Logcabin Pincushion

My addiction to making log cabin pincushions is back, and it's a bad
one again! I've shown so many, maybe too many pincushions on this blog in the past, but when I get bitten by this pincushion bee, my self-controlis totally gone and the only thing I can think of is to make and makeand make more pincushions. And the fact I took a part of the zakka stylesew along and made a pincushion for it didn't help ;)
If you are already sick of seeing my log cabin pincushions,feel free to turn around and say adios now!If you have a bit of time to spare and don't mind seeingsome of the pincushions I made, thank you and here we go!

I love this one partly because this is the first pincushion I've ever made that I used my carved stamp for! The "Sewing!" stamped on the linen piece is one ofthe stamps I carved this week. Remember I told you I've beenaddicted to that too? I also like this one because I think thegirl looks like she is looking at cherry blossoms petals falling. I love the pink snow flakes and miss them terribly already!

I made this one today. Very pink and strawberry!The stamp came out a bit better than how it looks in the picture. I got to use some fabrics I have always wanted to use for pincushion-making, so I'm happy!So far this is the only one left waiting for a new home in my shop ;)

This is another one I made today. It's for a sweet friend who I've wanted to make something for for a long time. I carved the chipmunk stamp too.I'd say it's not too shabby, no?He is asking for a swap with his little flower for an apple, but the thing is ....

There are a bunch of them just behind him!So he would just needs to get up and go around the back to  discover them.

The Heather Ross Gnome fabric is always a perfectone to start a log cabin! 

Whenever I receive email to notify me I sold my pincushion, I have such a mixed feeling. Happy and sad.Happy because there was someone in the worldwho wants to welcome my pincushion to her crafty space.Sad because it means I have to part with it.This one was particularly a hard one to part with!

This one was so much fun to make, I remember! I've always thought pink is the dominant color in my fabric stash, but lately I realized I probably havemore aqua fabrics than pink fabrics. The bigger the stashto pick fabric from is, the funner it is to make pincushions.

I covet this poodle fabric and have always wantedto make a pincushion using it. 
 
There may be a little too much going on, butI think it turned out sorta fun!

I picked up the bike stamp before I started carving stamps.Now I feel like I may be able to make a stamp like thatwith a little bit more of practice!

This one makes me think of vintage style a lot ;)It found such a nice new home!

I love this one too. I'll have to make more pincushionswith a sewing machine in the middle more often!

I had a lot of fun making it too. The linen looking fabric at the right bottomis not linen. It is printed cotton that looks like linen and a button. So fun!
I'll probably keep making more pincushions for my shopfor a while, hehe. 
Thank you for letting me share these pincushions!Hope you have a great rest of the weekend ;)

Oops I almost forgot! The winners of the package of Aurifil threads are:Sarah, Joyce Carter, Karen P, Beezus, Dakota sews!Congratulations girls ;) I'll contact you all shortly!

Zakka Style Sew-Along Week 3 - Zakka Pincushion

Welcome to week 3 of the Zakka Style sew-along! Thank you again Lindseyand Amy for hosting this sew-along and letting me participate in the fun!It's been so fun to see everyone's projects from the book popping up in the blogsphere lately! Today, I'd like to share with you my pincushion I made from the book as well as (hopefully) helpful tips ;)

Probably this is the easiest project in the book, and I certainly loveeverything about it! It's very simple but gives you a lot of room to be creative and make yours very unique! 
I closely followed the instruction except for the button on front.Instead of using a fabric covered button for it, I used a cutelamb button I found in my stash, just because I thought the lamb may feel better to be on there rather than sitting in the zip lock for another few years. lol!


I happened to have a sewing-themed stamp of the perfect size,so I used it, but I must admit I had a bit difficulty stamping on the cotton tape.

My initial plan was to use this stamp that I made by carving an eraser.(I've been totally hooked at this lately! I am making at least one stamp a day nowand have 10 books about curving stamps from the library!)Anyway, one sad finding for me was that the stamp on thecotton tape did not come out nearly as nice as it would on smooth quilting weight cotton, however many times I tried. It is probably the matter of a fact that it is difficult to get a good impression oncotton tape because of its somewhat bumpy surface.(Or maybe I just suck at it!)
Here are some tips for you
1. If you have temporary fabric adhesive on hands, you might want to useit for the cotton tape and the lace placement instead of pinning them.

I use this glue anytime it's hard to use pins (like sewing rick rack tapes etc.)It's much quicker and easier and, gives you better control!
2. When you leave an opening at a long edge to turn your pincushionright side out through, it might be better to avoid including the areathe lace is sewn. Does that make sense?

