January 22 -- thinking warmer

Yesterday we stopped into Gone Sewin so I could tell Toni how much I appreciate her being open and having the shop so close to home, even if I don't get in as often as I'd like. I told her about my trip to The Quilting Bug, and she seemed to have heard similar stories from other customers. I then proceeded to drop the rest of my January budget on fabrics that I liked. No quilt in mind (no serious ones, anyway), just wanted to pay my dues to a good local shopkeeper. It must have been a coincidence that she was having a 35% off sale at the same time..


So, my fabric acquisitions for 2010 are a bit staggering.. I think I'm up to 18 new yards already. I think I'm done shopping for a while.

This week I have also been sorting through my stash-- I want to slowly throw everything in the wash machine.  I've been good in the past about washing second hand scraps, but I'm not always good about washing fabric right when I bring it home.  Then when I want to dive into a project (like tonight) I have to put my enthusiasm on hold for a few hours to run the washer, assuming it's all the same color, or for a full day or more if it isn't.  Right now I've got a bunch of warm colors in the wash-- deep pinks, bright oranges.  I have a simple pattern in mind and wanted to test it out.  This might turn into a good stash buster if it works out as easily as I'm hoping.  At first I was just going to use up some of the random older florals from the bottom shelf, but then I remembered that I really like the fabric I've bought recently and I want to use that, you know?  So in the wash it went.  If the project stalls once it's out of the dryer then so be it.  That's what I get for not being prepared..

oh, and some inspiration I'd like to share:

Amy at A Commonplace Life
BumbleBeans
and the simple yet satisfying quilts over at HeartStrings Quilt Project

January 20

Back home in New York and very appreciative of the peace found in familiar surroundings and routines.  My dad got out of the hospital today but will need another operation shortly.  Thank you for your kind thoughts and emails, everyone goes through rough patches, I think I just wasn't prepared for this one.

Well, we're 20 days into the new year and already I've been to 3 different quilt shops in 3 states.  Let's review..

First, on our last day in Virginia, our hosts asked if there were any places I'd like to go before we headed for home.. "Can I see if you have a quilt shop?" I asked.  And they did!

On our way out of town we stopped at the Cloth Peddler in Stephens City, VA.  A cute shop in a little store on the main street, they crammed an aweful lot of fabric into a small space.  Bolts, samples and notions were tucked in every corner.  I was a bit distracted because our friends came with us, so this small shop was filled with myself, the two owners, three non-quilting adults and two toddlers (one with a dirty diaper).  The shopkeeper was quite chatty and even showed me the new package of samples that had just came in the mail.  Beautiful fabric.  They have a lot of really nice stuff.  I left with a black print and some small cuts of medium blues (one even glows in the dark!).  If I had been alone I probably would have bought more.

(here's George helping chose fabrics from the remnant bin)

A nice, well stocked shop with knowlegeable shopkeepers.  Worth the trip if you're in the neighborhood, or just driving through.  When we make it back out that way, I'll be sure to stop in again.  The online shop looks promising too.

In Chicago I would be lying if I said I wasn't overwhelmed with the family situation.  One day I took my sister's car and drove 40 minutes south-west to "escape" to a quilt shop to catch my breath and get my wits about me.  I had been to Thimbles in Lockport before (no website?) and knew it would have a good dose of trendy fabric to put me in touch with the modern quilting world and pull me out of the dark cloud surrounding my parents' house. 

I realized how tightly wound I had been when I noticed I had been up and down each aisle twice before my eyes registered the beautiful fabrics on the bolts.  But I stayed in the shop til it worked its magic and I had calmed down. 

Not only do they have a gorgeous shop, friendly staff, beautiful fabric and cheerful local quilters, but this shop is child friendly!  They have toys for toddlers!

So George was happy, I was happy, and we just stayed there for a while.

In the end I found some fabrics that go well with my living/dining room and I bought about 4 yards, total.  I don't know if they'll become pillows or placemats, but they're very pretty.

