In Progress...

I got this lovely package in the mail recently from The Village Haberdashery and thought I'd share. I plan to use them all in a quilt (below) with the floral pattern as the large square centers and then the aqua for the little square. I just had to throw in some Pearl Bracelets in there somehow and I really love this pool color. The little girls will be used as the backing.

It's been a long time since I've added any new fabrics to my stash but with the new baby coming, I've been looking for some color inspiration for the new nursery. We plan to convert our existing office/guest bedroom into the new nursery and the walls are currently painted a soft blue. I think the paint color is really soothing so I will definitely keep it as is. Honestly, with less than 3 months until the baby is due, who has time to paint a whole room?

Anyway, here's my inspiration for the quilt: I pinned this picture of a Disappearing 9 patch quilt to my pinterest because I really loved the color combination of aqua and red.

                                                                 Source: threadtales.files.wordpress.com via Elena on Pinterest

I have no idea if I can get this completed before the new baby arrives but if I can at least cut up some squares, then I'll be happy!

W.I.P. Wednesday + My 100th Post!

Hello All. 

I noticed today that this will be my 100th post. I also noticed that I now have 100 followers on Pinterest. I call that a happy coincidence!

I actually never thought I would have come this far when I started this blog. Initially, I just wanted to use the "non-baby" part of my brain and share my creative side along the way. I never thought that I'd actually have followers and meet so many nice online friends who share the same interests as me. It's really been a rewarding journey.

Ok, enough of the mushy stuff and on to finished makes!

1. I made 3 little dollies as gifts for little miss (center) and her friends. Because my daughter is a mixed ethnicity (Filipino/Caucasian) I have a hard time finding manufactured dolls that resemble her in any way. Thus, I'm forever pinning doll patterns that let you customize eye color, skin color, hairstyle, etc. This particular pattern is from Sew News and dolls are donated to a good cause. It was great fun creating a doll for each girl.

3. I popped in the the Selvedge Magazine Christmas fair on Sunday and came away with some beautiful fabric from Karen over at Bluebery Park. 

3. More softies for the Christmas Fair! 

4. Finally, this is how I get some sewing done while little miss "helps" mommy. I often print off a coloring page of whatever project I'm working on so that little miss can work right along side me.

Until next time. Linking up with...

I heart Spoonflower!

Woohoo! My very first Spoonflower order arrived yesterday. Spoonflower had a 2 for 1 fat quarter sale last week and the fabric arrived nearly two weeks ahead of the guaranteed delivery date (int'l shipping too). I was very impressed with their customer service also.  I think Spoonflower has found yet another repeat customer!

And here's a peak and some of the fabrics I'm using for the upcoming school fair...

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Finally, here's the finished Japanese fat quarter pillow/cushion that I started earlier in the week.

Until next time...

Japanese Charm Swap

I'm participating in a Japanese Charm Swap over at Sarah's Narcoleptic in a Cupbaord.

I chose Postage Stamps by Pushpin for Kokka. 

Even the selvage was super cute...

All cut up and ready to swap...

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I can't wait to see what I get back :)

Festival of Quilts 2012

It's Monday and I'm recovering from a weekend of quilts and fabric. I was lucky enough to make it out to Birmingham over the weekend to visit the Festival of Quilts 2012. 

There were so many lovely quilts on display but I think I was too distracted to take many pictures of them. Other highlights included a visit to the Eternal Maker booth (my favorite), gawking at Liberty's new quilter's cottons from Fabrics Galore and seeing Tula Pink's new fabric & book at the Coats & Clark booth. 

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Oh, and here are some of my favorite purchases from the show:

Cloud 9 simpatico fat quarters, scrap bag and gorgeous zippers from The Eternal Maker.

 Liberty fabric and quilter's cotton from Fabrics Galore. The fabric on the left is called Tuesday Trees and is one of the designs by Lauren Child, author of Charlie & Lola. My daughter really likes C&L so I was even more pleased that I found it :)

Liberty 9 patch cushion kits from Alice Caroline. I'm giving a friend a sewing lesson so I thought this would be a great first project.

Did anyone else out there enjoy the festival?

Hello Kitty Baby Blanket

I finally made my very first minky baby blanket!  I've wanted to make one of these for a long time but minky fabric is very hard to come by here in the UK and it is much more expensive then it is in the US. However, when a dear friend of mine found out that she was going to have a little girl AND since she loves Hello Kitty, I just had to make one. Remember this post on Hello Kitty fabric from Liberty?

There are a ton of tutorial out there on the internet so I didn't use one specific one. I got the basic idea from reading a few and went from there. However, I did use these helpful tips on sewing with minky from delia creates and Sew Much Ado.

A few important take aways:

• Pin your fabric like crazy (I ended up pinning every 1"-1.5").
• Use a walking foot if you have one to avoid puckering (my machine is lucky enough to have one of these settings).
• Minky tends to stretch and there were a few moments when I thought I'd end up with a lumpy mess. But is also very forgiving. By the time I sewed the finishing seam all the had lumps worked themselves out.

The finished product. I know the pictures are horrible but I can often only sew at night when Little Miss is asleep! Plus my friend really liked it so I guess that's all that matters.

(hello kitty fabric is from liberty, coral minky fabric is from theeternalmaker)

Fat Quarter Crayon Rolls

I wanted to try and sew a few Christmas presents this year and decided to make some fat quarter crayon rolls for some of Little Miss's friends. My inspiration came from a crayon roll that I purchased at a craft fair earlier this year. I always keep it in my bag because it's great for occupying little ones when eating out.I used this tutorial from Rosey Corner Creations and the pattern was easy to follow and modify as needed.

A few small changes:
- I didn't use batting in between as I found it a bit bulky based on the fabrics I was using.
- I cut the fabric length to only 13" as my chunky crayons came in packs of 12.

Fabrics were purchased from the Eternal Maker booth (my favorite choice for japanese fabrics in the UK) during my last trip to the Knitting and Stitching show at Alexandra Palace. I used colored pony tail holders for the elastic (purchased from boots). The various buttons came from my stash.

Millie Moon Haberdashery in Somerset

On a recent weekend trip to Somerset, I came across a lovely fabric store in Frome. Millie Moon Haberdashery is full of wonderful bright fabrics, a great selection of sewing books and one of the largest button selections that I've seen (they take online orders as well). Oh, and the service there was bright, cheery and very helpful too.

I managed to pick up a few lovely fat quarters and felt squares for some upcoming sewing projects:

The rainbow chevron fabric is my favorite.

I'm really into charcoal greys, pinks and purples at the moment.

Not real wool felt, but a great eco alternative made from recycled materials. 

Liberty Fabric + Hello Kitty = OMG

image via Liberty

My love for Liberty fabrics has now merged with my asian-girl childhood obsession with Hello Kitty via Liberty's newest collaboration with Hello Kitty.

The new collection will be available 28 September 2011 and consists of 5 different designs in 1-3 color ways: Kakurenbo, Apple Tree, Kitty Wonderland, Music Festival and Kitty Town.

I pre-ordered my fabrics today and Kitty Wonderland and Kitty Town had already sold out. I can't wait to receive my order and get started on some Hello Kitty projects for the little one!