Shop Hops!

South Bay Shop Hop was a lot of fun. Stores I have never been to before. I like the charm bracelet idea -- each store gave out a charm to add to a necklace or bracelet. Really cute. I will post a picture of the charms once I get them on a bracelet. Here are some pictures of the stores.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23532947@N03/sets/72157620549783357/

The weather was perfect for running all over the area and collecting charms. We ate fabulously, too and even drank a bit of spirits. MMMMOjitos on the beach in Capitoloa, it doesn't suck.

Finally got to check out Santana Row, in San Jose, which was a trip. Felt like Rodeo Drive, even saw a bright yellow Lamborghini. And shoes that cost more that one months rent on my first apartment, more than a plane ticket to Hawaii. yikes.

Also managed to work on the jellyfish quilt, in between shopping, eating, drinking and chatting, so hopefully I will have it done this week before the class. More pictures to follow.
Au Revoir

Peeps quilt

Peeps quilt, originally uploaded by kristin.jenny.

I got the Peeps quilt back from Quilter's Studio, where Lori did her usual lovely quilting job. I really love the swirls around the two peeps in the center. And, then, lucky me to have Tracy hand stitch the binding!! Woo Hoo!! Now I just need Easter to roll around again and I am all set.

Ryokan block 2

Ryokan block 2, originally uploaded by kristin.jenny.

Just so you don't get the idea that my life has been an endless stream of work, graduation parties, work, birthday parties,work and whipped cream games, I actually DID manage to sew last night. Yay. I made block 2 of the awesome Ryokan block of the month. I love those Cherrywood fabrics, and the Japanese Lecien, too. I love Thimble Creek!!

Whipped Cream Game

Whipped Cream Game, originally uploaded by kristin.jenny.

Kaity shows off her mad skills at whipped cream toss. 8 years of education put to good use.

Cake Wrecks

I have been too busy to blog, so let me redirect you to a great blog: http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/ It is devoted to "professional" cakes gone wrong. Totally hi-larious. Enjoy, make sure to lick all the frosting off of your fingers when you are done.

Ciao, Kristin

Jimmy Buffett concert

Jimmy Buffett concert, originally uploaded by kristin.jenny.

Here we are in the parking lot at the Jimmy Buffett concert. Lawn seating once inside, totally relaxing evening watching 40+ year old parrot heads get down with their bad selves.

I knew only 2 or 3 songs, but I still had a great time. Thanks Ro for the invite! It got me excited to see more concerts this summer, for sure.

It's ok, i'm a professional

It's ok, i'm a professional, originally uploaded by kristin.jenny.

Safety is an important consideration when using a rotary cutter. However, I am very practiced and experienced at multi-tasking between eating wicked hot jalapenos, drinking a nice icy beer, dancing to The Roots cd, taking photos on my cool camera phone and slicing fabric for my cool jellyfish quilt.

You may not want to try this at home. Do so at your own risk. .. .

Modeling the blouse i made

Modeling the blouse i made, originally uploaded by kristin.jenny.

I think I am getting pretty good at this self-portrait thing, eh? This is the blouse I made. It is going to be very warm today, so it's a perfect day to give the top a spin. It's Simplicity pattern 2962. Happy Wednesday all.

Blouse I made yesterday

Blouse I made today. . ., originally uploaded by kristin.jenny.

I forgot to tell ya, I got some sewing time in yesterday and made this cute summer top from an Alexander Henry black and yellow print fabric I got last year during the March Madness shop hop. I think it is tres chic!

Mother's Day gifts I made tonight

Mother's Day gifts I made tonight, originally uploaded by kristin.jenny.

I hope none of the Moms in my world read this before Sunday! I made these adorable little pocket purses from the pattern by Monica Solorio-Snow in the Fall 2008 Quilts n More magazine. I have made so many of these cute purses - they're like potato chips, once you make one, you just can't stop.

The ladies in my drop in group really loved these, and asked if I would have a class at Thimble Creek to teach this. I will ask Monica if that would be okay with her. Really though, they are soooooo easy.

Oh, and I dropped off this quilt top at the quilter's - Quilter's Studio in San Carlos. This is Swanky Peeps, cuz I made it with Moda Swanky - a jelly roll of that cute fabric, and then if you look in the center, I made two little "peeps" in honor of my favorite non-chocolate candy. The polka dot is a fabric by Lakehouse, I think.

I picked up my finished Mary Engelbreit friends quilt, but I am waiting to post a photo until I get the binding on - so give me five or six months. ha ha.

I hope all of the Moms out there get a nice day of rest and adoration. Happy Friday everyone!

Ryokan block of the month

Ryokan block of the month, originally uploaded by kristin.jenny.

