Midnight crafts

WE HAVE MOVED!

2009-05-20T13:58:00.003+08:00

Dear friends, we have moved!

From now on, please please please visit my new site at www.MidnightCrafts.net.

Hope you can join us for our upcoming 'blog-warming' party, with my 1st give-away in June! :>

Popping buttons...

2009-05-17T02:38:00.005+08:00

I'm still in a quilting funk... :p But I'll be out of it REALLY soon. Promise... Fabrics are washed, ready to be cut, and I've it all planned out... REALLY! :D

See the a new thingy on the right side of this blog? Look now: See the 'My Shop' sign? Yep. I set-up shop on Etsy last night and so far I managed to get some crayon wallets up. hooray!

In the mean time, these buttons are all I have to show for. For now.

:: Mushroom madness ::

:: Sweet treats ::

For the boys...

2009-05-15T00:17:00.003+08:00

May has a nice sort of buzz. Busy sort of 'buzz'... In the past weeks, we have been blessed with many happy occasions: birthdays, arrivals of babies, news of soon-to-arrive babies, new opportunities, etc. I don't know, but I felt these personal feel-good events countered the negativities covered in the press: the economy, swine-flu, AWARE tussle, etc...

Hubby and I also made some plans to move forward with our 'hobby site' which he set-up in the late '90s, servicing the Beanie babies crazed online community. The idea of a 'baby gift ideas site' has been tossed around for the LONGEST time, given that we are such 'big' consumers of baby items/gifts and I felt that the parents in SG are quite shortchanged in terms of cost and variety. More updates about THE PLAN coming up soon, I hope ;>

In the mean time, I'm caught in a bit of a 'quilting funk' which I can't seem to shake off. So, I made more of these:

If you are interested in getting one of these fabric wallets for a special little chap, each costs SGD$18 (comes with 8 Crayola non-toxic crayons + 1x100sheet memo pad). Please add $2 if you prefer Crayola non-toxic WASHABLE crayons.

Crayon Wallets for little girls

2009-04-22T18:00:00.005+08:00

More cupcakes crayon wallets.

Difference is that I'm getting paid for them now! (cue The Count laugher)

A friend custom-ordered 2 of these crayon wallets and I made one extra with left-over fabrics.

If you are interested in getting your hands on a fabric wallet, it costs SGD$18.00 (comes with 8 crayons + 1x100-sheet memo pad). Please add $2 if you'd prefer washable crayons.

It's a wrap!

2009-04-13T02:45:00.006+08:00

It's raining babies here! :> Seriously, I have no idea what the government is talking about when they say we are not having enough babies. The gynae's office is always packed, the malls are filled with families with strollers, babies/kids everywhere in the zoo, etc... Then again, I have been visiting 'kiddy-friendly' places hence the observation may be a 'little' skewed :p

A friend delivered earlier this month and I dugged out my old nursing cover and created a new one based on the pattern.

It's a double-sided cover, with a flexible boning strip to give you some 'view' to the nursing child. I used the cover as a stroller cover too when the baby's asleep and you want to keep the lights out and curious aunties poking their faces into the stroller :p

The backing is a japanese 100% cotton brown striped fabric which is very soft.

I think its a great gift: The shops sell them for quite a bit of $$! With a cover, I don't have to wear a nursing top or risk flashing my boobies at anyone!

Speaking of modesty, we were out at the zoo a couple of weeks back and when I neared the gibbons section, I noticed a yummy-mummy, in a nice denim tube dress, seating at the bench with a fussing baby. What surprised me was that she popped her breast out of the dress, before she positioned her baby to nurse. Hmmmm... Talk about self-confidence! hahaha

Book Me

2009-03-25T14:49:00.003+08:00

I picked up some notebooks from an old favourite store Muji at Paragon over the weekend. They gave 10% off the stationery supplies. Whoopee!

I'm in a bit of a sewing rut at the moment. Nothing pretty or productive coming out of the machine or cutting table. But good news is that I'm handquilting on an old WIP, sash by sash, cornerstone by cornerstone each evening.

Since the needle in the machine is quite old, I've been sewing some recycled papers together for scribble pads around the house. There's never paper or pen when you need one and when you don't, they are all over the house for your to pack them up.

And I jazzed up the notebooks with some iron-on experiments. And I made some for my brother - who knows better than to criticise my workmanship, or lack of. Haha.

This is a simple iron-in. I don't really like how 'bare' it looks - and the edges are not 'pretty' enough.

There, much better! I tried another scrap fabric appliqued to the book, using a zig-zag stitch.

Ok... the sewing needs a bit more practice... but overall, I like it :>

Knit to tell

2009-03-24T19:51:00.007+08:00

This was a lovely project to work on. Brainlessly knitting in the round, and the 100% cotton is lovely. I wanted something quick, yet not too 'see-through', so I opted to double up the yarn - I love the weight - but not the cost of the project! :p

It is really hard to photograph yourself in the mirror... and oops... time to clean the mirror too! :>

Butter!

2009-03-18T18:08:00.006+08:00

One thing led to another. And now I have... or HAD this. BUTTER!

I spent the night reading about butter-making, and was intrigued by the simplicity of it all... Just add cream and shake? Unbelievable. And do I seriously want to shake a bottle for hours and hours and hours? My arms are already sore from plucking my boy from trouble (literally) and is butter really worth losing my limbs for? :p But hey, it sounds really easy with a KitchenAid mixer. (hint).

While raiding the fridge for an afternoon snack, I noticed that I STILL had that half tub ofcream left over. What the heck. I dumped the content into a plastic container that used to contain some Chinese New Year goodies, and screwed on the red lid.

When I started shaking it, I went: uh oh... I don't have enough cream to work with! It was just coating the side of the jar! Dammit...

While lamenting this fact to my hubby & equally unsympathetic son, I noticed that the cream was curdling! That gave me HOPE. I shook some more and then I heard the legendary 'blop'! And we've got BUTTER! And I only shook that thingy for less than 5 mins!

There was too little buttermilk to be saved, and I yielded less than a palm size of butter. I added some honey (a little too much) after 'washing it' and glad-wrapped it before I left it in the fridge.

Just had it with some toast - and what a lovely light taste! I didn't salt the butter but next time, I promise I will flavour it better :>

The T-shirt

2009-02-25T14:12:00.003+08:00

I've been thinking about doing up an appliqued t-shirt for Benji... for a long long time.

