The Japanese linen is really a dream to work with. They simply look beautiful. The pink and blue fishes among the monochrome one made this fabric more attractive.
as if to say, "It's alright to be different"!
Yes just be yourself!!
I decided to go with the blue because it matched perfectly with the blue handloom ikat!!
You can even carry your phone or passport using this wallet.
I was undecided with the binding then I decided to use the same fish fabric. You know what? I made the bias binding from 10" square and it was more than enough to bind one wallet!! I am so excited! Because I often think that I need at least a fat quarter!
The wallet is now available in ETSY SHOP. I still have a bit of the fabric, if you love fish or fishing and would like to make a passport holder instead, I can do that too!
And if you want to try to make the wallet, you can find the pattern at the right panel of this blog or you can get it in ETSY or CRAFTSY.
Go and make special mother's day gift for your Mom this year!
Today I spent my morning cutting a couple of fabrics to make fabric bundles for the shops. I cut a lot of greens and yellows today. You can check my Instagram to get a sneak peek of what's coming! Meanwhile, I listed a couple of fabric bundles in ETSY SHOP and you can also find them in my WEBSHOP if you're in India.
Indian fabrics have unique prints and colors. Some prints always available and some are seasonal. Go ahead and take a look at the shops. Pick your fave bundles. Most of them are only one bundle available, so it's a one of a kind fabric bundle. If you like, I can also make customized bundles.
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 inHERE
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.
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!
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!
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.
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.
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.
