Sunny and Bright

I’ve been back on stitching Mary these past few days. Mary’s name finally appeared~~ Love those bird motifs!!!

Here’s the progress as of today~ Noticed I’m avoiding the blank space on the right? I miscounted on one of the motifs and is trying to figure out how to adjust the other ones to fit them in…. Do not want to think of that now….

The sun is out and it’s in the 90’s, and I’m sweating like a pig… and summer is not even officially here yet!!! But it is such a pleasure to see the sun again after a long rainy season. I brought all my winter blankets up to the rooftop today for some sunshine, and thought I should take some better photos of my quilt~ Well, here it is baking under the sun!!! Still loving it every time I see it~

While I was on the rooftop, I also took some photos of the surroundings. This is Taichung, Taiwan, where I call home.

Hope you’re enjoying some sunny days as well~

Tumbler Quilt Fin.!!!!

Happy dance!!!! Happy dance!!!!! After two years and eight months, I finally finished my tumbler quilt~~~~ I’m sooooo happy that it is done!!!!!!! I was going to take some photos with it outside but It’s raining and I couldn’t wait to share this with all of you so these photos will have to do….

Pattern: Something I made up myself
Fabric: Urban Chiks 1974
Size: 78” x 61”
Beginning Date: 09-19-2010
Completion Date: 05-15-2013

I used the 1974 Urban Chiks fabric for this quilt. I still remember how I fell in love with this line of fabric when I first laid my eyes on them, and I still love it!!! I also used the fabric from the same line for the backing, and I have to say it is equally as beautiful as the front~

I hand quilted the whole thing, which is why it took me so long. But I think the end result is totally worth the effort!!!!!

I remembered to add a quilt tag this time. The date on it was the day I finished all the hand quilting. I did not expect the binding would go missing for so long…. At least it tuned out at the end~

And who would have know this quilt will go so perfectly with my new guess bed!!!! I just put this bed together a few weeks ago. Don’t you think they are a perfect match?!

Found!!

Things will turn up when you’re least expected – this is so true!!!! I was moving things around in the closet yesterday and there it was – my missing binding!!!!! I was so thrilled to find it, and immediately dug my sewing machine out of its box and set it up.

I am working on the whip stitch now, the end is finally near~

So Close… Yet So Far!!

Has this ever happen to you? You put something important in a special place, but could not remember what that special place is…. Well, that is exactly what happened to me here!!!!! I was so happy that I finished all the hand quilting, and have everything ready for the binding, even made a quilt tag that was going to go with it.   

But where did I put that roll of binding?! I had it cut and rolled before our move back to Taiwan because it’s easier to store. I even remember unpacking it and put it at a special place for ease access, but now I can’t remember just where that special place is…. I went through all the shelves and drawers that I put my craft things and couldn’t find it. So much for being organized!!! After two days of digging through all my stuff, I am giving up. I’ll just have to put it aside for now and hope that the binding will turn up when I least expected. So here is my quilt minus the binding….

Moving on to my next project – the Mary Wigham Sampler!!!! Another UFO for such a long time!!! I decided to pick it up again, because I want to finish all my UFOs before starting on a new project again. Besides, I’m quite enjoying Mary’s company~ The last time I’ve worked on this was on September 30,2011!! It has waited long enough, won’t you say?!

Owls

I know I’m more of a giraffe person, but I came across this free printable owl calendar the other day and thought I just had to share. There are over 40 prints to choose from and you can pick your own prints for each month!!! These illustrations are just awesome~~ I hope you will like them, too!!!

As for my quilting progress, you will be please to know that I finally finish all the hand quilting!!!!!!! Hooray~ All is left is the binding. I will break my sewing machine out of the box and get on to it this week. Hopefully I be able to show you a finished quilt soon. Until next time, happy stitching~

On the Hoop Again…

It’s about time for my tumbler quilt to make its yearly appearance again!!! Yes, yearly… how pathetic!! This time, I’m determined to finish it!!! I am not going to get sidetracked again!!!!

Let’s see how long I can keep this up this time….Stay tuned!!