This is a good tradition to start - a birthday shirt! Sadly, I missed out 1 :p

Really happy how this turned out - although I'm a still a bit lost about which stabilizer I should use. Here, I used a tear-away for the number '2'. For 'I'm' - I used an iron-on stabilizer which I think its a bit too stiff. I used the iron-on because I was terrified that when I 'tear-away' the stabilizer, it would rip up the t-shirt! Guess I need to experiment a bit more :p

All the Mother-care or Gap clothings that have embroidery or appliques use some kind of iron to protect the threads from chafing the baby's skin. Any ideas what it is and where I can find it?

Oh Goody goody!

2009-02-25T12:44:00.004+08:00

Benji turned 2 last week and we threw a Crepes party over the weekend for our big and small friends.

The goody bag is something that we take rather seriously here. We always feel that our little guests need to go back happy too! Just like how their presence and presents made our boy happy.

We think: What do I want Benji to get in his goody bag when we go to other parties? We know what we don't want: CANDIES, CHOCOLATES and toys that break too soon.

My friend helped with the goody bag preparation in a weekend - she decorated the paper bags, helped bundled crayons together, and supplied me with good and warm company.

For kids below 2 years, we included 1) alphabet and number stickers, 2) non-toxic bubbles, 3) a notepad, 4) 1 x Crayola TaDoodles Washable Crayon Buddy, 5) Cereal

For the older kids, We included 1) alphabet and number stickers, 2) non-toxic bubbles, 3) 4 pcs of crayons, 4) 2 tubs of Play Doh, 5) Cereal, 6) a note pad - I cut up my DCWV Printed Cardstock Stack for cover & Backing and also added 12 pieces of recycled paper - attached 2 mini brads at the top. I hope this will lead to more repurposing/recycling by the parents because I know how much materials we consume EACH day!

Last year, we used plastic tubs to hold the goodies. we included 'party materials' like noise makers, some plastic toys, pencils, erasers, sharpeners, etc. And we had chocolates for the older kids and biscuits for the younger ones. The younger ones received a Beanie Baby as well. It's quite a good feeling to see that the tubs being put to good use still when we visit our friends for playdates. But the cheap toys didn't last.

So, we hope that the crayons/play doh will leave many creative marks for their parents to capture for a long time to come! :D

Trip Around The World - DONE DONE

2009-02-17T14:41:00.003+08:00

I've been loving this project since Day 1. The top got done quite quick and then I put it away after basting it for quilting. I meant for this project to be my 30th present for myself. But that came and went, and I didn't get it quilted in time.

Over the New Year, my only craft-related resolution was: Finish what I have started, before I start something that I don't finish (quickly) again. So, in the past weeks, I have been doing small projects for the home and for the boy - more about those later on. I've pieced 3 more backings for my completed tops so that I can get them quilted and Done Done sooner.

With a good friend's birthday around the corner, I thought I'd gift the TATW to her - as I remembered her liking it when I showed her the WIP. So, it was a few days of intense quilting during Benji's naps & bedtime. Here's the final product! It's a lap-sized square quilt, but it covered just the top of my Queen-size barely.

I simply enjoyed putting the binding on and handsewing the back down - I was like: Done already?! . Never mind that the mitered border & the mitered binding don't match much, it's still my pride and joy :>

I quilted in straight lines with the walking foot - even then my lines are not all that straight!

Here's how the back of the quilt looks like. LOVE IT.

For the label, I grabbed a verse from Dorothy Parker - how apt for a quilty gift for a friend! :>

Full Circle

2009-02-11T15:18:00.003+08:00

Yes, yet another new toy :> I've been collecting all these 'sewing toys' like how we are collecting Thomas train sets for Benji :p I HEART my sewing toys ;>

Here's a 'must have' tool for cutting circles! It's the Olfa rotary circle cutter which I bought at Popular Bookstore during their year end sale.

This circle was cut WITHOUT any stabilizer, freezer paper, etc. It just works! I used it for the self covering button bought at Spotlight many moons back.

I'm already planning another project cutting up circles from my scraps for a home decor project. Hopefully I'll get to that soon! :>

Denyse Schmidt - Mix-it-up coasters

2009-01-19T01:00:00.003+08:00

One of my favourite crafty books is this one. It inspires me a lot, in terms of colours, designs, etc. More of all, it shows me that sewing/quilting should be done YOUR WAY. No quilt police to tell you that your sewing must be 100% accurate, that your colours must consist of this & that, that your blocks must be true & true traditional, etc. The quilts are very different from the ones I see displayed at the quilt shops/workshops. DS' quilts are so refreshing & modern and I simply want to try each and every one of them.

After many months of book-ownership, DS flickr-group browsing, I finally decided to create something out of her book for a friend's new home. COASTERS! I know, I know. It's nothing challenging or great as a quilt or some of her other quirky project, but this gal gotta start somewhere, okie? ;>

Well, looking at the book, I thought: geez, I can make these coasters in 15 mins. I was SOOOOOO wrong. I ended up slaving away the entire evening over this set of 6 coasters.

Step 1: Enlarge pattern design

Step 2: Roughly cut up the pieces from the pattern sheet

Step 3: Stick each piece on a plastic template sheet & trim

Step 4: Punch out the points where the 1/4" seam lines intersects on all sides of the templates (6 pcs)

Step 5: Pick out 6 different fabrics

Step 6: Cut out fabric rectangles & stack them

Step 7: Trace pattern (mark out the 1/4" points too) on the top piece of fabric with water soluble pen & then cut them out. I rotary cut the 6 layers of fabrics.

Step 8: Switch the pieces around to make sure each top will have a different combination of fabrics.

Step 9: Match points, pin, sew, iron, repeat again & again & again...

Step 10: Square up

That's just for making the coaster tops. When I finally made them into cushy coasters and quilted them, it was just sooooo sooooo satisfying. Overall, the coasters are just nice for the couple's new home, which has a comfy basement/entertainment room, with orange walls, some nice grey tiles... I picked the fabrics with their colourways in mind... And I think my friend appreciates them, so I'm happy. :>

Okay, another house-warming coming up next week. More coasters??? :>

1st post of 2009!

