Partying, sewing & sneaks of my studio ...

It was a hectic week. After we got back from our Easter break in Singapore, it was more unpacking in a frenzy & more spring cleaning to get the house ready for some guests. Here's a glimpse of our new home, here in Dubai. Behind these 3 metre high curtains, is the garden with a pool, something which we never had before & which is really, really useful now with the present temperatures of 40s C / 100s F .

A couple of last minute cushions made with my favourite fabrics. 

 Whipped up a special dress for our special girl. 

Thank you all, who sent her bloggy birthday wishes in the last post - you made her very happy!

Had a little pool party to celebrate Annika turning 11. 

The pool was a real scary, yukky, mess the first time we saw it. 

That's why this pic is smaller so you won't get too put off. 

And the house used to be very empty & clean. This was my spacious (to me!) & empty studio. 

It was meant to be a family room with wooden sliding doors leading into it, from the kitchen (which I absolutely love!). I have placed my laptop to the left corner of this room so that when I type, I can still see the pool if my kids are in there. 

 The studio is fast filling up with stuff. Here is some (yes, some!) of my fabric.

Organised by colours & also by themes.

I try to be neat but I think these multiply at night !!!

In front of me is a curtain suspension rod, with various projects all patiently waiting to be finished...

Among this mess, I sewed this wristlet pouch for a good friend. Hope you like it, Linda !

From climbing in Beijing to sewing in Tokyo.

Back from Beijing & back to the usual hecticness of daily life. While in Beijing, my blog & almost all of yours too, was on their restricted list so I couldn't publish nor visit any blogs when I was in Beijing. And now, getting back again to posting is always hard for me. Had meant to post earlier but.....life happens :) .

As usual, whenever I'm extremely busy...I sew!...which I am sure makes sense to a number of you!

For the first time ever, I sewed on a zipper. Never thought I would, as just the idea of a zippered project, brings on headaches.

First, I looked at some Japanese craft books with pretty pics & wonderfully illustrated patterns. Then, I gave up on the patterns which always give me headaches too!.

So I start cutting & sewing. Not sure sure how I did it ..... but here's my zippered box pouch & since I am no longer afraid of zippers, I've made more!

Also made a large-sized Diaper-Case plus Changing-Mat for a nice new-mama-to-be.

The padded fabric design had illustrations from "Momotaro" (The Peach Boy), a Japanese tale of an old couple who longed for a baby & he came to them one day, inside a giant peach which was floating down the river. Hence, "Momotaro".

The darker oilcloth design had multi-coloured "Kokeshi" girls. These fabrics were carefully chosen to prepare for a baby girl or boy!

And I finally found time to go to the post office, to mail off some goodies for bloggies - good, kind folks whom I have been lucky enough to get to know. Enjoy!

So where are the Beijing pics??? Will show you when I can decide among the thousands that we took! Meanwhile, here's peeking at you from an ancient doorway on the Great Wall !

A Wall & some distractions.

We have left these houses & our own real house to go climb a wall.

Climbing a wall : It has always been my dream to bring our kids to China, as they are also part Chinese. My husband & I have been to Beijing a number of times, way back before we had the kids & also before we know each other. This will be the first time we are there, as a complete family.

This week is our autumn break so when you are reading this.....we will be in Beijing, climbing the Great Wall of China (长城/万里长城 Wàn Lǐ Cháng Chéng) !

The Great Wall, built over 2000 years ago, stands for the wisdom, tenacity & spirit of the Chinese people. I was pretty emotional the first time I stood on that Wall, one spring day, many years ago.

Legends of the Great Wall : Many died during the construction & they were buried under it. These "convenient" burials save funeral expenses, save building materials (good, environment friendly bones) & also, bones help "deep fertilize" the wall, making the roots of plants go deep, thus protecting the Great Wall foundations. And I thought roots would wreck foundations but what do I know!

Most all, according to Chinese beliefs : the spirits of those who died for the Great Wall, made it stronger. The Wall is 6400 Kilometres, about 4000 miles long.

And contrary to popular belief, the Great Wall cannot be seen from the moon. It is hardly recognizable from 65,617 feet high. It is totally invisible at a height of 196,850 feet, not to mention from a space ship whose orbital altitude is on average 1,312,333 feet high. So sadly, to say that an astronaut can see the Great Wall is merely an exaggeration.

Click HERE, to see a dizzy 360 degree

panoramic view of the Great Wall.

Sewing : While preparing for this trip, we were sidetracked so many times! I am in the middle of an exciting swap with a fabulous crafty blogger-mom (hi Laurie!) & as she wished for Japanese fabric scraps, I had to start organising my messy lots of scraps.

While sorting, we were so distracted by the colours & made these patchwork items instead of packing. And now, we have new colourful cushion covers to replace the boring old yellow ones, more fabric houses & other cheerful things!

My Minis & others too.

I decided to do a mini quilt - my first! It was hard deciding what theme to do. It was even harder deciding on which fabrics to use!

And after lots of undecisions & rummaging & unnecessary mess everywhere, I made these 2 ; one would be for my own sewing room & one would be suitable for anyone who likes to sew.

A combination of hand & machine stitches, various types of fabrics, buttons & charms from my jewelry supply & ta dah!!!

Still a few more finishing touches here & there but I can't resist posting these here already :) .

Also in the works are these Kawaii Keystraps.

And Flexi Pouches. They are flexible since they have Flexi-Frames for easy "squeeze & open" closures.

They are versatile as holders for not only coins, but iPods with ear-plugs, sweets, supermarket coupons, lipstick & compact powder, tissues, medicines to take around, sewing needles & thread, and anything else other stuff you can think of.

And where's more of the summer-travelling pics & posts? ... errr...coming soon :) .

Sand, surf & sewing too.

To those who asked "What happened?" refering to my absence since the last post.....no, we didn't get lost. Just that it is quite hard to get back into blogging after all this time! And even harder, to select from over 2000 photos that we took!

We traveled for a few weeks & am now home safely to Tokyo. Did take turns being sick but & are all happily healthy again. School has started as did the usual morning frenzy & day's hecticness. Annika is now in 4th Grade & Niklas is in 6th.

First, we were in Germany. In Hamburg where we had excitement in the Miniature Train Museum ito see the biggest collection in the world, of mock-up railways (see previous post).

Then we were in Sylt, the northenmost German island, off the coast of Denmark.

To get onto this island, we had to put the car (with us in it) onto a railway built on a dam linking the island to Germany, as there are no direct roads.

Sometimes, we put the car on a ferry, from the coast of Denmark. We zoomed past horses, sheep, hay rolls & the North Sea. A few days ago, the winds in this area was so strong, it blew a truck (yes! truck!) off this railroad!!!

On Sylt, you can explore.
Moto-crossing on cute bikes.
Jump off dunes.

Ride horses.
Bury your sister while she sleeps.
Be just plain silly!

Hand-sew applique placemats,
these patchwork scarves
& a couple of hexagon-cosy/mousepad.

From Germany, we went to Singapore (photos later) before heading home to Tokyo.. where this parcel (wrapped up in a pretty paisley fabric) was waiting - a wonderful gift from wonderful Eileen - it was like Christmas!

One of the "problem" about living here is the difficulty in getting English magazines like this. I do have quite a good collection of Japanese craft books & magazines but still, it is fabulous to be able to read & not just figure out from the pictures & diagrams!

We are enjoying Eileen's goodies so much, even the "junk mail" which I love!