ABC Quilt... the 2nd

Do you remember the first ABC quilt I made more than 2 years back? You can read about it here and here. 

My friend who commissioned it the first time is commissioning it again for the second time for her baby girl. It has to be said, Mabel (my old college friend) has been one of my most avid supporter from the beginning of my crafting career. 

I am truly honoured that my handmade quilt will be part of Annabel's childhood as the first quilt is with Matt's *tears* 

To date I have completed the top (minus the border), and let me tell you that second time around is a charm.. 

I was a mess during every step for the first quilt, but with the size, template and pattern all ready and figured out, I managed to get the top completed rather swiftly. 

I still did lament about the fabric combination and arrangement. This time around I have enough space to lay everything out to arrange and rearrange, I even left everything out for days and came back to view it with a fresh perspective. 

Once the placement of the square base fabrics were confirmed, I started working on the alphabets, with the first quilt, I still hadn't discovered the wonder of a rotary cutter, so everything was drawn on the fabrics and cut out with a pair of scissors.    

This time around I added a light weight interfacing behind every alphabet before sewing them onto the square base fabric. I am more confident with the applique and managed quite well around corners remembering to pivot very slowly.

Will start working on the border and the back in a week's (or two) time.. Will keep you posted on the progress..  

*Further reading:

1. Sew Mama Sew - Simple Machine Applique

2. Allpeoplequilt.com - Tips for machine applique 

Current Favourite

I started this year with shopping for (more) fabrics *roll eyes* 

I noticed my selections consisted of more lines and stripes. I also went for more earthen and mellow colours.  

But this pattern seriously caught my eyes. It is by Anna Griffin and was printed in the US. It is a  quilting weight fabric. I love the colours and dream of future projects and possible fabric combinations.

What do you think?

Do you go for similar prints..? 

What type of fabrics have you bought so far..?  

.

..

...

....

.....

......

.......

........

.........

..........

...........

pppsssst.. I am still a sucker for anything and everything LECIEN.. 

*Floral Collection - Flower Sugar* 

^__^

Recycle project - Comfy indoor slippers

Over the long winter break last year, I managed to complete a pair of indoor slippers totally out of recycled materials in my stash. Since then I aim to slowly reduce the pile by making something  for the home every now and then. 

Half of the items waiting to be recycled

If you have made indoor slippers or baby booties before, you'd know that it is quite a straight forward process but let me share how I did it. 

I use pattern taken from a book in my collection. 

1.Trace and cut out pattern.

2. Prepare the pieces - I use knit fabric taken from my girl's baby jammies (puppy print) for the exterior, fleece taken from an old baby jumper (light green) for the back and another fleece (black colour) to add cushion in the slipper.  

*You can use felt, denim or anti slip fabric for the back* 

3. Sew the flap right side together - turn, press and topstitch 

4. Align the centre point, pin the flap to the body (I pin the black fleece together)

5. Sew 

View from top

View from the side

6. To attach the base (light green fleece) to the flap and body piece, sandwich the base on top of the body piece (right side facing). Align and secure with pins. 

7. Sew all around and leave small space for turning. 

8. Turn, press and stitch the opening close

You are done and the best part is no seam showing and it is machine washable.

However the next time I make another pair, I might insert a shoe insole in-between to have it retain it's shape better.   

Any recycle ideas up your sleeves..? 

2011 Recap...

Does it still count if the recap or talking about the new year are done when the first month is almost over? or maybe I can claim I was waiting for the Chinese new year... *roll eyes*  

Anyway... 

I enjoyed (envious actually) looking at all the pretty mosaic recap table on so many blogs, that I was determined to have one too this year. I played with Big Huge Lab Mosaic Maker and finally managed to come up with the above.. 

Highlight 2011 for MyBotanG:

1. My first sew along - Reversible Bucket Bag 

2. My second sew along - applique project

3. Designed Diaper Keeper for mommies

4. Introduced baby quilt set

5. Carrie-me-tote in style

6. A single sized quilt for boy

7. Designed bento wrap - reusable sandwich wrap.. yeay!!

8. Designed Odekake BOX - inspired by Odekake bag - will blog about it 

9. GA to celebrate 1K-LIKE on FB page

10. Obsession with flower brooch - pic here, here and here

11. Kinoko Sling using laminated fabric

12. Made some quilted cozy cases   

Hope you've had a great start into the year of Dragon.. 

