My Quilt Studio

My boyfriend and I just moved in together, yay!  So exciting!!!

We have a beautiful house in Glendale, CA that we are renting.  It's the absolute perfect place for us.  It has a beautiful yard with a pool that is perfect for entertaining.  

Here is the view from our patio:

There is a second bedroom big enough for his workout studio (he is a personal trainer, www.corekineticstrength.com in case you are interested. Shameless plug ;) ) and there is a nook off of the living room that was perfect for my sewing area.  It has windows, accordion doors that I can close for privacy, and a closet with built in storage.  Can it be any more perfect?!

The layout it great.  I have my sewing machine at the end on a desk. My cutting table in the middle with two cutting mats held in place by those rubber pads you put under your rugs so they don't slip. And then I usually set up the ironing board just inside the door frame so that I can turn around from the cutting table and iron.  It creates the triangle aspect that they recommend for increased efficiency and productivity.  

I made some "art" using fabric and embroidery hoops.  I made my white boards by purchasing pictures frames with glass and turned the picture it came with around to show the white side and then hot glued some iron embellishment to the frame.  

I wanted to make my tools more accessible while maintaining organization so I bought this rail and the buckets from Ikea and hung it on the wall by my cutting mats.  Small rulers are in the cage, scissors and rotary cutter are in the right bucket, pens and templates in the other buckets.

Ikea is an inexpensive way to create a space that is functional and cute.  The desk, cutting table and this storage unit are all Ikea.  I bought the colored boxes from Ikea as well to help keep my various projects organized and in one place. 

And some more decorations to add to the beauty of my room.  :)  Bigger rules are in my ruler shelf.  The picture frame says "Do one thing everyday that makes you happy".  My mom bought it for me awhile ago to remind me that I deserve to be happy too.  I love my little room and look forward to everything I am going to create in this wonderful space.

Auction quilt

The friend I gave the wedding guestbook quilt to had given my information to a friend of hers who loved the quilt I had made and wanted me to make one for her as well.  She contacted me and said she was looking for a quilt to be made for her granddaughters school that was having it's 50th anniversary and this quilt would be auctioned off at their anniversary event.  And she was going to pay me for it!  Eeek!!

I was so flattered that she loved the other quilt I had made and had specifically sought me out to make a quilt for her.  It was a bit overwhelming.  But I accepted because it sounded like a cool idea and I like making other people happy.  Who doesn't right?

She wanted squares that the kids in her granddaughters class could draw pictures on and then I would piece it all together.  The school is a catholic school so the kids would write something about what faith means to them or something.  She then wanted to incorporate catholic symbols of some kind into the quilt.  I got to work on designing the pattern and picking the colors. And since I'm not religious (meaning I don't go to church and only know the basics about religion), I had to do some research on the Saint for the school, St Rose of Lima, and other religious symbols that I could use.  It was a lot of work looking back on it now.  It wasn't just pick out the fabric and go, there was so much more to it than that.  I knew this quilt needed to be as meaningful as possible since it was for a 50th anniversary of a school.

I learned from doing the wedding quilt that giving the "artists" boundaries with which to write or draw in is important.  Since I was working with 4th graders I wanted to give them room to be creative but also create the boundary so the seam allowance was protected as was their art.  I went with white squares bordered with either blue or gold fabric, which are the school colors.

The squares ended up being 12x12.  When I got the squares back (40 total) from the kids and started to lay it out on my floor I realized the squares were too big so I ended up trimming the borders down so that the squares were 10x10 instead and it was more manageable.

For the religious symbols I chose to put them in the four corners of the quilt.  I used red roses for the Saint, a gold cross, white doves and a trinity symbol.  I used a T shirt from the school as a center piece for the quilt as well.

For the quilting I did straight lines through out the top with alternating blue and yellow thread.  On the border I used a gold sulky thread to go with the golden rose fabric I chose for the border.

This was such an amazing quilt to work on and a crazy experience.  I wanted it to be absolutely perfect for her and the school.   I have to learn to forgive myself for every little mistake that I see.  "Mistake that I see" is important to point out because we, the quilters, are our own worst critics and will know every thing we mess up on but we have to remember that just because we know its a mistake doesn't mean the general public will.  It was a learning experience beyond words and was incredibly gratifying.  

