Canberra Modern Quilt Guild meeting

After a very busy weekend, I now have time to sit down and write about the meeting of the local quilt guild I joined a couple of months ago- Canberra Modern Quilt Guild.
I joined them just on time to be a part of the secret name tag swap. You might remember from my last post that I was making a name tag for my secret partner and waiting for the meeting to post some photos here. Here is what I made for my partner Amira.

And here are "some" of the name tags! Aren't they so cute?

I have received two: the first one is on the bottom left, under the red sewing machine. The second one is just above the other sewing machine on the bottom right corner. Mine stands out with its huge size- only 11cm while it was supposed to be just 9 :-)

I also won this yummy, hand-dyed jelly roll in a raffle on that night. 

I am so glad that I found these women because they are so much fun and full of creativity. I find it a great way to socialise with other people who share the same passion and a great place to get inspired during the "show and tell" session. I also enjoy having some time only for "myself". 

I highly suggest you to join a group like this no matter what your hobby is. I am sure you will enjoy meeting with new people and getting inspired as much as I do!

Happy sewing!

xxx

Finding the sewing mojo

After having quite emotional days, I have been feeling a little more relaxed and less stressed these days. I am trying not to worry about everything- at least not all at the same time :) and I am embracing the people I love around me.

Feeling better definitely helps me get my sewing mojo back. I have been sewing bit by bit. First of all, I finished the name tag for the secret name tag swap at my local quilt guild. We will exchange the name tags on Thursday night at the guild's meeting. I look forward to seeing what others made and dying to find out whether my secret partner will like what I designed for her. Oh, yes I will receive one too! Once we have the meeting, I will share the photos of what I received and what I designed for my partner.

Since I don't feel ready to commit for a big project like a quilt,  I decided to make small projects for a while. They are quick and definitely make you feel better because you feel the satisfaction of accomplishing something. So, I have sewed a few cute pincushions like these:

I have already had the pinwheel centres from my- yes, the one and only quilt I have been dragging around, the bowties! So I just sewed some matching fabric around them. It was fast and easy and I love making them. They measure 11cmx11cm, approximately 4.5 inches.

I have also made a mug rug this afternoon. I tried the famous"quilt as you go" method. It was easy, fast and fun. The fabrics are from the Umbrella Prints' trimmings I purchased last year. Used up, gone, good!

Don't you envy my photography skills?

And here is the back.

I used neutral colours from the same trimmings package. These colours are my friend Tash's favourites and she says the colours on the front are very "Nurdan" :-)

Better go to bed now; tomorrow is a work day. The winter is around the corner already and I don't like getting up early in the dark!

What have you been sewing? Do you enjoy small projects too? Please don't forget to leave a comment and feel free to share the photos of your projects with me. Just shoot me an email at hugabitquilts@gmail.com. I would be more than happy to share them on my blog!

Till  next time, happy sewing!

Nurdan

Finding the balance...

...is something I haven't been able to for quite some time. The balance between my thoughts and actions, the balance between my job and the amount of stress I create- having said that, my job is not that stressful, the balance between housework and sewing...I can write all night about this issue.
I am not sewing at all nor doing housework. You wouldn't want to visit me these days. I got my glasses, and the new walking foot arrived the other day but I haven't been able to find my sewing spirit yet. I should finish quilting the bow ties quilt but I don't want to- I am also bored with it; I should finish a quilted name tag for the secret fellow quilter at my local quilt guild by the end of this month but I haven't even started yet and have no creativity. There are many things I want to sew, lots of promises I make to myself which I don't keep; but I am very good at thinking about them. It is my favourite bed time sleep-killer activity. I am also sad that I don't pay enough attention to my blog, I don't post often enough because I am not making enough. I am not feeling motivated nor do I have enough energy. I announced a fabric giveaway for the next month on my Facebook page to feel excited about sewing again. I am hoping that this will be a "pick-me-up" thing. I will give more details about the giveaway in the following days.
To cut it short, I don't know why I am feeling this way and what can make me feel better. I decided to learn meditation- maybe this is the key to settling the struggle I am having.
I am sorry for writing about negative things. I know some of you are going through much more difficult times, have more important things to worry about and mine are just a drop in the ocean. I wanted to share it here to feel a little better because I am not feeling well and this makes me worried about my health.

Tonight, I picked up an old UFO and started ripping it apart. Do I have anything in mind-no. Just wanted to do it. I unpicked the stitches while watching my favourite Turkish TV series, Magnificent Century, which is about the era of the great Ottoman emperor Suleyman the Magnificent. To be honest, it was so relaxing.

I am hoping that I will be sewing again soon.

What do you do when you feel down and are lack of motivation? How do you get out of the blues? I appreciate your comments and suggestions/advice.

Till next time, stay safe and healthy.
Nurdan

A very special quilt

It's been long since I last posted. I haven't done much during this time, still waiting for my new glasses to arrive and on top of that, this is what my walking foot looks like...sweet.

It had been making a funny noise, leaving some black dust behind while sewing and the sewing wasn't flowing nicely. I decided to have a look thinking maybe it needed some lubricating. I undid the screws- fine up until here- and with just one little touch...the whole thing fell apart and I can't put the damn thing back together. I stopped searching for the same one on the internet. I will call Singer tomorrow. I half quilted my bow ties quilt with straight stitches by using a normal foot- disaster. I am also so sick of seeing that quilt- that's what happens when I don't finish a project quickly.

Since I don't have anything new to show you, I want to share a very special quilt with you today: my very first quilt.

I made this quilt when I was expecting my son and this is how I started quilting. The pattern is from the Moda Bake Shop. I even remember that their fabric choice was terrible! I chose bright colours and even added colourful corners to it. I used heat and bond for the letters and once I ironed them on, I did zig-zag stitching around them to make them last longer. I quilted it with a loop-to-loop pattern and how brave I was that I did free-motion quilting on my very first quilt!

We used it for tummy time.

Only one month old.

We used it for nappy changes- no photo for this one :) We used it as a picnic rug.

He was ten months here :)

We used it for everything and my little man is still enjoying it. It is so nice to see that something I have made is used and enjoyed like this.

 21 months now and still growing :)

 I hope you have a nice start to March. 

Happy sewing!