A small finish

Look!  It's all done!  Well, not really.  It still needs batting, backing and quilting, but the top is all done.  The design is Linda Franz's COTSIM.  It's entirely hand stitched.  Now I'm deciding whether to try hand quilting it.

25 blocks

After a hand sewing marathon I finally caught up with all the clues for Linda Franz's current Inklingo mystery.  Yea!  Can't wait to see how they are all going to go together.

Back to the sewing

My kids and I ran a craft booth with a friend of ours last week, so all of my crafty time got turned into booth prep time.  We had a great time and and sold a lot of tie dye t-shirts.

Even though it was a fun weekend, I'm glad to have my craft time to myself again and to get back to working on my own projects.  I'm actually working on some mystery quilts.

I'm working on Linda Franz's Inklingo COTSIM mystery.  Unfortunately, there have been setbacks I've gotten really behind.  First, I couldn't find freezer paper, then my printer broke down.  I finally got a spare printer set up, so I'm planning a little sewing marathon this weekend.

I also got to figure out how to finish this big thing.  It's so big I don't know how to photograph the whole thing.  This is a finished Easy Street top designed by Bonnie Hunter.  I started it years ago but only now have the skills to finish it.  Now I have to figure out how to quilt it.

Bead embroidery

Malaysia is a great country for bead embroidery.  Beads are sold everywhere, and it's easy to find a skilled embroiderer to embellish your clothing for very reasonable prices.  I was browsing needlenthread.com, saw and Myra Wood's online Craftsy class and decided to try it for myself.

I wouldn't really wear a bead embroidered dress, so the little drawstring bag was a good project for me.  Here's my version, embroidery finished, but not yet turned into a bag.

Tatting and temari

There are two unfinished doilies sitting in my drawers.  I'm trying to finish them.  It's not going well.  Here's the smaller one.  The pattern from a Japanese book, and it's supposed to be dainty and lovely.  Right now, it looks like a dish rag.

I know blocking will do wonders, but I had to take a break before I got discouraged.  So I made a temari.

Good week for tatting

It's been a productive tatting week for me.  I finished a collar and an edging, both from the Tatter's Treasure Chest.

With the left over thread, I made these little onion ring motifs, from 'The Tatting Book 111'.

And for a final distraction, there's this little bracelet, from a pattern of my own devising.

Bit by the tatting bug

I tend to swing back and forth between my various hobbies.  Right now I'm tatting, and starting too many new projects.  That's the thing about a hobby though.  You can start as many projects as you want.  No deadlines, no pressure.

I'm working on a tatted collar.

It's actually a re-make.  I made one a few years as a way of coping with a truly painful work project.  Unfortunately the stress shows in the work and there are shredded, discoloured parts where I pulled too hard.

I also finished a Bloomer bracelet designed by Marilee Rockley.  I made one out of DMC Cebelia thread.  The little lady wore it to a school outing and it instantly turned into a floppy, fuzzy mess.  So now I'm on the lookout for a thread that works better for wear-ables.  I wore this today and it seems to be holding up quite well.

How long is long enough?

With shuttles firmly back in hand, I'm back to tatting.  This is an edging I started a while back.  I was thinking of making a border for a skirt, but I realize now that I don't have the patience.  So now I'm planning to put it on a bag.

The question now is how long should it be? I think I'll just empty the shuttles and call that long enough.

I can tat

It took a bit of time to reactivate the muscle memory, but thankfully, I can still tat. The pattern is the "Nouveau" bracelet by Marilee Rockley The thread is some HDT made by fellow Malaysian, Zarina.

I had some extra yarn from making the pony, so I made a heart too.  The pattern is from heidibears.

Relearning

I finished my crochet project. It's a little flower pony from a design by Heidi Bears.

The pony came out so nicely, I felt confident about starting new project.  I picked up the tatting shuttles and started a bracelet.  After spending too much time trying to find the right thread and beads, this is the mess I made of things.

Looks like I'll have to do a bit of relearning before I can tat successfully again.

Playing catch up

Yay, my new banner is up!  The banner was designed by my little lady.  Doesn't it look cheerful!

It's taken me quite a while to clear up the projects on my table.  I've got two shirts and a dress made.

