Merry Christmas from Singapore

I hope Santa was not late visiting any of the children around the world. His reindeer seemed to have been waylaid and were snapped shopping on Orchard Road.  Looks like they love shoes and makeup just like the rest of us….

 

Another Year, another Christmas Tree!

I can’t believe how quickly this year has flown by.  As always,

another huge tree in one of our local shopping centres, plus

incessant Christmas music which begins way too early!  This

pic was taken in the first week of November!

Joseph’s Coat Quilt Along

I have a book with this exact quilt pattern in it. It has been marked with a sticker as one of those quilts I’d love to make one day.  Now I’ve joined the Quilt Along at Don't Look Now and am looking forward to getting stuck into it.

Mum’s Quilts

My mother is a perfectionist when it comes to sewing/quilting.   My grandmother was too, but I don’t think the genetics ventured further than that! Mum doesn’t Blog. She can send an SMS, but that’s as far as technology goes; she doesn’t even own a computer.  I have her permission to put these beauties into cyberspace.  They may get an outing in a local show which is only every 2 years, but I can’t even convince her to enter anything intothe major Guild exhibition each year.   I think they should be seen by more than the inside of the spare bedroom!

 

  

Mum is a very traditional quilter – and I mean patterns, colours, everything.

The pineapples were done with hand-dyed fabrics Mum did in a class a few years ago.  This is a major step away from anything she’s ever done. It’s only

a small, wall hanging size quilt (note to self to find the dimensions) and was a challenge in her guild which won a prize.    I love it!

 

Apparently I gave Mum a bundle of FQs a couple of years ago – can’t even remember what they are. The hexagons have been paper-pieced and the quilt

has been hand quilted.  It’s taken a couple of years, but a recent illness seemed to have spurred her on to finish it!

A close-up of Grandmother’s Flower Garden.

Lollipop Log Cabins

I made this quilt from my many pink and red fabrics and ran very short of time to get it finished for a show.  I foolishly tried to quilt it myself.  I know a bad workman always blames his tools…..but…. I thought straight lines should be simple!!  Firstly the table on my Bernina snapped in half, then I couldn’t find the legs to my big perspex table attachment; then I must have had the walking foot on incorrectly as the stitching was abominable.  They say it’s all good practice  :)   But off to the Bernina Dealer I go.

Long Weekend Sewing

This is my sewing table. Hopefully this pile will soon turn into the log cabin quilt I am making for the Singapore Quilters Challenge, due in only a few weeks.

It’s a Long Weekend here, so should be able to get some tasks on the To Do List out of the way.

Of course once again I was sidetracked and this was much more fun …

I love these bag and purse pattern from Nicole Mallilieu, but have been wary of the complicated looking buckles and other gizmos, so thought I’d start with the Make-up Purse pattern which I picked up in Melbourne recently.  I’m really pleased with it. The instructions were clear and I only broke one machine needle sewing in the zip! What a Klutz! 

Happiness is……

a parcel full of fabric!

Have been a little under the weather and DH said there was a parcel waiting at home from WA (Western Australia) for me.  It was actually (WA) in the US.

It was some lovely, new quilting fabric all the way from Quilt Home  in the USA.  This is one of my favourite websites for drooling over gorgeous patterns and fabrics, all bright and modern and just itching with possibilities. Some of it is for my quilt for the Singapore Log Cabin Challenge, but obviously I can’t show you any of that yet.

 

Hopefully Mr Postman will have some more goodies soon.

Friday Flaunt

This is my first Friday Flaunt. I’ve been fiddling about with Log Cabin blocks and scraps. These two turned into a new pincushion. The old one bit the dust when all my pins became rusty – a hazard from the tropics.

and the back…

Now I’ve seen something really bizarre about my pincushion.  Does anyone else have obsessive traits in their sewing rooms??

Some Quilting At Last

There has been slim pickings around here for a while, as far as quilting goes, so I thought I’d better post a pic of something I’ve been working on….for a very long time.  The Quilt is called 99 Treasures and is a design by Susan Briscoe which I found in a UK magazine (quite) a few years ago now.  I collected all the Japanese fabrics and my quilting buddies in Melbourne very kindly helped out.  The hand applique has travelled all over the world with me on holidays over the past 4 years and I’ve finally pieced it together.  The border will be different as I couldn’t find any fabric like the one in the original.  I’m now doing the sashiko quilting using red and white Perle 8 thread.

 

 

The Welcome Mat & Happy Birthday!

One thing I love about living in Asia is everyone removing their shoes before coming in to your home.  This pic was early on Saturday before Miss14’s Big Party.  I think they are all girls’ shoes, boy are they big!
Another thing I love is that it’s always hot (well, I don’t love it all the time) and guaranteed great weather for a Pool Party. Miss 14 turned 15 and the party was great fun, apart from the complaints about the noise!  I’ve Photoshopped some pics of the party.



We had a tower of cupcakes for the birthday cake, which was a great idea – it all got eaten for a change.
Mr Milo was exhausted afterwards!

“Bonzer” the Koala

We are pleased to introduce “Bonzer”.   During our recent trip to Victoria and the Quilt Show, Miss14 found the pattern for Bonzer and his mate Beaut by Melly and Me.  She spent ages at the show choosing just the right fabrics and has now put the finishing stitches in.  For someone who has sewn probably twice on a sewing machine, I think she’s done an amazing job!  Machine stitched, machine applique, hand applique and embroidery.

