Celebrating Independence Day

In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

This is the way quilters celebrating Independence Day. And in my case, I have 2 Independence Day to celebrate, India and Indonesia. 

We at Desi Quilters are having August Challenge with the rules: (1)  Make a mini not bigger than 12"x12", using pieces not bigger than 1.5" finished (2) Colours to be used - saffron, white and green ONLY..Yes, the Indian Flag colours.

I was in the middle of busy Ramadan, but I just can't stay away from my sewing machine especially when I have this lovely block to try which I think will be perfect for the challenge. Yes, it's Great Granny from Bee in My Bonnet

So here's my entry for the August Challenge:

6.5" squares Coaster 

and the second one, today 17th August  is Indonesia's Independence Day. To celebrate it, today I first attempted making this coaster using foundation piecing. Which is TOUGH!! But I made it, though it's not as neat as I'd like it to be. The finish size is 4.5" squares. I should have tried something bigger than that -,-. 

So, here's the Red and White (Indonesian Flag colors) coaster:

Until then...Happy Quilting ^_^

Featured!!

I knoww..it's a bit late to post this one. But I was on vacation and did take my lappy along, hence the delayed post.

It's me..yay!!

It was an honor for me to be featured in this fabulous group of quilters in Desi Quilters. Just like the tag line, in DQ we sew, quilts,chat  and most important thing is we're having a lot of FUN.

Thanks alot TINA, it's really mean a lot to me to be part of the Desi quilters!!..Go go Indian quilters!!

Happy Quilting

The Bali Story

Hey hey…I’m back..yes, I’m back from holidays visiting my home country, the beautiful Indonesia.  It was as always a hectic one. We went to Bali to enjoy the sun and the beaches. We had a great time. The kids enjoyed the beach so much they came out tan as ever. 

Kuta Beach during the day. Enjoyed splashing in the water and watching people surf .

Kuta Beach during the sunset

A Massage lady in the Kuta Beach. She's been doing this job for the last 40 years!! 

When you go to Bali, you should do this cruise. We went for a cruise with the Balihai Cruise. We were taken to this beautiful island of Lembongan by a medium size ship. It was rather overwhelming cos the high tide. It was a great fun though the schedule/program was a bit hectic. There are lots of activities to choose. From banana boat to snorkeling. We went for the snorkeling too.  Well, I tried 2 dips in the ocean but I was too scared to go further. I guess, I really need to do something for my fear of water.

Oh we went to see the coral in this semi submarine boat. It was nice experience esp. for the boys. 

Next we went to Nusa Dua beach and the turtle island. The turtle island is about 15 min boat ride. 

 look at that cute turtle. The boys were so excited to be able to catch them. 

Parasailing at Nusa Dua Beach

We had seafood dinner in Jimbaran, which is awesome. Great food great ambiance. 

Here, you gotta choose what seafood you want and what preparation you'd like to have. 

We spent the whole week in Bali. We stayed in a serviced appartment, which is nice and cozy, nestled in the middle of Kuta’s hundred of tiny alleys. Well, there are star hotels too, but with the kids we always more comfortable in serviced appartment which is more homey and spacious than a hotel room. Especially now that they are getting bigger.

 The Apt-Hotel:  Kuta Town Houses

We spent the rest 3 weeks in my hometown, Malang..and that'll be another story :)

Until then...

Happy Crafting ^_^

DSLR lens case

Finally I bought my self a Dslr camera. An entry level one which will be sufficient for me to learn about photography. I even created a blog for my photos.

What a sewer do when she got a new cam withbn extra lens? Yes, you're right...make a pouch..and here is what I made

DQ June 2012 Challenge: All Squares

"....regrets I have a few, but then again too few to mention.." My Way - Frank Sinatra

This Cushion Covers started as a mistake. One lady wants me to make quilt for her daughter something in girly colors. So, I thought of doing 16 patch blocks like the one I saw on the web. 

[image source]

So I cut few jelly rolls and it turned out the block is just too small for the big quilt that I plan. Luckily I only cut few pieces  as trial. 

