Be Vewwy Vewwy Quiet

You ever notice how when you're meant to be quiet that you're the absolute loudest you could possibly be? Yep, that's me. Always.

The hubs is currently in the midst of a 3-hour practice exam, so when I got home from doing the groceries, I was banging around getting the bags in, slamming the door, kicking my boots off. And of course sighing very audibly that I was doing it all alone. I'm a treat.

Then after that I decided it was the perfect time to install the even-feed foot on my sewing machine, which requires dismantling and a screwdriver... and a lot of swearing from me. (My study / studio is right next to his and clearly, I don't have the decency to shut the door.) Oh then I of course casually stroll into his study, asking for his laptop etc. It's pure joy being married to me, this I know.

But the angel that the hubs is, he hasn't even tutted me, let alone yell. Lesser humans (meaning yours truly) would've made a federal case about it by now. I know I have it good... he's patient and kind, and I don't really know how he puts up with me.

Now, I do need to go hang a clothesline in the backyard to take pictures of my quilts... I wonder how much noise I'll manage doing that...

15 Minutes To Kill Gets You This

Yesterday I was headed out to run some errands and the hubs said to wait 15 minutes and he'd be able to join me. Instead of returning to working on the quilt commissioned by my mum, I made this.

See, my tissue packets have been running wild in my bag, and after a certain point, the sticky thing on the tab just isn't sticky anymore. So instead of pulling out grubby, smushed pieces of tissue, I thought this was a better solution.

In school in Singapore, the first thing they teach you in Home Economics is how to sew a tissue packet holder. The packets are very different from what you'd find in Singapore (it's way flatter and wider) so I sewed up the edges to allow for the rectangular packet to sit comfortably instead of pull at the sides and make it look distorted. I threw in the lace just for ha-has.

By the way, I detested my Home Economics teacher. It's funny that I love sewing and baking / cooking, but it's not because of her that I love them. It's in spite of her. She was the most foul woman to ever teach me, playing favourites and just plain vindictive. I didn't kiss her ass, so she was constantly trying to get me in trouble with my mother. My mum actually told her to stop calling and wasting her time with all the nonsense she deemed bad enough to call her up for. Hah! I really hope she didn't teach for much longer because she really gave teachers a bad name. I believe some people just aren't meant to teach.

Fashion Inspiration

Sometimes I need a little reminder that I have clothes I need to revisit...

I wore a dress like this all summer last year. It shall make an appearance again very soon.

Red skirts! I love red anything, and I have a couple red skirts I hardly ever wear. That shall have to be remedied.

Not that this has to do with anything, but I just realised a couple days ago that sometimes my brain doesn't function at optimal level. I have a pair of Steve Madden boots that have 3 buckles on each boot. I love them, so all damn winter long I've been buckling and unbuckling them, cursing and swearing about how tedious this is, wondering if it's really worth the hassle.

Then a couple days ago whilst talking to my mum-in-law and without thinking, I just slipped my feet out of them without touching the buckles. I slipped back into them just to see if I could, and voila, in my tiny feet went with perfect ease. SIX months of buckling, and all I had to do with slip them off?! Dumb. So very, very dumb.

Pictures from The Sartorialist and Stylesightings respectively.

Garden Version 2.0

My second garden. Using a few different plants this year because I stupidly planted a lot of things that don't bloom last year. Not so smart.

They weren't planted too long ago, so not too much is blooming right now. Well the window boxes are, but they were blooming when I got them so I can't take credit for that.

I think the window boxes are my favourite things. I used geranium and lobelia again like I did last year because they did so well and bloomed beautifully. I can't wait till the lobelia completely fills in, and there'll be a sea of purple-y blue under the pinks. Just gorgeous.

The lobelia (the non-hanging kind) by the front door. I got a mixture of blues and whites but the white ones haven't started blooming yet.

Went outside to take pictures, and I found that one of my asters has bloomed! I'm fairly certain that it was already a bud when I got it, but the hubs says it's blooming because I planted it right. Umm, unless I planted it upside down, I'm not sure what other way there was to plant it. Love him for being a sweetie though.

The garden by the rock in the front lawn. That's mostly aster with lobelia on the border and dahlia on the side. It looks very blah right now since only one aster's blooming and only some of the blue lobelia have flowers.

I'm not quite sure why I got the dahlia because they look kind of droopy and I'm half-anticipating their premature deaths. Please prove me wrong little ones.

Oh Spring Time

I'm new to the whole world of gardening and plants (this is my second Spring in the States), so sights like these still take my breath away. Although I hope in years to come, they won't lose their magic.

I'll have pictures of the plants in my garden and window boxes tomorrow (I hope! I'll write myself a post-it note right now...). I must confess I tend to only remember to take them when it's dark outside. I'm what one might call, an indoor girl. Going outside voluntarily doesn't even filter into my thought process, except in the evenings when I know I need to water my plants.

It actually amazes me that I've taken to gardening at all, seeing as it requires being outside and touching dirt. I still scream when I encounter an earthworm though. My neighbours must think I'm quite mental. But I digress... Pictures will be here tomorrow. Most likely.

Monkey Quilt For A Little Monkey

A baby quilt commissioned by my sister for her friend who's just had the cutest little boy. It's been dubbed The Monkey Quilt... well, because it's got monkeys on it.

She'd asked for something with green, and immediately the monkey fabric popped into my head. And when I told her, she insisted I use it because the baby has been nicknamed 'Angry Monkey' for peeing on his dad. That reminds me, I'll need to get a hazmat suit in the event I have a son...