Fabric Find Monday and a secret giveaway... ssshhhhh!!! (CLOSED)

Can you imagine that it's already DECEMBER..?? It feels like only recently I was penning down my 2011 plans and aims.. and now I have to assess achievements and progress made throughout the year and start planning for 2012. 

In the meantime, what do you think of this print..? your cup of tea..?

The fabric is by KOKKA and it's 100% cotton

A quick giveaway to MyBotanG exclusive readers only.. 

Tell me what you think of the fabric and two of you might end up with an FE cut of this piece. 

Tell me about the print/colour/feel/possible project/etc - you do not need to write an essay, few sentences would suffice - I'll choose 2 comments I like best on 15th December 2011. You can write in either English or Malay.  

I've held something similar before - see what people wrote, see the winners comments.

Edited:

Thank you for participating ladies. Enjoyed reading all your comments.

For me the bold and vibrant colours against the black really brings out the FUN  and CHICK in this print. The no direction of the patterns allows for easy (lazy *grin*) cut where you do not really have to worry about having cut the pattern in the wrong direction.. eerrr believe me it has happened before *sigh*

However, the print is rather big, thus limiting the items you can make out of this fabric to medium - big bags only. I am very sure the fabric would look great as a skirt, but since I do not make any wearable, I can't say for sure..

There were 17 comments and I've decided to let random.org to choose the winners:

(Tried attaching the random box here to no avail.. *give up*)

Winner 1 is commentor 8 -  Cik Tyra (you are really lucky dear, you were one of my 1K-LIKE GA winner few weeks back, right?) *I hardly ever win anything.. sob*
Winner 2 is commentor 17 - Aynz

Each winner will receive an FE of the above print in the mail soon.
I've listed the fabric in the shoppe if you wish to get hold of some.
Thank you for participating.

Scrap Busting - Fabric Tape

Remnant fabrics from projects can really mount up very quickly and surprise you.. Without realising you might end up with bags full of pesky odd size fabrics.. 

One particular type of fabric scraps that I have collected over the years of crafting (and don't know what to do with them other than make tape to use for binding) are long fabric strips - too narrow for scrap bags or binding but too cute to be chucked out.. 

A really neat project done by a talented lady (Azzah of Sewfabby) got me all excited and immediately I went to work on producing something similar

A fabric tape works like a sellotape but with a cuter personality. They are very easy to make and cost very little. A wonderful project that would be enjoyed by both kids and adults. 

Here's a simple how to: 

All you need are fabric strips and double sided tape in the width of your choice (for best result, it should match the width of your fabric strips). 

   

For wider scrap fabrics, paste the double sided tape on the wrong side of the fabric to your desired length and use a rotary cutter to cut the strip out

After rolls of double sided tapes and various fabric strips later, you will need to figure out how best to store them. I find folding them over some old cardboard works best.. 

And.. why stop at fabric strips.. 

I have a tin full of lace scraps to kawaii to dispose.. 

Use the same method and produce cute lace-tapes

Silicone Stamp - How to..

Have you used silicone stamp before? 

They function like any other stamps you might have tried, the only thing you need to remember is, unlike rubber stamps where you stamp with all your might to get the design perfectly stamped onto paper, with silicone stamp you need to be gentle and not put too much pressure when stamping as it might cause the ink to spread and distort the pattern.. 

*click the picture to animate*

Here's a simple how to:

1. You will need silicone stamp and a clear stamper 

2. Peel a desired design from the sheet - For first time use, the design might be unyielding and may require some pressure to remove from the sheet 

3. Mount the design on the clear stamp - Unlike rubber stamp, you do not need to fix it permanently onto the mount, and no glue is required

4+5 Stamp away - Try it out on a test area before you stamp onto the desired place, remember that not much pressure is needed

*To change design, wipe the design with tissue for excess ink, remove it from the clear stamper and place it back onto the sheet and repeat step 2 to 5 

I have listed the silicone stamp in the shoppe if anybody's interested.    

'1K-LIKE' Giveaway

My page on Facebook as passed 1000 LIKE about a week ago.. 

It feels surreal...

I am grateful to everyone who has LIKE the page.. It always managed to lift my spirit to see the number increasing..

