Backyard Sale - date changed

Ok. I sent out a message to everyone on the list and got a ton of responses requesting I change the date of the sale to April 24th.
So it's changed!
hope you can come.

Quilt #6 - a car quilt for ze artiste

A really simple square quilt for Ze Artiste's birthday today. It's backed with a very garish but soft boyish truck flannel. I bought a great fat quarter pack that I used for this and Ace's quilt. (he loves it)

Yellow quilt - finished

Well, it's done! The yellow and grey quilt is happily complete. I think this is my 5th complete quilt... :) and many more in the works!

Collage... Streams of Mercy Never Ceasing

Um... Where have I been, you ask? (I'm still here.) What have I been doing, you ask? (trying to catch up on sleep and get over a sinus infection and a broken heart)
Nutshell: Ace is gone. Transferrred down to a home close to his momma, who thanked me profusely for all I'd done for her and her baby. Still, I'm exhausted... Emotionally and physically. Not thinking we will attempt fost/adopt another time after two heartbreaking situations with AJ and now Ace.
Today after Palm Sunday services (and a little detour to get a certain 5.5yo's ears pierced)... I came home and worked on collages, slept some while J took the kids out for dinner and then spent another 3 hours working on this collage.
It's based on the old hymn, "come thou fount of every blessing"... And the imagery is based on experiences I had while doing archeology one summer in Israel. We were digging in Northern Israel where the source of the Jordan River springs out of a dark cave in some cliffs not unlike this one I made. Today I felt the need for the "streams of mercy never ceasing"

Momen+ (Moment Plus fabric store)

Oh wow. My pal, Lauren, told me about a Japanese fabric store in Olde Torrance (crawling distance from my family's toy design studio). It's blocks from where I grew up, but miles and miles from where I live now in Los Angeles. So I made a special trip to the design studio today,
visited my dad and sister and left Z for a playdate with some cousins... And off I went to candyland. As I told the shop owner, "this place is SPECIAL!" wow. Everything is imported from Japan... And it was nearly impossible to spend a mere happy half hour in there. I picked up some adorable fat quarters and please note that laminate fabric in the lower right corner... Smokin', isn't it?

Oh, momen+ is totally a destination for fabric shopping. I was delighted to support this little business - and can't wait to come back! (you should too)

Liberty of London

How am I supposed to resist vintage Liberty of London patterns on adorable products at Target prices? I mean, seriously, it has my name on it...

Another upscale backyard sale - April 24th!

So I've been talking about it for a while and have found a good week for my second Upscale Backyard Sale. Those of you who came last time should already have an evite in your email... if you want an invitation, let me know via email and I'll send one!

A birthday smile

You may be sensing a theme here, but I have had a REALLY hard day. And today I opened my door to find a package on my porch... (earlier today I tweeted that each time I open my door I secretly hope a package is there for me)... And THIS was in it! My pal Tori sent it for my
birthday... And I'd even commented on it on her blog... About how she had this cute piece of artwork that -um, reminded me of, um, me... That sounds really self centered, except for those of you who know how much I love red and white polka dots... And my red and white polka dotted rainboots on top of that!...

come to find out... it was actually inspired by this pic.... the one I posted here...

Tori, you're awesome. What a cool fabric collage... Do tell your process... And thanks for the smile today, Lord knows I needed it.

Backyard sale, anyone?

Hmmm. Now what to do with all these pouches and this new pile of fresh yoyo hairclips... I'm sensing that it's time for another upscale backyard sale... Anyone? Anyone?

More zipper pouches

I have a LOT of zippers (thanks to Tori) and still a few more of those amazing upholstery samples from my old neighbor (a fabric rep). Remember, those that I used for my patchwork couches? I also had a tough weekend and used my free therapist (my sewing machine) to work out some of my thoughts...
Productivity is comforting to me.

