quilting obsession

So I'm obsessed with the thought of quilts this week. I don't know why, but I can't stop thinking about quilts. This morning when I should have been getting ready for work I was drawing sketches of quilt squares. The whole time I'm obsessing I'm also struggling with confidence. The classic artist syndrome of putting down one's work before it is even created. I hate that! It's so frustrating! For each idea I think of my brain comes back with 50 reasons why it's awful and won't work before it even hits paper. Ugh...

I'm really interested in going to this quilting camp... 1. because this couple makes AMAZING quilts and 2. because the retreat focuses on design, not construction. I have a lot of ideas but I'm getting frustrated because I can't figure out an easy way to convert them to an actual pattern. Tiny graph paper is just not cutting it anymore. I did look online today for some quilting pattern software and found this program. Unfortunately it's $100 and I just don't feel like spending that much right now. Not to mention how much I've spent on other craft supplies that I haven't used yet. The other bad news is that the quilting camp is immediately following a friend's wedding..so I'm not even sure if the timing is an option. I would probably miss the first day of the retreat. Not a good starting point.

I'm dreaming of buying a house and having a bigger art room that is all my own where I can create a felt wall to hang quilt pieces.

More inspiration... Hawaiian quilts.

Not only am I frustrated with myself for having no artistic confidence, I'm also frustrated with myself for not getting anything done! I've complained to Andrew about how I want him to give me more time alone in the apartment so I can work in my art room and get more done. He's been in NY alot recently for work, so I have the place to myself, but am I working.... no, I'm in front of the TV. It appears that my brain wanted one thing but my spirit wants something else entirely. When Andrew is not here I get lonely and sad and unmotivated. A compliment to Andrew I suppose but I wish I could get myself into the art room to work.

I just have to add how excited I am that Jay won Project Runway last night. His collection was fabulous! Modern design with traditional crafting. Almost every outfit incorporated quilting, applique or knitting! Love, Love, Loved it!!

Quilting and Knitting, Part Two

I came across the art work of Amy Thompson (via Tania) the other day. I really love her stuff. I sent her an email asking about material sources and copyright. Turns out she doesn't worry about copyright and she didn't mention where she gets her stuff. So I'm still at square one. I really want to work on some collages but I feel like I don't have enough materials. I'll have to work on that.

I also stumbled upon Lori Mason's quilts (via WeeWonderfuls). I really love her work too. Since I am working on my own quilt right now it was really inspiring. It made me feel like exploring quilting again. We will have to see how well I get through this first quilt I'm making. I was so frustrated yesterday I never wanted to see a quilt ever again! Andrew kept reminding me that it is ONLY my FIRST quilt. I should expect some hiccups...that's how you learn. Maybe I should find a quilting class? I'm curious about machine quilting because I definitely don't think I have the patience to do it by hand.

My friend Cate told me about a knitting store in town, called Knitorious. I'm excited to check it out because I've only found one other knitting store...and it wasn't that hip. Hopefully this one will deliver.

Quilting and knitting

Spent the weekend working on my quilt. What a nightmare! I am not doing such a great job on my first quilt. Lesson learned: it's all in the planning. I should have drawn a better pattern and done a better job of planning out all the pieces I needed ahead of time. I'm getting close but it is just taking forever... I went to the fabric store to buy backing fabric and batting for the quilt. I bought cotton batting thinking I'd rather go natural. When I got home and read my Quilting for Dummies book it mentioned that a disadvantage of cotton is it can shrink. It suggested pre-shrinking the batting. My gut told me not to do it... but I trusted the book. Sure enough the batting was ruined in the washing machine, even though it says 'washable' on the packaging. Andrew insists I should take it back....but I hate confrontation so I haven't decided what to do yet. I'm not sure if Hancock Fabrics will refund my money or try to convince me that I didn't use the batting correctly. Oh well....there goes $25. The whole cotton batting incident but me in a really foul mood yesterday. I haven't even mentioned how my quilt backing fabric is now covered in cotton lint. Getting it off should be lots of fun. ugh...

I did find this super cute fabric on sale at Hancock. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it but I had to have some.


I also finished my first knitting project! A baby blanket for my friend Stefanie. The pattern is out of the Stitch N Bitch book; Big Bad Baby Blanket. I used 8 skeins of Dale of Norway Baby ULL 100% merino wool that I got from Halcyon Yarns. Since you hold two skeins together I used one colored cream and one colored tan to get a varigated pattern. It worked really well, I am very happy with it. Stefanie is due any day now so I must get it in the mail. I hope the new baby likes it.


I've started knitting project #2... but I'm not going to tell you what it is...it's a surprise.

Last night Andrew and I watched Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. It was a fun movie and artistically very interesting however it often seemed like a rip off of multiple sci-fi movies...like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Matrix, etc, etc. I give it one thumb up.

