Lots of pouches

My new XperiaZ is badly need a pouch or wallet, so that it wont disappear under the junk ummm stuff  inside my carry-all bag. And while am wondering about what design I will make, a friend of mine tweeted me after saw my kindle sleeve

I tried quilting it using decorative stitches on my Bernette

She said she needs one to carry 2 phones plus little slot for cards. Well well... Omen I must say, so I play around a bit with these lovely fabrics which I bought sometime back.

1. This is a quick one and versatile. I end up using this for my external hard disc, the cable fits in nicely in the front pocket :). I made tutorial for this one HERE 

2. This one is my favorite - fabric wise - look at those cute and colorful owls. This one has divider which is  perfect to carry 2 phones, so they won't bump against each other.

3. And this one slightly longer with divider and slots of cards

and now I'm making few more for my friends and maybe add them to my ETSY 

Until then...

Happy Sewing

Love u to pieces

This is my entry for February challenge in Desi Quilters. It was made in a hurry,  as a stress buster. Though I wish I could make a better one. (the mini quilt on the background was made 2 years back) 

First off,  I pieced the heart part from strips which I dug out from my scraps bin, and then quilted a bit with decorative stitches before attached it to the main fabric using reverse applique. Very quick n simple.

And instead of my usual envelope closure, I used zipper closure and loved the finish look.

One thing when you make cushion covers is that you make one inch smaller from the insert (cushion) size.  That will make the cushion looks fuller. 

And here 's another one I make with zipper closure

I got this fabric from my friend in Indonesia. I still have 2 more to finish similar to this one ^_^. 

Until then...

Happy Sewing

A pink duffel

One of my online friend asked me to make a duffel bag for her DD. I love making bags and pouches but usually only on request or made them as a gift. 

This duffel bag had 2 pockets on both side  and since there was barely enough fabric, I used white thick cotton (I'm not sure what was that, it's jeans kind of material) and added a cute matching pink grosgrain ribbon. 

The zipper part was a bit tricky cos I don't like an exposed zipper in a bag. So I came up with zipper lining which worked out great in this duffel bag.

I used flannel as a batting and it's double layers of batting there. And deep pink polkadots make it more fun. 

 oh and I did FMQ too, it's a good way to practice FMQ ;) 

Until then...

Happy Sewing

Queen Bee - My Double Star Block Tutorial

I was the Queen Bee of January 2013 in my quilting group Desi Quilters. I was so excited and I already hearted this block I saw on Flickr, but could not find any tutorial about it. 

So, I sat down and drew my own based on the picture I saw on Flickr. 

I called it Double Star block. This is quite simple to make. 

First, here’s what you need:

1 - Background color  is BLACK

2-  Star colors: 2 CONTRAST COLOR and use ONLY SOLID

So, here we go :

THE CUTTING:

BLACK fabric:

-          Cut  4 ½ “ x 4 ½ “ -  4 pcs

-          Cut 4 ½ “ x 2 ½ “  - 8 pcs

-          Cut 2 ½” x 2 ½” – 4 pcs

SOLID  contrasting color:

-          Color  #1 : 2 ½” x 2 ½” – 7 pcs

-          Color #2 : 2 ½” x 2 ½ “ – 7 pcs

Finished block: 12" x 12" 

THE METHOD:

1.       Making flying  geese:

Take 4 BLACK 4 ½” squares and take 4 pcs of each 2 ½” squares of solid and make into 4 flying geese.

2.       Make the  1 ½ flying geese (umm that’s what I called this piece, btw)

PLEASE REFER to the picture of the complete block for the placement of the color squares in this piece. 

Like making the flying geese, place 2 SAME  color of 2 ½” squares  SOLID  on one side of the 4 ½” BLACK squares  and CONTRASTING color of 2 ½” squares  SOLID  on the other side.

3.       Once you’re done, don’t forget to  first IRON flat all the seam to the dark side. Then arrange all the pieces and accordingly stitch each row and then assemble the whole thing.

Tadddaaa…your double star block is ready. Easy peasy,  isn’t it? ^_^

Happy  Sewing ^_^

Remembering Autumn

I love to watch the nature changes its color in Autumn.

In this side of India (NE India) we don't see much of those lovely colors. Except the colors of the olive leaves in my garden and the star fruit tree, but still it was something. 