And I need to take some photography classes.  :p

Cloudline Pinot Noir

Cloudline Pinot Noir is by far my favorite wine.  I first tasted it almost ten years ago when I was working for a restaurant as a bartender in downtown Los Angeles.   We sold it for $13.00 per glass.  One day after work the other bartender let me try it.  It was delicious!  Light and fruity.  So it became my favorite and I was on the hunt to purchase bottles for my home.  This was not easy at all!  The only store I could find it at was a Whole Foods in North Hollywood, CA for $24.00 per bottle (and the restaurant was selling it for $13.00 per glass!  Sheesh!).  But soon they stopped selling it and I couldn't find it anywhere.  Not even BevMo!  In fact, they had never even heard of it.

I was very disappointed and other than going to Willamette Valley, Oregon myself there was no way for me to get it.  But I never gave up.   Every time I went grocery shopping I would search the wine aisle for it only to come away empty handed.

Until one day a couple years ago I found it in a Vons in Simi Valley!  I literally said out loud "NO WAY!!!"  I bought three bottles that day just to have stock on hand.  Now I can buy it at my local Ralphs in Burbank so I am a happy girl.  I just hope they don't decided to stop selling it again.

I can't tell you what the bouquet is or anything about the tannins or whatever else real wine tasters can talk about.  I'm the kind of wine drinker that if it tastes good I drink it and that's it.

Sports Fan Quilt - Anaheim Ducks

My boyfriend is an Anaheim Ducks fan so for his birthday I made him a Ducks quilt.  I was walking through Joanne's one day and saw the Ducks fabric on sale and couldn't resist.  I did a simple Irish Chain quilt and made a lap quilt for him.  He loved it.

A unique gift for sure.  

My first T-Shirt Quilt - aka "The Beast"

I post pictures of my completed projects on Facebook to show my family and friends what I have been working on.  My cousin sent me a message through Facebook asking if I could make her a T-Shirt quilt for her boyfriend. She said he had a box full of old football T-shirts that were taking up too much room in the closet and she needed new shoes.  Well, I can certainly understand the need for more space for shoes so naturally I agreed to help a fellow shoe fan.  :)  

This was the first time I had ever done a T-shirt quilt so I did a lot of research on it to find out what I needed to do.  The key thing to any T-shirt quilt that I learned about: stabilizer, stabilizer, stabilizer.  Which was incredibly challenging to find!  I went to three different Joanne stores just to find exactly what I needed and still didn't find an exact match but got the next best thing.  My cousin sent the shirts to me and there were a ton of T-Shirts in the box, yikes!  A little intimidating for someone who hadn't done this type of quilt yet.  Only one shirt didn't make it in the quilt because it was a basketball shirt and not a football one so it didn't match the theme and was sent back in one piece.

Stabilizing a shirt takes a LONG time, especially with so many shirts to do.  The instructions for the stabilizer I bought said to press the iron into the shirt for 15 seconds.  It took me an entire day just to do the stabilizing for all the squares.

I sized all the shirts based on the logos which was difficult because some of the logos were smaller (about 12x12 inch squares) and the others were larger (15.5x15.5 inch squares).  Without a specific pattern to us it was daunting and I didn't know what to do with different size squares so to fix the problem I decided to add sashing and bordering to the smaller squares so that everything was a 15.5 inch square.

Since my cousins boyfriend is a fellow 49ers fan I decided to use 49ers fabric for the borders and backing with niners colors for the sashing on the smaller squares.

This thing turned out to be HUGE!  81 inches by 55.5 inches!  Because there was a lot going on in the squares already with the logos, I only quilted in the sashing and borders.  Turned out quite well if I do say so myself.   My cousin gave it to her boyfriend (who is now her fiancé, yay!!!) on Christmas and he loved it!  Happy once again to provide someone with a great gift and bring a smile to their face.  After all, that's what quilters do, right?  Bring happiness and smiles to those we love.

Wedding Guest Book Quilt

In October of 2012 a good friend of mine was getting married.  For their wedding gift I offered to make them a guest book quilt.  They graciously accepted and so I began to work on it.

They were getting married outside on a Texas ranch and had a rustic theme to it so I went with a country themed fabric for the squares.  I made all the squares with the themed fabric and the off white centers for the signatures and then ironed wax paper on to the backs to provide stability for the quests to write on them.

We set up a cute antique table with a bucket for blank squares and a bucket for signed squares, provided fabric pens and instructions for the guests to sign each square. I made the frame that was used for the instructions by gluing pieces of the scraps to a wooden frame and used a few scrapbook stickers as well.

Piecing it all together took some time and effort.   I wanted it to have a scrappy feel to it without having lumps of the same color close to each other.  So there was a lot of square moving and adjusting.  At first I wasn't going to do an inner border but in the end I am soooo glad I did and the yellow really compliments the entire quilt.  The border is just pieces of the same fabric I used on the blocks.  For the backing I used a Texas print from Michael Miller fabrics to commemorate their wedding in Texas.

