Self-restraint on a Herculean scale – that is the best way to characterize my shopping at the Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival.  Of course, it helped that most booths were so crowded that I couldn’t have gotten near anything if my life had depended on it.  But the things I did get were either phenomenal deals or just too awesome to pass up.

First?  A piece of fabric printed with vintage floursack advertising on it.  I’m going to make it into a bag, but I’m not sure what for.  And knowing how long it takes me to finish projects, it will be 2012 before we all see it again…ahem.  I also picked up metric ruler trim – I’m sure you have seen the ones with inches, but metric?  That was a first for me.  And a meter of it was only about $1.  Score!  I also got three meters of lace for just a couple of dollars.  Woo-hoo!  To feed my sashiko obsession, I got two bundles of sashiko thread for $5 each.  I don’t know how many yards of thread there is in each bundle, but I know it’s a lot.  They also had sashiko thread for sale in varying shades of indigo, and I almost got a variety pack – 8 bundles of thread varying from off-white to nearly-black-navy, but I was a good girl.

As I was trudging away from the sashiko thread, bound and determined to not turn around, I saw a basket on the floor filled with old wooden thingies (yeah, there has to be a better name for that – lemme know if you come up with one).  They look like they were used to wind thread for weaving or spinning or something.  I plan on using them to store my sashiko thread.  Vintage Japanese crafting goodies?  Oh, yes!  I’m a happy girl.  And the people running the booth gave me the fabric scraps you see in the picture.  Two of each color.  I have to find the perfect project for these, cuz they’re totally fabulous.  Again, we probably won’t see them until 2012.

The final find of the show?  Thread nippers.  I have been watching the Cutting Tools 101 videos over on Threadbanger, and on one of the videos couture designer Kenneth D. King stressed the importance of not using your shears to trim threads.  Why?  Because you will most likely wear a dull spot into your scissors.  When I heard that, a lightbulb clicked in the old noggin – so that’s why my scissors don’t cut as well as they used to!  So I had been looking for a good pair of thread trimmers, and I stumbled across a super-sharp $4 pair at the show.  Done and done!

All in all, I was very pleased with the goodies I got.  But next time I think I’m going to go shopping for more hours in the day so I can actually do something with all this stuff.

Until next time, may life continue to inspire you,

Miss Kaizer

Yep.  Everyone in the office blames me.  I’m like the kid on the playground with cooties.

In addition to two books, a bunch of hair product that you can’t buy in Japan (and the only thing that stops my curly hair from looking like I stuck a fork in a light socket), a replacement ipod charger, and a stick blender, we received a few really awesome goodies.

Did you see all that ricrac?  Nine colors, five yards of each color.  What am I going to do with it?  Not a clue!  But it was on sale and I’m sure I’ll think of something.  I look at it this way: there are so many stash-busting projects out there that totally rock.  How can you do them if you don’t have a stash to bust?  I’m sure that one day I’ll figure out what to do with all of it.

Then there were a couple of surprise gifts.  For me, a cute bookmark with green glass decorating the end, cool black and white bobbie pins, and two mini totes.  I think the mini totes would make adorable gift bags, don’t you?  And for Mr. Kaizer, two hats.  Wild, crazy, funky hats.  Just his style.  He’s thrilled.  And while I think they’re pretty cool, I still cringe a little when I think about the amont of attention he receives when out in public while wearing them.  Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some goodies to play with!

May life continue to inspire you,

Miss Kaizer

The kit up for grabs is all the materials needed for making a batch of vintage day of the week dishcloths. It also includes the winner’s choice of four vintage iron-on patterns.  Keeping my fingers crossed!

I remember the dishcloths my grandmother hand embroidered and how much they fascinated me as a kid.  They were what first got me interested in embroidery (at the ripe old age of 6).  I used to sit on the floor in my room on rainy days and stitch on paper plates hoping that some day I could make something half as wonderful.

I think I am going to add a project like this to my to-do list.  If anyone knows an online store selling vintage embroidery patterns, please let me know!

May life continue to inspire you,

Miss Kaizer