A Fabric Case

Fabric Find

2011-11-28T20:55:00.000+08:00

I was traveling recently and found myself in Beijing. Chinese culture is, if I had to sum it up in one word, WOW! Apart from everything else they had, the silk and embroidery just blew me away! I didn't pick up any embroidery, no time and no budget this time, unfortunately.

But I did manage to escape for a walkabout at one of their markets, and see what I found:

Pretty, pretty, pretty fabric shoes!

I think they're gorgeous!

So of course I picked up a pair for myself, and an extra for Niece. In different shades of pink, hee! I wanted to post a photo of my pair actually on my feet, but I've got a scab on my left foot. And Niece's photo is in the iPhone, and I can't be asked to get up to look for the wire thingie that syncs it to the laptop. So I'll just show you the shoes sitting pretty at the market again, hee hehe.

Now I can't end this post without showing you this:

These little goldfish were in a big aquarium at a restaurant we stopped at for lunch.

And they were all looking out at us. Can you imagine hundreds of little goldfish 'wagging' their tails and staring face first at you? Priceless!

Another Quilt - Yay!

2011-11-27T10:58:00.000+08:00

I'm tackling another UFO - soooo satisfying!

You may remember this one from here and here.

I'm finally quilting it - in an overall meander, this time.

Lots of upper arm muscle involved.

I gave it a name a long time ago - Lavender Fields. It sounds a little dramatic now. But somehow it fits, what do you think?

Almost, almost done, heeeeee!!!

Better Late Than Never

2011-11-26T18:35:00.000+08:00

So there's been this award that's been going around. A couple of gorgeous bloggy girls nominated me (thanks lovelies - muah muah muah!!!), so of course I should join the fun, right? A little late (as usual), but better than never.

Now apparently there are rules to this thing.

The first rule is I'm supposed to nominate up to 15 other bloggers to receive this. As I'm little late (ok, a lot late) onto the bandwagon, almost everyone I know has already received their nominations (seems the crafty, bloggy world in Malaysia is pretty small after all). So I'm taking the easy and lazy way around and nominate ALL of you lovely, crafty, blogging ladies reading this, ahaha! Jokes aside, I want you to know that I do take the time to find and enjoy your blogs, and I appreciate all your comments (even though I'm completely useless at replying).

The second rule is that I'm supposed to tell you 7 things you dont know about me. Huh? Ok...

Number 1 thing you don't know about me is - I'm actually a nut case.
2. My favourite colour (most days anyway) is RED.
3. I'm absolutely TERRIFIED of Ultraman. Ever since I was a wee lass. NOT a joke.
4. Ooh, serious one this. My life was so 'eventful' a few years ago that I was diagnosed with panic disorder and agoraphobia. Sewing and quilting became therapy. Literally.
5. My favourite idol so far is David Cook.
6. I loooooove potatoes!!!!!
7. When I grow up I want to be Beyonce. ehehee.

So there you have it!

Have a happeee weekend all : Happy Thanksgiving to those in the States (most importantly - HAPPY SHOPPINGGGGGGG) and to all here, happy looong weekend (yup, ANOTHER public holiday on Monday - insane! heeeee!!!!)

Another quickie

2011-11-06T18:41:00.000+08:00

Simply to wish you Happy Eidul Adha!

For those not in the know, this is another celebration on the Moslem calendar, this time to celebrate the 10th day of the month of Zulhijah, otherwise known as the Haj month. And we all know about the great pilgrimage that is the Haj.

So, enough said.

PS. Sewing therapy well under way. Photos soon.

PPS. Because Eid Adha falls today ie Sunday, we get another public holiday tomorrow (haven't I warned you that we get LOADS?). A benefit of a multi-cultural, multi-religious society. But alas, not me. Oh no. I have to go to WORK tomorrow. Grrrrr...

Been Traveling...

2011-11-04T22:26:00.001+08:00

... Can you say "shattered"?

Some serious sewing therapy much needed - preferably with a good dose of fabric shopping therapy thrown in.

Thank heavens for weekends.

And sewing machines.

And fabric.

And yummy hubbies too (someone's got to rub sore feet, hee).

Happy weekend all.

Tidy Shelves

2011-10-23T23:35:00.000+08:00

The last couple of weeks haven't been particularly interesting in The Office, sadly. Oh, I've been in it a lot, it's just that there hasn't really been any significant processes going on. I have made lots of little pouches, make up bags and such sorts, but I won't be boring you with them this time.

But.

I've also cleaned out my fabric shelves - they were getting to be scary looking. Quite.

So.

I'll let you have a peek at my stash, in all its technicolour glory.

Now I need to ask, how do you stash your stash?

Me?

I have yard bundles:

half yard bundles:

varied length bundles

(ie those not falling in the yardage or half yard categories -

a bit pointless this category, but there you go) :

Solids, checks and spots:

A floral bundle:

FQ bundles. These come in two sorts, the first being bundled up according to collection:

And those just, well, bundled up.

Of course, there's my scrap bundle (or should I say part of my scrap bundle). I think this is my almost favourite bundle. I looove playing with scraps, randomly piecing them, not making and not thinking of anything in particular, just seeing where they take me, eheh.

My favourite bundle?

A basket full of precuts!

So how do you stash your stash?

Charmed Fun

2011-10-09T23:21:00.000+08:00

This week's project was brought about as a matter of necessity.

You see, and here's something about myself you don't know - I'm a bit of a creature of routine when it comes to my breakfast. I bring it with me every work day, probably because I'm always so rushed (read "unorganised") in the morning that I never manage the time to have it at home. And my packed brekkie is almost always the same thing, a jam sandwich and a juice box, and sometimes, if I'm feeling healthy, there'll be a fruit.

So anyway, I have a little lunch bag which I use to haul my breakfast goods. I can't even remember where I got it from, but since its got a print in the front that reads "Welcome, Thank You", I'm thinking it must have been a goody bag from a get together of some sort, a wedding perhaps?

And here it is, but as you can see, one of the straps have gone.

Oh dear.

But.

That meant I needed to make a new one - yeppee! - any excuse to sew, hey?

So out came some charm squares - happy happy! - volunteering for the job.

These are from Moda's 'Spirit' - I'm wondering how many of them I've actually got, Spirit charms seem to jump up at me every so often.

The construction was simple. I merely copied the dimensions of the old lunch bag. All in all I used up, let's see, 1, 2 ... 14... 17, I used up 17 charms for the new bag, so I suppose there'll be a fair amount of Spirit charms left to jump up on me every so often again.

Now for the fun part - photos!

Lots of room!

All packed up and ready to go!

Now don't forget to eat your breakfast!

A Little Less Fabric

2011-10-02T18:10:00.000+08:00

I've been very good lately in eating into my stash. The more I use up the more reason there is to buy some more, hee!

This week I've used up more than half of my Moda Arnold's Attic fabric.

So there's not miles left, only mere yards, eheh.

And this is where it's gone into:

My kitchen table's gotten a new look hu hu!

Hmm, maybe I should've ironed the table cover before I photographed it?

(Check out my mosaic floors, they must be about 30 years old - does anyone else have mosaic floors these days?)

For the seat covers I simply used velcro as fasteners. My previous seat covers (patchwork affairs also made by moi, of course - currently in the wash, so no photos) had ties, but I wanted this set to be simple with clean (or cleaner) lines, so I just velcro-ed it. It's not so pretty, I know, but ah well, I'm easy to please :-)

All in all, I'm giving myself a pat on the back *big smile*.

Used up any stash lately?

Fabric Finds

2011-09-25T18:35:00.000+08:00

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!

2011-09-18T23:55:00.000+08:00

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

2011-09-03T22:38:00.001+08:00

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!

Weekend Project

2011-08-21T23:30:00.000+08:00

Some weeks ago, Izzati - a friend of mine, surprised me with some cutesy fat quarters....

She'd been out shopping and came across a craft bazaar going on in Subang. Knowing what A Fabric Case I am, she very kindly picked some up for me - I believe she got these from Kelly of Fabric Fanatics.

Aren't they simply adorable???

The little ballerinas are my fave :-)

And just check out Little Red Riding Hood there, cutesy cutesy cutesy!

So this weekend I got them out to enjoy some 'ooh-ing and aah-ing' and before you know it the rotary cutter had appeared and my trusty Singer was whirring away.

I'd made 2 quick pencil cases out of the pale pink Rommie and June fabric, but Niece and best friend Nina managed to run off with them before I could snap a photo.

So I cut into the Red Riding Hood fabric and made these:

A little quilted make up bag, and matching pocket tissue holder.

I love how the red zipper and olive binding frames the fabric...

I'm in love with this set, but have decided to gift them to Izzati - I hope she likes them as much as I've enjoyed making them... :-)

Have a happy week ahead everyone!

New Project - Yippee!

2011-08-20T09:11:00.000+08:00

I've started on a new project - hurrah! (never mind all my UFO's... eheh)

This one is going to be big - I'm thinking at least 6 feet square. Such high expectations, we'll see how it turns out :-)

I'm using some fabric that's been sitting about in my stash for too long. I'm thinking it will be a two-toned piece.

This one's for the pink colourway:

And this one's the blue:

So far, I've cut out the pieces for my pink blocks... (does anyone else get a back ache after cutting or does that only happen to me?)

And made a test block...

More to come soon!

A Tear For Our Ginger

2011-08-17T09:11:00.000+08:00

The story is that Ginger adopted us earlier this year. We can't recall exactly when, but Yummy Hubby and I have reached a consensus that it must have been sometime in February when this long limbed orange cat appeared in our kitchen. He just sat there on the floor, as if it was where he always belonged, and wasn't the least bit afraid of Yummy Hubby or me.

So we scratched our heads for a bit, then decided ah what the heck, he may as well have a bit of breakfast. So we fed him.

And fed him some more.

And fed him every single day after that.

After the first couple of days, it seemed that Ginger was part of the family. As if he had always been there.

Now, we didn't know it at the time, but Ginger was already ill. He did display some little problems, but we thought it was just the normal cat troubles like worms and such and gave him tablets, you know, the way you do.

Then one day Yummy Hubby decided that he should be spayed (or is it neutered? I can never remember), and a trip to our local SPCA was made. There we discovered that he was jaundiced. Aahh.

So SPCA prescribed some medicine and we went home happy.

As the months went by though, we realised that although he seemed healthy enough, something was not quite right. For one, he never seemed interested in playing. And his tummy got bigger, and bigger.

Finally we took him to our expert Mr Vet, who diagnosed him with a virus. I can't remember what it was (even if I did, I don't think I could pronounce it, let alone spell it). And Mr Vet said that it was pretty serious. From then on, Ginger made many more trips to the vet, and had all kinds of treatment, and at one stage was quarantined (very, VERY unwillingly) in the bathroom on doctors orders. Then one day while we were holding him down to administer some medicine, Yummy Hubby looked up at me, and I understood.

We stopped forcing him to medicate after that, and let him deal with each day as he pleased. We also made it a point to shower large doses of TLC on him every single day.

The end came sooner that either of us expected. He was still mobile and still had an appetite (his favourite dish being boiled chicken - none of that kibble stuff interested him). In fact, the very day before he died I spotted him taking a walk on the street outside, and on that same day had wolfed down a cup of boiled chicken.

So when Yummy Hubby picked me up from work one Monday on the first day of August and told me that Ginger was no more, I was ...

surprised.

Sad? oh yes, but

deep down glad too, that he went to cat heaven so easily and didn't suffer too much.

Like all the cats who's had a place in our lives, Ginger had his own quilt. But in breaking with tradition, we didn't bury him in it. I don't know why, sometimes another sense tells us otherwise you know, and we go with the flow.

Thank you for adopting us, Ginger, even if it was only for a few months.

Sleep in peace now.

A Mystery!

2011-08-14T13:47:00.000+08:00

Something very mysterious has happened in my blogworld recently.

Something unexplained...

My header (you know, the picture/illustration thing that reads 'A Fabric Case' at the top of my blog) has shrunk!

