How does your garden grow

 I love my garden.

I have a poster that says "if you have a garden and a library you have all you need". I think that's so true.

Updates: our peas are sprouting!!! I'm very excited by this new development, because we love fresh baby peas. Can't wait to make a pasta dish with them.

XOXO

Baby Elephonte for Baby A

Busy day yesterday. I was still suffering from a fever and woke up at about 2 a.m.
Could. Not. Go. Back. To. Sleep. Suffer...

So what does one do when stuck in a illness driven insomnia? Well you cut out your cloth patterns for making softies! Ahh the joys of my trusty Clover roller cutter! It makes pattern cutting so much easier.

We were to have brunch with some friends back in town for a short break at about Noon. A friend of mine who has just had the sweetest little boy was coming. I felt gripped with guilt. I had promised her a softie for her son! Oh Oh. I also promised an elephant. So I quickly went through my fabric box and pattern file and pulled together a little elephonte (sans tusks 'cause I figured that a baby elephant doesn't have tusks (yet?)).

The fabric is high quality made in Japan cotton (with little elephant prints) and for the contrast for the ears, I used a cornflower cotton (can't really be seen in the photos). The pattern was simple, but the trick was the batting for the ears and piecing everything together by hand, after machine-sewing the various parts.

I think she liked it and I think he kinda liked it too. He seemed a very astute customer, silently fingering the fabric of the elephonte in his sleep. He knows quality.

World's best sewing companion

Ode to my sewing cat. Actually, she likes to accompany me everywhere around the house, while I'm eating, writing, surfing the web, sleeping, sewing, reading, watching telly, gardening and even while I attend to my hygiene. I rarely have a moment where I am truly alone in any one part of the house.

I gotta say, my little cat has great taste in fabric. If she likes it, she likes to paw at it. Not good for frays. So I tend to immediately remove the lovely fabric (often expensive) once I get her "stamp" of approval. If left to her own devices, she would roll around in it, rub against it and probably tear it to shreds.

Here she is, pictured next to my cutting board and patterns. As it was a cold day, she snuggled up and got comfy and took a nap. Other times, she sits right next to the sewing machine and watches the needle go up and down.

I think she is quite lovely.

Alice the Ass

Well not really. When I mean "Ass" I mean donkey.

As is relatively common in the crafty world, I'm addicted to Etsy. Alot of my stuff at home is sourced from Etsy - paintings, cups etc etc. So I was happy to find this: How to make a donkey.

It's so cute!!! So I decided to make one. I didn't get it right the first go (didn't follow the instructions - its the renegade within me) and had to do a few unpicking and alterations. The first time I wondered why the donkey only had two legs when the picture showed four. Duh - you're supposed to stitch around and cut out the space between the legs - duh...

Anyway, I worked out how to do the hair (again without reading the instructions) and found that cord makes the easiest hair. Knot and cut and sew into the donkey.

I'm still to sew on the (Betty Boop) eye lashes and smile, but I think it looks pretty cute as it is. Non?

Do you ever feel sad?

I do. Some times life gets a bit overwhelming and I just want to curl up into a ball and hide under my blankie.


I also feel sad whenever I hear Yo Yo Ma on his cello. But it is a happy-sad feeling. That cello just stirs up so many emotions. 


I also feel sad when no one listens to my tiny violin playing my "oh I'm so sad" song. 


I just feel like going back to bed.


xoxo

Making a patchwork quilt

Everyone seems to have a comfort blanket-teddy bear-pacifier etc etc that they remember from childhood. Mine was a patchwork quilt that my grandma made for me. I used to marvel at it and run the back of my hand against the smoothness of the material. It was light and well suited for the humid weather where I grew up. I used to tug at the fabric, just to see the patchwork squares lift away from the plainer backing fabric. I think I had it till I was about 6, and then it was tattered and the edges had started to fray. I think maybe mum threw it away. I'm really not sure. I tend to remember things by smells and colours. The base colour of the quilt was a nice jade green which had a lovely sheen to it. It was a simple quilt of squares. Each square had a border of the base jade green fabric. I don't think it had batting in it, so really it was two pieces stitched together, albeit the top (correct) side was made up of patchwork squares.

So, as an ode to my grandma, I have learnt how to make my first quilt. Its not too big, about 1metre by 0.6metre. It does have batting to suit the colder climate I now live in. The colour theme is pink (just cause) and the quilt borders are a baby blue (bias tape). It tool forever, because I didn't follow any instructions other than a few tips from the Martha Stewart (domestic goddess that she is) website. What started out as an ambitious queen sized quilt was very quickly relegated to a more modest size.

 

I took it with us on our recent road trip and it was immensely comforting. I used it to cover my lap and legs in the car (cold... brr...) and in the hotel as a pillow to hug to sleep (when I wasn't hugging my hubby).

