Going to Japan in January...

I may have mentioned it before but if not, I am going back to Japan in January for another visit. Yes it will be cold in January, but nothing I haven't experienced before.

This time I plan to go to Tokushima (on Shikuko) for some indigo dyeing (aizome) experiences, then to Kyoto for more shibori, then on to Tokyo to go to the (huge) famous Tokyo International Quilt Show and some amazing fabric shops. I have wanted to go to the quilt show for many years and I finally decided to just do it! It is held at the Tokyo Dome (a baseball stadium) and is so large that everyone suggests going for 2 days! I can't wait.  And of course between all this, shopping for fabrics and cute sewing/stationary things and eating!!

I also look forward to getting another goshuincho (the book for the red temple and shrine stamps as seen above) and going to a lot of temples and shrines I have not yet been to. Out of thousands in Japan, finding 20 or so to fill my book will be easy!

If you have been to the Tokyo quilt show, please tell me how it was for you in the comments below!

Recent projects and plans to visit quilt shows...

I haven't made anything yet with the indigo fabrics although I did wear the tshirt to yoga the other day! I need to alter it a little though. It is a women's XL but the neckband is a little tight and it is not very well fitted. I think I will cut around the neck band and then maybe change the sleeves or even cut them off.  But for now, it was fun wearing the indigo tie-dye shirt to class!

So in the Modern Block Party class at Country Sew we did the Uneven Coins Block from the Modern Quilting Bee Block Party book we have been going through. I decided to turn mine on it's side and ended up with a small hanging. I still have the sides to finish.

I am also still working on a piece from the Out of the Box class at Country Sew. I still have a lot of stitching to do!

I decided a while back to try to make travel plans with some sort of event (quilting mostly) in mind. So in late September I am going to go to the NW Quilt Expo in Portland and then when I visit my sister the next week, to the Emerald Valley Quilt Show in Eugene.

My big decision now though is.... do I want to spend the money and go to the big big Tokyo International Quilt Show in January next year? I haven't been back to Japan since 1983 so I am sure it has changed a lot. Part of me wants to keep my old Japanese memories and part of me wants to just go and see what's new and the quilt show. Still thinking about this one!

Back to quilting and the blog...

It has been a slow start but I am gathering old projects to finish and moving my sewing area into my art room and generally making a mess of things around here! I have started the process of changing where I sew. I was tired of using the eating table for my sewing because a) it is a small table and b) we never could eat at the table unless I cleared it off every night which I didn't...

So my other "art studio" room is undergoing a transformation into more of a sewing room and crap is everywhere! And now I am leaving for 10 days in Oregon and you know what? It will just stay a mess til I get back! Not going to worry about it!

But I did get the table runner I was making for my sister done and I will be giving it to her in a couple of days when I see her. She saw it mid-blocks but hasn't seen it done. And she doesn't get the cat! (That is Phoebe, dutifully watching what I was doing on the bed since I didn't have a long enough table to set it out!).

The back is just the purple fabric.  The surprise is that I got variegated green and purple thread and serged the edges instead of traditionally binding them like a quilt. I thought it was a cool more casual look and I love how it turned out!

A close up of the serging around the edges:

And now I am really jazzed to start some of my other quilting projects when I get back. I found a really cool lap quilt on Pinterest which I want to use as inspiration for my own modern scrappy quilt and then I have a lot of other unfinished projects (UFOs) to get done. My intention is one UFO a month or at least work on one as well as any other newer project. We shall see!

So now I am heading to Oregon, land of incredible fabric stores -- NOT that I need a single morsel of new fabric, but any of my quilting or sewing readers that has never stopped any of us in the past! Hah!

But I am also going to the coast and some other fun stuff so I will post some pix here and blog from my tablet along the way.  Aside from fabric hunting, my sister is having a big birthday bash, I will get to see another cousin later in the trip and who knows, yoga on the beach anyone?

One finished and a new one started!

I am pleased with myself for FINISHING a project I started! I am notorious for starting a gazillion projects (from taking classes or just on my own) and then never finishing them. Various reasons excuses, but mostly I lose interest and get started on something else that is more fun. This time I was determined to finish the little table runner we started in LisAnn's class at Country Sew (starting photos last entry -- learning how to machine quilt and add applique). I jsut needed to review a little how to do the binding and then how to finish the binding (thanks You Tube for those videos!)...

Had to remember how to add the binding strips together. THIS is a great Missouri Star Quilt Company tutorial video about binding that I use!