(I actually swapped out the center green for an Amy Butler print, but it coordinates well, take my word for it)

 And today, on a whim and with no intention of buying any fabric, I drove out to The Quilting Bug in Massapequa.  I've wanted to check out this shop since we moved in LI, and it's really not that far away (15 minutes?), but when I got there, my heart fell.  It's bad.  It's not the bigger, trendy shop I was hoping for.  Sure, it's a nice size with a big classroom, but it's not well set up at all, and it didn't really have that much fabric.  (How is this possible? A quilt shop without fabric?) Ok, so they had 2 walls of fabric, but I didn't want any of it.  I didn't even like any of it.  It was so.. uncoordinated and random.  I felt bad for the shopkeeper, she must be going through hard times.  She told me (once I got her off the phone) that they are relocating to a smaller shop down the street.  I hope she is able to pull things together.  I'd love to give her my business if she had anything worth buying.  I guess the most dissapointing thing about it was the sad atmosphere of the place, like no one cared. 

I've been busy in the sewing room since I've been home, falling in love with tiny nine-patches.  Class starts again next week so I'll have to find a good balance again, but I'll manage.  C's mom is coming to stay with us at the beginning of February through March, so maybe she and I can work out a schedule that allows for more quilting time for me.. I can be optimistic, can't I?

Why am I frustrated with Blogging?

I think it's because I got a new camera last year, the nikon Coolpix, and I haven't been able to get good blog-worthy photos out of it. My old Kodak easyshare from '03 was getting slow and had a screen the size of a postage stamp, but it took nice, crisp close-ups and was amazingly clear without the flash. Little maroon Coolpix over here likes to blur the photos when I don't use a flash, not fun!
so.. i have tons of photos and lots of good things to blog about (like the second half of my Boston trip), but i'm so disappointed with the low quality of the photos that I don't even really want to share them with you. I guess I should anyway though. I'll console myself with the thought that I'm not really a photographer anyway, I'm a quilter, remember? and oh, yeah, I hit an amazing fabric shop on my trip up north...

Walk up these steps and into this invitingly-open door and inside you will find Portsmouth Fabric Company. Have I blogged about this before? PFC is the first quilt shop I had ever been to and the fabric in the stash that I bought there with my dear friend Lexi while we were in college still gets coveted and used in only the most special and important projects (read: every single scrap quilt i've tried to make). Recently I realized that I was running low on those special fabrics from that special time in my life, and thought since I was driving half way there already....

It's a good shop. All the latest. An entire wall of Kaffe. very very expensive Berninas for sale. So I thought, it's worth it to ask, "Do you have any Denise Schmidt?"

and the two women working there on Sunday afternoon looked at me with identical puzzled looks. Hmph. I guess not all quilt shop employees keep up to date with the latest and most beloved designers of the trendy-young-quilter set. I was a bit more reassured when I asked the owner the same question Monday morning (of course I went two days in a row!) and she said they do carry it, but didn't have any in the shop at the moment. Whew, at least someone knows what I'm talking about.

you may wonder why I was even asking,

as I have posted previously about my bewilderment at the

trend in blogland to buy and quilt from all of one designer's collection.

Heck, I only have (had) 1 fat quarter of DS, purchased unknowingly

and I didn't even sign the FMF petition (though i think

i would buy some if it were reprinted),

but it is precisely because of that petition that I wanted

to HUNT for some FMF, or any of DS's fabrics,

just to see if I could find them. Sadly, I didn't.

But for the record-- I love love Denyse Schmidt's quilts.

