[140321] Fishing Report ::: New Fish! :::

We went to our favorite fishing spot, Mission Bay!
Such a beautiful day, such a nice fishing day:)

Today, we've caught a bunch of baby Calico bass, a jack smelt, two Pacific Mackerel, a pregnant butter mouth perch (that gave birth to three babies on land...), some baby shiner perch, and a fish that we've never caught nor seen...
Whatever it was, it was so beautiful. (Pictures follow)

Happy fishing~*


Ai

[131018] Fishing Report ::: OB Pier :::

Even though fishing seems to be slowing down with the fall weather, we still go fishing on weekends:)

Today, we went to OB pier, one of our favorite places to fish.
We caught about 15 minnows with a sabiki rig, and used them for bait.
We never had any luck on live baits, but today, we did!
Here is what we caught;

We think it is a juvenile white sea bass, but we need to confirm that, because we would love to catch a legal size white sea bass someday!!:) It is such a cool looking fish!

Ai

[131006] Fishing Report ::: Mission Point :::

It was a beautiful day out, and we decided to go fishing at a new spot today:)

We went to Mission Point in Mission Bay area.

We first tried right in front of the bathroom by the parking lot, and caught a few small calico bass with shrimp and squid, and also, caught this beautiful kelpfish.

We have caught Giant kelpfish many times before, but have never seen these white paint-like pattern on its body. So pretty!

Then, we had a sandwich break, and moved to the picnic area. We had bunch of bites, and caught 12 inch Spotted Bay Bass, and a Stingray:)

It was a great fishing day~*

Happy autumn fishing, all!

Ai

[130709] Fishing Report 14 :: Crystal Pier ::

We went to Crystal Pier in PB today, for the second time.
There were some people catching legal size halibut, and we really wanted to catch one, too, but we had no luck... But, we caught a nice size spotfin croaker to bring home:)

 It measured 17 1/2 inches, weighed 2.5 lb.

First time grilling fish!

It turned out great:D So delicious!

Can't wait for the next fishing trip!~*

Ai

[130722] Fishing Report ::: Spanish Landing :::

We went fishing at Spanish Landing Park for the first time:)
It started very slow, but later on, we caught some good size fish!

Spotty! 

My very first Shovelnose!

Such a cute fish!!

Yay!

He gave me a pretty good fight,

even though he was a young one:)

We don't know what this is...

After googling, we think it is a kind of Goby??? 

Opaleye. Beautiful~*

We still haven't taken any fish for food... Next time, we hope to catch something big enough to keep:D

Ai

[130717] Fishing Report ::: Mission Beach :::

We caught more than 10 fish today, at our favorite spot on the Jetties.
There are many kinds of fish we have never seen...
Here are some pictures of them;)

Ai

[130713] Fishing Report ::: Mission Beach :::

We went fishing at the Jetties in Mission Beach this afternoon, at the same spot we fished yesterday:)  It was a beautiful day, and we had a great time being in the sun with the ocean breeze!  Although I caught nothing, my husband caught 5 fish~* Fun fun!!

Since we are absolute beginners in San Diego, we don't know what we are catching...  We asked people, and also googled after we got home, and here's what we think they are;

Kelp Fish? 

Calico Bass 

Sculpin

My husband got stung by this fish, Sculpin, and from the pain, he could tell it was venomous!!  We asked one diver who were around our spot, and he said he also got stung by something.  We showed him the picture of the fish, and he instantly said, "Yeah, that. that's the guy."  The diver's hand was way, way worse than my husband's, and he said the pain is way, way worse than a stingray sting... Ouch!

My husband's hands after we got home

His right hand was like a balloon!

We learned an important lesson today:)

Ai

[130201] "Map It Out" Reader Challenge

Here is my entry for the reader challenge "Map It Out" on Quilting Arts Magazine.
Unfortunately, I didn't get selected this time... but it was all fun!!

::: Brief Explanation of my piece :::
My husband and I always wanted to travel around the world,
but we haven't made it happen yet.
One of the places we would love to visit is Ha Long Bay, Vietnam.
So, we came up with a New Year's resolution to learn Vietnamese.

So far, we haven't broken our resolution.

Vietnamese has many tones and sounds that are foreign to us,
and they sound very musical.
We are dreaming of the travel by singing the tones that map out their
language.

We are traveling a whole new path!

I hope you enjoy!
Happy stitching~*

Ai

[130201] Welcome Quilt for my friend's wedding

A good friend of mine from High school is just about to get married in a couple of weeks! (Congratulations, Reina!) I won't be able to join them for their wedding in Tokyo, so to express my happiness for them, I made this welcome sign quilt so that they can hang it at their reception:)
I really hope they like it!

It's a plum tree with the letter 寿. I had so much fun working on this:)

Ai

[120927] My Staycation Postcard

Yay! I just finished my quilted sushi for Staycation postcard Reader Challenge:)
It's a 4 x 6 postcard size quilt. My husband loves how the beer bottle came out. My favorite part is the shrimp sushi. I think it's really cute looking!