 Here is the finished table runner laid out on my bed because at the moment I don't have a cleared off table to put it on!

And this shows the back -- some bright green with sort of yellowish-tan dots fabric I happened to have that went well with all the front colors. I think next time I would make a skinnier binding. I used 2.5 inch strips for the binding but since it is so thin, I think just a 2" binding strip (or at most 2.25 strip) would do so the binding isn't so large in the back. But since I don't really plan on using the back I suppose in the end it doesn't really matter!

So now that one project is done I can start on another one:  making something with a lovely 10" squares "layer cake" (all fabrics from a particular line) that I loved: Fresh Lilacs. I got the layer cake when I was in Oregon last year and never used it. I love greens and purples together so got it for "whenever"... and apparently whenever is now!  I am going to make a small quilt throw -- smallish for a quilt, something to just toss over when it is a little chilly. I think the finished quilt will be around 45" x 73". 

Here are the squares sorted into the lighter colorways.

And then the darker ones...

And now I have but and sewn them together (forgot to take a photo of this step) and now on to mixing and matching them up...

It is the same basic idea that I used when I made the Ajay's quilt a few years ago and was featured on another of the Missouri Star Quilt tutorial videos called the Double Slice quilt.

Then all the blocks will be mixed and matched to make the quilt, like I did for Ajay's quilt before. HERE is that one all spread out while I wonder what to do next!

Where I am now with this lilacs quilt:  sewing the blocks together (2 sets of slices) then will start rearranging and placing. More photos to follow!

New quilting project...

I finally got around to taking the second of a class in machine (as in your home sewing machine) quilting over at Country Sew. LisAnn is a very kind and patient teacher and helped us all along on the project. She had chosen a table topper for us to make (before class) then learn how to applique and quilt in class. I actually got mine all quilted in class! The only thing left to do is trim and bind it.

Here it is laid out on my sewing table (which I had to clear off first of course!):

and here is the fabric I decided to bind it with.  I "auditioned" (tried out) several other light prints and solids before choosing this one. I think the rusty oranges will bring out the other oranges in the quilt piece and it is more exciting than just a solid fabric. Now just to trim the whole piece, cut the binding strips and sew them on!

Meanwhile it is going to be in the 100 degrees for the rest of the week and I have no air in the sewing area to the side of the kitchen AND I still have yoga teacher training homework to finish, so I will get this project done next week (I hope!).

Sacramento, I am ready for AUTUMN!!!  And RAIN!!!

Crafting and gardening...

Last night I made a new quilt block in one of LisAnn's fun classes at Country Sewing Center. This one was from the modern block party group that meets monthly. We have 2 blocks to chose from and I made the Tula Pink City Sampler book one here:

And last week I got together with a couple of other gals from the quilt groups and we channeled our inner 60s with tie dyed tshirts!

And come outside now into the garden...

Here is the harvest from my garden just this morning:

The peppers in the pan with the tomatoes are hot (salsa and jalapenos) and the other dish has the mild ones (Italian sweet, gypsy, and bells). This squash was hiding from yesterday -- I have been getting on average a squash a day from my zucchini and yellow squash plants. And yes that is an eggplant -- the first of my Japanese ones that are supposed to be small and longish although this one is sort of fat. And the tomatoes are mostly cherry (yellow grape, currant red and black krim) and a couple of San Marzanos that I toss into the bag in the freezer until I have enough for a sauce. And a few strawberries to round out the plates. My plants are not producing as much as I had hoped but it has been really really hot and I don't think strawbs like it quite so toasty.

I have been enjoying the fruits of my garden a lot these last weeks, and apparently so has another critter:

What do you think it might be? I suspect a rat! We have started putting out bait and traps... gotta have patience with an animal who likes tomatoes and when you have around 10 tomato plants! What irks me is that those were my heirloom Brandywines! Apparently I have a gourmet rat!

And a couple of weeks ago I took up one of the potato plants because I thought it was ready to check and ended up with this motley small group of taters. It is more potatoes than I have ever grown before but really, it is barely a couple of bites! The other plant is starting to really die off now so I will check it in a few days and hope I got more!  I started them both rather late this time (in April) and I think they needed some of the cooler months before to get started. Oh well, I will try again next year after the beginning of the year and then see what happens!

Oh and I almost forgot -- this was my blueberry harvest this year:   (ok stop laughing)

What they were actually we from a couple of new plants I got this year for a crop next year and they happened to have a few berries on them. My old plants out did not fare well and so this year I got a couple more, replanted everyone into more of a boggy soil environment and will hope for the best for next year!

