Vacation Anyone?

I'm back from a vacation in sunny, not humid, California. I went to visit family and help my mom out with her sewing room. She promised me she'd take pictures, but the room is huge. Absolutely huge!

Now, my mother owns several sewing machines, including 4 Pfaff sewing machines (2 embroidery machines, including the new Creative Vision, 1 quilting machine, and 1 serger), 1 Brother embroidery machine (with Disney characters, which is probably why it's still in the room), and 1 class sewing machine/granddaughter sewing machine that is small and light. What she actually has in the room and set up are the 2 embroidery Pfaff machines (2170 and Creative Vision), the Brother, and the serger. The Creative Vision sits on a desk that is about 59 inches or so wide as it is huge when completely set up. Unfortunately, we were busy busy busy and I didn't get a chance to try it, but next time I will. We played with desk positions and where best to put her three desks with all the machines on them. We figured on a sort of U-shape that looks like it will work well for her. In this room is also a huge Koala brand cutting table, fully extended. She has enough room beside this cutting table to walk near her design wall. Oh, the room is wonderfully huge and now nicely set up.

While out there, I also participated in the 10th Annual Southern California Quilt Run and got to see lots of quilt shops and buy lots of fabric. I went to over 20 something quilt stores and saw lots of different quilts. We did all of the San Diego run, which was lovely. They have some really awesome quilt stores over there. I especially liked Quilter's Cottage in Fallbrook, Quilter's Coop in Temeculah, where I purchased tons of contemporary fabric for a picnic blanket, and Cozy Quilt Shop in El Cajon, which gave away tons of freebies and had a great collection of fabric.

And of course, after all this traveling around to quilt stores, we still went to another major quilt event. And yes, the timing of my trip was set to coincide with these events. We went to the new annual International Quilt Show in Long Beach. The line to get in was over an hour long on Friday, which is the day we went, of course. I have no idea what it was like on Saturday. And no, we didn't have to wait an hour, we had exact change and a new line opened up while we were in line. So, we got in very fast. Oh boy, that was fun. There are other reviews out there of this event.

Needless to say, I didn't buy much at this show, since I went to all those quilt shows, but I did buy some pretty neat things and saw some neat things. I bought a Carol's Zoo kit, to make a giraffe family. So cute! They were so soft, in a different fur than on the pattern. I'm such a sucker for toys.

Happy fibering, whatever you are doing!

Canada Trip

I've been back since the end of the first week of June, but haven't had a chance to post yet. However, seeing as how Canada recently celebrated Canada Day, and the US is celebrating the Fourth of July, I thought it appropriate to mention my little trip to our neighboring country. I went to Mississauga for a biology teaching conference and had a great time. It's not far from Toronto, so I got to see a bit of downtown Toronto too. In fact, I joined the group heading into Toronto for a taste (literally and figuratively) of downtown Toronto with a really great tour guide, Bruce Bell. I also went there with friends during the week, and they tried to get me to the yarn store before it closed, but that didn't happen. Oh well, I wasn't there for yarn.

Back to the tour of Toronto. If you are ever up there wanting a tour, I recommend Bruce Bell. He was wonderful. We started in St. Lawrence Market, where we got to taste some of the samplings from the vendors. Then he took us around the city and showed us many of the historical landmarks. It was great. He talked about the history of the city and the buildings, and I learned a lot about Canada during the tour. It was only 2 hours, but it really was worth it.

We got a little bonus on our tour as Woofstock was occurring at the same time as our visit, so we got to see lots of doggies and a few competitions. It was pretty cool.

After lunching near the market, we headed over to the Royal Ontario Museum, where we got a behind the scenes look at the dinosaur exhibits and the work that takes place to get those bones out of the rock and earth that they are taken from. That was pretty cool. Unfortunately, I developed a massive headache and just wanted some water to take an advil. I felt bad about that as the bones really were impressive and the graduate student was giving us a great look at an area I wouldn't normally ever see.

After the tour behind the scenes, and getting water for the headache, we headed back out to see what all of us were excited to see -- Darwin: The Evolution Revolution. That's right, the Darwin exhibit was there, with real herbarium specimens Darwin made and lots of information, including some interesting personal information about Darwin and his family life. No pictures were allowed and I wasn't impressed with the souvenirs -- no pictures of the displays or anything like that, but lots of great books.

