Pink Penguin

Filled with Quilt Love :)

noreply@blogger.com (ayumills) — Mon, 13 May 2013 02:20:00 +0000

Look what we've got in the mail just a few days ago! It is an alphabet quilt for a tiny pink penguin growing in my belly made by a collaborative work of my lovely friends all over the world. You probably heard me squealing when I opened the package, didn't you? It was such a lovely, touching, unexpected surprise!! I feel that I have done nothing but enjoyed feeling so much love from it ever since it arrived here.

I had absolutely no clue that friends have been working on anything like this for months and months. Krista of poppyprint was so sweet to start a flickr group to make this happen since I implied that I was expecting a baby (about 6 months ago now.) I found out all about how the planning went and how much thought and effort everyone put into it now. This has been really, really touching.

Seriously, this would not have happened without Krista's amazing skill to organize the group, everyone's willingness to share ideas and to provide time and effort for it. All of these people worked real hard to come up with a quilt that I would most definitely love, and they absolutely nailed it. Who wouldn't love growing up with such a cute alphabet quilt like this? I know the tiny pink penguin will have lots of fun pointing at alphabets and designs while learning ABCs. And you know how much I love paper-pieced blocks, especially those in my super quilting hero, Kumiko Fujita's 318 book (which is unfortunately out of print). The pastel color pallet, cute and lovely fabrics, quilt backing with one of my favorite fabric print - Sew Cherry's red plaid designed by the ubber talented Lori... I could go on and on about how much I love about this quilt, but what I love the most about it is how I feel the labor of love from each and every stitch.

Now would you let me introduce each sweet block and give credit to the talented makers?

The A and the apple were made by Sam. Can you spy the teeny tiny apples in A and a gorgeous vintage feedsack on the big apple? Sam! You are so generous! Sam is also expecting a baby now and there is even a chance our babies could share their birthdays!!

The B and the bee had to be made by Lori of Bee in my Bonnet, and I was right! I have been a huge fan of her ever since I discovered her blog and her fabric line!

The C and the cake were made by the sweet, talented Linda! You know how much I love sweets and this cake has to be one of my favorite patterns in the book!!

The D and the dress were made by the lovely Penny, which was no surprise either :) The cute dress pattern is one of the Sew Very Christmas pattern set by Sew-Ichigo, run by Penny and Kerry. Notice she picked ducky fabric for the D? That's exactly something she would do :)

The E and the envelope were made by Belinda and Amy. It made my heart sing to notice that this E block is the only block with a slightly pink background, because we happen to have a name picked for the baby in mind that starts with E :)

The F and the frog were made by Chase. This frog is literally the cutest frog I have ever seen! I relate myself to a frog quite often lately especially when I sit down. A big belly and short, chunky legs :)

The G and the grasshopper - I knew for sure they were made by Elnora! I had seen this cute grasshopper on her flickr or IG before and thought it was so darn cute! Can you notice the teeny tiny grasshoppers in the background? Too cute of details!

The H and the house had to be made by Charise :) She is another sweet and talented friend of mine who adds "Charise touch" to everything she makes. Oh and how much I adore everything she makes!! Such perfect fussy cutting for every window in the house!!

The I and the ice cream are just as lovely and sweet as Kylie herself! Look how perfectly she fussy-cut the cherries and the word "ice cream"?? Way too adorable!! I have a little felt pink penguin made by her. When it came here, my tiny pink penguin was so much smaller than the felt penguin, but now she is much larger! (2000 gram now!)

The J and Jello were made by the sweet, silly, and popular Monica! Everything she makes and designs is so lovely and cute just like Monica herself! I have been such a big fan of this talented lady!

The K and kite were made by Krista of poppyprint, who worked so hard for months to bring this whole quilt together!!! She is a master of everything, so she is often someone I go to when I need advice. You know someone who just seems to do everything so perfectly somehow? To me, it's Krista!

The L and the ladybug were made by Megan! She is just as lovely as this ladybug! Knowing how busy she has been at the time she made these blocks, I very much appreciate the time and energy she put into making them. The placement of the apple on the ladybug is killing me!

The M and the mouse are Berene's work! How cute is the mouse?? I wish I could snatch him up off the quilt just to give him a big hug! Berene has been working very hard to organize To Boston with Love project where quilters get together to send love to those affected by the incident in Boston. Head over here to learn more about it if you haven't heard of it.

The N and the necktie were made by the silly Doe! I read in the discussion thread and learned that N was the last alphabet to be chosen! Doe, you are so clever to come up with this necktie idea! I want a necktie exactly like this!

The O and the owl were made by Lauree! You can probably recognize that she used Sonja's cutest owl pattern! The cuteness of this owl is driving me nuts. I'll have to get a picture of my baby making a similar facial expression right next to this owl block one day for sure!

The P and the penguin - I knew right away Sonja made them! What could possibly be a better choice than a pink penguin for P? I seriously can't think of any! She designs the most unique, adorable paper-pieced blocks. It's like her brain works so differently from everyone else's! I just love everything she designs!!

"Q for a quilt?! That is so neat!" was one of the first things Joe said when we first spread out this quilt! These blocks were made by Krista of Spotted Stone Studio! It is so tiny and cute. I am crazy about anything tiny, so looking at this makes me so smile!

The R and the rabbit traveled all around the world, from Argentina to Canada, the US, to Japan! They were made by the sweet Paula! I know that she had a lot on her plate at the time she made these blocks, so I can't thank her enough for agreeing to contribute these blocks. The rabbit is way too adorable!

The S and the strawberry had to be Kerry's! Kerry has been such a great friend for me for a long time. You can find her lovely strawberry pattern in Sew-Ichigo's shop! It is a truly lovely pattern! While you are there, don't forget to check out their awesome newest pattern set!

I knew right away that the T and the teapot were Leila's work! It's funny how I was playing with her Green Tea pattern just an hour before the quilt arrived. I was using this teapot pattern for my flag contribution for To Boston With Love project. I even used the same daisy print! It's like a part of me knew what was coming my way!

The U and the umbrella were made by Jeannie. She too is such a busy lady, so I feel blessed that she took the moment to make some blocks for this quilt! This umbrella is completely perfect in every way! I wish I had a cute umbrella like this!

The V and the van were made by Amber. Seriously, how lovely is this van? If my tiny pink penguin sees a van like this on the street, I am sure she (and I!) will not be able to resist going there and getting some treats!

The W and the whale are Amy's work! This whale is just so so cute!! This fabric she used for the water part reminds me of some traditional Japanese fabric, which makes this block very special for me too!! "Woof!" for W is so awesome, Amy!!

The X and the xylophone are so Tamiko I knew they were made by her!! The apple fabric I covet and the loveliest use of colors - there are so many things about these blocks that spoke to me they were Tamiko's work! I so miss being able to hang out with her all the time when I was still in the US.

The Y and the yarn were made by the talented Marit! The creative use of the stripe fabric for the yarn block is just so amazing. Can you spy a string on the left side of the yarn ball? So cute! Oh and yellow for Y is such a neat idea too!

The Z and the zippers were made by Tara! Tara is such a creative lady who is a maker of everything! How I wish I had awesome zippers like these?! I would make all sorts of things if zippers like these existed!

Reading about how they went to come up with filling the last 4 blocks was so fun! They ended up choosing this number because it is the year the tiny pink penguin will be born! So clever!!

The 1 and 0 blocks are the sweet, funny, talented Lynne's work! There seems to be nothing whatsoever she can't do about sewing/quilting, but I know this kind of paper-piecing isn't her favorite, so I completely appreciate she tackled it anyway!

