Featured!

My latest project was featured in "Modern Patchwork" available on newsstands near you!

 Do you see it?!

My project is featured in the table of contents too!  You see that bunny mug rug in the center? 

I had a blast working with the publisher; they were so great to work with. 

Oh!  And I came across this adorable "Knit One, Purl One" kid top today at Gymboree.  Of course I had to get it!

 

Wishing you a Happy New Year, and thank you for reading my blog! :)

Knitting Bug

It must be December because I have been knitting nonstop.  I go through phases every year;  I am either super into quilting or knitting.  I think the weather has something to do with it.  I recently came across this "50 Yards of Fun, Knitting Toys from Scrap Yarn" book by Rebecca Danger.  It's perfect for scrap yarn we all have around the house.  I love how these projects are so small so you get this instant gratification and that they are portable.  I bought two copies: one to keep and one for our annual white elephant.  There is something special about carrying my basket of scrap yarn and making good use of them.

 Here is a little monkey I finished. 

Love this fish on my friend's Christmas tree :)

I have also started a robot that I was hoping to gift along with the fish, but it's missing two legs.  I am also knitting another mama and baby monster, and I picked up my sock project as well.  We will see how much knitting I get done!

Happy Holidays to all of you, and thank you for visiting my blog!

Slouchy Hat for Toddler Girls

The weather has gotten a lot colder in the area so my little one needs a few more hats to keep her little head warm.  Of course I jump on the chance to make them vs. buying store made ones.  I had a hard time coming up with anything cute through Ravelry, but found this adorable Amour Slouchy Hat through etsy.  It's a super easy pattern to follow; I finished the whole thing in one weekend!  I feel like I spent more time waiting for the hat to block than to knit it!

Ok.  Is she not the most adorable little girl in that hat?!

I blocked the hat using a small desert plate. 

I didn't end up making the ribbon flower that the pattern recommended.  I had a hard time creating the same look, so I ended up crocheting the flower.  I found a great video tutorial on Crafty Gemini.  I usually don't enjoy crocheting but this flower was so much fun! 

Oh I think we will be wearing this hat every chance we get! :)

Amish Quilts

I have been fascinated by Amish quilts and spent a lot of time learning and searching for information about them. Apparently you can find Amish quilts mostly in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

The San Jose Quilt Museum is doing a special exhibit: Antique Ohio Amish Quilts: The Darwin Bearley Collection. We stopped by this past weekend, and the quilts were simply beautiful. I imagine that the handwork must have taken many hours.

Unnamed Pattern "O" Quilt. There is a story behind this quilt; it's supposed to be 200 years old!

 This picture is a closeup of the hand quilting. 

Classic blue and red shown on the left. 

Special thanks to my sweet husband for accompanying me and watching our little toddler so I can take in all this beauty!

Quick Update

The weather is finally getting cooler around here, so I picked up my knitting again. The weather really has something to do with what I feel like working on. I finished making two items for a special recipient. I can't wait to see her wearing this cute hat. This holiday hat was super easy to make, and it was completed under one hour!

 Another "Highbury Vest" I made. Size made is newborn. I love the button used here.

 "Holiday Elf" hat for a newborn.

What have you been working on?!

Quilted Baby Vest

The weather has gotten a lot cooler here in the Bay Area.  I was inspired to make a light little vest for my little one.  I love vests because they go on and off so easily!  I used Quilters Dream Wool batting instead of my usual batting.  I did some research and apparently this light wool can keep you very warm. 

I made this vest with no patterns or instructions!  I am quite proud :) 

I attached a few snaps to the front.  Loving this ABC fabric my husband picked up for me from Japan. 

While I was taking photos of this new vest, I took some good photos of the i-spy quilt to show you again!

 Can you see the quilting?  Looks pretty good to me! 

 I even made a mini version for my little one's doll.  Each square measures 2"x2".

Have a great Halloween, everyone!

Kleenex, Anyone?

I have several Japanese books that are translated to Chinese, which I can read.  One of which, "35 Bag 20 Daily Goods & Interior," has tons of cute things you can make for your house.  I fell in love with the quilted Kleenex box cover and started working on this project years ago.  Not sure why it took me so long, but it's finally completed!  I love all the Japanese taupe fabrics I selected for this.   The hand quilting really makes this piece "pop" and if you only could feel the texture.  Oh I am in love!

The pattern calls for Velcro for the closure on top, but I decided to use snaps instead.

 The other side of the cover.  The red checkerboard print is my favorite. 

Each side also has these flowers.  They were so tiny and difficult to make, but totally worth the time. 

The hardest part of this project was finding the world's smallest Kleenex box!  This is probably the standard size in Japan, but not here!  I ended up purchasing these small Kleenex box from Staples.  Who would have thought!  

