Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Patchwork Fun

blog1

Thank you for many lovely comments for my
previous post ;) It makes a big difference
for me to know that someone like you come
to visit my blog. Thank you! Thank you!

I have a couple of patchwork projects
I want to share with you today.

blog2

Some of you may recall that I was working on
the quilt. This is how it looks like so far.
Remember I told you that I had 90 blocks for it?
I reduced them to 49 blocks, just because it
looked unbearably busy when laid 90 blocks
out on the floor. I think it is still too busy
but who knows.. A miracle might happen when I
have a wide sashing around those 49 blocks, right?
I'm keeping my fingers crossed...!

Salt 50lbs block

This is a little patchwork project I worked on.
I used a pattern in
Kumiko Fujita's Patchwork
Pattern 318
. It's supposed to be a cute
little basket with a set of jam, but since
I picked the word salt and 50lb. It looks more
like a yacht with big salt bins that just
arrived at the dock or something. lol.

Block for Kerry

Here is a block I made for Kerry as a part
of Ringo Pie patchwork bee. The theme for her
was "collecting/hoarding" I decided on milk cartons
to reflect on my hoarding problem with them. Before
I got into this sewing world, I was crazy
about making soap, which I might have mentioned
too many times here by now. lol, Anyways,
this is to showcase my milk cartons with
some soap on the right side. (The top one
is wrapped up and ready to go!)

milk cartons

No I don't have milk cartons in different
languages, but it would be really cool if I did!
The one on the left side is supposed to be
Japanese strawberry milk. The middle one is
a Swedish word for milk. (Once again, I am
pretending to know European language!)
And the one on the right is clearly, 2% milk.
Why 2%? I was really surprised when I first
saw 2% or fat free milk in America for the
first time. It didn't make sense to me, since
you can't find milk that is that low in fat
in Japan. So to me, adding '2%' to the milk
carton increases American-ness, therefore,
the diversity in this block. I am not sure
if Swedish milk is sold in cartons, but
let's say it probably is for this purpose. lol.

Thank you for stopping by again ;)
I hope you have a lovely day!


39 comments:

  1. LOVE the top quilt!!! YUMMY!

    They are all adorable. You rock.

    Now for my "just kidding" comment:

    Why are the Japanese milk and the Sweedish milk friends but they put a little distance between themselves and the American milk? Is it a political statement? KIDDING, that milk quilt is ADORABLE.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love all this display of patchwork!! The quilt is simply adorable, such a nice choice of fabrics. And the quilting be blocks are so original!

    ReplyDelete
  3. so cute and so very creative! love the words you chose. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great job on the quilt, and I'm loving your new bee! I'm sure there will be so much fabulous creativity coming out of that group!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thank you, girls!

    Erin-
    I'm so glad you asked me about it!! My initial plan was to have the American one standing as it is and the other two leaning against the American one just to show that these are 'empty' milk cartons. But as I started worrying that if I did that, the block size would go over the limit which is 14", so I changed my plan to have the other two standing straight on the table. Since I already had the fabric sewn next to the Swedish one, I decided to give a little space in between might as well. Hahaha I never ever thought about this in the political perspective. Very interesting!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love the quilt. It is so bold and interesting that I can imagine a young child being fascinated by the colors and pattern.

    ReplyDelete
  7. The quilt is absolutely beautiful! I love it, and your fabrics is so great:-)
    The milk cartons is really fun, and let me tell you, Swedish milk IS sold in cartons:-) I should know, we go shopping in Sweden all the time (we live about 1,5 hours away from the Norwegian/Swedish border). Things are cheaper in Sweden than in Norway:-)
    Good luck on the quilt, I don't think it looks busy at all:-)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Lovely quilt and such a cute milk block! I love them both :-)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I was wondering how your quilt was getting on and here it is, the sashing works so well, especially the little plain squares, like punctuation points! And you know how much I love the block! Just thought I'd mention it again. Also like Erin's political interpretation, made me giggle:)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thank you for sharing the progress on your quilt - it looks so good with that sashing!
    And your cute blocks are to die for!
    The milk cartons is an unexpected collectors item, so fun! I might send you one from Norway. We have a big selection of low fat milk, here. The one in my fridge says 0.1% fat. Not sure what that says about me....

    ; )

    ReplyDelete
  11. Your projects are really beautiful!
    Have a nice day! :)
    Bye
    Mopo

    ReplyDelete
  12. Your work are amazing. Sooo creative. Thanks for sharing them with us :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Flipping heck! Your blog is like trifle!!!! There are just layers and layers of yumminess followed by yumminess..... The hourglass quilt is just amazing and right after I pick myself up off the floor, there is that out-of this-world fantasticness of that block!!!!!!!!
    OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love it!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I like your blog, is beautiful!!!!
    Congratulacions from Brazil.
    Jud-artes

    ReplyDelete
  15. the quilt is incredible, not too busy at all. Where do you get your incredible fabrics?

