it's finished!

my first quilt is now completed. it has been washed and dried and it didn't fall apart. huzzah! the binding gave me a bit of an eye twitch and i surprised myself with some of the colorful language i was capable of, but it's done.

you may or may not notice that it seems shorter than the w.i.p photo i posted and that is because i forgot to allow for the extra amount of fabric when i sewed my patchwork strips on. it took me a minute to figure it out when i was making my 'quilt sandwich', why was my batting so small all of a sudden? i busted out the seam ripper and rotary cutter again and was back in action once i realized what i had done.


this is my one of my favorite japanese fabrics right now and it was the color inspiration for the whole quilt.

all in all it wasn't as scary or as hard as i thought it would be and i'm really happy with the end result. (in fact, i've even started another one, but those shots will have to wait for now). i'm catching a flight on tuesday to hand deliver this quilt to a new little fella i've been dying to meet! oh, and the giraffe is coming too.

new shop alert!

(image by janis nicolay)

local, and uber-talented photographer janis nicolay has just opened up an etsy shop! her shop is called pinecone camp and will sell limited edition, numbered and signed prints. currently for sale is a beautiful series of vintage lady head vases. the prints have a soft, vintage feel to them and gorgeous, rich color from being printed on photo rag paper. (it's true, i've seen these up close-the color is so rich it has an almost velvet quality to it)

you can also stay current on shop updates and such by checking out her blog, pinecone camp to see what else she has up her sleeve.

"i will bring you down to chinatown..."

we have had our 10 year old nephew staying with us for the past few days and yesterday i took him down to chinatown. not in the robert de niro, meet the parents kind of way, but on a bus into vancouver's chinatown.
we went in to the sun yat sen gardens to check on the turtles but we only saw one. the water was pretty murky. the fish were very illusive as well. maybe there was a heron in the area.




we strolled along and went into some shops (my fave, bamboo village of course, as you can see from the photos) and made our way yoko yaya, vancouver's version of the daiso.





it was a great visit with him, filled with so many laughs! thanks jake! it was much needed.

it's begun

i did it! i took the plunge and started the quilt! i'm so happy that i braved that first step of cutting. math has never been one of my strengths, and everything i've read has stressed the importance of numbers, accuracy, things lining up, spacing, all that sort of stuff. it had me feeling a little intimidated. but today, i picked up my rotary cutter and used my grid and dove right in.


i'm not using a pattern for my quilt, but i was heavily influenced and inspired by this beautiful quilt made by leslie. i love natural linen and think that this style will be perfect for the little one to play on and be able see all of his toys and books. (i also love some of the japanese fabrics i'm using that i bought from her shop. oh how i miss it!)


i think my favorite part of making the quilt top was pressing the seams down. i did this after each row and i think it made a difference. i'm wishing that i had started to do patchwork a little earlier, since i now realize how satisfying the order and neatness of it all is. i think i might be hooked!


now we will see how the quilting goes. i've never used my walking foot, so i figure i should make a few trial runs before i attempt it on the actual quilt.

makin' stuff

this weekend i:


washed and pressed a stack of fabric that i plan on making into a quilt for a friends new baby that i can't wait to meet (soon i hope!). it will be my first quilt and i'm excited! i'm a little nervous to actually start it though. i don't have a pattern and will be winging it. i imagine there will be some swearing involved.


i baked some cookies.



i finished a giraffe to include with the above mentioned quilt.

i also managed to get my pinky finger caught in a door so badly that there was blood everywhere and i thought it was broken. i'm not sure why i keep injuring my hands, it's so frustrating since i make stuff, but oh well. at least it's not broken like i thought it was (again.) i thought i'd spare you from a photo of it.

yes please.

found here.