Hi!
I have been enjoying making little things lately. Making them for others seems more enjoyable too.
Recently I have accepted orders from close friends for making things for them. I have been enjoying making various things from wallets, bags, gadget covers and customizing them to their needs.
If you follow me on Instagram, (You can follow me here) you can get glimpse of the handmades I talk about as I sometime don’t have the time to take photos of each of them properly to post on the blog.
But whenever I do have the time to take a little bit more photos of them, I do love to photo them. Like this one I made recently.
Potholder2
Potholder_zakka sewing
A sweet potholder using Bake Sale by Lori Holt and Tasha Noel’s blue gingham. The pattern is inspired by nanacompany. She has a tutorial here if you would like to make one !
Potholder
My friend (who ordered the potholder) also asked me to make a drawstring bag to put a CD-ROM in. She have photos packed in the CD-ROM and wanted to gift someone with it, so she asked me to make a drawstring bag for that purpose.
Drawstring bag for CDrom color me retro 
I picked Color Me Retro fabric by Jeni Baker for this and just simply whip one cute little drawstring bag for it. I think giving CD-ROM filled with some memorable photos is also a great idea don’t you think? Especially wrapped in fabric!
Drawstring bag for CDrom
Talk about gift, I have yet to announce the winner of my giveaways (part of SewMamaSew giveaway day) Here are the lucky two winners! Random number picked by my hubby. CONGRATULATION Ladies!
Will be in contact with both of you winners soon!
Hope you all have a lovely week so far, till then, have fun making for holidays!
Linking up to
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XOXO

Here is my last post for the About A Quilt Sampler! This quilt uses the ‘Quilt-As-You-Go’ technique.Thank you for keeping up with me, it was a lovely journey of documenting this QAL.

If you happen to land here first, I have archived all of the posts HERE so you can go through all the tutorials for each block and quilting tutorials included in this quilt-along.

We are now at a stage where we can piece all the blocks together and finally bind the quilt!

Hi!
I have been squeezing some crochet time here and there especially when I am watching TV or watching my son play.
Here is my latest crochet project which I am falling in love even more as I progress.
Crochet Granny squares blanket _ 1
The pattern is taken from a lovely dutch blog – though the pattern is in dutch, I figured it out myself what each step means because the google translation did not do so well for patterns. Besides, the tutorial is packed with clear photos, so it was an easy ride.
Crochet Granny squares blanket _ 3
Crochet Granny squares blanket _7
Crochet Granny squares blanket _6
Crochet Granny squares blanket _5
I chose to make it in various colours as I know I can get easily bored 😛
Crochet Granny squares blanket _4
I am using Naturally NZ 100% Wool yarns bought from a very lovely Australian Online store, Bubs2Grub. Karina, The owner of the shop is very helpful and the shipping is superfast. I have purchased several time from her and love the service and the yarn choices. Not to mention the bargain price too, so if you are in search for some lovely yarns, check the store out (!)
Crochet Granny squares blanket _ 2
Anyway, I am off to a busy weekend – will post on my last post of the About A Quilt Sampler QAL series this weekend and off to BBQ at a friend house too. Summer is here down under !
Here is one behind the scene of the photoshoot : As usual, with my little helper photobombing
behind the scene of photoshoot
Have a good weekend, and thank you for stopping by!
By the way, my giveaways are still running here and here till Saturday 14th..
XOXO

Hi!
It has been awhile since I last blogged, and I really missed it. Well, it has been a really, really busy end of year. Especially when that two-year of graduate year mark hit me. It doesn’t really stop me from crafting, though I did find myself straying around other new craft projects instead of sticking to the existing ones. 
So, since I am no where moving with my existing projects – including my QAL (Sorry for those waiting for putting the blocks together – I will get to them as soon as I have proper time), I would like to introduce you to my fairly new crafting endeavours : knitting!
Patons Knitting Yarn
After my first sock knitting project was done, I decided to go for the standard scarf knitting with two long needles. This one is made from a pattern on Ravelry. It is called Anthro-Inspired Scarflet. I love the simplicity of it and I totally recommend this pattern for knitting beginners.
Finished Anthro Inspired Scarflet
Finished Anthro Inspired Scarflet 2
Close Up detail Anthro Inspired Scarflet
I made it for a friend. A very close friend who gave me a knitting book for my birthday last year. I gave this scarf to her on her birthday last month and she loved it! I loooove the feel of giving.
There are uneven stitches in first knitting project here but I feel good anyway. Testing out from english style to continental style at a point made the scarf look different half way with somehow different tension. Lesson learnt.
In progress Anthro Inspired Scarf - knitting - chocolates
Can’t wait to start knitting new projects soon, but as of today – I am going to finish off few of my W.I.Ps first before heading out to knit again! I miss blogging about those!
Till then,
Have a great weekend!

Hi!
This bloghop is hosted by lovely Amy from Sew Incredibly Crazy and as usual the best cheerleader of bloghops, Madamme Samm
I thought this is a perfect hop for me to get sewing for my little boy..
He’s been to the family day care starting early this month and he needs lunch, snacks to be packed everyday. So what better thing to make than a cute little lunch bag with his name on..

I used Fabrique Slice to cut out the lettering

Even when I was sewing this bag, this little guy already knew it was for him.. He loves the little sock monkey!
That is it from me! Lets go cheer some other fantastic blog hoppers sharing the day with me:

Thanks for your visit!

