Where I Live

D was on transport this weekend and got to fly to the Central Valley. Check out this shot of the bridge he captured on the way...



And it happened to be a clear day in my neighborhood.



Can you believe this is where I live?? So cool.
(And can you believe he gets to do this for his job? Even cooler.)

Happy (Belated) Easter

Last weekend, D and I went to San Luis Obispo for Easter. It was so great to see the children & my family. The weather was incredible & the good food just kept on coming.

Saturday night, my dad made a *delicious* seafood paella. He actually caught the fish himself in Mexico. He's such a Renaissance man. (here I am trying to take credit for the paella)



And this was our Easter spread, featuring the "Steve Bunnies" I made for the children as tablescape. How appropriate.



Check out these adorable little placecards.



And who is responsible for all that adorable-ness?? She's only my niece, but she makes me so proud! *sniff*



And what Easter brunch would be complete without a Madonna Inn black forest cake?? Hello!



And if prying myself from my family wasn't hard enough, this was the scenery on our way out of town. The orange you see is a huge patch of California Golden Poppies.



Can you even believe it?

Quilted Scrap Pillow II

You really think I would only make one? Come on now... In between naps, I put this one together:



The details:



And together:



These will look so sharp on D's sofa.

Quilted Scrap Pillow

I have been so sick all week that I haven't left the house in 3 days...which enabled this completely recycled project made of things I already had in my arsenal (yes, I am really sick). Inspired by this awesome blog post, I busted out my scrap bag and composed.

I didn't worry about pinning or making things exact.



Then I graduated to a larger free-motion quilting project (still not up for a full-size quilt yet). I started with gray thread, but pulled out the first pass - I think neutral is better to start with.



Then I recycled a pillow and backing from this project .



And voila!



Don't worrry, no large, or otherwise usable pieces of fabric were harmed in the making of this pillow...

Happy Accident

I have no idea what just happened...

What started as a free-motion quilting experiment, and then an appliqué quilting experiment, turned into a tooth fairy "pillow" (finally!) for my niece, Malia. And I am so happy with it!



See the little tiny pocket for little tiny teeth? Hopefully the Tooth Fairy can get her fingers in there...

The deets:



And don't worry, there's a pocket on the back big enough for a little cash or a pack of gum or keys to a car (kidding).



...time for a nap.

Home Sick, Binding

Yesterday I stayed home from work with a cold. The only energy I could muster was to bind and bind...

Here is one of the scarves I'd been imagining forever. I bought this charcoal & creme piece of wool when Poppy was preparing to move (it was dangerously close to my work anyhow). The fabric was too expensive to do anything more than this scarf with, so here's my micro-vision. And then I found the binding fabric at Peapod. It's cotton from Japan, but looks/feels like silk. Dee-lish.




Then, (I know you're totally sick of looking at this fabric, and this quilt - but this is a different one, I swear! And the last one too!...wait, scratch that.) I used the leftover polka-dot fabric I am backing the big quilt with. I think I like this better than my historically go-to "seed" binding (for this one anyhow).



I tried my hand at machine-quilting with the walking foot. Next up, free-motion quilting.

Blue Bottle & Velo Rouge

I've pretty well weaned myself of coffee, but every once in a while, I like to indulge. This cutest little neighborhood cafe, Velo Rouge, serves the world's greatest coffee. They also have a delicious food menu.



I stopped by today to take some coffee to my family in San Luis Obispo - a sure-fire way to get a sweet cup of joe in the AM.

....and yes, of course, I take my own coffee sleeves in.

Food Phase

I'm a food-phaser. I find something I like (which is by no means a rarity) and I'll eat it every day for days/weeks/months and then abruptly stop. It's been grapefruit, peanut butter, whole wheat english muffins, Peasant Pies, Cadbury mini eggs....

My latest food obsession? Roasted root vegetables:





...it could be worse...like creme brulee.

Wee Kimono-Shirt

There's this little store in town that sells adorable children's clothing and paraphernalia. Overpriced, I browse for inspiration (is that bad??).

And let's get something straight here....I am not all that imaginative. But, I can often times see something and recreate it. From there, the design deviates and I can sort of call it my own, right? And so it goes with this little shirt I saw:

Before:



After:



This is draft #1. Next time, I'll make it longer (a dress maybe), the back of the neck higher, and make the sleeves better (elastic, maybe?). Anyhow, I made this sans model, so I gotta see if it fits Miss Maile first.

Pot O' Gold...Er...

In honor of St. Paddy's day, we served some traditional Irish fare. My roommate, Sarah, D, and I had nice little celebratory feast.


(yes, I know 5:45 is very senior-citizen-early-bird-special of us, but I had rehearsal...)

Yipes - actually doesn't look all that yummy, does it? ...Well, it was pretty tasty. But remind me never to be a food stylist.



And traditional Irish oatmeal raisin cookies. Never heard of oatmeal cookies as an Irish dessert? Oh...

I Wonder Where the Car Is...

....Oh yeah.



We went to San Diego a few weekends back and of ALL the colors of ALL the cars at our rental agency, this is the car we ended up with. It was the only yellow ride, and we were the lucky recipients. Do you think they laughed at us as we drove off?

Anyhow, I spent one day walking around La Jolla and watching the seals. Not sure why, but I much preferred these guys over the ones at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. Apparently, this used to be a children's beach, but after El Nino, the seals took refuge in this little cove. Now the animal activists don't want to kick them out, and they've soiled the beach quite a bit, but the children kinda want their beach back...



And maybe you're wondering what wild and crazy kids do on a Saturday night in La Jolla....

Petit Craft Blitz

It was an unplanned craft blitz. And while I didn't accomplish quite as much as the last blitz, I knocked out a couple fun projects.

These onesie/burp-cloth sets for my good friend (and Cuban sistah) Madeline's beautiful new baby, Carolina.




And these looped towels from Amy Butler's In Stitches book.




I bought a bunch of that Amy Butler green polka-dot fabric to back my quilt (which I won't show you again until it's complete) with, so I put the excess to good use.

Muir Beach Hike

Today was such a lovely day in the City....which doesn't exactly explain why we headed north to Marin. But we did, and it couldn't have been more perfect. Off the trail from Muir Beach, D and I found a sweet little picnic spot.



...and then I threw him off the cliff.

Stitchin' Post Quilt Kit

I think I mentioned this quilt kit ages ago, but am just now getting serious about it. I bought it at the Stitchin' Post in Sisters, OR last summer. I finished the top panel today.



Fabric look familiar? Determined, I have been working on it since I woke up this morning sprinkled with some oatmeal-making, TV-watching, and veggie-roasting. I think this is a good stopping point for today...now I can step out of my PJs and face the day (it's like 3:30 in the afternoon).

Check out these corners...oh, yeah.