I finished this one rather quickly because it was so cute I really wanted to see it finished. Hopefully my sis and the recipients will like it too.

I couldn't get enough of the monkey faces, so I put some on the back as well.

Current Obsessions

The hub's cousin and wife went to Belgium earlier this month and brought us home a little treat in a bottle.

Speculoos. Oh my grief, it's SO good. It's so good I'm surprised it's not a controlled substance. It basically is a spread made from a cookie, looks very much like peanut butter, and although you might think it's an odd ingredient for a spread, it's simply amazing.

The toaster has no idea what's going on because it hasn't had this much use in a long, long time. We're trying to be as sparing with it as possible, but if you've tasted this yumminess, you'll understand our constant need for toast. We love it so much I might name our firstborn Speculoos. Weeeell, maybe not.

I have found something similar being sold online within the States, but it's kind of pricey for a spread for toast. And it'd probably lead to a spread in my waistline, thighs and rear end.

And you know what else is good in this weather? Iced coffee. Iced coffee with coffee ice cubes. Yeah, 'cause that's how I roll.

Another Baby Quilt Completed

Finished another baby quilt, this time for a little baby boy. I wanted to make it pretty too... who says boys can't have pretty things, right? My favourite squares are the ones with the little animals, with the different coloured lines a close second.

The backing fabric reminds me of old, comfy pajamas. I had another fabric all picked out for it, but then I chanced upon this at the store and I knew I had to use it.

But the binding... oh how I adore thee. I saw the stripes and thought they'd be perfect with this. And I think it does work well, no? Lining them up was a bit of a chore, but well worth the effort.

I'm not listing it on Etsy yet because I have someone who might want to buy it. We shall see!

Hi! It's the 1950s Calling

So very cute. So much want. Oy vey.

Fashion Inspiration: The Should Be Sewing Instead Of Surfing Edition

I love this dress! I don't normally wear white, but for this I'd make an exception. It's so pretty and girlie, it makes me want to tie ribbons in my hair and sing songs with the chipmunks and birdies in my backyard.

Ooh perhaps Anthro has something like this? One can only hope!

And I must say, at first glance I thought that was Michelle Williams... My first thought was "What's she doing in Sydney?!".

Picture from The Sartorialist.

Pssst!

There's a gigantic sale at Anthropologie that just started today. Gigantic in the sense that a lot is on sale, not that they slashed their prices by more than usual. Unfortunately *sigh*...

I still have quite a bit on the gift card I received for my birthday, so I may take a little trip down this afternoon if I've been a good girl and finished my sewing for the day.

Shop Update

Just updated the shop with a baby quilt I completed a couple days ago. I adore it so much because the colours are light and cheery, and it was inspired by the new spring.

I couldn't list it till today because I wanted to rework some parts of the binding that I wasn't too happy with. The hubs thinks I'm nuts because he can't see what I was pointing to when I was explaining what I was doing.

The backing fabric is one of my favourites and the day after I decided to use it for the quilt, I dashed out and got more to replace it. I suppose I'm hoping I'll one day have a little girl of my own to make a quilt for!

Right now I'm working on a baby boy quilt of the same dimensions, and that should be added to the store in a couple days.

My Heart, It Swells With Pride

A big, fat, meaty, sloppy congratulations to the hubs! He's now graduated from law school and today he got to don the cap and gown. As if that weren't enough, yesterday he received a prize for excellence in Property Law. Of course he'll scoff at any praise you send his way because he doesn't understand just how in awe we are of him.

Honey, I'm so SO proud of you and am endlessly amazed by you. I know it's hard for you to celebrate right now because the upcoming bar exam weighs heavy on your mind... But try to give yourself a well-deserved pat on the back and understand that you've done something few people are even able to do, let alone do well.

Oopsies

I know I've been terrible at updating the blog lately. I've been holed up in my studio sketching, sewing, and experimenting with patterns. I'll have new things added to the store starting tomorrow. Promise!

In the meantime, I want this vintage bread box please.

I've always wanted one but have yet to find one I like in thrift stores. This one's just adorable and even though it would take up far too much counter space, I would love to have something just like it.

Also, the picture makes me want to bite the bullet and paint my kitchen cabinets white. The only reason I haven't yet is that I'd have to do all the trim in the house to match and I have neither the time nor drive to see a project of that magnitude through.

For My Mum

Mum, I love you and I miss you. I think of you often and everytime I do, I smile. I hope to see you real soon.

Happy Mother's Day.

Done And Done!

I made my mum-in-law a table runner as one of her gifts for Mother's Day and her birthday (the two dates always collide) .  Finished it last night, and I'm trying to decide whether to give it to her this Sunday or on her birthday, on Tuesday.

Choosing the colours and drawing up the pattern was possibly the most time-consuming part of the project. She has vastly different taste in colour and decor, so I had to keep telling myself to think of what she'd like. Of course I kept picking up things with splashes of colour and bold prints... 'tis a difficult habit to break.

Her dining room's a muted blue, and for some odd reason, she loves beige / oatmeal colours. So I ended up choosing these colours for the runner, and I'm hoping she'll like it.

Got her a crystal bowl to place atop the runner and might get her some decor things you put in the bowl. The woman loves her decor.

Orla Kiely Love

Just a few things that caught my eye at Orla Kiely. Be still my heart.

Scenes From Our Backyard

Spring does marvelous things, doesn't it?

Fashion Inspiration: Friday Edition

Monotone and gorgeous. Love the bag.
  How cute is this little guy! He gives me hope in the event I only have sons. Pictures from Stylesightings and The Sartorialist.