I just got my first block of the month from Thimble Creek. It is called Ryokan, and I had to make it yesterday afternoon. Each of the twelve blocks has yummy Lecien fabrics from Japan, and each has a different quilt represented in the house, the quilts are made of sumptuous feeling cherrywood fabrics. I am so excited about this awesome quilt. The sashing between the blocks is also a gorgeous taupe and gold combination. Stay tuned, or go get your own at thimblecreek.com.

Up n' Atom

I am excited that it is Saturday, and I did get up n' atom, went to work and got some stuff accomplished, but tonight, I am going to watch the UFC fights, Brian Stann is fighting - love that guy's style (my trainer says I box like he does. Plant and wreck.) Then after the fights, I am going to see my friend's husband's band, Replica, perform 80s rock covers.

I love old crate labels like this, and someday I want to do some artsy thing with them. For now, I will just share with you this one which fits my day today. Hmm, this bunny's big feet remind me, I need a pedicure today too. Better hop to . . .

I love stripes

This is what I started working on tonight at my drop in quilt group. This is for a class I am going to teach in July. Here's an extreme close up

It's going to get even cooler when I add the squiggles so stay tuned!

Did ya notice all the nice stripes? You think I got a thing for stripes, huh? Well, I love stripes so much I even put them in my hair:

Here is a nice relaxing photo from our wine tasting day, this is Chateau Montelena, there's a swan in there, flexing his wings dramatically:

Things that make me smile

For my friend's birthday we went wine tasting Saturday. First stop, Larkmead in Calistoga. I parked my sweet ride and then was met with this inviting view:

Although I am usually a very active person, and my kids tease me that I can't sit still through one tv show or movie, the idea of sitting in a rocking chair on a crisp evening watching the sun set, with a quilt around my shoulders and my man at my side holds a very very very charming appeal. Maybe I still believe in fairy tales, but I hold out hope that this will be me someday.

This also makes me smile, my two adorable nieces playing in the grass at Easter. The little one's new phrase is "I got it!!" everytime she runs for a ball. Adorable.

Planning quilts also makes me smile, and I just started dreaming up one that looks really good so far. In my head. I found this drawing a while back (from a United Airlines ad, if you can believe that!) and it is going to be the basis for the coloration and feel of this quilt. Hmm, with all the ufos I have, this may be completed in oh, 2012. But it's fun to plan.
ok, gratuitous sexy man photo. I think we all can agree that I have an overabundance of mad love for this man, Jason Statham, and his new movie, Crank 2 comes out on Friday, which will probably not be an Oscar contender, but if it delivers this kind of action, I should be able to sit through it. . .No popcorn, please, just pass the Statham.

Quilt related post! I know, go figure

Here is a quilt I made my in-laws for Christmas, modeled on Easter by my cute nephew:

Made from swell fabric line (except the sashing) and sewn on my Hello Kitty machine. Lulu

I hope you all had a festive Easter. Kids are off this week, so they are looking forward to r&r. I will be working though. poor me

B. . . P. . .

I cannot stop saying a certain phrase from Saturday night live. Angie Tempura, celebrity blogger. Check out the link in my side bar. . .

How can I think this is funny? Don't I need to grow up? Nah. I am just gonna roll with it.

Hope you all had a Happy Easter, Peeps:

I need to sell my car!

Help me sell my car! I already bought a replacement, so it's time to sell the wagon, as much as I would LOVE to keep both. It's a 2005 Dodge Magnum R/T, hemi engine, 300 hp. In addition to being a fabric-a-holic, I am a car fanatic too, but it is much easier to store yardage than it is to maintain a fleet, so I am afraid this beauty must be going. I have it listed here, or if you know anyone who is interested (say, YOU would look great driving this down your street!), let me know!!

Happy Dance!

Quick note of happy dance. Just got a call from the fabulous Laura Heine who said she is done quilting my Asian Log Cabin quilt and she says it turned out awesome!! She even asked if she could take pictures of it for her website. Oh joy! I cannot wait to see it! I also finished quilting the grad night auction quilt, now on to the binding. Also made two cute purses and a pineapple table topper. SO I need to post some pictures this week, I know. We all know how I fail to keep those picture promises, huh.

busy takes on whole new level

oh crud. how am i ever gonna right this ship that is so tipped over in a sea of busy! I cannot remember working this hard in so many different directions since my kids were in grade school and I worked full time plus at a crazy law firm that had me flying all over the country. Now, I am self employed lawyering, so I have no one to blame but me, but whine, whine, I will. I have been referring to the convergence of all these cases and depositions and hearings as "the perfect storm" because it's all landing on me at once.

The bright light in my week will be thursday when I get to teach my first ever quilt class at Thimble Creek!! I am so excited and so ready to get a sewing break.

