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 !

Quilting for Japan.

Thank you for writing, in regards to previous post. I truly appreciate the comforting words. 
Since then, there doesn't seem much we can do from here ..... except sew. 
I am making this quilt & giving it to my children's school 
(Deutsche International Schule Dubai), who will then hold a raffle, with all proceeds going to
 the German Lutheran Church in Tokyo, towards helping the people of Japan.  

This quilt is called "Ganbatte“.  In  Japanese, it means  “persevere, you can make it". 

Made entirely with Japanese fabrics, reminding us so much of beautiful Japan. 

In Red & White,  the national flag colours of a red rising sun on a white background.

“8” for luck as in the 8 appliquéd kimonos.

The Japanese children in the fabric design,  represent the families & citizens in unity,

bunnies as it's the Year of the Rabbit, fishes for strength, courage & luck. 

The gracious people of Japan will pass through these times of suffering, 

like fishes swimming through turbulent water. 

“ Ganbatte, Nippon ! “ 

Countdown, twice !

We are counting down frantically over here.

We count down in between panics, not only to Christmas but to our big move across the oceans. 

This year, we will spend Christmas in another country, where it will never snow (sob!). 

This year, we couldn't put up as many festive decor as we normally do. 

Except for our homemade Advent Calendar, 

everything else stays in the attic, waiting for the movers to come.

Our Advent Calendar has different sized pockets & removable wooden pegs. 

In our home, we filled up some of the pockets, Santa filled up the rest. 

Sometimes, the pegs moves around to fit the goodies accordingly. 

My husband is German so we celebrate German festivals too. 
So on 6th December, Saint Nikolaus (protector of children & a very good friend of Santa), 

will come by to fill up the children's shoes, which will be left outside the night before. 

Happy Advent ! 

Autumn, Quilts & Mt Fuji.

Just got back from a few days by Lake Yamanakako near Mt Fuji, enjoying autumn in all its glory. 

We relaxed at a cosy inn, owned by a Japanese family & ate too much delicious Japanese food 

cooked by the innkeeper's wife, who also folded original wrappers for our chopsticks. 

Unfortunately, Fuji-san was behind a thick mist all those days so no nice pic of it. 
You can imagine that it's still there, across the lake, in the mist. 

Luckily, we still have good memories of this beautiful mountain, as you can see in this pic from a previous visit. 

Fishes were abundant in the lake !!! Our 10 year old Annika took these pics since so I can blog about them. 

And I did what most quilters would do...take along a pile of quilts 

& quilt tops to be photographed against the incredible autumn colours. 

Unfortunately, the typhoon was there at the same time so we had to take quick pics in between the rain. 

Brought along some metal clips & an extension pole. I know the rigid pole is not so pretty but luckily I did,  since the fences were mostly wet & there wasn't any low, sturdy, horizontal branches that we could use. 

 It kept raining & stopping & raining. Only dropped a quilt once, down on that wet floor! 

Some quilts, some quilt tops & some waiting for more quilting to be done. 

One even have a needle & thread in it (if you can spot it!). 

I love the pics that we managed to take. A big thank you to my 2 men who patiently held up the quilts! 

Also brought along scraps so I could cut & trim - a collection of many favourite fabrics for another project. 

( My attempt at stash busting, Alia ! ).

Probably breaking another quilt rule as the scraps are of different thickness & texture. 

It's a real colourful mish-mash & I love it & that will be for my next post. 

Happy Autumn days! 

Lots of sewing & reading.

I have a few quilt tops that I need to work on, so they are all over the house.

Sometimes I sew in the studio, the living room & the terrace too.

Especially ever since the landlord built us a roof !

Our terrace isn't big but pretty cosy to us. Most Saturdays, we eat pancakes out here.

In between, I am happily distracted by presents.

New quilting books, lovely flowers & drawings by the children

& more books that came with my new Kindle.

All wonderful birthday presents from my children & husband

as we celebrated special days (see previous post).

When asked which cover should they order to go with the Kindle,

the children said "No Papa, Mama would want to make her own cover!".

And so I did...with a Laura Gunn oilcloth & a cheery Japanese fabric too.

It's been lovely days!

A quilt named 很可爱 ... & some pins

While waiting for my kids after school, I normally sew under a tree. A mother passed by, was smitten by this quilt & soon, it will be on its way to USA !

This quilt is named 很可爱 ( "Hen Ke Ai" in Mandarin ), which means "very adorable". It has my favourite children-print fabrics & the little girls in the design reminds me of my own little girl. Ok, not so little since she's now 10.

The label is hand-sewn onto the back of the quilt ; handwritten & with our homemade stamp designs, a round applique & some free-motion stitching plus the buyer's message.

We start our summer break today so the blogging process will sloooww down even more :) . Next week, we head first towards Osaka & Kyoto, & then back to Tokyo. Then we will leave Tokyo again, this time for Germany, London & Singapore.

A couple of English bloggers had been very kind in recommending quilt shops in London. Thank you Melanie & Shev for your suggestions! I won't be buying fabrics ( I think! ) but I sure look forward to books, notions, gadgets & what-nots galore!

This is the very kawaii Baby Liam, who loves his new quilt as much as his parents. Sadly they have left for Germany & we will miss them very much. 

PINS ( & I don't mean those that's used for sewing ! ) : 

An update on my previous post, about my 12 year old son who broke 2 bones in his arm. 

Niklas says "Thank you!" to those kind people who commented & sent good wishes to him.

Unfortunately, things got worst for awhile & he was operated on, 

when an x-ray showed that the gap between bones, had widened. 

After many painful nights in the hospital, he is now back home again, with stainless steel pins holding the bones together, & a new cast for his friends to sign on.

Happy summer everyone! Stay cool & have fun!

Quilts, lanterns & broken bones

When I started quilting, I thought I will be making quilts for family & friends.

Didn't think anyone would buy, let alone place an order.

And then, I sold 2 quilts & am working on a custom order for a single bed quilt! Can you see me hopping around still ?!!

These are the 2 quilts sold.

- Calming Pinks & Greens.

Very soft & luxurious fabrics with fleece batting. It's for a mother, at the end of a long day.

- Playing with Animals in Blue.

Cotton fabrics with toys motifs (western & asian designs). 2 very lovely new parents bought this for their equally adorable baby.

With a wonderful Bernina, you can make wonderful personalised labels too! Now I understand why quilters have more than 1 project at a time. I have so many ideas running around in my head & I want to sew so many quilts - all at the same time!

The latest project in the making is "Red Lanterns". I am making it with my mother in mind.

She found me during the Lantern Festival, one mid-autumn. She loves red & she loves lanterns in the wind. It will be the first time, I am sewing just for her.

And we had an excitement recently. My 12 year old Niklas fell out of a tree & broke 2 bones in his right arm. He climbed to get his ball & fell 2 metres (over 6 feet) to the ground.

When you are suddenly one-armed, almost everything is more tricky. His little sister, Annika helps him patiently with everyday normal things.

I help him, with lots of scoldings in between the concern & care. I still scold, when I think of the worst that could have happened.

Annika said his arm (before the cast) looks like Harry Potter's arm when it became boneless & was all floppy. She also said that if we dotted Niklas' hand, the broken arm will look like a swan's head.