The 2 block was made by the lovely Melinda! You may not be able to see it, but she used such a cute postage stamp fabric for the number. I can imagine the tiny pink penguin gazing at the block and being happy to discover some animal in it!

The 3 was made by Jan. Sorry for a bad picture, but there are really cute animals holding an alphabet letter, L or Love and H for Heart inside the number 3. What a sweet way to conclude this quilt!

Even the backing of this quilt is so special. Look at this lovely embroidered message surrounded by cute patchwork, made by Jessie. This adds so much loveliness to this whole quilt. I just can't believe how lucky I am to have such great friends who worked very hard together to make this happen!

Every one of these friends who contributed to this quilt has had many other commitments in life. And, not everyone likes paper-piecing in particular, nor had the Kumiko Fujita's book, nor had fabric stash that I would particularly like. There were a lot of actions taken behind the scene to help each other among the group to make this all happen!!

This is truly one of the most amazing quilts I have ever received and it will be much loved by us for years and years to come. Expect seeing lots of pictures with the tiny pink penguin laying on this quilt in just a few months :)

Thank you so very much to every one of you who contributed to this quilt, and a special thank you to Krista who brought this all together! I can't be happier!

Collage Overalls and Winner!

noreply@blogger.com (ayumills) — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 05:43:00 +0000

Thank you so very much for your sweet words about my book! I am back today to show you overalls I whipped up this week. You know who this is for, hehe! It's so teeny and cute I can't believe I have like a year to go until my little baby girl (←maybe) is ready to wear this.

I have been in the nesting phase completely. I am constantly on the lookout for nice fabric print that would make cute baby outfits. So when I received Carrie of Such Designs' new fabrics, "Collage" for Windham Fabric to come out in July, in the mail, I went out of control!! All the things on my to-do list that day were pushed back to the next day so I could start making overalls with this awesome fabric right away!! Take a look at some of the prints in the line!

Isn't it so beautiful?! I feel so honored I got this chance to play with this beauty before it hits the market. Carrie and I have been friends for years, and I've always admired her natural artistic talent. I knew the moment she told me she had designed fabric, it will be such an awesome line. I wasn't wrong at all! Colors on this fabric line are just so rich it's pleasing to look at. I love that this fabric line is great for both large and small projects. I can see it would make really nice bags, outfits, home decor items, but it would be great for small patchwork projects too. (Check out Carrie's blog to see some creations with this fabric line by her friends (They are amazing!!) and learn more about the line. Thank you Carrie for your generosity and kindness to allow me to play with your fabric!!

The result of the giveaway! The winner of a signed copy of my book is...

Congratulations, Jessica! Could you email me your address? :) (I don't have your email address!)

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you are having a great week so far!

Patchwork Please Book Giveaway & House Block

noreply@blogger.com (ayumills) — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 11:32:00 +0000

Hexagon trivet made from my book, "Patchwork Please!"
I can't begin to tell you how thrilled and touched I have been with all the lovely, sweet comments about my book! The book, "Patchwork Please" is finally shipping, and it seems that many of you who have pre-ordered it got it by now! (Thank you for the long wait!!) I am so thankful of every one of you who took the moment to let me know about the book arrival, join the Zakka Along, tag me for the picture of the book on Instagram (I am "ayumills"), and even make some projects from it already! (Yes! Can you believe that? Check out Sara's Hexagon trivet, Angela's bell pepper coasters, Michelle's pincushion!) I am dying to see what everyone will make from it! I really hope everyone who got the book likes the projects in it and is inspired to make something from it!

It's time for a giveaway! I have an extra copy of my book I would love to give away along with some fabric scraps :) Please leave one comment on this post for your chance to win. I will happily ship internationally! If you live in the states, remember to enter the giveaway at Lindsey's blog here also! (My giveaway closes on April 7th. I will pick a winner with the random number generator and announce it next week!)

Edited to add: Debbie is hosting a giveaway of this book too!! Check it out if you live in the states :)

Before I head off to the kitchen to make dinner, let me share with you my latest creation! It is my terribly late block for Kerry for Ringo Pie bee.

Sewing room, dining room, and her lovely daughter's room up stairs with the kitty cat :)

The coffee pot was based off Kerry's paper-pieced block pattern for Sew Ichigo. You can snatch it up here! I simplified it only so that it is doable even if it is less than 1" tall.

Hope you are having a great week!

Little Dress and Apron

noreply@blogger.com (ayumills) — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 03:09:00 +0000

I just finished a set of a dress and an apron for my baby. I still don't know if I am having a girl or not, but it's very likely, so I figured it's the time I made something girly for the baby! The pattern is in this Japanese book. (It is all in Japanese, but just like many Japanese sewing books it comes with lots of great diagrams, so if you have some garment sewing experience, you can probably tackle projects in it!)

I must say I am completely in love with this outcome! Even the back side is adorable with the ribbons! I keep picturing a small girl in this dress chasing Joe at the park in a sunny day. And me sitting on the chair laughing and taking pictures of them. The imagination kills me.

She will probably want to put something very cute like this in this pocket and run around. Sigh.. I can hardly wait.
(Thank you Kylie for making this adorable pink penguin ornament!!)

I will be back with some patchwork project next time!!

Baby Clothes Madness

noreply@blogger.com (ayumills) — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 04:57:00 +0000

If you skim through this post just to see the pictures, you'll probably guess that I've found that I am expecting a boy! The truth is, I still haven't found out the gender. At my 21st week checkup, the doctor was still unable to tell. He mentioned it looks like a girl though. So we now stick with "she/her" when we talk about Mikan (temporary nickname for our baby.), but there is still a chance Mikan is actually a boy. I am DYING to know, but I respect the nature of not knowing if that's what the future holds for us.

I have been so into making this set lately. (The pattern is in this Japanese book - love this book!) I have two real life friends who are preggers now, one in my hometown and one in Tokyo. They are both expecting a boy. This set above was made for a friend in my hometown I've known since high school. The baby is due early June. It was absolutely fun to make it for her. You will need only a half yard of two prints (plus some scraps to make binding tapes.) Very quick and fun! The adorable fabric is of course Summersville by Lu Summers!

This set was for a friend in Tokyo who is due in just one month! I've met her in Seattle and have known her for several years. Her marriage brought her to Japan. It is real exciting that her baby will be learning both English and Japanese at the same time as my baby. I hope she will like it! The fabric is Put a Lid on It by Michael Miller.

This is a stamp I hand-carved to make the tag on the bibs. I have so many friends who have boys it's nice to have a stamp or two that I can quickly make a cute tag with.

This is for my baby. It was pretty unisex until I added the red plaid binding. If I find that Mikan is a girl, I will make a girl version stamp or some girly motif stamp to make a tag for the shirt. I was fully aware that by the time the baby is old enough to wear this set, it will be winter. By summer of next year, she/he will be probably too big for it. I am just too in love with this lobster fabric I just couldn't resist!

And this is my latest project, trousers for my friend's boy. He will start walking soon, so it will be really exciting to see him wearing them while walking. I can't wait to see!

The pattern is in Anna Maria Hornor's book. This book is fabulous in every way. There are so many projects I want to make in it, and the instructions are so well written with lots of diagrams to help you understand each process. These trousers came together so quick 90% of the time was spent on tracing patterns and cutting fabric.

