Quilt group, and block of the month

Recently, my friend Zura from Sew Retro Chic introduced me to a new group at Facebook. The group is all about quilting, and I know nothing about quilting! I just love Zura's creations with her baby quilts. I made one before, but with barely zero knowledge, I found it really hard and took a really long time to complete the quilt, especially the binding part. 

Okay so this year, they're having this Block of the Month activity, where every month one quilter will share a quilt block tutorial for everyone to follow. Once done in December, we will quilt them! That will be interesting, really interesting I will keep the quilt to myself.

January block - Flying Geese

February block - April Star

Looking forward for more blocks, and finally the quilt itself.

Inspirations from Pinterest - Wall Collage

Since we moved in, we only focused on the most important parts of the house. Of getting the paint done, kitchen cabinets, wardrobe and furniture. We planned to continue on the walls, adding frames and photos later after we settled moving in, but we never did continue. The walls remained plain, so did our tv racks. 

So this year, we have this plan, called Project Raya. That's a long term project (since we're both busy with our own stuff), so we'll have ample time to start buying frames, getting the photos printed during our trip later, and re-deco the house. The sofa & curtains aren't that good looking now, thanks to our cats. Which also calls for a DIY job, so I'm thinking of slip cover, and adding extra length to our old curtains.

When you need ideas, on basically everything, Pinterest is the best place! I created a board, on Wall Frame ideas, Bedroom palette, Kitchen cabinets ideas (deleted them once I was done with the house) and so many things.  I even search for recipes here, and ended up with some cool recipes especially cakes.

For the walls, here are some ideas that caught my eyes: 

theprettyinlife.com

marthastewart.com

guidinghome.com

 brides.com

 belle-monde.com

And here's a guide & some wall collage designs you can use for your house

brandsushi.com

We bought some frames, and we already had a few of them from our previous house, so next will be printing part and arranging. Wish us luck!

Some new fabrics, more to come soon

Some fabrics I bought during the Black Friday & Cyber Monday sale at Hypernoodle Fabrics in December. Didn't buy much, as I just purchased some fabrics from Fabric.com before that, and those fabrics will be here this month. Thanks to kak Naza from Itsydoodles who shared her slots with me. 

Clockwise: 1. Timeless Treasures Ziggy in Cupcake 2. Camelot Fabrics Handpicked Leaves in Multi  3. Riley Blake Cruiser Arrows in White  4. Robert Kaufman Out N' About Signs in Bermuda 5. Camelot Fabrics Handpicked Raspberry Wish Flowers

Personalized Bag Tag

One of my favorite item in shop, these personalized bag tags are suitable for your kids (or you, yourself) school bags, sport bags, swimming bags or luggage! A super easy way to recognized their bags especially with unique designs and bright colors! Unlike other bag tags out there, I'm using a PUL leather strap to make it stiff so the tag will not flipped around. It's removable, so you can detach and use the tag again on other bag/ luggage. Owh if you wish to have ribbons/ strap loop instead of this ring, do let me know I will be happy to make one for you.

My embroidery machine will be home soon, so I can start doing embroidery again. I really really miss making these and the towels! Visit this album if you wish to order this bag tag.

Sew Along - Lunch Tote

My friends from a bag-maker Facebook group recently held a Sew Along project, making this adorable Lunch Tote designed by Remona from the Stitching Scientist. The tasks were divided into three parts, 1 part for each week. I didn't think I can commit to the project as I was busy with something else by then. But, finally on the third week, when participants were supposed to post photos of end product, I finally managed to sew one. And immediately fall in love with the bag. 

 Here is my lunch tote. From the original pattern, I resized it to A3 size, then divide them into half, resize each page to A3 size and taped them together. Haha :) So my bag dimension is 15" (at the widest part of the bag) x 11.5" (from the handle top)  x 4" deep. Good enough to put my wallet, make-up pouch, tissue pouch (yes, so many pouches I know), cell phone and my keys. 

I used the charm packs to make this bag, simply because I love the color combo. They are from Juggling Summer Moda Fabric by Zen Chic. I used 12 pieces of 5" squares for each side of the bag, while for the lining, I used polka dots Japanese cotton. The bottom part, I used dark blue denim to give the bag a sturdy look. The outer body were quilted, I'm not so good at free-motion thingy, so I quilt along the lines. Well, I'm pretty proud of myself for that. As for the handles, I used ready made PUL-leather handles, just need to knock them up!

 I didn't wait long to use the bag, once done I immediately transferred all my junks into the bag and ready to go out and rock the bag. The fact that it's fits all my stuff nicely, makes it my favorite bag for now. I don't like a bulky bag, and if you're like me, you will love love love this size.

Thanks Remona for this pattern, and thanks GPB members especially Sohana Sabir from mybotang for organizing this sew along. Look forward for the next sew along!

Long weekend and how I survived.

First of all, I would like to wish all my Chinese readers a Happy Chinese New Year!

May you have good health, good luck and much much happiness throughout the year.

It was a long weekend for us in Malaysia, CNY fell on Friday & Saturday, some companies replaced any public holiday that falls on Saturday with either Friday or Monday off. Then Sunday was Hari Wilayah (Federal Territory Day), celebrated by Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan on every February 1st of the year, to be replaced on Tuesday. So, another day off for some of us. That makes it 5 days weekend! Phew!

My husband was away for work, so I chose to stay at home and did some cleaning, sewing & sorting. I guess I was so bored, I decided to clear my scrap fabrics boxes, 2 of them and sorted them out according to size & colors. Not just that, I then ironed & folded them up! Surprisingly, some of them were not even supposed to be in 'scraps'category, they're big enough to make pouches & passport covers (they're in my To Sew List this week). The smaller sizes, I'll use them for appliques & patches. 

 

I found my denims collection while clearing the room, and made these baskets. 

They were so easy to make, I made 5 of them, one after another. It's so easy, I'll post the tutorial here someday insha Allah. 

 

Attached a bow to one of the baskets, in a way to label it as mine. 

 What else, I completed my Block of The Month but that, I will share with u in my next post. 

Do let me know if you wish to purchase this basket, I will be happy to make one (or more!) for you.