Delta Breeze Mini Card Set

I follow a lot of quilters on Instagram because I can't resist a good quilt, so imagine my delight when Cindy Wiens of Live a Colorful Life reached out to me about my cards.  After several emails and a lot of ideas exchanged, I finished a set of notecards this spring based on her beautiful Delta Breeze design that are now for sale in my Etsy shop.  Working together with Cindy was truly a breath of fresh air! 

Cindy's Delta Breeze from http://www.liveacolorfullife.net

The hardest thing for me about designing my own paper goods is working alone from start to finish, with most of my design and proofing process on the computer screen.  I am always second-guessing myself, hoping that the final product is actually as vibrant and fun as the original image that I started with in my head.  But designing these cards with some back and forth with Cindy was a real pleasure.  I waited eagerly to hear her feedback when I sent her the final printed cards and was relieved when she was even more excited and happy with them  I had hoped.  

We have something good in store for you on Instagram this week so make sure you are following us @tokodots and @liveacolorfullife if you want to get in on the action!

Shop update - quilt prints

I've been surprised at how much time I actually do have to knit, sew, cook and clean with a baby in tow, but the one thing I can't really do when he's not sleeping is work at a computer.  He's watched me so intensely even from a small age that I haven't been able to justify setting the example for him that sitting in front of a computer for long stretches is ok.  Showing him how to sew, making dinner, talking about the difference between knit and purl stitches, washing dishes.. these are all skills I don't mind getting him used to early, so I do still get a lot done offline!

This is why it feels like a particular accomplishment to finally get a new product into my Etsy shop. I'm excited to finally offer quilt prints!  

(For 10% off your order through Friday 11/20, use coupon code JINGLEBASH). 

Baby Quilts

Ever since finding out we were having a baby, I debated about what kind of quilt to make.  I'd whipped up several fun baby quilts for friends in the past, but this is a quilt I would be living with for a long time, so it was harder to come up with a plan.  As we decided not to find out if we were having a boy or a girl, I wasted even more time trying to find an appropriately unisex design.  In the end I settled on a simple, colorful design using some favorite Japanese fabrics I had been saving and some new additions as well. I loved it!... until I didn't anymore.

The problem arose only when I started collecting fabrics for a dear friend who is also expecting this summer. As I pulled together fabrics that were very *her,* I started to like the new fabrics and quilt design even better (zig-zags inspired by Sujata's book--a must read if you want easy quilt inspiration)! Could I really give away this beautiful quilt? I asked myself, how many quilts does one baby really need? I couldn't really keep both especially knowing that he probably has another on the way from Nana soon too.

In the end, the first quilt was finished on my due date, and surprise, it was a boy!  (Although Teddy wasn't born until 12 days later).   Once I met him, it was clear that the first quilt was perfect for him.  Mother's intuition, perhaps?  I finished up the binding on the zigzag quilt as Teddy napped. As much as I loved the second quilt, it gave me more joy to package it up and send it off to my good friend and Teddy's new friend, arriving soon. 

Teddy's quilt was my first large-scale machine quilting project on my small Janome and it worked out well enough that I went for zigzag quilting on the second one.  All in all, it was easier than I expected and a lot of fun to whip these up so quickly.  I might be going back to knitted baby blankets for a while but as soon as we get on a regular napping schedule here, I am pulling out the machine again.  In the meantime, I'll be busy deciding what to make next.

New Projects for the New Year

We're only halfway through January but I'm making good on my goal to get new projects started beyond the thinking/planning phase while I still have my new year momentum going strong.  I happily repurposed the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino from a failed vest knitting attempt and am now working away on a new Umaro blanket that will hopefully be large enough to add to my baby gift stash.  I'm also trying to get in the habit of using my sewing machine (and growing fabric stash) more regularly.  I don't have a sewing room and having all my supplies packed away in the guest room closet has always made it a bit of a chore to get everything out and then put it all away before dinner.  But not this year!  Have you heard of the Scrappy Log Cabin Quilt-a-long on Instagram?  I'm using it to dig into my many bags of scraps and work on a mini quilt that's been on my mind for a while.  It's been great motivation, thanks Ginny! 

One other new project was updating my blog comments to a new system this week.  Hopefully this will make it easier for commenters to leave a quick note and also for me to have an email address from commenters that I can actually reply to.  I'm looking forward to hearing from you!

What have you been working on this year?

Panda week

I've been busy this last week but I still found some time each day to add a few squares to my growing trip around the world.  I had so much fun this week working on the panda round, as I'd been saving this Aronzi Aronzo fabric for something special for years.  This project is turning out to be a showcase of some of my most favorite prints that I never would have imagined putting together.  I love it! 

Most of my time this week was dedicated to figuring out a Squarespace, which I'm using for this site.   So far I'm happy with the option to "like" a post without leaving a comment.  I often want to let a blogger know I'm reading and enjoying their posts without necessarily leaving a comment each time.  I hope you won't hesitate to do the same!  Don't forget to update your RSS feeds if you were following the old blog.  I'll be here to stay for a while now!

