It's a wrap up!

It is with great gratitude that I want to say a huge thank you for giving me your time to look and read my blog.  This year I have learned a lot about blogging, taking photos of my quilts, attaining new quilting skills, new techniques, starting to design my own quilts and many little details that seem minor but has contributed toward the journey.  There is still a lot more that I have to learn (both in life and quilting) and I look forward to learning them in the new year.  With that I am forever humbled to have the platform to share all these pockets of experiences with you, and  I hope you'll continue to stop by my blog as your support is immensely appreciated and valued.

Here wishing you a Blessed Christmas, Happy Holiday and Happy New Year. 

A Quilt for Childhood Memories

Childhood Quilt

Carol and I have been friends since we were toddlers.  We went to the same kindergarten, primary and high school.  Our parents are neighbors till this day, and although I no longer lived with my parents or in the same country, we still remained great friends.  Carol and I share a passion for craft since we were kids.  We did art classes together, often spent time talking and making craft stuff, and bounce interesting craft ideas of each other.  She is a beautiful person with a lot of patience, sweet nature and has great ideas for anything everything crafty.

I used the humble HST to make a simple configuration to reflect on the innocence and non-complicated life that we felt as children back then.  Our childhood was filled with lots of play, crafts and tea-parties with our teddy bears and dolls in the garden, and many other simple pleasures in life!  

The overall quilt has a nostalgic childhood feel to it.  It reminds me of how the days used to passed by so slowly and every play time felt like an adventure or a craft idea to be discovered.  I can imagine us as kids using this quilt as our play mat, building a tent out of it, or using it as a picnic rug for our tea parties.

I made this quilt to thank her for her support in every part of my journey, for the endless creative ideas that we have both shared and will still continue to share, and most of all for our beautiful childhood and friendship.

"Friendship isn't about whom you know the longest... It's about who came, and never left your side."

 - Unknown-

Quilt Facts:

Design: Humble HST

Quilt Size: 60" x 72"

Quilting: Machine ditch stitched 

Fabric: Sew Cherry & Emma Louise in Mint

Backing: Bijoux Swirly Buds Gold & remnants from Sew Cherry & Salt Air 

Progress links:

Journey 1

Journey 2

These Are My Favorite Things

Lemon tart, freddos, Big M, Magnum choc mint ice-cream & Yoga

You must be wondering what has the heading to do with quilting.  Well, they were my inspiration for colors choices for Surprise Quilt No.1.  It is a strange combination for a quilt inspiration but they are one of my yoga, travel and all time bestie's favorite things (and mine too!).  Angeline is an amazing yoga teacher (that's her on the mood board).  We often have this yearly 'conference' during summertime when she visits me in Melbourne.  The 'conference' entails daily yoga practice together (often having a good laugh in class with our inner child coming out to play), and talking all things yoga and creative ideas while enjoying a slice (or two) of lemon tart, a couple of delicious snack size chocolate Freddos, a shared glass of chocolate milk called Big M or on a very hot day, a Magnum Peppermint ice-cream mini stick.  During our conference she has the hard task of motivating my lazy bum into practicing daily to work off all these yummy treats.

It was love at first sight when I saw the original Swoon quilt.  I love the simplicity of the design and with just two contrasting or complimentary fabric it produced a lovely quilt.  It was not a hard quilt to make but I was challenged during the machine quilting phase.  Even though it was heaps faster than hand quilting, the size of the quilt made it quite a task from start to finish.  However, I'm happy with the overall effect and glad that I persevered with it.

While taking pictures of the finished quilt, I realized that the design resonates with the mandala I painted a few years ago.  I was inspired by the designs and meaning of mandala after my trip to India with Angeline.  The word 'mandala' is Sanskrit for circle and center.  It represents the visible world that we live in, and the invisible world which resides in our soul and body.  Mandala forms a representation that reveals an inner truth about oneself with the world around it (www.mandalaprimitivepop.com).

Angeline and I traveled to India together in 2008.  It was our first trip together even though we have known each other since we were kids.  Our love for yoga binds our friendship and the profound impact it has made on our lives since we started our separate journey with it many years ago.  It was a memorable trip for the both of us as we yoga, laughed, shopped, bargained, held our breath as we zipped around town in a three wheeler and ate our way from the south to the north of India.

