Afternoon Tea Blocks

Yay it's March! I couldn't wait for March to come because I'll be playing catch-ups with a bunch of things this month. I'm most definitelygoing to catch up with my two bees I fell behind terribly andI'm planning on some serious make-over for my craft room and for my blog design. (I can't wait to show you my room filled with lovely lovely handmade gifts from friends!) Hanging out with friends and Joe and a lot ofgifts-making are happening too, not to mention I'll get to experience the springin Japan first time in 9 years. Woohoo! I made two blocks for Kerry for her Afternoon Tea theme for Patchwork 318 bee. I'm pretty happy with how this kettle turned out except for..


this unacceptably small seam allowance! This happens to me quite often. As the block I am working on is about to finish, I start slacking off and just eye-ball to make sure if pieces are large enough and I don't realize the lack of seamallowance until the very end. (Am I the only one who has this problem?)Knowing Kerry's amazing piecing skill, I know she wouldn't have too much troublepiecing it, but I wanted to give her another option in case this doesn't work out for her.I made this in the hope to make up for it, but I am so not happyabout this result. The addition of the black fabric was a bit too much and the tea cup turned out quite wonky. Hopefully,she doesn't mind these as much as I do. 
Thank you for stopping by ;) Just to warn you... I will be blogging a ton in March!

Tutorial: Scrappy Hour Glass Blocks

Hello everyone! Here is a virtual big hug for all of you lovely folks for coming back here after my longest blog break ever. I apologize for having being away for this long without giving you a heads-up (again!). I have been tied up with some project for the past few months, which is coming to an end now, so I will be back to my normal crafting and blogging schedule very very soon! I can hardly wait! You have no idea how much stuff I have on my to-blog-about list now. I have so many things I want to talk about and share you with, but for today,I have a super simple scrappy hour glass block tutorial for you.


Do you remember this quilt top? I started working on this about a year and a half years ago with no plan ahead. I just had so much fun playing with my precious scrappy fabrics and hoped they would inspire me to make something with them.  

I remember this project being very pleasing partly because it didn't turn out to be too busy (at least I think so, hehe!) I love scrappy look so much, but when my scrappy project is big in scale, I tend to worry that it would be too busy for my eyes.  I added solid sashing between each block, which I think helpedto offset the craziness.  And the little square blocks are added fun ;)

Just like what happens to many projects of mine, it was side tracked by other projects and months passed by so I haven't made a progress since then!When the sweet, talented friend Rachel of Stitched in Color contacted me last year if I could participate in Scrap Attack she is hosting,I immediately thought of this idea of revisiting this quilt top for it. I got it out of a zip lock yesterday and it had its first fresh air in Japan.Thanks to Rachel for giving me this opportunity! Now I actually want to finish this quilt.I always appreciate this kind opportunity that gives me a littlepush to go back to my old projects and actually finish them. 


This tute might be a bit too simple, but I hope this will inspire some of you to turn your scraps into teeny hour glasses and hopefully do something with them! Each block finishes at a 2 1/4" square. Yup, it's teeny tiny, so these have potentials to be used for some small patchwork projects too!



Two squares, each measuring 3 3/4" x 3 3/4".



Cut from one corner to the other corner.


Take one of each triangle and sew along the long edges like this.(1/4" seam allowance as usual ;) )


Press seams to one side (same side for both.)

Chop!

Trade between the two!


Now to sew this bottom edge.

Press seam open.

Now you have two hour glass blocks, each measuring a little larger than a 2 3/4" square.

We want to trim down each square to be a 2 3/4" square. (1 3/8" from one edge is the center point.) Cut off the excess. 

The one on the right hand side is done.Repeat the same process for the remaining block too.

Now they are clean and pretty ;)


It's quite addictive! 


We'll need some 1" x 2 3/4" strips.


to join blocks to make a row.


Here I have the white strips sewn at the short edges of the panel,but you can choose to do that part later. Completely up to you.


I like to press seams this way.

To make a sashing that comes between rows, we'll needsome strips with a little colored block attached.Here I am sewing together a 1" wide pink strip anda 2 3/4" wide white rectangle. (Don't worry about length of each fabric.)


After pressing seam to the colored fabric side, chop it offto create some 1" wide strips like this.


And repeat the same process with grey fabric.


Here is to show you how I pressed seams on the sashing. (I made the sashing by sewing three strips and a 1" square at the short end.)


Sew along the edge.


Tada! Here is the beginning of the scrappy quilt.


If you would like to make a similar mini quilt, here is a measurement of my quilt. I have 49 hour glassblocks with sashing between and around them.I added a 1/2" wide border and then finished with a 4 1/4" wide border.This quilt measures a 32 3/4" square - a nice size for a baby quilt?
I would be thrilled if this tutorial could inspire you toplay with your scraps! If you are feeling scrappy, don't forget to stop byRachel's blog and Scrap Quilt Attack Quilt Along Flickr pool tocheck out everyone's scrappy projects - so inspiring!!
I'll be back next month and have tons of stuff to share with you!Hope you are all having a nice week ;)

Big thank you and a Merry Christmas to you :)

I don't usually take the time to thank every one of you for your kind acts you have taken to make me feel good about myself, but this past few days, I have been giving a lot of thoughts to how lucky I have been to have such great, supportive, warm friends who are always there for me. I have been in need of a lot of support lately, and I have had more than enough of it from my trusted friends and my hubby. Supportive people for me includes every one of you who are nice to hop over here to read my new post out of your busy time. Thank you so much to you all!