Having now learnt how to make one, I am looking forward to making ones that fit a baby cot. I have some very nice green wool cashmere mix fabric which I think will make them all the more luxurious. More so than your average store bought ones.


xoxo

Update to "Making a piglet for a piglet" - It's all worth it!

My friend sent me pictures of her little girl. I think she likes the piglet.

Isn't she the prettiest little girl you have ever seen? My goodness.

Veggie garden update

Things are moving along quite well. Though the zucchini has pretty much reached its last days.

I still have hope for the blueberry tree but I think it too is counting down to plant heaven.

Anyway, our first vine ripened tomato is turning a nice luscious red.
























Our cucumbers are also doing well.  But, some of them are a bit odd looking.

And on a final note - coffee and cake - what a life.

A piglet for a piglet

Continuing from my earlier post, I finally managed to finish the little piglet for my friend's daughter. I followed the FunkyFriends pattern, but in the end made several amendments. The piggy as per the pattern was fine, but it lacked that additional charm.


So I unpicked the head and made a bigger one. Also I didn't machine sew it on, instead I stuffed it and attached it with hand stitching so that it sat at a bit of an angle. i think it looks more adorable that way.

I also added a cloth flower made using a Clover yo yo tool and embroidered a smile.

I do hope she likes it.

All ready to go to home sweet home!

The beginnings of a piglet

I've purchased quite few patterns from Funky Friends. Mostly because they look so cute. The first one I got was for a honey bear that came free when you sign up online for their news letter.

Most of the patterns are complicated and they make medium sized softies. The easiest one I got was for a pig. Why pig? Well 'cause their just so cute and my Ko Ko (brother) was born in the year of the pig (a very auspicious sign to be born under). So recently, when I was having lunch with my friends, my friend told me that her little girl too was born in the year of the pig. She really liked the birthday kitty I made, so I said I would make her daughter a piggy softie.

The photo below shows the start of the piggy project. More pics to follow of the finished project.

I've included a link to funky friends. The patterns are a bit expensive about $11 each (that's after discount for joining as a member). I only paid $15 for a pattern book (which I blog more on later) and that one had patterns galore.



http://www.funkyfriendsfactory.com/

Our little veggie and fruit garden

Our tomato plant has exploded! It is truly a marvel of nature. From a tiny plant no taller than the length of my arm, it is now taller than me and very fruitful.

Our cucumber plants are doing well. Look at the half formed cucumber and baby ones.

Funny how it starts to grow from the top - like stuffing a sausage.

Our zucchini plants seem to be under attack from some kind of mold. So sad. I like zucchinis more than I like cucumbers.


Our baby kumquats are doing ok. Two more have started to grow.

Japanese cotton

I love Japanese cotton. I think their great for creating softies. They are made of the best quality cotton and often have very whimsical designs. I think they would look good made into clothes too.

They are quite expensive though. Half a metre is usually the cost of a metre and a half of normal cotton that you can buy at Lincraft or Spotlight. I've been buying quite a lot off sellers on Etsy. I'm also looking forward to exploring fabric stores in Tokyo when we go there in April.

Here are some of my recent purchases.

You can buy them at Tessuti Fabrics. http://www.tessuti-shop.com/collections/cotton/japanese

Delightful cards for sale

My talented friend Kim makes the most delightful cards. You can tell that she's put in alot of care and love to making them from the detail she has included. Luckily for us mere mortals, she has put some of them up for sale. I've bought two (just to keep within my spending budget). Here are the ones I've purchased.

Her eshop is http://www.etsy.com/shop/SerenityGemz?ref=hdr

Making a birthday present

A girl I work with had her birthday on Tuesday. I didn't know. Opps. When I was told, I asked her what she wanted for her birthday and she said she didn't want me to buy her anything. I felt bad (this girl is really nice to me) so I said I would make her something. I rushed home at 6 p.m. and started immediately. I finished at 4 a.m. By that time my eyes were starting to blur, so some of the stitches are a bit bigger (when hand sewing I like to keep things nice, even and small) but I guess you can't tell.

Getting ready to be delivered. I think it looks very cute peaking out. It reminds me of the time when we first brought Indy home. She kept peaking out of her cage.

I found a nice bit of ribbon for a collar and made a little flower for the kitty using a tool made by Clover (aren't their products massively clever?).

I think the birthday girl was happy.

First Kitty

My first few posts on this new blog are all about firsties. First softie, first bunny, and now first kitty. For those of you who know me well, you know that I am in love with my cat. I never knew it possible, but there it is. My kitty Indy wakes me up each morning. I am never late for work! She's clever, she knows to let me sleep in on the weekends. Imagine being woken up by the softest little creature ever gently nudging you on the shoulder and sometimes face. Delightful.

Here is my first kitty. I think we will name him Oscar. Isn't he cute? He is sitting on top of my sewing machine. My fave gadget at the moment.