Memorable Holiday Mini Quilt

This my entry for the India MQG February Challenge. The rules are using your scrap and the quilt is about the most memorable holidays. For me, every  holdays have their own memorable moments, but what I always love is coming home to my town where I was born and grew up - MALANG. Even though now Malang has grown into a mini metropolitant city, but it still hold it own charm.

What I love most about Malang is it always blooming with flowers all around the cities. Hence, the flower fabrics I used in the border. Malang is a hilly town, surrounded by beautiful mountains all around. Whereever you turn your head, all you'll see is greenaries.

"Palm Tree Block"

Can U spot the palm tree there? It's one of Malang's trademark tree.

This is the view in front of the mayor office (Balai Kota). It's called Bunderan Tugu.

 (Image Source)

This Bunderan Tugu has several road branch which lead to different part of the city. It's surrounded by favorite High Schools (MY Highschool too!!) , hotels on one side, and the train station in the other.

(image source)

The garden is beautifully maintained which is a real treat for tired eyes:)

Here is another  famous landmark in Malang, Ijen Boulevard. With it's palm trees and big colonial houses, it's a great place if you want to just strolling or taking a walk. In the middle there are mini gardens with flowers and shrubs.

(image source)

The Apples Block

 Malang's most famous fruit. There are lots of apple orchards in Malang and Batu (a hill town 30 min from Malang). Malang's Apple is called rumbutter, it's juicy and crunchy and has this sweet tangy taste which I love the most.

Below is how the apple vendors sell their apples. This is a common sight when you're travelling from Malang to Batu or to Surabaya.

(image source)

and of course I always love to visit the sea. Indonesia is an archipelago, it has the most beautiful beaches in the world, whether the explored one or the un-explored ones. I spent my childhood exploring beaches with my father who was working in a coffee plantation. Most of the time, the garden were near the sea. Almost every holidays we spent discovering new beaches, white sands, black sands, you name it, we have it :).

Last year we went to explore another beaches. You can read the post HERE. So, this block is for those wonderful holidays at the sea.

All the appliques here are handstitched by yours truly. I'm not a big fan of hand quilting, though I enjoy doing embroidery now and then.:). I must learn to master the machine decorative stitching now that I got a new Bernette E92c ;)

Until then...happy quilting

Book Review: Design-It-Yourself Clothes

I always like to buy patterns and craft books. And if it comes with pattern it's even better, cos I simply can adjust it to my own or whatever size I need to sew. 

Sometimes, you see those adorable clothes on magazine or internet so badly and your tailor can not do it for you (I'm talking about tailor in India in general *wink*) or if  they  can, they will make a big hole in your wallet for the quality of sewing that below your expectation.

Then it's time you buy this book : Design-It-Yourself by Cal Patch. From the book flap: Cal Patch was a clothing designer for Urban Outfitters and Free People before creating her own label, Hodge Podge. She teaches sewing and patternmaking throughout New York City. 

It shows you how to draft your own pattern in easy way and how to modify it to whatever style you want. It give a comprehensive illustration from how to MEASURE your self, WHAT measurement is needed, right up to how to LABEL it. And of course how to modify it, now that's the best part. 

If you are like me, then this book is a MUST for you. Be it dress, top, tunic, knitted fabric, pants, skirt..you will find it in this book. 

Here are few snaps from the book

Knickers

Miho Shirt

variation of dresses and Tunics

Skirt

I tried  making the pattern. I made simple A skirts. And here they are:

The fabric is Indian chanderi cotton brocade. It has zipper at the side and I put lining too..

and for the teal one, I got this sarong fabric from Indonesia. The fabric is thick-ish so lining is not required :)

So, go ahead and get the book. It's worth all the penny. If you are in India, you can purchase it via Flipkart , which has wide range of foreign craft books and I wish they had magazines too..haha..

