presents

 These are the iphone cases I made for Kalyan and his friend as small presents.

I made this brown one sometime ago from Kalyan's old linen shirt and his friend seemed to like it too. So I made another one from a navy blue shirt for him. The tags on the side are my favorite feature.. Boy + Apple = Happy smile. This apple ribbon is really delicious! It is a Japanese linen tape by Shinzi Katoh.

As the fabrics are plain, I thought the French seams on the sleeves of the shirt will add some interesting detail. The flaps were cut from the cuff of the sleeve to avoid sewing any complicated closures or buttonholes. It was a pleasant surprise that the width of the cuff was a perfect fit to attach to the case. I only had to sew those buttons to finish the pouch. 

I padded them with fusible batting for added protection. 

Unauthorized people should be very careful about putting their fingers inside... this scary looking crocodile is Pochi and guards the phone round the clock. As long as the Phone is inside it will always be safe I guess! This is a double gauze fabric that I got at SuperBuzzy.

Kalyan's friend has two dogs. When I was planning for this pouch I remembered having a fat quarter of Heather Ross's dog fabric. I was so happy to find two dogs that looked exactly like their pets. One side of the lining has this white dog and the other side has the tall brown dog playing with a ball. I couldn't get a clear picture of the brown dog though :(

These are the measurements I used to cut the pieces for these iphone cases if you are interested in making one :)

for body (cut 2 each from main fabric, lining, batting) : 5 1/2" long  x 3 1/2" wide

for the flap (cut a piece of the cuff that has the buttonhole) : 2 1/2" long

 I used 1/4" seam allowances which are included in the measurements. 

Now for the fun part.. today is our harvest festival called Pongal and is a day of giving thanks.. I would love to share these vintage handkerchiefs as a little thank you to my blog friends.

I collected these during our visits to Brimfield Antique show and some on etsy and ebay to use in my Basket quilt. I didn't include the whole set in this picture just to keep some as a surprise :)

If you don't mind I can also include the ones that I have cut into, to use in the baskets. The leftover flowers are all still usable for Applique or in doll clothes. Please note that since most of them are vintage they may have slight stains here and there.
Please let me know if you are interested in the comments. If there is more than one comment Chutki is eager to draw a name on Sunday ( ' v ' ). Thank you so much for playing along :)

Happy Pongal!!

Update: I will mail them to you soon, Nanette! Thank you so much!

 Hope you are enjoying a lovely weekend :)

snow day in the forest

At first it was only some twinkling snow flakes tickling the nose

and pine trees covered in silver dust..

little by little it was getting cold and dark and the forest ground turned wispy white.

shivering and socks soaking wet, the hungry wolf walked until he came upon a blue cabin in the woods.

He wiggled his toes and rolled his eyes and fully surprised to find a shelter in this place.

He hung his wet socks near the window and lit a match stick to start the fire.

Soon the cottage will be warm and his socks will be dry. Seeing how smoke is puffing out of the chimney, supper is already cooking on the stove… 

Hopefully when the wolf is properly fed and settles into his sleep, this little bird can sneak in to thaw her frozen feathers and rest up for the night!

With fresh snow falling every few days in December, I got into the mood to make this baby quilt. Looking at Red riding hood and hungry wolves holding tightly onto their capes and shawls in this winter storm, I felt sorry for them. So I built this cottage with a bright pink roof to make it easy to spot from afar even on stormy days like this.

I fussy cut squares with baby items that are in the center and did reverse appliqué for the door and window of the cottage. The snow on the roof is fused and attached with slip stitch. It was fun adding other details with simple embroidery. There is even a snow shovel to clear the path :)

The blue and green fabrics are linen. This soft pink fabric with  pine trees is by puti de pome and is a linen cotton mix.

I found this pink fabric with stripes at Jo-Ann’s. It is also a linen cotton mix and very soft.

               This quilt is about 29" x 32". 

New Year gives hope and a fresh beginning for us.. Wish you a great start into this new year and may all your wishes and dreams for 2013 come true! ( * v * )