2009-01-19T00:34:00.003+08:00

It's been a LONG while! Well, it had been a busy Christmas, my hubby & I worked through the New Year and now we having the Lunar New Year coming up next Monday! Gosh... I need a holiday from all the holidays!

Found time to start a new project at the beginning of the year, though. More updates when it gets closer to a better shape to be shown! :D And I also indulged a 'little' online retail therapy, which arrived last week!

Over the Christmas period, I managed to sew up a few made-with-love (read: wonky sewing) items for some special people.

Remember the cupcakes fabrics? I made the crayon wallet for a friend's little girl since it was such a big hit with Benji :> I LOVE LOVE LOVE how sweet this wallet turned out.

For another creative little 3 YO, I made the crayon wallet with the scraps from Gram's Fairy Tale baby quilt and it turned out perfect (in my opinion! :p)

I believe I will continue to make more of these wallets for more of our little friends! :>

Good Buys 2

2008-12-19T02:20:00.003+08:00

December has been a month of crafty indulgence for me :>

Well, I haven't given into temptations YET with all the online fabric stores' sales & coupons. But I have been checking out the local crafting supplies stores, stocking up on notions and what-nots.

A couple of weeks ago, I visited a local store in Chinatown. They sell loads & loads & loads of Clover products that made me a very very very happy girl :>

Here's what I bought finally, and I did show some restraints when I returned a few items at the cashier before I checked out the items :p

1) The mesh transfer sheet - handy for transferring quilting patterns without cutting out template sheets.

2) Bias Tape Maker - you need one for each size!

3) Gauge - which came in very useful when I had to fold over 1/8 seams in my last project. But this gauge is in metric, so I had to measure it against my other imperial rulers first.

4) Water soluble marker - gosh, this works like a charm for me! Why I didn't get this much earlier is beyond me. LOVE IT! The marks wash out beautifully and most importantly, the marking is much more accurate and clear.

5) Iron-on transfer-pencil - I love the idea that I can trace out a pattern with this pencil and then transfer it to the fabrics just by simply ironing on it. Downside is that the markings will be permanent. No immediate plans/projects that call for this pencil yet. :p

6) Fabric glue stick - this will be useful for the applique works

7) Variegated thread - too pretty to be left out of the shopping basket ;>

8) Heat & Bond No Sew fusible web - I was thinking of making some 'iron-ons' for friends who don't sew. This is perfect for such 'painless' projects.

I do consider myself somewhat of a 'gadget-girl' (I love gadgets, but I don't go queueing up for iPhones just to be the first ones to get it...), and perhaps that explains why I fell in love with sewing again, after all these years. All the toys that you can buy for just marking patterns! For cutting fabrics! And once, I spent an entire day just search and surfing for various presser feets and their functions... And of course, the Internet has also made researching much easier and interesting, bringing me all the inspiring blogs of people who share their love & passion for their crafts.

Alrighty. Time to get back to work now and earn more $$ for my crafty fund (and Benji's diapers :p) ! ;>

Fabric Gift Wrapping 2

2008-12-16T16:30:00.003+08:00

Here's a package of booky-goodies going to a friend in New York. Her family has moved from Singapore for almost a year now, and we bought some Chinese books for their 3 little ones, sort of like helping them to get in touch with their 'Asian Roots', so to speak :>

This came from Ikea's 'mini-bolt' which I love to buy. I used another one when I used fabrics to wrap a gift for another crafty mama's baby party.

This fabric wrap is a little more 'structured'. I based it loosely on a pattern in this book and while I don't have linen & silk, I do have loads of Ikea's cotton fabrics ;> The length of the ribbon is much shorter though, but given the thickness of these ribbons, I don't wish to add too much bulk to this parcel. Keeping it S I M P L E and S H O R T.

9 more days to Christmas! :>

Cupcakes, anyone?

2008-12-11T16:28:00.004+08:00

Now, who can resist a Spotlight sale? 20% percent off... I've expected the shop to be a scene of madness again, especially when it was the Hari Raya Haji holiday last Monday. While I was there for the buttons (for projects that I can only reveal after Christmas), I caved in and bought some poplin fabrics and felt too. The solids bundled on the right were picked up from Golden Dragon earlier in the day :p

Yummy...

Punch & stamp

2008-12-11T15:49:00.006+08:00

Now, I have to perfectly honest with you. I can't draw. I can't even draw a stick figure well. And Benji's a psychic when he is able to figure out what the heck I have doodled for him when we do our 'ca-yon' sessions together.

So, in my quest to create things that people MIGHT find pleasing, I depend a lot on prints & templates, etc... This year, I finally caved in and stepped into a scrapbooking shop (cringe) to pick up some stamps. I'm simply intrigued by these clear stamps that Amy - the angry chicken - was talking about. And lo & behold, stamps from HEATHER BAILEY in the shop! I felt like I struck jackpot - I could not even find HB's freshcut fabrics locally, and yet I can buy her stamps?! WONDERFUL!

The girlies at the Made with Love shop were so helpful too. They helped me pick up a stamp pad (which can be used on fabrics... I'm skeptical still), stamp cleaner (I guess clear stamps need more maintenance than the rubber ones), and the 'acrylic' holder. Notice I didn't buy an acrylic block? Well, they were out of a lot of sizes, and what they have on hand are a bit pricey for my liking. But one of the staff said I can use these acrylic album sheets and they work just as well too. And best part of it: there are 2 pieces in there! And this is less than half the price of the blocks. BEST!

I'm intending to make gift tags out of these stock-cards. Here's one of the 'test' tag and see how super handy it is for adding in name/message? I'm hoping to make quilting labels with these stamps too. Hope they will stand up to washing! heh heh...

Christmas Skirting the issue

2008-12-11T15:23:00.003+08:00

The Christmas Skirt is officially off the tree this year.

Here's a quick look at the 'finished product'. Nope. It's not been washed yet - I'm terrified of the colours running (I didn't pre-wash the fabrics for this project)... but let me figure out a way to get this in the wash without too much drama later on.

Applique close-up. Featuring the 12 gifts for the 12 days of Christmas.

The tree would have been PERFECT with this skirt under it. But, its not meant to be, for this year, at least. :p

So, we have 'relocated' the skirt to adorn the old-style coffeeshop table and placed the candlestickholder/wreath over the centre to cover the hole. Perfecto!