A bit of sewing...

and a present I bought for myself...

First off, I needed to make a name tag for the quilt guild meetings so I took a quilted scrap piece, folded it over wonky style, stamped my name, and left threads dangling since I often have a thread or two on me these days.

Then I wanted to practice machine quilting with my walking foot so I made a little mug rug out of colors from a charm pack (5" squares) I had.  The waviness on top went away after I pressed it more. I decided to serge the outer borders to keep with the more modern feel of it.

And I had totally forgotten my new polka dot cup so when I went to get a cup for tea, realized I had made that mug rug exactly for this cup! It worked!

And then since I had been so good about cleaning the kitchen while the house was being painted last week AND since they were on sale for 60% off or some crazy thing from Craftsy that day, I bought myself 2 Kaffe Fassett shot cotton fat pack (1/4 yard) bundles.  I love the shot cottons -- they are solids but the warp and weft threads are different colors (from nearly the same to wildly different) and that gives them a wonderful sheen and woven quality. Not 100% sure what I will use these for yet but it was such a deal I couldn't pass it up!  62 lovely quarter yard pieces... I am sure I will think of something!

In a sewing mood...

Lately I have been in a sewing mood, so I started rearranging my sewing space in the kitchen, bringing in some bins to live closer to the machine and adding a new Costco table for a cutting area. This is all makeshift until I can do more living room decluttering and rearranging to have my sewing area take over, I mean... be in there.

I had out my Day of the Dead quilt blocks for the Circle of Nine quilt in that photo. HERE is where I described that quilt.  I finished those and now have 5 out of the 9 blocks. The bigger one with the black border is the center one. The other 2 have 2 of the same block and are for around the sides.

And then I made some curtains for the window above the sink...

and yesterday starting gathering fabrics for the next Modern Block of the Month club class on Wednesday over at Country Sewing Center:

These are for the larger block. Each month we make 2 blocks. The smaller one fabrics are cut and bagged for class. I still need to cut the fabrics to size for this block. I had to see them together for a while to be sure they went how I wanted together. I think they will work, so now to just cut them and I will be ready for class!

Coming back to quilting...

Maybe it is the colder months but I find myself drawn to working with fabric more in the winter. And now that I have more time, I happened to look at the class schedule at Country Sew and found a couple of quilting classes I wanted to take. I am not a very proficient quilter, having only made a few quilted things before.

This is the first quilt I made for one of my teacher friend's new baby about 2 years ago:



Now I am working on some separate blocks mostly to learn various techniques, such as this one from this month's Modern Quilting Block Party:

Each month we learn a different block (with a slightly more modern quilting edge, not your grandmother's quilt blocks) and I guess eventually put them all together in one quilt. Except this one is going to become a table mat once I quilt it and put a binding on it. It is about 12 inches square. Turns out I happened to have some dinner candles in these colors and I thought it would make a nice addition to the table for those rare occasions I put my sewing stuff away and we eat at the table!

And the one I am having fun with now that will make up a whole quilt is called Circle of Nine and is from a 3 week class at Country Sew.  This is the original pattern of the quilt (from the book):

Last week we learned how to make the wonky squares for the middle.  This week I think we are learning how to do the background and next week, who knows? Probably how to put it all together and finish it. But... it is the "homework" that is killing me! It is taking a lot more time than I thought to cut the strips and sew 8 more of these funky blocks! I like the modern "wonkiness" of the blocks -- you don't have to worry about measuring or making perfect seams!  The nice thing is that the blocks are huge -- nearly 13" square, so it only takes the 9 to make up most of the quilt.

My theme is for a Day of the Dead quilt. I have had this fabric for a long while and thought it would be fun to use it in a quilt. The centers are fussy cut from the fabric, then the large border (grey print in the book pattern) will all be the Day of the Dead fabric. The colorful squares in the pattern are going to all be black for my quilt, so it will be a lot of black and white. I am hoping the reality looks as good as the one in my imagination!


Linked to: Can I Get a Whoop Whoop!

Out of the Box Circles...

On Thursday I went to the Country Sewing Center for the "Out of the Box" art quilting/sewing class. This time we made cut up circles:

Here is a close-up of the green background one:

I really enjoyed making these and got a lot of ideas for what to do with them... mostly thinking of a fabric bookcover. I will be playing with these ideas and will post what happens!
UPDATE: Found out where these come from! Check out Sandi Cummings and her Thinking Outside the Blocks book!

