Quilt for Tiza

Tiza is my niece, she's 5 y.o...she's a smart little girl, she loves swimming...
For her 5th birthday that was on May 7th, I've made this quilt for her.  But at the same time I've started the quilt, I finally got pregnant, so as you can guess, I just finished the quilt last November :)   At the first trimester, my mood was upside down for sewing so I didn't do any sewing activities.  The second trimester, I got it back and started doing some of sewing challenges and in between tried to finish Tiza's quilt.

Well, the theme of this quilt is of course something related to water activity.  She loves water, she drinks a lot of water too like me, and she does love swimming... So, a girl doing snorkeling with a lighthouse at the beach as the background, and a seabed with some sea creatures are the appliques that I drew and made for her quilt.  I really hope it will inspire her more :)

It's a big challenge for me, the final size is 54"x90" ... But I did enjoy the process of making it :)
Here are more details...

 

 I love the seagulls hovering near the lighthouse under the bright blue sky and a white cloud.

I imagine soon when Tiza is big enough she will challenge herself to swim or snorkel at the beach or sea :)

That the seabed with a starfish, a crab, some seaweeds, corals, and fishes :)

I just did stitch on the ditch for the quilting, for sure I still unable to tame my simple automatic Singer sewing machine for doing FMQ :(  hope next project I can do that.

This quilt will be sent to Tiza next March, when my mom return to Indonesia after my baby's birth that will be due on 9 February 2013 :)

See you and happy sewing!

Happy Diwali 2012

Yupe...I joined the DQ Diwali Challenge :)
I drew and planned for making a wall hanging with Diwali Lakhsmi on it...I thought it will be a perfect gift for those who celebrate Diwali, but cancelled due to lack of fabric colors related to that theme :(  And since I am pregnant, I am not that flexible to roam around on auto-rickshaw so I have to forget doing fabric shopping at the market :)

So...I changed the design...well Diwali Diya theme can be a table runner or wall hanging at the same time, and still can be a perfect gift for Diwali celebrator :)  I used half yard Indian fabric that was given by my sewing sponsor long time back, Elvira :D ... I think it's perfect, the fabric, the Diwali, the colors...well here it is...

I think I met all the requirements to join this challenge:

1.Make a quilted item not smaller that 18"x24" and my table runner size is 18"x45"
2.Depict the theme 'Diwali'...there's three diyas :)
3.Quilt by machine, not hand ... the appliques are machine stitched and all are sewn by machine :)
4.Make sure you have participated in AT LEAST one other DQ monthly challenge apart from this one...I did join the previous challenge ;)
5.Post your entry here in this doc AS WELL AS the album (whoever finishes first opens the album)...DONE
6.Post it BEFORE 30th November 2012, 6 PM IST...I post it a day before :)

See you on my next post ;)

Getting Pregnant and Sew Again

Yes I am pregnant for 21 weeks as for today :)  So so so happy and excited for sure :)
That announcement explains why I didn't do any sewing or updating my blog.  The first trimester I was totally a lazy bump, not interested at all with sewing :D  Entering the fourth month, like a magic, I gained my spirit again.  

I joined the Quilt Along with the tutorial from Amalie at Desi Quilters and made two balls...Yep they will be the first toys for my baby later on ^,^  Both of them are hand stitched :)  Check them out!

Then...there's September Challenge at DQ as well and I hop in once again...I think my baby will be creative? hahahah...God bless him/her :) 

The rule is to make a wholequilt with a size no less then 18"x24".  So I decided to make a table runner with 18"x44" size.  I got the embroidery design from this page, it's free of course :)

Here's the list of my frown and happy face during the making:

• I found that my basic automatic Singer 8280 sewing machine cannot do the free motion quilt and embroidery, since the 'feed dog' cannot be dropped down by default :(
• So...I have to hand embroidery the flowers :)
• I chose the wrong color for the embroidery :(  why didn't I opt for white? 
• My MIL will love it and she can use it for Advent weeks before Christmas, that uses purple as its liturgical color :) 
• I joined the DQ Challenge finally :) 

Now please check the close-up photo of the flower basket embroidery :)

See you soon with my pending posts :) ...

