A Come back and a post……

Hi Everyone!!

This blog has been totally neglected since the past two years. In fact I was in a dilemma as to how I should start all over again. Last two years has been quite challenging in terms of my health  which has resulted in total neglect of my blog.

I am feeling blessed to be out of that situation, and happy that it has made me more stronger as a person.

Today I am back with a post…. A set of six tie back cushions for my dining table chairs.

My living room doesn't get any natural light, so I have manage with the lights on and since the table has a glass top, that reflection of the wall mirror on it.
Please excuse the picture quality.

Sewing the cushions was not tough, since I chose to keep it simple but the tie backs took a lot of time…..

But I am happy with the result, it was worth all the effort. I love the fabric which is from Ikea.

Now, only looking forward to have more and frequent such Creative moments in my life. Do send in your comments to motivate me …Until then its bye from Preeta.

First post this year…….

 

Hello everyone !!   Its been a long time,  since  I posted on my blog…… Last month was very busy, and continues to be so at present too.   Hope all of you out there had a blessed New Year’s Eve. 

I made these cushion cover almost 1o days back but couldn’t blog about it.

I  had always loved these ethnic fabric,  called Khaan.  It is a silk type fabric which is little thicker than pure silk and comes with lovely borders.  This fabric is quite common in the State of Maharashtra in India.  I have used half of Khaan fabric and the other half is silk.  And actually the colors are brighter than in the picture.

I love playing with different types of fabric for making cushion covers.

That’s the back of my cushion cover, I have added a piping  to the flap, and it looks beautiful.   I am sorry that the pictures are not so… great but its been cloudy since some days and I couldn’t manage to take a better picture.

One last look at my cushion covers……………..

Hope to come up with many more creative posts shortly…. The are too many WIP and I am eager to finish off them, but with the time constraints I am taking it one at a time…… Have a great day!!!  Bye….

                                                        Preeta.

Some new cushion covers…….

 

Hi friends,  We here in gulf  had a lovely weekend, with beautiful weather, and some rains.   Last week I had a lovely time in my sewing room whipping up some colorful cushion covers. 

I made six of these and was very happy with the outcome.  I kept the backing plain and attached some wooden button for the opening.

This was the first time I used the sensor button hole facility that I have on my new Janome sewing machine. It was very convenient and easy.

One  final look at all my cushion covers……

Hope all of you are busy in your sewing room making some lovely things ….. Looking forward to all your   finishes.   Till then do take care…. Bye from Preeta.

A table runner…..

Hello!! everyone, Its been sometime, but  my visits  to  the  sewing room has  really come down nowadays.  My elder son, has come down from India for his vacation, and I am quite occupied trying to spend some precious time with him and for him.    Meanwhile , our family vacation is also due soon and I wanted to make some quick gifts for my people back home in India.

I thought of a simple table runner, and this is what I came up with……

 

I  have appliqued this paisley design on  either side of a self printed bright red material ,  I really don’t have enough words to tell you all how happy I am with my new  janome  8900QCP  .

I  really enjoyed doing the applique stitches around my paisley.

The fabric I used for my applique  and binding is quite thick, and it was also fraying a bit,  but in the end I was happy with the result.  My DH  loved it so…. much, that he wanted  it to be on our buffet hutch.  So I will have to make another one as gift.  With so much  time constraint, let me see how I can manage.

Until then take care and Bye…….

A new cover for my arm chair….

 

Since quite some time I wanted to stitch a cover for our Ikea arm chair,  The original color is an off white fabric, the usual Ikea colors which get soiled,very fast with kids at home.   Finally, I managed to sew  not one, but two ,and I am so glad about it.

                       

This is a linen fabric, and I was attracted to the prints on it which is generally not seen on linen.

The second cover that I stitched is a self printed Japanese cotton and a very bright color.  You cannot see the self prints in the snap.   I love bright and vibrant colors,  and try to add them here and there in my décor.

                       

One final picture of our arm chair……

                                                 

           

This week has been quite productive with regards to the  crafty side of my life, and I am quite satisfied with myself.  I really deserve to have a good weekend break here in muscat , plan for something interesting to come up with.  Hopefully my mojo remains and I will come up with some good finishes, till then its Bye from me.   

 

A nice little tote…….

Bags and totes are my all time favorites,  and it can be made as quick gifts too.  So this time for a quick finish,  I decided to make a girly tote.  As I have mentioned before, nowadays I am in love with embroidery and want to add a touch of embroidery in whatever I make. I am always inspired by the flickr embroidery group and now and then browse through them for some inspirations.  This particular embroidery on my tote is from there.  I loved the bunny in one of the finish and tried to draw it for transfer. Well I loved the result.  Here it is……

The tote is not from any particular pattern, I have just used a basic pattern but I wanted to have a zipered pocket inside  and also a magnetic clasp for closing.  And I have used D- ring for the sling strap. I have to thank Nima for getting me some magnetic clasps and D rings from India.  Thank you Nima, it was kind of you.

 

 

And here is the little embroidered bunny…. I have used simple back stitch and satin stitch for the eye.

 

 

One last look at my tote…..

I am happy with the finish and am planning to gift it to my close friend’s daughter.

Please  do send in your lovely comments. I eagerly wait after every post to see them. Hoping to come back with more crafty posts.  Take Care …. and Bye.

Embroidered Needle case and pin cushion……

This will be the first post of 2011, I know the start has been very slow  and I am also not happy about it.   So many things are there in my to –do list  and I am confused.  So I thought to take it slow and steady.