On the couples one year anniversary, which also happened to be the shower for their first baby together, I gave them their quilt.  They were very happy to see it and read what all the guests wrote.  It was so much fun to make this for them.

Mystery Quilt 2013 Completed

In January I posted a blog about a mystery quilt I started in 2013.   It was my second ever quilt and I freaked out when I got to the flying geese.  Well, I have finally completed the top and it feels great to have completed it!  It's much prettier than I ever imagined it would be.

Now I just need to baste it, bind it and quilt it.....

Phew! Been a long time!

It's been quite some time since I posted on this blog.  Almost six month exactly!  Good golly how time flies.  I have much catching up to do and hope that I don't inundate you with posts.  :p

Quilt top completed for QOV

I finished my quilt top for my Quilt of Valor donation.  Pretty pleased with it.  I struggled a bit with the sashing.  I wanted it to be just right and have all the blocks line up but that proved to be difficult.  I put it to the side for a bit to give myself time to relax and ease the frustration so that when I came back to it it would be with clarity.  And it worked!  Now I just need to sandwich it and quilt it, make a presentation bag and send it off for donation.  :)  Yippee!

Connecting Threads Mystery Quilt

Sorry for my long absence.   I started a new job that has taken up much of my time.  But I have still been quilting as it provides me with comfort.  Best form of therapy in the world! 

In April I joined a Mystery Quilt group through the connecting threads community board.  I did this last year and started the project but have yet to finish it.  This years quilt was only 3 parts and was a smaller scale quilt so was faster and easier to complete.  

The fabric I chose was from the "Guess How Much I Love You" fabric line.  This is one of my favorite children's books. 

This was my first time doing a border like this and I could easily add another border to make it bigger.  But for now I am liking it as is.  It's super cute and cuddly.  Now I just need to sandwich it and then quilt and bind.  This is my first completed quilt top this year.  I have a goal to complete at least 4 so not too bad so far.  I am about 75% complete on another one so I feel confident I will reach my goal.

http://quiltwithus.connectingthreads.com/group/mystery-quilt-2014

WIP Wednesday: Quilt of Valor

When I first got into quilting and the addiction for it got better and better ;) I googled like crazy for various quilting sites and blogs and stores and pretty much anything to do with quilting and came across the Quilts of Valor Foundation.

I was instantly in love with them and their efforts.   I have always had a soft spot for military men and women.  I have had friends in the military but no significant others.  The only relatives in the war were grandfathers that fought a long time ago, my dad missed the draft for Vietnam by one day which is probably why I am here today so I am thankful for that.   I just appreciate all that they do and what they put themselves through for the sake of freedom. 

The Quilts of Valor Foundation takes quilt donations and gives them to veterans, both old and new, and wounded soldiers.  There is nothing more heartwarming than providing a quilt to someone who could use a little love and comfort after what they have been through.  So I found a pattern, picked out my fabric and have been working on my QOV quilt.

I have the main blocks done.  Next I need to do the sashing and add the borders.   My goal is to get the sashing done this weekend and if possible add the borders too.   I'm going to set my expectations at just the sashing for now though.  :)

Here is what I have going on so far:

WIP Wednesday

The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling)

This was a fairly decent read.  I had this image of a 1950's crime drama even though it took place in the present day.  I just always pictured Cormoran in a trench coat and fedora.  There were so many details about the case and so many clues that by the time you get to the end of the book when all is revealed there are many "aha" moments.  Even though I pretty much knew who the killer was I was still surprised at the end by the motive and the means in which he did it and all the other details that were mentioned. 

It's not an intellectually stimulating read but very entertaining and engrossing.  This was my first of Rowling's books that wasn't Harry Potter and I was glad that I didn't read it in Harry Potter's theme at all.  It felt completely original and detached from that series. 

Sister by Rosamund Lupton

I don't really have very much to say about this book.  It was just OK.  It was tough to get through because it just dragged on at times.  I ended up skipping paragraphs.  I think it's bad when you can skip paragraphs and not miss anything in the story, that shows me the author is too wordy and could probably have shorten the book. 

The format of the story was very interesting though and I enjoyed the twist at the end as well.   I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars which is my "meh, it was okay" rating.  Not exceptional but had a good ending. 

Quilt for QOV

I began working on my quilt for the QOV foundation.   I'm fairly pleased with my nine-patches.  Could be a little tighter but considering this was my first time doing them I am pretty pleased.