April IMQG Challenge Entry

Yes, it's my first post for April :(  and it's for my April IMQG (India Modern Quilt Guild) April Challenge.

The challenge is to use the colors of the IMQG logo to make a quilt block that reflects what modern quilting means to me.  You can see at the left side of my blog of the IMQG logo, those are the colors I have to use.

I got the free pattern from this website, it has several nice block projects to try with.
I chose Pins and Stars pattern, since it has four colors that exactly I need to meet the challenge requirements.  I am not sure about it reflects what modern quilting means since I am still trying to grab the definition of modern quilting.  Nevertheless, I tried my best to assemble the patchwork at the last days of April so I can learn more about quilting. Here's the result ;)  The block's final size is 12" x 12"

I have to admit, it's tough job to make it precise at the corners :(   I was thinking it's the way I cut the fabric, or else the fabric itself, the plain white fabric is quite stretchy :(  No matter the list of excuses I have, I just need to practice more and more.

I will post the final result of this block, it may turns out as a table runner mostly :)

March IMQG Challenge Entry

Yes, a tissue box cover for my second entry of India Modern Quilt Guild monthly challenge :)
I didn't join the February one, too much thinking and ended up doing nothing :(
This time, of course I was thinking what to make but less...a fellow member of IMQG told me so :) thanks Tina ;)

These are the rules of March Challenge :
1.Use ONLY two Fat Quarters, of which one should be solid, and one print.
2.Repeat - The ENTIRE project should be made from JUST these two fat quarters. And threads, of course!
3.No batting
4.You can use fastners like buttons, velcro, buckles etc but not embelishments. Even buttons should be used for purpose, not decoration.

Confused for sure...so many ideas with two fat quarters but I cannot use batting...headache! stomachache! all ideas gone in a second!  heheheh... Then I started searching for the ideas from a famous online shop, and decided that a tissue box cover will be the best.

I am not sure whether I broke the rules or not since I used less than two fat quarters *sigh*
Well better take a look, if I have better idea, I might smurf another from the cut-piece ;)

 

This tissue box cover will fit the rectangular tissue boxes that measures around 9" width, 3.5" height, and 4" depth, with matching buttons at the left and right as the opening in which you can pop-up the tissue easily.

What I like the most in finishing this project is that I cut the fabric, sew it, took the photograph, edited it, and posted in the same day!  So proud of myself :p so discipline and on time :D

Well, I hope I can join the April Challenge ...  Happy Sewing ;)

A drawstring bag for Malavika

I've made that diapers stacker for Malavika and continued with sewing a drawstring bag for her.  Actually it's for her mother :) so whenever she has to carry Malavika around for a walk or just buying something around the neighborhood, she just grabs the bag with her.  She can put a small milk bottle, a hand towel, or even a diaper inside :)  I put an extra touch by making hanging charm of a bunny head from felt.  I made the bunny to match the pink fabric that has bunny print on it :)

I got the tutorial from this blog, a talented Japanese lady and as usual like other Japanese who loves sewing who makes meticulous and cute sewing projects... Just take a look :)

Here is the close up look of the inside part when the bag is opened, the bunny hanging charm, and when you pull the bag's drawstring.

See you on my next post \^'^/

Finally, a Diapers Stacker!

I made this diapers stacker, finally!  After only keep on delaying for being to scared to cut the fabric :D ... I didn't find any good tutorial for this or maybe I am not good at all to read those tutorial available online :( ... I  cut a newspaper and made a diapers stacker prototype out of it just to make sure my imagination met the outcome.  For the size, I checked it out from the online sellers' products and adjusting accordingly.  The final size of mine is 20" height, 12" width, and 8" depth!

Until last month we visited my hubby's friend whose baby just 5 months old and will need diapers until 2 years old for sure, since his wife is a career woman and will have no time for washing the reusable diaper :D  I hope they will like it and use it once it's delivered next week ;)  Take a look!

 This is the close up image of the top...I did needle turn applique for the name initial *hahah new sewing vocabulary for me though I did the method before*  And I did crescent stitch with the machine to attach the bottom and the top parts.  I love the white lace, it really gives a baby girl touch! 