One day it's normal, then the next it's puny :-(

A mystery indeed... at least to a tech retard like me...

Summer?

2011-08-13T22:38:00.002+08:00

Presenting the much delayed finished charm pack quilt, tadaah...!

I actually finished this a couple of weeks ago, but just never got around to taking a photo. You know how it is : the morning rush to get up, get dressed and get going, then at the end of the work day it's either to dark outside, or I'm too gloomy to bother taking out the camera.

Today, though, I made it a point to snap these photos, AND as an added bonus even managed to persuade Yummy Hubby to 'model' it for me. You can just about make out his calves at the bottom of the quilt there...hehe heh.

I love love looove this quilt.

The fabric combination is just perfect, don't you think?

It was also a pleasure to make, from the piecing to the straight line quilting.

Easy peasy, light and breezy :-)

Here's a view of the pieced back...

The only difficulty I had with this one was naming it. It's now spent a couple of weeks nameless. Normally my quilts take on their own character as I make them, so that by the time they are finished they've more or less named themselves.

I think this one might be called "Summer".

What do you think?

Quilt (Back) in a Day

2011-07-27T23:06:00.000+08:00

I have my quilt back ready to go!

This part was easy enough, just piecing together 2 types of fabric.

The main fabric is some I sourced locally about a year ago (has it been that long??) from textile shop here in Ampang. I bought this originally intending to make ironing board covers... I'm glad I didn't, because I love how it's turned out on this quilt back.

I've added a strip of yellow fabric from the Dream On range for some variety, and also to make up the width.

I'm particularly loving this quilt back, as it reminds me of sunny days outdoors. Think: Lolling about on the grass, daisy chains and butterflies - bliss!

Next up - quilting in a day?

Quilt (Top) in a Day

2011-07-24T18:03:00.000+08:00

After piecing together my string quilt, I needed a nice and easy project. One that was fairly quick, with no measurements, no calculations, no trial and error (read : no seam ripper!).

And what easier way to piece a quilt I ask, than to use charm packs.

Now I lurrrve charm packs, as if you don't know already :-)

So into my sewing cupboard I went, and picked out a couple of these lovelies:

(Sorry, I did take a proper photo of the REAL charms, together with some coordinating fabric, but it's disappeared now, can't find it anywhere in the camera...)

Then I played around with them for a bit.

And took them to my old Singer,

And then in all of one afternoon, voila! :

Let's see that again, ehehee!

Yummy, yum yum :-)

Happy week ahead everyone!

Stringed Top Finished

2011-07-10T21:28:00.000+08:00

This one took a little while, didn't it?

Better late than never, though, I say, so here is the finished quilt top:

Materials used:

1 Honey Bun (I used Moda's Hello Betty)

About 1/2 yard solid white

1 yard solid green.

And let me tell you thank goodness I only needed 1 yard of the green, because it was all I had of this particular shade, and I would have been in trouble if I needed more as I can't remember exactly what the solid is. I think it's Bella Solid in Pistachio, but I'm not sure...

I'm not quilting this one just yet. Mainly because I haven't enough batting, but also because I haven't decided how I want to quilt it yet.

Should I stick to straight lines, or should I attempt some free motion? Suggestions most welcome... :-)

For the backing I'm using a black and white print, which I hope will complement the black and white prints in the Honey Bun. This is also from Moda, but the name of the print escapes me now. I've got it pieced on the vertical with some leftover strips.

Quilting soon.

Or not so soon. We'll see...

Hope everyone has a happy week ahead!

More Strings

2011-06-30T22:37:00.000+08:00

Almost, almost there!

I must say this quilt top is taking its time to come together.

Slowly, slooooowly but (hopefully!) surely.

This is what it looks like now:

And this is what it looks like on the drawing board:

If you mix the blocks around a bit:

Hmmm.... decisions, decisions...

Happy sewing!

Pillow for Dad

2011-06-28T23:51:00.000+08:00

Hullo hullo!

We had Father's Day a couple of weekends ago, so all of us (minus Little Brother who is Away) got together to celebrate Dad.

By coincidence it was also Nephew's 7th birthday, so we had a right party we did, hee!

I wanted to give Dad something different this time, you know, other than the usual golf paraphernalia, books etc, so I hunkered down the day before and made this applique and patchwork pillow:

Now I'm usually very wary of applique as I'm absolutely useless at it, but for this pillow I had no such qualms because I know that Dad would not judge. Don't take my word for it, but what fun you will have when you throw caution to the wind!

My favorite bits are the Super Mario blocks. These are iron-ons - aren't they just adorable? They're Nephew's favorites too, so I thought I'd add them as a little surprise.

And a picture of the back:

I had another little iron on left, so I used this to make a label for the pillow on the back. Just before it was presented, we wrote our messages on it with a waterproof pen.

Hope you like your pillow Dad, we love you - Muah!

P.S. If anyone's wondering, Nephew received a magnifying glass from his Auntie :-)

WIP : String Quilt

2011-06-18T16:00:00.000+08:00

It's been a CRAZY (being polite here - seeing as is public blog - otherwise be using more colorful language) week at work, but I'm adamant to keep sewing.

Even if all I can manage is a block a day.

I suppose it's a way for me to make sure that I don't get overwhelmed with work stuff, a reminder that there are other things in life aside from mergers and liquidated damages and other seemingly pointless subjects that sometimes make me go "why oh why?".

And so, although progress on the Hello Betty string quilt is somewhat slow, progress there is:

My pile of string blocks is definitely growing, hurrah!

I've got 22 down to pat. 14 more blocks to go.

The Stork is Back!

2011-06-14T22:11:00.000+08:00

You know what, I was getting a little worried for while.

You see, I've been making these little baby quilts, but the stork hasn't been visiting my end of the world for some time. I'm sure you've noticed that I've put some of them up for sale (baby quilts, not storks), hoping they'd find a good home.

But I'm soooo happy that in the last week, two little cuties were born!

So I've been able to gift 2 of my quilts away :-)

First we welcomed a baby girl at work, and everyone thought she'd like "Cupcake Party":

Then just a few days after, Mr Tan from down the road received his first grandson. I let Yummy Hubby pick out a gift and he thought "Sunny Baby" would do the trick nicely:

I hope the little angels enjoy my quilts as much as I've enjoyed making them.

Congratulations all around! Muah!

Big plans

2011-06-12T18:11:00.001+08:00

Ooooh, I've so many things planned out, and I'm so excited!

Unfortunately, there are only so many hours in the day and only a fraction of those that I can dedicate to my sewing. Only one thing for it then, to take things on one by one, one block at a time.

So first up, I'm making a little string quilt. I've made string quilt blocks before from my stash, but those have been relegated to the back of the cupboard, being less than aesthetically pleasing. Hardly surprising, I suppose, because they were test blocks.

For this particular quilt I'm starting I've fished out a honey bun, from Moda's Hello Betty, which has been sitting pretty at the top of my shelves for some time.

Lots of lovely, lovely strips of colour! Mmmmm....yum yum yum!

I'm making 8 inch blocks, and am using a white solid for the 'spine'. Here's one, all pieced and trimmed:

From my calculations, I'll need at least 36 of these before I can even think of piecing together a quilt top. Gosh, sounds like a lot doesn't it - where will I find the time?

Well, I'd better get on with it then, haven't I? Updates surely (fingers crossed) soon!

Peek-a-boo

2011-06-09T08:07:00.000+08:00

Okay, I'm coming out from under my quilt now...

You know what I've discovered from my little mini blog-break?

That I'm A Fabric Case. Truly.

Staying away from this blog hasn't helped any. I'm still thinking of fabric at every spare moment. Still covetting, fantasising, still obsessed. (And secretly still accumulating stash). If I locked up my little sewing room, I think I'd still be playing with fabric, piecing, creating and quilting in my head.

As they always say: If you can't beat them, join them.

And so to join them I bravely go.

If only all of life's problems could be so sweet :-)

Spirited Away!

2011-05-23T21:43:00.000+08:00

And 'Spirited' is off to its new home.

But not before some photos were taken:

Measuring approximately 50" X 60".

Perfect throw size to cuddle up with in front of the telly on a cold evening.

A bit of an announcement now. I'll be taking a short break from posting. Not too long, a few days or so, a couple of weeks maybe. There're too many things going on at the moment, too many thoughts whirling around, and I've realized I'm getting a little tired in the head. Thinking of fabric is a good thing, but not when it becomes tiring you know.

So I'll be off now. See everyone soon!

Spirited effort!

2011-05-22T12:49:00.000+08:00

I had my work cut out for me this weekend. I have to finish the 'Spirited' quilt if I am to catch my special courier service (ie Mum and Dad) to Oz next week.

So yesterday, after the weekly house cleaning session, I put my head down and got going.

I finished the piecing (you can see I added a couple of borders from the last time I blogged). Then after thirty minutes or so of crawling about on the floor with a mouth full of pins, here it is layered and basted.

I deviated from my favorite stipple quilting, and did simple straight line quilting with my walking foot this time. I don't know about you, but I find straight line quilting sometimes more challenging than stippling (perhaps because I'm always expecting the lines to be super straight).

The quilting finished up quickly enough, and then it was time for some unpicking (grrrr!), requiting and binding.

'Spirited' is all finished, and as I write is hanging on the line to dry - pictures in the next post.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend everyone!

iPouch-es

2011-05-18T23:29:00.002+08:00

So yesterday was a public holiday here.

So I sat down in The Office with my cup of coffee, looking for a little inspiration, you know.

So there were a few loose charm squares lying about. Okay, so there were a lot of loose charms lying about (I'm charm pack-obsessed, as if you don't already know).

And then wham bam alakazam, it hit me. I thought, "Let's make a little case for the iPhone."

And before you know it, I had 7, SEVEN, of these all sewed up.

Did I say SEVEN? Here are some more... ehehee!

These photos were taken with the iPhone, so I couldn't model the phone actually IN the pouch, you know?

There are 3 more which I didn't take photos of, and can't now, because I brought them to the office (the day job one) and they've all disappeared.

Each pouch was made using just 3 charms, one for the front, one the back, and the third for the flap.

Oo happy day!

Giveaway Results!

2011-05-15T23:15:00.000+08:00

Thank you everyone who participated in this giveaway!!

Can I say again how much I really appreciate your visits, and I hope you'll drop by every so often.

So this is how the draw went:

All the names carefully noted, and placed into a pot.

Pot given a good shake.

Lookabout for Milo (found cat napping as usual).

Picked out 2 names.

And the winners are.....

Congratulations Rosh and Mila!

Rosh was the first draw and will receive the Saltbox Set. Mila, I hope you'll enjoy the Ice Blue FQ Set.

Mimi, the only international entry, will receive the Batik.

Look out for your inbox girls, I will be emailing you soon.

Hope everyone has a good week ahead!

Giveaway!

2011-05-09T00:00:00.000+08:00

Is it giveaway time?!

I've noticed in the last week that I've hit the 5000 milestone - this blog has had 5000 hits! This may seem insignificant compared to some others, but I'm as happeeee as can be!

So, I'm having a little giveaway to celebrate. A tiny token of my thanks to all of you who have visited, commented (even though sometimes I don't get a chance, or forget, to reply), and not forgetting those who've helped me de-stash! To all of you - thank you thank you thank you - Muah!

So I've got, not 1, not 2, but THREE fabric sets up for grabs:

Up first - Moda Saltbox Harvest Set

Made up of 1 Moda Saltbox Harvest Charm Pack + 1/2 yard Saltbox Trees on Cream

Number 2 - Ice Blue Fat Quarter Set

Made up of 1 FQ each of:

(from top to bottom) New Star - Makeower UK, House - Annette Tatum and Blizzard - RED Intl Textiles

Occasionally I get a hit from overseas, so especially for international visitors, I'm offering a length (about 2 yards in total) of printed batik. Check out these colours:

So then, for a chance to win, all you have to do is answer these 3 questions:

1. What is the temperature at the peak of Mt Kinabalu (highest mountain in Malaysia) in December?

2. What is Sherlock Holmes real (ie birth) name?

2. What is... okay okay, I'm KIDDING! eheheheee!!

Seriously now, for a chance to win, simply leave a comment to this post telling me what's your favourite craft and your current project. Actually, any old comment will do :-)

This giveaway will remain open until noon (Malaysian time) on Sunday, 15 May 2011, on which time I will get Milo to pick out 3 names from a pot.

