Monday 1 September 2014

Monday Makers! #2 and Around the World blog hop

Hiya all!
Today's post will host a blog hop called "Around the World Blog Hop" and the second week of Monday Makers!
Last week hasn't been a great week for me. My son was sick and had a fall and hurt himself. The drama didn't finish here. In the following three days, he mastered the art of falling at the childcare centre-one fall per day- which caused two other bumps on the head and a bitten cheek on the inside. I am not telling you about the pain and discomfort all these incidents caused all of us...

Let me start with the blog hop. (As much as I wanted to prepare this post about my creative/quilty process earlier so that I could reflect myself better, here I am, trying to make it ready to go live in an hour because of having an awesome! week last week. )

Last Monday, I was tagged by Jo of Riddle and Whimsy in the Around the World blog hop. This blog hop is a kind of game in which you tag other quilters to talk about themselves and answer a few questions about how their creative and quilty process work. Then these quilters tag other fellow quilters and the game continues. This is also a great way to meet new people.
I would like to continue with introducing you to the one and only person I could find who hasn't been tagged in this game earlier and then I will move on to the questions.
Amira of the Little Mushroom Cap, born and raised in Malaysia, is a post-graduate student, a wife, a mum and a passionate quilter and crafter whom I met in my local Modern Quilt Guild. She is making beautiful quilts, hand-knitted socks, embroidery, you name it...I have recently tried one of her patterns called Girlfriend's Wallet. I suggest you give it a go too. Amira will be posting her Around the World blog hop next Monday, 8 September.

1) What am I working on?
I have been working on a couple of sewing projects lately: The first one is quilting the New Wave quilt and the second one is today's Monday Makers' small project which I don't know what it is going to be yet. LOL.
Apart from these projects, I have been working on setting up a small, jewellery business. I have done all the legal part of the preparations and currently, I am waiting for my stock to arrive. All the jewellery and accessories are handmade by using silk and/or synthetic silk.
The significance of these jewellery is that they are reflecting the great Turkish culture with an authentic design and the delicate and elegant Turkish oya lace.
I am hoping that not only will this business make enough money to quit my part-time job but also feed my desire of buying more fabric for my future sewing projects. (Wishful thinking.)
2) How does my work differ from others of its genre? 
At the moment, I can say that I am still finding my way and style in quilting. I started quilting in 2011, while I was expecting my son. Since then, I have only made a dozen of quilts but read a lot about quilting, watched lots of tutorials and purchased lost of fabric! I am proud of the quilts I have made so far, I love every single one of them. However; when I look back, I see that my style and my fabric choices have also changed. I now find myself looking more at bold, solid colours and loving the use of negative space. If I had to say one thing here which differs my work from others, it would be my obsession with perfectly matching seams. If my seams don't match, I never get tired of unpicking those stitches and sew them again and again until I make them match perfectly- ok I walk away from that project for a while, ummm, maybe a month or so, but always go back and finish the damn thing. Having said that, I wish and wish I could be a little more relaxed about this and just get on with my life, move on to the next project. LOL.
3) Why do I create what I do?
First of all,  I LOVE LOVE it. I love any kind of crafting but quilting has a special place in my heart. I love playing with shapes and colours. The satisfaction I get after a finished quilt is a big bonus. I also like sharing my work with others, whether this is gifting it or selling-the latter hasn't happened much. And I love having my blog because this is a great way of reaching many other talented quilters and making new friends.
4) How does my creative process work?
I haven't had a clear process when it came to creating what I do. Most of the time, I started with buying the fabric without having an idea in mind, and then I decided what I wanted to do with them. However, this has changed after I joined Quilt Design a Day a month or so ago. My intention was to see what others were designing and also to get inspiration and motivation out of the daily 15 minute design challenge. I designed a few quilts- get the challenge?- and now I am thinking about turning those designs into actual quilts. Maybe I don't spend 15 minutes every day to design something but I can say that it definitely changed the process other way around. Now, I think of a particular design, imagine the colours to go with it and finally purchase the fabric.
Pinterest is a big source of inspiration too!
That's all from me!

Now to Monday Makers!
First, here is my finished project from last week. Six CD coasters!
Love the puss in boots. My favourite cup!
I am glad I turned those CDs into something useful. 

This is what I am starting today.
I bought this charm pack a few years ago and as soon as I bought it, I cut it for a great(!) project. I undid some of the stitches earlier and finished deconstructing the whole thing yesterday. I love the retro colours and the prints of these fabrics. I also had some leftover matching fabric. I cut 2" strips of it. I just can't waste fabric, big or small. I don't know what this is going to be. I can see a potential table topper here though   :-) P.S If you know the name of this fabric, please let me know. I just can't remember!
It is your turn to show us what you are doing today! Here is how to join:
1. Your project can be anything you start on that Monday as long as it makes you move and be active and creative: a new quilt, a knitting project, scrap booking, cross-stitching, baking-we don't mind yummy recipes!, a gardening project, painting your house!, tidying up the pantry!...This is your Monday and you are the maker of the day!
2. Grab the button from the side bar- I am still working on creating an HTML code to make it easier for you- or put a link back to me in your Monday post.
3. Click on "add your link" and just fill in the required areas. 
4. Please link to your specific post, not to your homepage: We would like to find your post easily.
5. Please take time to visit other links and leave a sweet comment: We love comments!
6. Share the photos of your finished Monday projects in your next link up- I am hoping you will come back again!: Who doesn't love a sweet, finished project or a "before-after" photo?
You don't have to be a follower of my blog, however; I wouldn't say no if you wanted to become one :-) 
Join and share as often as you want. 


Note: The link shows the previous collections and I couldn't work out how to change it! If anybody knows how to do it, please let me know. Thanks  :-)




6 comments:

  1. oh, good luck with starting the business! I have no idea on html codes or linky parties, sorry. I joined in anyway :)

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  2. Sorry Nurdan - I have no idea how to clear out week 1 from the linky party - hopefully someone knows the answer :)

    WOW this post is RICH with gorgeous photography - your coasters are adorable (that mug is a hoot, lol), your new project will be fun and colourful (sorry, I'm not familiar with those prints), and your jewellery is gorgeous. Good luck with the new business!

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  3. P.S. I'm so sorry about your son, too - I was reading the post on my tablet and I didn't scroll to the beginning! I hope he finds his "sea legs"!

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  4. So nice to read abiut you. So funny, we Run a linky Party called MondayMakers too :-)

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  5. With the linky, you need to create a new one every time rather than editing the old one.

    Putting CDs in a coaster is a great idea!

    Thanks for playing along in the hop! I can't believe you have the patience to keep re-doing seams! I might fix them a couple of times if they're off but that's about it! It gets thrown in the corner after that and can stay there lol.

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  6. Sorry you had such a crappy week! Hope things are getting better. Sorry I didn't join in...Love your cd coasters :)

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