This is especially if you are using something like a rick rack tapethat is hard to hand-sew. It is much easier to hand-sew toclose the opening if the lace part is already machine-sewn.
3. When you put ink on your stamp, it might be nice to use a Q-tip toclean the edges of the stamp to prevent from unwanted ink on the tape.
4. Small print fabric might work best for the cotton part of the front.I thought about using a big print for it and realized it would be too busywith the stamped cotton tape and all. Small print helps other features (cotton tape, lace and button) pop up, I think! 

Here is the schedule of this sew-along again!

• April 2nd :: Zig Zag Tote with Sew Fantastic
• April 9th :: The House Pouch with During Quiet Time
• April 16th :: Zakka Pincushion with Pink Penguin
• April 23rd :: Sewing Kit with Monkey Do
• April 30th :: Patchwork Pencil Case with VeryKerryBerry
• May 7th :: Itty Bitty Quilt Block Magnets with Little Bluebell

• May 14th :: Raincloud Mug Rug with Quilt Dad
• May 21st :: Zakka Block Quilt with I like Orange
• May 28th :: Stem Messenger Bag with Sew Sweetness
• June 4th :: Zip Organizer with Spotted Stone
• June 11th :: Orchard Path Tweed Pouch with Don’t Call Me Betsy
• June 18th :: Happy Couple Handwarmers with A Cuppa and a Catchup

• June 25th :: Patchwork Potholder with Sew Take a Hike
• July 2nd :: Water Bottle Holder with One Shabby Chick
• July 9th :: Elephant Bookmark with Cut to Pieces
• July 16th :: Patchwork Ribbon with {House} of A la Mode
• July 23rd :: Delightful Linen Bag with Sukie
• July 30th :: Bread Basket with Patchwork Notes

• August 6th :: Sweet Sugar Cookie Sack with BettyCrockerAss
• August 13th :: Little Pocket Pillowcase with Freshly Pieced
• August 2oth :: Sweet Memories Photo Frame with Noodlehead
• August 27th :: Pleated Coin Purse with Shape Moth
• September 3rd :: Happy Garland Message Board with Maureen Cracknell Handmade
• September 10th :: Nesting Boxes with From the Blue Chair

As you may have guessed, I have a giveaway for you!

To win one package of 5 Aurifil threads, leave one comment for this postby the midnight April 20th. I will select 5 random winners and announce themon the day after. 
P.S. Make sure to link up your finished pincushion over Lindsey's by April 22nd for a chance to win the fat quarter bundle of Monsterz by Cloud 9 fabrics!

Good luck ;)

Sew-Ichigo ;)

If you've been around on my blog (thank you for that ;) ), you may already know I am a huge fan of Penny and Kerry, because I talk about them a lot. Well it's because these ladies just simply rock! They have become such great, sweet friends of mine in the past few years, and I have always been inspired by their impeccable works!

Their new adventure, sew-ichigo kicked off recently, and they just made their first set of paper-piecing patterns, "Kitchen Classics" available for sale! You've got to take a look at them! They are just soooooo adorable! Ever since they told me about these patterns, I had been secretly hoping they'd ask me to test their patterns because I knew they would be wonderful just like everything they create, and I have a weak spot for any kitchen related stuff!




You can imagine how excited I was to test this KitchenAid pattern Penny came up with! When I first saw her KitchenAid block for Ringo Pie bee, my jaw dropped to the floor! I don't know what it is about KitchenAids, but they are just so lovely! Penny did such an amazing job creating the difficult shape into a doable quilt block pattern!

This potholder was made for Jacey of Jaceycraft who is going to get married soon ;) I had always been wanting to send her something. She likes cooking, and I have spied a KitchenAid in her blogpost. I couldn't tell if her KitchenAid was in cobalt blue or black or possibly any other color, but I guessed it was in cobalt blue, so I made the KitchenAid with a fabric in a similar color (navy blue). I love the way she combines blue and orange in her beautiful projects, so I picked orange-ish fabric for the bowl. It made her way yesterday and I was just so happy to hear she likes it, hehe!

Let me leave you with some cherry blossoms pictures I took about a few weeks ago. Japanese cherry blossom blooms for only a week each year. Seeing them around really made me feel I am back home.

Have a beautiful weekend!

Camera Block

This is my terribly awfully late take on Amy's theme "All things related to cameras" forthe Ringo Pie bee. It's my very last block for the first round of the Ringo Pie bee, the first quilting bee I've ever joined! No need to be sad about though, because we kicked off the second round this month! I just really love the concept of this bee and the very friendly, encouraging and inspiring bunch of friends in the bee. Making one block takes a lot of time and energy, but I like the way this challenge stimulates my creative mind and helps me go beyond my comfort zone.