It's starting to feel a lot more like Christmas now! :>

My Christmas 'mini-Skirt'

2008-12-09T18:30:00.003+08:00

The Skirt is DONE DONE DONE. The Tree is up (left the lights to get sorted out). So, I got the Skirt out and fitted it on.

AND THEN... I realised it was too SMALL for our tall tree! :( What a HUGE disappointment!

I should have at least measured the size of the tree stand when I started on this project, but I didn't. I'm so disappointed with this, and I even contemplated running out to buy a baby tree so I can dress it up with the skirt. But what am I going to do with 2 trees in the house? :(

So, I'm going to think up a way to use this skirt then... More pictures later.

I've been busy sewing up coasters for our Christmas dinner this year. And the cat is enjoying all the activity because she has a nice warm board to cosy up to after I'm done with it. :p

Let me go have a think about the Skirt now... headache, heartache! :(

Benji's ca-yon wallet

2008-11-29T13:43:00.005+08:00

Benji started to make a grab for our pens and pencils many months ago. So, we've invested in washable crayons for him to go crazy with. But he is limited to colouring only when we are at home, and at his little table, because we are so paranoid about losing the crayons in our bags and creating a mess, etc.

I chanced upon Jennifer's blog and she had created a crayon wallet tutorial - on sale at her Etsy store. It's great! Now, I can carry a scribble pad along with Benji's crayons, and it comes with a pocket to keep his masterpieces too :p

I used up some Ikea 'mini-bolts' left over from my quilted table toppers - more about that in a bit - they are not expensive and allow me to work on 'test-projects' :>

I've had these little chicky buttons for the longest time. I don't have a large button collection, and with projects like these, its a good excuse to go shopping now! ;>

I tried fitting in Benji's LARGE crayons but they were a little too tall for this wallet. The size is just right for the regular sized ones. But I've already 'discoloured' the wallet and side of the pad. But no worries, I expect this wallet to be filled with crayon bits and streaks sooner or later anyway ;>

The pad was supposed to fit the pocket on the right side. But I did not check if I had the pad that was the size of the pocket dictated in the pattern. But fortunately, the center pocket could fit the note pad (I had tons of these left from a fund raising event) well.

Overall, I'm very happy with how this turned out. I've bought Jennifer's other pattern for her quilted list-taker. Looking forward to see how that will turn out! :>

12 Days of X'mas - Tree Skirt

2008-11-10T23:38:00.010+08:00

I've been complaining A LOT these days that the malls are putting up X'mas decor earlier each year.

On the other hand, I've been keeping my eyes open for X'mas gifts, planning schedules around the holidays and also keeping a list of things that I will need to do, clean, craft in time for X'mas. The X'mas tree skirt pattern caught my eye when I was at the local quilt shop. I attended a couple of sessions at Quilts and Sew Forth and this is what I have done up so far! :>

The creases you see are due to the folding and packing. I chose 7 different X'masy fabrics and a lovely beige/gold background fabric. I chose to cut out the 12 days of X'mas gifts from a panel for the applique, instead of tracing, and hand appliqueing other designs from scratch to the tree skirt. I simply used some Heat & Bond and machine sewed them with a blanket stitch. Quick & Easy! :>

The skirt is now basted and I will machine quilt this baby after I have joined the blocks for Benji's Zoo quilt. I'm looking forward to this skirt gracing our X'mas tree this year :>

Sashiko Coasters

2008-11-10T22:58:00.006+08:00

Finally got round to completing the set of 5 coasters after choosing the backing fabric. Although the Sashiko coaster kit just require you to sew up the sides without any batting or backing, I chose to add on a lightweight iron on interface and a backing fabric.

I chose a dark Japanese print Kaufman fabric (almost black) with Kanji prints on it. I feel that it brings out the Japanese-ness of the Sashiko stitching.

I'm looking forward to completing the rest of the Sashiko kits!

A couple of busy months...

2008-11-10T15:29:00.008+08:00

It has been a while since my last entry. And this blog, quilting, fabrics and sewing have been consistently on my mind! There have been several knitting projects completed (not photographed yet), many yards of fabrics bought (I can't even begin to keep track of them!) and many projects stated (I need to tweak the WIP column very soon!).

Last week, I found a really neat shop, Sin Hin Chuan Kee, along North Bridge Road. It's a traditional wholesaler shop (read: old and not great with displays) that packs lots and lots of goodies at great prices. I found Chaco paper for tracing Sashiko patterns, elastic threads, tweezers (for getting paper backing out from appliques), and there are a whole of goodies in the store! I bought 2 reels of ribbons at just about US$1.90 each for X'mas crafting too.

I was packing up my stack of WIP the other night, then I saw my Zoo blocks looking so cheery and bright... and neglected. I remembered planning for the borders to be a deep shade of red. What a perfect X'mas gift for Benji! And I started to get into the swing of things (if I leave it till 'later' again, I will not get it done!), and started tracing the fabrics, cutting them, and taped up my layout mat on the wall. I'm now sewing the rows together, then will put up the borders hopefully by end of this week! Yippee!

Fabric Gift-wrap

2008-09-08T14:50:00.006+08:00

Last Sunday, we celebrated a crafty friend's baby girl's 3rd birthday. I decided to use the remnants of my Ikea 'mini-bolt' to wrap up this gift, so that the mummy can have some fun making her little girl stuffs too!

1) The present was first wrapped up with kraft paper first. Then I was deciding if I should use safety pins to pin the folds in place or fabric glue, or a ribbon to tie it all up?! Then DH had a brilliant idea for my to sew everything in place!

2) So, I 'wrapped' up the present as you would with your gift wrap paper. And pin and pin and pin the fabric into position.

3) Using a darning needle or similar, run your stitches along the edge of your fabric. Make sure you catch the bottom fabric! This is where the initial brown paper comes into play. The brown paper prevents 'injury' to the box when I stabbed too hard through the fabrics, etc.

As for the thread, I just use a single strand of polyester-cotton thread to sew this baby. No need to use strong threads as I wanted the gift recipient to be able to rip out the threads easily, and not damage the fabric!

You can consider the stitches to be almost like 'basting stitches', instead of real quilty stitches ;>

Lastly, I pinned a gift tag to the present with a curved safety pin. Sorry, no pic here. Did it on the fly just as the gang was at the door waiting to go for the party! :>

View from above...

2008-09-02T14:43:00.005+08:00

We went for our ride on the Singapore Flyer last week.