These came out a smidge smaller than they should have so I will have to resize the next part which is the border for these nine-patches.  I had started to sew the borders on but there are color blocks that aren't matching up with these nine-patches and I just can't have that.  It's pretty off and is bothering me so I will need to resize them so it looks good. 

This is for the Quilts of Valor Foundation so I don't want to it to look bad.

Everytime I sew I can see areas where I need improvement.  It's a learning process the whole time but I am getting better and will continue to get better.   I enjoy quilting and plan on doing it the rest of my life. 

The True Beginning

I never did any of the shows in Middle School, I was WAY too shy to get cast in anything.  Plus the GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) teacher directed the plays and 9 times out of 10 she would cast her students, which I was not. 

Determined to break out of my shell I decided to take drama in high school my freshman year.  Our drama teacher was awesome.  He was this funny little man with messed up hair and smelled like coffee ALL the time.  Made sense since he was always super hyper. 

He cast me in the lead of "I Remember Mama" my first semester!  I was nervous as heck but he helped me through it.  It was only a small portion of the show so that helped.  I did pretty good for a first timer.  For the spring show he asked me to be the Stage Manager for Steel Magnolias.  I was more than happy to do so.  I was not ready to act in a full length show.  However, the girl that played Clairee was also on the varsity track team and was at a track meet in Santa Maria, CA, the high school was in Ventura, CA and Santa Maria is a couple hours away.   She should have made it back in time but there was a horrible accident on the 101 that day that delayed her by HOURS.  By showtime she was still not at the theatre.  The show must go on so since I knew most of the lines and the blocking, they dressed me up, put some makeup on me and threw a script inside a magazine so I could use it while onstage.  AGH!!!!!!

But I did it.  Luckily I only had to do it for 1 act, thank goodness!   I was shaking soooooo much but the rest of the cast was so supportive and helped me the whole way.   By doing this I was free of my shell and the following year was able to perform on my own in Our Town as Mrs. Stimson, the music teacher.  (We had to do cross-gender casting often since boys at my school didn't think drama was cool).   My senior year was my favorite performance of my high school career though.  We did The Man Who Came to Dinner and I was the doctor.  I made my role the comedic relief and it worked.  Had such a great time doing that show.

My stage fright and shyness had pretty much disappeared at that point.  In looking back on my choice to following acting I am glad I did it because without it I don't know if I would be where I am today.  I currently work as a Contracts Negotiator and without the skills I learned in acting I don't think I would be as successful as I am today.  I wouldn't have the courage or confidence to speak in front of others and have conviction in what I believe in.  So I am forever thankful for the time spent in developing those skills so I can be successful today.

100 Books to read in a lifetime

Amazon put together a list of 100 Books to read in a lifetime.  Seems like a pretty good list.

http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=8192263011

I have only read 20 of them.  That's not too bad.  Looks like I have some reading to do.  ;)

Currently I am reading Sister: A Novel by Rosamund Lupton which is NOT on the list, haha.

How I got into acting

I started to write this post with the intention of starting to talk about when I started acting in middle school but I realized that it actually started prior to that.  I think we are all actors as children, playing make believe and what not, so I'm not going to start there.  I believe it started in fifth grade for me.  I don't remember if I did it for an assignment or if it was just for fun but I wrote my first play in the 5th grade.  It was based on a dream I had had but also a bit on true life. 

The play was called "The Day the Unicorns Came" and it was about a little girl who lived in the country (even though I lived in a beach town, the country seemed to make sense for the story) and was sad and lonely most of the time.  Her family was always upset or sad about something and despite her efforts to bring happiness to her family, home life was a little depressing.  The farm was struggling and the family was broke.  One day this little girl spots a beautiful white horse in the field and upon approaching it she notices the horse has a horn, but she is the only one that can see it.  I don't remember all the details of the story but in the end the unicorn saved the family.   It helped the fields grow and it helped the family become more of a family and the girl wasn't lonely anymore.  Of course the unicorn couldn't stay because it was only there to bring happiness to the family so the little girl had to say goodbye but she was much happier now.

My childhood was tense most of the time.  There was always tension in the house, someone was always mad at someone else and you could cut through the tension with a knife if someone didn't bite your hand off first.   I didn't like drama.  I hated the fighting.  I dreamed of a loving and kind family all the time but that was a pipe dream.  And I had had a dream that a unicorn came and made my life happy and brought my family closer together so that's where I got the idea for the play.

So in fifth grade, for whatever reason, I wrote this play and casted it with fellow classmates and we rehearsed and then performed it in front of the class. 