To mark the achievement, I'm having a giveaway on my page.. 

Here are the details.. 

10 Goodies to be given away to 10 lucky people..
To stand a chance to win all you have to do are...

1. LIKE MyBotanG page
2. TAG yourself on one of the same pictures (max tag is 50 names per picture)
3. COMMENT on this picture
4. WAIT patiently... :)

A. Do 1-3 within the time frame which is from 11/11/11 - 30/11/11
B. On 1/12/11 I'll randomly choose 10 names from the TAG box.

The 10 goodies are:
1. D'Lavender bag
2. Curvy Clutch
3. Hello Kitty tin box filled with Tokyo Disney Resort memo pad, coin pouch and drawstring pouch
4. Hello Kitty tin box filled with Tokyo Disney Resort memo pad, 2 FQ cut fabrics (1/2 yard), laces
5. 2 matching Japanese motif cushion covers
6. Mushroom card holder
7. Matryoshka doll card holder
8. Drawstring pouch with goodies inside
9. Drawstring pouch with goodies inside
10. Drawstring pouch with goodies inside

Note:
+The first randomly selected person will get gift number 1 and so on...
+If the winner do not respond within 48 hours of being contacted, another winner will be selected without prior notice
+The giveaway is open to anyone living anywhere with a postal code..
+You can TAG 2x or more if you have more than one page, just LIKE us and TAG away..

 

   
So remember, the giveaway is happening over at MyBotanG FB page and NOT here..

TAG yourself from 11/11/11 - 30/11/11 to stand a chance to win one of the 10 goodies that I'm giving away..

Moving and never ending unpacking..

We moved to another state in Japan last weekend (on 29th October to be exact)

The move went smoothly, it was a perfect day and the movers did a good job packing, loading and later unloading our stuff in the new home... 

Pictured above - the moving truck with quilted covers used to cover the oversize stuff i.e fridge, telly, table, washing machine, etc to protect them from bump and bruises *grin* 

My studio was all packed within an hour by 1 lady mover. It went from this..

...to this lonely and cold room full with panda boxes... It took me more than 1 week to get everything into the boxes the last time we moved.. my theory - we are attached to our items, we tend to ponder and daydream of yummy projects, thus taking longer to get the job done *grin*

Major headache started when I have to unpack and put everything in some working order..

Pictured - the view of my studio a day after the move.. 

The best thing was all the boxes were labeled and the movers sorted them into its designated areas..   

It took several days and lots of pushing and pulling, but after almost a week, I'm happy to report that basically everything is in its place and I have even started sewing again, working on some small projects..




Pictured - my sewing and cutting area

Pictured - Fabrics, books, notion








I am happy to report that I have a secret nook for my stash.. It is small and hidden and I am totally loving the headache it is causing me to organise the space..

Pictured above - sturdy moving boxes stacked on top of each other and arranged vertically (6 boxes all together) to form a cabinet to store fabrics, old clothes waiting to be recycled, batting, packing plastics and etc. The top shelf is used to store smaller cut fabrics (mostly FQ and FE) and some other remnants.. 

Birds of a feather...

Do tend to flock together.. don't they?

Living in a foreign land, working from home do take its toll on your spirit at times. I find solace online through groups I've joined on FB with similar interest in crafting as myself.

I personally feel that I've benefited in various ways from these groups I've joined. To list a few:

1. I get motivated when I see crafts created by others in the group
2. I get inspired and aim to produce something of superior quality to showcase to the group and get their feedback
3. Reading about others' success stories inspires me to do better
4. I learn new things related to my trade
5. I get my queries answered
6. I try to contribute to others' queries which in turn deepen my understanding of the matter

If you take crafting seriously, know Malay (not a requirement but the discussions are mostly conducted in Malay language) and are interested to be part of a Malaysian crafting community that share and care (for FREE), feel free to join us:

1D1P (1 day 1 product) - A group dedicated to encourage and motivate producing handmade items on daily basis. You can showcase your handmade, join in the discussions, sew along, challenge and much more

GMJ (geng mesin jahit) - A group that covers broader aspects of sewing and crafting. A one-stop place for anything and everything related to crafting.  

However, a group is not a place for a freeloader. Just as in a relationship, you need to put in an effort and contribute. You can't just sign in and expect good stuff to come along your way.

What helps you stay upbeat and motivated..?