Well, it wasn't VERY VERY spectacular, but Benji had a good time knocking on the cabin windows and very excited about the cars and machinery that are working on the Integrated Resort and the F1 Grand Prix track near the flyer.

When I look at the roads, with their uniform lane markings, all I could think of was: SASHIKO!

I completed my 1st placemat the other evening, and I'm starting on another new one, and the lane markings on the road, with the 'merging' arrows look very much like the markings and instruction on how to stitch!

Ok. Time to get off the computer and start sewing now ;>

Baby Quilt Top Done! Yaay!

2008-08-27T15:53:00.005+08:00

Phew! My Gram's Fairy Tale baby quilt is done! I bought this kit from Fabric.com ages ago, and I've been progressing slowly with it for a long long while. I mentioned this quilt previously in a post here.

I dug it out of cold storage and started working on it again. The tedious bit was joining the triangles that made up the outer borders and joining them to the main body required some concentration - matching points, making sure that the points don't get cut off, easing in, etc...

Amanda Jean inspired me to work on this baby quilt with her Theme of the week. Although I'm a couple of days late in delivering this baby, there's nothing for me to lose as the top is now completed! :>

The instructions are clear and easy to follow and I do love the blocks and the fairy tale prints. I'm looking forward to basting and quilting than the Queen-sized Star QAL one :p

Sorry for the poor lighting again. Took this picture at around 3am in the morning when I put in the last stitch in the border. Well, the title of my blog is MIDNIGHT CRAFTS indeed! ;>

Star QAL Top DONE

2008-08-19T18:21:00.004+08:00

Okay, I'm sorry that I could not take a better picture. But the weather has been dreary and wet for the past 2 days and I only have my mobile phone handy now :p I will try to get a better picture when I have more hands on deck to hold this baby up! :>

The top is DONE DONE. I'm so glad!!! But it is HUGE. My back is already aching just THINKING of the basting I have to do on my hands and knees :p

I'm not in a hurry to quilt this one yet. I will probably quilt it when I complete my Zoo Stack and Whack baby quilt top, buy a few more needles and get into the mood before I tackle the quilting.

Thanks to AmandaJean, this has been fun, fun, fun :> Yes, its true that you can work out a quilt all by yourself. But when you have so many others quilting along with you, and someone committing herself to lead this project, you appreciate the effort and heart in this :>

Already looking forward to the next project! WOOHOO!

Good Buy

2008-08-17T23:54:00.004+08:00

I have a small working area and a smaller ironing board. and I HATE it when the wire gets in the way (and cause more creases) when I have to press those backings or bigger quilts.

And I found this beauty at the departmental store today. It costs about US$40.00 and I HAD to have it. It is a medium weight dry iron, different from my regular steam iron (I don't use the steam function for the quilts) which weighs next to nothing :p These lightweight steam irons are good for clothes, but not quite the thing when it comes to quilts!

Hubby was surprised that I would want an iron this heavy :p I explained that quilting is about PRESSING, not'ironing'... I think that left him more confused than ever! haha.

I've just applied the border to one side of my Star QAL and I'd love to try out this iron on the quilt then. I have not fired up this baby yet - not in the greatest shape to stay up in the studio tonight and sitting at the machine. I think I'm coming down with a flu or something... throat's a little scratchy and bones a little achy... not in the mood to get on the floor to pin the borders on tonight. Guess I will continue with my handquilting my sampler in bed then! ;>

Have a great week ahead!

About Stars and Sashiko

2008-08-11T22:35:00.006+08:00

I've made some progress with my Star Quilt-A-Long project and I'm happy to say that I have completed all 30 blocks and cut up all my sashings/cornerstones, waiting for sewing now :>

There has been a number of completed tops at the group's flickr folder and I thought that the quilt is 'too square' to fit into any rooms in the house. haha. A quick calculation shows that I can turn this into a Queen-sized quilt with an additional row. So, I added 2 more Stars and 3 more setting blocks.

And I also took some time to pick out my border and backing fabrics too, and they are washed and ready to go when I'm done piecing the top together.

You can see the preliminary layout below, without the sashings/cornerstones/borders. I have a piece of tape on each block to indicate which row/column they belong to, so I don't have to bother with laying them out again until they are joined.

Here are my 2 additional blocks - Dutchman's puzzle and a 9-patch star.

Recently, I found that my quilt shop carries Sashiko needles and I got really excited (for nothing). Unfortunately, the shop does NOT carry the Sashko kits/fabrics or even threads. It has been very painful looking for Sashiko stuffs in our local craft shops . And that of course gave me an excuse to shop online ;> Bought a bunch of placemat kits, some samplers and also sashiko threads. Of course, I did not have the patience to get my camera and snap a picture of the parcel as-is, but I remembered to take a pic of my spree here after I started stitching on a few coasters.

I felt that the threads supplied in the kit are not as good as the ones that you buy 'ala carte'. They seem to be more loosely twisted and a bit harder to pull through the fabric. So I'll probably just buy the sampler or the marked fabrics in the future. This is my 1st attempt at Sashiko sewing, though I've known of it for a while. Never got the chance to try my hands at i till now, because they are almost impossible to find in Singapore.

Then I visited the bookstore and bought The Ultimate Sashiko Sourcebook by Susan Briscoe which is really packed with loads of Sashiko history and patterns for reference. I. Love. It.

Loads of WIPs since the beginning of the year, and I sure hope I have more finished projects to show for in the coming months.

Thanks for sewing with me!

More blocks!

2008-07-24T01:51:00.006+08:00

Completed 2 more blocks for the Star QAL. Saw a completed top at Flickr and I can't wait for mine to get done too! :>

Here's Week 8. See how hard I'm trying to use up the ugly yellow flower fabrics? I must be careful that I don't turn it into the main feature fabric of the quilt! hahaha. But I think this print is going along quite well with the rest of the yellow prints :>

Here's Week 9. More ugly yellow flower. But I kindda like it here :>

As if I don't have enough UFOs, WIPs and what nots lying around. I started on yet another project with my quilting friends - Stack and Whack. Its really fun fun fun! I'm using a Quilting Treasures print for this Baby Quilt, for my son. I REALLY love how the blocks turned out. I guess if with better pinning, cutting, sewing, and pressing, the kaleidoscope effect would be phenomenon. So, gotta practice some more then ;>

First 6 blocks...

