I'll Never Get Bored

When I was a child I didn't really like having birthday parties. I was always apprehensive about mingling. I remember peering through the window to see who arrived for my seventh birthday. My Mom had to push me out to welcome the arrival of my classmates. We continued to have those parties until I turned 13 and then they let me do what I wanted after that. 

I rarely had playdates because I was perfectly happy being alone. My favorite toys were Lego and Barbie. During summer my Mom would teach me different crafts. She taught me how to make Christmas cards which I sold during the parish fiesta. Then I learned how to make pincushions which I sold to my neighbor Titas. Then I learned how to quilt, make straw bags, and crochet. It was my Mama Lola who taught me how to use a sewing machine (on her vintage Singer sewing machine). 

Remnant from my pincushion production days (c.1987?). I still use it.

I just watched Janice de Belen's vlog featuring her craft room. I had one before in our old place. I couldn't help but laugh when she said she has this compulsion to buy everything she needs before she makes something. Yup, I think it's an addiction of crafter to buy so many materials. I used to have a shelf full of beads. It's now with my Mom and kept in Daddy's old tshirt cabinet. Now I have boxes of fabric and the collection is growing. And the other day I may have accidentally bought a boatload of buttons. Hahaha. 

I'll never get bored. Between chores, exercising, writing, reading and working on crafts there's just so much to do. I can't imagine now how I used to fit in work across all of that. 

Are you doing what makes you happy?

CB///*Yr2/47  #StuckAtHomeDay/Yr2/74 #StayHome #BeKind

Organizing My Chaotic Craft Materials

Ahhh, I finally organized my craft materials. I had everything in a cabinet in our old apartment. We hurriedly packed everything in just a week and I gave away the cabinets that housed my craft materials. I realized it's been hard for me to plan my Christmas project because my materials are all over the place. I also couldn't find the project I made at a free class at Spotlight which I want to use as a template (I still didn't hehe).

So today I decided to take the plunge and opened up all the boxes. It took the whole afternoon and I'm happy it's all organized now. I put the items in translucent plastic boxes and labelled what's inside each box. This will also prevent me from buying stuff I already have. I originally thought I was running out of thread, but found the bunch of thread I bought last year. I don't have enough velcro though, but will just buy if I make bags again.

I dream about having a craft room someday. A room that will hold all my fabric and craft materials. It should have a nice long table where I can easily cut fabric and lay out the quilt. Of course, it will have an area for my sewing machines (I hope to have more than one hehe). And a wall where I can hang my work so it's easy to take photos. Someday it will happen.

For now at least my stuff is now easily accessible and I know where everything is (more or less). This should make it easier for me to work on new projects. Now I just need to allot more time for my hobbies.

What about you? What are your hobbies? How do you organize your materials?


CB//159 #StuckAtHomeDay/189 #StayHome #BeKind   

My First Quilt Project After 20+ Years

When I was a kid I would spend my summers with my Mom teaching me how to make crafts. I went through sewing clothes for my Barbie dolls, making bags using straw rope, making crochet coasters, creating Christmas trees using pistachio nut shells and one summer in high school she taught me how to quilt. My Mom would get retaso from Tita Maming who had a clothing export business and should would cut them into square patterns. My school bag and lunch box in my high school senior year were my hand-made quilt products. I still have them and use them sometimes (yes they're still alive!).

Mom never stopped quilting and eversince she would make blankets for her grandchildren and me. I was looking for a hobby to revive early this summer since I didn't really like creating loombands (I wanted to be offline while crafting and making loombands require you watch online vids). I wanted to go back to reading, but my eyesight has deteriorated (probably coz I use gadgets too much!). One day I realized I wanted to try quilting again, so I found myself in Spotlight buying some fabric and thread.

It was a journey for me to create my first project because I realized that my Mom only taught me how to stitch together square patterns. My quilting lessons didn't include how to put everything together -- the batting, the backing and the piping! My Mom used to finish my projects for me back then. To practice I made a small wallet first (project zero) to figure out how to finish a whole project.

I guess that's how life is as well. Your parents will teach you as much as they could, but you would need to figure out the rest. It took me 2 months and 20,878 kilometers worth of travel (I lugged it around with me) to finally finish this project - a sleeve for my Chromebook - and I must say that it's an achievement for me since I made it on my own. It's not perfect -- all the stitches are uneven, and ugh don't even look at the underside! But I think my Mom would be proud that I finished this without her help.

For my next project I'm going to make a sleeve for my tablet and after that I hope I can have the courage to veer away from solid colors and follow a simple project from a quilting book.

Aja!