Have a great week ahead everyone!

Please Like This Skirt!

2011-05-04T21:02:00.001+08:00

My prototype batik 'chop' (dip, chop. dip, chop, remember?) skirt finished up really quickly. Hardly surprising, as it's just a simple A-line.

Sewed up the sides.

Sewed on a zip (fiddly, fiddly, fiddly!)

Hemmed up the bottom.

Added a sash.

Selected a guinea pig, oh I beg your pardon, a model I mean, and there we go.

This is Niece being silly:

Priceless :-)

Starts and Stops

2011-05-03T23:37:00.001+08:00

(Note : in keeping with the theme of this post, commentary will also be in stop-start fashion, ehehe)

Stopped : Hexagon quilt

Hit brick wall. No ideas how to continue the outer layers. Ah well, can't rush inspiration.

Started : More cushions - eheheeeee!

Labour day (we get labour day holiday here you know, Malaysia full of public holidays - another one in couple weeks *big smile*), now where was I? Oh yes, my Labour Day project.

Using remaining bits from Annette Tatum's 'House' FQs:

To fit our standard sized 16 inch sq cushions. To match the big (30 inch sq) floor cushions made before:

Uggh, awful lighting in living room. Better light in "The Office" aka sewing room:

Ahhh, that's better :-)

Even enough scraps left over to make little quilted patchwork pouch :

Annette Tatum stash all finished.

Stopped : 'Spirited' lap quilt for friend Down Under

Perfectly justifiable excuse! Postman hasn't arrived with backing fabric!!!

Started : Batik Skirt

Couldn't resist buying these when on Langkawi:

Batik 'chop' or hand printed batik - Guessing 'chop' refers to the stamping process when batik is printed: Dip (in wax), chop/stamp (on the fabric). Dip, chop. Dip, chop. Get it?

Results next.

Celebrations! And Some Updates...

2011-04-30T22:55:00.000+08:00

So did everyone catch the wonderful wedding yesterday? Wasn't it just beaaaauuuutiful? And oh, so romantic?

I was one of those who took the day off work yesterday, and had myself firmly planted in front of the telly from 6 am on the wedding day (GMT of course). I don't know about you, but I just absolutely, positively LURRRVE weddings (something my Yummy Hubby has never been able to understand - I'm just thankful he showed up to mine, eheheh), and this wedding certainly evoked a multitude of emotions within me, as I'm sure it did with millions of others too.

Admittedly, some tears were shed, especially when the young Princes first emerged. I'm quite certain that I'm not alone when I say that the only person I could think of was their late mother. I was still living in London that awful August morning in 1997, and the image of 2 young boys marching bravely behind the casket of their mother, amid the unspeakable shock and sadness that enveloped the nation, remains vivid in my memory.

Then the past was interrupted by the arrival of the bride (don't you just LOVE that lace?), and the vows were spoken, the service delivered, and finally, the kiss!

Upon which different tears were shed. Tears of love, and joy and hope.

Now, don't take me for a royalist. Or an imperialist, a republic, a democrat, a political activist even. Whether I am or am not, this is not the forum for it. What I surely AM, though, is an advocate for exactly what (I hope) the world witnessed yesterday: love, and joy and hope. Which in my opinion is just what we need more of in this crazy world.

That, and more fabric, of course :-)

And so, in between the celebrations, my hexagon circle grew. I have no idea as yet what it will be, but it sure is fun to watch it develop. I've added a new print to the piece, a pink print with little white flowers. It now measures approximately 2 feet across, but I don't think it's finished just yet. We'll see how it goes.

I've also finished my Spirit charm pack quilt top this last week... tadaah!

I'm really pleased with how the colours panned out. You probably can't see it in the pictures, but the solid is actually a light yellow, a Bella Solid in Butter.

Here's my Milo getting into the act:

After much thought I've decided that this quilt top is NOT finished yet. It measures 45" x 52" as it is now. Although the intended recipient is rather smallish built, I think a little expansion in the size (of the quilt that is, not the recipient!) is in order.

So no quilting as yet. But soon, surely soon.

Enjoy the long weekend everyone!

Another Quilt

2011-04-26T19:21:00.000+08:00

I'm back to making another quilt again - and I'm SO excited!

This time I've cut into my 'Spirit' Charm Packs, remember this?

I'm planning on making it into a lap quilt for a friend Down Under. Winter's on the way over there, and I'm thinking it'd be nice for her to have something to curl up with on the long evenings in front of the telly. What a great reason to make a quilt again, isn't it?

This line from Moda is also aptly made up gorgeous, rich colours, which I'm hoping will brighten up many a winter's night.

And so, after a blissful weekend in The Office (aka my sewing room), cutting, piecing and lots and lots of trimming....

(And that's only the tip of the iceberg, most of the trims were already in the bin by the time I snapped that photo)...

Now I have 42 finished blocks, each measuring 7.5" square...

A pile of yumminess waiting to be pieced into a quilt top :-)

Hope everyone had a happy Easter, and do have a good week ahead.

Fabric on the move

2011-04-24T09:04:00.001+08:00

Wow, it's been a while!

So we've been traveling, first myself and then my Yummy Hubby. Not too much of sewing, unfortunately, except maybe in my head :-) I never imagined trying to keep a household by myself could be so time consuming! Made me realize how much I take for granted, and how spoilt I've let myself be.

But all is back to 'normal' now, as normal as can be. As much as I hate to admit it, it's so nice having a routine. Especially one that involves lots and lots of FABRIC *big grin*!

Right then, I haven't been completely idle, and I do have something to share. I've found a great way to still continue with projects, even when on the go. Of course it's much slower, no appliances to speed things along (I AM a Fabric Case, but I draw the line at lugging a sewing machine around on business trips). Just the humble needle, a few pins and a spool of thread. Oh, and a small pair of scissors. All in a little case (handmade, of course) that carries in the handbag.

And when things get a bit quiet, when there's a little breather (when the boss in not looking, eheheh), out the little pouch comes. A few quick stitches here, a little snip there, and at the end of the day, there's a pile of little paper pieced hexagons.

Which grows, and grows.

What a great way to travel, don't you think?

Still Seeing Squares

2011-04-11T08:37:00.000+08:00

After a weekend of stippling:

More stippling:

And a little bit more stippling...

And some final measuring, backing and binding (in front of the telly)....

Behold the fruits of our labour:

Two oversized pillow covers for the oversized cushions in the living room.

Tried, tested, and given the seal of approval :-)

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend.

Seeing Squares

2011-04-06T19:56:00.000+08:00

So this is what I've been up to lately (apart from surviving at work, grrr!).

Pulled out a bunch of fat quarters in pinks, blues and greens from Annette Tatum's 'House' collection (accumulated oh, so long ago).

Applied the rotary cutter to them for an assortment of random strips and squares.

Added the services of a faithful sewing machine and what do we get?

Lots of sweet, sweet squares :-)

More updates soon.

More Charms!

2011-04-01T08:27:00.002+08:00

Hello Everyone!

For all you charm packs fans, I have some up for grabs this weekend. I know you know that I'm a HUUUGE fan of charms and would love to hang on to these (and secretly hope nobody will grab them all, hehehee), but sometimes we just need to share the lurrve, don't you think?

So then, the (boring) details:
Each Pack is RM38.00
Postage via Post Express is RM3.50 (for up to 2 packs) or RM4.50 (for 3 - 6 charm packs) - Malaysia.

Please leave a comment or email me if you are interested.

Now for the yummy details:

Moda SPIRIT Charm Pack

42 5" squares

2 available

Moda BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S Charm Pack

42 5" squares

2 available

Moda WEE WOODLAND Charm Pack

42 5" squares

1 available

Moda HOOPLA Charm Pack

42 5" squares

SOLD

Moda HULLABALOO Charm Pack

42 5" squares

SOLD

Moda JUST WING IT! Charm Pack

42 5" squares

2 available

Moda ORIGINS Charm Pack

42 5" squares

SOLD

Moda SALTBOX HARVEST Charm Pack

42 5" squares

1 available

(Coordinating yardage also available! Please see below)

Left : Saltbox Flowers on Brown
Right : Saltbox Trees on Cream

Moda SALTBOX HARVEST yardage

1 yard RM38.00

0.5 yard RM20.00

1 yard of each available

And some FAT QUARTER BUNDLES:

Set 1 : 'Earthy Blooms' set of 5 FQs

RM50 or RM10 per FQ

Set 2 : 'Stripes, Hugs and Kisses' set of 2 FQs

RM20 or RM10 per FQ
SOLD

Set 3 : 'Elegance' set of 3 FQs

RM30 or RM10 per FQ

Set 4 : Timeless Treasures Pink Brights set of 2 Half Yards (total 1 yard)

RM40 or RM20 (for each half yard)

[FQ sets also available on request]

All fabric in these bundles are 100% imported American quilting cotton.
Postage via Post Express is RM3.50 (for up to 1 yard) and RM4.50 (for 2 - 6 yards) - Malaysia.

Thank you all for looking, and have a happy, browsy weekend!

A Little Off-Tangent

2011-03-28T22:37:00.000+08:00

I’ve been away for a while.

We needed a little break, so off we went to an island up north. An island with a story. And because I’m a romantic, I’m going to tell you the story. So go away if you must, if not, grab a cup of coffee, and keep reading.

Once upon a time, there was a princess.

Ok, she wasn’t actually a real princess, but let’s just imagine for the sake of romance that she is.

So, this princess’s name was Mahsuri. She lived on an island, called Langkawi, just off the coast of Kedah, on the Malay Peninsula. At the time (circa early 1800s?), Langkawi was a beautiful island, encircled by pristine sandy beaches, the inlands lush with green. Rivers and streams bearing sweet, clear water flowed from misty green hills, providing irrigation for acres and acres of padi fields and other crops. Yes, once upon a time Langkawi was flourishing. And this is where the story of Mahsuri begins.

Mahsuri herself blossomed to be a pretty maiden, a real beauty. She was sweet and virtuous in nature and not surprisingly was reknowned all over the island. News of her beauty reached the household of the island’s chief (I forget what his name is, so let’s call him Penghulu*). Now Penghulu was a no-nonsense leader and presided over the islanders with a legendary firmness. He lived in the royal court with his beautiful consort Wan Mahora. Penghulu also had a handsome brother, Wan Derus. Wan Derus too was familiar with the stories told of Mahsuri. One day, while attending harvest festivities in the villages he caught a glimpse of our princess, and as the story goes, fell instantly in love with her.

*Sigh*

To cut a long story short, or shorter, Wan Derus and Mahsuri were soon married, and lived in blissful happiness. They were even blessed with a little baby boy, Wan Hakim.

Behind the scenes, however, trouble was a-brewing. Mahsuri’s sister-in-law, Wan Mahora, became increasingly jealous of Mahsuri’s beauty and happiness, which far surpassed her own. Her jealousy grew into ugly hatred and obsession.

One day Wan Derus and a number of the island’s warriors were called away to the land of Kedah to attend to the Sultan. One morning during his absence, Mahsuri went into the village market and chanced upon a traveller, Deraman. They exchanged a few innocent words, and (perhaps just as innocently) this encounter reached the ears of the scheming Wan Mahora.

And then all hell (Oops! Sorry, pretend you didn't just read that) broke loose.

Wan Mahora ran to Penghulu with allegations of infidelity, accusing Mahsuri and Deraman of adultery. She even had her faithful servants support her accusations. Penghulu, being the strict leader that he was, was enraged, and immediately ordered for Mahsuri’s execution. Mahsuri was duly captured and bound to a tree. In the days that followed her family and the villagers did their utmost best to secure her release, but Penghulu was adamant in his decision. The only concession he agreed to was to delay her execution until her husband, Wan Derus, had been summoned back from Kedah.