Then another 6 makes 12 blocks!

I LOVE the zebras & flamingos...

One of my favourites! :>

Before I go, here's a look at my latest spree on eBay :p Bought some AB fabrics online too. Can't wait to get started! MUST start at least ONE pattern this year! hahaha... I don't dare to commit to COMPLETING a project... to be able to finish one would be a great X'mas pressie for myself then ;>

Goodnight, my sewing friends!

PS: Amy has a new book Little Stitches for Little Ones... LOVELY... :>

Playing catch up

2008-07-22T17:47:00.006+08:00

My Yellow Star Quilt has been quite neglected (along with other UFOs). There is so much to do - work, baby, house, MarioKart Wii (:D) that I feel bad sewing with all these stuffs at the back of my mind.

The thing about sewing is that once you start, it is VERY hard to stop ;>

Last week, I cut up all the fabrics for Weeks 6 through 11 in a single night and went to bed with a sore back... Today, I put aside my work and sat at the sewing machine for a while and I completed 2 blocks (Weeks 6 & 7) and finished ALL my setting blocks! YAAY!

I think that the setting blocks look pretty on its own, but when I placed a star block next to it, I find that the setting block pieces look very bright orange. But as I laid out more blocks, I think it is turning out okay as the setting blocks act like 'frames' for the stars. Nope. I don't have a picture of the blocks laid out here. Spent the time sewing instead! HA!

Week 6's block. I'm using up the ugly flower fabric here :> Gosh, I'm glad to get rid of them here!

Week 7's block and this one I LIKE!

Week 7 and 8 pieces laid out here. I have the week's cut pieces separately bagged. And I'm doing them 2 blocks at a time. The missing bits of the blocks are at the sewing machine :p

I really had a good time doing these setting blocks. I like the fabrics and I like the easy piecing that turns out so neatly too! Took the 'production line' way and chain pieced, chain sewed and chain pressed the pieces. And I had the greatest satisfaction by completing 12 blocks at one go!

Another reason why Star QAL took a backseat for the past couple of weeks is because I started on a really fun quilt for Benji ;> More pictures coming up soon! :> Till then, happy stitching!

Missed it :(

2008-07-09T15:03:00.006+08:00

Gosh! I can't believe I missed it!

We were notified earlier that Splatter was coming to Singapore for an exhibition. I meant to go down and visit the booth to see if I can get more paintings for the home.

At Splatter's last show in May at Journey East, we bought his paintings from his Year of The Rat collection and he did a quick sketch for Benji too. Spelled his name wrongly, but we are cool with it. ;> Oh, its a piggy because Benji's born in the year of the Pig!

Totally bummed that I missed it... but I think DH is secretly happy that his wallet is saved! :p

Distracted

2008-07-07T13:40:00.005+08:00

It's been a while since my last post. Not to say that there has been much going-ons, but on the sewing side, it has been a bit more quieter ;> Not a bad thing, actually.

Let me explain.

We took another road trip with the family to Malaysia again, and it was great! We enjoyed the cool air of Cameron Highlands and of course, the yummy food. I packed away my sewing machine and cleared out my sewing corner before we left because there was some renovations done in our absence. I have not reinstated the machines, mats, etc because the work is still not done to our satisfaction yet.

BUT I have been hand quilting every night for the past 2 weeks, and it IS getting easier and quicker (relatively) for me. I have completed 2 blocks and starting on the 3rd one now.

The other reason why I have not caught up with AmandaJean's QAL is also because of this:

My hubby bought this for my 'small' 3-0 birthday. And we have been racing each other at MarioKart at every chance we get! :>

Ta, for now. I will be back with more news of 'gifts' I bought for myself! hahaha.

Sweet dreams...

2008-06-05T16:51:00.005+08:00

Benji's back into teething mode again. Approaching 16 months, and only 5 little pearlies, he has a lot of teeth to catch up with! We have to change bibs so often that I'm running low on stock by midday. And when we put him to bed, we noticed that he is trying to chew on the pillow covers, etc. Poor boy.

Benji goes to bed with a bolster and I can't simply find reasonably priced and attractive covers for it. So, I decided to use the pattern off the ugly one that we bought off the shelf and make him new ones. Here's my first attempt at it, and also at machine applique too! The 'insects' came from some fabric I bought from Spotlight. Great for a 'quiet game' of I Spy at bedtime then ;>

A close-up of one of my favourite patches. I also added in the cords at the seamline of the 2 fabrics, so that Benji can 'gnaw' away.

It was super quick to make and great fun too. I really wanted to get it done fast (started it yesterday afternoon and brought it for wash moments ago) so that my baby can go to bed with a cool cover! :>

Power up :>

2008-06-03T00:14:00.011+08:00

This weekend has been fun fun fun! We caught up with some friends and she made us a really good dinner, and the kids enjoyed themselves very much too.

I also felt that Benji has grown a lot in these past few weeks. As he turned 15 1/2 months, he took his first steady steps last week and today he managed to stand himself up without holding on to any furniture, or legs, or walls. And he also finally figured out how to get in and out of his favorite push-car! It's great to see him playing with the older kids and learning to be more independent because of his newfound mobility.

My parents came back from their vacation and they were exclaiming how much Benji has grown (in 10 days) and so many new tricks learned. One thing's not changed - he still has his bib around his neck! Yah, my son has a MAJOR drool issue.

Over the weekend, I power-sewed. I cut up the borders for my Tales & Tidings quit, I also caught up with AmandaJean's Star Quilt-A-Long and also cut up the fabrics for the 12 setting blocks. Phew! Chain-stitching frenzy! Half-way through to making the 48 X 4-patch pieces.

Here's Week 3's block. I 'fussy-cut' this orangey bloom fabric, which I don't like very much. I think it turned out quite nice here! :>

This is Week 4's block. The colours turned out more orangey with this camera. Just try to imagine it more 'yellow-y' :>

This is Week 5's block. Tiring, but pretty block. After all the triangles, it was just good fun to cut strips and squares to work on the setting blocks.

All in all, I'm pretty happy with the progress made so far. Fell back a few weeks because of vacation, etc. But once you get into the swing of things, the blocks came together pretty quickly :>

What a month!