Sewing something and putting my projects out there for anyone's eyes has not been easy for me. I am very critical of my work and am always afraid that people might be here to judge me. However, in the history of Pink Penguin since April of 2008, I have never ever received a single email from anybody to criticize anything I have made or have said. This I find it almost a miracle as there are people who aren't necessarily as nice as you guys. I am so lucky. All my fear about my creativity and my projects are usually swept away completely by your sweet comments/emails. They have such strong uplifting power to me, so much that I can hardly describe it to my friends who don't blog or craft. (I would look just silly, hehe.) Without your support, I would not have as much confidence to keep creating and blogging. I deeply thank you for any moment you have spent to let me know you like my projects/tutes/blog. I am especially thankful when I receive emails letting me know that they liked my stuff in published works, as I am usually very, very nervous and shaky about having my work being published in print. So when I saw this post by my friend Penny of Sew Take a Hike today, I started feeling too warm and fuzzy and tears came down on my face. How much it made me feel better is indescribable.

I am also very thankful of all of you who have supported my wee etsy shop. It has been very helpful to me in that I feel I am doing something I can to support this family that Joe works very hard for.

I am ready to have a great Christmas with KFC and a decorated cake at a Kotatsu table (a table with a heater right underneath the table top and a blanket to go over to keep the heat) in our tatami room. I will make quick eggnog for Joe so that he won't miss American way of Christmas too much.

I hope you are keeping yourself warm and that you have a Merry, Merry Christmas with your loved ones!

Thank you again for your every kind act! Love you all!

P.S. Here is a little pattern I made a long time ago. I never cared about it enough to write a tutorial on how to use it, so the whole idea was tossed, and time passed by. I just happen to remember about this because I was thinking about a cake for tomorrow. (It's supposed to be a cake in the oven.) If this is something any of you would want to give a try for personal use, I'd be delighted! It may look a bit boring as it is but maybe it has potential to turn into a fun potholder? Who knows? You can download it here if you would like ;) Just a wee Christmas gift from me to thank you!

Christmas = KFC

Here is a little sneak peak of my second and sadly possibly last Christmas gift from me this year. (Can you still call it a sneak peak when you show 90% of it? lol)  I totally underestimated how fast time flies. I was told at the post office that it's too late to send Christmasgifts overseas via standard airmail now. So my gift list went from 20to 2 since all my recipients-to-be live overseas. So sad, butthis is a great lesson - I will start VERY, VERY early next year! 
Christmas is not celebrated in the same way in Japan, so there isno gift exchanges between family here usually. (I have never given Christmas giftsto any of my family, nor received one, but we have a perfect relationship :) )Christmas is rather a romantic day for couples and peopleenjoy a nicely decorated cake and KFC. Can you imagine what Joe's reaction was like when I told him we have to order KFC for Christmas this year? hahaHe said he would accept the idea if and only if he couldhave eggnog, which is basically impossible to find in Japan.Thanks to Krista for pointing out to me that I could make it at home.Well, I might have to do it so that we can have KFC!;)
Oh the winner of Kerry's Candy Cane pattern is**nicke... of kiss kiss......Quilt!Congrats, Nicke! I will contact you soon ;)

I hope your holiday making is coming along and you are enjoying every step of it! 

Secret Gift Making #1

Here is a little gift I whipped up for someone, hehe.
I know the recipient of this little drawstring bag reads
my blog, so I hope I am not ruining a surprise too much by posting this..!



I made this using the same method in this tutorial, but instead of 2 1/2" squares, I used 1 3/4" x 2 3/4" rectangles, which makesa 7 1/2" x 7 1/2" drawstring pouch. I also sewed the patchworkpanel onto thin muslin to stabilize it.
If you are anything like me, you had a longest list of to-make-forChristmas gifts to begin with, but now you are finally realizing that 1) Christmas is just in 10 days,2) you don't have time to cross off everything on the list,and 3) you need a Plan B - switching your initial ideas to something a lot quicker and simpler. At least for me, this happens every year, haha.

Here are some tutorials of small things you can whip up little quickand can be great gifts for your friends and family just to name a few:
Scrappy organizer by Leila of Where the orchards growQuick scarf and lined drawstring bag by Jeni of In Color OrderMini tote bag by Kerry of verrykerryberryScrappy armrest pincushion by Amy of During Quilt TimeNeedlebook by Amy of nana company2011 star desktop calendar by Nathalie of An once of creativity
Oh and you must have seen Kerry's amazing newest paper pieced Candy Cane pattern by now. It's on sale in her shop, but if you wouldlike to win the pattern, leave one comment on this post by Thursday midnight.A random winner will be announced here this Friday.
One more thing! I would be so thrilled if you checked outmy sister-in-law's etsy shop here! She's got lovelyhandmade jewelry for unbelievable prices! If you snatch anything from her shop, please say hi for me ;)
Hope you're having a great week!