Weekend Practice

This is what I've been up to this weekend.

Sorted out some leftover batting and made little quilt sandwiches for FMQ practice!

Then I took a deep breath and dove right into it. (Does FMQ intimidate anyone else or just me?)

I started out with the regular stipple as a warm up, then tried out some new designs:

This time I was very mindful of the stitches on the back of the quilt, because I've always had pockets of loose stitches. I had a tip from Mila to increase my tension (my machine's tension that is, hehee) when this happens, and I'm so pleased, because it does seem to help - thanks Mila!

But still not perfect, as you can see from the photo above.

I also made it a point to be aware of my stitching speed. I don't have a speed regulator so when I'm sewing on the machine there's only been two speeds : 'stationary' and 'full speed ahead'. But this time I think I detected another speed level in between, depending on the pressure of my foot on the pedal. It's still pretty fast, but not the usual 'runaway train' momentum.

I also thought I'd be clever and try out pebbling:

Ummm, maybe not just yet, hehehee.

Definitely much, much more practice required.

But I'll tell you what, I've had so much FUN practicing! I'm so tempted to go out and get a metre or two more of batting just to do this again :-)

Hope every one's having a fun weekend! 

After Work Sewing

I made this block one evening after work.

Can you relate to this: You're tired after a long day, but you still want to sew something. Create something. I guess that's how we crafters unwind. But because it's been a long day, you can't really tackle anything too complicated. And that's how little things like this block come to be.

It started simply with a little fussy cut piece of Baby Strawberry Shortcake fabric lying around the sewing table. A little bit of cutting, sewing and pressing later and tadaah!

Isn't she cute?

Too bad she's an orphan right now. I have no plans for her at the moment, she may end up as part of a quilt, or maybe something smaller like a cushion, who knows?

Hope everyone's having a happy week!

Scrappy Happy Cushion

As promised.

A (mainly) picture post to share.

Scraps have been pieced and pressed, and a red gingham print selected for the cushion back and binding:

The finished product:

Quilted with straight lines, randomly spaced.

Happy :-)

Hope everyone has a happy week!

Happy Sewing

Not much interesting sewing going on here lately. Only blah ones, mending and the like, which I won't be boring you with.

The weather in Kuala Lumpur has also been horrid. I won't be writing about that either, because then I'll only get annoyed and say unpleasant things. Suffice to say that I've been busy boiling and consuming pints of barley water, and locking myself indoors with the windows shut. *grr* To my fellow bloggers who are also affected, you know what I mean, and I hope you (and your throats and noses) are all coping well.

And so, since I'm teetering on the brink of Miserable, I thought some happy sewing might be in order.

Something not too complicated and quick enough to finish. And of course it must be something happy. Like a bright and happy cushion cover. My cushion at the office (my day job one) sure could do with a change, it's been sporting its current cover for quite some time now. It's an old patchwork piece, with a sham, one of the first patchwork cushion covers I've sewed.

Cute. But not quite happy enough my current purposes.

So I've fetched my box of small scraps (the smaller the happier), made my choices and trimmed them to size.

And settled on a layout.

Next stop : piecing! Hopefully I'll have a finish to show off tomorrow :-)

Happy sewing everyone!

Very Bright!

I'm happy to share that I'm up and about again, and back to conquering the world! Starting with my laundry pile. Yummy Hubby and I are scratching out heads in wonder at how our laundry has accumulated this past week. Just a day or two out of sync and next thing you know you have Mount Washmore in your laundry room.

And I'm digressing. Naturally.

Coming back to fabric - I've finished my quilt top made from this Love Panel:

I used a bunch of fabric in red, pinks, bright pinks and greens, with also a liberal amount of white and white based fabrics, hoping to tone it down a bit. I have to say though, that the finished top is still a bit bright. 

Or a lot bright.

What say you?

Is it making you cringe?

Does it remind you of  Christmas?

I've decided to put this one away for now, and won't be quilting it just yet. I'm thinking it needs just the right sort of backing fabric that will complement yet sooth the colours on the front. Of course, I may be just looking for an excuse for more fabric shopping, eheehee!

Happy Sunday everyone, and have a great week ahead!

Under the Weather

Feeling off these past couple of days.

*Sniff*

Maybe because of over exertion at work, maybe because it's been really hot over here lately, or maybe just because.

So please excuse me if I don't have anything new to share fabric-wise.

But I will leave you with a photo of a pretty flower we had the pleasure of meeting recently, hee.

Because it's pretty, and looking at it makes me feel that little bit better :-)

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy week!

Still on the Bright Side

I don't know what it is about finishing a quilt, but it makes me want to make another one immediately! Does anyone else get this?

So I've started another quilt project, this time with the panel I blogged about earlier. I had a hard time trying to figure out what to do with it, then just decided to bite the bullet, and get going.

So I got out a variety of pink, green and red fabrics, that I think will coordinate with the panel,and cut them up into 4.5" squares.

Quite a bright combo, as you can see:

Now I'm busy putting everything together.

No concrete planning going on here, just calculating (and crossing my fingers!) as I'm going along.

I'm hoping it will turn out decent.

With any luck I'll have a quilt top to show to you soon!