2008-05-28T11:20:00.008+08:00

Back from our vacation, and I think I need another one again! ;> It was Benji's first flight and I'd say he did quite well. Don't think he was very comfortable in our laps though as he is so used to having his own seat in our cars. And too bad that I only realised infant flight vests (or for lap held babies) are available after our trip. I strongly encourage people who travel with small babies to get one of these. We could not get car seats for the kids in our tour van and we had to carry Benji in our laps again. It was uncomfortable and nerve-wrecking at some points of the journey through the Bangkok traffic. Again, we would have felt safer if he had the vest secured to our seat belt.

And since our return, my time for sewing was affected when my folks took off on their own vacation. So, I had Benji all to myself for 2 weeks, and could only reply my emails during his naps and bed time. BUT I managed to squeeze in some therapeutic and quality time with my projects ;>

1. Banana Milkshake Shrug

I finally completed the shrug made for my good friend and Benji's Godma. Meant for her BIG THREE-O birthday and I hope she likes it! I hope she will remember to take a picture of herself wearing it ;> It was really a joy to make this for a good friend, and very easy!

2. Soft book for Baby Joey

My friend's youngest, Joey (6 months old), went into surgery the week before for her heart problems. She just got discharged from the hospital and we are all looking forward to her speedy recovery. This is the same soft book panel I made for Benji before, but then I did not have the embroidery function on my old Singer. This time, I had Joey's name stitched in place for her with the Bernina 440 :>

3. Trip Around The World

I completed basting the lap-sized quilt and what a sense of accomplishment. Yes, it might not be a big quilt, but it was most challenging to squeeze time to get this quilt done within this busy and tiring month.

I had some strips left over and decided to make a pieced backing. I'm not bothered whether the strip is dead center - horizontal or vertical, I'd rather have it asymmetrical. I think it works better for this small quilt.

Actually I could have completed the quilt top earlier. But I found myself a few inches short of the outer border all around because I forgot to include the inner border's width! I tried to take a short cut by piecing the border to make it longer. I deliberated for a few days after I 'fixed it'. Ultimately, I could not bring myself to accept the mistake and ripped out the entire outer border, cut new ones and sewed it back on. I'm glad I did that. This is how one of the mitered corners of the borders turned out.

It is now sitting at a corner of my sewing table, ready to be quilted. I really hope that this could be ready before my birthday at the end of June. Not sure if I'm going to keep this quilt for myself - if yes, it will be my 30th birthday present for myself, if not, I'd give it for my mom who helped me babysit my boy during my quilting sessions!

And THANK YOU to all who have left nice and encouraging comments in my blog. I'm still pretty new to all the sewing stuff and sometimes wonder if I'm making sense about what I blogged (??). But ultimately, I want to share about what I'm doing, the mistakes I made (so you won't make the same), and the tips I discovered, and to give back to the craft blog community since I have been so inspired by many of your blogs :>

Have a great rest-of-week ahead!

Busy Weekend!

2008-05-12T12:41:00.005+08:00

It has been a busy few days for me here. A good, quilting kind of busy.

I finally got my Tales & Tidings quilt kit fabrics all cut up, and am almost done with the block piecing, except for the borders. I'm missing the backing for the quilt though! Was going to get it on fabric.com during the sale but it is sold out :( Anyone any ideas where I can get a good deal for it online??

And on Saturday, I attended a quilt session with a couple of my quilting mates. We started with a Trip Around The World - and it was so much fun! But I also spent some quality time with my seam ripper because of the boo-boos I made (piecing wrong sides together, skipping one strip, etc). BUT I made good progress that evening when I came back and its up on my design wall! Still left some piecing of strips to do, and borders to cut. But all in all, I'm pretty happy with it. Not too saccharine sweet, just nice for me ;>

Off to a trip to the land of Smiles (Thailand!) this Thursday through the weekend with family and some friends. Hope to buy some beautiful fabrics back! :>

New star on the block!

2008-05-07T11:11:00.005+08:00

Gosh, talk about being on the roll. Done with Star QAL block 2 last night! YAAY!

But I caught the flu bug - woke up feeling really horrid. And I'd really hate for Benji catch anything from this episode. So DH had to send him bright and early to my mom's. :( Will probably stay in bed to catch up on some sleep and then continue with the hexagons in the room!

Want to get well soon so I can cuddle my boy again, and of course, there is the sale at the quilt shop tomorrow too ;>

On the roll!

2008-05-06T18:07:00.012+08:00

For the past few evenings, I have been browsing craft blogs, reading quilting/sewing books, and getting the sense that the Bernina is beckoning me to the worktable... Finally, I got round to visiting the quilt shop and bought fabrics and hexagon templates so that I can actually START SEWING instead of marking out the pages for 'future projects'.

It is week 2 at Crazy Mom Quilts' Star Quilt-A-Long and I'm just done with week 1's block. Will be working on the 2nd block soon, I hope! I've decided to make this a 'yellow' quilt. I don't have much yellows at home, but I think it will go quite nicely with our Birch dominant theme in our home. :>

And I got into English Paper Piecing and I'm working on the hexagon flowers with the template I picked up from the shop. I was going to start off easy, picking out a big-sized hexagon template (2.6cm), thinking of making coasters, table topper, etc. And I'm using the 1930's themed fabric for this project. Not sure what I'm going to do with it yet, but I'm just going to keep at it... who knows, it might just turn out to be one of those 'grandmothers garden' quilt! :> I keep the project in a clear plastic file box and it is so easy to bring along and work on it while I wait at the clinic, etc.

AND I'm been 'inspired' to join Bonnie's Orange Crush Mystery as well. I think I should begin with gathering the scraps first, or perhaps stop looking at the craft blogs ;>

Anyway, this Saturday is the Colourwash workshop. Will be working on a 'trip around the world' quilt! AND there will be a sale starting Thursday at the quilt shop. A good start to the month, eh? :>

Soft book

2008-04-29T12:39:00.004+08:00

I'm almost done with the soft books which I bought from the shop almost a year back. It is not rocket science, and I have no idea why it is taking me so long to get it done! Benji's almost over the soft-book phase! Yikes!

Now, to get to the ironing board and iron out the seams, close the openings and then join the pages. How long will that take me?