Thanks for letting me share! Hope you have a lovely weekend :)

Patchwork Please Book Preview and Zakka-Along 2.0

noreply@blogger.com (ayumills) — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 03:52:00 +0000

Thank you for your lots of love, encouragement, and pregnancy advice! I feel so much more relaxed about weight gain now. I'm on my 6th month and have gained 18 pounds total. Now I have some shooting back pain to deal with several times a day, but I am discovering some solutions to relief (stretch, hot bath etc), so I am good. I don't feel nausea anymore and my sewing mojo has returned!! I am very much enjoying my second trimester (except for the back pain.) I still haven't figured out the sex of the baby, but hopefully I will this Saturday when I have my next visit to the doctor. It's been so amazing to feel the baby move for both of us. We are so attached to the baby already!

It's the time I gave you some previews of my book, Patchwork Please :)

I got my very first copy of my book last week in the mail. That was the moment I finally felt it was all real! The entire time I was working on my book, I was so nervous about my projects being good enough. I'd always considered a possibility of hearing from my publisher one day saying "hey, never mind!" Dealing with confidence has been always difficult for me, and this worrying personality didn't help much when I was working on my book. Now that some time has passed and I have an actual copy of my book, I know it was all real. I've finally come to the point I actually feel proud of all the projects in the book. (Meeting my extremely encouraging editorial director, Susanne Woods in Tokyo and having a great talk with her was the huge help too!)

This book has 19 projects total - 5 projects for the kitchen, 3 projects for kids, 4 projects for the home, 5 projects for going places, and 2 projects for crafting. Most of the projects are patchwork zakka items. There are several beginner-friendly paper-piecing projects. If you have not dipped your toe in paper-piecing world yet, don't fret about it. All my paper-piecing patterns in it are very simple and easily constructed! The book includes great illustrated instructions for paper-piecing as well :)

I really hope this book will inspire you to make something for yourself and for your friends and family!

You may have already heard about this already, but there will be Zakka-Along 2.0!!!!
Remember Zakka Style Sew-Along? Basically this is round two, but this time, it is through my book! I can't tell you how excited I am about it!!

Lindsey of LRstitched, who did an amazing job organizing Zakka Style Sew-Along will be organizing this Zakka-Along 2.0 with Debbie of A Quilter's Table, who made all the projects in Zakka Style book! They have been working very hard to prepare for the event to kick off in this June!

They've already set up a Flickr page, a Facebook page, and a ThreadBias page! I hope you'll join them if you are interested in the Sew-Along through my book or even just to make us smile :)

The book is available for pre-order through Interweave's Sew Daily shop here.(It will probably be the fastest way to get your copy - March 18th book arrival). You can also find it on Amazon USA here, Amazon UK here, FishPond (Australia) here, and Amazon Japan here(アマゾン　日本） for pre-order! (Pre-order guarantees a great price and free shipping!) I will also give away some copies and sell signed copies once more copies come in the mail. (I have never signed anything for this kind of purpose, so I will have to think of a cool sign and also some little thank you gift to go along with each signed copy.)

Have a great rest of the week :) Thanks for letting me share!

Week 15

noreply@blogger.com (ayumills) — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 03:34:00 +0000

Thank you all for your such kind comments and emails about my little news :) I want to show you our baby's very first handmade gift! The lovely Leila whipped it up for him/her! How cute is it??? I can't begin to tell how much of a joy it is to look at this and imagine putting it on the baby! Thank you so very much Leila!!

Everything is progressing fine so far, and I am on my 15th week now. I am due July 6th, so I have 171 days to go until our little one pops out to join this family. Both Joe and I are so excited about our first baby. We talk about him/her everyday; in fact, we had started talking about our baby several years before this one began growing in my belly! We hope to figure out the sex of the baby soon. I have no preference on this whatsoever. If Mikan (a temporary nickname for the baby) is a girl, I will have a lot of fun sewing cute things for her with lovely fabrics. If Mikan is a boy, then I guess I will know what my friends mean by "it's like having a little boyfriend." Joe seems to lean toward a girl but that's only because we just saw my cousin's newborn baby girl who was just the most darling one.

My concern now is my weight gain. I've gained a ridiculous amount of weight. Over 10 pounds (5 kg)!!! No, it's not normal. According to my doctor, I am supposed to gain 1 pound per month. It has most definitely not been 10 months since I got pregnant. *sigh..* My appetite scares me. Food tastes SO good now I can't stop eating throughout the day. Sometimes I catch Joe looking wide-eyed at how much I am eating. And I can't do a lot of exercise because my tummy slightly hurts lately. So my daily routine is like 'eat, eat, eat, nap, eat, eat, eat, sleep'. lol.

My queasiness comes and goes from time to time, but it has become much much less frequent. I tell myself everyday, "I am doing better than yesterday and I will be completely back to normal today," hoping that it will actually be true. I think I am on the mend finally though. My lost crafting mojo is coming back slowly, which I know so because I found myself browsing fabric online today. That didn't happen for a LONG time! Sewing/fabric had been the last thing on my mind for so long. I'll see if I can feel different if I jump onto some small project soon. Oh and I will be sure to have my new patterns for Super Penguin QAL next month! (Thank you for your patience!!)

I have been extremely awful at replying to comments and emails. I really hope I have replied everyone by now, but if any of you sent me a email with questions and I didn't reply, I am terribly sorry about that. Now that I am much better and being on my computer doesn't make me feel nauseated, I promise to get much better at this. Thank you for your patience and understanding, my friends!

Happy Thanksgiving!

noreply@blogger.com (ayumills) — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 05:28:00 +0000

I am so sorry for a long absence without giving you a heads-up! I have not been doing very well physically for the past couple of weeks. But, that is for the most fabulous cause that I had hoped for months, so I don't complain! (*hint*) I don't know if it is part of the symptom or what, but my crafty bug is basically nonexistent at this moment to the point I am even surprised how little interest I have in anything crafty. My sewing time has been replaced by my couch potato time - sleeping, and watching the TV, movies, and occasionally playing Nintendo DS.. lol! I so wish I could be more productive but I take it it's the time for me to take a break from sewing and my crafting mojo will come back naturally as I get done with this phase.

My lovely sister-in-law Katie shared this photo with us just now. I am so grateful of my great family overseas from the bottom of my heart!!

Due to my not-so-good physical condition, I have decided to ask for a break for November for Super Penguin Quilt-Along. I am starting to feel much better, so I should be able to design some blocks for December though ;) Thank you for all of you who are following along!! Speaking of superbuzzy, don't miss out their 15% off store wide sale this Saturday!!

And I would like to offer a 15% off store wide sale as well for my little etsy shop until the midnight of Cyber Monday (Nov.26th) with coupon code: Cyber.

I hope you have a lovely rest of the week! If you are in the US, have a great thanksgiving!

The winner!

noreply@blogger.com (ayumills) — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 13:15:00 +0000

Thank you for entering the giveaway for Laurie's Don't Be Crabby fat quarter bundle last week! I am not surprised so many of you wanted it! It is a truly cute fabric line! Luckily, there are many fabric stores that carry her fabrics, so even if you didn't win this bundle, you will definitely have a chance to score them in your local shop or any major online fabric stores once it starts shipping in December!
The random number generator helped me pick a number as usual.

The lucky 262th entry was Katie of My Sandbox!

Congratulations, Katie! I will contact you shortly!

Oh, I have had very many people asking me about the pattern of the bag I made with Don't Be Crabby. I made the pattern, inspired by a similar bag I saw at a store.

This is also a bag I made using the same pattern (except for the patchwork layout on the exterior.) This was for my sweet friend Kerry who had her birthday in September. To me, a combination of orange and aqua is so Kerry and I have wanted to make something for her using the combo.

It was truly fun to combine fabrics I know she likes and some fabrics she had shared with me in the past. It is always nerve-wracking to make something for someone who you know can make a much better thing, but somehow I don't feel nervous making anything for Kerry. It's probably because she is so kind and forgiving. I just knew she would appreciate it even if she could make a much cuter bag effortlessly!