And so Mahsuri remained tied to the tree for days, suffering in agony in the sun and the rain, never ceasing to maintain her innocence. Finally the day of the execution arrived, and as the kris was plunged into her heart, she uttered her famous curse: The Penghulu and his family, and the entire island would be cursed to suffer for seven generations to come. To everyone’s fear and amazement the blood that then spurted out of her wound was not red, but milky white. A tribute, they say, to her innocence.

Now much of this legend is true. Mahsuri did in fact exist, and her bloodline is traceable up to this day. After her execution her family fled to Siam (can’t say I blame them, can you?). As for Langkawi, for a long while after it did experience a decline, barren and forgotten. Whether this was due to her curse, who’s to say? It was only a couple of decades ago that Langkawi really re-emerged on the map of Malaysia, when tourism began to blossom. Today, it is a little crumb from paradise - a gem on the edge of the Andaman Sea.

And there ends my little story.

But this blog is about fabric, so a word or two on the subject is a must. There are several cottage industries in Langkawi, one of which is the production of batik. There're 2 types here, the HAND printed type and the HAND painted type (Have I emphasized the HandMade part enough?). I have to admit I was never a huge fan of the hand painted batik that's produced in the northern states of Malaysia before, but when I visited the craft centre on the island and saw the painted batiks, I was sold. And just couldn't resist coming away with some of these:

I can't wait for them to be framed and hung.

And before I go I must, MUST show you this:

This is a Kekabu tree. There were kekabu trees EVERYWHERE. They're really easy to spot because they look like they're bearing puffs and puffs of cotton candy!

And this is the 'fruit':

It looks just like an ear of corn, no?

The creamy white stuff you see on the inside is the kekabu. In Malaysia we use it to stuff pillows and mattresses. It's very much like cotton I suppose, although I'm not really sure if it can be spun into yarn and wove into fabric.

Lastly, I'm very proud to report that my reversible bucket bag came with me for this trip...

and I'm ever so pleased to say it travelled very, very well indeed :-)

* Penghulu - Malay meaning village chief
Kris - traditional Malay dagger
Siam - now Thailand

Little Outfits

2011-03-21T21:49:00.001+08:00

Here's something you don't know about me :

I used to make clothes.
Little clothes for little people.
But this was a looong time ago, before I discovered patchwork and quilting.

So when I was cleaning out some of my stuff this last weekend, I chanced upon some of the books/magazines I used to buy on dressmaking. And had a little trip down memory lane. I have no idea what happened to all the little dresses I made. I think Mum might have found them and given them away. But I digress as usual.

Now the point is, I can't really see myself sewing little clothes anymore. So I think these magazines might be of better use to someone else.

Magazine No. 1 : Cover

Pages from the inside

Magazine No. 2 : Cover

Pages from the inside

Price : RM15.00 each + RM4.50 postage within Malaysia.

Things you should know: These books are used. And in Japanese. But there're plenty of illustrations so it really is quite easy to follow.

Do let me know if you're interested.

Princess Fairies Tote

2011-03-20T20:06:00.000+08:00

I must say the Sew Along organized by Sue of MyBotang has left me a bit more adventurous than usual about making bags. So I'm riding the wave, and this weekend came up with another tote:

I made another attempt at using the 'plywood' interfacing, this time taking Sue's advice about trimming the interfacing to just inside the seam line, so that I don't actually sew on it. It worked much better (thanks again Sue!), but I'm still not getting the feel of this type of interfacing. Which is a shame, as I'm sort of liking the 'body' it gives to the bags.

I even tried my first ever attempt at magnetic snaps (told you I'm feeling adventurous). I've had a few of these in my sewing box for a while, but have always been too nervous about using them. Turns out they're easy as - snap!

I just love these pretty princesses. Now all I have to do is decide which one of the many little princesses I know will get this cute tote.

Have a good week ahead all!

Prayer Quilt - Pattern

2011-03-17T22:44:00.000+08:00

You know how I've said that I'll be posting more tutorials on my blog? Well if you do, you'll also know that I haven't really been keeping my word on this, shame on me.

Truth be told, there're so many other talented individuals out there that I'm often rendered a little intimidated to tutor anyone on anything, especially as I'm not much more than a beginner myself.

But promises are never made to be broken, so in this post I'd like to share a pattern. It's not so much a tutorial, but I hope there's enough material for you to follow. This is the pattern for my Prayer Quilt, you can see a link to my post on it here.

This prayer quilt is a perfect little rug for reflecting upon in (inreasingly rare) quiet moments.

Note, I've never written a pattern before so please excuse any shortcomings. I'm not very precise - I know, I know, precision is key in quilting - but I normally just eyeball my way along. Also, the illustrations are just sketches, but I hope they're clear enough to understand.

So here we go!

Ingredients:

1 charm pack
¾ yard coordinating fabric for background
¼ yard binding fabric
1 yard backing fabric

Cutting:

1. Centre Block - Choose 9 charms and set aside.

2. Medium Blocks - Choose 4 charms and set aside.

(Centre and Medium blocks are highlighted in pink in the illustrative diagram below)

3. Small Blocks - Choose 4 charms and quarter each into 4 smaller squares of 2.5” X 2.5”.

(Blue in the diagrams)

4. Triangle border -
• Take 10 charms and cut once on the diagonal. Be careful not to stretch on the bias.
• Take another charm and cut twice down the diagonal, to yield four small triangles. These will be the corner triangles.

(Half square triangles are red in the diagram, quarter square triangles - yellow)

5. From background fabric cut:

• 16 - 5” X 5” squares.

• 2 – 14” X 5” rectangles (referred to as "A" in diagrams).

• 4 – 9.5 X 5” rectangles (referred to as "B" in diagrams).

• 16 – 3” X 5” rectangles.

• 16 – 3” X 2.5” (small rectangles)

Construction
1. Take 1 of the small 2.5” X 2.5” squares and sew onto one 3” X 2.5” small rectangle.

2. Repeat for all 16 small squares and 16 small rectangles.

3. Attach each pieced unit from step 2 to the 3” X 5” rectangle on the 5” edge. Repeat until you have 16 blocks that look like this:

4. Referring to the diagram below, piece the prepared blocks into rows.

5. Then sew each row together, like so:

6. For my Prayer Quilt I had charms left over from my charm pack, so I pieced some of these together into 2 rows, which I then attached to the (short) ends of the quilt to add some length. You can see this in the photo of the finished quilt. There's no rocket science there, you can piece them however you want, I did mine in rows of 2.5" squares.

7. Finally, you're ready to layer, quilt and bind.

And that's all there is to it! If you do give this a go, let me know, I'd love to see some photos.

Scrappy Yards

2011-03-14T22:39:00.000+08:00

This week I have 2 scrap bundles up for grabs.

Each bundle is made up of scraps of different fabric for a sum total size of approximately 1 yard (36" X 44"). Great for patchwork beginners, and miscellaneous craft projects.

The first bundle is made up of mostly flora and fauna fabrics:

Mostly Floral Scrap Bundle : Pic 1

Mostly Floral Scrap Bundle : Pic 2

And the second is mostly cut from bright fabrics:

Mostly Brights Scrap Bundle : Pic 1

Mostly Brights Scrap Bundle : Pic 2

Each scrappy bundle is RM25.00 (postage included within Malaysia).

Shipping will be via Pos Express.

Also available are 2 Moda's City Weekend Charm Packs:

Each pack is RM38.00

Postage is RM3.50 via Pos Express within Malaysia.

Happy crafting everyone!

It's a Finish!

2011-03-13T20:05:00.000+08:00

And my Reversible Bucket Bag is done!

Hanging pretty!

Close up of the outer fabric - Little Eiffel Towers!

And a view of the inside...

To be honest, making this bag wasn't as difficult as I had thought it would be. Sure, some of the time I made up my own instructions : when I couldn't really understand (or read - I printed out the font so tiny!) the pattern.

Now, don't be misled by my earlier post on fusible fleece. That event occurred solely within my imagination. As it turned out my fave quilt shop (aka Cottage Patch, Ampang) doesn't carry fusible fleece, so Yummy Hubby actually came back with 1. fusible web, 2. batting (the type for bags and totes) and 3. stiff interfacing.

So I improvised with this bag, using the batting with the outer fabric, and the interfacing for the inner fabric. Which was fine, until I started sewing everything together. If you've never worked with stiff interfacing before, here's a warning : It's as stiff as a board, and sewing it is like trying to sew 2 planks of plywood together. Not too bad if we're only talking straight lines. But a nightmare when sewing curves (in this case the bottom of the bag). All I can say is thank goodness the bottom fabric and inner fabric are RED, as it hides all the drops of blood I shed, heheheeh. Okay, I'm exaggerating, but really, it was quite a struggle.

But, notwithstanding my little adventure with stiff interfacing, I won't be put off making another one of these pretty bags. Overall it was pretty easy and enjoyable, although I certainly won't be using too many layers of 'plywood' next time.

A HUUUUGE thanks to Sue for organizing this Sew Along. Sue, I do hope you're not too affected by that massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan. My thoughts and prayers are with you all.

Until the next post, have a good and grateful week ahead!

Quilters' Husbands

2011-03-11T09:16:00.000+08:00

I don't know about you, but sometimes I just can't find the time during the day to visit the craft shops. I have a day job, which takes me away during the business hours of my local quilt shop.

And so what's a girl to do, but bat her eyelashes at her other half and ask sweetly if he'd mind picking up some things.

Which happens quite a lot with me.

So far, Yummy Hubby has been very good at coming back from Cottage Patch with my orders.

I've sometimes wondered what transpires everytime he goes there, and in my mind I picture it to go something like this...

*Door buzzer*

Yummy Hubby : Hello!

Alice Cottage Patch: Good morning! Oh, it's you Sir, I see your wife has sent you again.

YH : *Looks sheepish*

Alice : So, what can we get for her this time?

YH : *Hands reach inside pocket, pulls out some fluff, a bit of paper. Reaches into other pocket pulls out some keys on a ring and some loose change. Stuffs everything back into another pocket and looks at Alice* Eerrr... she wants to make something from fabric?

Alice : Uh huh, that's generally why people are here...

YH : Oh yes, I remember! *cheers up considerably* Floosy pearl fleas!

Alice : *Silence*

YH : *Silence?*

Alice : And what would she be using the floosy pearl fleas for?

YH : *Blank look*

Alice : Okay, lets do this another way. Do you know what she's making currently?

YH : *Thinks : Why oh why do I always agree to do this?*

Alice : *Sighs* Let's start again. Do you remember if she's mentioned any particular project lately? Quilters usually talk about what they're making or planning to make... quilts, applique, patterns, bags...

YH : Yes, bags!! A bag. I think she mentioned something about making a reversing bag. She says it'll look like a pail. Although I cannot imagine who would want to make a bag that looks like a pail. Even if it does reverse.

Alice : Uh huh, but let's stay with the bag for the moment. If she's making a bag, she will need fabric of course - did she ask you to buy fabric? I don't think so, she normally chooses them herself. So then she would need some interfacing, some lining for the bag. Something fusible. Wait, fusible...floosy pearl?? Oh! *light bulb goes off* She needs some FUSIBLE FLEECE! *Looks expectantly at YH for confirmation*.

YH : *Blinks* Yes, isn't that what I said? Floosy pearl fleas.

Alice : Of course you did, Sir. *big smile*. I'll go get some, I think a metre would be more than enough. *Starts to walk away*.

YH : Thanks, and oh, before I forget, she's asked for a couple of metres of her usual backing too.

Alice : Got it. Half a metre of fusible fleece, and 2 metres of low loft batting coming right up.

Reversible Bucket Bag - Sew Along

2011-03-06T18:51:00.000+08:00

Ok, I've been putting this off for long enough.