Before and After: Pincushion makeover

I've been using the cheap felt pincushion on the left for almost ten years, when I bought it thinking it would hold me over until I could make something better.  Years and years later, I am so sick of using that thing!  I've been constantly reminded of how much I dislike it while doing lots of handwork for the Trip Around the World Challenge, and despite falling a bit behind on the challenge, I just had to whip out a new one before I could sew another stitch.

I'm quite pleased with the way the chevron pattern worked out, and hey! now I can use those colorful straight pins I had been saving for no good reason.  This weekend it's down to work!

My Trip Around the World Challenge

I was talking with my mom a few weeks ago when she told me about

Brigitte Giblin

's Trip Around the World Challenge Facebook group.  Although I do have a few projects in progress, I'm always keen to start something new and this challenge gives me enough external motivation to stick with it.  We hung up the phone and I was already pulling fabrics out of my stash.  Despite bringing quite a lot of fabric back from Japan, I have a lot of small quantities so it wasn't easy to decide what to use.  I spread out all of my favorites and played around with them for hours.  I was about to give up when I decided just to take the top fabrics off the pile.  

I wasn't convinced that I had picked the best fabrics but I am enjoying how they all come together.  The piece grew steadily at first and after finishing row 5, I was on a roll!  As I have gotten further through the rounds though, I've gotten busier and seem to have less and less time to dedicate to my project each evening.

I've got 8 rows down now and I'm just itching to pick out the fabrics for the next assignment, rows 10-18.  We have a bit less time to finish these first assignments than I was counting on, but I'm still optimistic. It's obviously called a challenge for a reason.

Small log cabin piece

This small log cabin piece has been in the making for more than 3 years.  I returned home to my parents' house from Japan

unexpectedly

in the spring of 2011 and one of the prized possessions I'd brought with me was the colorful fabric strips that I had neatly cut and stacked, waiting to take on a project like this.  I moved back to the US last year with this quilted (with pearl cotton) but still in need of a good trim and binding.  I was delighted to do the finishing work knowing I could hang it on my wall when completed.  This completely dark spot in the hallway needed some brightening and it's nice to know I don't have to worry about fading.  As a bonus, this spot is visible from my main kitchen and living area so I can enjoy it every single day.

When I first hung this on the wall, my husband was very concerned that the "New York" writing was upside down.  "Is it supposed to be like that?" he asked, a bit hesitantly.  I hadn't completely decided which side was up, but I actually quite like this version, for now.  In case I change my mind, I bound it with triangles in each corner on the back so I can just readjust the dowel rod when I'm ready for a whole new look.  

In the spirit of full disclosure, these triangles really ARE a bit too small.  They work just fine for this small piece, but as much as I hate to admit it, my mom

was

right when she told me to make them a lot bigger than these.

My first quilt

For Throwback Thursday, I thought I'd post a the first baby quilt I made a few years ago for a friend in Tokyo.  Somehow, I managed to not take any photos of the finished quilt as I was rushing to get it over to their place between busy overseas travel.  But they helped me manage to get a few shots even with the new baby in the room.  Talk about friendship!

My friend loves strawberries, and I had a fun time picking out the strawberry fabric and some precious animal prints.  But when it came to quilting it, I wasn't sure if I was up to the task, so this one was all tied.  Almost 4 years later, I hope the ties are still holding fast!

Welcome Nanami!

The theme of 2014 so far has been to finish what I've started.  I'm now all settled into our new apartment and gone are the busy travel schedules of the last few years.  It's just me and all the projects I started or dreamed up during those last few years in Tokyo.  First up is a baby quilt that I had meant to sent out at the start of last fall.

I actually brought this quilt top in my checked luggage from Japan, thinking that I would just baste up the quilt and do some hand quilting in all the free time I would have when we first arrived.  The first week in Dallas had me busier than expected as we navigated all the details of a new city from our hotel room, getting set up for adult life in the U.S. for the first time, while working full-time to prepare for a 4-week business road trip the following week.

Needless to say, the quilt went on the back burner!  But I finished up work in December and gave this my full attention in January, my first time hand-quilting in a hoop. 

As much as I love the fabrics and pattern I chose for the front, I this animal print backing takes the cake!

This welcome to our new little friend was a little late in its arrival, but just as warm as could be.  And it made it there with time to spare before Valentine's Day!  Perfect timing.

Let the hand-quilting begin!

Last weekend, I spent Saturday ironing this quilt top and all day Sunday smoothing, pinning, smoothing, unpinning, smoothing, pinning, calling my mom and finally basting my first full-sized quilt on the kitchen table.  This has been a work in progress for the last 5 or 6 years although I have started and finished a few smaller baby quilts in the meantime.  I didn't have the room to lay it flat to baste in Tokyo, but now that I have the space, I'm (mostly) happily back to work.  I had a moment last Sunday afternoon when I was certain this would by my first and last quilt of this size, but now that it's basted and ready to hand-quilt, all that back-breaking work is forgotten.

Bring on the Olympics!