I hope you have a Happy Halloween wherever you are!!

P.S. November blocks for Super Penguin Quilt Along will be a few weeks late! Since many of you must be busy sewing up a storm in anticipation of the holidays, I am hoping to design some easy and quick blocks for November!
Thank you for all of you who have made any of the SP blocks ;)

Don't Be Crabby Bag + Giveaway!

noreply@blogger.com (ayumills) — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 04:19:00 +0000

The lovely Laurie Wisbrun, the fabric designer for Robert Kaufman, was so kind to send me a fat quarter bundle of her newest fabric line, Don't Be Crabby which will be released in December 2012. Her fabrics are so popular in Japan! I come across her cute fabrics everywhere just like I used to see them all the time back when I was in the US! Laurie's fabrics are just so irresistibly cute and this line is no exception ;)

I had several ideas of projects for these fabrics, but I ended up with this bag. I was able to use all the 10 different fabrics for it!

Here is the other side of the same bag.

And here is the bottom!

It will be a birthday gift for a two-year-old I used to babysit. The bag is filled with lots of goodies and is going to fly across the ocean soon! Not sure if he remembers me (probably not!), but he'll definitely enjoy seeing the sea animals on his bag! And it makes 'me' feel good to be able to make something to show him how much he is cared for by us.

Now, time for a giveaway :D Laurie has allowed me to give away her Don't Be Crabby fat quarter bundle to one of you! For your chance to win the bundle, please leave one comment on this post by October 29, Monday! Good luck ;)

Have a great rest of the week!

Let's Bake! ~ October blocks for SP QAL~

noreply@blogger.com (ayumills) — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 14:51:00 +0000

It is the time of the month again! I have a new set of blocks
for the Super Penguin Quilt Along! This month, we've got
a chocolate bar, a baking set, and a kitchen scale!
It is available here through superbuzzy!

A chocolate bar! This is such a fun block to make!
Not a big fan of milk chocolate or brown fabric in general?
Then maybe you can make it white, strawberry, or even greentea
chocolate or possibly a combination of all yummy colors!? You are the chef!

A baking set! One thing I am very pleased about this block is ease!
It may look a bit complicated at first, but actually it consists of
only two sections - top and bottom, which makes the whole
process pretty easy and quick.

A kitchen scale! This one is easy peasy and beginner-friendly!
This too consists of only two sections, top and bottom,
so it comes together pretty quick!

Each of these measures 7 1/2”W x 7”H finished = a perfect size for
a potholder if you want to turn one block into it!

Here is how all my QAL blocks look like together so far!
All the patterns are available at superbuzzy here!

I hope you'll have fun playing with the patterns and
share your progress in this flickr group ;)

Completely off the topic, but my in-laws will be in town
next week! Eeeek! This is going to be their very first time to
visit Japan and both Joe and I are so excited about showing them
around Japan! So exciting!

Have a great weekend, friends!

Thank you and your Super Penguin Blocks!

noreply@blogger.com (ayumills) — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 14:15:00 +0000

First off, thank you SO MUCH for your super thoughtful and encouraging comments and emails about my book! It was quite nerve-wracking to spill the beans. Your sweet words touched my heart so much I don't know how many times I found myself teary. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of you! Inside the book is a collection of projects I had wanted to make for a long time. I love the projects in it and my fingers are tightly crossed that you will like them too! A Sew-Along for the book? I had never thought about that until several friends suggested, but I love what I hear!

The slide show above is a collection of your creations with super penguin QAL blocks that have been posted in this flickr pool! I don't think I am the only one drooling over those lovely blocks!! Thank you for everyone who is quilting along and is sharing your photos there. I love them so much!! I am now working on blocks for October now. (It will be a bit late again!) Can't wait to share them with you!

Tomorrow, September 29th is when the lovely Kelly of suprbuzzy holds a paper-piecing class at superbuzzy's store in Ventura, California from 1pm to 4pm! If you have been itching to learn paper-piecing those super penguin blocks and happen to be a neighbor to her shop, I would love to invite you to take the class with her! It will be a great opportunity to meet up with crafy friends ;) More details here!

I'll be back with October blocks!

Have a lovely weekend!

I lost patience! I can't keep it a secret anymore!

noreply@blogger.com (ayumills) — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 14:34:00 +0000

Super Penguin QAL ~ September Blocks ~

noreply@blogger.com (ayumills) — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 02:22:00 +0000

I'm so excited (and very nervous!) to tell you that Super Penguin QAL's September blocks are up on superbuzzy!! This month, we have a chef, a waitress and a cafe to go with popsicles (July block available here) and dishy treats (August block available here)!

I am so sorry I was SO late to get them ready! I had a week or two that I was completely stuck and anything I was trying to work out didn't seem to want to corporate with me. Ya, one of those moments we all go through every once a while. I am so happy with the results though! These blocks may look a bit complicated, but I promise they aren't as bad as they look! They are all free of any difficult techniques. As long as you know how to paper-piece a simple block like a log cabin, you are ready to sew these up ;)

This chef may not have the coolest hair style in the world, but could he have your forgiveness? Looking good is not his priority. His focus is all about making sure all sweets coming out of his kitchen are excellent and are up to his customers standards. He made those popsicles, dishy treats and of course this baked cake on his hand! He is such a great chef!

And this waitress is now on her way to deliver this piece of the cake that the chef just got out of the oven. She so enjoys being a part of this popular cafe. She may have a moment when she is air-headed, but her lovely and carefree personality is another factor this cafe is getting such a terrific review in the town.

So here it is. This is the cafe they work at! Even when it's rainy out, they are busy running the business! There is one technique I used which isn't hard but was not introduced in popsicles or dishy treats so I'd like to cover it here.

Basically, you'll begin with the upper part of the window. You'll sew two cakes and the piece that comes above the cakes together. This paper-pieced block, will be treated like one piece of fabric in the next section you work on. This is the way I found it easiest!

Here the cakes and the above piece is sewn. You could use the pattern in the PDF to neatly cut the fabric before sewing the top part, but if you want to save time, this is the way I recommend.

I glued on the paper on the wrong side of the above piece. (I cut off the seam allowance from the bottom edge from the paper template.)

Then I used a rotary cutter and a ruler to cut off the excess.

Bye! to the top piece template.

With the paper still attached on the back of the cakes, I stuck pins like this.

Then I stuck the pins on the back side of the paper template where indicated with red tick marks.

The important part is here. These pins need to be up completely straight, which ensures that the cakes are just at the perfect spot.

Then I glued all over the back of the paper template to temporarily attach the cakes at the right spot.

I then removed the pins carefully and went on to start paper-piecing this template. I treated the cake section like one piece of fabric. It still has paper attached on back, so it's a little thick, but you can remove both paper pieces later. I hope this is clear. If you think this is tedious and have any fabric with any sweets design, you may just cheat and use one fabric instead! Oh and if you happen to have pink and white stripe fabric, you can go ahead and use that instead of paper-piecing the roof. Lots of ways to save your time ;)

If you have any questions about this QAL or about any particular fabrics for any blocks for your blocks for SP QAL, please do feel free to let me know!! Kelly's superbuzzy is always the BEST place to look for great Japanese fabrics! I've got a little bit of small print fabrics in my little shop too. (If you ever have any particular fabrics that you've seen in my blocks that you'd like to use but can't find online, please do let me know in the note to the seller. I may have extras that I can share! For example, I have a lot of the solid skin color fabric which I bet is hard to find!)