I had almost forgotten about that until this morning.  I think that is where my acting career truly started.  :)

Acting Stories

I decided to add another section to my Blog for your reading enjoyment.  From Junior year of high school to about 5 years ago I wanted to be an actress.  It was all I thought about.   I focused on it for about 10 years and then decided I didn't want to do it anymore and quit cold turkey.  I just wasn't happy with it anymore.   It made me depressed more than it made me happy so I felt it wasn't the right life choice for me.  I'm happy with my decision so there are no regrets. 

But there were a lot of great stories and I feel like telling them and what better place to do so than on my blog.  I hope you enjoy!  :)  

I will be posting my first story shortly.

Garbiel's Rapture by Sylvain Reynard

This book was the second installment of the Gabriel's Inferno trilogy by Sylvain Reynard.  I have to say I was quite disappointed in this one.

SPOILER ALERT

I had hoped this book would be more about their relationship and would dive deeper into their issues but I felt that if any issues were brought up it fizzled out too quickly.  It got a little intense when the two of them were going through the "trial" at the University but I have to say even that was a tad too dull.  I wanted him to stand up and fight for her.  After finishing the book I see now why he didn't but still there was just something missing in that entire exchange.  It seemed highly unlikely that she would have missed the cues he was giving her that he wasn't leaving her.   She was too smart to not pick up on that.  And the fact that nothing happened to Christa was a disappointment.  Also, the thing with Paulina seemed to fizzle out too quickly.  I thought for sure Paulina was going to wreak more havoc on their relationship but she just seemed to disappear.  I feel like Juliette forgave Gabriel too quickly, was hoping her and Paul would have developed more of a relationship and then have Gabriel come back and fight for her.  That would have made for a more interesting story.  The proposal and marriage of the two main characters was lackluster and boring. 

This series fizzled out a bit with this one.  I will probably read the third installment just to see how their story ends but probably won't read it for some time.  Need a break from the cheese factor.

South Coast Winery in Temecula, CA

Last August I took my mom to Temecula for wine tasting and relaxation for her birthday.  My aunt suggested South Coast Winery so we decided to follow her recommendation. 

The wine country of Temecula is tucked back in the hills away from the freeway and it is quite lovely.  Different topographically from Napa Valley.  It's much more open with low rolling hills as opposed to the mountainous green valleys of Napa.  Napa feels much more spread out and can be overwhelming for a first timer. Temecula is more compact and easier to navigate as there are only a few wineries. 

South Coast Winery is about in the middle, and is quite impressive.  It is a resort and spa as well as a winery.  The winery is in the front and a hotel sits behind it with luxury villas tucked in the back amongst the vines.  We stayed in the Villas and it was wonderful.  Each Villas is a stand alone building with private patios, some of the Villas have patios that overlook the vineyards but ours did not.  The rooms are suites with eating area and sitting area equipped with a gas fireplace, mini fridge and the basic hotel room amenities.  The bathroom is glamorous with marble flooring, a Jacuzzi tub and large shower with multiple shower heads.  Luxurious. The beds were super soft and comfortable.

Our first morning we decided to order room service and eat on the lovely patio.  The only problem I had with our stay was the room service took a VERY long time to arrive and when it did the food was cold.  We sent it back, got a refund and decided to eat at the restaurant.  The food was delicious however and sitting on the outside patio of the restaurant was great so it wasn't too bad.  Great food in the restaurant, large portions and very tasty.

We planned our wine tasting to go to four wineries nearby and then end up at our own hotels winery that way if we were feeling the wine we could just head back to our room and crash.  I bought one bottle of wine at two different wineries that we visited but when we got to South Coast the wine was exceptional and I decided to join the wine club.   The vibe of the tasting room was much more fun and laid back.  The Sommelier was funny and gave us extra tastings. We felt much more at ease and welcome at South Coast. 

Since I liked the wine so much I decided to join the wine club.  It was better priced than the other wineries and since the winery had a resort and spa attached to it there were extra benefits to being a wine club member that the other wineries didn't offer; such as discounts on hotel stays, restaurant visits, spa packages, gift shop, free tastings, and member exclusive events.  It was more bang for your buck and for good wine.  Definitely worth it. 

Every quarter there is a new selection of wine ready for pick up or delivery.  I had not picked up my November wines and the February wines were ready for pickup so this past Sunday my friend Catherine and I took a trip to South Coast to pickup my wine and do some wine tasting.  I got my three bottles for November, 3 bottles for February and my one Holiday bottle so I walked out with 7 bottles of wine!  Oh my!  My wine fridge is loaded up.  Better get drinking to make room for more wine. 

If you are ever in the Temecula area I highly recommend South Coast Winery.  Wilson Creek winery was also good but South Coast was the best.