New addition

2008-04-29T12:30:00.005+08:00

Finally! The Aurora 440 has landed! Actually it arrived at the shop earlier, but I could not pick it up because Benji was really ill earlier this month. Anyway, it is home with me now. Happy as can be. I have not done much sewing with it as much as I'd like to. But the BSR is a dream! I tried it out on a scrappy piece of quilt sandwich and it is much easier compared to my old Singer machine. Of course, I will need more practice with it to make decent stippling, etc but already I can feel the difference.

The instruction manual is marvelous too. Very detailed and also very clear - and that helps a lot too! The machine looked quite complicated, but it is quickly de-mystified with the instructions. Will be spending quite a bit of time playing around with the settings, the stitches, etc. I'm definitely looking forward to that ;>

All about April

2008-04-29T12:13:00.009+08:00

Its been a while. Son falling ill (twice!), helping my dad to close his shop, projects, etc have kept me away from my sewings and from adding more new posts. Ironic as I'm logged on almost everyday - mainly for work!

While waiting for my new sewing machine to arrive, I decided to hand-quilt the sampler quilt. It is turning out better than I had expected! I thought it would be REALLY tough, but it is actually enjoyable! Of course, I'm not quilting 20 stiches in 10 seconds, I'm taking a really long time to get it done, but it is rather therapeutic. :>

I have chosen a nice mint-green hand/machine quilting thread. Did not want the quilt to turn out too country and I'm hoping that the green thread will give it a modern twist.

At the slow rate I'm going, with so many other projects up my sleeves, I'll be lucky if this will be completed before end of the year!

Slow and steady

2008-03-15T02:00:00.007+08:00

I'm really excited about how the projects are turning out! The 'banana milkshake' shrug is waiting to go into the wash and then it will be ready for wrapping up! Still thinking about how I can package it as a belated birthday gift for my good friend. Hmmm... For my own 2-yarn shrug, I'm just finishing picking up the seams with the crochet needle... Exciting! :)

And then my sampler quilt is still waiting for me to finish up the border, but I'm still saving my sewings for the new machine when it arrives early next month! :) Here's a shot of the quilt just before I added all the sashings.

In the month of February, I treated myself with a couple of online shopping sprees, growing my stash just a bit more ;) Bought beautiful fabrics from Norton House and also found some really good buys from Fabric.com. BUT I have to tell myself to keep away from the shops in March to let my wallet cool off just a little. It felt really good to have those parcels coming through the doors! Here's a peek at what came out of the box from Norton House!

Wish I could work more on the projects but work has been busy and a bad case of stomach virus kept me away from the studio. The upcoming arrival of the new sewing machine will be a great motivator to get the projects moving. Can't wait! :)

Bernina Aurora 440 QE

2008-02-26T13:38:00.004+08:00

I must be mad! Just placed an order for the Bernina 440 that costs me an arm and a couple of toes. So much for 'no big ticket items' for 2008!

How this madness started was when I took a machine quitling lesson with QNSF. First of all, the walking foot that came with my Singer was a high shank one (the shop gave me the wrong one), so that didn't work. And I realised how hard it is to control the speed when you need precise stiching on the drawn lines and also for free-motion quilting. The Singer (a quilter edition too) was simply put to shame when I asked that I try it on a Bernina 240 at the class. What a difference! Things I loved on the Bernina was the Free Hand System, needle down function, the great control (you can do one stitch at a time with the foot control!) and the fact that it was very smooth and quiet.

I was tempted by a Bernina when I started doing patchwork a couple of years back but decided that it was too huge an investment, and I could hand sew if I wanted. After the baby came, I really am not keen on handsewing because I don't want to risk needles misplaced and I really do not have the time/patience to wait for it to come together so slowly.

The Singer is a good machine for what it is. It is not the cheapest machine, but it is not as forgiving to a bad sewer like me as a Bernina would be. Decided to placed my crafty money on the 440 mainly because of the BSR (Benina Stitch Regulator). That would help a idiot sewer like me! And I'm going to justify this purchase with loads of projects!

Delivery for the new machine is end of March or early April. Can't wait for it to arrive. In the mean time, I will sew as little as possible (to save it for the new machine) and start cutting up my fabrics then! :>

A Quilt waiting to happen

2008-02-16T22:14:00.009+08:00

I think the my 'domestic instinct' was super strong when I was pregnant with my son in 2006. After my 'pre-natal' holiday with my hubby in Dec, I signed up for a quilting class with Bridgette Lee from Quilts & Sew Forth.

It was all very exciting and fun! By the time the class started proper, I was already into my 3rd trimester. BUT I should have made it to my last lesson just about 2 weeks before my Estimated Due Date. My son, Benjamin, arrived 6 weeks before due date and of course, I was stuck with 4 completed blocks, and 3 more lessons to go! :p

Bridgette has been very understanding and after a year, I'm back in her workshop picking up where I left off. And already, I have a list of quilting projects that I'd like to complete in '08.

Here are the 6 completed blocks for the quilt top. Will be adding my sashing, border and binding soon. Think I will be machine quilting it.

I know I will take another year or so to complete this quilt if I'm going to quilt by hand :p

Think I will be done with this before end of April'08? I sure hope so! :>

Keeping track

2008-02-16T14:22:00.005+08:00

Well, thinking back on the money spent on yarns, fabrics and the time taken working on projects, it is really sad that I have few things to show for.

I prefer to create things for others as I think it is easier to visualize what looks nice on them, and the idea of personalized gifts is always great! And because I'm a last minute type of girl, I end up working in the seams, packaging them, etc just right before I send them off. There's never a good opportunity for me to take some pictures at all!

Below is one of the belts I made for my girl friends for X'mas 07. Crochet, white linen yarn, and green colours ribbon yarn for the ties.

Hopefully I will find the discipline to keep a visual trail of my projects from start, through work-in-progress, to the completed state. :>

First time for everything!

2008-02-16T00:36:00.003+08:00

My husband is probably laughing his head right off now if he is reading this post. A self-proclaimed anti-blogger, I often wonder who has the time to post and read blogs?!

That was before I started on craft blogs - looking for inspirations and finding great tips and knowledge shared by so many talented crafters in the blogging world. Through the blogs of many, I realised that there are many mommies who somehow find time to take care of their little (and not so little :>) one/s, keeping the house, posting interesting stories on their blogs and creating beautiful works of craft. Their stories motivate and make me want to get on with my project lists! :>

I have taken advice and recommendations through the entries of many wonderful blogs out there, and I'm not only inspired to start on new projects, but to share with you the crafty side of my life.