My simple tote--Let's go sailing

What I did for the past few months? Well, I had been busy with my work from September till mid Nov. When my holidays started in mid Nov, I went travelling in China with my hubby for 2 weeks. We went to ZhengZhou, LuoYang and Xi'an. It was such a wonderful trip !

After back from China, I spend most of my time on baking, gardening and watching movies as well as reading novels.

Finally before the end of 2011, today I managed to sew a simple tote. lol !

Chinese lunar New Year is just around the corner, I will be very busy in the coming few weeks.

School holidays coming to the end, spring cleaning, baking cookies , sewing new clothes for the coming celebration........Oh, how I wish I could have 48 hours a day ! :P

Thanks for visiting my blog. Wish you lots of laughter and happiness throughout the coming year. HAPPY NEW YEAR !

Holidays!

I am enjoying my mid -term holidays this week. Oh , how nice, I can take my own sweet time on gardening, cooking, baking, reading, watching movies as well as sewing.

I had neglected the plants in my garden for quite some time. I feel guilty about that , but I am glad that I still remember to water them daily.:)My flowers are blooming, my herbs are green and fresh, my passion fruits are delicious.

Best of all, I do not have to hurry to work.

This week , I can immerse myself in my small garden every morning.

I feel so relaxing when doing gardening. Flowers and fresh green plants always cheer me up and put me in the right mood . Just soul satisfying to enjoy my holidays in such a way. :P

Well , I had sewn up a few Farmer's wife quilt blocks for the past few days. I would have to redo block six since the measurement turned out 6.25"x 6.25" instead of 6.5" x 6.5" . It is okay, I think I can use this wrong size block for making other stuff, may be a pot holder ? :P

At first I intended to make the blocks in numerical order, but yesterday I decided to make in random order. I think it is more fun to just pick whichever block that I feel like doing.

Above is block 19 that I made yesterday. I think the colour combination of this block is quite nice. Indeed I like it very much. What do you think ?

Today I started sewing a blouse instead of quilt blocks. WIP....., I supposed it will take me some time to finish sewing it. Why ? no hurry, I am reading a book I borrowed from my school library as well. Then ,on this coming Wednesday, I will be going up north to visit my youngest brother.

Thanks for visiting. I hope you have a great week !

The farmer's wife quilt -- Block 2 Autumn tints

I got up early in the morning and completed my second block -- Autumn tints.

I am living in a country without distinction between four seasons. We only have perpetual summer here. The trees in my country are forever green. But I have this lovely cotton fabric with autumn leaves on it. I combined it with solid colour and polka dots.

I love this block very much. What do you think ? I hope you like it too ! :P

The farmer's wife quilt ---Block 1 Attics window

I joined the flickr group The Farmer's wife Quilt a-long. I finished sewing my first block just now.

As a woman with a career, heavy workload sometimes makes my life hectic and a bit miserable. Sewing is my serenity. It helps me to release stress . I know by joining this group , I will sure enjoy sewing different blocks . Most importantly, It is really fun ! I just could not wait to start the second block as soon as possible. Well, I need to wait until tomorrow since it is time to go to bed now.

Thanks for stopping by.

Good night ! ( or Good morning to some of you at the other side of the world ?) :P

Peanut shaped pencil case

The paper pattern for this pencil case was given to me by a friend.

She guessed this pattern was created by a Korean , since it is very popular among the Korean handmade lovers.

She told me it is called peanut shaped pencil case in Korea.It does looks like the shape of a peanut shell. I think it also looks like a dainty lady with a small waist as well...,hehehe!

I love the shape of this case , so I give it a try.

Both fabric used are cotton . I love the sweet small floral print fabric .

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great weeked!

My simple green top

I saw this piece of left over fabric in a local fabric shop , 1.3 metre left and 50 % discount.

Lovely green colour and it was really very cheap.If I did not grap it, I would sure regret........:P

The fabric was just enough for me to sew a simple blouse.

Simple but still I love it. Most importantly, I enjoy so much sewing my own clothings. :P.

Baju Kurung

Baju_Kurung is a traditional Malay costume in my country. This dress is the most common dress among the Muslim ladies in my country.

Although I am a Malaysian Chinese and a Buddhist, but it is interesting to learn sewing this type of dress.

Baju Kurung is relatively easy to sew compared with the usual dress I used to sew.This loose fitting dress is very comfy to wear.

Batik print modern kebaya

Baking and crocheting

Beautiful Sunday !

Got up early in the morning and baked a Cotton Soft Japanese Cheese Cake .

I couldn't get enough of this delicious cake. Just irresistible ! So soft and smooth in texture!

Just imagine, I have been baking this cake over and over for the past few weeks!

This cheese cake is easy and simple to make.I think this is the best cheese cake recipe I got from the internet.

If you love cheese cake, get the recipe from here and give it a try.

Well, while waiting for my cake to be baked in the oven, I started crocheting another floor mat.

I completed the crocheting just now. OMG ! This one is really really COLOURFUL ! Isn't it ?

My hubby's aunt gave me some of the bright colour fabric scraps . I was just too happy to get them. How lucky I am !

I used the fabric scraps and three old T-shirts given by my younger sister to crochet this mat.

Yes, I am addicted to crocheting rag rugs as well as baking cheese cake ... hahaha ! I wish to share with you this delicious cake together with a cup of white coffee. ^O^.