Updates~

First of all, I would like to thank Jennifer for spending time giving me a list of LNS in Paris~ I’ve already added them into my schedule, hopefully I will be able to visit them all!!! I’ll definitely keep you all posted~ One more week till our trip, I’m so excited!!!!

Next up, an update on my WIP~ I love the red!!!! But working over one on a 36ct fabric was no fun!!!! Thankfully there’s not a whole lot of it!!!

Siobhan asked for an updated photo of my tumbler quilt, well, here it is!!! not much different from previous photos, but I swear, there has been a lot of work done to it!!! I’m down to the purple border. I didn’t plan on using such a complicated pattern on the border as well, wanted to save some time and do a simple one so I can finish it up. But after looking at it, it just didn’t feel right. Since I’ve already spent so much time on it, what’s another month, right?! I’ve also posted a photo of the back where the quilting pattern shows a better.

I got a chance to snitch this photo when the doves were switching hands. There were two eggs this time~~ They usually sit pretty tight in the nest so it was difficult to see the eggs. They really like the flower pot over my poop proofed pot by the side. I wonder why that is? Maybe the leaves gave them more privacy? I hope my poor plant will survive….

Thanks for visiting~~

Hodgepodge

I’ve been working on a mix of different projects lately. Do you remember this quilt from last winter (“the never ending quilt” as my husband call it…)? Well, due to the drop of temperature, it has made its appearance again. I love sitting on the couch with this quilt covering my legs while I work on it, not yet finished but it has already be keeping me warm~ I actually don’t mind the never ending quilting, to me, it kind of relaxing. But still, lets hope it will come to an end before this winter ends.

Well, this is not Déjà vu!! I made another Giraffe Growth Chart over the weekend. This one will be a Christmas gift. The only thing that’s different from the previous one was the ribbon on the border. I kind of like this orange!!

Pattern: From book “B is for Baby” by Suzonne Stirling
p.60 “Giraffe Growth Chart”
Size: 20” x 59”
Completion Date: 11-13-2011

I’ve also been working on the three little snowmen~ Just I thought I’m close to finishing it, obstacles hit again!!!! I’m having a hard time stitching the pine needles. Can’t even remember how many times I took it apart. I spent two days just on this little part!!! Still not 100% satisfied with it, but I think I’ll move on for now.

I can’t believe Thanksgiving is next week. Are you all prepared yet? I’m not!!

Hello World!!!

Can’t believe it was the beginning of December since I last post and now we are near the end!!! Sorry to be absent for so long. I have been busy setting the house up and getting ready for the holidays. I only have a little time to stitch these past few weeks, so not a whole lot to show. Nonetheless, here is what I have done with my tumbler quilt so far. I’ve only managed to finish 1/4 of the quilting, and still have ways to go!!!! I’m enjoying every second I’m having with it, though~~ It is a joy to see it grow!!!

Sorry about the grim photo, we have been raining non-stop for the past few days now, and there will be more to come…. I long to see the sun soon!!!!!

Although I have not done any Christmas stitching this year, I have been enjoying all the beautiful works that each and every one of you have done out there!!! May your holidays be filled with peace and joy!!!!

Quilting!!!!

Finally on to quilting, and I’m loving it!!!!

Have a great day~

I’m Wilting!!!

I totally blame my low productivity on the weather!! It has been cloudy and rainy and cold here the past week, and I really miss the sun!!! Just like my plants, I feel like I’m wilting!!!! I can see the sun trying really hard to break through. Let’s just hope that the sunny days will be back soon, or I’ll never get anything done!!!!

The only thing I’ve worked on this past week was basting my tumbler quilt. I also decided on my quilting pattern, but after I traced it on to a template, I feel like the pattern is too small and it will take me forever to quilt it!!! So I’ll have to enlarge it, trace it again, cut it out, and transfer it on the the quilt top. Whew!! That sounds like a lot of steps before I can actually do the quilting!!! Is there an easier way to do this??

I’ll try to move faster so I won’t bore you all to death with this never ending progress!!! Thanks for visiting!!