Thank you so much Kelly for making this QAL blocks available at superbuzzy and, thank you so much for all of you who might make any of these blocks. I hope you'll have lots of fun with these blocks and consider adding your pictures of your progress to this flickr group ;)!!!

Have a great rest of the week! I'm off to stop by a little quilt show!

Ice cream to keep your hand cool!

noreply@blogger.com (ayumills) — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 14:32:00 +0000

Thank you so much for your fabric shelf block love!! Each and every one of your comment made my heart sing! Apparently I am not alone loving seeing fabrics on the shelf! Today I want to show you this potholder I whipped up for my friend'sbirthday. The ice cream dish pattern is one of the Dishy Treats (August pattern for the Super Penguin QAL available here). My friend liked the patterns when I showed them, so I thought she may not mind receiving a potholder with one of the patterns showcased on ;) This potholder came out together very quickly!
I basically paper-pieced the ice cream block first (no changes to the size was made), and quilted it with warm and natural cotton batting and quilting weight cotton backing.Then I wrapped the bottom edge with a single fold bias tape (1/4" width finished). For the backside of the potholder, I quilted insulated batting with cotton fabric on both sides which was trimmed to measure 6 1/8" x 7 3/4". After basting the quilted ice cream block on top of it, I bound all four edges around with the same bias tape. Done! I'd love it if you made yours!

It is large enough for Joe's big hand too!

I made it in the hope that the iciness of the ice cream will keep her hand cool and nice and will prevent any burn from happening ;) I very much recommend making this potholder if you have a friend or two who would like a potholder gift! It makes such a quick yet unique handmade gift!

On the back side, I used my hand-carved alphabet stamps to add her name.

I hope you are all having a great weekend!!

P.S. Thank you to all of you who joined the SP QAL group and have shared your lovely projects there!!! I always take a look there when I just want to smile!

Fabric Shelf Block

noreply@blogger.com (ayumills) — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 16:29:00 +0000

This is my block for Amber's theme, "Sewing", for the Ringo Pie bee. Well, Amber's month was...ahem.... April.., meaning I was four months late! There are no very many good excuses for the delay except that this block was actually quite time-consuming. Can you tell? Although I enjoyed making it, I was doubting my own sanity throughout the process. 'Seriously? Am I really going to tackle this beast?'

It was extremely pleasing to have it finished though! While I was sewing those uncountable fabric pieces, I really wasn't sure if it was going to look like I had planned. The finished result is, I say, quite close to what I wanted it to look like, so I had a big Yay session!

I love fabric shopping and I know you do too ;) There is something about walking into the fabric store and seeing lovely fabric on the bolt on the shelf. It fires me up to go look for some fun fabrics!

I love the vibe and I know I will always appreciate any opportunity to go fabric shopping as long as I live because it is so therapeutic and exciting.

This quilt block for me was to create the kind of a fabric shelf that would hopefully remind Amber of the awesome feel at the fabric store ;) I don't know if she would like any of these fabrics in this fabric shelf, so I added some drawers that she could imagine there are maybe some cool fat quarters in them!

At first this shelf had these legs like above. After mulling it over for a few days, I realized they are unnecessary, so I went ahead and ripped the seams and removed the legs.

The reason I wanted to add legs were because I was SO inspired by Kylie's easel block which she did such an incredibly amazing job creating perspectives for. I really wanted to do something similar. Although I was pleased with the 3D effect (not as amazing as Kylie's of course), I had come to terms that these legs don't make a lot of sense. They would have to be so super tall to the point some children could easily sneak underneath the shelf! Not so safe! Reconstruction had to happen!

I have been enjoying paper-piecing so much lately and am really excited to get caught up in this bee! Next up is a traditional house for Kerry!

Thank you for stopping by ;) I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

SP QAL August Block! Dishy Treat!

noreply@blogger.com (ayumills) — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 14:32:00 +0000

Dishy treat, anyone? How about some soft serve ice cream with your favorite syrup? Or maybe chocolate cake or three scoops of ice cream? Well, if none of these sounds appetizing, I've got a bunny for you too!

I am so excited to tell you that these patterns are now available through superbuzzy!!
This pattern includes four different dishy treats shown above! I had so much fun paper-piecing them and I hope you'll have tons of fun with them too!

It has been so wonderful to see everyone's popsicles popping up in this flickr pool!
(I'd love it if you joined us to share your popsicles and dishy treat blocks there!!)

Here is how my SP QAL blocks look together! Quite sweet and fun ;)
Thank you for letting me share my new patterns with you!I am very nervous as usual, but hopefully some of you willhave fun with these patterns!!!
Hope you are having a great week so far!! Mine has been crazy busy but fantastic!

Texting while Sewing Conest

noreply@blogger.com (ayumills) — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 01:15:00 +0000

"Texting while sewing" is definitely something I love to do; in fact,
I rarely ever sew anything without texting! Typography fabric has
become really popular among quilters in the past few years, and I am
loving the fact that the availability of the fabrics with text designs
just keeps getting better and better!

Amy of During Quiet Time came up with this fun contest where
she invites you to enter a 12" block made using some text
prints creatively. You can enter it by blogging about your block and
the contest and linking up via a Linky post on Amy's blog which
will be up August 27, 28 and 29, 2012!

A great thing about this contest is freedom! You can use whatever
method you are comfortable with; normal piecing, paper-piecing,
English-piecing, applique, and whatever! You can go ahead and
create your own text fabric (printing on fabric? stamping?) if
there aren't perfect text fabrics. Also, you can enter more
than one block if you wish! (Separate blogposts will be necessary.)

And of course there are lots of awesome prizes! Check them out here!

Amy will choose top ten, and Kerry and I (!!) will be the
judges to pick the top three entries among the ten! I hope
you will consider entering your texty block to this contest!!
I am so dying to see what everyone will come up with!!!

Here isthe flickr group for the contest if you are anxious to share your block ;)
Text prints can be found in a lot of stores now. (I have some in my shop too ;) )

Hope you are having a great day!

Call me a Lucky Duck!

noreply@blogger.com (ayumills) — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 16:17:00 +0000

I admit I have been such a lucky duck lately! I have received lots of lots of lovely gifts from both my lovely real life friends and sweet blog friends am feeling like I already had a Christmas! Most of the gifts were for my birthday (thank you girls!), and others are something that had arrived way before and I had been meaning to share with you! I'll be focusing on only handmade gifts and vintage gifts just because I know that's what many of you are most interested in ;)

Those caramels above were made by the lovely Sam! I literally had no idea how HUGE of a difference there is between store-bought caramels and handmade caramels until I had her caramels! They melt so nicely in the mouth and taste just delicious. Both Joe and I became such a big fan of her dessert instantly! In case you are curious, the cups and the saucers are from Afternoon Tea shop, one of my favorite shops in Japan! I have a record of never leaving a store without snatching up something, which I don't know if I should state this proudly lol.

This tote was made by the sweet Claire. How clever is it to iron-transfer the nice crown on the tote and add the beautiful fabric flower and the ruffle! I love the English-ness so much! I have never been to England but it sure has become one of the top countries to visit for me! I have 'met' many lovely English people, enjoy so many movies/shows that take place there (The Game of Thrones to name one), and just love the designs that come out of the country that are everywhere in Japan! Silly of me, but I feel that I am one step closer to being in England if I carry this bag around. A girl can dream, can't she?

Here is another creation of Claire I am so lucky to call mine! She has such a beautiful blog where you can find a tutorial on it here. I love everything she makes and am dying to see the projects she has been working on for her etsy shop's re-launch! This bunting has already found a place to be hung in our apartment. So lovely!

