28 August 2010

Giveaway Results!

Hello hello!

I have with me the Milestone Giveaway results heee!

First of all, mucho mucho thanks to those who participated, your support means a lot to me, muah!

Ok, I won't keep you waiting any longer. So here we go... here are the names of everyone... (this is so exciting!)



Milo was just dying to help out, so I had him pick out the lucky slip...



And the winner is........



Congratulations SYAH NUR - yay!!! Flower Power Fat Quarter Bundle is all yours. Please send me an email at afabriccase@yahoo.com with details of your postal address and I'll be sending it off for you to enjoy.

25 August 2010

Works in Progress

So many, so many! Am all over the place. Things all over the place! I think of something, start a project, then abandon it when I see another. The fabric temptation is just too much - help !!!

Am currently working on (amongst others, mind you) this :


This is a nice and easy project. Lemon squeezy eazy. In fact, am almost, almost finished. Just in time for the deadline too. (Yes, there's a deadline. You'll see why eventually). So pleased when things go along in a timely way...


Now, on the opposite end of the spectrum is this:


I started this one oh, forever ago. I even had the name ready - "Lavender Fields". Today, I'm thinking of naming it "The Never Ending One".

Don't know why this one is taking its time on me. After all these months I still haven't even managed to finish PIECING it. Am at the stage where I'm starting to wonder if it'll EVER get quilted ...

*wallow*

*sob*

And then the storm blows over and the sun comes out. And look, there's a pretty rainbow to boot!

Of course I'll finish it, and on that fine day we'll all be rolling around on our Lavender Fields.  :-)

23 August 2010

Milestone Giveaway

A Fabric Case reached a thousand hits over the weekend.

A THOUSAND hits. It may sound like nothing to some, but to me, Wow! It's a milestone indeed. Because when I started this blog, I had no idea what to expect, save for perhaps an outlet to write about my hobby.

So it was a pleasant surprise to find the handful of fellow fabric cases out there who take the time to follow this blog and leave comments. To you guys and gals, a big, BIG Thank You!!! Muah, muah XOX

As a token of how much I appreciate your visits, I thought I'd have a .... GIVEAWAY!

Here's what's up for grabs:





One MILO-IN-A-BASKET!


OK OK, am just kidding, heee! One lucky crafter will receive ... one Flower Power FQ Bundle, comprising 3 fat quarters from RJR and Hoffman. Makes a great stash builder :



I think how it works is you just need to leave a comment, from Monday 22 Aug to midnight of Thursday 26 Aug. Then on Friday I pick one comment at random, and that person will receive the Bundle.

Once again, thank you for visiting!

19 August 2010

Marissa's Quilt

Remember Marissa's Quilt?

Well, I'm happy to inform that it's been safely delivered to the birthday girl. Her Mama said she likes it very much, and let me have this photo to share with you. Isn't she the cutest thing?




Some more pics of Marissa's Quilt:
Pink Glory!
 And a close up of the details:

17 August 2010

Extra Stash Anyone?

So I was cleaning out The Office the other weekend, and not surprisingly I found fabric coming at me from everywhere. From the back of shelves, spilling out from drawers, packed neatly in pretty boxes, inside paper bags... you get the picture.

And so I've decided to put some of them up in "Shop" because I'm really generous and passionate and I want to share this craft with the world at large.

:-)

Okay, you've got me. My shelves are overflowing and I'm secretly worried Yummy Hubby might find out how much fabric I really have, hee.






I hope you take a look and see if anything looks nice. Here's a taste of what to expect:

12 August 2010

New Toy

I picked this up some time ago, but never really got around to using it.



It's a darning foot. I know what you're thinking, where on God's earth have I been quilting without a darning foot, right?

Well, I've only ever done machine straight stitching and hand quilting. I remember once trying to free motion withOUT a darning foot (I didn't realise I needed one at that time - duuh). Suffice to say that the outcome was NOT pretty. And I'm not talking about the quilt there.

I was finally educated one day by the lady at my local quilt shop.

"Ohhhhhhhh," I said. "You mean I need a special foot?"

"Yeeessss, indeed you do", came the reply, in a tone I normally hear reserved exclusively for 6 year olds.

So I pocketed the little gadget she gave me and went home dreaming of all the beautifully stippled baby quilts I was going to produce, and shortly after managed to promptly forget all about it.

Until a couple of weeks ago, when I unearthed the foot from under a pile of lint and bits.

