Mission Accomplished Part 1 - Meeting Suzuko Koseki

Hello,

Last month, I went to see Tokyo Quilt Festival in Tokyo Japan again with a couple of friends from Indonesia. It was rather sudden decision. My dear hubby asked me if I'd like to go again and I grabbed the opportunity with both hands! ha! I traveled with mbak Belly last year too, so this was our second Japan trip together!

I had 2 missions this time! First, I want to meet Suzuko Koseki again and show my passport wallet I made with her fabrics!! I was so excited (despite having cough and cold).  Suzuko Koseki has a distinct quilt style. Or maybe it's just me. I could recognize her work even before I saw the information written on the special booth.

This year's Theme was Little Women. You can read the details about it in HERE

I love how simple yet attractive her quilts are. 

Thank you mbak Belly for taking this photo for me!

I love how the Japanese make everything so intricately beautiful and beautifully displayed. The quilts displayed are mostly hand quilted and hand applique with uniformly spaced stitches and not a single thread shown on the appliques. One must see closely to see that the leaves are stitched and not glued. 

I then made my way to La Clochette, Suzuko Koseki booth, and I bought quite a few of her fabrics. I did not see her in the booth, so I asked the lady there if she will come back. She could not speak English and tried her best to explain to me where she's gone. 

I showed her my wallet and there was another Japanese lady, who speak quite good English,  told me, that Ms. Koseki was giving lectures in her special booth. Then she sweetly told me to wait, she will take me and introduce me to her, since she's the student of Koseki Sensei. 

I wish I could understand Japanese

We went and listened to her lectures and this generous lady, translated (in general) of what was being said. Generally, Ms. Koseki was explaining the making process of the quilts being displayed in the booth. The most difficult part was to draw the face of the 4 women who each has a distinct character. It certainly took a lot of hard work to be able to capture that in a quilt. 

Thank you!!

Afterwards, I was introduced and interacted for a while with Ms. Koseki. I felt so humbled when she took my wallet and inspected it,  she gave me a thumbs-up and told me to come again next year (I hope hubby will take the hint!!) . I felt like a kindergarten kid who got her first 100 mark LOL. 

The sweet Japanese Lady

I love the hospitality of Japan and how down to earth and humble they are. All the extraordinaire quilters I met in the show this and last year, left me speechless. We can certainly learn one or ten things from them! 

Another best thing was I get to meet Vatsala Kamat of Tsala Studio. A quilt shop owner in Bangelore. I always admired her Japanese style works. I hope to see you soon in India! 

I hope to be able to go back again next year! Maybe I can join a workshop or two or even visit La Clochette store! That would be awesome, right? 

 If you want to see the quilts photos (and some of my weird photos), you can see them HERE. 

Until then,

Happy Sewing,

Quilted Log Cabin Sling Bag

Hello,

I am so happy to finally finished this bag. For you who follow my Instagram must have seen I posted this sling bag progress from a few months ago. 

I followed this tutorial for the log cabin bag. The original was for mini tote bag but I thought the size is good for sling bag. It was really satisfying to work with small strip of fabrics.

I used up my fat eighth bundle and very happy with the result! 

The machine quilting took a bit of time since I did it in between working on my custom orders. 

I added one interior zipper pocket and one slip pocket in the interior and also top zipper. The bag is just enough to carry your smartphone and mini wallet or maybe a notebook.

I am hoping to make more of this bag this year. Make sure you subscribe to my blog or follow my instagram to get first update when new bags are up for sale ;)

Let me know what do you think in the comments below!

Until then,

Happy Sewing!

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Finish it up Friday

Handmade Monday

Quilted travel Wallet

Hello,

Last week was quite productive self sewing for me. I made 2 travel wallet for my self and my friend in Japan, Sari who owns this cute shop selling Japanese Kanzashi in Etsy .

She loved this tree print fabric which I used to make this passport cover. 

I only have one fat quarter which is just enough to make this wallet. It's amazing what 2 fat quarter can do, right?

For my self, I made this wallet using Suzuko Koseki fabrics I got from my last  year's trip to Japan Quilt Festival

I really love the quilted version of this. I used stiff fleece batting which I got from Tina of the Square Inch a few months ago. I added the thin fusible interfacing to give a little stiffness for the exterior fabric. While on the interior, I used as per the pattern instructions. You can get the pattern HERE.

For the interior, I added the flap. This is a fab idea from Maria when she did the testing for me. It's very useful,  especially if you're going to use it for everyday wallet. Very handy to use it as a smartphone wallet too. 

I'm so excited to take this wallet. I hope I get to meet Suzuko Koseki again this week at the quilt show!!

So, who will there in Tokyo Dome this week? 

I better get going now. It's a long trip from North East India to Tokyo but I am all excited to see my friends, the dreamy quilts and of course the fabric shops --err...shopping!

Until then,

Happy Sewing

First Quilt Finish 2018

Hello,

Yay! Finally I finished my first quilt of the year. Nothing fancy though. I found the disappearing 9 patch blocks in my UFO bin and there are 6 blocks. I decided to make 2 runners and in the meantime I completed only one. There are so many things I am working on at the same time. You can follow my progress in my Instagram account. 