I have been wanting to talk about my friends Kerry and Penny's new patterns launch! I am sure most of you know about their Sew-Ichigo already and how cute of paper-pieced block patterns they have come up with! Not only are they both uber talented, they are such sweet sweet people! Kerry and Penny made my heart sing by using my tutorials to showcase their cute blocks in projects! What I didn't know until I checked the mail today was both their cute projects made ways to my little apartment!!! I had NO idea that they were heading my way!!! I am so happy!!! The fabric box above was made by Kerry. Can you see how she did such a lovely way to showcase the buttons inside the box??? Every one of these buttons are just precious!!! I'll have to think of a way to use this box without covering up the bottom completely ;)

This is a fabric basket Penny made! See how cute it is to see the spool, button, spool, button... on the basket?? How stinkin' CUTE?! I just love that their patterns are so versatile! I can think of so many projects using these patterns! I would really like to make a sewing cover with these blocks and a mini quilt!! If you have yet to snatch up your copy of Sew-Ichigo's new patterns, you can do so here on their blog!

This is how they look together. So cute, aren't they?

Here are such fun gifts from my friend Mary! She has made me so many nice things!! I treasure every one of them because everything she makes shows that she knows my colors and my taste in fabric/designs and everything!! I can't believe she re-purposed those thrifted boxes into such beauties! Inside the sewing box was a penguin necklace among others, that is even too cute to wear!

Elnora is absolutely amazing. She is such an inspirational person for me for so many reasons! She is so encouraging, supportive, thoughtful, and most definitely extremely creative! I have always admired her works as all her projects are very eye-pleasing, made with lots of thoughts, and executed professionally, which I am sure you can agree if you see this house pouch and the coasters!! I swear I'll never be able to place a cup on any of these cups for even a second.. ever!!!!

Last but not least is this mini quilt that was made by Kaelin! Ever since she posted a picture of this quilt on her blog, I was drooling over it and getting jealous of whoever it was destined to. Joe suspected it could possibly be mine, but I told him to stop teasing me so I won't get my hopes up. So you can imagine how I had a big squeal when I opened the package and found this lovely in it!!! Kaelin and I have talked about our love for Japanese cherry blossoms before. How lovely is she to remember that and to make a quilt for me to hang in my craft room!! I feel so lucky that it is sooo mine!!!

One of the things I am very much looking forward to when I see Kaelin in person is to hear her say my name in the southern accent! She did an awesome job to change the last letter from i to m so to reduce syllables in my name! I am so loving my new name!! Joe and I were talking about what would happen if we moved to the south in America today. (We give each other this kind of random questions all the time.) I told him that the first thing I would is to introduce myself as Ayums, hehe ;)

Before I head bed, I want to show you some gorgeous vintage goodies that made ways as gifts!

Beautifully hand-stitched coffee grinder tea towel from Krista!

Lovely apron from Penny!

And this adorable embroidered seven dwarfs from Kerry!! They are all so special!

Thank you for reading such a lengthy blogpost ;)

I hope you are having a lovely week so far! I'm off to bed!

xo!

The winner!

noreply@blogger.com (ayumills) — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 15:20:00 +0000

Congratulations goes to gccmom whose comment was the 28th!!

Congrats, gccmom! I will contact you shortly ;)

Christmas in July: Mini Fabric Tape Tutorial

noreply@blogger.com (ayumills) — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 07:38:00 +0000

Welcome to the third stop on the Christmas in July blog hop!

Thank you Elizabeth for hosting this fabulous blog hop and for inviting me to take a part!
If you are anything like me, you'd wait til the last minute to get working on
Christmas gifts and realize a few days before Christmas that you totally
underestimated the time it takes to finish up gifts. Then you end up rushing
into stores to pick up store-bought presents for your loved ones. You are
apologetic that you are giving the store bought stuff rather than handmade
gifts that you had dreamed about making for them. Your new year's resolution
would include "Start making Christmas gifts WAY earlier!!" Can you relate?
Then maybe it's time for us to start doing something perhaps!!

Today I would like to share with you a very simple fabric tape tutorial.
I like making these because it is a great way to use up my fabric scraps,
and I enjoy using the tape for packages I put together. If you live in the
country that double-sided tape usually comes with backing, this tute
may not be very useful. I remember in the US the simple double sided tape
rarely had backing on it. This tutorial is for those who want to turn those
double sided tape without backing to fabric tapes!

I used parchment paper as a backing of the tape.
It is called "cooking sheet" in Japan, but it is the same thing as parchment paper
or bakery paper which is used to line baking pans as a non-stick surface.
Here I have a sheet of parchment paper measuring approximately 2" x 12".

I put on double-sided tapes throughout like this, being careful
not to create air bubbles in between the paper and tape.
(It's ok for the tapes to over-wrap a little.)

Then I placed it the sticky side down on the wrong side
of this fabric scrap that is a little larger than the paper at all edges.

Then I used pinking scissors to cut along both long edges.
(Make sure to cut along the paper so that your finished tape
will not have any surface with no parchment paper (backing).

Then I chopped it into pieces like this so the result is a lot of mini tapes
backed with parchment paper!

When you want to use the tape, remove the backing and place it where you want it to be!

It would be nice to have these made by Christmas! We know we never
have enough tapes for packages and cards and all!

I hope you'll turn your fabric scraps into some fun tapes!

Here is a schedule of Christmas in July! Don't forget to stop by
all these lovely stops for Christmasy inspiration!

Monday 7/16 - Don't Call Me Betsy
Tuesday 7/17 - Sew Crafty Jess
Wednesday 7/18 - Pink Penguin
Thursday 7/19 - Freshly Pieced
Friday 7/20 - Sew Sweetness
Monday 7/23 - Happy Quilting
Tuesday 7/24 - Comfort Stitching
Wednesday 7/25 - Diary of a Quilter
Thursday 7/26 - Felicity Quilts

Oh I almost forgot the best part! I have a great giveaway for you!
The fabulous Kathy of Pink Chalk Fabrics has generously donated
a $20 gift certificate to one lucky winner!

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment by the midnight Thursday!
One comment per person please ;)

Good luck and have a great day!!

Popsicles Pattern at superbuzzy!!

noreply@blogger.com (ayumills) — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 13:43:00 +0000

Hello everyone! Remember me? It's Ayumi of Pink Penguin here! How have you been? If you are in the US, did you get to do something to celebrate the Fourth of July? (I miss the sound of people screaming for joy and the fireworks from everywhere!) It's been so Hot and Humid here in Japan. What's keeping me alive and not melting away is my daily intake of popsicles. I looove them so much, and Joe hates how much I eat them in the day. However much Joe says it is excessive, I have a special place for popsicles in my heart and stomach. I am not going to resist therm if I know they are waiting for me in the freezer, hehe!

I'm so excited to announce my very first paper-pieced pattern debut today! Popsicles!! You may have seen this popsicles block above that I made for Anna for the Ringo Pie bee about a year and a half ago. I really enjoyed making the block and have always wanted to have this pattern available for friends! This pattern I wrote up is basically a simplified version of the popsicles block above (plus a watermelon bar as extra!)

The lovely Kelly of superbuzzy contacted me about a few months ago and suggested a superbuzzy/pink penguin collaboration where I make a block of the month around some theme for the superbuzzy shop and class! I was stunned! First of all, I have known superbuzzy for years for its BEST Japanese fabric selection! (I bet most of you have shopped there if you like Japanese fabrics!) My very first Japanese fabric I got in the US was a bundle of Atelier Akiko fat quarter prints from superbuzzy, which I used for the chocolate part of this block ;)

We will be offering you one block pattern a month starting this month! All blocks are to put together to make a quilt in the end! Yes, so this is basically a quilt-along! Would you let me call it "Super Penguin Quilt Along" or "SP QAL"??

