Tuesday, February 26, 2008

One for the table!

Last weekend was another weekend where my plans did not actually work out, but, the difference this time around is that, it turned out for the better, and I have to thank my hubby for that! *smile* I had initially planned to work on my DT SGB.

As my car needed to be serviced since it was long overdue, my hubby was so kind to offer to send Aiman to his enginering and animation class while my car is being serviced at the workshop. In the mean time, he told me to go for my sewing class at SAKURA as it is quite near to the workshop. Isn't that so sweet of my hubby? I love him! Thanks, Dia! Hugs!

So, after sending the car to the workshop and breakfast, my hubby dropped me off at SAKURA. He will be picking me up at around 2.30pm, after Aiman's class is over! Wow! 4 hours of sewing! Isn't that great? LOL! In the mean time, my hubby went off to the gym, after dropping off Aiman at his class. A day of classes for us! *grin*

I had bought the placemat kit when I came in to finish off my chenille bag the week before, not without actually knowng when I was coming in to do it. But, I am glad that I had bought the kit in advance, and thus, I could already make up my mind what I wanted to make when my hubby suggested that I go in for a sewing class.

I wondered why May called it a placemat, because it was more of a table runner to me. The way I understand it, placemats are meant to be individual pieces for you to place your plates and cups/mugs/glasses on it, for meals. Table runners run the length of your table. *shrug*

Anyway, regardless of the correct term, I managed to do quite a lot in the 4 hours I was at SAKURA, but, even then, that wasn't enough, as I did not manage to finish the top in time for Kelvin to teach me the free motion quilting when my hubby came to pick me up for a late lunch. Heheh...4 hours is still not enough when you are enjoying yourself, and there is a lot to do! LOL!

Kelvin isn't going to be around this weekend as he will be in Penang participating in an Arts and Craft Exhibition at Queensbay Mall from 27th February to 2nd march 2008. May could not teach me free motion quilting as she claims that she is not yet an expert in it. She said that it will take years to perfect the free motion quilting to the level of Kelvin. But, I have to start somewhere, right?

May suggested that I just do a normal straight line diagonal quilting, which I wasn't too keen initially, because one of the reasons why I wanted to learn the placemat was because the model was finished off with free motion quilting. I thought that this would be a good opportunity for me to learn the skill from the sifu!

Alas, it was not meant to be, as May also said that it wasn't wise of me to practice the free motion quilting on such a nice piece of project. She said that I should do a project test piece first until I could perfect it. *sigh* I finally relented, after giving it much thought and looking at how much work I had already put into it, and in case, with my inexperience, I might just spoil the piece. It is, afterall, a very nice piece! *wink* Take a look! Wouldn't you agree with me? LOL! *grin*



I came home to work on it almost all day on Sunday and finished it after dinner, as I had to take many breaks to do the household chores. I also had a scare when my hubby called to say that he couldn't find his car after picking up Aiman at his friend's birthday party at Petro Sains KLCC. For a while, I abandoned my project and went to do my prayers to calm my nerves. The security at KLCC finally found it after close to an hour of searching. My hubby had gotten the location mixed up. You know how big the parking area is at KLCC, right? Thank God all is well. Phew!


Anyway, back to my placemat/table runner project, second photo above is the back part of the piece and immediate photo above is a close up. The center piece was quilted diagonally, while the border piece was quilted in a wavy motion using the walking foot. Alas, it cannot be seen that clearly in the photo. An even closer close up of the tea cup and saucer (below) will show you the buttonhole stitch which, I must say, with the BERNINA, it made my buttonhole stitches look so nice and almost perfect! *wink* Can you see it from the photo? Nice, huh? *wink*

If ever I do buy the BERNINA, it is beacuse of the buttonhole stitch function, among many others, of course! *wink* I managed to work my buttonhole stitch so nicely, with a few flaws, of course, *wink* being a beginner using a machine to applique using buttonhole stitches. I could have done the buttonhole stitch by hand, but, with the amount of applique work, it wud take me ages!

This is also a first for me doing applique this way, and also a first for me using the fusible web. I am learning something new all the time, and it feels great! You never stop learning, no matter how old you are! *grin*

I really enjoyed doing this piece. I am thinking of buying the same fabric and making 6 matching placemats. Now I only need to find the time to do SIX placemats! LOL!

So, what's my next project? I am not sure at the moment. SAKURA teaches teddy bear making using cotton fabric, but, currently I am not that keen, since I want to make something I can make use of, instead of just something I can hug.

Any suggestions, anyone?

12 comments:

Yoonie said...

That is one neat applique piece of art, Nick! Very Nice!

Anonymous said...

Aiyaaaa...don't make shame shame lor...all that thing about me being sweetie pie and about me 'losing' the car.

'Dia'

tinn tinn said...

nice work Nik!

Janet C said...

Bravo! Lovely, lovely! ;)

June said...

Haha... am chuckling over your DH's comment. What a cute couple. At the rate you are churning out FOs, I'm not surprised you'll soon own a Bernina. Love dropping by your blog to admire such great works.

Shanny Khoo said...

WOW Nik! You did it again. Such a beautiful finish at that! I agree that you've got people in your life to hug, so why hug a teddy? ;)

Deanna said...

owhh wow..i must say this is a very beautiful piece kak nik...:)

Aw said...

Nik, you have professional sewing skills. Pretty gorgeous...and you are fast in sewing, coz u could finish in few hours time.

ummi sa'eed said...

hi, came across your blog while googling for 'fusible web'. you're in KL? I've been trying to source for some fusible web here...where did you buy it from?

and is this the one where you can iron your pattern onto the fusible web and then iron it onto your fabric (glue on both sides) or is it just like a 'kain lapik bergam' that tailors use to stiffen up the baju (glue only on one side)?

Thanks

Za said...

Hi Ummi!

I bought the fusible web at SAKURA Sewing Shop at SS19 Subang Jaya. It's like what you described it as - the one where you can iron your pattern onto the fusible web and then iron it onto your fabric.

But, I bought the cheaper one where it only has glue on one side instead of both sides. Sakura sells both types though.

Hope this helps,
Nik, also known as Za

ummi sa'eed said...

yaay...thanks :) I've been going crazy to source for the darn fusible web.

where exactly is the store? 19/? and a phone number would be helpful too.

thank you SOOOO much!

Za said...

Ummi, here's the number to the shop - 03 56363313. Kelvin is the owner.

Nik