Fabric Shopping

I miss those days I could go to my happy place, fabric/craft shops. I haven't done that for 4 years now. The only fabric shop I go to now is a store in ATC that luckily sells patchwork fabric. Or I just get from an online shop.

Shopping for fabric in person is more fun though. I got to relieve that when Sweetie played some videos of crafters shopping at Nippori Fabric Town (Tokyo). 

When I used to travel often, one of the things I'd do is visit craft shops after work. My favorites include: 

Tomato (Tokyo)

Yuzawaya (Tokyo)

Spotlight (Singapore, better in New Zealand)

Lincraft (Australia)

Yong Le Market (Taipei)

Fabric Outlet (San Francisco)

*I think Blogger has issued with photo importa lately 

Too bad I didn't get to see any craft store in any of my trips to Europe (too busy!). I heard though fabric is quite expensive there, but it would have been fun to see what's available and what kind of sewing gadgets they use.

Mom left a boatload of scrap fabric, so I have no need to buy for now. I should probably get busy and work on something soon. My leg is still recovering, so I'm going through my craft books from Booksale for now.

Oh, and I haven't visited Divisoria in a gazillion years. I'll put it on my bucket list :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

Spent Time with the Cats

I'm still in the middle of sorting my Mom's things, but I made sure to spent some time with the cats today since I missed them. 

I carried Anakin for awhile and was surprised how heavy he is already. The vet said he was 3.5 kg last month. He's probably well over 4 kg now even though he's so active. I bet Bailey Boo is a bit heavier. He was just running around so much I couldn't catch him.

I slowed down a bit with sorting to organize the fabric and scraps I removed from boxes. Everything will need to be washed before it's used, but I thought I'd organize them first. I placed the bigger ones on comic book boards so I could better appreciate what's available for use.

Still loads to do! Have a great day everyone!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Quilts in Progress

Oh boy, I lost track of time and here I am cramming today post. LOL. I was going to post about something else, but it needs additional research, so thought I'd just share what I'm currently working on.

I've made progress with my Pokemon Pikachu quilt project. Since it's much bigger than I intended, I'm going to make it into a wall hanging. I have that on my quilt wish list. I always wanted to make art for our home and the size of this quilt is perfect. I just sandwiched it with batting today and I plan to hand quilt it. Ah, that's probably where I'll take time again. (Update: here's how I made the Pikachu Quilt)

My other project is a runner for my piano. I've been meaning to make one for it for a few months now. It's a peppermint inspired Christmas quilt. I'm having fun making it since I like making pinwheels.

Yay!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Joining the Comic Book Board Bandwagon

I ordered comic book boards from Amazon a few weeks ago. It's much cheaper to buy from Amazon than from local online shops. I got two sets of 100 and a cat yoga calendar to qualify for free shipping. It didn't take long before it was delivered. 

Now you might be wondering, do I actually own comic books? TBH, I don't. Not even one! Haha. I was researching how best to organize my fabric since it needs to be re-arranged. I've been having a hard time getting what I need since they were stacked on top of each other. I joined a quilting/sewing room group and read that most quilters use comic book boards to organize their fabric. 

My fabric stash is very small compared to quilters abroad. I've so far organized one shelf and I like how it looks. I could easily look through my fabric and also know more or less if I still have enough. I'm surprisingly more than halfway of the first set of fabric and I haven't even made a dent on my stash. Sweetie asked if I'll finish the 200 boards I ordered. At the rate I'm going I think I won't have enough, LOL. 

The comic book boards help with keeping the stash evenly folded. TBH, I'm not sure if I'll buy again since the boards are pretty flimsy. I will have to compute, but it might be cheaper to just get chipboards or reuse boxes. Other quilters don't advise using comic book boards. They said you could just use a ruler to measure the fabric while you fold it.

The comic book boards have been useful though since it's spurred me to work on organizing my fabric stash. How do you organize your craft materials?

#BeKind #StaySafe

Missing My Favorite Fabric Shop

I miss going to my favorite fabric shop in Singapore, Spotlight. I used to go there monthly whether or not I needed anything. I just liked checking out quilting fabric and accessories. I discovered tools that could helped make my craft easier to do. 

When Mom taught me how to quilt she used scraps from Tita Maming's export business. The scraps were perfect for quilting. I was in Singapore when I thought about quilting again. I didn't have any materials so I went to Spotlight to buy some fabric. I realized that there was a lot to learn when I saw all the different types of fabric and tools. 

Spotlight though is a bit expensive, so I researched where to find craft materials. I found out that there were fabric shops in Chinatown. The fabric was cheaper, but the selections were different from what I liked. I also found a fabric center in the other side of town, but they didn't really carry patchwork fabric. 

So Spotlight became my favorite shop in Singapore. The shop is originally from Australia though and I got to visit a branch in New Zealand. The branch in NZ is at least 2x bigger than the one in Singapore. They had much more items! Too bad I wasn't able to visit any in Australia, they were just too far from where I usually stayed. 

I brought home some fabric I got from Spotlight. It will take me a long time before I use it up. I miss visiting Spotlight though, especially the aunties who are always helpful. Someday I'll be back :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

Creative Happy Tuesdays: T-Shirt Memory Quilt Blanket is Done!

Woohoo! I finally finished my t-shirt memory quilt blanket! I started working on this on May 11, 2019! I worked on it on and off because the materials were in Manila. I eventually brought it to Singapore in January 2020. Thought I'd finish it there, but I didn't since I got busy with work and then was in and out of the hospital. 

Told myself I'll finish it this year. My deadline kept moving mainly because of my health. I just worked on it whenever I felt well. Worked on it slowly, but surely. I made bite-sized targets until I finally added the binding last weekend. The last stitch was added on August 20, 2022 (3 years 3 months and 9 days/831 days). 

Here's a tutorial on how I made it:

I also have a step by step guide here in case you want to try making one.

#BeKind #StaySafe