I knew I'd want my first paper pieced block pattern to be popsicles! Not simply that I am a popsicle addict, but that I can highly recommend this pattern for anyone with any level of sewing experience. All four popsicles, except for the penguin one, are very simply constructed so I say they are very friendly to newbies. The penguin one is for anyone up for a challenge ;) If you are new to paper-piecing and want to save heartaches, I suggest you skip the penguin and make the watermelon one instead, which is super easy peasy but is equally fun!

Speaking of the watermelon popsicle, it looks like this in real life. It is very popular among kids in Japan and shows up everywhere during the summer. When Kelly suggested I include this one for our July block, I found myself questioning her "But don't you think folks will find it weird?" And then I realized it couldn't possibly be weirder than the penguin popsicle that doesn't even exist!! LOL!

All popsicles are finished at the same size, so if you are following along the QAL, pick three of your favorite and put them together, which will be your July block. Three watermelon bars? Three penguins? Two napoleons and one chocolate? Whatever you like!

The theme of the quilt along is most likely going to stick with "sweets", but we would love any suggestions or ideas if you have any!!

If you just want to try out one or a few patterns only to incorporate into your other projects along the way or maybe just want to try out paper piecing for a little bit or whatever, that would be completely fine too! We'd be just grateful if anyone could discover the joy of paper-piecing from our patterns!

For anyone who is a neighbor to her shop (in Ventura, California, USA), we would LOVE to invite you to a monthly class Kelly offers there ;) I am unfortunately not very close (I WISH!!), so I just have to imagine myself being there meeting crafty people and having tons of paper-piecing fun.

Oh can you imagine how excited I was to find out when the first class for this QAL is going to be held? It will be July 22nd (1pm - 4pm). That is, July 23rd (5am - 8am) in Japan, the morning of my 30th birthday!!!! So I'll wake up thinking about the people playing with my block pattern with Kelly. I already know I'll have a great birthday!!

Could I show you my friends' lovely work??

This was pieced by the awesome Doe! It's hard to believe this, but this is her first time trying out paper-piecing! How could that be possible???

And this is my lovely real life crafty friend Tamiko's popsicles that will turn into a pillow soon!!

Seeing these made me teary for joy! Thank you so much Doe and Tamiko for letting me share your yummy popsicles here!

The block of the month will be available at superbuzzy in both instant download and printed version at the beginning of the month. (Popsicles block (July block) are now available!)

If you have any question, please go ahead and leave it in the comment so I'll reply directly there as it's likely there are other people who have the same questions.

Thank you for allowing me to talk a bit! It's always nice to be back! I'll be back very soon!!


Instant Download ♥ Printed Version ♥ Class (July 22nd!)

Gifts sent and received etc!

noreply@blogger.com (ayumills) — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 15:37:00 +0000

I've missed you all so much! I apologize for my long absence here once again! I have so many things I want to share, so many to the point I am a bit overwhelmed! Of course I have tons of pincushions pics I want to share, but maybe it wouldn't hurt to talk about something other than log cabin pincushions just to give fresh air to this little blog?

The leafy potholder (or a mug rug?) above was a gift for a friend I whipped up last week. I used Leila's Scrappy Leaf Key Fob pattern that I had purchased a while back. (You can purchase her pattern in her shop!) This pattern has so many possibilities! Have you seen how she made not only some key fobs but also coasters and a potholder by altering the size of the same pattern? So fun! I was especially inspired by her potholder and basically couldn't help myself copying her! It was a lot of fun choosing fabrics for this potholder with the recipient's taste in fabrics in mind. I can't say any more about this gift since it hasn't made its way to her.. ;)

This is a teeny tiny spool pincushion I made for Tara a while back. It made my heart sing to hear from Penny that Tara liked it so much that it is attached to her sewing machine now. I've made several of these pincushions for gifts but this is the only one I didn't forget to take a photo of.

Along with the pincushion, I made these for her too; a fabric basket and a scrappy organizer. You probably know the basket pattern (hehe, the tute is here!). The organizer was made using a tutorial, once again, by Leila. (Yep, I admit I am a huge fan of her works!!)

This too is something I have to make one for myself as well ;)

*Part of Purse Palooza*

And this is a quilted tote I made for Amy using one of the signature bag patterns in Kumiko Fujita's ABC book. Although this book is out-of-print and is very hard to find, the construction of this tote is quite simple enough for most folks with some bag/purse experience to figure out how to make it pretty easily. I'd like to talk about this bag as a part of Purse Palooza (more about the event in my previous post.) Here are some questions Sara of Sew Sweetness, the lovely host of this fun event, has kindly prepared for us.

1. What materials are needed to make the bag? What type of interfacing did you use?

Cotton print, linen, fusible web (for applique), cotton batting, and medium weight interfacing (for handles).
2. What fabrics did you use to make yours?

Most cotton prints I used for are Japanese fabrics. (Suzuko Koseki, Kumiko Fujita, etc.)
3. Illustrations/Instructions (were the instructions easy to understand? Were there step-by-step photos or graphics? Was anything unclear?)

It is a Japanese book, so all the instructions are in Japanese, but just like many Japanese craft books, every instruction has at least a few step-by-step graphics that basically explains the flow well.
4. Modifications (what changes did you make to the pattern and why?)

I enlarged the pattern so that it's good enough for a library tote.
5. Difficulty Level (beginner, confident beginner, intermediate, advanced)

Maybe confident beginner.
6. Conclusion (any final thoughts about the pattern...did you enjoy it? Would you make it again?)

I really enjoyed making this bag. Even though I've made this type of quilted totes many times in the past, this instruction called for quite a few things I had never tried before. For example, the way handles are sewn right onto the bag like this. You can see the stitching from the exterior. The short edges of the handles were raw when they are sewn to the bag. The raw edges were then to be covered by some fabric. I hand-stitched this linen tape instead to cover up the raw edges. Another thing new to me was that the lining fabric was used to bind the raw edges inside the bag. Basically, your lining is at the finished size plus extra at two side edges. These extra parts are used to cover up the raw edges inside the bag! Clever!

I have been terrible at remembering to photograph my hand carved stamps before sending them. Here are three stamps I didn't forget to take a picture. Can you tell I am having so much fun curving stamps?

Lastly, I'd like to share with you some handmade lovelies that made my weeks!

Oh you know how much I covet them, don't you? Charise has been such a sweet and generous friend who never ceases to stop spoiling me, hehe! Receiving these lovelies finally convinced myself it's the time I got a wall shelf for my craft room to display my favorite small crafted gifts ;)

Doe is too aweome. Period. I am constantly inspired by all her projects, but lately we had a chat about dolly dresses and I told her how much I'd like some of them to hang up on the wall. And look what I found in the mail! I love them so much I could probably eat them no problem!

Purse Palooza 2012

noreply@blogger.com (ayumills) — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 13:47:00 +0000

In case you haven't heard about this event that kicked off today,

let me share this post put together by Sara of Sew Sweetness

for guest bloggers (Yes, I'll be guest-blogging!)

------------------------------------------------------------

Announcing Purse Palooza 2012!!

This is a fun event, which I will be guest posting for in June over at Sew Sweetness to get you sewing a purse for the summer! Here's how it works:

1. Every weekday in June, there will be 2 amazing guest bloggers scheduled to share with you a purse sewing pattern review. The review will contain detailed information about what they thought about the sewing pattern, modifications they made, what kind of interfacing they used, and more! Get inspired!