Winner! - Murano Glass Ring

Sorry about the delay, foster mom duties for Ace and a feverish kindergartener left me wiped and distracted yesterday and I forgot to post our winner! (oops!)

Random.org chose and.... CHRISTINA from Alaska... you won!
email me your mailing information...

=)
congratulations!

Belt it

I've been meaning to do this tutorial that I learned about from Dollar store crafts
for a while. Last night I finally got around to it... I love these new belts. Each one took only about 1/2 hour to make. Now I just need to find a way to make the buckles look a little less Dollar Store-ish.

Last day for the giveaway!

This was me a few days ago, enjoying some time to journal, spend a part of my Anthroplogie gift certificate, relish in my time without kids and have a cup of coffee at one of my favorite spots, The LA Farmers Market...
...come on, you know you want one of those rings... It's got your name on it!
Write your comment at the original post and be the winner! I'll pick tonight at midnight, if I'm up, or tomorrow morning.

Ps. I picked today to end the giveaway in honor of my pal Tori, who is 4 days younger than me. For many years now, we have taken each other to lunch for our birthdays, but she moved to Mississippi this year, so a phone call had to do. (love you,Tori!)

LA Modern Quilt Guild meeting

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Originally uploaded by seventeen and em

So fun! I went to the Modern Quilt Guild again this week and showed them the three tops I sewed after coming home all inspired to quilt with my first meeting!

Great pics taken by one of our members - the colors look great!

Ze Artiste paints

I save all of Ace's formula cans for days like today when Ze Artiste wants to paint. Pinecones are another favorite canvas around here. I love his aesthetic, it's very color oriented and intense on the coverage. When he uses crayons, he uses every crayon, when he paints, all the colors mix together.

ps - Don't forget the giveaway! Tomorrow is the deadline!

Sewing resumes when the baby sleeps

Ah... Sleep training... Oh vey, it's hard work. Now that Ace is doing a good 5-7 hour stretch in the front half of the night (still up 2-3 times though, later) - I have my nights to myself again. J is out of town on a shoot so I had a pal over to sew last night... We made more pouches, playing with zippers and some Anna Maria Horner laminate fabric. J will be stoked to see these projects...

The owls adorable presence mean that a certain Nick and Nora nightshirt has bitten the dust at hubby's long awaited request. (he said he hated seeing me covered head to toe in owls with big eyes... I can't imagine why) There are many owls to use now, so we will be seeing them surface in
many cute projects, I'm sure. (happy now, J?)
Now... What to put in these?

Beautiful old church

This church is in my neighborhood, I love it, even without a fresh coat of paint.

Journal/sketchbook covers

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Today was a little more of a Libby Dibby style day than I've had in a while, I don't think the boys knew they should take it easy on momma because it's my birthday and all... But they actually let me sew (by hand, I don't use the machine much during the day) a cushion for our
bench at the dining room table, and then they went to bed early enough so I could leave them and The Design Director with a sitter and go off to another meeting of the LA Modern Quilt Guild. (yay!)
I came home tonight all inspired to do just a teensy little project, so I opted to make a long-desired fabric pouch for my calendar (a custom Erin Condren one that Tif got me for Christmas) from some Amy Butler laminate that Tif also gave me for my birthday this weekend. I used a vintage tea towel (gifted by Tori years ago!) to line it and closed it with a button from a huge stash Kellie and I split from a shopping day downtown. Friends are great. It's fun to have 3 represented in this tiny littly pouch.
While I'm at it, I though I'd show you my other pouch I use to cart around my latest (Libby Dibby) handmade sketchbook. This one was handmade and custom ordered on etsy from ZJayne, who rocks... You can give her your specifics... I told her my name and favorite colors and she made this from old tshirts. Isn't it great?

And stay tuned for more t-shirt ideas. In my exhausting this past few weeks, I was sadly too tired to sew any big projects, but tried my hand at some fun (EASY) t-shirt projects that I'll share with you soon.