Alright sneezing season.  We are ready for you!  Kleenex, anyone?! 

By the way, I stopped by PIQF today, and it was awesome.  I visited my usual booths, but purchased a lot more children related books, patterns, and fabrics.  More on that next time.

Hand Quilted i-Spy Quilt

I mentioned in my previous post that I have been working on an i-spy quilt for my daughter.  This quilt was super fun and easy to put together.  Instead of adding sashing to each block, it was done with the disappearing nine-patch method following "Self-Sashing Disappearing 9-Patch" pattern by "Quilter by Night Designs." 

Grey and pink were the two colors I decided to use, and I think it was a good decision.  I usually spray baste and needle baste my quilts before hand quilting them.  I made the mistake of not thread batting it "enough" this time so it was a bit hard to quilt at times.  I used "Quilters Dream Cotton" 100% pure cotton batting.  It's great to hand quilt with it.  I broke at least ten quilting needles working on this project.  I don't recommend Roxanne's in-between needles.  I also had a hard time with my go-to thimble -- I wonder why?  Does anyone have a good thimble you would recommend?

 Love pigs, so had to use this piggy fabric for the back.

This quilt is all washed, dried and being used by the little one as we speak :)

Around The World Blog Hop

Alli at B. Yazoo tagged me! I met Alli through this blog space and love everything she creates. She is like the Jack of all trades. She can sew, she can knit, and she makes the cutest things for her family and kiddo. Take a look at this doll she made, shorts (!!!) for herself, and the cutest kid garments.  I can never imagine sewing shorts for myself. That would be scary...

What am I working on?
I participated in a swap in 2012 and got tons of 5" x 5" novelty prints to make an I-Spy quilt. I didn't really know what an I-Spy quilt was, so I put aside this stack of fabrics. With baby A, I decided to dig out my stash and make an I-Spy quilt for her.

Look at these prints!  No duplicate. 

I decided to sash this quilt using grey and pink. 

I was tempted to have this quilt completed by "professionals," but decided to hand quilt it instead. I am about 50% done hand quilting this. I am keeping this quilt simple with diagonal lines across the top. 

How does my work differ from others of its genre? 

This is a really good question, and I think about it often. I conclude that I am a blend of modern and traditional.  I love the history behind traditional quilts and the bright colors of the modern world. I love being "stuck" in this unique space.

Take this, as an example, I love the traditional/ugly look of this scrappy quilt: 

                                        

Kit from Kathleen Tracy's civil war mini quilts, which I blogged about here. 

Then, I also really love the bright colors of this mini quilt:

                            

Why do I create what I do? 

I love the process of creation. I enjoy being able to make things with my hands that are one of a kind. It also doesn't hurt that I have cute things all over my house!  

                               

Mug rug for olive oil bottle I made for a friend.  Blogged here. 

How does my creation process work? 

This depends -- sometimes there is a need for something, but often times I just get inspired by others. I usually start with one fabric and another... they just go together and before I know it, I have an idea on how to put everything together. It's really just trial and error! 

Now I am going to tag three more people:

Marisa @ Quilt Otaku: Marisa quilts and knits. She is an amazing quilter and does everything by hand. She has the most wonderful stitches and is a certified quilt appraiser. Marisa is super into Japanese quilting. Check out her beautiful stitches, this tiny gnome she made, and a darling baby quilt she hand quilted. Oh and did I mention she spins too!? 

Kristen @ Knitionary: In addition to knitting alluring garments, Kristen has an amazing garden and hosts glamorous parties. You ought to check out her blog. She is a Rowan ambassador; you can read about her Rowan Ambassador trip in Yorkshire here. 

Karen @ Short Story Long: I met Karen at Stitches West one year and love looking at her photos.  They are just so gorgeous and real. She knits hat, mittens, socks, shawls, anything!  You name it.  

Thanks for visiting my blog and letting me participate in this blog hop! 

Baby Cardigan

I fell in love with the Wee Cardi by Big Bad Wool earlier this year at Stitches West.  I purchased the pattern and three skeins of Weepaca yarn.  This yarn is 50% merino/50% baby alpaca and machine washable.  This cardigan was so easy to make and the yarn was so soft to work with!  I finished this project in under a week.  If you choose to make this project, please make sure you review the errata for the raglan decrease.  I made the 12-month size (the largest avaialable) with six button holes, but think five would have been better.  I mean who wants to button your kid running all over the place six times?!

 How adorable is this cardigan!? 

And it fits her perfectly with some room to grow!

Tiny, Little Hexagons

Back in the days when I had a lot more "free" time, I worked on these tiny little hexagons.  They are only 3/8" -- that's pretty small.  I had enough for a small wall hanging and that's fine by me.  No way was I going to make a large quilt out of this!