I tried free motion quilting after a long time. I used the R foot on my Husqvarna Viking and calypso thread, which work beautifully. There were thread breaking moments but after changing my needle to quilting needle, it seems to reduce the problem. 

I had discussion with Jyoti and we agreed that the batting was the culprit. I will try using a different batting for the other runner.  

My quilting is far for perfect. But I learned a lot. 

Finished is always better than perfect, right? 

the son helped me with this shoot <3

What have you been working on? Any UFO gets done this month? 

I gotta run now, I hope I will be able to finish this mini log cabin quilt before I travel next week.

Thank you for stopping by,

Until then,

Happy Sewing

Fun Floral Flat Pouch

Hello,

This is another late post. I made these pretty large pouches  for my SIL who was going for get together with her school friends last December. She picked up a few from my stocks and I made a few more for her.

She wanted in florals. I picked up few fabrics from my pre-cut stocks and started making. 

These pouches are pretty quick to whip up. If you ever need to make a quick gift, this is the one. 

The size is perfect to carry it as a clutch or use it as a travel pouch. 

These two are my favorite. Love the printed jute / burlap fabric. The photos here just don't do justice. I was in a hurry and took the pictures at night. 

I also completed this gadget organizer for a friend's son. I used sew sweetness pattern. I learned a couple of things here. The round zipper always scared me but after  making 2 of this, I think I get the hang of it.

I kinda love this black and teal combo. I got the batman fabric from Rohini. You know, when you have (only)boys, you tend to pick up any boys print and then I realized my sons are no longer into superheroes, well, except doraemon! 

These two family passport wallets I finished in December too. I really love the prints and still have them in Red and Green. 

So, what are you doing? Any sewing target or resolutions that you've started or even completed? 

Whatever it is, always remember to enjoy the journey. You don't have to compete with the world. 

Until then,

Happy Sewing

Sew Small Things

Hello,

I really love sewing small things, be it a pouch, bags or quilts. Last month, being the holiday season, I made a couple of cute little sling bags for the nieces and for my friends' daughter too. 

I made this cats and arrow sling bags  for Zahra and Zoya. They chose the fabric a few months ago when they came to visit us. 

I chose this simple one from one of my Japanese patterns. A simple straight forward sling bags and the size is just perfect for little girls.

This one I made for Afra, since I made the gadget case for his brother, I decided to make one mini sling bag for her. This one was the original pattern, with darts on the corner. 

It turned out really cute that one can make a pouch instead of sling bag. Trust the Japanese to make cute little patterns. 

The book didn't come with a pattern, but gave detail measurements. I made my own pattern based on the measurements given in the book.

I love the simple rounded corner version though. It's really a quick project to make. 

 This Frozen sling bag I made for Jasmine, Eva's daughter. It's a long due. 

 For the strap, I did not use any interfacing, since it's for a little girl, I thought as soft strap would be better. 

perfect size to carry her fave stuff

  Subha who always helped me with my visa, whenever I travelled, asked for a specs cover. I was not sure whether it was for the sun glasses or for reading glasses, so I made in-between size.

The fabric was a patchwork print fabric so I just need to quilt it and added fun wooden button and elastic. Instant cuteness!

Simple sewing is always fun and when it's done using fun fabrics, it always turned out perfect.

What about you? What are you sewing this week? 

Until then,

Batik Passport Holder

Hello,

I finished this family passport holder last month. It was a custom order and she wanted it in Batik. Off course I was delighted. I've kept several bundle of bali batiks that I am selling in the shops for my future project. 

Don't you love those bundles?

The new bundles are all so pretty and so inspiring. She chose one from the green bundle in my Fabric Shop and I really enjoyed creating this Family Passport Wallet. 

I decided to combine it with a matching green poplin and going with softer color on the inside. It matched beautifully. I hope she will love it. 

For this wallet, she chose to add long zipper on one side and 2 clear pocket. Instead of the small zipper pocket like in the original pattern. 

I've been planning to make tutorial on the long zipper pocket, but still have not got the time to do it. Insha Allah when I make the next wallet, I will take  proper pictures.

Until then,

Happy Sewing

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Handmade Monday

2018 is HERE

Hello,

Yes, 2018 is here and I hope you all had a great New Year Party and got your resolutions written down. Me? I'm not into writing resolution. I gave up long time back. It never worked out for me. So I settle to take everything one day at a time. Be better everyday. 

I didn't get time to write in December, in spite of having a few things done.

We started 2018 with a good note!! Yesterday my younger son completed his first taekwondo competition where he secured his first gold medal!! It was really a proud moment. 

My elder son will have his first piano/music concert with his music school in 2 weeks. He's been practicing a lot. (he won't let me record the video -_-)

Practice makes Perfect

And look who visited us! 

Zahra & Zoya visited us and I made sling bags for them as I promised
on their last visit a couple of months ago

Our New Year's feast
Chicken BBQ  and Indonesian Chicken Satay by yours truly.

Like they say, All's well that ends well. I hope 2018 will bring more joy and happiness to everyone. 

Until then,

Happy 2018!