Anyway ….., if you all remember I had mentioned about making an embroidered needle case …. Though I had finished this quite some time back, I wanted to add a pincushion before I blogged about it.   So, here it is…..

The needle case is made of  scraps that was lying in my scrap box, I had seen this idea in one of the crafty blog, sorry I don’t have the link now.  I have added a hand embroidery to it, and most importantly I tried attaching a magnetic clasp  to close it.

The pincushion is also hand embroidered, and one of the patterns online.  I really love surface embroidery, but too much time constrains.

I would really love to get your comments and advices on my finishes. Hoping to come up with some good finishes  regularly….. Till then its  Bye from Preeta!!

 

A Simple Needle case

Lately,  I am enjoying some hand embroidery and realized that I have been loosing needles here  and  there.  It’s a bit scary with kids walking around the house and I am always worried it might poke someone.   That’s when I felt that I needed a needle case desperately.  I wanted to make an embroidered one but I dint have the patience till I finish the embroidery and also I dint have a felt piece with me. 
Anyway, I decided to make a simple one for the emergency and later make one more.  So here’s my needle case….

I have used a ready made satin ribbon binding,  and its quite slippery, but I somehow managed.  But its always better to used a cotton one  which was learning for me.  I also mentioned that I dint have felt, so would you like to see  what I  used instead….
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I had  some flannel which my friend Nima got for me from India.  I have cut a piece of that to pin my needles.  I have also added pockets for the threads I need for a project.
My camera is still not  repaired and the pictures are awful.  Sorry for that.  Bye for now, Hope to come back with another post soon.

After a long break…….

Well, it was a very long break for me, but lots of things have been happening these past months.  It was quite hectic, but I don’t want to get you all bored with my stories.  In the meantime, I have also been collecting fabrics and lots of fabrics to the extent that I started feeling so….. guilty that I am not doing anything other than accumulating them. 

Finally I decided to start acting and stop going on a guilt ride.  To start with and to motivate myself I needed a quick finish.  So this is what I made……..

 

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I  started with this cushion cover for this natural fiber  chair from IKEA.  The fabric is  cotton which I had got from my trip to India this time.  This is the first time I tried sewing a cushion cover using four triangular pieces of fabric.  Its quite simple and there are a number of tutorials available online.

I was quite happy with the result.  Here’s a closer look…..

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SoSo what say folks!!   Do send in your lovely comments on this.

Now that I have got my mojo back, I hope to come up with more frequent post and finishes.  Till then its Bye from me.

Pintuck pillows……….

Another post after a long time, but I am taking it easy and doing whenever I find time from my busy schedule.    And this time it is the most quick  and easy home decor I always love making.

During our vacation this time in India , I happened to see a tunic  and  loved the simple pintuck stitches done on it.   Of course I picked up the tunic for myself, and decided to look out for a tutorial on how to do it, once I return back.

Today when I was browsing the net I found a great tutorial, and immediately  started working on it.  And this is what I made…..

 

I  used  a  pure silk  fabric  to make this cushion  since it looks rich with this simple pattern also. 

A close look at my pintuck stitches….

This tutorial is from   sew neat pintuck stitches.    It was a simple and step by step tutorial and I loved making it.   I am planning to make two more like this one.  But I couldn’t wait to blog as soon as I managed to finish one.

A Bag at last……

After getting some lovely and motivating comments for my patchwork pouch, I got the courage to play more with patches.   And this time  I  managed to make a bag.    This was also my first step towards  quilting, because  this is the first time I have used batting  to make a quilted bag, though I have just used straight and horizontal stitching to quilt it. 
I also wanted to include a little bit of my painting skills into it.  I am fascinated with tribal paintings and here also, I have used Warli painting on the plain blocks.  Let me give you a glimpse of my bag first and then I will go into its details.

This bag is inspired by Rachel Griffith’s friendship bag tutorial from  P.S  I quilt .   The tutorial is perfect and easy to understand.  Thank you so… much Rachel for this tutorial.  I have tried to make my version of  this quilted bag.  And I am very happy with the result.

Now getting into the details of the bag, I have used white linen fabric and printed cotton fabric for the blocks.  I used fabric paints to paint on the white linen blocks. The lining is again mustard yellow  checks, since it goes well with the color of the paint I have used for the outer part of the bag.

I did not add any pockets to the bag since I wanted to use it to take my fabrics and stuff for my quilting course, and a roomy bag was the best option.  You can see the close up of my Warli painting here…..
So….. What do you all think about it?    Awaiting your friendly comments and suggestions.  Until my next post, Its Bye from Preeta.  

Patchwork pouch…..

Its been ages since I have posted any finishes, but past few days have been hectic, with my time revolving around my son whose preliminary exams are going on.
Meanwhile, I am also getting an opportunity to join quilting course under Sylvie’s guidance ( Sylvie is a committee member of the Muscat quilters guild) and I don’t want to miss this chance.   I still have to get confirmation from their side about it. But I thought I will start getting ready from my side . Since they had already sent a list of things needed for the course, I wanted to make a pouch to carry all my little stuff .  I was working on making the patches that I made,  into a tray cloth with  mitered corners. I had almost finished it and then an idea struck !!  why not make it into a pouch.
So finally my tray cloth turned into a pouch, and here it is…..

I also wanted to try making fabric buttons, and decided to use my pouch to try it on. So I have used fabric button with loops to close the pouch from the corners. My mitered corners need some more practice to be perfect, but I am happy with the result for now.

Its a simple spacious pouch, in which I can carry all my small stuff needed for my quilting course.
 
Please do send in  your lovely comments,  as it inspires me to do more and try out new things.