I signed up for My Botang's Reversible Bucket Bag Sew Along last month, but am ashamed to say that I've yet to get started... I have an aversion to making bags and totes, because I tend to struggle with them. For me, they're a challenge, and I take my hat off to all those lovely ladies who seem to effortlessly produce beautiful bags and purses.

But now I've decided, enough procrastinating. It's time to tackle this baby.

I know I'm a bit late. Okay, who am I kidding? I'm a lot late, eheheh. So I'm setting myself a deadline. I'm going to concentrate on this project this week. My blinkers are on, and I'm not going to be distracted *fingers crossed*. No, really.

I've got my fabric and supplies (well, sort of). Sorry no photo's this time. It's a sleepy Sunday and I'm too lazy.

But there will be in my next post.

Wish me luck!

The Last BB Quilt ...

2011-03-01T22:41:00.001+08:00

.... well, for now at least.

This one is made from cutesy CUTESY dinosour themed fabric, ooh!

And I've plenty of pictures to share so this will be more of a photo post than a wordy post.

First up, draped over an armchair...

Close up of the centre blocks:

A photo of the whole quilt (bad lighting though, sorry! Also I think it's the wrong way 'up', can't find the rotate button now, arrgh! It helps if you tilt your head to the left, ehehee)

And the back. Made from some super soft cotton I had stashed away, think I got it from the local Kamdar. It says it's some kind of Japanese cotton on the selvage, but it has such a soft feel to it, I wished I had stashed more.

A bundle of cuteness! Aaah...

And a whole half yard left over from this project. Too cute to go to waste, so it's up for grabs if anyone's interested. RM20.00 postage included.

Three baby quilts in a row, so it's now time for something different.

And lovely Sue from My Botang has got just the perfect thing... more on that next.

Hope everyone's having a lovehly week!

Cupcake Party

2011-02-24T20:14:00.000+08:00

And the second baby quilt this month is Cupcake Party!

Bright and cheery, don't you think? Constructed out of 5 inch squares, and very easy to put together, as you can see.

The cupcake fabric is some Robert Kauffman I got waaaaay back. So scrummy, yum yum yum!!!

Fabric is coordinated with pink and red polka dots for a bright and happy look (Do I sound like an advertisement? heeheheh). Quilted in a cross hatch across the squares.

What do you think?

While I'm in the baby quilt mode, I'll have you know that I've cut out my fabric for yet another baby quilt. Really cute fabric with DINOSOURS!

That's up next...

Baby Quilts

2011-02-22T19:53:00.000+08:00

This past couple of weeks for me have been about baby quilts.

I'm trying to rebuild my stash, and while sorting through my fabric shelves I found some forgotten bits and pieces, like a roll of blue fabric strips I had kept in a small paper bag. I can't remember whether I was saving them up for a particular project, or whether I'd just forgotten about them... but no longer, there're now well out of that bag!

I'm naming this one "Moondance!"

It was a simple joy to piece, just strips randomly lined up and stiched together. The white is some precious Kona cotton which I've been saving (again for I dont know what). I love the contrast created from the dark blues and the white. To help blend in the two tones, I interspersed the blue strips with some some pretty florals, which I think also 'softens' the whole look.

For the back I used the fabric I got from Arab Street in Singapore last December:-

I think the back fabric is adorable. I especially love the little blue animal prints. So much so that I'm in danger of liking the back of the finished quilt more than the front!

Some easy quilting 'in the ditch' finished off the quilt.

Next baby quilt coming up soon.

Funtime

2011-02-06T18:25:00.000+08:00

I was surfing the internet the other day and fell upon a post for a ticker tape quilt made by Amanda Jean of Crazy Mom Quilt.

You can see her Ticker Tape Quilt here.

It seemed easy enough (especially for lazy people like me) so I thought I'd pull out my box of scraps and give it a shot.

And let me tell you, I had real FUN making this one!

There were times I felt like a 10 year old, so happy was I. I guess that means it would be good project for a 10 year old?

And the result:

This one is a wee little quit measuring about 1.5' X 2'. I'm giving it to Niece, for her kitten Fluff and Fluffy to sit on (yes, I know, VERY imaginative names).

The point is, this is one easy peasy lemon squeezy and fun fun fun! quilt to make. I spent no more than a couple of hours to finish this cat-sized quilt. Just the perfect way to spend a rainy Saturday afternoon.

You can find a tutorial for the ticker tape quilt here.

Updates

2011-02-04T22:36:00.000+08:00

First things first: Happy Lunar New Year!

Yesterday, amid a blaze of firecrackers, we ushered in the Year of the Rabbit.

Amazing, when you think about it, we've had 3 new years in the last 3 months. The first was the Moslem new year in December (or was it November?), then the gregorian new year on the 1st of January, and yesterday, the Chinese lunar new year.

And the best bit about being in this part of the world is, we get to celebrate ALL of them (*huge smile*)!

We've got a 4 day weekend, I repeat FOUR days (jealous anyone?), which I'm in the midst of enjoying tremendously.

Although it's only been a couple of days, I've manage to get quite a little bit done in The Office (aka my sewing room).

Up first, my attempt at applique. I'd posted about this earlier, and now the quilt top is done.

I'm not over the moon with it, as I think there's a lot of room for improvement here.

Next up, another UFO. Honestly I had harboured serious doubts about whether I'd ever finish this one. But then a couple of nights ago I took it out and spent a couple of hours over it in earnest, and now, yippeee!! I have a quilt top:

I have no plans on quilting these just yet. I'm currently stash building, as my fabric shelves are running somewhat short.

So these quilt tops will just have to sit pretty until I find some suitable backing fabric for them.

More updates soon.

Maintenance

2011-02-01T13:52:00.000+08:00

Okay, this is going to be a boring post, but it's a necessary one.

Sometimes we just need to be reminded to take care of our sewing machines. Who can blame us? The sewing and creating part is productive, exciting and just so much FUN FUN FUN!!, that we'd be forgiven for forgetting the (boring - yawn!) maintenance aspect of things.

Until the sewing machine starts acting up.

Which was what mine did. Acted up. We had to call in the sewing machine doctor, who did his magic, and now everything's as good as new. Although a tad bit oilier.

So I'm here to remind you to take care of your machine. Every once in a while, take out that little bottle of Singer oil (which I know all of you have - somewhere) and lubricate those moving parts.

Of course, you should check with your machine's manual when you do this, before you do this. We don't want to make more of a mess than is necessary do we?

Your machine should also have come with its own cleaning and maintenance kit, so dig it up and keep it somewhere handy.

They say you should go through this exercise (and change the needle) every 5 projects or so, for optimum results. Yes, well, I'll try to remember that if you will, heheheh.

Oh, and before I forget, try not to start on any pretty projects (especially those involving white) immediately after maintenance. Unless you're making something for a car mechanic. Just be patient and go through some scraps until the fabric runs grease free.

Happy February!

Laptop Sleeve

2011-01-28T23:22:00.000+08:00

I had a bit of time this week, and thought I'd try out something new - a sleeve for my laptop.

We live in an old house, and as is typical of old houses in this part of the world, we have a big kitchen where all the action takes place. So the laptop regularly sits on the kitchen table. And the problem with that is, it collects all sorts of dust (yes, I've discovered there are different types of dust - big dust, tiny dust, big flecks, little flecks), and little spots of God only knows what, and scratches.

But not anymore, eheheh. Not with this bright sleeve I made.

Some time ago I dug into my scrap box and randomly pieced together small pieces of scraps into rows. Then I trimmed the rows and joined them until I got a big square block. I made a few of these blocks and kept them aside.

I've never sewed a laptop sleeve before, and for my prototype I thought I'd dig out these scrap blocks and use them. For the flap however, I opted for just one print, in one of my favourites - Bloom by Hoffman.

I've lined the sleeve with batting, with some plain off-white muslin.

The flap is secured with a length of velcro.

This sleeve is custom made, because it has a hole at one end for the internet dongle, which we hardly ever remove. The idea was that we can store the laptop without having to remove the dongle. While practical for our purposes, it does look a bit odd, so I don't think I'll incorporate this into the next laptop sleeve I make.

Not too bad for a first try, so I'm definitely making another. Just the excuse I need for more fabric shopping :-)

Dream Big!

2011-01-23T22:56:00.000+08:00

And it's all finished! The Dream Big blanket/bedspread.

Am really chuffed with the way it finished. It was surprisingly (and pleasantly!) easy to put the backing and binding on.

I'm so, so tempted to make matching pillow covers now. But that will have to wait. I'm missing my quilting, so I hope my next project will have some quilting involved. In the meantime, I'll be enjoying my new blanket :-)

Hope everyone had a happy weekend!

Dreaming Big

2011-01-21T23:21:00.000+08:00

Okay, I've got my backing fabric for my Dream Big quilt top.

All six meters of it.

Had a bit of reservations about the colour initially, but I suppose this was my fault, for my instructions to Yummy Hubby were literally to get 6 meters of fabric "in any shade of bleu."

I've measured out the top, and 6 meters is more than enough, in fact, 6 yards would have done the job.

So this weekend's fun will be putting everything together :-)

PS. Just so you know, I've more or less decided that I'm NOT using batting for this project. The mere thought of quilting something this size is just waaay to intimidating...

Pictures soon to come, so watch this space!

Happy weekend everyone!

Quiet?

2011-01-17T23:12:00.000+08:00

Ok, yes, I admit. I've been quiet.

Many things are happening, but worry not, I won't be boring you with the non-fabric related ones. So yes, I've been quiet, but by no means have I been idle.

I've managed to sew little bits and bobs, a little here and there, so I'm going to show you a couple of the UFO's which I plan (fingers crossed) to have finished up soon.

And so the first, is this:

Fabric was dug up from my existing stash (to make room for new stash yippee!). Made up of basically four different fabric : 2 coordinating prints and 2 solids:

A project made out of necessity really: this is to be a bedspread for our bed, to keep our Angel and Demon (aka Milo and Molly) off the sheets.

The finish top is HUGE, as the bed is a king. I'm trying to sweet talk Yummy Hubby to run to the shop one of these days to purchase some fabric for the backing. I've made my calculations, and I'm estimating I need about 6 metres at least - Yes, it IS that huge.

The top is constructed from 2 types of blocks, a big diamond of sorts, and smaller pinwheels for the border.

My dilemma now is I'm not sure whether to include batting in my layers, or just do the blankie thing and use only the backing fabric. Yummy Hubby says no batting (perpetually hot as he is), but I'm leaning towards including the batting (ambitious as I am). I have a feeling I will cry chicken in the end and take the easy no-batting way out.

On to my second UFO. Remember how I said last year that I should really try out more applique? Well, I thought I'd start out the new year with an applique quilt. I'm starting with an easy one. Easy because the applique shapes are BIG flowers. None of the tiny intricate stuff for me, unfortunately. We must leave those to the patient and the experts.

Here's a sneak preview of my applique flowers. I'm machine-stiching the edges with a zig zag stich. I've gotta tell you though, this was a challenge.

More practice required DEFINITELY. And if anyone's got any applique tips I'd be more than grateful!

Updates coming soon.

Have a good week everyone!

A New Book for the New Year

2011-01-09T21:23:00.000+08:00

Hello sewing friends!

I hope the new year has been good to you so far...

I've been rather busy, and as usual I have a book to help me keep track of appointments. What's more I use it to pen in resolutions (lots of fabric activities planned!) and various notes. This year I decided to do away with the normal corporate diaries that I usually carry around with me, and made my own little notebook. There's nothing really extraordinary about this little book, it's all in the 'dressing'.

So take 1 ordinary hard cover notebook. I chose a fairly thick one, to allow for plenty of pages for notes, sketches and ideas.

Before I go on, please note that this is not a detailed tutorial, but there're plenty of pictures and information for you to get the idea if you decide to make one too.

For the cover, I pieced together 8 leftover charms that I had lying around. These are from Moda's Blush and Authentic line. Sew them together into 2 rows of 5 charms. For my book cover, the first and last charms were cut in half to make two 2 1/2 x 5 inch rectangles.