A bunch of bags are done.

I finished two amigurumi.

I even took care of the Math corrections.  Unfortunately my desk is still as messy as ever, with one crochet project and cut out pieces for about half a dozen bags.  Sigh, it seems that I'm just fated to have a messy desk.

Gift from my little lady

The chaos on my desk is a bit more under control.  I wrapped up about half of the previous mess (I even made a start on the math corrections), so I'm starting to feel a bit more in control.

The little lady saw my plain blog and made this for me. 

 It's meant to be a banner for my blog.  I'm doing a little digital cleanup on it, then I'll pop it up there.  That'll certainly brighten up the blog.

Chaos

My head's starting to hurt.  There are too many projects on my table.  In the boxes are a dress, 2 shirts, 2 amigurumi, a set of bags and stacks of my kids' math books I have to go through.

  

Unknown crochet

One of the highest items on my to-do list this weekend was to go yarn shopping.  I ran out of yarn for my latest project.  The whole ball of yarn in the picture got used up and I was still only half way through.

It's such a strange looking piece of crochet, I think I'll save the pattern information for next time.

Intercepted the laundry

I finished the little lady's dress a week ago, but she kept wearing it and putting it in the laundry before I could get a picture of it.

Here it is.  It's entirely hand-stitched using techniques from Natalie Chanin's books.

I've sewing with knit fabrics more now that they're more readily available in Malaysia.  Sometimes I use a sewing machine (I learned from Cal Patch's course on CreativeBug) and sometimes I hand stitch.

One necessity for success (at least for me) is to use strong thread.  I've tried to cheat and ended up with ripped seams.  These are the locally available threads that have worked for me.

From left to right:

• Fujix hand quilting thread from the local sewing shop.  It works great in the sewing machine.
• Gutermann buttonhole thread. It's nice for hand stitching, but it's a bit too think and a bit too pricey.  This particular spool came from Art Friend.
• Gutermann upholstery thread.  It works in the sewing machine and for hand stitching.  This one came from Spotlight.

Tatting, sewing and crochet

I finished the tatted bookmarks.  There are 7 little bookmarks, one for each day of the week.  I couldn't decide which project to start, so I started both; one amigurumi (another Rose Roxy) and a top for the little lady.

Maybe I should start a knit shawl too, just so the knitting needles don't feel left out...

Itchy fingers

I'm itching to start a project.  I tried making myself finish stuff.  I finished a rainbow loom bracelet (lattice braid from Amanda and Monica RLoomy) and three little tatted bookmarks.

It doesn't seem to help.  I still want to start something new.  I've got a bunch of yarn dumped out on my table.  Maybe I'll start a doll tomorrow, or maybe sew something for the kiddos.  We'll see.

Simple tatting

I'm not actually doing tatting penance, but I am tatting something else for a bit.  I found this in my tatting box.

A while back, a local magazine asked about doing a piece on tatting and asked for a simple project.  I was playing around with making a simple bookmark, showing the work at different stages.  The tatting article did get published, but this project didn't get used.  I figured I might as well turn the bits into something usable.  I'm finding the simple rings and chains quite soothing.

Two steps forward, one step back

I was feeling good about wrapping up unfinished projects, so I picked up a doily I've been working on for years and started tatting on it again.  I started the final row, still feeling good.  Then I realized I'd misread the pattern and missed a ring.

I had to chop off the final row.  It's a good thing I managed to take it off without nicking the previous row.  Still, I feel like I should do some sort of tatting penance for making such a silly mistake.

The machines are out

It's the day before Hari Raya.  The sewing machines are out and I only just managed to put the last stitches on the kids' baju raya.

I was actually planning to skip all the sewing this year.  The kids are big enough that new clothes just aren't that big a deal.  Then I looked at their sweet faces and remembered all the Hari Raya outfits I've made them over the years.  It occurred to me that it's not much longer until they are too cool to wear hand-made clothes.

So, yesterday, I found myself cutting silk crepe and strewing pins everywhere.

In a minute, I'll tuck away the machines and hustle the kids to bed.  Tomorrow is time for peace, grace, family and food.  I have a lot to be grateful for.

Selamat Hari Raya!