with fabrics for a while so George and I headed upstairs for about an hour and a half this afternoon. I had been sorting fabric last week, mostly trying to get scraps in one place, and to weed through and separate bigger pieces from FQs and smaller scraps. Turns out I have a LOT of small pieces of fabric.
Anyway, I laid out one of the bigger pieces (I think it's 3 yards) on the table and started auditioning fabrics for... a new quilt. I thought I wasn't going to make anything from scratch what with no free time and too many UFOs lying around, but i've been in a slump, and something new might be just what I need to get me out of it.
I know what I want to make, but it's been a while since I had to concentrate and wrap my mind around dimentions and math and cutting plans.. I might just let the fabric sit there for a while and marinate. I've got one more pile of unsorted stuff to audition (and then all the damn scraps) and maybe then I'll think about washing, ironing, ripping and actually sewing. We'll see..

Locks of Love

Since the new year, I noticed that I was losing more and more hair each time I brushed or washed it. Not just the typical 3 or 4 strands, but piles of hair. I'd run my fingers through it and come out with a handful of hair (10-15 strands). This upset me, of course (who wouldn't be upset by losing their hair?), so I called the OBGYN and changed my multivitamin from an over the counter women's back to the prescription pre-natals. But still, I felt that before I lost anymore, I wanted to donate what I had left. I have friends and cousins who have donated to Locks of Love before, but I never thought I'd 1) cut my long hair or 2) have hair long enough to donate. I'm donating just about 10", which is what they need to make a hairpiece for a sick child. If it's not long enough, they sell the hair to offset the costs of making hairpieces, so either way I'm helping.
The last time I cut my hair this short was about 2 months after my wedding, 5.5 years ago. It feels nice, I've been shaking my head all day. I absolutely hate the "growing it out" stage, but for now I'm not going to think about that. Who knows, I may even go shorter than this...

Quilters' discussion questions

It all started with one email, one question, and my brain started thinking like a quilter again.
She asked, I answered; I asked, she answered.
And now I want to open up the conversation to any quilter out there. Here's how it works:

I'll post the discussion question and my own answer. If you want to answer it on your own blog, leave a comment so we can find you and hear what you have to say. If you don't have a blog, you can answer in the comments, but I'd really like to see this discussion spread out a bit and not stay focused on my blog alone. NOTE: this is not a "meme"-- please give thought to your answer and write more than one or two words. And link it up man, if appropriate! Link to photos, friends, your own past blog posts.. help us understand your point of view as clearly as you can.
What do you say? Are you ready to learn more about some quilters?

First Discussion Question:

if you had to pick, what would be your favorite colors(combinations)/style of fabrics?

and my answer (cut and pasted from the original email):

favorite color-- blue.
combinations-- blue/green, blue/green/white, blue/offwhite, blue/brown, cream/brown, pink/brown.
style-- hmmm. small prints, tone on tone, stripes.

I like Denyse schmidt's quilts but her fabrics don't thrill me. My last quilt was made with Kaffe Fasset shot cottons and a few of his prints (Glassworks was a fave). I love the quilts that come out of Material Obsession in Australia (check out their blog ), and today I've been contemplating this quilt/pattern. Sometimes I feel bold contrasts and other times it's soft civil war repros. Scrap quilts are definitely my favorite. Maybe I should just send you over to my faves on flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/littleshika/favorites/page10/

Ok, now it's your turn.

___________________________________________

Here are Zegi's answers.
And Shannon's are here.