Archive / Sewing

In Trays

Our work loft is a little messy right now… With all the recent buys and also new projects, it is a little hard to keep things neat and tidy.

I started on a new project a couple of days back (yes, yet another queen-sized quilt) and so far, I’ve made quite a good progress (by my standards!). During the process, I took my time to cut some blocks, sew some, iron some, square up some… relishing each stage of production (read: I get bored easily). So, there are many mini piles of blocks/patches in various states of WIP scattered all over the sewing area and it was tricky moving the blocks/patches from the sewing machine to the ironing board, etc. And today at Daiso, I found the perfect helper!

These trays are like tubs without lids, and yet I’m able to stack them up. PERFECT. The little lids/catches at the sides are not very strong and I doubt they will hold much weight or many trays, but these trays are soooo handy and just what I need to get the little blocks organised for the sewing table/cutting/iron boards.

At SGD$2 a tray, it is really a good buy!

Here’s a sneak peek at what are in the trays right now:

Fabric Stash Report #6

Last week, I had a finger-clicking good time and bought new fabrics which I will share later.

The highlight of a crazy work week was a visit by a long-time with her super duper cute baby boy. She came over to pick out fabrics for Baby L’s new quilt and we end up ripping into my still-un-packed-bags from my Japan trip. It was great fun and we ended up choosing fabrics for 2 blankies and 1 quilt! FUN!

Week 6: 10 May – 16 May

In: 0 yds (wait till week 7…)

Out: 4 yds (baby blankies!)

This is AnPan Man (Bread Man), a Japanese comic character that we all grew up with. I grabbed this 1m cut from Yuzawaya in Japan, and didn’t get a chance to pick out more Anpan character fabrics. Darn it! The fabric is cotton/linen blend for the top and cotton muslin for the backing.

It is super light and soft, so we decided to just add binding on this piece of pre-quilted fabric. LOVELY. I didn’t want to sew the binding entirely by machine, and chose to attach it by machine, then sew it down by hand for the ‘invisible’ look. Great chance to use Denyse Schmidt’s KJR stripe fabric in a bias binding! 😀

YTD total:
Purchased: 24.59 yds
Busted: 13.75 yds
net: -10.84 yds

Introducing…. the Sewing Kit

In my sewing kit, I have a few tips about fabrics, notions and a list of where to shop, shop and shop some more. Check back often by clicking on the tab at top of the page, or the links on the left navigation bar.

For starters, I have created a visual explanation of Fat Quarter vs. Normal Quarter in fabric-land.

Hope you will find this resource useful 😀

Tales and Tidings Baby Quilt – DONE DONE!

Another quilt DONE DONE.

The Tales and Tidings quilt is one of my ‘oldest’ project. I bought it AGES ago and it took me a while before I found the ‘inspiration’ (read: procrastinated long enough) to cut it up.

The top was completed in Aug’08 and I put it away, and went shopping for the backing fabrics. After I ordered it, I put it away some more and agonised over the quilting. I finally sent it off to a quilty friend who did the quilting for me late ’09 and I’m soooo happy with what she did with it.

Free motion quilting detail

One of my favourite blocks...

*heart* stripey binding fabrics

Since this is Quilt #3 for Benji, I think it is time to get a quilt for our OWN bed now. :p

I’m 3!!! (er… since Feb!)

I'm 3 and I get a new shirt!

Big man turned 3 in Feb and I did not get round to taking a picture of him in his birthday shirt till recently. :S

The birthday shirts are really handy. Benji’s kindda big for his age and the shirt has been great giving people a hint of how old (or young) he really is. Saves me from answering the ‘age-old’ question from kay-poh aunties from the supermarkets :p