And therefrom began my darning foot adventures:


Yikes!








Somebahdy help me!


Getting better maybe?


Did I hear someone laughing?


They say practice makes perfect. So I'm going to practice and practice until I can do a decent stipple. And one day hopefully I'll show you a really nicely stippled quilt.

Wish me luck and patience. Better yet, any tips?

08 August 2010

Busted

meow...

I've been a bit tied up recently.

Human Mummy has been cleaning out the room. The one with lots of interesting things in it. Since we're not normally allowed in there, Molly and me thought we'd take the opportunity to help her out. Then Molly said she wanted to play, and it sounded like a good idea to me. Until she decided to run around Human Mummy's feet. And got her tail stepped on.

I have to say Molly's got a really, really BIG voice for such a small kitty.

Bloodcurdling, Human Mummy said.

I myself got a big fright and quickly ran for cover. Under a pile of nice fabric Human Mummy had just folded away.

I think I'm in trouble, because she doesn't seem pleased at all... look what she did to me...



At least I'm not suffering alone. Molly got caught too, and now she's kitty roll.



I hope when Human Mummy goes up to bed Human Baba will rescue us... *sob*

07 August 2010

*Yaawwn*

Sorry, can't think of a name for this post, so I just typed the first thing that came to mind.

*another big yawn*

Excuse me! It's Saturday, and I've been cleaning. Then I collapsed on the (now very clean) sofa, and now I'm trying to wake up.

So I was cleaning, and I'm also reorganising The Office. No, that's not the place I spend my Mondays through Fridays at. It's the place I sew in. I've seen so many pictures on the internet of pretty sewing rooms that this week I decided to give mine a make over.

Now what makes this exercise a little difficult is that The Office is also our store room and study. So trust me when I say there's a LOT of stuff in there. It didn't help an ounce that I also had Angel and Demon (read Molly and Milo) playing "let's-see-who-can-trip-HumanMama-up-first" under my feet. I really haven't got a clue how I'm going to redo it, and so far I've just moved a bookcase from one corner to the other before I decided to have a headache and collapse on the sofa.

Okay then, I've had my nap, my cup of tea, updated this blog, and outyawned myself. I guess I should be in good in shape to tackle The Office before dinner. If it turns out cute I'll let you have a peek. Wish me luck!

04 August 2010

Work in Progress

I'm currently working on Marissa's Quilt. Marissa is a sweet little girl who turns 7 this August. Like most little girls (and some not so little girls), Marissa lurrrves pink, and has a special affinity for anything princesses.

One day Marissa's mum saw my 5 Princesses baby quilt. 5 Princesses is made with some really cute princess fabric and is very, very pink. So Marissa's mum decided that she had to had to have one made for her little girl. And proceeded to arm twist me into agreeing with her.

So here's a sneak preview of my work in progress. Marissa's Quilt. I hope I'm not giving too much away with these pics... It's almost done, I have a little more quilting to do, then I can bind it and wash it.

So Marissa's mama can have it by the end of the week.




Now can I get my arm back pleeease?

02 August 2010

Tutorial - Half Square Triangles

Since I started this blog I've had a few questions from friends on how a quilt is put together. While I try my best to explain, it's a bit difficult without actually demonstrating how it works.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm certain that most people who come across this blog are already experts at piecing, and definitely don't need this tutorial at all. This is for the beginners, or those who think they might be (even just a little bit) interested. Read on, I hope you catch the quilting bug!


Right then, for Half Square Triangles:

First, cut 2 squares, each of a different fabric. Note there should be some contrast to the 2 fabric. The squares can be any size, I've made mine 4 inches X 4 inches.



Secondly, take a pencil and a ruler, and draw a line diagonally down the wrong side (ie the back side) of one of the squares. I normally do this on the lighter fabric.



Next, align the squares right sides together. Remember now, make sure the right sides of each fabric face together. Just like in the next photo:



Now you need your sewing machine. Or I suppose you can do this by hand also. Stitch down either side of the pencil line you drew earlier, with a 1/4 inch seam allowance. That means the distance between the pencil line and the stitching line is 1/4 inch. Don't forget to sew on both sides of the pencil line.



How's everyone doing so far? Eaaaasy isn't it? Ok, just a bit more to go. Next get your scissors, and snip right down the middle of the fabric, along the pencil line you drew earlier.



Now you can open up your square, press along the sewing line and...



Congratulations!!! You have a couple of half square triangles :)



Now go make your own, quick!