In Sewing

Baby Shower Gift : Sew it yourself Nursing Pad

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Sew it Yourself Baby Shower Gift Mom to Be | Handmade nursing pad

Last two weeks, my friends arranged a surprised baby shower for two of our lovely friends who are expecting. It was kind of a short notice and I needed to make something useful for the mums yet meaningful. I remembered my early stage of breastfeeding my son and it will always be one of the greatest moment of being a mum. So, I decided to make something related to breastfeeding and the idea of making a nursing pad comes to mind.
Nursing Pad - quick baby shower gift -sew your own
Easy right? Pile some flannel, PUL for waterproof and funky fabrics for the frontside and cut circles out of them. Serge all the raw edge together and voila! I made 3 pairs for each mum to be. Which was a whole lot of circles! It was quick though, and I manage to make all of them in the morning before the party. I printed a funky breastfeeding quote and slit inside the plastic too. Fun!
Nursing Pad - quick baby shower gift
Well, next time you need to make something for a mum to be, try it out! Fast and easy.
Here are the two mums to be. Wish them luck!
Two gorgeous Mummy to Be
Till then,
XOXO

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In Completed Projects

Doll Quilt Swap 14 : Triple Irish Chain Mini Quilt

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Irish Chain Mini Quilt | Free Motion Quilting practice |

Hi!
DQS14 finished
I finished quilting this little quilt and ready to send it, but I would like to throw in more goodies for my Doll Quilt Swap 14 partner, so I will be getting it posted on the 24th hopefully with more goodies.
Stripping _DQS14
It was a fun quilt to make, though I got a bit stressed out with the seam points not matching. The little squares are 0.5″ finished and I guess it was totally out of my league to get those points to match! I wasn’t really happy at first, but I am pretty happy with the end result though.
Seams behind mini blocks
Scrappy and fun little tiny squares. More like confetti and I guess the mismatches brings out modern vibe to it too.
DQS14 ready to hang
I played with the free motion quilting too, especially in the negative blocks. I love Irish Chain. They are lovely to quilt with. I made an Irish Quilt (link here) when I started free motion quilting and it has definitely taught me a lot.
DQS14 label in front
Practice is the best teacher. I cannot stress that more – practice is the best way to improve free motion quilting. Give it a try. Try a mini quilt. They are fast to get done and they are definitely small enough to fit under those domestic sewing machines. The most important thing is have fun!!
Well, till then I am hoping my swap partner would love this quilt.
XOXO

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In Quilt

Finish Along 2014 : Quarter 1 List

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Hi!
I wanted to start this year by organizing all of my work in progress and getting them done this year. The Finish Along 2014 Linky Party  is a great way to organize this and having to review them each quarter of the year is a fantastic idea. I think I might need more than a quarter to finish all the list below, but we will see. You never know I might be more organized this year and get more things done.
1. First on top of the list are the ones bounded by due dates : Doll Quilt Swap 14 and Sew Sew Modern Swap 4. Both are to be done and sent in quarter 1. I have chosen fabrics for SSM4 and have cut pieces for DQS14
DQS14 progress
2.  I have the Briar Rose “Stars and Diamonds” quilt basted and probably less than a quarter quilted and need this to be finished by the end of quarter 1.

3.  I started a journey of crocheting a lovely cardigan in Issue 47 of Inside Crochet Magazine on new year’s eve. Hoping to get it finished before the cold weather comes (I’m in Australia and the cold weather are coming in June)
Crochet Rosalind cardigan - first progress Jan week1
Crochet Rosalind cardigan - first progress Jan week1_angle photo
4.  A sock knitted a quarter way will also need to be done before the chills come
Socks Knitting_Rosebud Socks _ two at a time sock _ handknit _
5.  I really wish I could finish Marcelle Medallion but that sound almost impossible in this quarter 1 but I’ll list it anyway and if fail to finish by this quarter maybe it will make it to the next quarter.marcelle growing
Other W.I.Ps that need attention and will definitely not make it to the Finish Along Quarter due dates are:
Lucky Star BOM
Lucky Star BOM August Addition
Crochet Blanket
Crochet Granny squares blanket _7
Patchwork Please Swedish Bloom Quilt
Patchwork Please Swedish Bloom and Up Up and Away from Sunday Morning Quilt
So far,the year 2014 has been excellent and I love my new organizer of the year 2014 from Miss Tiina so far! 
I love Miss Tiina’s designs and she has TONS of FREEBIES on her website. You should definitely check it out and I recommend you the printable 2014 Journal too. I LOVE IT!

