There's no place like home

So I went on another afternoon walk today and snapped a bunch of great photos of the amazing homes in Midtown. Camera in hand, I was ready for an adventure!





This house was having a lot of work done on its shingles. It looks like there is also some work being done on the inside, too. I'd like to check back to see how it is coming along.




This home strangely reminds me of the Amityville Horror house!




I just love the tower on this home!




This home is sprawling! I wonder what the square footage is because it looks huge from the outside!




The rounded edge to the roof on this house is very interesting.




This home had the most amazing painted trim work complete with purple lions! I wish I had taken an up-close photo of the detail. Next time.




The landscaping on this home was lovely. The red and bright green leaves of the trees, surrounded by soft pink azaleas at the ground makes me want to get my paint brush out!




The yellow paint on this house is such a fresh color.




This is one of my favorite homes in Midtown. I always wanted a home with bay windows!




How fun would it be to sit in this rounded room with all of its lovely windows? I'd make it my library with big, comfy chairs.




Yet another fun house!




The moulding on this house adds so much detail.




This cute little place looks like it could be a doll house.




Until next time!

Home, sweet home

I'm finally starting to feel better after my terrible bout of bronchitis. So a friend came over and we decided to take advantage of the lovely Sacramento weather by going for a long walk in Midtown. As usual, I took my camera with me. I snapped these photos of some of the amazing architecture in the historical Midtown homes.







We walked around McKinley Park where everything is starting to bloom.




This little duck looks like he has a mohawk!




We continued our walk and came across these three homes.










I love the mural on the side of this corner market.




Another beautiful example of art in public places.




I've seen a lot of homes in the Midtown area with the glass insets in the porch overhangs. I'll do some research into whose architectural style this is.




This home has historical significance. Named the Louise Groth home, it was built in 1910 in the traditional two-story Craftsman style that was typical of the bunglow homes of that era.




The following home is one of my favorite houses in Midtown! Local legend has it that it's haunted and that several deaths have occured in the home, but nothing can be substatiated. The home was built in 1907 for Dr. Aden Hart, founder of Sutter Hospital. Local residents refer to the home as the Martinez Mansion, named such after a family who once occupied the home. The house is now owned by another local family, but has not been lived in since the 1970s. Many urban legends, rumors, and speculation surround this home, so the truth about its history is difficult to trace.




Can't wait for our next walk!

Fabric garage sale. AKA Heaven.

The Sacramento Chapter of the American Sewing Guild will hold its annual garage sale on Saturday, April 11 from 9:30am until 1pm at the North Highlands Community Center located at 6040 Watt Avenue.

What is the ASG garage sale, you ask? Imagine a room filled with row after row of 6' tables lined end to end. Now pile each row of tables with yards of fabric sorted by color. Then, mark each piece of fabric for around $2 or so per yard. It's like I've died and gone to Heaven!

Yes, members of the ASG clean out their stashes of fabric and list it under their consignment number for this annual fundraiser. Each year that I have gone, I've come away with some wonderful goodie! Last year, I scored ziplock bag after ziplock bag of fabrics already grouped with companion pieces. Three years ago, I left with a huge box filled with a variety of glass beads.

But just a few recommendations for the rookies who have never been. Bring your own bag to carry away your fabric. I take my gym duffle bag. The ASG provides paper grocery bags, but I find that the paper handles always tear. Might be that I have too much fabric... Also, get there before the doors open at 9:30am. There will be a line of little, old ladies already waiting to find the best deals. And when the doors open, they storm the room like a fat kid at the fair! So hold your own ground. Lastly, check each piece of fabric before you buy it. I've found that a piece could be marked as one yard, but when it was unfolded, it was missing a big chunk from the center!

If you are looking to add to your stash of fabric and notions, then meet me there at the crack of dawn! Visit the ASG website for further details.

Quilting, crafting, and sewing - oh my!

More good news just in!

The Quilt, Craft and Sewing Festival will be held on March 26, 27, and 28 at Cal Expo! This event will feature a number of vendor booths from a wide variety of crafts, sewing, long-arm quilting, embroidery, felting, and books. The book booth has always been one of my favorite places to find inspirational ideas!