For some reasons I was really intimidated to make this block. My ideas for my block for her kept changing, but I ended up with this camera block which is modeled after Diana F+ clone camera. Its retro look reminded me of Amy's style a lot ;)Obviously, the tape is not sewn. I just found the ribbon in my stash and had totake a picture with it because it looks like a camera strap!


This humongous flash light could have used more contrasting fabrics maybe. My instinct was calling for yellow fabrics for it, but there is a reason I had to resist. When Amy and I hung out in Tokyo, (Yes! I've met her in person! How cool is that?), she told me she really liked these posters she saw at JR train stations.


Photo Credit: n_wakaThese are the ads to encourage people to take a trip to the northeastern part of Japan, the area that was affected by the tragedy last year. Amy and I both thought the colors on these posters are "so Amy". If you know me well, you know it was the moment I knew my block for her will be in this colorway, hehe.

The reason for 12 04? It's the date I hung out with her, December fourth last year.

My fingers are crossed Amy will like it.

Have a great weekend ;)

Zakka Style Sew-Along

I bet you've heard about this Sew-Along in the blogsphere by now! Yup, it is hosted by the fabulous Lindsey of LR Stitched and Amy of Skie, and it will start Monday April 2nd with the first project in the book, Zakka Style by Rashida Coleman-Hale, and will continue through Monday September 10th with a new project  introduced each Monday. Each blogger will sew a different project and will be sharing their finished project and inspiration with you.

I love this book! It is one of those books that make me feel I want to make everything in it! When Lindsey asked me to pick five favorite projects in it, I had a hard time choosing as there are a lot more than five that I would love to make! I'm really excited about making a zakka pincushion designed by Sonia of Cozy Home Making because you know, I am a pin cushion addict!

• April 2nd :: Zig Zag Tote with Sew Fantastic
• April 9th :: The House Pouch with During Quiet Time
• April 16th :: Zakka Pincushion with Pink Penguin
• April 23rd :: Sewing Kit with Monkey Do
• April 30th :: Patchwork Pencil Case with VeryKerryBerry
• May 7th :: Itty Bitty Quilt Block Magnets with Little Bluebell

• May 14th :: Raincloud Mug Rug with Quilt Dad
• May 21st :: Zakka Block Quilt with I like Orange
• May 28th :: Stem Messenger Bag with Sew Sweetness
• June 4th :: Zip Organizer with Spotted Stone
• June 11th :: Orchard Path Tweed Pouch with Don’t Call Me Betsy
• June 18th :: Happy Couple Handwarmers with A Cuppa and a Catchup

• June 25th :: Patchwork Potholder with Sew Take a Hike
• July 2nd :: Water Bottle Holder with One Shabby Chick
• July 9th :: Elephant Bookmark with Cut to Pieces
• July 16th :: Patchwork Ribbon with {House} of A la Mode
• July 23rd :: Delightful Linen Bag with Sukie
• July 30th :: Bread Basket with Patchwork Notes

• August 6th :: Sweet Sugar Cookie Sack with BettyCrockerAss
• August 13th :: Little Pocket Pillowcase with Freshly Pieced
• August 2oth :: Sweet Memories Photo Frame with Noodlehead
• August 27th :: Pleated Coin Purse with Shape Moth
• September 3rd :: Happy Garland Message Board with Maureen Cracknell Handmade
• September 10th :: Nesting Boxes with From the Blue Chair

I am super lucky to not only be part of this sew-along but also to have contributed a project to the book! I can blog about it now that I have a perfect picture of Joe's niece Sarah for it.





It is a patchwork photo frame titled "Sweet Memories Photo Frame." I made this a year and a half ago, but I like it just as much as I did when I made it. I think it is great for a little girl or boy's picture, but obviously you can make it more grown-ups picture friendly by choosing different kinds of fabrics. I knew I would put Sarah's picture in it as soon as I get this back. This is my favorite picture of her. Doesn't she look so adorable?




This is the picture I took right after it was finished. (I miss the nice weather in the bay area!)




Several folks have asked me if this girl in the frame in the book is me. Oh how I wish I had been this lovely! I don't know who she is, but I am really glad that the publisher picked her picture for it. I think this particular frame was meant to be for a cute girl like her or Sarah ;)

Thank you for taking the time stop by! I'll be back very soon with a paper-pieced camera block ;)