Happy quilting!:D

Ai

[120921] ATC's Challenge at Quilting Arts Magazine

After finishing an art quilt for 2012 International Quilt Week Yokohama (Japan), I decided to try the latest reader challenge on Quilting Arts Magazine. You will find out about the challenge on their website, if you are interested in participating! Fun, fun!!

The theme is "What's in your heart?" I thought of my husband (Haha), my family, my dog, my dreams..., and then, somehow, I remembered a conversation we had with our neighbor. "What kind of super power would you like to have?" We came up with a couple of things, but I only had one that I would LOVE to have as my super power... To be able to fly!!! One night, I had a dream that I was flying over houses, buildings, mountains, and valleys. Since then, it's always been in my heart. That's where my quilt for the challenge came from:)

It's me, flying over the mountains! I wish I could fly like this. That would be so amazing.

Ai

[120620] Hobbes doll No.16

My customer from UK gave me a great opportunity to crochet a Hobbes doll with a new color! I usually use the color of "gold", but this one is with the color of "carrot", and we are so happy to see how cute it came out.

Thanks again so much for the people who have hit me up and told me that they love my dolls. Your words and smiles are my energy source:)

Ai

[120601] Dragon Quilt on Quilting Arts Magazine

My first art quilt of this year has made it to the Reader Challenge "From Sketch to Art Quilt" on Quilting Arts Magazine June/July issue. I am so happy to see in on the page!

It's already been half way of 2012, and I feel so graceful that I have many upcoming projects occupying my second half of this year:)

Ai

[120402] Quilted Sewing Machine Cover

I clean my sewing machine every once in a while, inside out, but it still gets dusty as it is just sitting on my desk. I had this idea of making a cover just to have my precious sewing machine protected from everyday dust.

Looked at my fabric drawer to seek for what to use for the cover, and I saw this beautiful bubbly blue fabric that I purchased from Rosie's couple of months ago. Hmm, it kind of looks like water. Then I came up with an aquarium theme design....

This picture above is the front side with mermaid Useless, and on the back side there is Dragomander. I love how it came out:) It also has an opening on top where you can pull up the handle of the sewing machine so that you can carry it with the cover on.

Now I am working on my mom's birthday gift, and it is going to be a lap quilt...
Happy quilting everybody!

Ai

[120313] Hobbes doll No.13 is now on Etsy

Thank you all so much for loving my Hobbes dolls!
For the past couple of months, I was making them only for the requests I received. Today, I finally have one Hobbes doll on my Etsy site for everyone to take a look and purchase!

Here is a picture of him;

He is my 13th Hobbes doll:)

Thanks again, and wish you all a wonderful day!!

Ai

[120113] Flag quilts

Since the last fourth of July, I have always wanted to make an American flag to hand on our door... and it was a great chance for me to use some of the fabric and batting that I received from the international quilt contest:) I know that there is still a half year until the next fourth of July... but I like how it came out anyway! Cute!!

And as a Japanese, I had to make a Japanese flag as well!!

I quilted my family crest "Daki Miyoga" inside the red circle. Hehehe;)

Ai

[120105] Useless Baby Quilt

The last project of the year of 2011 was my first baby quilt challenge...
It's for my nephew, little baby Henry:)
I finished this piece one day after he was born!! It was so much fun working on this, thinking of him and his lovely parents, Corrie, and Benjamin.

Today, Corrie sent me a picture of him with the quilt, and I am very, very happy to hear that they like my quilt! Yay, yay!!

Ai

[121222] Mail Lady Quilt

I have been telling this to my husband so many times... I love our mail lady!:)
She is always smiling, and every time we schedule a pick up and she comes to our door, she brings the mails with her, instead of just putting them in the mail box, and says "This is for you!"

This holiday season, I was inspired to make a small thing to give to her, as a Christmas gift.
I stated working on it, thinking of a fabric holiday card with the USPS logo on it. And then I thought, hmm... maybe the USPS truck will be cute..., then I prepared all pieces of fabric to form her truck with the logo. But it was already too big for a card, and I couldn't go any smaller because the logo was a bit complicated to applique.
My husband asked me, "What are you making?" and all I could say was,"I... don't know."

After two days, I finally finished it. It's a pot holder! (I think. Well, maybe she can decide what to use it as...)

Too bad that we don't even know her name. But that's okay, she is awesome anyway!
I hope she likes it...

Ai

[111216] Hobbes doll No. 7

My 7th Hobbes doll is now finished:)
Here is a sneak peak....

Happy holidays!

Ai

[111122] Hobbes doll No.6 is on Etsy

Yes!! I just finished my 6th (I think it is...) Hobbes doll yesterday, and took some pictures of him today, and listed on Etsy now:)
Please check him out!! (Click here to go to my listing)

Here is a picture of him...

I still have some yarns in my drawers, so I might make another one soon, maybe around new years...

Wishing you all happy holidays!!!

Ai