The quilt was too small for me to attach onto a quilting hoop so I added some scrap fabric to all four sides temporarily.

Enlarging my quilt was a great idea -- I will try this again in the future. 

Each hexagon is smaller than a penny!

I hand quilted this piece and absolutely love the way it came out. 

These were made with 30s fabrics that I purchased from PIQF last year.  They are one inch strips, which were perfect for this tiny project.  I have more ideas on how to use these one inch strips!

English Paper Piecing

I think I have caught the English Paper Piecing (i.e. EPP) bug again after picking up "Quilting on the Go" by Jessica at my local bookstore.  I started a few projects last year and blogged about how I organize my projects here.  I love that it's super portable, grows quickly, and is the perfect project when I have a "few minutes" to sew something.  It's just hard to find hours at a time when I can sit down and make a quilt.  EPP is just the perfect project for everyone.  Please check it out and give it a try if you haven't.

I am super into the 60 degree diamonds and hexagons.  I made a bunch of tiny (3/8") hexagons and are turning them into a mini quilt -- more on this later, but check out what I have got so far with my diamonds.

I am using my 30's reproduction fabrics simply because it's a great way to feature all these tiny prints, and I have tons of it!  What do you think of that "ABC" print?  I am running out of it!  Does anyone know the name of it so I can order more?  If you do decide to try EPP, please make sure you purchase enough fabric!

One Fish. Two Fish.

Are you also a fan of Dr. Seuss?

Do you ever go into Jo-Anne's Fabrics just to "look around"? I usually purchase my fabric from my LQS, but I enjoy shopping at Jo-Anne's as well. On my recent visit, I discovered Dr. Seuss' fabrics available for sale! They had an entire line available. Since my daughter really enjoys books by Dr. Seuss, I decided to make her a fitted crib sheet with characters from the book.

I watched this YouTube video and followed every step as instructed. I purchased two yards of fabric, pre-washed the fabric, trim the piece down to 69", kept the selvage edges, cut out four 8"x8" squares in each corner, and used a 65" long elastic. And this fits her mattress perfectly! There is nothing I would do differently next time! I never knew it was this easy to make a fitted crib sheet.

I also finished up this small XOXO quilt I started more than a year ago. It feels good to finish up these unfinished projects.

I hand quilted the border using a new stencil I purchased. 

My weekend is off to a good start. I hope yours is as well!

Say Hello to my ABC Quilt

I finished hand quilting and binding this American Jane ABC quilt over the weekend! It's all washed and dried. I love how this quilt came out. It measures 40" x 57" finished -- perfect as a crib quilt. This will soon be gifted. I know the recipients will love it and put it to good use. 

  
This is the first quilt I started and finished since having our baby.  I am amazed by my strong will to find a little bit of time here and there to work on this. I guess this is what happens when you are in love with a hobby.

I accidentally nipped the quilt top when I was hand quilting this; I know, I almost fainted. I covered it with a label and actually love the way it looks.

I used grey and neutral thread throughout this quilt and was very happy with grey. I will try that color again in the future. I took a million photos, so here is one more.

Japanese Taupe Fabric

Instead of hand quilting this baby quilt that I started awhile back, I find myself watching quilting videos on YouTube. Do you do that as well? I recently discovered this fantastic video about quilting with Japanese taupe fabric by National Quilters Circle. It's the best introduction to taupe fabrics that I have ever come across. It may be time to go through my small stash of Japanese taupe fabrics. Until then, I will keep working on this baby quilt. I am so thankful for this great hobby because I am just never bored!

I still have a more of these diamonds to hand quilt.

Here is a closeup of my Sunbonnet Sue sewing bag made with Japanese taupe fabrics.

L.O.V.E. | Marimekko.

I am in love with Marimekko fabrics! Marimekko is a Finnish company known for their bright, simple, and modern prints. If you have a Marimekko store nearby, then you should definitely pay them a visit.

 Rows and rows of beautiful fabrics! It took me forever to make my selections.

I picked out some fabrics with smaller patterns so I can make potholders out of them. The flower prints are called "Unikko." There is a story on Unikko.

 I had an assembly line. 

 Love my finished pile of potholders!

 Sporting my new potholder in the kitchen.

 OK. I made more than a few, but they came together so fast!

I made these potholders following my tutorial. I modified the dimensions so they measure 8.5" when finished. What am I going to do with the rest of these potholders you ask? Well, I have a special plan for them :) 

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great weekend doing what you enjoy!

Hand Quilting

If you are a reader of my blog, then you probably know I love American Jane quilts and fabrics. I decided to use my most favorite kit to make a baby quilt for a very special baby coming soon. This quilt top came together so fast. The ABC panel in the center is super cute.

 I am hand quilting this one. 

I have several other projects that I am working on, including a pretty paper piecing one. I will have to show you photos of it next time!