For the boys...

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

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. 

The T-shirt

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!

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

1st post of 2009!

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! :>

Cupcakes, anyone?

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...

Benji's ca-yon wallet

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! :>

A couple of busy months...

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!

Baby Quilt Top Done! Yaay!

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! ;>

More blocks!

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... :>

Missed it :(

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

Sweet dreams...

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 :>

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!

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!

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! :>

Soft book

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?