Motif 3: Cluny coaster

From strips...
To blocks...
To actual motifs...
But what's this! There's a ...GASP... mistake.

So, one more try, and here's a motif I can live with. This is Mimi Dillman's tatted coaster in DMC Cebelia 20. It could be better, but honestly, I don't want to look at another cluny for a little while.

This last motif is a testament to what practice and frustration can do for you. The first one took me two weeks. The second one, fueled by annoyance, only took me three days.

Brother-sister outfits

I'm putting together some pictures of some outfits I made for my kids, but before my dreary long shots, here's a little close up.

Here are the roses on my little lady's latest dress. The roses are 3-strands of embroidery floss in stem stitch. The leaves are 2-strands of floss in back stitch. I've been reading about liberated quilt making. The idea, as I understand it, is to work without marking, with minimal planning, to achieve an effect that is more joyful and spontaneous.

I tried to embroider these roses without any marking. I like the roses, but frankly, I don't see the liberation. I do know that my anxiety increased, worrying if the lines would match up. Perhaps even spontaneity requires practice.

So now, on the the brother sister outfits. I like to make matching brother sister outfits for my little lady and my big guy. I'm not quite sure why I do it, but they look cute together, so there are quite a few sets now. I still can't figure out how to take a decent picture of a full outfit, but I wanted to put the pictures all together for the record.

Here's the first one, also the first baju melayu I made for the little guy. I didn't sew for him as a baby. He was a regular shaped baby, and store bought was fine.



Here's set two, a baju melayu, and two top and bloomer sets from a nice green stripy piece. The little lady has always been a beautiful, big bundle. I sew for her out of necessity.


This is from Hari Raya two years ago. The dress was a bit of an afterthough, which is why the sleeves are a different material. The lace is not just for decoration. It was necessary to make the dress long enough.


These are from Hari Raya last year. This set is special. This is a brother/sister/cousin set. One of the baju melayu is for my sweet nephew. The long one is a baju kurung. Finally, something traditional for my little lady.


Here's the latest set. The little guy calls this his Kungfu outfit because of the white pants.