XOXO

 

Hi!
If you have been following my Weekend Do or My week of Crafting photos, you would probably have seen the progress of this knitted sock.
1_knitted sock 
 I am proud to call myself a knitter now! I love the process of knitting, though fiddly, I love it!
1_handknitting_knitted_sock_handmade 
I have never thought wearing this hand-knitted sock feel sooooo good! feels a little luxurious too.
I love the fit of this sock, snuggly to my feet. However I do prefer to have made the cuff longer. I guess I was just impatient to get it done!
1_knitted sock_first 
Anyway, I see more knitted socks in my future. Bought some yarns already for more adventure. Yikes. Now I am yarn stashing too!
I hope you had a great weekend! Despite of my little one being sick all this week and this weekend, I did have a lovely sew day with Canberra Modern Quilt Guild members today.
Till next time,
XOXO

Woohoo!! This the last block for our quilt along “About A quilt Sampler” .

If you happen to land here first, I have archived all of the posts HERE so you can go through all the tutorials for each block and quilting tutorials included in this quilt along.

For this final block, we are making a star block.

It seems simple, but a bit tricky when piecing those sharp points. Last time we made this similar block here, I find that it is easy to make error and get a smaller block at the end. However, this time round, I figured out a better way to limit those errors. Follow the instruction below and hopefully, you will be able to get good 12.5″ unfinished block!

Block #9 cutting instruction:

From background fabrics,
cut 4 pieces of 4 7/8″ x 4.3/4″ squares and cut 4 pieces of 4 1/2″ squares (not shown in photo)

From printed fabric for the star points,
cut 4 pieces of 5 1/4″ x 2 5/8″ rectangles

From the printed fabric for the center;
cut 1 piece of 4 1/2″ square

For the star points, cut 2 pieces of the rectangular piece in half through the diagonal. Do the same with another 2 pieces, except this time, diagonally in opposite direction.

For the almost equilateral triangle, take the 4 7/8″ x 4 3/4″ block and fold in half. Keep in mind that the  4 7/8″ side is the base of the triangle.


Now, you want to cut this triangle as so that the tip is not as sharp. It should be about 1/4″ blunt.

Now, piece the star points by joining the printed triangles with the equilateral triangle. I press my seams toward the equilateral triangles. Once you have all 8 points ready, arrange the pieces in 9 patch as below.

Start sewing in rows then sew the rows together minding the seams so that they would either nestle or opened.

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Well, that’s it. I love how pointy the star look. Trim your block to 12.5″ square

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Now, let’s get quilting!

Custom Free Motion Quilting Tutorial – Secondary pattern

This time round, I will show you how to create more points for the star through quilting. This will be a secondary pattern that will give the block a little more feature.

Firstly, measure 1/4″ from the side, and mark all around with an erasable pen. Then, mark 1″ and 2″ from the valley on each sides of the points.

From these points, draw a line towards the center of each valley.

I started quilting by quilting on the lines and then fills in the spaces between the lines with a filler of back and forth quilting lines. The denser you do these back and forth lines, the more of those unquilted parts will pop out.

Finish off by adding any features in the middle and that’s it for this block!  I hope you enjoyed making this block and quilting it!

Here is where we are at now! You can arrange your blocks as you like and we will be attaching them together soon and binding it off.

I love the fun coloured backing I chose for this Quilt As you Go! Are you as excited to put the quilt together?

Let me know how you go!

Hugs,

Amira

Hi!
I am pretty sure most of you are aware of the wonderful Blogger’s Quilt Festival running right now till November 8th!
If you are new and came from the festival, I first must say a very warm welcome to my blog!
Blogger's Quilt Festival - AmysCreativeSide.com
For those of you who have been here, this quilt has already been shown before. So basically this is just a repeat post especially made for the festival.
HST quilt feather quilting
The quilt was made for my mother as a feature in one of the room in our lovely family home. The colours and choice of fabrics were to match her current theme of the room. Soft and feminine.
The quilt pattern is the HST Block of the month by Jeni Baker of In Color Order. I have enjoyed piecing with half square triangles while making this quilt and believe me… half square triangles do have endless possibilities!
close up  feather quilting in blocks 
As for the quilting, I free motioned custom design in each block and decided to go for a lovely feathers as border to frame it all together.
Feather Quilting Border 
All the free motion quilting was done on my Janome DC2050 and I even made a humble video of me quilting the feathered border here.
Up on a no leave maple tree 
Anyway, I am enjoying myself hopping from one blog to another with many inspiration at the Blogger’s Quilt Festival. I hope you are too. Hope your visit here has also inspired you in any means. Until next time, I wish you a fun time at the blogger’s quilt festival!
XOXO

Hi!

This week I have been terribly busy and didn’t have time to post on my blog, so here are all in one!

Since I am linking this post to finish it up Friday, here are some finishes first :

I finished a quilt top made from my own pattern (to be released on etsy soon)

Clover Lover_ A quilt in progress

Clover Lover_ A quilt in progress - quilt pattern_ littlemushroomcap

Last weekend I also manage to get another crochet dishcloth done. I love the textures on this one!

crochet dish cloth _ crochet kitchen

textures _ crochet _handmade photograph

flowers on crocheted dishcloth_handmade_ kitchen

textures _ crochet

By the way, I love spring! I can pick flowers and put some as props.. what fun!
XOXO

Hi!
I have come to love crochet more and more. Lovely colors of yarns make me want to learn as quickly and wish I had all the time in the world.
This pouch here was made by by mother in law and I recently made a zippered lining. I can now use it to put my daily needs for a quick makeup.
Crochet make up pouch
Crochet make up pouch with lining
I love the textures crochet creates. My mother in law crochets very neatly. I adore her works.
Crochet make up pouch handmade
Crochet make up pouch close end zip
Crochet make up pouch close end ip
I see more crochet pouches in my future. Will definitely learn how make some myself!
XOXO