Now, what do I do with this cute tow 16 patch blocks? and then I remember the June challenge at Desi Quilters, a FB group where I belong. The RULE was make any quilt with only SQUARES.So why not use this one as a Cushion Covers..and I found a scrap green matching fabric too..so here it is..my entry for the June Challenge:

So, here's my monsoon cushion covers, just like one of my fellow DQ said:). 

Until then...Happy Quilting

Fabric Flower Tutorial from Flying Geese remnants

I hate to throw away even a lil bit if fabric scraps. Yesterday after making one star block, there are lots of remnants from the  flying geese blocks. So, here what I do.

1. Pick up 5 or 6 triangles. Fold them and sew on the side.

2. Turn around, poke to take out the corner as much as you can, and make a string of the new folded triangle by hand sewing it using a running stitch. One TIP: Leave around 1.5” of thread on the knot. Sew away until all 6 are strung nicely and evenly.

3. The pull slowly and adjust the flower. Pull it tight and tie the thread nicely.

4. Now, take out one button (I love the fabric cover button) and sew in place.

5. At the back, take a small piece of felt, cut it round and glue in place and then attach the pin or hair pin, according to your fancy.

See..now more wasted fabric remnants ;)

Until then...Happy Sewing

Trial and Error

Admitting Error clears the Score, And proves you Wiser than before.

~ Arthur Guitermane

A friend wants me to make a black and white quilt for her son. So I have this simple 9 patch black and white block with a dash of colors. I was thinking it would be brighter and since she doesn't want any red on it so I go ahead on cutting and sewing frenzy

and another phone call came and said it should be just black n white and grey. So I had to abandon the 9 patch block and changed it to pinwheel (yes, my favorite). And since I cut black and white fabric into 5" squares I just don't have the heart to cast them away. So I used the same 5" and sewing away. 

After 20 blocks I realized that this will be too tiny for a big quilt. Too much of work. I will need like 80 blocks (Dear God)..but it's so CUTE! I love working with HST but 80 blocks is almost overwhelming for me as a daring beginner quilter :D

And after lots of thinking, I decided to make the same pinwheel pattern but with a bigger square pieces. So I started cutting 10" squares and sewing away. There you are..I need few more blocks to make a complete big quilt :)

and what about the small ones?? I made cushion covers with them. Out of 20 blocks I made 5 cushion covers which looks so cute :)

If you like the cushion covers, it's up for sale on my ETSY shop.

Well, sometimes you have to learn it the hard way...but then again, sometimes mistake is creativity in disguise :)
Until then...happy quilting

Black and White Pinwheel Lap Quilt

Remember this ONE? Finally I have done it. It takes rather long :)  As usual I'm using flannel  batting since I don't get a proper batting as yet in this corner of the world. Well, I believe in using what ever available at hands now. And to be frank, flannel batting is not bad at all, though it's a bit expensive -_-

Here it is sitting prettily on my swing :)

It has scrappy backing and scrappy binding too. I thought of doing free motion quilting but I'm not confident enough to do it in a bigger quilt :D.

More photos you can see them in my FLICKR.

Until then...Happy Quilting ^_^

India MQG April Challenge

"Our lives are like quilts - bits and pieces, joy and sorrow, stitched with love"

Here's the rule of IMQG's April Challenge:  Your challenge is to use the colours of the IMQG logo to make a quilt block that reflects what modern quilting means to you. We encourage you to stretch yourself and plan an interesting composition that represents your own unique voice. (And if this looks suspiciously similar to the Quiltcon block challenge, IT IS.)

So I decided to make this friendship braid  mini quilt . Cos just like the braid of different color, IMQG members  come from different background and even countries. But then we have the same passion: Quilting. We share, learn and encourage each other.

You don't have to be perfect in your cutting, cos like they say "there's no mistake in cutting , there's only more  opportunity for creativity". Any tiny bits of fabrics remnants can be made into something beautiful, even as simple as these humble coasters

Just like Scott Adams said : "Creativity is allowing your self to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep"

Until then....Happy Quilting