It's ok though, really, because they had lots and lots of other beautiful fabric to look at, touch, and eventually choose from. I wasn't planning on buying fabric. Hell, I went to the quilt show with a list of what I wanted to buy so I didn't get carried away with frivolous purchases. At the show I ended up buying tons and tons of scraps (another post, i promise), but as I was looking around PFC, colors spoke to me. fabrics called to me. and... i bought yardage. whoops. :)

you see, I bought this new umbrella a few weeks ago at the GAP.. (gap.com does not seem to sell umbrellas, sorry, no link to a photo) and I love the colors-- deep pink, purple, creamy oatmeal-ish neutral.. I thought I should make a quilt, you know how it goes. I bought some "aged muslin", a brown/purple/red floral, some Australian prints in purple and orange, and a big piece of Valori Well's cinnamon butterflies . Oh, I had fun. I also quickly rifled through their pile of scrap strips, mostly Kaffe Fasset, and for some reason I was in the mood for reds & pinks. Hmm.

When I got home I mulled some patterns over for a few days, sketched out some possibilities, mulled it over some more, and decided I want to do the above pattern (Quilt by Joann Borges) in a King size for our bed. (btw, i don't actually have this pattern. Joann said she'd send it to me but I need to remind her. If you have it and wouldn't mind mailing me a copy, let me know please!). I was thinking about it for a while. It consumed my thoughts for days actually. But I didn't do anything. The fabric is still sitting in the PFC bag, tossed onto a shelf in the sewing room. I backed away in favor of playing with scraps instead. I do still want to make the quilt, so I guess we'll see when/if that'll happen.

Portsmouth Fabric Company is definitely worth the trip, if you happen to be anywhere near southern New Hampshire. I'm hoping I can get back there soon myself.

Pushing our strollers through Manhattan

Ahh, Solids. Will I ever learn how to use you?

While I was in Greece, a new friend posted a picture to her facebook and I was like, "woah, Amber quilts!" Of course I knew she quilted, but when you're on the other side of the world, sweating it out in a quilt-deprived nation, a small photo of hexagons can all the sudden spark fun ideas. So when I got home, I asked if she'd be up to taking the boys and the strollers and heading into the city..
(I thought we were coming to the city to have fun mom, not for more quilting..)

We started out at City Quilter, which I'm coming to appreciate quite a bit. They carry most of the new and popular fabrics and their inventory seems to move pretty fast. Tons of notions and books too. George was a bit rowdy and talkative, which made shopping hard, but I did manage to pick up 1/2 a yard of a Christmas print called "Figgy Pudding" and a couple fat quarters. When we were done, we headed south to Purl Patchwork, a tiny but well stocked shop that has their own blog.

Amber checked out the shelves, Dominic charmed the employees,

And George slept through the whole thing (thank goodness!)

Honestly, it was a bit surreal to shop in there, it was kind of like being inside blogland, if that's possible. They have a lot of Japanese fabric, Quilts Japan, and just about every quilting/sewing/craft book written by a blogger in the last 3 years. I liked it, of course, but only bought another 1/2 yard (pink with trees) and some more fat quarters. I'm trying to stick to a budget and God knows I don't need any fabric. the solids in the window (top photo) were awfully tempting though. So many good ideas, so much inspiration. How can I stay focused and get anything done? Well, little by little, of course :)

Already I feel like the house is coming together and things are falling into place. 2 more weeks til school starts. If I can get packages off to 2 long armers, I may actually have quilts to keep me warm this winter..

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.

Gone Sewin'

Last week while we were in Long Island, Costas had an all day orientation at the university so I dropped by Gone Sewin' and sat and quilted for a while. The more times I drive to this shop, the more I realize it is totally in walking distance from the house, provided the weather is nice. I really really lucked out on this one..

The shop is nice. Small and cozy but not cramped or over crowded. At one point there were 5 or 6 quilters in there working on projects and we all had enough space to do what we needed to do. Everyone was so friendly and I felt instantly comfortable when I got inside. Apparently there are a LOT of quilters on Long Island.. while sitting in the shop for a few hours, I was invited to 3 different get togethers, one being a thrice-weekly meeting of quilters in the park right next to my house!!. I'm really hoping I'll have the chance to attend at least once or twice before the baby comes..
Speaking of baby... that day I drew my quilting lines on Baby Quilt #2, using the Baptist fan template I got at Quilter's Stash. It's a bit tricky to line up the template, but I think I did ok.