Now take your notebook and lay the cover flat onto the pieced cover. Fold and mark where you want the inside (front and back) flaps to be.

I wanted a pocket to slot in my bits, so I used an extra charm and stitched it onto the front inside flap.

With right sides facing, stitch along the top and bottom, over the inside front and back flaps. Like so:-

Turn inside out, press and slip in the covers of the notebook, and admire!

For this book I also added a ribbon marker and a pen holder, which is basically a small loop of cloth stitched onto the cover.

I've been using this notebook this past week, and can't help admiring it every so often :-)

And the best bit about it is I can always make a new cover (or maybe several?) and give it an instant makeover, hu hu!

Hope you have a happy week ahead! Don't forget to throw in some of the ingredients from the Special Recipe into your day now and then :-)

A Special Recipe

2010-12-31T17:08:00.000+08:00

I received this little jewel in my inbox a few days ago, and feel I must share it with you.

I hope you enjoy this recipe...

"Take twelve whole months,
Clean them thoroughly of all bitterness, hate, and jealousy,
Make them just as fresh and clean as possible.

Now cut each month into twenty-eight, thirty, or thirty-one different parts,
but don't make up the whole batch at once.
Prepare it one day at a time out of these ingredients.

Mix well into each day -
one part of faith, one part of patience, one part of courage, and one part of work.

Add to each day one part of hope, faithfulness, generosity, and kindness.
Blend with one part prayer, one part meditation, and one good deed.
Season the whole with a dash of good spirits, a sprinkle of fun, a pinch of play, and a cupful of good humor.

Pour all of this into a vessel of love.
Cook thoroughly over radiant joy, garnish with a smile,
and serve with quietness, unselfishness, and cheerfulness.

You're bound to have a happy new year."

As we step over the threshold into the new decade, I wish all of you faith, health and joy!

XOX
Zara

Stash Therapy

2010-12-22T23:16:00.000+08:00

I've been away for a bit.

Yummy Hubby and I have just returned from a trip to the Island Nation. We booked our tickets originally intending a short little holiday before Christmas, but as timing would have it, a large portion of our trip was spent visiting an aunt in hospital. Poor Aunty has been ill for some time, but happened to have a major relapse while we were there.

If you don't already know this, hospitals and illness can be extremely trying, both physically and emotionally.

Draining. Exhausting. Frustrating.

And sad.

Thankfully, I have an amazing husband who insisted on pulling me away from gloomy waiting rooms and sombre relatives (not to mention needles, blood and guts) every chance he could, so all in all we did manage to steal a fair amount of time and salvage whatever we could out of our little 'holiday'.

We even managed to squeeze in a visit to the much acclaimed Marina Bay Sands (no pics unfortunately). I'm not much into buildings, but I found this one really unique and surprisingly calming to my tired eyes and mind. The view from the observation deck at the top (at nightfall) was also worth the SGD20 I paid.

But anyway, as every quilter's husband would know, the one thing that can surely cheer a quilter up would be - stash! So one afternoon Yummy Hubby dragged me to Arab Street in the Muslim Quarter where I spent a couple of happy hours browsing the many, many selection of fabric on display, while he waited patiently, always nearby. Bless him.

And what do we women do best when they're down?

Besides eating chocolate? (although copious amounts were consumed, thanks to the 7-11 just next to our hotel)

Why, SHOP! of course, and so I came away with these delicious prints, mmmmm....:

With Molly striking a pose:

Not forgetting Milo, getting into some of the action:

And my favourite of the lot, wee little trains, adorable!

I haven't any idea what I'll be making (ideas and suggestions always welcome), so I'll just add them to my stash for now.

Hope everyone's having a happy and HEALTHY week.

XOX

PS. I've been meaning to mention that Cottage Patch in Ampang is having a sale till the end of the month - all fabric is 20% off, so you may want to stock up, or should I say "stash up", if you're in the area. Just so you know where to go for therapy.

A Quick Fix

2010-12-15T15:02:00.000+08:00

Ever had times when you just need a quick fix when it comes to sewing/quilting?

You want to start on something new, your hands are itching to stitch, but at the same time you haven't the time/energy/creativity for anything too complicated.

Also, you've had enough of your scraps and can't be asked to think of a creative way to piece them together into something decent.

Well then, I ask, what better way of tackling such times than to use a panel?

Panels are lovely, easy things to work with. As an added bonus, it's provides material for a quick project too.

And so I dove into my stash and pulled out one of the few panels which I've been hoarding ... Sweet Strawberry Shortcake...

Add a couple of borders: a light pistachio green solid for the inner border, and an oh-so-sweet pink and white polka-dot fabric for the outer border.

Next , layer and quilt : Another quick and easy process, just straight lines outlining the existing lines in the panel and on the borders I added. The centre is quilted with random spirals and hearts. Note : I have to point out (because you can't see it in the picture) that my spirals didn't turn out as circular as I would have liked them... a tribute to an amateur's free motion skills!

I forgot to take a photo of the back, but if you're curious, I chose a solid lemon fabric, which I think gives a nice, lively contrast to the quilt top.

My favourite part of this particular Fix is the binding. I used a cute green and pink combo (I think this is from Moda's Sent with Love line) and I love the way it frames and adds a Zing! to the finished quilt.

This baby quilt finished a little larger than my usual, at 45" X 54".

Zara finished feeling accomplished, satisfied and happy :-)

Prayer Quilt

2010-12-12T23:27:00.001+08:00

As promised, a quilt made using charms. ONE charm pack, believe it or not. I used charms from Moda's Blush line, and the background (and backing) is a solid grey fabric.

Once I had the pattern in my head, the whole quilt came together easily enough. And, I have to say I had real fun quilting this one. I experimented with different quilt designs on this top, and had a mixture of stipple and straight lines.

The quilting is more apparent from the back, as you can see. Far from perfect though...

Because only one charm pack was used, the resulting quilt is rather small (about 2.5 feet X 3.5 feet). On the upside, its a perfectly sized prayer rug.

Of course, a bigger quilt can always be achieved by adding more charms into the pattern.

What can you make out of a charm pack?

Back to School...

2010-12-08T23:33:00.000+08:00

Well, not quite, but well on the way...

I've been busy keeping my promise to Milo. Unfortunately I've only managed to make 3 pencil cases. And I spent the weekend learning that I'm still hopeless when it comes to making anything with zips attached :-(

However, and more importantly, these were made with lots of patience and thought.

As you can see, I've attempted to make up for my sewing shortcomings by adding 'embellishments' in the shape of pencils, coloured pencils and erasers. I hope that's not cheating?

I did take a picture of the 3 cases by themselves, but (knowing how 'clever' I am with the camera and computer combined) managed to delete (or misplace?) the photo before I got to upload it.

I'm also throwing in a tote, which can be used for carrying stuff around for activities. The tote was actually made (and posted about ) much earlier. I hope that's not cheating either...?

This bundle will be off to the Poslaju office tomorrow, hope I can squeeze in the time. Auntie Ayu, here we come!

Freak Friday - Charms

2010-12-03T07:55:00.003+08:00

I bet you don't know that I'm a charm pack freak.

I have plenty of them. I just luuurve them. The problem is, I tend to not use them :-(

Because they look so adorable just the way they are :-)

So, I'm telling myself, I'm going to use one or two for my next quilt project. Don't know what it is yet, it'll be a surprise to me and you both!

I'm also putting a few of them up for sale, for other charm freaks:

Moda - Saltbox Harvest

42 5" squares

Price : RM38

Item condition : New

Status : Available

Moda - It's a Hoot by Momo

42 5" squares

Price : RM38

Item condition : New

Status : Available

Moda - Boutique by Chez Moi

42 5" squares

Price : RM38

Item condition : New

Status : Available

Moda Collections for a Cause - Charity

42 5" squares

Price : RM38

Item condition : New

Status : Available

I can fit up to 2 packs in a RM3.50 Pos Express envelope for shipping within Malaysia.

How's Friday for you so far?

Strippy Project Finished!

2010-12-01T22:26:00.002+08:00

My, I've been productive, heh heh.

I've finished with my earth-toned strips, and here are the results.

I must say I'm really happy with how it's turned out. I've not quilted this piece, mind you, I've simply stitched on a layer of backing under the pieced top.

The finished table cloth measures about 5 ft square. There are 5 rows of blocks, each row consisting of 5 blocks. An off-white sashing was sewn in between each block, and the entire piece finished off with a 2" deep russet border all around.

My old kitchen table feels all new now :-)

There were even enough blocks leftover to make into a mini table cloth. This one has 3 rows of 3 blocks, and as with the kitchen table cloth, is also finished with the cream sashing and russet border.

Molly seems to like these strips, she seemed to be drawn to them from the beginning to the end of the Project. She insisted on 'modelling' the mini table cloth and kept getting into the frame when I tried to take these pictures.

Overall, this was quite an easy one to do. And the results are so satisfying. I hope you try it too!

Tis the Season For Giving

2010-11-30T23:20:00.000+08:00

Meow! Milo here...

I heard Human Mummy say there's a charity project on organized by Pondok Craft. (see this link for more details : http://www.pondokcraft.blogspot.com/).

Apparently Auntie Ayu (the pretty lady from Pondok Craft) is calling on crafters to make back-to-school items, which will then be distributed to orphanages. Human Mummy says little children live in the orphanages, and they don't have mummies and daddies to buy them things for school. She also says that's why we have to join the charity, to let the abangs and kakaks there will know that there is plenty of love for them.
I think this is a fabulous idea, and I can tell you, am SO excited to help out.

Human Mummy says she is going to try to make pencil cases, coin purses, gym bags... I think she's getting carried away a bit ehehheh.

Did I mention how excited I am?

I hope Human Mummy will get started soon. If you see her could you please tell her to let me into her sewing room to help?

* abang - Malay meaning elder brother

kakak - elder sister

Strippy Fun!

2010-11-28T23:32:00.000+08:00

I've been having fun with strips of fabric. Strips are cut from odd bits of fabric, but not so small so as to be scraps. A variety of fabric is chosen. I gave up trying to match them after a while. There doesn't really have to be a theme, although I've made mine to consist mostly of earth tones.

Can anyone spot Molly's foot?

Most of these strips were cut along the width of fabric, and are about 3 inches wide.

Strips are then pieced together randomly to make several nine patch blocks, each block having a cream/off-white centre block, and enclosed in a matching cream border, like so:

Each finished block (minus the border) is 7.5 inches. So far I've made about 30 of these blocks now. I'm going to make a much needed new tablecloth for the kitchen table.

Molly interfering again!

More pictures soon!

Coasters

2010-11-22T23:21:00.000+08:00

As I sew I have a habit of chucking small bits and pieces of leftover fabric into a box. (It's sooo difficult to throw them away isn't it?) Well, the box will inevitably overflow at some point, so once in a while I go through it and try to make something out of the contents.

This time I came up with coasters. I got the idea at the office one day. I was trying hard to concentrate on work, but got constantly distracted by a sticky ring on my desk from where my coffee cup had been the previous day.

These coasters are really simple to make. Which is really great, given my schedule these days. All you need is two squares, 4" or 5" squares work wonderfully, and one square of batting.

So what you do is place the front and back pieces together (with right sides facing) on top of the square of batting. Like in the (blurry) photo below.

Line everything up and stitch with a 1/4 inch seam allowance along the edge, leaving about a 2 inch gap (for turning) between your starting point and stopping point. Trim away excess batting and trim the corners to reduce bulk.

Using the opening you left earlier, turn everything inside out. Quilt as desired. Don't forget to quilt over the gap to close it. I used simple straight line quilting in my coaster here.

You can also make them out of smaller pieces of scraps, like I did. Just piece enough of them together to get the desired (4" or 5" square) size, and repeating the steps above.

I love just mixing the fabric and colour randomly. That way when you flip the coaster over it's like you get a totally new one!

These babies are going to the office with me. Let's see if I can make enough for my colleagues too.

Wishing you a good week ahead!