This quilt is made for Angeline to thank her for our amazing friendship, to the many crazy experiences we had, and to the ones we will continue to make as we journey our way through life.

Quilt Facts:

Quilt design: Swoon

By: Camille Roskelly of Simplify

Size: 80" x 80"

Fabric: Various

Quilting: Machine quilted 1/2" lines

Fleury Dresden

The Fleury Dresden quilt is progressing along well.  I love the fabric colors and combination which is making the overall quilt look very pretty and shabby chic-ish.

It was fun mixing up the fabrics and sewing the plates together.  Overall it has been an easy sewing process and the colorful fabrics made it a very fun and cheerful project to do.

I am currently preparing the discs and I'll be all set to take the different components with me to do some applique in between spending time with my parents, catching up with my God-daughter, friends and family and relaxing back home over the Christmas holidays.  

Fabric Love #3

I have selected shades of yellow, orange, pinks and red fabrics  for a Dresden quilt that I am going to make next.  The fabric consist of designers such as Heather Bailey's Nicey Jane and Bijoux, Denise Schmidt's Hope Valley, Amy Butler's Midwest Modern and Daisy Chain, and Volari Wells' Nest.

The Dresden quilt was one of the most popular design during the 1920's - 30's.  It's been one of my 'To do' list of quilts after seeing a contemporary example in the book Material Obsession.  Above is a mood board that I put together for some inspiration and ideas for the quilt.

As I have finished Surprise Quilt no.2 I have started on the background fabric for the dresden plates on the weekend.  So far it's looking as I have planned it to look and I have tried my hand at paper piecing (my very first time).  It took a little experimenting and getting my head around paper piecing but eventually I go there.  Here's hoping to get as much done so that I could hand stitch the dresden plates onto the background fabric whilst on holidays.

Sneak Peak 2

Surprise Quilt no.2 is currently at quilting stage.  I have OD on the safety pins but I figured no harm with over basting as it prevents it from shifting too much.  I have decided to ditch quilt so that it showed the HST configuration more prominently.  Also shown is the backing fabric in Bijoux Swirly Buds Gold by Heather Bailey.  I will post up more picture of the finished quilt once the recipient have received it.

Sneak Peak

Surprise Quilt no.1 is finished.  It's ready to be gift wrap for the un-suspected recipient.  I hope she'll  like it. I'll post up pictures of the quilt once she have received it.

Social Shopping

I was reading Oh Joy! blog yesterday and tested this new app called Luvocracy that she has recommended.  It is at its infancy stage (only launched a few weeks back).  It's very similar to Pinterest where you pin stuff that you love, but in this case, you pin stuff that you would recommend for others to shop.  It's like making a catalog for various items that you think it worthy of your taste for others to consider purchasing.

In a nutshell, Luvocracy is about -
1. Recommending products that you really admire
2. Adding stuff that you love to your collection for others to see and shop
3. All stuff are available for purchase via Luvocracy
4. When you buy something recommended by someone, you get to thank that person and also help that person to earn rewards.

I have added some products, mainly fabrics (for now) from various online shops that I have been admiring both local and abroad.  Some of the fabrics that I have recommended on the website are fabrics that I hope to purchase to add to my existing collection.

This is an exciting concept and it'll be interesting to see how it pens out - do test and check out Luvocracy.  I would be interested to hear what you think about this new concept.

Fabric Love #2

I was going through my fabric box and I found these beautiful Japanese prints.  They were gifts from my brother when he traveled to Japan many years ago.  There are many beautiful Japanese fabrics out there but I have always found it a struggle to use such distinct and beautifully printed fabric.  

The questions I constantly ask myself when I start on a new quilt are:

1) How do I best showcase the fabric?

2) What pattern/design would best bring out the prints?

3) To whom would I use this fabric for in a quilt?

  

At the moment, I am still searching for a design that I could incorporate these lovely fabrics as part of a quilt.  I am hopeful that some day that inspiration will come.  

HST Progression of Surprise Quilt No.2

I have been...

* Cutting 4" x 4" squares of Sew Cherry fabric and Emma Louise fabric in Mint

* Stacking mountain of squares

* Penciling with handy 1/4" ruler
* Chain sewing

* Diving 4" x 4" squares to triangles
* Trimming endlessly to 3.5" x 3.5" HST




Currently I am still trimming endlessly.