Another thing I might just mention here, I have a crazy idea of starting a project life too to keep this year in jo
urnals/scrapbook. It would be pushing too much, but I think it could be worth of the wee hours of less sleeps!

Linking up to FAL 2014 Q1 and W.I.P Wednesday
XOXO

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In Free Motion Quilting

How to make customized monogrammed couple pillows

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Hi!
Today I would like to share with you a tutorial on how to make monogrammed couple pillows using the Tranpunto Quilting technique.
You will need as follows :
and 2 pieces of 18″ x18″ of muslin fabric for the backing of the front piece of the pillows.

Turn the pillow around through the unzip part and you are done! take a photo and share it on littlemushroomcap f
lickr pool.
This is such a great way to practice that free motion skill! For ideas on which type of dense quilting you can do, try these tutorial links:
Squiggle Square Free Motion quilting
or you can always practice simple meandering too !
XOXO 

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In Completed Projects

It’s Finished! : I Heart Quilt Pattern

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Hi!
 
I am finally done with my second version of “I Heart Quilt”.
 
I Heart Quilt. pattern to be released soon
 
I fell in love with the first quilt so much that I was not willing to part with it. I remembered making the quilt with intention to sell the finished quilt but I didn’t sell it in the end. For the record, I haven’t even listed any of my finished quilts for sale. However, I am going to make a new record this year by kicking off with my first listing on Etsy.
 

cover pic

Since I am not following a pattern, I guess it should be legal to sell it right? That was my concern when I started thinking about selling quilts. I can’t simply sell a quilt I made out of patterns published in magazines and books right? Correct me if I am wrong. Some patterns have written copyrights on them and it’s made clear that we can’t sell quilts made with the pattern. However, how about those in magazines? I guess making quilts to sell is far harder than making it to give.
 
The plan was to sell it and I didn’t want to break any copyright laws,so I designed “I heart Quilt” and made it up as I go. You can read more about the journey here.
 
loop quilting allover
 
With all the hard work done, might as well, I put an extra effort to make a pattern out of it. It will be great to see more of this quilt in different colors and fabrics. So, I made another version for the pattern writing process and the quilt is Layer Cake friendly!
 
Choosing colours
 
on the chair
NOTE : I no longer promote Craftsy/Bluprint as I used to due to the way the subscription is currently being carried out. I had the issue of cancelling my subscription when the company changed hand and I find that cancelling through calls is inconvenient. However, I do still stand behind these classes I promote and if you are subscribed, you can surely check these classes I recommend on the platform. If you are looking for another online platform to learn craft such as quilting, do check out CreativeBug. It is much cheaper in subscription (subscribe now 3 months for only $5). Thank you.
 
Here is the link to the quilt pattern on Craftsy.
If you do make one, feel free to link in my flickr group or on craftsy. If you find mistakes or would like to comment on the pattern, I am open to hear it out. This is my first quilt pattern, so I would really love to hear feedbacks!
 
Update :  Ever since 2015, I only sell this pattern via payhip
You can click the following link :Buy eBook
 
backing
This quilt is for sale here and the pattern is for sale on Craftsy or my etsy shop.
Thank you for supporting me and my crafty adventures.
 
Lots of love,
 
 
 
Linking up to  and 

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In Free Motion Quilting

Customized Couple Pillows : Trapunto quilting

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Hi!
 
I made a special wedding gift recently using a technique called “trapunto quilting”. I decided to make something that they can put on their bed, and thought a monogrammed pillow with their initials would be a great gift.
 
wedding gift_customized pillow_whole quilt 
 
Y monogrammed
 
At first I was thinking to applique the initials but I feel like applique would speak too loud for these pillows. So, to make things more subtle, I decided to just hide the initials among the quilting. Besides, there is always a time when you need to practice that free motion skill. So making this pillow was definitely a great practice!
 
To make the lettering stand out even more, trapunto technique was used for the lettering in these pillows.
 
together...
 
..till jannah 
 
At the bottom of their initials, I put ” Together.. till Jannah”. Jannah means Heaven in arabic.
 
What do you think? I sure hope the couple love them.
 