Until then...Happy Sewing

Bag Swap

"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one" ~  C.S Lewis

That's how it was started on twitter few months back.  Andriani Retno of Hayano Handmade tweeted me and then we sort of talking about our common hobby, sewing. Then one day, I tweeted, we must do swapping sometimes. She agreed. And finally, after long overdue, I made this reversible granny bag for her.

I did owl embroidery and put a detachable flower brooch there ;). It's already on it's way to Indonesia and I do hope she likes it :)

Until then....happy sewing

Let's twist again

Do you remember when,

Yeaaaah,let's twist again,

twistin' time is here!

- the beatles -

As I mentioned in my previous post, I love pinwheel block. And there are whole lots of pinwheel variation in the world of patchwork ^_^. 

the last few days I was kind of having a 'sewing block'. There are long to-do-list including a couple of custom orders :S. Maybe I just too worried about what the doc might said which turned out I'm improved quite a lot and should continue the meds. 

Then I browsed youtube for hours watching one tutorial after another. Thank God for all those generous people in quilting world who happily share their knowledge.

So, now let's put on some music and let's TWIST 

I don't know what's the name of this one. But I like it. This is easy one. 

this is my favorite. It turned out quite well, in spite of my DIY quilting rulers I made my self. Modified it to make a twister rules ;). This one left a bit of fabric waste, which I think you can always re-use it. 

This is I made according to video tutorial in youtube or if you like picture tutorial you can see it HERE and HERE.

so let's do more twist and make something ...yeeaahh..

Who's that,flyin up there?
Is it a bird? Noooooo
Is it a plane? Noooooooo
Is it the twister? YEAAAAAAAHH!

Until then....happy twisting

things were really hummin',

Square in Square Bright Quilt

Always walk through life as if you have something new to learn and you will. 

 ~Vernon Howard

I finished my 2nd quilt this month! yay!! it's something that I was afraid to do. I can't imagine how to quilt in my home sewing machine. I watched lots of you tube tutorial and became more scared ..LOL. Then I just started doing it. And by my second quilt, I can say I manage well, no wonky stitches at the back.

I call this happy quilt because of the colors. I thought I will make a baby quilt with the fabric but ended up make another single quilt. The size is 60x70" 

So, here's what I learned:

1. Using this Micro Stitch is really help to hold the quilt together. I won this on one giveaway some 3 years ago !!..

2. Using fleece as a batting is easier than poly-batting, because the fleece doesn't move much/not slippery.

3. I'm rolling  up the sandwich while tacking it. I find this easier and once finish I have a nice roll, ready to quilt. I quilt NOT from the middle like one tutorial I read. I started from the side. Maybe this is not the right way, but I managed fine with this method.

and 

4. scrappy binding is always a choice. It gives a happier look, I guess..;)

So, here's my happy quilt sitting on the swing:D

I used polkadots at the back. It was a bedsheet actually :). It's difficult to find a wider fabric here, so instead I go for bedsheet which works out cheaper and easier plus I'll get a matching pillow covers ;)

One more look :D

Until then....happy sewing

Being Patient

“The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.”

Arnold H. Glasgow

Patchwork -and sewing in general- thought me about patience. You simply can not rush or the result will not be to your satisfaction. Believe me, I have done several mistakes in the past. It's not easy. Sometimes I just can not wait to see how it will unfold...how things will  be...but then, like Bon Jovi said in one of his songs "Good things come to those who wait" ..:)

This is what I'm doing now:

That's the lay out of my happy quilt :-)...and now I'm still tugging, pulling and squashing....

Hopefully my spondylitis will compromise now.

Until then....happy sewing

Tutorial: Whirlwind Heart

“For pleasure has no relish unless we share it.” 

― Virginia Woolf, The Common Reader: First Series

In my previous post, I mentioned about the block I made for Friendship Quilt. I really enjoyed making that block . The idea I took from Australian Quilting magazine but I did some alteration in size and used pinwheel instead of plain squares and HST . 

Here I try to make a little tutorial which I hope will help if you want to make one.