"Patience is a Virtue"

Fabric Love #1

I am currently in love with Denyse Schmidt's fabric line called Chicopee and Flea Market Fancy.  Flea Market Fancy is her first fabric collection for FreeSpirit Fabrics.  However, due to popular demand the fabric line was reprinted again this year.  I can see why it was in demand because the fabric collection is gorgeous consisting of modern colors with a vintage design palette.  Chicopee is the latest of her fabric lines.  The colors in this collection are more intense and vibrant with a nostalgic design palette.  I hope to get my hands on these fat quarter bundles soon.

Happy Quilting!

Quick links:

Chicopee

Flea Market Fancy

Surprise Quilt No.2

As Sweet as 'Sew Cherry'

Now that I have finished with surprise quilt no.1, I'm about to start on surprise quilt no.2.  I will be using Sew Cherry fabric bundle designed by Lori Holt for Riley Blake Designs.  Out of 27 fat quarter bundle, I have selected 12 for this surprise quilt.  Sew cherry fabric has a vintage, sweet and charming feel to the design which reflects perfectly the personality of my dearest friend.  I can't wait to get started on it.  The design I have in mind is a simple, my all time favorite HST configuration which I have blogged about in The Many Faces of Half Squared Triangles.  

Unfortunately I'm unable to say which of the configuration I'll be using for the quilt.  However, all will be revealed in due time.

A Book Review on "Material Obsession: Contemporary Quilt Desings"

Material Obsession by Kathy Doughty & Sarah Fielke

This is the very first quilting book that I purchased in 2010.  It deserves a mentioned as it has been and still is a source of inspiration to my quilting journey.  The quilt designs and amazing array of colors in each project dances across the eyes through the author's skillful and inhibition in combining and contrasting fabrics.  This book has beginners to advance projects with good description and simple hand drawn piecing instructions, and templates for projects that requires applique.  Majority of the projects uses hand quilting which I personally feel adds a special touch to the finishing quilt.

Till today, as I flip through the pages of this book, the beautiful quilts and designs still inspires me.  It also gives me the confidence to try new color contrast and combination which I would never dream of or even dare to do.  Here is an example of a quilt that I have made from this book which I have blogged about in Simple Things in Life.  This book is a gem and one to add to your collection of quilting books.

Happy Quilting!

I Heart Quilts

Surprise Quilt No.1

Be Ready to be Surprised!  

  Here's a sneak peak into surprise quilt No.1 I'm currently quilting at the moment.  I have about 30% of machine quilting to finish up and it will be ready for binding.  This is the first quilt that I have personally selected the fabric colors and prints as opposed to all my quilts thus far which has been Charm Packs or Jelly Rolls from Moda Fabrics.  This fat quarter fabric bundle was purchased at the Melbourne Craft & Quilt Fair in July 2012.  I had some inspiration in mind in terms of colors, however it didn't help with selection process as I was spoiled by fabric choices and bundles and the variety of stalls at the fair (I was like a little girl in a candy shop that wanted everything! lol!).  This bundle took me over an hour to coordinate by just browsing through one single stall!  I also had to picture the overall effects of each print and color together with the design I had in mind for this quilt.  Even though I was satisfied with the fabric bundle, I was still unsure if it would turn out as I envisioned it to be.  Lucky for me, it turned out great when I pieced everything together.  In addition, on my previous blog The Many Faces of Half Squared Triangle, the scrappy fabric came from this fabric bundle.

In the meantime, Summer Lovin' quilt is put on hold till Surprise quilt No.1 is done and... there is Surprise quilt No.2 on its way after this quilt.  These projects will keep me busy till the end of the year

The Many Faces of Half Squared Triangle

A study on the humble half squared triangle (HST) 

Got a little side tracked from quilting and decided to play around with some HST.  These HST were made from scraps of a 'secret' quilt I'm making on top of the 'Summer Lovin' quilt on my earlier post - talk about being focus!  I'm leading towards HST 01, 07 & 11 because I want to make a simple quilt with these HST.   I often feel that simple quilts with good color coordination often makes the biggest impact.  Hopefully with three quilts to finish by end of the year, I would have collected enough scarp to make a HST quilt.

Do you have a favorite HST design?  I would love to hear from you if you do.

HST 01

HST 02

HST 03

HST 04

HST 05

HST 06

HST 07

HST 08

HST 09

HST 10

HST 11