Finished the tote bag for Kit...

Finally! I started it in a class a few months ago then didn't get it finished until this weekend.

I am happy to finally have finished it -- not just because I showed it to her in the process a couple of months ago and she probably thinks it fell off a cliff or something! But also it taught me a few things about tote bag making... and... now I can start on other projects that have been waiting in the wings!

Quilt Guild and relearning how to knit...

Last weekend was the River City Quilter's Guild Quilt Show and this year I remembered in time to actually go to it! It got me inspired to do some thing on my taupe quilt (like start it).
While I was there I met one of the women from the Art Quilt group who invited me to their meetings which was nice since that is really the kind of work I am more interested in doing.
Then on Tuesday I went to the Guild meeting. I was impressed by how welcoming and friendly they all were so I joined the guild. I figured if I go to meetings and am around these creative people some of that will rub off and motivate me more -- since hanging out by myself these last few months and not doing anything crafty was definitely not the way to go!
Also that Tuesday I had a knitting lesson from Anna of Anna's Yarn Shop in Elk Grove. When I went to the shop a few days ago she was very nice to me, a very beginning relearner, and when I expressed disappointment there wasn't a beginning class I could join until next year she suggested an hour's lesson. It turned out to be better actually because I like one-to-one lessons where I can get all the attention. She has me making a cute scarf that is easy but looks complicated.
Here it is at the beginning:

I will post pix as it comes along!
THIS is what it will look like.

Recycled Circles...

I have my Art Quilt class to go to on Thursday and I needed to have something that I was working on to bring so I thought I would try some of the Recycled Circles that artist Jane LaFazio makes.
Here is one example from her Flickr page:

So here is the one I am working on:
First just the circles pieced together (held together with Steam2Seam)...

As you can see, my "circles" need some work being rounder!

I have started the stitching, which will take a while. This is what I will bring to class on Thursday:

Then once it is all stitched I will connect the four pieces and add any other embellishments. I also have to add it to a backing. I am sure I am not making it in any method she teaches, as I am just winging it from seeing her photos. But I love the idea so I may make a few to just play with them. I think this will just be a wall decoration, although I did see one in Flickr from LaFazio's class that was made into a pillow.

Month Mystery Blocks Finished...

Finished the first month of the Mystery Saturday Sampler with 2 weeks to spare! I was so afraid I would never finish but once I started it was easy, just one step at a time and then they were done!

Here are the sawtooth stars:

And here is what they look like finished per Month 1 instructions:

Thoughts:
1. I joined this Monthly Sampler to learn new techniques. That said, I did learn a lot this month: how to make flying geese, how to make a sawtooth star, how to use the Wing Clipper tool (very handy for cutting the flying geese right), how to piece the star so the points are properly showing.

2. I am NOT into Civil War quilt colors so even though the colors are ok, they would not be my choice. I like some of the fabrics individually but not so much in the mixed colors of the stars and side pieces. I will be interested in seeing the rest of the quilt block colors, although she said from the beginning it would be all Civil War quilt colors. Not sure what I will do with the quilt top once it is finished.

Working on Mystery Saturday Sampler

Finally starting out on this first set of stars for the Fabric Garden Mystery Saturday Sampler.

The woman who is leading it said "this first block is an easy one"... well, it has taken me nearly 2 weeks to get started on it because I think it scared me too much! Making 3 blocks of a sawtooth star (that means 12 flying geese among other things) for this beginner was a big "stop in my tracks" thing until I finally sat down and just started it...

This was just one square and the directions...

So I just started cutting and sewing and pretty soon:

Finally I had one set of the flying geese...

So I put together the first star pieces...

And sewed together the first star pieces...

And now I have 2 more sets to make and the last side pieces to sew on and then I will have the 3 blocks for the month!

The way the monthly sampler idea works is this: If we finish the month and bring the blocks to the next class then the next month set of supplies (cut fabrics and directions) are no charge, otherwise it is $5. So there is a little incentive, aside from just wanting to learn the techniques and make the sampler.

I will post the rest as I get them made this weekend.

Finished Evie's Table Runner...

Another finished project! Made for my friend Evie:

Here is the full front:

and the full back:

It's basically reversible if she wants. I love the new (for me) batik fabrics that are out in stores and while they aren't for everything, I love them in things like this. I know the batiks have been out a long time but since it had been around 20 years since I had been in a fabric (or quilt) store, they were new to me when I first saw them last December.