    ReplyDelete
  16. I just checked out your etsy shop and saw you sometimes sell the fabric, will you let us know when there's some more in?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Way too adorable... then again, everything you make is adorable!!!

    ReplyDelete
  18. The quilt looks wonderful! How big does 49 squares make it? I love your milk and soap project. It's fun to hear your perspective on what makes something 'American-ish'. Your 50 lbs of salt is just what happens when you make a trip to Costco - now that's American!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Oh my goodness - you've really outdone yourself on the quilt and your patchwork blocks! The quilt is not too busy at all. And looking at all your wonderful fabrics is a little bit like going on a treasure hunt - and finding treasure everywhere! Whoever gets to use your bee blocks in their quilt is a very lucky person!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Thank you so much, everyone!!

    Wendy-
    A lot of fabrics I use are from Japanese online shops. The list of shops I frequently shop is on the right bar ;) There are also a lot of shops on etsy that carry Japanese fabrics! I will definitely announce it here when I have more fabric for sale in my etsy shop!

    Vicki K-
    My quilt is so small. With 49 blocks including sashing inbetween, it is about 19" x 19". I think I will add a wide border around to see if it would make it a lot less busy. When it comes to a quilt, I think I really like it simple. Mine always turns out too busy for me.
    Oh and Costco! That's so funny! I didn't realize that I was making the patchwork block "American" that way! haha! By the way I love Costco. I go there almost weekly!

    ReplyDelete
  21. I loved "patchwork fun",I love you as "scraps". Visit my blob-http://byraquelpatch.blogspot.com,

    ReplyDelete
  22. Ayumi, for someone who has said she doesn't consider herself a quilter, you make incredibly accurate and creative quilt blocks!!! Wow! I am always blown away by your unique creations. You've got a very luck bee group!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Your milk carton block is amazing and the quality of your craftsmanship is inspiring.

    ReplyDelete
  24. These are beautiful. Have to say that I almost drool when I see the fabrics you use for your things. x

    ReplyDelete
  25. Hi! I like your patchwork a lot!!
    I would like to be as good as you!
    Greetings from Italy!
    Laura

    ReplyDelete
  26. Hi, I live in Sweden and this is the milk I drink(organic 1,5% fat):
    http://www.arla.se/Images/ProductImages_200/17417.jpg

    We call this the green milk becouse of the fat level and the red milk is 3% fat. We also have a blue one 0,5% and a yellow one 0,1%

    Here are some other cartons, including a Japanese "Onaka" sold in Sweden:
    http://www.arla.se/upload/Puffbilder/Stora%20420_170/Filmjolk_nya.jpg

    Love your blog! Im so happy to see Swedish language, I be glad to help you with some words if you like

    ReplyDelete
  27. Thank you so much, everyone!

    Frida-
    Oh my goodness I love, love, and love those milk cartons! They are the cutest ones I've found so far! Onaka means tummy. How cute! I want to try all of them!! Thank you so much for the links!!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Ayumi, I'm swooning over every picture you posted. I love the quilt too. The white sashing balances the prints very well :)

    ReplyDelete
  29. Ayumi, I love your milk cartons - the colours are stunning.
    Thanks for being such an inspiration.

    ReplyDelete
  30. I really like the way you did your patchwork quilt. I am not good at doing patchwork unless I "match" it up just a bit. I like the lattice between, it breaks up all that craziness that patchwork tends to have. Good job!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Hi I've just discovered your blog, lots of lovely things to read about :) loving this quilt, the milk cartons are just too cute......looking forward to coming back here often for inspiration, thanks :)

    ReplyDelete
  32. WOW, i love the way the quilt is turning out! so cool! and the other patchwork pieces are so cool as well :)

    ReplyDelete
  33. I've not seen someone working with the triangles for a quilt where both sets are prints.
    These match so very very well.

    ReplyDelete
  34. I agree with your point, please share with us more good articles.1984 Mitsubishi Tredia AC Compressor

    ReplyDelete
  35. Whats up, This is a wonderful summation, I located your blog checking google for any similar subject and observed this. I couldnt find as well significantly other tips and information on this posting, so it was fantastic to discover this one. I will almost certainly be returning to think about a number of other articles which you have written another time.
    Land Rover Radiator

    ReplyDelete
  36. Me encanta todo lo que haces!! Es patchwork pero totalmente distinto a lo que se suele ver normalmente! Felicidades! ;)

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for taking the moment to leave a comment ;) I always love hearing from you!