Quick Quilt for My Little Sister

After two weeks of moving and reshuffling small and big things around in my quilting room, including the monstrous 12 foot table for my wonderful Gammill Statler, I had half a day and half a night to quickly finish this quilt for my little sister, before hopping on the plane and taking the finished quilt with me. She likes pink, and hence, the quilt is pink although it's a little bit too much pink for me.! She loves the quilt, of course. :-) And now, all my beloved friends would like one and have put in their orders.... There wouldn't be a dull moment (for me) for a very long time.!!

 

 

A few presents for babies

Quilt panel comes in handy at times, and so does cloth book panel when I need to quickly whip up a present for a baby. Lately, in between my travelling, I have done just that.... I couldn't really complain with having the wonderful Gammill Statler at my disposal, and not to mention those two (not so) little hands holding the quilts up for me while I was taking photos. :-)

 

Happy New Year 2016

(My favourite Christmas tree from Zermatt, Switzerland)

Wishing everyone who drops by to read my blog a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year 2016, with good health and happiness.... Last year seems to have gone by very quickly for me. It must have been all the good time that I had and all the things that I love and enjoyed doing, and still continue to enjoy some of them, quilting is definitely one of those. :-) .... Since I have settled back into the routines after my last trip to San Francisco, I have been very busy with the festive season celebrations, catching up with family and friends, and not to mention all the quilting to be done.!

Before I left for San Francisco, I had one free morning to make a Christmas wreath for the front door. I bought Christmas fabrics from a local fabric shop for the project. It turns out quite nice (I like it, anyway) although it doesn't look exactly like the one in the picture from AllPeopleQuilt.com where I have got the idea from.

(AllPeopleQuilt.com)

I have got a few strips of the fabrics left over from making the wreath. I had an hour free on Christmas afternoon before my big Christmas dinner cook up started, so I made a pot stand by wrapping the strips of fabrics around piping cord while sewing the cord round and round in circle using my domestic Bernina sewing machine (which I also love). The idea isn't new. I have learnt the technique from when I was becoming 'acquainted' with my Bernina when I first acquired it, and have made a few of the similar pot stands previously. My crochet skill comes in handy for the edging, giving a nice finish.

I hope to be around home more this year, with only two overseas trips planned, so far. I'm looking forward to spending more time sewing, quilting and cooking all the yummy dishes while 'fitting in' work here and there in between.!!!! :-)

Time flies

From the beginning of September to the first half of November, I went on four trips to different places, in different directions. A couple of extended trips were for work with a little bit of play thrown in, and the rest was short holiday break.... I never dreamt of buying a carpet in India or thought that I would make it back to San Francisco ever again, and I did (both!!). On one free morning, I even visited a fabric shop, Britex Fabrics, in San Francisco, and bought a few things, of course. :-) The experience was great, especially for the fact that I had little expectation (if any at all). Now that I have settled back into the routine at home, my wonderful Gammill Statler is having a good workout.... 

Floriade

Surfer Paradise QLD

 

My Indian breakfast

 

 

My purchase from Britex Fabrics

 

 My American breakfast (but probably not again)

 

 

A Few Train Trips with Grandma's Squares

I always like to make use of time while travelling on an extended journey by train. Crocheting Grandma's square is one of my favourite things  to do because there is sufficient lighting and I can still see what I'm doing without having to wear a pair of glasses (not yet, anyway!), and it's easily undone if I make a mistake.

Recently, I bought some colourful yarns in Fussen, Germany, and made a table runner while on the train, making my way back to Switzerland. I finished sewing in all those 'countless' tails at home. It took some amount of patience to work my way through them before it's done.

I bought some discounted yarns in Maastricht, The Netherlands while visiting my dear friend, Marijke, and made this scarf on the train, on my way back to France.... I could see from the corner of my eye that there was a pair of curious dark brown eyes observing me, and when I looked up, he asked 'why are you so furiously making a scarf when the weather is so hot?'.... I had a good laugh, and we chatted along about different things during our train journey. :-)

Back at home, I made this poncho on a few train trips to and from work. There are
eight Grandma's squares in total. Each square has 15 rows.

And, there are a few more projects on Grandma's squares for me to look forward to finishing them off. Fortunately, there are also many more train trips for me to look forward to travelling to and from places. :-)