I will publish a tutorial soon for making these pillows. It is certainly a great chance to practice that free motion skill if you have been wanting to do so.
 
Till then,
Have a lovely week dear friends,
 
XOXO

 

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In Quilt

Goodbye 2013, Welcome 2014

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2013 has been all, full of exciting things, yet too has down moments
Non quilty stories first:
Down moments : My lab was closed almost the whole year slowing down my study progress, my father in law got into a coma after an accident in June and still is in coma (your prayers are so much appreciated) and when we moved to a new rented house in february, our house was flooded and the carpets ruined.
Exciting things : My hubby got a day job, my son everyday has some fun things to make us laugh, forget heavy stuff and remind us how greatful things are. My lab reopen in October – and I hit the two year mark of PhD journey. I am already on my third year! (*don’t know whether this is good news or not * haha*)
Well, enough of life stories, lets get on to reviewing crafting things I did in 2013
What I finish in 2013:
Exciting crafting in 2013:
I joined simply solid bee, I joined Patchwork Please Sew Along (halfway) and I joined Make it Right Challenge

What began in 2013 and yet to finish :
1. Clover Lover_ A quilt in progress, 2. marcelle growing, 3. Briar Rose Quilt_littlemushroomcap, 4. Lucky Star BOM August Addition I have few goals for 2014, that include finishing up what I started in 2013 above and releasing several patterns. I also wanted to sell some quilts and things I make on etsy this year.
To wrap up 2013, I also bought a new sewing machine with special price during the cristmas season. *wink*
Have a lovely new year to all of you. Thank you for stopping by, commenting and supporting me. You mean a lot to me. A LOT.
Thank you……….
Linking to
Lily's Quilts

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In Bag Sewing

Handmades foldable clutch

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Hi!
The season of giving is a beautiful time for creating handmade to give. It just feels such a pleasure to make things to give. I have been enjoying making small gifts lately and here is one to show.
Pretty girl Clutch
I made this fold-able zip pouch for a friend who will be leaving to go back to our country soon since she has already finished her study here in Canberra.
pretty girls clutch
Her character is full of femininity and I thought it just suits her with pastel colours. Again, a fabric from Nordika by Jeni baker was picked to mix with faux leather. (I made a tutorial on Nordika Tote here)
pretty girls clutch_soft pastel
It is a very simple zip pouch but I made it longer in length so that it can be foldable. I also put the magnetic snap closure prior to sewing the sides together.
the making of foldable clutch  
 I love the simplicity of this pouch and am sure it will always be on the list of my handmade gifts in the future.
I hope you all had a great holiday and soon to welcome 2014! I am excited to welcome 2014 and looking forward for great stuff to come! Will be updating soon with more little gift just before we celebrate 2014…..yooo hoo!
XOXO

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In Quilt

Fabriholic Anonymous

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Hi! I am a fabriholic anonymous. We probably have different views when it comes to how much fabrics a quilter should have, but I feel like I have reached the maximum of mine and its overflowing. The feel of guiltiness for not cutting those fabrics and working with them has creepily got into me. At some stage I don’t really feel like happy mail are really as much as happy as it used to be. It became a sign of my fabric shopping issue instead. No fun!

I also feel like I could be more productive if I just stop shopping and sew instead.
So, with this declaration, 

I the fabriholic will join Jess over at The Elven Garden to start fabric fast from now till the end of June 2014.

Thereafter, the stash will be revised to see whether the fast shall continue or not.
Nonetheless, I have made exceptions :

a) solid white or coordinating solid with the current w.i.p that shall be finished can be bought during the period

b) backing / binding fabrics can be purchased so that all quilts can be completed
and

c) quilt for publication which should be bought only at the time of making

Here is a current photo of 75% of my stash. I am organizing them again and will be taking more photos once it is organized. It will be my “BEFORE” photo. Wait till June 2014 and see the “AFTER”. Hope I succeed! Wish me luck!

FabAnon
So, what I did today was unsubscribe to all online shop newsletter. It was HARD! but I DID it. 
I am going to have to close my ears and eyes for sale so that this fasting would go much easier. 
I am looking forward to a more productive year, making out of stash and stop wasting time filling up fabric in shopping carts!
Thanks for being here as my witness. I shall update from time to time how the diet is going.
XOXO

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In Bag Sewing

Little Gifts – Handmade potholder & drawstring bag

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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
BLOG TITLE
XOXO

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