That 'M' stands for Malavika...a cute and active baby girl...hope it will compliment her pinky crib :)  And if she won's wear diapers any longer, this stacker can be used to keep her dolls :)

The last one - 3

This is the last one... She loves that Rumi's quote...I think I like his quotes as well, very soft and touching.  This time I really asked her which quote she likes, so I can make a wall-art for her.

She chose this nice one, "Let the beauty of what you love be what you do."  This words will work for her who loves sewing.  I did stem stitch for the words and put flowers, loves, and leaves appliques as the embellishment.

Happy sewing!

The gift -2

I purposefully posting the gifts for Phiphi in three different posts, you know for the sake of having several posts in a month :D  The gift projects supposed to be published on my blog last month, but delivery delay made me unable to do it.

Take a look on the second gift, it's a coin purse with that metal frame.  I used the same fabric to match the bag I've made before.  I love the fabric, it got Indian traditional painting of elephant, cow, banana leaves...so India!  I hand quilted some of the images so the purse would look a bit fluffy!

See you tomorrow on the third one ;)

Belated Birthday Gifts for Phiphi - 1

Phiphi's birthday was on Feb 6th and it's last month!!!  And as usual I didn't know what the best to give for her :(  When I got the ideas time had gone...so I sew sew and sew during February to finish my three gifts for her.  She's really crazy on quilting nowadays... So, I thought the best gift for her is something related to quilting.

I tried to google and found a nice tutorial of a tote bag.  It's a very interesting quilted tote bag, and once I've finished my project, I just have to share it on one of Flickr group.  I didn't really follow the tutorial, I put a twirl quilting design on the plain black block, I hope you can see the quilting since I use a black thread for it.

What do you think?

I think she likes it, she told me on phone when she received the parcel...and I am more than happy that she likes it :)

Ohh..and if you're interested to make the same bag, just visit Teresa's blog and share the photo of your bag here, I've posted mine there ;)

trying the new FMQ foot

Yeehaw!..I got the new foot for my sewing machine...an FMQ foot... After waiting too long for my hubby to take me to Singer's dealer shop, as usual :p a dear craft lover offered me a quilting foot ;)  The foot is available near her home, and she also needs one...thank you darl!

I got it last week and got the time to give a try today...I learned about how to practice last year :D ... I got the "how to" from this blog, you know, we have to try practicing with a pencil on a piece of paper to get the feeling once we try to do the FMQ with the machine.  This is my first trial...take a look, I can say, "It's not as frightening as I imagined before".

But still...I have to keep on practicing ... and cannot wait to try that free quilting design for me IMQG's February Challenge ... See you soon ;)

Happy Valentine Day

Hi all...

Only for you who wants to celebrate love in this special day...but that doesn't meant we only love our partner, our friends, our family on this day, right?  Let's celebrate love every day :)

Joined the giveaway ;)

I joined the Lily's Quilts giveaway and I wish I have my luck to win Colourbox of Oakshott shot cottons. 

So if you want to try your luck, why don't you just visit her blog and join me :) ... yeahhh click the below link:

Lily's Quilts: GIVEAWAY - it's a biggie

Water Gallon Cover

It was an order from a friend, long time back, but just remembered I haven't posted it.  I tried to make it with an Indian touch.  Not so happy with the sewing but for sure I took the picture from the right angle.  I love the elephant as always, I drew it and put the leaves around.  I did reverse applique and it was my first attempt, then did running stitch around the appliques.  Just take a look.

Now, you can see the leaves :)

Happy sewing :)

Casserole Carriers

I've sewn three casserole carriers. Actually, they were orders from a dear friend a week before I went to Indonesia. I finished one, but unable to finish the other two. I thought I could do it there in my hometown but nothing much I could do :(  Today, I've kept my promise to finish what I have to

The first casserole carrier I managed to make before Indonesia visit

I got the tutorial from One Yard Wonder book :)  and a sample of the similar type of carrier that belongs to a friend of mine.

This is the second one, I got the dowel from local market in Surabaya. You can click here for the .pdf file of its tutorial.  I made a little bit of changes here.  I made a hole on each side of the dowel holders so we can remove the dowel easily any time we want to wash the cover :) 

The last one is a bonus :) very simple and fast to make.  No tutorial I follow for making this one, but the idea I got from etsy.com.