Something a Little Different

2010-11-20T21:28:00.001+08:00

Let me start by wishing all my Moslem friends a belated happy and blessed Eidul Adha and all my Hindu friends a belated Happy Diwali. Hope you guys had a good one.

It's still terrible at the office, but am happy to report that we're surviving so far. It doesn't help that Boss has gone on long leave, leaving us here to hold the fort. I'm usually happy when he's not around. You know what they say about the cat being away and all that... But I must say I've never been so desperate for him to come back to work, hee hee.

Anyways, since we got the day off for Eid this last Wednesday, Yummy Hubby and I went back to visit Nenek* B. We haven't seen her for a few months now, so the trip was long overdue. Nenek B lives with As, an Indonesian lady, who helps around the house and garden. In between running after Nenek B and her many chickens and turkeys and pottering about in the garden, As likes to sew. And I notice that she likes to sew one item in particular: Floor mats. Little rugs.

Everytime I visit, I usually buy one or two of these little rugs from her, so there's always one on display in my house. As gets scraps of fabric from the kampung's dressmaker, and turns them into these babies. I've always admired her work. I've noticed that over time she's become very good with details like colour.

Basically, a rug is made of many, many small pieces of scraps, each folded into a triangle-type shape, sort of like a prairie point. These little triangles are then arranged, slightly overlapping each other into rows on a fabric base.

You can just about make out the hand stitching at the back in the picture above.

Truly a work of art, don't you think?

* Nenek - Malay meaning grandmama.
Kampung - village.

Home decor a.k.a Kitty-proofing

2010-11-07T12:07:00.003+08:00

"The Office" a.k.a the sewing room is being redone. Nothing too major, we're just putting in a built-in wardrobe along one wall to hide all the junk. The room was just becoming too full of stuff. Not surprising really, as it serves also as a storage room and a study.

So anyway, in the process my sewing machine got (literally) buried under a pile of things, and I can't get within 2 yards of it it without rearranging half of the room.

In the meantime my blog is getting cold, so I'm going to show you a little something I made earlier. It's an easy way to give any corner of your home a new look. So here we go.

Take one chest of drawers from Ikea.

I use this chest to store our photo albums. Very practical, but a bit blah, don't you think? I figured it would also make a good two seater, so I got some plain white muslin and stuffing and made a nice two seater cushion. Like so:

A bit more comfortable, but still a bit bland. So then came the cover. A simple navy fabric, for a nice clean look.

We were quite happy with the result, until the kitties decided to make it their unofficial day bed. Because the cover is a navy and therefore very dark, the fur left behind by my sleepyheads became quite visible. I spent some weeks religiously brushing the seat before deciding enough was enough and that something had to be done about it. And like a lightbulb going off in my head I decided a little quilted seat cover would do the trick nicely. The result:

This little quilt is basically made up of Ohio Stars and Prairie points.

A close up:

The beauty about this seat cover is, now all I have to do is wash the little quilt as the need arises.

So satisfying!

Hope you had a good weekend everyone!

Scrappy Pinks

2010-10-31T18:15:00.000+08:00

It's been a busy week.

At work (yes I do have a day job!) things are going CRAZEEEEEE so hobbies have had to take a back seat for a while. Having said that, I've still managed to do a little bit here and there. Even as little as 15 or 20 minutes a day of cutting or fiddling about with the sewing machine or hand stitching something or just taking out a charm pack and fantasizing what I could do with it, takes much of my mind off whatever it is that's bothering me at work.

I've started another project, but of course 15 minutes a day for a week is not going to give me enough material to show to you, so am going to show you another project I finished some time ago. I had ordered a scrap bag from a vendor off Craftzone Malaysia (link in my sidebar). When the package came I found most of the scraps were, coincidently I guess, pink. So I pulled out some of my own pink scraps and came up with enough to make a small coin quilt.

If you've never tried a stacked coins quilt, you MUST, because it's really really easy peasy. I know I keep saying I should do more tutorials for those of you just beginning to quilt... and I haven't! I will soon, I promise (taking fingers off keyboard to cross them now :-P). But anyways, if you look at the finished product I'm sure you'll figure how to make one, coz it's so EASY.

Some pictures now.

Here it is pieced and being quilted on my humble Singer.

Practicing my stipple:

Finished! And blowing on the washing line. I decided to add the blue fabric with little pink flowers to balance out what might otherwise be a too-pink finish.

Close up.

Quilt finishes at about 3 feet by 4 feet. Perfect size for a stroller quilt or playmat.

It's back to work for me tomorrow, *sigh*. Till the next time, hope you had a wonderful weekend.

More Scrap Ideas!

2010-10-25T08:27:00.001+08:00

I've been making boxes!! They're SO exciting and addictive.

These are made from scraps cut into 5 inch squares. Basically the outside will need 5 squares and the inside lining will also need 5 squares. I suppose you can make these from any size squares you like. I got the idea from a tutorial off the internet. I tried to find the tutorial before I posted this entry, so that I could link it to this post, but I couldn't find the exact one. But if you google 'fabric box tutorial' there are plenty of sites that you can refer to.

To help keep the boxes in shape you need to stuff the insides with cardboard or stiff paper. At first I thought that would be tricky to do, but it was actually quite easy! You can use any stiff paper for this, eg cereal boxes. For those of you who have just celebrated Eid, now you know what to do with all those festive cards you received. Quilters recycle - yay!

A close up:

You can see I did a row of hand stitching at the top, just to keep everything in place.

I'm going to use them to store my hexagon paper pieces, my hairclips, spools, receipts, bits, bobs etc etc.

They're so cute and easy, can't wait to make some more!

Clothes Scraps

2010-10-21T20:26:00.004+08:00

Remember the bag of clothes scraps I got from my friend Jane?

Well, I've been busy making stuff with them. I figured early on that I was too lazy to do anything too fussy, so the result is that most of it went into making cushion and pillow covers.

Here are some finished:

The black flowery one on the right was a simple one made for another colleague Irene, and she also got a matching case for her fav (read 'smelly') pillow (smelly pillow not in the picture, thank goodness). The grey one on the left caused me a bit of grief, because the fabric was very flimsy, and I had chosen to make a quilted cushion case with it, silly me. In the end it didn't turn out too bad I suppose, but at that time I couldn't wait to get it over and done with :-(
Not one of my faves I have to say, although Yummy Hubby likes it a lot - I guess it's a man's taste.

The next flowery blue one is my favourite so far:

I just looooove the ruffles! Thinking I'll be more making more like this from the larger scraps.

Now the next two are patched from smaller pieces of fabric. This fabric was also sort of gauzy, so I had to use interfacing and lining for the top. Surprisingly, it was very easy to work with and finish. The back of the covers were made from solid black fabric - also from Jane's scraps.

Not bad use from what would have been otherwise binned, don't you think?

A Finish and a Post Mortem

2010-10-18T23:12:00.002+08:00

As promised, I got around to quilting the tiny squares baby quilt. I decided to go with simple straight line machine quilting.

Have to be honest though, I'm not too pleased with the result. For a start the quilt is a wee bit on the small side, but that's the least of my worries.

And then it's really sort of 'fluffy' for some reason. Maybe the basting wasn't done properly.

But the biggest problem in my mind is the binding job at the top of the quilt. Now things really started going wrong there, and all I can do is scratch my head and wonder why. I'm suspecting that it's the polka dot grey fabric I used for the borders. I bought it online, where it was represented to be a light-weight cotton. When the postman brought it home though, I found it to be more of a silky variety, and I had some trouble keeping it in place when I was piecing and quilting it. Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful fabric, soft and silky to the touch, but perhaps just not suited to be used in a quilt by amateurs like me.

And now for the pictures...

The front:

The back:

And the ugly:

You have agree with me, that's some serious pucker action going on there.

Ah well, it's all a learning process, isn't it? And after all's said and done, I have to admit that it IS wonderfully soft and cuddly.

Now I wish it was big enough for me :-)

Motto of the Week

2010-10-12T22:45:00.001+08:00

I have a new motto this week. Actually I have a couple of choices, it's a close race between "Don't look too closely" and "Close one eye".

I'm working on a couple of projects at the moment. One of which is a quilt made up of teeny squares. The finished size of each square is 2". Or perhaps I should say approximately 2".

I tried really hard to make each square identical and aligned as I pieced them, taking extra care with the seam allowances and even squaring up each pieced block consistently. BUT when it came to putting it all together, the squares seemed to run riot and dance around all over my sewing table as I tried to sew the rows together.

And the result of the uprising:

Wahahhahahah!

For heaven's sake...!

So before I get my knickers in a twist and go loco with the seam ripper, I tell myself, and I'd like to ask you too, "Don't look to closely."

PLEASE.

In fact, the further away the better :-)

It doesn't look so bad when you "Close one eye" either does it, heh heh?

Here it is, layered and basted. Planning to have it quilted this weekend. More pics soon.

Enjoy the rest of the week everyone!

Out of Ideas

2010-10-09T18:12:00.001+08:00

Recently at the office, my dear colleague Jane surprised me with a huge bag of scraps. Jane is a very talented and creative lady, sometimes she makes her own gorgeous clothes, and get this... She sews them BY HAND!!! She also makes beautiful jewelry, which you can see here.

Back to the scrap bag. I was a bit flummoxed when I saw the contents, as the material in it was NOT the standard cotton that we quilters are accustomed to. As the scraps came from dressmaking, the fabric consisted of fabric more suited for apparel. And a lot of it is the slippy sheer stuff. Not that any of that mattered to Jane. When I meekly voiced this out to her, she suggested that I could use it to bind Milo the next time he's naughty....

So now the fabric is in a bin in The Office (aka my sewing room). Everytime I go in there I feel like they're looking up at me with big round eyes, begging me to use them. Only I'm not sure how. The problem, is the only things I can think of to make with this type of fabric are scrunchies and shoe bags. Some of the viscose can be used for cushion cases, I suppose, but other than that?

Any ideas anyone?

An Early Project

2010-10-06T08:12:00.001+08:00

While we're on the subject of disappearing nine patches, I found a pic of this little quilt I made yonks ago, when I was a newbie to patchwork.

Actually it's not even a quilt, just a patchwork piece with a backing underneath. It's a tiny piece of work, measuring maybe about 1.5' X 2.5'. IT hasn't got a name, although looking back I might call it "The Experiment" because in truth that was what it was. I made 4 blocks out of a potpourri of different squares, then dissected each down the middle to come up with 4 DNP blocks. Add some sashing and there you go.

Sounds so easy now doesn't it? But I can assure you it wasn't so at that time. Those days I didn't really have a fabric stash, so IT was made up of whatever scraps of fabric I could find around the house at that time. I can see some bits from an old pair of shorts, another bit from somebody's sarong, some upholstery fabric I used for curtains and the dark red is from some ikat* fabric leftover from making one of Yummy Hubby's shirts. (Having a little laugh identifying all the different fabric and their secret pasts, haha!)

IT doesn't live with us anymore. We had used it to wrap up a little ginger stray when we gave it (the ginger, that is) away a couple of years ago.

* Ikat = a woven fabric native to the Malaysian state of Sarawak.

Yellow it is!

2010-10-04T08:33:00.002+08:00

Plane Dreaming is finished - yippee!!

A big thanks to Helen and MyBotang for your comments and helping me decide the colour of the binding - yellow moons wins! I have to say, the colour does make a lively border to the quilt. Here are some pictures especially for you...

Apologies for the quality of the pictures - I think my photography skills are almost as bad as my computer skills...

And a close up of the yellow...

I must say I had fun with this one. As usual it's not perfectly done (you might be able to see some puckers...), but a lot of love went into it, and that should be all that matters right?

Plane Dreaming

2010-10-01T22:38:00.004+08:00

I've been working on another baby quilt recently. This one is called Plane Dreaming. It's made with only 3 different fabric, and I'm making it using the disappearing nine patch block. The colours look a bit muted... I think I feel this way because I normally like to work with brights.

Here it is pieced and quilted:

I practiced some free motion on this quilt, in a loopy loop style. Unfortunately my loops aren't too great, but like me, I suppose they'll survive, heh heh.