After touring the museum for a while, we wrapped up our visit by heading over to Chinatown for dinner. Don't ask me which one as apparently there are four within the city itself.

No yarn, but it was a wonderful trip. However, I have to admit, downtown Toronto reminded me a lot of downtown Los Angeles, especially Chinatown. The number of homeless also reminded me of that area.

Alright, I'm off to visit Robin tomorrow and hope to take a picture of her with one of two rugs off the loom, and maybe her at the loom. We'll see.

Happy fibering!

Off to Canada

I'm off to a conference in Canada this week. I can't wait. The big question for a fiber enthusiast is, will I get to one of the yarn shops up there or not? I'm going to Mississauga, which is near Toronto where the famous Lettuce Knit is located, as well as several other lovely looking yarn/fiber places.

Here's the deal. I have no car, the schedule is pretty packed for the conference, but I am participating in a tour on Saturday to downtown Toronto. We end by being in Chinatown, which is not far, at least on the map, from the store. So, will I get there before it closes, or will I miss it entirely? Guess I'll find out this week.

Happy fibering.

Pegboard Revisited

I promised pics of the craft room, but the only one I have taken is of the sewing wall, with pegboard and thread up. So, below is almost the whole sewing wall with the pegboard up. In the left corner is my SewEzi with my serger on it, barely visible. On the right, is my craft bookcase and you can see the door to a closet. My sewing table is just a foldable table that is height adjustable. Thank goodness, because I am short and other tables are often too high. I'd like to get a table like my computer is on, but Ikea isn't down here yet. So, I'll wait. Besides, my table has worked for me so far. Now that the serger is on the SewEzi, I have room for a cutting board on the left side of my table which comes in really handy.


I had to rehang the curtains after our new kitten Ebony took them done. The rod was nailed into the window frame. Now, it's screwed into 30 lb drywall holders, so I doubt she'll be able to take it down again.

Below is a closeup of my slightly empty pegboard. I love the hammer holders, they make really great scissor holders! As I mentioned, I tried to use a paintbrush to paint the pegboard with disastrous results, so don't try that. I sanded my pegboard, but I think you can get away with only priming the pegboard. I used regular spray paint in thin layers and it worked like a champ.

Alright, that's it from me. I am finishing up the semester, which means writing finals, and grading papers. I have done some spinning, but not much else around here. I'm working on a sewing project, but I'll have to post about that in about a month or so.

I'm hoping to paint the house soon. The hallway downstairs needs the wallpaper removed very badly (peeling), and I already know what color it will be, so that's probably the first area to be painted. Should be interesting.

Happy fibering!

Things we do

Does anyone else ever do this? I try to stay up as late as possible and do as much as possible on my last day of vacation. I did this on my birthday too. Sigh, Robin starts her spring break today, mine ends on Sunday. I feel like I have to pack as much in as I can get. Oh well.

I will have more pics soon, I hope. My parents bought me some lovely thread from Pacesetter (now made by Robison Anton). It's 61 spools of color. They had me purchase it so I got what I wanted. I purchased it here at I Can Help Sew. I arranged my thread in a much more pleasing manner, at least to me. I finally have color on my very white walls in my office/craft room. Okay, my craft room is the room above the right-side of our house (see picture in this post). I have dormer windows in that room, you'll see them soon, and slanted ceilings. I love my room. It's so artsy shaped. Anyways, here's the corner where my white bookcase is with my thread. Sorry about the shadows, but I took the photo late at night.

The colors are so inspiring. Maybe I'll even do some sewing or something this weekend. Or, maybe I'll just work on lectures and try to get ahead for the week. Sigh, yeah, that's probably what will happen since I went in to work today and out in the field yesterday. Plants aren't blooming, so I'm good for another week or so.

On my birthday, my husband took me to buy a pegboard to hang my sewing supplies on. I bought a white one and tried painting it with acrylic paint. That was a hopeless cause, even with the sanding I did on the white finish. So my husband took me out after my birthday dinner, and I bought spray paint. Today, I finally primed it, then sprayed on the blue, wildflower blue, I think. Very appropriate. Love the color too. So, hopefully this weekend my husband will help me put it up on the wall. I can't wait. More color on my walls. And I get to hang my plastic rulers that I keep worrying will get broken in all the hustle and bustle over here. Oooh, and I have jars to put on there too. Very fun and cool. Yes, I am very weird.

Alright, happy fibering, whoever reads this.