Here's the Sacramento program which includes the event seminar descriptions and schedule, as well as the make & take workshops list. Admission is $8, but if you sign up to join the email list at the promoter's website, they will send you a discounted coupon. Also, don't forget to bring cash for Cal Expo's parking lot fees.

I've been to this event for a number of years, and although there are several booths which don't interest me, I always manage to leave with a little somethin' somethin'. I know that this will very likely hold true again this year!

Textile art show

This just in!

Side Show Studios Custom Tattoo and Fine Art Gallery will present the Taking Textiles Not So Seriously art show! After the success of last year's textile art show, they decided do it again - but this time with a twist! Taking Textiles Not So Seriously will highlight the quirky world of textile and fiber arts and crafts.

I'll have my organic catnip toys, plushy dog products, several art wall hangings, and a quilt or two on display. So join me for the opening reception on Saturday, April 11, 2009 from 6-10pm. Side Show Studios is located at 5635 Freeport Boulevard, Suite 6, in Sacramento.

Winner, winner!

Chicken dinner! Wait, I'm vegetarian.

So tonight, I went to my River City Quilter's Guild meeting. Upon entering the meeting, each member is given a ticket for the door prize drawing. And low and behold, my ticket number was called! So I proceeded to the front stage to pick out my prize. I had my choice between a lovely potted plant (which Zoey, my cat would eat), a large bag of M&M's (which I would eat), or this very cool quilting ruler! I chose the quilting ruler. Truth be told, I have no idea how to use it, but I'm willing to learn. After all, a girl can never have too many sewing notions!

Sometimes the best-laid plans...

Upon returning from the San Francisco Tattoo and Body Expo, I promptly became horrible sick with bronchitis. After dealing with this illness for several weeks now, I finally feel like I'm on the mend. But because being sick made me so horribly weak, I've been unable to do anything, let alone finish my quilt for the upcoming The Art of Tattoo Art Show!

So last night, I pulled an all-nighter at my Mom's house so that I could get my quilt finished in time for tonight's art show opening reception. Initially, I had planned on doing a double nine patch block of the purple and yellow fabrics to surround the tattoo girl focal piece. Well, I just plain ran out of time.

After becoming frustrated with this quilt and wanting to scrap the entire idea, my Mom calmly started laying out my completed blocks to see what we had to work with. I really had my heart set on including the red fabric.




My Mom had the lovely black with swirls fabric in her stash, so we incorporated that next to the red fabric. The black polka dots fabric is actually the backing of the quilt and will also be used as the binding. I included it in the front of the quilt to help balance the many colors. When the front of the quilt was completely sewn together, I started pinning it to the batting and the backing.




I used a variegated thread and free-hand motion to outline each of the tattoo girls in the focal piece. Each of the nine patch blocks are also quilted with the same variegated thread. I then brought the polka dot fabric backing to the edges to create the binding.




Here's the final product! What do you think? It's not at all what I had envisioned when I had started the piece some time ago. But when does art ever follow a master plan!



I've named this art quilt "Girl's Night Out." It will be available tonight at Side Show Studios.

Like mother, like daughter

So I told you about the tattoo girl fabric that my Mom bought me for Christmas. Well, we decided to have a little fun with it and do a fabric challenge! So we each took a piece of the tattoo girl fabric and then ventured out on our own to see what unique idea we would come up with for our own quilt.

It just so happens that my Mom's quilt retreat coincided with the start of our fabric challenge. You see, several times a year, my Mom and her friends will rent a cabin in Lake Tahoe or Dillon's Beach just for the sole purpose of sewing all weekend long. Doesn't that sound heavenly? She calls it her quilting retreat. I call it her old lady slumber party! So this weekend, it turns out that Mom was super busy with our fabric challenge at her quilt retreat. In fact, she completely finished her art quilt with the tattoo girl fabric! Take a peek.


Mom's "Tattoo Girl" art quilt will be available at Side Show Studios in March and April.




Mom used variegated colors and all free-hand motion on her thread work.




I love the hand-dyed batiks!




Here's another little tidbit about Mom's quilt. See the yellow floral fabric? Well, that's for the fabric challenge in our quilt guild! She's schooling all of us in one piece! Very smart!



Wow - I'm so impressed with the stunning colors, artistic design, and attention to detail. And now that I've seen what I'm up against, I better get back to my sewing machine! And oh, Mom - it's sooooooooo on!