Thanks for visiting .

Have a gorgeous weekend !

Blue checked and purple floral scrunchies

I made two scrunchies using fabric scraps .

I took around 20 minutes to complete these two scrunchies.

Fun and easy to make.

Eco shopping bag

Today I made an eco shopping bag for my hubby .

This bag is of the same pattern as those plastic bags used by people everywhere .

I used a deco fabric I bought from a local fabric store.The fabric is of medium weight.

This bag is durable and very practical . Most importantly, it is washable and reusable.

The size of this bag is around 40 cm X 34 cm X 16 cm. It is quite roomy .

Let me show you how much groceries can be put inside this bag.

I folded the bag and put it inside my hubby's car.

I hope he will not forget to use it whenever he goes shopping.

Another crocheted mat

I am sorry I am posting my crocheted fabric mats repeatedly.

I think I am a bit crazy............

I m so addicted to crocheting these mats for the past few days.

Yes, my sister sent me some old T-shirts and I crocheted another one yesterday.

Not only that, I added another round for the other three mats that I have shown you in my last three posts.

Why ? My little grandniece paid me a visit yesterday . She said it would be better to make them bigger .

"I think it is better to have bigger ones because I like to jump on them !" she said. LOL!

So now all the four mats that I crocheted are around 20 inches in diameter.

Well, as a beginner , I understand I still need to improve my crocheting skill.

Anyway,I think this is a good start for me to practice my skill. Hopefully, I will be able to crochet beautiful stuffs in future. :D.

I would like to show you some photos of my cute grandniece . She likes to look at the flowers in my garden. Too happy to find a ripe passion fruit.

She plucked the fruit and enjoyed eating..............
Thanks for reading.
Hope you have a nice day!

The sun in the middle of gloomy sky

I crocheted when I was watching TV.

I crocheted when I was in the kitchen ,waiting for the food on the gas-stove to be cooked.

I crocheted when I was fed up of marking exercise books with horrible handwriting.

I crocheted and crocheted and crocheted.......,

Phew! Finally it was done this afternoon!

I think the colour combination for this one is a bit weird , but those were the only fabric strips left.

No choice .... and I am not willing to unpick and redo it. So just let it be, let it be .....!

Just let the sun stays in the middle of the glooming sky ( or funny sky?). Hehehe !

Yes, I enjoy so much upcycling old T-shirts into fabric mats.Thanks Amy for the inspiration !

Now I am running out of fabric strips.

My sisters promised to collect some old worn-out T-shirts and bedsheets for me. So wait until I get those stuffs before I can crochet recycled mats again.. ^o^.

Colourful rag rug

I am addicted in crocheting rag rugs already.I crocheted this colourful one yesterday afternoon.

The diameter of this rag rug is around 18 inches.

A lady working in a textile garments factory picked up some colourful knit fabric scraps ( which are supposed to be thrown away ) for me last month . I used two worn-out orange and light blue colour T-shirts, plus the green and yellow scraps to crochet the above floor mat.

The scraps given by the kind-hearted lady are really good for crocheting rug rags .

As the knit fabric is stretcheble, I cut all the scraps into zig-zag strips, and simply tie knots to join each of them to form a long strip for crocheting.

The picture below shows how I cut one of the scrap ( around 8 in. x 10 in. ) before I tie it together with other similar strips to form a long strip for crocheting. My hubby commented that the blue rag rug I crocheted a few days back is too small , so I crocheted another round to make it bigger.

The size of this rug rag is now 18 inches ( or around 45 cm ) in diameter. I supposed this is the size we both preferred , since it is not too big nor too small.

Well, I love this blue rag rug, and I am going to use it as kitchen mat . It sure will brighten up my hours spending in my kitchen. ^v^.

Enjoy your weekend !

Guess what ? Yes, I am going to spend my weekend crocheting another rag rug....., and I will start with the red fabric strips shown above . ^o^.

Crocheted fabric floor mat

I am having two weeks of holidays but I have so many bundles of exam papers to mark.

This means even in holidays yet a lot of paperwork need to be completed !

Well, I stop marking papers when I feel tired and do some crocheting .

See what I had completed yesterday, a recycled floor mat !

This hand- crocheted floor mat is inspired by Amy from chick chick sewing.

This durable floor mat is made from my three worn-out T-shirts and some fabric scraps given by my hubby's aunty.

I enjoyed cutting the worn-out T-shirts and scraps into strips and crocheting them into such eco-friendly mat.

Blue box pouch

I like checked fabric.

I like polka dot fabric.

I like blue colour.

These three likes urged me to make this box pouch.

Lovely blue colour, always made me think of the ocean and the sky.

Both are linen cotton blended fabric. Checked and polka dot are timeless favourite for many of us. Besides, these two always match perfectly.

I used cotton fabric with little blue flowers for the inner lining. This reminds me the lovely little flowers that bloom daily in my garden. Both brighten up my day.

Cat couple key chain holders

I saw a pair of lovely cat couple key chain charms in Hand Made magazine (published in Taiwan) .

Instead of making fabric key chain charms, I drew a bigger pattern to make these cat couple key chain holders.

When not in used , I hang them on the wall, or just let them sit down elegantly on my table.

Aren't they cute and lovely ?