The Stage is Set…

Quilt top – done!!!

Backing – ready!!

Binding – set!!

Looks like I’m all ready to start hand quilting~~ But wait, what am I missing? Oh, that’s right!! I have to baste the sandwich first!!! Hum, looks like I forgot to get basting thread and needles when I went shopping last time, and I still need stencil papers to make quilt pattern stencils, too!! So another trip to JoAnn’s is in order!!!

I’m also debating on what pattern to make on this quilt… I’m thinking something swirly and fun but simple so I won’t kill myself doing it. What do you think? Am I missing anything else??

1/3… Almost…

While I was waiting for my ordered fabric to arrive, I went back to my Mary Wigham. I’m on to the last motif at the bottom left corner, that means I’m 1/3 done on this piece – well, almost… For some reason this motif is giving me so much trouble!!!! I can’t remember how many times I’ve frogged it, and last night I had to fix the tail of the bird 3 times and still didn’t get in right!!! I was sooo hoping to finish this before the fabrics arrive so I can go back to my quilting!!

And of course these beautiful fabrics arrived today, which made me feel much better when I saw them. I did a little web surfing last week and was so excited when I found these fabric from the same 1974 series of my tumbler quilt~~ So I’m going to set Mary aside for the moment and work on my quilt again, just to change the scene a little bit and hope the frog will be gone when I get back to it.

Did you see Jennifer’s awesome finds at market? She is generously giving away some stash on her blog, be sure to go check it out!!

All Pieced!!

Although this photo may not look much different from the previous one, all the blocks are pieced together in this one, miner the top row since I still have to fill in one block. I actually did managed to put them all together and cleaned up the mess before DH came back from his business trip last weekend, and he was rather impressed with this quilt top, which made me very happy~~

I still need to get fabrics for the border and backing. I think I know what I’m using for the border, but not sure about the backing yet. Since I don’t think I’ll find any backing fabric from this series that is big enough, I’ll have to hit quilt shops and try finding something that will go with it. Any suggestions?

Look at what DH brought me from his trip~ Those soap smells soooo good!!! He told me so many great stories about Maine that I wanted to visit there even more!!!! He did promised to take me there one day so I’ll have to take his word for it!!

It is SUPER hot here today, like more then a 100 degrees hot – which is very rare consider the average high in La Jolla is around 78 degrees!!! I hope this heat wave will be over and autumn temperature will return soon~~

OH!!! By the way, have you seen one of those GO Cutters?! I soooo want one of those!!! Think of all the time it will save to cut all those blocks!!!! There happens to be a few GO giveaways happening right now, so be sure to GO check my sidebar of all the excitements that is going on~~~

A New Start~

Living in an apartment, there’s not a lot of space to stretch out. So while DH is in Maine right now eating lobster buffet (so envy!!), I thought to myself, what a great opportunity to start a new quilt?! I can take over the dinning table and living room and no one would complain about it!!!! So that’s what I did. I took out the Urban Chiks 1974 Charm Packs I bought a few weeks back and started cutting.

One hundred and eighty blocks and a hand of sore fingers later, I ended up with 5 piles of nicely cut tumbler shapes and a basket full of scraps~~ I love these prints sooooo much that I’m going to save the scrapes for now and think of a way to use them later…

When I bought these charm packs, I already knew I wanted to try this recipe from Moda Bakeshop. Instead of four packs, I used five, and I’m thinking of adding a border around it to expand the final size. I can’t remember how many times I had arranged and rearranged these blocks, but after squatting on the floor for so long, my thigh is still sore even now. I’ve moved onto sewing. Hopefully I can finish piecing them together before DH comes home, and all the pieces will match up nicely…. Fingers crossed.

I was very lucky to win this gorgeous project bag from Susan a few weeks ago!!! It is HUGE and a perfect fit for a bigger project!!!! I place the needle minder on it to give you a sense of the size~~ I love it!! Thank you so much, Susan!!!!

Well, I’m going back to my sewing now. Talk to you all later~~~