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 :)