Fabric Finds

This week was about more input than output. I'd been around the shops a bit, and of course couldn't resist adding some to my stash. Not so much productive, but equally enjoyable!

We popped into our LQS for a visit, and walked away with these yum yums:

Fat quarters:

I can never resist a bit of red :-)

Now the next fabrics are actually smaller cuts, each about 10" X 10" each,  perfect for small projects and applique. I have no idea what I need them for, but hey, who cares? Hee!

Enough to keep me daydreaming for the next couple of weeks, eheh.

I also discovered these cutesy tins on a separate walkabout, aren't they the cutest?

The shop I got them from is called 'Romantika', in case anyone of you in the Klang Valley is interested, and they have a selection of tins to choose from. I was hard pressed to decide which ones to purchase. AND they only cost MYR7 (that's just over USD2) each if you can believe it!

Now I'll know exactly where my ribbons and zippers will be, hu hu!

Okay, truth is I haven't been completely idle this week -  I'm working on a home decor project at the moment. Some time ago I purchased miles of this fabric off the internet:

I seem to remember the intention being to make some curtains. However, when it arrived in the flesh, I discovered it was a little darker than expected. Just one of the hazards of purchasing online, I suppose. Ah well. 

But anyway, it's still some gorgeous fabric, and I'm using some of it (there'll still be miles left, sigh...) to make new chair covers and maybe a matching table cloth for my little kitchen table.

I've just about got everything done, only have the final details to finish off. Pictures (hopefully) soon.

Have a wonderful week ahead all - muah!

Updates!

It's been a haphazard couple of weeks in the fabric world. A little bit of touch and go, stops and starts. With a little bit of blaah to boot, yuck.

We've been busy celebrating (Eid, remember?). Now, this goes on for an entire month, so we're just over half way through. Lots of parties, or 'open houses' like they call them here. Which are basically, well, 'open' houses, where homes are open to visitors for some food and get-togetherness. And more money packets to give out, eheh.

And so, most of my free time has been spent making little gifts for the hosts. Things like these:

...pot holders 

...that double as trivets...

... little pouches and tissue holders...

still in love with these cute ballerinas!

Somewhere in between I found the energy to finish my pink and blue blocks...

but the search for just the right fabric for the sashing continues... sigh...

I even made an ambitious start on my zig zag quilt top from this post, 'Start' being the operative word here. After an hour of wrestling the whole package just got dumped on the floor, where it remains. I'm not even going to bother with a photo, is just too sad in its present state...

But on the happy end, today I received a pleasant surprise. A neighbour returned from a holiday in India earlier this week, and I guess she knows I'm A Fabric Case, because look what she brought back as a souvenir:

The photos don't do any justice, no matter how much I fiddle with the camera. It makes a gorgeous wallhanging, so now I must find a spot on one of our walls to showcase it.

Happy week ahead all!

A Busy Week

We've had a big week here indeed!

And I'm going to tell you all about it, so this is going to be a wordy post.

First up, we celebrated the end of the month of Ramadhan on Tuesday. For those not in the know, Ramadhan in the Moslem holy month of fast, when Moslems abstain from food, drink and naughty things and remind ourselves of virtues we may have forgotten as the year progressed. Now I have to admit I tend to struggle a little at this time every year, I'm always so HUNGRY, but we persevere, and with some patience and a sprinkle of faith, all ends very well.

Cookies and cakes accumulated!

When the month ends, we celebrate. And I tell you, Malaysian's celebrate like there's no tomorrow. We get 2 days of public holiday just for Eid. The custom here (like in China so I've heard) is that there is a mass exodus from the cities to the villages. Families gather to:

• feast!
• forgive
• catch up with all the gossip
• visit relatives we haven't seen in a year, or years
• discover distant cousins we didn't know existed
• guess which child belonged to which relative (children grow so quickly these days!)
• marvel at how fat cousins have become (well, mine anyway)
• etc etc (you get the picture).

And if they're anything like my family, there'll be a fair amount of quarrel in between all that too, hee. 

So that's exactly what we did, Yummy Hubby and me. We went all the way down to Singapore, then made our way back up to Kuala Lumpur... 

Source

... visiting families and handing out money packets to little children (another custom - one I most looked forward to as a child and least look forward to now, for obvious reasons, eheh) along the way.

Money packets

I should also say that en route I got attacked by this fierce creature in Malacca:

Angry bird!

And I have a bruise on my stomach to prove it. I must say I will Never play the Angry Bird game the same again! 

So to continue with our busy week, we also had our Merdeka Day aka Independence Day on the 31st - I wrote about this last year here.  And that gave us an extra public holiday, bringing the official Malaysian total to 3 this week. So most people and employers had the ENTIRE WEEK off! 

Simply amazing, isn't it? 

Yummy Hubby thinks it's ridiculous and keeps asking me what other country on earth shuts down like this.

But of course I'm not complaining, ehehee!

Anyways, as you can imagine, not much sewing got done lately. I did manage to get all my pink blocks done for my New Project before the holidays, and even started on the blue.

I suppose my Singer deserved the rest, and I made sure to oil it well before we left for our trip. Can't wait to get to it soon!

But for now, to all Moslems, Happy Eid!

And to all Malaysians, hope it's not too late to wish you happy holidays!