After I had a portion drawn out, I started quilting. It's ok, but this quilt will take a lot of quilting, and right now my energy is not at that level. I'm pretty sure I won't get in done before the little one arrives, but I'll do my best anyway.
The worst thing about hand quilting these days (which I noticed again last night while quilting on the couch and watching the DNC) is that I usually curl up against the corner of the couch with my feet up, and hold the quilt on my knees.. now when I try to get into this position, I have this huge belly in the way and i can only stay in the position for about 2 lengths of thread. I will keep trying though...

Quilter's Stash

Last week Janet took me out to Quilter's Stash and it's a darn good thing I never got out there before. This shop is amazing!! they have everything, really, EVERYTHING. for example== i had been looking for a Baptist Fan quilting template for the last few weeks and, sure enough, they had one.
Their fabric collection is huge. It was a good thing I had a specific project in mind when I went in or I could have been lost in there for hours.

They have tons of classes too and a very nice, large classroom. It's too far for me to have ever taken a class there, but I'm happy to know that such a shop exists in southeastern MA...

Janet helped decide on suitable backing fabrics, thankfully they were all on the clearance shelf. I finally chose one asian floral with a mustard-ish background and two KF shot cottons (one is the same that I used on the front, the other matches nicely).

Though my will power was strong, I couldn't leave without another fat quarter in a dark bamboo leaf print as well as the Baptist fan template and a water soluble marking pen. This shopping trip completely ate up my spending budget for that week, and it might take me a bit of time to recover...
The quilt is almost finished, well... I will have to really focus on it today in order to have it ready by tomorrow afternoon, but it will get done. Janet had good hints for solving my 2" square sashing issues-- instead of sewing on one long strip (50 squares) to join the rows of blocks, I have been sewing 7 squares to the bottom of each block and then joining them. Maybe this is a well know sashing secret, but I haven't made too many quilts with sashing, so the headaches and secrets were all new to me.

Stitch stitch stitch

Well, the housing contracts are signed and today marks 29 weeks pregnant, so I guess for updates, I'm doing quite good.

The month of August stretches out before me with hardly any hard and firm "plans" and for a few moments I was worried I wouldn't know what to do with myself. Last weekend I drove out to the Cape to see the Bayberry Quilters show, which was worth the 2 hr drive but sadly my camera batteries died after photos of the second quilt. Again, lots of hand quilting which made me so happy. On my way home I stopped at Tumbleweeds in Barnstable and spent more time there than I had at the show, leaving without the new Japanese magazines I had gone in for, but with a bag of fabric instead. It's rather strange how inspiration struck, really..

The bathroom of the shop is plastered with quilt posters (of course) and one showed the cover of Rowan's Patchwork & Quilting, Vol. 4, with Kaffe Fassett's "Bird Boxes" quilt on the cover. I have always admired his quilts, fabrics and books, but from a distance because I felt they were sooo expensive-- I thought you couldn't just buy 2 of his fat quarters, you'd need to buy ALL of his fabric and make quilts using only that, as he does in the books. Daunted by the idea, I never did. Sure, I bought the 2 or 3 fat quarters here and there, but never yardage (except for 2 yards of Glassworks-- one in green, one in gold..). On Saturday the Bird boxes quilt just spoke to me. I had favorited it on flickr ages ago and as I wandered through the shop, all sorts of bolts started to call to me, begging to get a place in this quilt.

I justified it by saying that we need a new quilt for our bed, and I'd hate to get another store-bought one when I have the whole month of August to sew as we wait for the new house to be ready... I bought 7 different solids, 6 KF shot cottons and one creamy yellow flannel. The color palette wasn't one I had spent much time thinking about, but all of the colors make me happy and comfortable, just what I want for the new house. I picked up some tiny bundles (9x11" pieces they had rolled up and tossed into a big kiddy pool near the register) and 2 matching fat quarters, the rest of the sashing squares will come from my stash.