I made this mini quilts as an entry for Diwali Challenge in Desi Quilters and  made it to the top 4 yay ^o^

and these combination of yummy fabrics is available in my etsy shop. 

The color of Autumn

There are so many things I want to share here with you all. It just that life gets busy sometimes and as much as I like to write now, I must go back to my beloved Ms. Bernette and finish the custom orders.

Until then...

Happy Sewing

Finally I decided to take the Trip Around the World...

a scrappy one at that ^_^

 I've been reading all over the blogland and saw everyone post about this Scrappy Trip Around the World, which really inspiring!! that I MUST do this. 

This is going to be a long term project though, but I'm sure I'm going to enjoy the ride ^_^

So, here my first block or shall I say "STOP" ? ^_^

hmm..it looks really scrappy and I love it!!

I love the red print, such a cheerful print. The fabric was a left over from the dress I made for a client.

One more look  

look at the green print fabric. It's such a happy color.

and a closer look ...

Let's see how far this trip will take me ^_^.

If you want to join the fun, just click HERE

and speaking about trip around the world, I recently finished this cute lil dress for a client. It's made of Indonesian Batik which I really crazy about =,=. 

it has a matching bloomers too.

 I've been taking custom order for this dress. Check out my shop for the details. 

and if you like Indonesian Batik, you can check them out at my Supply Shop 

Until then...

Happy Sewing

Quilting Kaleidoscope

I think it's not too late to take note of what I've completed in 2012, in term of quilting. The most important landmark was when I started join online quilting community on Facebook, Indian MQG and Desi Quilters. 

Esp. with the later group which keep my busy the whole month with it's tougher challenge each month, QAL, quilting bees. The constant encouragement from fellow DQs made me push my self harder to better my skill. 

If I look at each one of them, I still remember every detail of work that's gone into it. Yes, every stitch has its own story...which will always remain with me ^_^

More of my work can be seen in my Facebook Page , Google+, Twitter 

or Instagram 

Yes, 2012 has been a roller coaster journey, 

I hope 2013 will bring more of important landmarks. I have few things in mind that I want to achieve this year.  Well, I can't say it cos I'm afraid it'll jinx my plan *wink wink*

Let's start the New Beginning and Let's make more mistakes ^_^

Until then

Happy Sewing

patchwork star table cloth

I have forgotten again to post few of my finished quilt. Last year was quite a hectic one for me, especially the second half. Especially with my over active online quilting group, Desi Quilters. That's the place if you want to get inspired by sooo many talented ladies, from India and abroad. 

It was during the initial days of DQ, that Tina asked if anyone want to start Quilt-a-Long and I just raised my hand *virtually* and said I'd love to do one. Actually it was a challenge for my self, I wanted to see how far I can go or whether I can pull it off. To cut the story short, in the end I did the STAR QAL. Some of the participants pics can be found on DQ's FB group page . 

And since one of my bff in Indonesia wanted one square table cloth, so I thought this star qal would be a great one. I ended up giving 4 Star Block tutorials and came out with this one.

on the sling *my fave*

and as my friend said, she wanted a "branded" one ^_* 

I didn't put batting in this one, since it's going to be a tablecloth.

She was very happy with it...so was I ^_^

Happy Sewing

Feeling Pinky

I have few orphan blocks as a result of trying out new block designs or some fail bee/BOM or QAL which I follow online. The other day I was looking at the box where I kept all my orphan blocks and found these 2 pink ones. So I thought this will make a nice cushion covers. And of course they did. I did some fmq-ing and quite happy with the result.

I was mulling over what to put as a back cover, either polkadots or solid. Then I decided to do it with solid grey and put a strip of the same pink fabric. 

I still have few more orphan blocks, maybe I'll end up making more cushion covers or mini mat. It makes a pretty gift too, don't you think? 

These two cushion covers available in my ETSY SHOP. Grab them while it still hot ^_*

Until then

Happy Sewing

From scraps

I was so uninspired after the new year et al and just have to make something. Then I saw my friend's pincushion tutorial for Riley Blake Designs  and  I started digging at my scrap bin and found patchwork pieces which I hate to discard. And I came up with these:

Happy Sewing

A New Beginning

“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.

Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're Doing Something.

So that's my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody's ever made before. Don't freeze, don't stop, don't worry that it isn't good enough, or it isn't perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life.

Whatever it is you're scared of doing, Do it.

Make your mistakes, next year and forever.” 
― Neil Gaiman