more fabric...

I got a phonebook from my dad's house a few weeks ago, and finally started tearing it apart... First I ripped out a big chunk, but it didn't come out neatly, so instead I took out lots of little chunks, 5-15 pages at a time... then I cut them into squares... I'm going to use these squares to make a string quilt! I'm so excited. I LOVE STRING QUILTS!!!!! (don't you?)

a very dear friend is getting married soon, and he's one of the snuggliest people I know. What could be better than a snuggly, soft, extra big throw blanket/quilt? I was originally inspired by Anna Marie Horner's flannels and voiles, but after trekking the kids to 5 (FIVE!) fabric stores yesterday, I gave up and ordered some online. I came home with double gauze, flannel, linen, corduroy, and regular quilting cotton... (I also ordered some dobby dots)

I'm going for mostly greens and blues, but we'll see what happens...

my husband's business partner is also getting married soon, so I'm going to make them a quilt too... I'm thinking stripes... of some sort.... not quite sure yet...

supposedly the yellow of the nano iri double gauze in the middle (the large polka dots) is the bride's favorite color... (if the fabric weren't so expensive, I'd LIVE in double gauze)... she also likes pink, green and brown....

I think I'll do lots of solids for them, since I couldn't find much for them...

not bad though, for shopping with 2 babies? I can't WAIT to start cutting!

summer clothes (to be) for the Bean

My daughter has begun to be very aware of her clothes, she is determined to choose her own outfits... (she'll be 18 months at the end of the month.) She's obsessed with PINK! such a girl! I've been so careful to ensure that all the colors of the rainbow recieved equal representation in her wardrobe, but now she is ALL about pink. and layers. (legwarmers, pants, shirt, dress, sweater, hat, necklace, socks, sneakers, no matter how hot it is!)
We went fabric shopping yesterday for quilt fabric, but I caved and finally bought some pink double gauze for her... I'm thinking ruffled long tops, to be worn over leggings (to protect her knees, she's such a climber/runner that she scrapes her knees A LOT)

the red moda on the right is just a regular cotton, but it was really cheap, and she actually pulled the bolt off the clearance rack, and there was only a yard left, so....

this one is actually for D... if you look closely, there are traffic cones in the circles, and race cars, tow trucks, and ambulances with sirens blaring... PERFECT for a little boy equally obsessed with construction, cars, emergency vehicles, and disasters!

here are the cutest for the bean, the frog print in pink from Heather Ross' Far Far Away (double gauze), some really cute apple dots (japanese, also double gauze, with the occasional leaf and adorable worm sprinkled in there), and a pinkish linen (also japanese) with duckies, flowers, and umbrellas. (the bean LOVES ducks)
so I need to pick some patterns and get to it, right?

my idea of heaven....

Momen
Tel:310.328.0500
Fax:310.328.0501
1323 El Prado Avenue,
Torrance CA 90501

Open Mon-Sat, 10am-6pm

(free sewing classes too!)

I bought several fat quarters (only $2 each!) and several regular quarters, and 1 yd of the owl print, planning on making one side of D's sunhat from that, but then he wanted trains...

Prices were as expected... obviously more than Joanns, but the quality is SO much better, the prices make sense... on par with a really nice fabric store (like the Cotton Shop in Redondo Beach), but with awesome Japanese fabrics...

It's a small space, but they really have it full of wonderful stuff...

I ran into Lori, from the LA Modern Quilt Guild... she and her friend were buying loads of Echino prints to make that quilt on the back wall....

they have notions scattered in and around, with random sales, so it's not necessarily intuitive, where you'll find stuff, but its SOOOOOOO much fun to browse! I'm sure they have a logic to their store organization, but it's all so very beautiful, I was perfectly happy to float from section to section and be surprised.... (the pic above shows some amazingly gorgeous sashiko prints)

at the end of the hallway here (which is lined with the ridiculously cute Japanese ribbon trims and bias and other awesome stuff like that), they have a classroom with oodles of sample bags, and there is a full bookshelf of Japanese craft/sewing books and patterns.... They have tons of felt toys/magnets/decorations/bags for sale as kits, too....

AND the people were super-duper-ooper-smuper (as D would say) nice, AND it's located next to an awesome bakery (Torrance Bakery), AND just past that is a park!

HEAVEN!

Success!!!

I have one of the 1/2 square triangle baby quilts pieced, just need to
plan the borders... Hopefully I'll choose/sew them tonight, and can
make my quilt sandwich tomorrow (tonight if I'm lucky!).
Also, while my ukulele lessons aren't going so well (it hurts!!!), my
bread baking skills are definitely improving... Thanks in large part
to America's Test Kitchen, (their "Baking Illustrated" book, in
particular), I can now officially make successful biscuits!
I have made 2 awesome batches of "cream biscuits," and a batch of
shortcake biscuits.
Yay!

better pictures...

Here's my stack of finished 1/2 square triangles...

I made 18 pairs of solids/prints, 4 of each block, for 2 different (but the same) baby quilts...

(I started with 4.5" squares, but am not bothering to measure beyond that...

here're the blues-greens-yellows...

the pinks-purples-reds-oranges-yellows...

I made my husband help me choose the block order... we both loved the layout of diagonal light to dark, as judged in terms of saturation of the solids...

so here they are, ready to go....

and here's another shot of the yarns I dyed last night, because they make me so happy.

vintage boys pants...

My son is a very solid 3.5 year old. I'm told by the dr that I don't have to worry about his weight, but he's not a skinny minny. His shoulders are so wide, that if I buy a woven shirt, he needs a 7-8... (he's like his dad in that respect) His waist/hip (cause he wears his pants right about at his hip bones)measurement right now is almost exactly 22", which is an inch bigger than the measurement for this awesome pair of vintage boys pants...

plus, I'm not sure, when it says "size 4, waist 21" if that means the boys waist measurement, or the finished pant size...

granted there's elastic in the back, but I am planning on attempting my first resize to add an extra 2" to the width. I found this awesome looking explanation of how to do it here...

my gram gave me this old sheet, which maybe is the ugliest fabric I HAVE EVER SEEN (she didn't want to give it to me for precisely that reason, but it's free and totally fine for making boy pant muslins, right?

I guess my cat is color/pattern-blind, cause he thinks this is a great kitty bed...

Quilt Along/ Clean Up

I have lots and LOTS of fat quarters, from a year of getting the 30's medley of the month from Keepsake Quilting...

dunno why, but they were all still folded in their bags... I get them in the mail, open then, caress them, and then carefully refold them and put them back...

I'm considering participating in the Paintbox Quilt Along led by Oh Fransson, so I decided that the first step was to organize my stash...

I folded and folded and folded, and then sorted by color...

I love solids...

here're all my folded 1/4s and my 1/2yds of solids...

now that they're all out and pretty, I'm trying to decide what to do with them... I'm considering lots and lots of triangles...