Last week, I finished the school auction quilt top and my peeps quilt top, but this week, nothing has happened in the studo (insert "cricket sounds") so I have to satisfy my quilting needs by looking at everone else's blogs!!

OH and I received a great package from Celeste in the fat quarter shop. I have never seen the fabric she sent before, it is so unique and springy!! I will post more and pictures soon, but I just want to say thanks! n case Celese visits my humble and not so quiltilicious right now blog.

Well back to the grind, ttfn

OK So lots of pictures in this post! First, the APRON SWAP! OMG, I love my apron. My swapster must have been looking in my closet and my sewing room because it is SO ME!!

And, she sent swap goodies. (Not pictured: the m&m's that my husband and I swooped on and devoured) Pencils, more candy and the cutest cupcake iron on! yay!
Hey, ya know what's really cool, Marissa will make you an apron too, yup, she has a business making these gorgeous flirty aprons. Check it out:

I somehow forgot to get a picture of the apron I made. Duh. But lucky for me, Debi really likes it and posted a picture on her blog. cowgurlsblessing

More on the goodie I put in with the apron later in this post.

ALSO, we had an awesome girls' retreat in Bodega Bay.

This is Karen, sewing away while we watched chick flicks like Mama Mia!

Uh oh, Carol and I even got up and danced.

I am always annoyed at movies that show a bunch of girls sitting around and then breaking into spontaneous song and dance numbers, and then here we were, doing that same thing!

We also watched Hairspray an the Holiday to round out the chick film fest.

But of course, the retreat wasn't all about dancing and singing, we were there to CREATE!! oh, but first, better have a hot tub. That dancing wore me out, how 'bout you, Carol?

Ah yes, this didn't suck. Cosmos in the hot tub!

Ok, so what did we dream up in the tub?? I decided to make a pocket cowboy for the western themed apron I was working on for the sassy flirty apron swap. We named him Shane because he has an "S" on the belt buckle.

He kept staring at me with those blue eyes. Shane, I am trying to sew!!

Go hang out with Karen in the hot tub!!

When Karen had enough of Shane and his two dimensional conversational skills, he sneaked away to Donna's bed. Shane, Donna is busy working on her scrapbook now. Her WEDDING scrapbook! Get out of her bed.

No, no, no, I didn't mean for you to get into mine!

Shane, you are in need of a hobby!
Yes, read a book! Maybe that will improve your conversational skills.

uh oh, look what I found blooming on the patio. She says her name is Betty, but I think it is TROUBLE.

No sense fighting the inevitable, so Donna whipped up another batch of cosmos, and we let the two have the hot tub while we got to work:

Did we actually make anything? I am glad you asked! In addition to the cute apron and the happy couple, I made:

This is a log cabin with Asian themed fabrics that I started last century (ok, like 2004) and decided to finish this weekend. I came up with the colors and layout on EQ5. (On Tuesday I shipped it off to Montana, Laura Heine, to do some magical quilting.)

Then, I made this autograph quilt for the Grad Night dinner dance auction, in blue and gold fabrics for our school colors. I just need to add the borders and quilt it. I brought fabric for the borders but meh, I didn't like it at all!! Didya notice how the gold fabric blends into the floor. weird, huh?




Karen finished her Celebration quilt with the awesome applique'd balloons and presents (the flames on the candles were left behind at home), and all that's left is for me to quilt it for her. I wish you could see the stitching on the applique. It is tres magnifique.

She and I took that class together a long time ago. Here is my version of the same pattern:

Fun, huh, how different they can look depending on fabrics. Nice fuzzy picture, too I might add.


Carol made this awesome quilt. This was a funny process for her. She had all the fabrics picked out, but ended up changing her mind here and there before she cut them out. Then she cut, cut, cut and sewed, sewed, sewed. AND then, she DIDN'T LIKE IT for a while, until we all looked at it and decided that it was very aquarium-like. The orange dot fabric strips look like Nemo fish or these beauties I snorkeled with at Lover's Cove on Catalina Island. The center blocks have a wave like seaweed about them, don't they?? So Carol changed her plan on the border fabric, and ended up creating a gorgeous aquatic quilt. It's about 4 feet by 5 feet I think:

whew. So you see, I have been a busy bee. And I am happy to have my computer back and running faster than ever.

LOOKIE LOOKIE. My favorite blogger, Ms. Craft Rage herself, Rachelle, has nomitated me for a Kreativ Blogger award.

Because of my quilts and my sewing room. How awesome is that! Rachelle is quite deserving of this award for her wit as well as her creative sewing. Check out her blog and read about the hotness, her crazy animals and her quest to create the perfect wedding dress. So the rules are that I now get to nominate 5 blogs for the same award. I would like to nominate:

1. Inside a Black Apple Emily is an artist with an etsy shop you must check out. I got the most beautiful print of the girl from Pan's Labyrinth for my husband. He loves that movie and loves original art. I can spend a lot of time looking at her blog and shop!