2. Even more exciting...THERE WILL BE A GIVEAWAY EVERY WEEKDAY IN JUNE! That's right, 20 GIVEAWAYS! Your Giveaway Fairy Godmother is Kim from My Go-Go Life - she has some unbelievable giveaways planned!

3. At the end of the event, you will get a chance to show off your purse in order to win some amazing prizes!

Sara's free tutorial: Caliti Convertible Clutch

Pattern Review Schedule

June 4 - Sara @ Sewsweetness (tutorial: bag interfacing)
              Kim @ My Go-Go Life (Urban Jungle Bag)
June 5 - Meg @ Fashioned by Meg (Anna Maria Horner Art Student Tote)
Lindsay @ Lindsay Sews (Posie Rosie Little Things Jane Market Bag)
June 6 - Kaelin @ The Plaid Scottie (Oliver + S Day in the Park Backpack)
Colleen @ The Busy Bean (something from Amy Butler's Style Stitches book)
June 7 - Bree @ My Crafty Crap (Jenna Lou Designs Mabel Bag)
Ayumi @ Pink Penguin (Signature Bag from Kumiko Fujita)
June 8 - Tamiko @ Patchwork Notes (Hexagon Patchwork Bag from Playful Patchwork)
Jessica @ A Little Gray (Pat Bravo Verona Bag)
June 11 - Jessica @ Sew Crafty Jess (Amy Butler Spice Market Tote)
Amy @ amylouwho? (V. and Co. Favorite Bag)
June 12 - Sara @ The Pretty Pickle (Charlie's Aunt Casablanca Clutch)
               Lindsey @ LRStitched (Noodlehead Envelope Clutch)
June 13 - Erin @ 2 More Seconds (Keyka Lou Bucket Bag)
               Caroline @ Sew Can She (V. and Co. Carry All Tote)
June 14 - Ali @ a squared w (bag from I Like Orange Too)
               Rachael @ Imagine Gnats (Jen Giddens Pocket Tote)
June 15 - Holly @ Bijou Lovely (Noodlehead Go Anywhere Bag)
               Katie @ There and Back (Sweet Pea Pocket Purse)
June 18 - Monique @ Sew Fun by Monique (Millie's Market Tote from Happy Home by Jennifer Paganelli)
               Katie @ Swim, Bike, Quilt! (Green Bee Scoop Tote)
June 19 - Jennie @ Clover and Violet (Lunch Bag from Pink Penguin)
               Joanna @ Shape Moth (Emmaline Bag)
June 20 - Jen @ Bettycrockerass (While Baby Naps Metal Clutch)
               Krista @ The Spotted Stone (The Sometimes Crafter Amanda's Knitting Bag)
June 21 - Katy @ The Littlest Thistle (Noodlehead 2-4-1 Tote)
               Terri @ Sew-Fantastic (In Color Order Lined Drawstring Bag)
June 22 - Elizabeth @ Don't Call Me Betsy (Amy Butler Weekender Bag)
               Sarah @ Fairy Face Designs (bag from the Bag Making Bible)
June 25 - Amy @ Sukie Don't You Know Who I Am? (Amy Butler Sophia Bag)
Heather @ {House} of a la Mode (Retro Mama Granny Bag)
June 26 - Julianna @ Jednoiglec (Charlie's Aunt Kitchen Garden Bag)
               Jeni @ In Color Order (Bari J. State Street Tote)
June 27 - Kerry @ Very Kerry Berry (bag from Suzuko Koseki)
               Michelle @ I Like Orange Too (Left Bank Granny Bag)
June 28 - Kay Whitt @ Sew Serendipity Studio (tutorial: adjustable strap with metal slider)
               Amy Barickman @ Indygo Junction (tutorial: installing grommets/magnetic snaps)
June 29 - Melissa @ Bittersweet Designs (Bella Nonna Boutique Shoulder Bag)

Sara's free tutorial: The Underwater Stripes Bag

Contest Rules

1. Check out all the purse pattern reviews throughout the month and get inspired to sew up a purse of your own!

2. Join the Purse Palooza 2012 Flickr Group.

3. Link up your completed purse to the Flickr Group BETWEEN JUNE 4th and JULY 11th. Your purse must be created and photographed between those dates; purses made prior to June 4, 2012 will be disqualified. The purse may be of your own design, or made from a sewing pattern.

4. You may link up to 2 views of the same purse. More than 2 photos of the same purse will be removed from the group.

5. There is no limit to how many purses you may enter, as long as they were made between June 4th and July 11th, 2012.

Sara's free tutorial: The Urban Jungle Bag

The Prizes

First off, there will be a team of lovely judges that will choose 1st through 6th place. ALSO, 3 randomly chosen winners will be picked out of EVERYONE who completes a bag! Some great chances to win!!

1st Prize

* $50 gift certificate from Fat Quarter Shop

* 3-pack of books from Martingale Publishing
* $50 gift certificate to Zipit
* $70 Pellon gift pack
* fat quarter bundle and sewing pattern from Art Gallery Fabrics

2nd Prize

* fat quarter bundle and sewing pattern from Art Gallery Fabrics
* 3-pack of books from Martingale Publishing
* fabric bundle from Sew Fresh Fabrics
* $30 gift certificate to Spoonflower

3rd Prize

* fat quarter bundle from Art Gallery Fabrics
* 2-pack of books from Lark Crafts Publishing
* $20 gift certificate to The Quilted Castle

4th Prize

* fat quarter bundle from Art Gallery Fabrics

3 Randomly Chosen Winners

$20 gift certificate to Pink Chalk Fabrics

The Sponsors

Thank you to all of the lovely and extremely generous sponsors!
Art Gallery Fabrics // Artsy Crafty Babe // Noodlehead // Izzy and Ivy // Serendipity Studio // Martingale & Co. Publishing // Betz White // Sis Boom // Atkinson Designs // Mommy's Thimble // Lila Tueller // Sew Fresh Fabrics // Bari J. // C&T Publishing // Keyka Lou // Clover and Violet // Indygo Junction // Marie-Madeline Studio // Pellon // Pink Chalk Fabrics // Lark Crafts Publishing // The Quilted Castle // Fat Quarter Shop // Craft Apple // iThinkSew // Emmaline Bags // Bag Purse Frames // Zipit // Oliver + S // Ellen Medlock Studio // Charlie's Aunt Patterns // Spoonflower

Grab a button, and let's get this party started!!

Iron Pincushions and Sweet Gift

noreply@blogger.com (ayumills) — Wed, 16 May 2012 02:34:00 +0000

Goodness gracious, I did it again! So sorry for taking such a long blog break once again! I have a lot of my recent projects I want to share with you, but I will wait for a few weeks to do some lengthy blogposts. I am in the midst of wrapping up my pet project and gearing up for a new venture!I'll tell you all about it along the way, hehe!

Many of you are so kind to say you aren't tired of seeing my pincushions! thank you so much for that! It means a lot to me because I am still very muchaddicted to it and will not be able to resist showing you as I make them!Thank you so much to all of you for snatching up my pincushions and fabrics from my shop! I can't begin to tell you how exciting it is for me toshare my pincushions with folks who would appreciate them!
These two pincushions are my most recentpincushions that are available in my shop ;)

Today I want to show you this pretty pincushion that traveledall the way across the ocean from Norway!Isn't it soooo sweet??!! Marit surprised me with a little package withthis cutie inside! I'm loving it so much!!
She was so sweet to use the stamp I carved for her on the back ofthis little pillow! I feel so lucky to have a kind friend like her!Thank you so much, Marit!!
I hope you are having a great week so far ;)Thank you for stopping by my little blog!