I'd like to get the top pieced and sent out to a long armer in time to get it back before the 2nd week of Sept, when the move should actually happen. All the fabrics have been washed and now I'm in the cutting phase. I pieced 7 blocks and I like them, but cutting all those tiny squares (I've adjusted the pattern to make 12" blocks and 2" sashing strips) really just makes my days seem full of quilting. I'll cut some, then sew a block, cut some more, and turn to binding the baby quilt.. it's nice to have several tasks to bounce from, it's done a good job of warding off cabin fever so far. Hope my motivation doesn't wane though. I'd love to have this quilt on my bed some day...

Picking up the pace

Life is moving a bit faster now. Well, to be honest, it's moving really really fast.

(photo by danagraves)

-only one trimester left of pregnancy.
-we put an offer on a house and it was accepted in less than 24 hours.
-someone is interested in C's car and we may be able to sell that by next week.
-must pack the house, schedule movers, and do a million other things while C is in Athens for the month.
-I leave for Chicago in a week~~~

But, on the bright side:

I LOVE the house we're buying!!

AND, it's within walking distance of a QUILT SHOP!!

Amy's visit

Amy and I have been friends for ages, since way back when we used to run all over Kyoto, write stupid essays in Japanese, and complain about our O-kas. She has always been a huge supporter of my creative efforts. When she told me she was taking a class at City Quilter and wanted to come over and sew together, I decided to make her a little sewing kit. We all know that having cute things makes working on any task more enjoyable, deshou?

It is similar to the other sewing kits I've made but I changed the size so it would hold a pair of crane scissors and (shock) I finished it in just under 10 hours. The front is machine pieced and hand quilted, the inside is a mix between machine and hand work. The best parts about making it were:
+the front plum blossom fabric is one that I've been coveting in my stash, not knowing how to use. I'm so glad she picked it.
+everything came from my stash, even the zippers.
+after having sorted my scraps a few weeks ago, I knew exactly where to find that bit of brown bias tape for the edges.
+Amy likes it!
It was a quick visit but we were able to catch up on a lot of things. I only barely scratched the surface on all the quilting things I wanted to tell her, but there's time. Already she has identified an interest in Denyse Schmidt and the first block she drafted showed a lot of original style. Ah. I just have this wealth of knowledge (read: internet links, blogs, etc) that she needs to look at, but I don't want to overwhelm her. Hopefully the hobby will stick and we'll have a chance to sew together again soon. At any rate, I hope she has patience for all the links I'm about to start sending her...

Fabric Heaven

(See Amy-chan, I told you I was spoiled)

A package arrived in the mail about 10 days ago and I was stunned to see the antique kimono silk (above) folded neatly inside. On a delicate piece of seasonally appropriate stationary (momeji, of course) was a letter about a new boy and a lucky find at a flea market. She always knows what to send to put me in the best mood.

Then on Wednesday my two bosses came back from a recruiting trip to Tokyo. Before they left I had hinted to Chris that they would be passing through the Kichijoji station with the 7 floor Yuzawaya (which Marisa mentioned here ), but I didn't think he'd remember the name or the cute knitting ram symbol on the signs, let alone actually go there and buy fabric for me. But as I mentioned before, Mr. O, a Tokyo native, knows quite well my passion for handicrafts, so when I dropped him the hint, I knew he would know exactly what I was talking about.

Thank you, thank you, Mr. O.

Chris came back with 2 meters of this fabulous green and cream print: And Mr. O brought me a meter of this:

(the colors are perfect, aren't they?)

And small cuts of these:
(plus one more I didn't photograph)

What will I do with it all? The antique kimono silk will make a nice table runner, but the others will take some time to tell me what they want to be. For now I'll just pet them nicely and appreciate how lucky I am to work for people who know me so well.