The finish block is 12" x 12" 

Since I'm not good with words, I prefer to show you  with  picture. If you have any question, please do not hesitate to email me.

So here we go, the first step is  making the pinwheel. 

Second is  making the HST  and cutting the squares:

and now you're ready to arrange and sew the blocks :

I hope this help if you want to make the whirlwind heart :)

Happy Sewing ^_^

Pobitara Wildlife Sanctuary

Man's heart away from nature becomes hard.  ~Standing Bear

We got an invitation to visit one of our friend's new resort in Pobitara. It's in the outskirt of Guwahati, around 1.5 hrs. Pobitara is Wildlife sanctuary for Elephants and One Horn Rhino, besides the world famous Kaziranga, this is one of the option for people to spend their weekends with nature.

We enjoyed the jungle safari on a jeep, hoping to see the famous one horn Rhino. And after 30 minutes inside the jungle, we got to see around 6 huge rhinos. Too bad I only got my mobile cam, so I can't take a good click. 

Spend sometimes in this natural beauty, always can lift up my spirit..

Have a beautiful Sunday

Practice makes perfect

"Better to do something imperfectly than to do nothing flawlessly"

I came across Susan's blog through one of FB group fro patchwork and quilting. You must read her blog. She shares her grandmother's diary while sharing one block each day. Each block is  interesting as the story itself.

This from her earlier post . Today I decided to try one of her block, when I was having my afternoon chai. Hopefully I'll be able to make more, there are few blocks which I'm eager to try.

This one may not be perfect, but I'm happy with how it turned out. 

Until then...happy sewing ^_^

Simply Square Quilt

"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' 

You must do the thing you think you cannot do. "

~ Eleanor Roosevelt ~

I've been too scared to start making a big quilt, until the other day. It seems so hard to do the quilting part on my home machine. I had this king size polyester batting I brought from Indonesia 1.5 years ago. And it was sitting pretty in my wall cupboard waiting to be covered. Finally, the other day I completed one, a very simple design. I did a couple of unpicking, tagging and pulling and almost gave up cos there's always one part which gone wonky at the back. Then my IMQG friend, Tina, told me to "never look back" and I gain my confidence back. It took me two days to complete the quilting part (yay!)

I used scrappy binding there

for the back, I used cheery orange cotton fabric which was supposed to be for salwar kameez (Indian dress). It has continues Indian batik pattern. 

Now, can I say I graduated to the big quilting now? :D. I still need to finish my 36 patch QAL  :-/

One more shot, inspired my Shruti 

until then...Happy Sewing

Warm and Cold Pinwheel Table Runner

This winter, it blows warm and cold. One day the temperature will dip as low as 10C and the next day it will be 21C. Well, for me, who grew up in tropical friendly weather Indonesia, to be in 10C is like living in a igloo. The kids are laughing at me, cos I'm bundled up in heaps of clothes plus woolen cap.

I told you in previous post, that I love pinwheel. So now it's done. I don't know why I love working with triangles, I found it very challenging. This pinwheel was supposed to be my second entry for the Indian MQG January's Challenge, but then I couldn't resist the baby blue and pink. I don't know whether it's still qualified as a WARM? what do you think? 

Pinwheel table runner

Another one I finished today is my 3rd Quilt Block for my Friendship Quilt. I call it "whirlwind love". The original plan was to collect enough blocks to make mini quilt for wall hanging. But I hope, other participants will make at least 3 blocks so it will be a bigger quilt. 

whirlwind love

This one I made based on quilt I saw in magazine. It was just one part of the big quilt. I took the design and instead of plain square at the top left I put pinwheel (again!) there and in the bottom right. It gives quite a effect, doesn't it? It's quite challenging this one, since the mag didn't give the measurement, so I have to count it my self to make it into 12" squares. Hopefully I can make a simple tutorial later on...meanwhile now my mind is onto finishing my almost-forgotten Quilt Along #shame on me#

Until then, Happy Crafting ~_~