Looks like we may have another stitcher in the family!

The Laundry Sack

Made up the laundry bag using two of the pink Flower Sugar fabrics from Lecien

 

I used the tutorial from this blog ihavetosay which had lots of nice photos to accompany the instructions.

New Fabrics

Decided to make a laundry bag for Miss14 to try and keep the clothes off the floor.  They don’t ever make it to the existing laundry bin, so I’m hoping a colourful bag might do the trick.  I found these fabrics at one of our local shops in Chinatown. They are ‘Flower Sugar’ from Lecien fabrics in Japan.  At only A$14 equivalent per metre – I think they are a bargain!

Travel Itineraries

We just had 2 nieces stay in between their backpacking travels around Asia. I hoped they enjoyed it as much as we did.

This weekend their 18yo brother and 2 mates arrived – DH finally located them at the airport – somehow they arrived at 2 different terminals.  This morning they have been

making further travel plans and this is their itinerary for the next 53 days!

Day to Day Life

Long time no post.  There I was stuck in traffic a few days ago and was taken by this contrast between the old and new Singapore – beautiful old shophouses in the foreground and the new housing of the 21st century still under construction

 

I then met a friend for lunch in the busy CBD and this is at the front of her building – it’s quite soothing amongst the crowded skyscrapers and the heat and humidity.

Local Wildlife

Yesterday when Milo McD and I were out walking we saw one of these -

 Sea Eagle

It was walking along the ground a few metres from us and eyed the dog hungrily when he barked at it.

Most days we will see one or more like these in the jungle area across from our house -

Asian Fairy Bluebird    

 

 

  

Asian Glossy Starling

However, today we came across something really scary…….one of these -

Cobra 

The guards at our Condo call Mr Milo “Nooorty Dog” because of his antics with residents riding motorbikes, bicycles, skateboards etc. 

We were walking along the grassy patch in front of the fence and he spied this “big stick”.  Luckily I had him on the leash and thankfully tight on the leash as sometimes residents let their dogs roam free in this area.  Mr Milo was just beginning to sniff and check it out, when the stick’s ugly head reared up.  Now I am not a fan of many things in the wild – mice, frogs & cockroaches spring to mind, and they are all in plentiful supply in our neighbourhood.  I often wondered how I’d react if I did see a snake and now I know.  I can move pretty fast if I have to!   And it wasn’t any old snake – it was one of those most deadly Cobras. 

We then alerted the guards and stayed to watch them, a) go and find it, b) go and tell every other employee nearby, and c) try to catch  and deal with it.  This took a good half hour and was like watching an old episode of Keystone Kops.  I was impressed though.  They did catch it using big poles with rope, didn’t kill it, but had it with the rope around the neck dragging it along.  They then have to  contact the Singapore wildlife people to come and get it.  

While we were standing around making sure it was gone, one of my neighbours told me she has found two of them in her house in the past two months.  I so wish she hadn’t told me that. 

The upshot is Mr Milo is now being called “Mr Hero” and “Goood Boy”

Finally…..some sewing

Here’s a baby quilt I just finished for a friend. I’ve been practising my free-motion quilting a lot and was reasonably happy with the practice pieces.

However – I felt as if I went psycho when I put the needle into a Real Quilt and it is not as good as I’d hoped.I tried out my walking foot for the first time and didn’t like it at all for quilting in the ditch. Then I shadow quilted 1/4” either side of the seams, which in hindsight I shouldn’t have. Still, being a kid’s quilt, hopefully it will stand up to lots of washing.

The label was from a roll of labels fabric and I hand painted it with watercolour textile crayons in pinks, once I knew it was a baby girl.

Out and about in Singapore

When I hear the name Christian Lacroix I can’t help thinking of Edie in Ab Fab and the wonderful 1980’s fashion she wore from this great designer.

The National Art Museum in Singapore is currently staging an exhibition of the designer’s work,consisting of Operatic costumes, theatrical designs and some of his more way-out fashion creations.

Even the artist sketches are beautiful and Miss14 and I were both really inspired by Lacroix’s work.

Birthday fun2

And this is a hint to the number of years!

And my dear Mummy gave me this wonderful new gadget…

a portable cutting board with both centimetres and inches and pressing mat

Birthday Fun!

Since I last posted I have enjoyed this…..

an old-fashioned, Aussie favourite…Ginger Fluff Sponge with real whipped cream!

And I was lucky enough to enjoy the following from friends and family

Happy Easter!

I managed to smuggle some Hot Cross Buns into the country which we enjoyed on Good Friday.

However the local ones we found were awful and full of peel, which no-one likes. We got out

the trusty Women’s Weekly cookbook and whipped up a batch this morning……very yummy.

Then the hunt was on for Easter Eggs. Could have kicked myself for not buying them weeks ago

when I saw them in the shops. However, did manage to locate some in Candy Empire all the way

from Pink Lady in Melbourne, which are the most smooth & divine tasting chocolate….

Happy Easter!

This is what I miss about home! A good, old-fashioned chocolate shop, stocked for Easter with all sorts of goodies, very generous taste-testing, choccy coated licorice and giant chocolate frogs made from the smoothest, yummiest chocolate.

Not the best quality photo, but only had my phone handy and just wanted to get in to the crowded shop!

I’ve made some more blocks!

And added them to these at my quilt group….

and have a quilt top for the bushfire appeal.