If I could be anywhere, I'd want to be in Sapporo

(a stained glass window in Sapporo Station)

Sapporo is quite possibly my favorite city in the whole world. Though I've never lived there, I have many many fond memories of traveling, partying, clubbing, shopping, and of just soaking in life in Japan (preferably from the second story of Starbucks sitting at the bar overlooking a busy intersection..). Mrs. K. and I took the train into the city and met up with her daughter, Keiko, and her friend, Mrs. Oda. First we stopped by Keiko's apartment which is small (2 rooms and a tiny kitchen) but wicked cute, then we made our way to a fancy French restaurant for lunch.
While traveling through the city, I couldn't help but notice the current fashion trends. Notably spring jackets with a belt tied in back (Keiko's had removable lace trim on the bottom hem), skirts with leggings or pants underneath, knee-high socks, and socks & high-heels (occasionally open-toed heels/sandals). Shocking. Loved it. After lunch they decided to let me loose on a shopping spree -- our first stop= Kanariya.
I was in an overwhelmed state of shock upon walking in the door. It took me more than a few minutes to regain composure and realize I was actually there, with money, and no time limit. I don't exactly know what happened, but before I knew it I was pulling rolls of fabric off the racks and saying "ichi meitoru zutsu" (one meter each, please) to the handsome shop clerk (how come cute guys don't work in American fabric shops?!), and that was just the first floor, Quilting fabric/notions are on the 4th floor..
It was almost a good thing that I spent most of my money on the first floor, because of course on the quilting floor things are much more expensive. The beautiful thick cottons behind me in this pic ran $14~$22/meter. I wanted them, but didn't buy any (that day..). Instead, after 2 hours of shopping, I walked out with 22.5 meters of cotton prints, a clover thimble, a sashiko kit, two quilt books, and the May issue of Quilts Japan (my luggage is still in disaray, I think I'll post pics of individual items as I use them later on).
Here Keiko and Mrs. Oda are waiting patiently, probably discussing how nuts I am. I swear, all 3 women were in total shock at what I was doing (and what I was spending). Keiko was very helpful with holding bolts while I ran back and forth from the shelves to the cutting table. We asked the 4th floor shop girl if she knew of any local quilt shows going on that weekend. You'd think someone working on the quilting floor of a HUGE fabric shop would know these things, right? Eh, she didn't know. I found out later (after we returned to Tomakomai) that there was a quilt show right there in downtown Sapporo. Sadly there was no way for me to get back to the city before it closed though. I spent a few days regretting that, but then started appreciating everything else I was doing instead.

After shopping we said good-bye to Mrs. Oda and headed back to Keiko's, stopping for some groceries along the way. It was awesome to be in a grocery store again. We picked up some noodles for a quick dinner, but I thought Keiko might like a little Greek food, so I offered to make her fasolakia , thinking I could get all the ingredients there. When I went to look for the ingredients though, I was in for another shock...

Fresh green beans are sold in individually wrapped packs of 10 beans each. We opted for frozen. Parsley also came in cute little packages. This is the largest bottle of olive oil I could find. Ahhh.. that experience made me glad I live in America. When I lived in Japan, I didn't cook, American or Japanese food. Since I came back to the States I've been living with Costas and I still don't cook that much. Now though, the recipes I feel most comfortable with are Greek. I knew cooking Greek food in Japan wouldn't be easy, but... the fasolakia came out pretty good though, and while cooking, the apartment smelled like home.

Ok, that's a long enough post for today. Sapporo, day 2, will have to wait til tomorrow.

Just a peek

I'm back~I've got some 375+ pictures to sort through and I'm still wicked jet lagged, but

JAPAN

WAS

AWESOME.

here's a sneak peek of some of my adventures before I go to bed... (pic 1) Selfportrait at Makiba's house in Tokyo. (pic 2) one of Mrs. Ito's quilting projects. (pic 3) fabric at Kanariya in Sapporo. (pic 4) in my house slippers.
So much to say, but i'll need a bit of time to organize my thoughts. Many thanks for all the good wishes on my last post. Makiba had internet access and posted pics from our arrival here. I'll be back with more soon...