2. Crazy Mom Quilts This is the most prolific crafter ever. She makes about a quilt a week, no joke. plus she knits, makes clothes for her cute kids and publishes tutorials on her site for the rest of us.

3. Marianne of Moonbeams in a Jar is so flippin funny and creative and she has two boys the same age as mine, so it's fun to read along with her adventures and that of her sidekick, Miss Kitty. (you have to go see Miss Kitty in her inaguration hat)

4. That Dorky Homemade Look. Lisa Boyer is a quilter, author and very entertaining blog writer. I love when she takes her audience on trips around the island. She lives in Kauai. Poor thing.

5. Monica, another fave, of Happy Zombie fame. Go to her blog and you will see. She creates stuff for magazines, like quilts and purses and pennie pockets for garsh sakes. She is uber talented, funny and cutting edge.

OK SO TWO HOURS OF BLOGGING LATER, I AM READY TO SIGN OFF FOR NOW! I got things to do people. Like sew! Next post: what I got in the mail from MONTANA. No, it is not Shane's brother. ciao bellas.

LUCKY LUCKY ME

Well, I finally posted pictures from the January 1-4 retreat in Napa, see below, and here I am, packing for another retreat to Bodega this weekend. Lucky, Lucky me. This weekend I will be working more on the Alice quilt and hopefully I will remember to take pictures.

I am also going to work on an apron for the current, SSEN flirty apron swap and hopefully also get the Grad Night quilt finished.

tonight is sewing group, so also sewing before I head to my sewing retreat. woo hoo! hope you all get to do something fabulous this weekend, too!

New Year's Resolution

UPDATE -- PICTURES ADDED

REDUCE! That's my resolution. But not reduce me, reduce my stuff. I intend to pass along 30% of my current stuff - clothes, linens, housewares, crafty stuff. So, I started with my hall closet. Whew. Then, I tackled the dining room drawers, cabinets. I got a hefty bag to go to the dump, and a car load of stuff for Goodwill, plus found some much needed storage room in that closet for when I get to the kitchen overflow - big platters and stuff.



What is it about organizing stuff that feels so dang good! Why can't it feel that good to stay organized and do the daily stuff to keep it up. I swear the container store is like my best friend/worst enemy. Keeps me tantalized with the illusion of perfectly matched storage bins neatly labeled and lined up in the closet. I buy all that stuff, get it all set and pretty and then what happens?? chaos seeps in. oh well, I fight on. Next item up for project organization is my horrid bedroom walk in closet. ha ha walk in . . . that's funny. hurdle in . . . shimmy and squeeze in maybe. I wear like 1/3 of what's in there at most, I swear. why do I have so much stuff I don't wear? delusion.



ok, so one area that is fairly* organized (*always room for improvement) is my sewing loft. And I have recently returned from a fabulous sewing retreat in Napa. I am working on a really fun project based on Alice in Wonderland. I am such a bonehead that I did not take a picture of it when I had all the parts laid out, but I will try to recreate it at home. It's basically a background with pieced and appliqued items to be sewn all over it. I really love how Alice turned out, and the Wicked Queen. You will see, later.

LISA PROMISED TO EMAIL ME PICTURES OF MY ALICE QUILT IN PROGRESS. LISA IF YOU ARE READING THIS . . . :-D



The other gals were super industrious as always, and on a variety of different projects. Pictures to be inserted soon. HERE THEY ARE:

Above: Diane's translation of a Russian Church

This is Sandy's marvelously huge applique extravagana.

Here is an easy peasy quilt I made for my brother in law's partner:

Chickie's sawtooth beauty. This is also a very large quilt, about 90 inches square I think.

Lara was making this for her boyfriend, who has always wanted a real log cabin. Now he will have the quilt, so almost there, right??

I so love hanging out with these amazingly talented, funny and inspiring ladies. I am blessed to have found this great group.

Below are Nancy, Nancy and Kathy showing off their retreat creations:

The hotel was awesome, too, and the weather was perfect (for me) kind of gray and misty rain and cold. I was in quilty heaven.



I got three quilts off to the quilter on Friday. These were sent to Laura Heine at Fiberworks for her magic touch. Retro kitchen is PICTURED ABOVE, Peppermint Twist is my own creation that I blogged about here, and then there is a Mary Engelbriet fabrics Turning Twenty quilt, too. I can't wait to see them all quiltilicious.

Pictures soon (soon as I find the cord I need to connect camera to computer -- do you think I can find a product at the Container store to corral that? I once lost my ipod cord for days and found it in a most unusual spot - ha ha)