The good news is those three casserole carriers are reversible ;)

I am so relieved to be able to finish this project.  What I've learned from this project:

Keep your focus so you will be able to finish any project on time!

Umbrella Dress

I've told you that I went home to Indonesia for two months and I spent several days of the first month to join the sewing class ;)

Not much time, no sewing machine, so much things I wanted  to learn, so I ended up learning to make dress pattern for myself and one for a little girl.  I learned how to measure the body, draw the pattern, cut the fabric, and what I needed the most is how to make the collar.  For sure, I still wanted more but not enough time.  The teacher was so nice, she's very practical and efficient in teaching.  She said that whenever I come home to Surabaya, I can join the class again so I can learn more "_"

So for this umbrella dress, I drew the pattern and cut the fabric there in Surabaya and did the rest here in Mumbai.  I made this for my niece, Tiza, she's now five years old, I really hope it will fit her :)

Lessons I've learned from this project are:

1. If I am about to give the dress in the future, I have to make the pattern in a bigger size
2. I have to really plan what kind of dress I want and not changing the design in between, since I bought limited width of plain green fabric.  So I couldn't trick the length of the frock :( and ended up with put bias for the frock bottom edge
3. Buy the buttons, coordinate thread, or any accessories at the same time I buy the fabric - if you see the snap, there's no single button attached there :(
4. Create a time!  I just finished this dress today afternoon, can you believe that?

Enough now with my story, here's the dress :)

Oh yeaah, this is my second umbrella dress, the first one was red color that's also for Tiza but without collar :)  For sure, I still have to practice more on little girl's dress.  So....

Keep on practicing!

My first serious quilt :)

I've joined The India Modern Quilt Guild and our first task, the January Challenge is to make a quilt with warm solid colors.  This is my first serious and full of awareness quilt, why I said so? Because I've made several patchwork quilt for my sewing machine cover, a ball or quilt bag, but so far I even didn't know that what I've made is a quilt.  So this time, I prepared and did all the details in making this table runner with full consciousness that it's a quilt :D

I talked to Phiphi and discussed about it so I won't make a mistake in understanding the definition of quilt and it ended up with her sharing a link where I found the tutorial for this table runner.  It's a Greek Square Table Runner with finished size 70-1/2"x25-1/2", too big for me as a newbie but I really enjoyed the process.  For sure, still unable to make so precise with the block, where I have to sew the triangle, but no way that I was about to give up.  I handquilted the blocks and the borders with embroidery floss.  For the backing, since I forgot to buy a plain brown color (see...a real newbie right?) and after the chit chat with Phiphi, I cut 9"x25" of each color and made the backing out of them.  I think it now looks like a reversible table runner :D well, why not?

Am I addicted to it? I guess so...Do I want more? Absolutely...see you on my next posting ;) Happy Crafting girls!

A Wall-Art to open 2012

Not to late to start blogging again right? Yes, I was out of Mumbai for 2 months, to visit my home country, Indonesia, then there were Christmas and New Year, following with another trip to my husband's hometown in Kerala.  So, it's clear enough to explain why I didn't updating my blog :(

But, I was still doing some small projects in between.  I also joined a sewing class for a month in Surabaya, where my parents are staying in Indonesia.  I was so excited but since I don't have my own sewing machine there :( I just able to learn how to make dress pattern.  I will post the snaps of what I've learned there soon.

Now, let me show you what I've made for my hubby's best friend's little daughter :)  Her name is Alexis, and they call her Lexi.  She's 6 months old, so cute, and cheerful baby.  I made a wall-art for her.  Her mother is an American and father is Indian and they are staying there in Oklahoma.  They came for a month to Kerala to visit Lexi's grandma.  So we flew from Mumbai to Thrissure to meet them.  I bought a cute purple dress for the little Lexi and as an additional gift, I made a wall-art for her.

Yes, it's an elephant, my favorite animal, I chose elephant because it might represent India, an elephant country :)   I drew the elephant which was about to be carried away by four balloons.  There are four balloons with L-E-X-I spelling on each of it.  Her parents said that the wall-art will be great on her nursery room, really hope they'll like it :)

I got a little problem with the binding, it's not so perfect,  so little time to finish the project, hope it's forgiven :(