Recovering

Valentine's Day turned out to be not so bad considering Andrew and I were both feeling under the weather. In the morning I made Andrew a Valentine's day card. It was nice...I haven't made anything with paper in awhile. I was really happy with the results, I think it is super cute! You can see a little Kula and Della down in the corner. =)

Andrew came home at lunch so we got to hang out in the afternoon. Really he worked and I slept on the couch. In the evening Andrew made me a nice dinner, we cuddled on the couch and had ice cream with Magic Shell for dessert.

My friend Bob who just bought a house is thinking of getting some chickens so I had to call and show him the Eglu I saw in my latest Dwell magazine.

I think it is so cute! Now I want to have some chickens of my own. I wonder if Kula would try and eat them?

Remember how Andrew got me a trip to Yosemite for Christmas?? Well it looks like we are going to take a couple other trips instead. I just wasn't feeling Yosemite so we decided on some other places we wanted to go. One trip will be a long weekend to Madison Wisconsin to see Prairie Home Companion and stay at a beautiful organic farm. The other trip will be to Holden Beach, North Carolina for a week of relaxation and sun tanning with family and friends. I'm really excited about both trips so I hope our plans work out.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Well it has been a very long 5 days.... Last Tuesday evening I came down with the flu..and a nasty flu is has been. I have been in bed for 5 days and I have total cabin fever!! I'm tired of sniffling, coughing, aching, and sleeping! I'm tired of tissues, tv, magazines, and soup! I want to go to work and get Valentine's Day flowers!! Andrew came down with the same flu while he was in NY so we spent the weekend in bed sleeping, watching tv and sharing a box of tissues. I tried to go to work today but I had a scary dizzy spell on the highway... and decided it was safer to turn around and go back home.

Valentine's Day isn't a total loss though. I got a package from Australia!!


Thank you Andrew! Surprise, surprise it's the bag that I hinted about. It is even more fabulous in person Laura!! I love it! I'm such a lucky girl.

Well I better go lay down and try to get over this flu. I hope everyone has a happy and healthy Valentine's day!

On my own

Well I've finally got the place to myself... (just kidding sweetie). Andrew is off to NYC for work this week so I'm on my own. This always means lots of bad cooking or as I like to call it "all of my favorites". Tonight was Velveeta Mac and Cheese night. I ususally feel awful afterward...but something about it is totally addictive for me. Tomorrow will probably be pasta with goat cheese and Thursday is DiGiornio pizza for my Stitch and Bitch party. By Saturday I'm sure my digestive system will be screaming for joy at Andrew's return.

Hilary has renewed my interest in the quilt I started about 2 years ago. I dug it out last night and started calculating the last few pieces that I need to cut out. I'm hoping I will have time to work on it tomorrow.


Tonight is the finale of The Amazing Race! This is one of my favorite shows that I watch faithfully but good thing it is ending because March 2 is the beginning of my other favorite show America's Next Top Model!

Work is super busy and super stressful which also always seems to happen when Andrew goes to NYC. Tomorrow I get to present to a bunch of people from Nigeria.... I hope it goes ok.

Here are some things I have been obsessing over lately:

• the cutest shoes in the world
• fabulous art

Making Whoopie

This is how I spent my Saturdy night... making whoppie pies. They are an incredible cookie from The Good Cookie cookbook. They are like homemade oreos on steroids...SO Good!! I should have taken a picture of the final product but alas...I was not that on the ball. I'm still getting used to the idea of documenting my life on the digital camera. Sometimes it still feels silly/weird. You can see here my Valentine's Day gift from Andrew from last year...a Kitchen Aid mixer. I love it! Mine is in the color Caviar which turned out to be a pleasant surprise. It's black with glitter which equals lots of fun.

Saturday also resulted in a trip back to my favorite antique mall to pick up some goodies I saw last Sunday and then dreamt about all week. I got this great enamelware tub for only $8.50! It has one rust spot in the bottom but I'm going to try and find some way to seal it. I want to use the tub for dying fabric...it's part of my grand plan to learn how to batik. I also purchased an electric skillet on ebay this week for melting my wax...but it hasn't arrived yet.



The magazines are in the tub because I have been day dreaming constantly about how to decorate my friend Bob's new house. Crazy I know...because I'm not a designer and it's not my house...but what can I say...I like to dream. I think on Thursday when Steph is here I might show her some of my ideas and see what she thinks. The better idea would be to get my own house and decorate that but...who knows when that will happen. There was a house at the end of the street that Andrew and I really liked but it turns out they want like $320,000... a tad out of our price range!

Friday night we watched Garden State. It was really good! I recommend it. Last week we watched The Village which was also really good. It got terrible reviews but I thought it was a really good story, very well done.

In case anyone is curious I posted some pictures of the bags I sewed last summer. I had some ideas for new bags the other day...so maybe I'll get in the mood to start sewing again soon.

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