I have to say I love the fabric. In this picture you can see the print on the main (blue) fabric. It has little blue and pink planes flying among the clouds... so cute!

Now all I've got to do is to bind this quilt. I'm a bit stuck between 2 choices here, a navy gingham print and a sweet yellow print with little crescent moons.

Any suggestions?

Home and Away

2010-09-29T22:33:00.000+08:00

I've been a bad girl :-(

If you follow this blog, I'm so sorry for being quiet recently. We've had a lot going on, starting with the end of Ramadhan and the celebrations of Eid. To top it off I've been away Away, but now I'm back Home and things have somewhat settled back into routine, so here we go again!

Now I may not have been posting, but I've been thinking a lot about quilting, and I have many things to share with you.

But first things first, some photos to get you in the mooood. Rows upon rows of beautiful fabric!

And notions, trims, patterns etc to boot...

The pics are from some of the quilt shops I visited while away Away. A special thanks to Yummy Hubby for patiently accompanying me and waiting for me while I oohed and aahhhed my way through them. One thing that intrigued me about this trip was applique, which is something I really don't do enough of. I saw some really awesome applique, I wonder if I'm brave enough to try some?

Too soon our trip was over, and it was time to go Home.

Now guess what's the best bit about Home?...

Home Sweet Home!

Glossary

2010-09-13T17:02:00.000+08:00

Just a short one this time. We are in the middle of the Eid celebrations here, so posts are going to be touch and go these couple of weeks.

Anyways, I find that quite a number of people who visit A Fabric Case are new to quilting. If you are one of them, Thank You!!! for your interest, and I hope you keep reading, and that the quilting bug will come and bite you one day :-)

Just for you guys I thought I'd give a glossary of some of the terms used in quilting. I'm definitely no expert though, and am myself learning new things everyday, which I will share with you also, for sure.

Let's start with a favourite topic - Fabric.

Cotton

Quilters like to use cotton, because it's easy to work with. Imagine trying to cut out small pieces of, let's say, satin. Or chiffon. It would be an effort trying to get straight edges, let alone stitch them together in straight lines. Also, because of the nature of quilts, cotton is much, much more durable. But you may ask, if that's the case, why then don't we use something sturdier, like linen for example. Well, can you imagine cuddling up with yards and yards of linen? Or unbreathable rayon? I didn't think so. Again cotton trumps them all in terms of comfort.

Of course, some other types of fabric share the above qualities to some acceptable extent, like poly-cotton, and you can use this to make quilts, but 100% cotton still remains the number one choice.

Ok, so where can we find this cotton? At the moment, the most obvious choice is American Cotton. In my opinion at least, they've got the market cornered in terms of quality and choice for patchwork and quilting. Many a times I've found myself silenced and awestruck by just the choice of beautiful prints available. But American Cotton is pricey. Especially by Malaysian standards. If you're just beginning to quilt, I'd suggest visiting some of the local textile shops, like Nagoya and Kamdar, where cotton and cotton blend is more affordable, although choice might eventually become an issue.

Yards/Metres
Fabric here is sold by the metres. In America cotton is sold by the yard. That's slightly skinnier than a metre. A yard typically measures 36" X the width of fabric (WOF). Normally the WOF is 42-44".

Because a quilt is made up by piecing together many different prints of fabric, the fabric is often sold in smaller increments. Sometimes you need just a small amount of a particular fabric, so you wouldn't need to purchase a whole yard.

Half-yards
As the name denotes, this is half a yard of fabric. Our local textile shops don't sell fabric by the half-metres, unfortunately, but I've managed to get away with it once in a while. You just have to try your luck and ask.

Fat quarters
A fat quarter is a quarter of a yard, but cut in a particular way so that each quarter of the yard measures (approx) 18" X 22". This cut gives quilters more fabric space to play with than if the yard is cut in 9" X 44" quarters.

Fat eighths
A half of a fat quarter, a fat eight is an eighth of a yard.

Now we move on to the pre-cuts. This is where the fabric manufacturers cut up their fabric into measured pieces, and sell them in pre-cut packages. From my (maybe limited?) experience, Moda does the most extensive range of pre-cuts. Some of the most commonly used are:

Layer Cake
These are 10" X 10" squares of fabric. Normally there're about 40 squares in each layer cake. Each square should also be different (but coordinating) fabric.

Charm Pack
A charm pack is a pack of 5" X 5" squares. Again there're usually about 40 squares (all different fabric) in one pack.

Jelly Roll
A roll of 2.5" strips of fabric. The length of each strip is basically the width of that fabric (ie 42-44").

Honey Bun
Also a roll of fabric strips, but this time, the width of each fabric strip is 1.5".

I think this is enough to chew on for now. More next time!

A Small Quilt With A Big Story

2010-09-01T10:13:00.001+08:00

Now this is A Small Quilt With A Big Story.

Make yourselves comfortable, because I'm going to tell you the story.

On 31st August 1957 Malaysia celebrated independence. Formally from British colonial rule. A long time ago, in 1786 to be exact, an English trader, Captain Francis Light, while sailing on his boat one day landed on the island of Penang in the Malay Peninsula, and therefrom began a history of British rule. He's still there, in Penang, and you can visit his grave if you happen to be passing through.

Now this part of the world was quite popular at that time, because of it's strategic position in terms of regional trade. We had people from all sorts of places coming ashore to trade.

Which was why another state, Malacca, became very popular as a trading zone. The Dutch came and colonialized Malacca for a while, but eventually in 1824 a treaty was signed which officially turned Malacca over to the British as well. Next in line was Singapore (you may have heard of Stamford Raffles?) which was a part of Malaya at that time, and the British stronghold on the three major trading hubs on the Malay Peninsula was complete.

Some time passed and British Malaya continued to expand to the other states on the Peninsula. We all lived quite simply and comfortably, until the Japanese came and did their thing in the 40's. It was a terrible time, and I vividly remember some of the gruesome stories my grandparents have told. Everyone was affected, whether Malayan or otherwise. When the war ended and the Queen re-established her reign over Malaya, we thought life would go back to its blissfully ignorant state. But not so. We then had to deal with communist insurgents.

This was a very bad time too. There was an emergency, and thousands of people, including innocent villagers were killed. For us here, it was almost as bad as the war itself. Many, many people came in selflessly to help us, some at an immense cost to themselves. British, Chinese, Gurkhas, Aussies to name a few. Finally, under the helm of the no-nonsense British High Commissioner Sir Edward Gent, the communists were defeated, and its leader the notorious Chin Peng exiled to Thailand. What followed was a road paved for self-government, and independent Malaya was born on 31st August 1957, with Tuanku Abdul Rahman as our first Prime Minister.

We are also celebrating our Malaysia Day on 16 September, to remember the formation of Malaysia on that day in 1963, when we were divorced from Singapore.

Today Malaysia is gratefully peaceful and multi cultural. A Small Quilt With A Big Story is my small tribute to the past, to our history, our people, and to others from various parts of the world who played a part, whether big or small, in making it what is today. Without them, we would not have this abundance of opportunity to live, love and quilt in peace and harmony.

Giveaway Results!

2010-08-28T23:35:00.002+08:00

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.

Works in Progress

2010-08-25T22:34:00.005+08:00

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. :-)

Milestone Giveaway

2010-08-23T08:45:00.001+08:00

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!

Marissa's Quilt

2010-08-19T09:15:00.007+08:00

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:

Extra Stash Anyone?

2010-08-17T09:00:00.001+08:00

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:

New Toy

2010-08-12T09:03:00.000+08:00

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?

Busted

2010-08-08T22:42:00.009+08:00

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*

Yaawwn

2010-08-07T17:48:00.002+08:00

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!

Work in Progress

2010-08-04T08:29:00.002+08:00

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?

Tutorial - Half Square Triangles

2010-08-02T08:40:00.002+08:00

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!

Sunny Baby

2010-07-28T08:59:00.001+08:00

I've been preoccupied lately. All quilting activities were temporarily abandoned.

You see what happened was Natalia lent me a box DVD set of a cute korean drama (did I mention I'm a korean drama fan?) so any free time I had was spent sprawled in front of the telly, hee. Am not very disciplined that way. The same thing happens when I start a novel. I can do ab-so-lute-ly nothing until the book is finished.

Mercifully that's over now. So it's back to the sewing machine.

This is Sunny Baby. Ta daaa....

I was experimenting with half square triangles then and came up with a quilt made up entirely of them. It was also good practice at quilting with stripes. The other unique thing about it is it was made using all locally sourced fabric. Every inch of it. Of course it didn't piece and quilt as easily as American Cotton, but am quite happy with the results. Especially since I found Sunny Baby to be extra soft and cuddly somehow...

As always, a close up, nicely folded:

On to other developments, I'm sure you've seen my new page, "Shop". I thought I'd create a page where I can share my stash with other quilters and crafters out there. Actually, I think it's a subconscious attempt to clear my overflowing stash shelves, so I can get new fabric heeehahahaawww, but don't tell Yummy Hubby that, he thinks I have too much. I know there's not much on there now, but I will get around to uploading the pics soon, promise!

Wallhanging with an Attitude

2010-07-18T17:03:00.008+08:00

Look at this awesome wallhanging, Grrrrr:

It was made with 3 panels from Moda's Attitude Girls range. Isn't it saying something? (But why is the photo crooked??)

I've got it up in my office now, to (hopefully) show 'em who's boss, heh heh. Well, the boss of my room at least.

I had thought it would be really quick and easy to make: you know, 'just add borders and you're done' kinda thing... But of course I decided to make things a little bit more complicated my making a border using quarter square triangles.

I never realised that the the triangles were so small when I was cutting them. My shoulders were aching by the time the piecing was done. Here's a close up. (Is this picture crooked too??? Maybe there's a crooked function on the camera that I must have accidently turned on...)

But am satisfied with the results, so all's well that ends well.

And close ups of the panels.

Panels are available to purchase on my Shop page, so you can make your own attitude wallhangings.

A Big One

2010-07-15T07:28:00.004+08:00

So we've been seeing baby quilts, wallhangings and other small stuff. It's time for A Big One...

It was quite a struggle I can tell you, because I'm so used to the smaller stuff. Oh the piecing part was fine, it was the quilting bit that almost had me tearing my (frizzy) hair out. It was all over my modest sewing machine. In the end it got quilted using so many different designs, depending which was easiest to manoeuvre at that time, and you can see this in the photo. And it wasn't really that big to begin with, about 5' X 7' or so. But I'm only an amateur quilter, so I suppose that's only to be expected. Kudos to those who quilt queen, king size quilts!

So this was my first big quilt. I hope it won't be the last, but I'm pretty sure that there won't be many more.

A Big One is now a permanent residence of my living room. In the day it's nice and folded but in the evenings we spread it out on the carpet and loll about on it with about 100 cushions when we watch TV. Total bliss!

Boxy Blues

2010-07-12T23:17:00.007+08:00

Remember this?

Well, it's been pieced, layered, handquilted and bound into this:

It was a really sunny morning, so the photo's not so great, sorry!

Here's a close up - you can see some of the squares more clearly.

... and a view of the back, which I pieced together with some leftover squares. Oops, I think that might be my toe sticking into the bottom of the photo - just have to try to ignore it...

All it needs now is a wash and dry, and then it'll be all ready for a little baby boy :-)

Molly!

2010-07-09T20:17:00.004+08:00

We have a new addition to our family! Niece's cat had a litter about a month ago, four cutesy little kittens. Yummy Hubby and I just couldn't resist, and decided to adopt one of them.

Here she is, taking a little snooze on my lap, aawwwwww...

In line with family tradition, I had to whip up a little cat quilt for Molly . This one was done in a hurry:

I think it's cute, all pink and girly. Molly's so tiny when she's curled up she can fit into one of the squares! Here's a close up of the five squares, each 5 X 5 inches.

We thought Molly might be good company for Milo, our other kitty. I think he's a bit jealous, though. He keeps asking us to send her back...