I visited both Siem Reap, Cambodia and Hanoi, Vietnam in the past 5 months. Whenever I travel, I always look for quilt shops in order to buy fabric or a local textile handicraft. Imagine how thrilled I was to find Mekong Quilts. This is a wonderful organization that supports women in rural communities, providing employment for the women and helping to improve conditions for their children and families. This program started in Vietnam, and has expanded to Cambodia. It has changed many women’s lives, and has helped them to send their children to school with a chance at a better life. Take a few minutes to look at the website to see what this great organization does, and how it improves lives.
The quilts are all handmade and really stunning. In Siem Reap, at Mekong Quilts, I bought a wholecloth King size quilt in which every stitch has been made by hand. It is really amazing. Below you can see the rack of gorgeous quilts hanging on the wall, and the beautiful quilt I bought that day.
Here is a close-up shot of the beautiful hand-stitching.
In Hanoi, I was thrilled to come upon Vietnam Quilts (now known as Mekong Quilts). I bought a fabulous Christmas tree skirt and a table runner.
Happy Quilting . . .
Hello! I’m Lauren, the fabulous ‘la’ of Nalasa Designs. I am so excited to be making my first post on the Nalasa blog! I thought I’d start out by giving you a peak into my sewing world…that is a 5×9 foot nook in my small Boston apartment. As most city dwellers know it can sometimes be hard to find space in a tiny apartment to fit all your shoes and purses, let alone your sewing supplies. But when you are creative you can ‘make it work’ (insert Tim Gunn impression). In my space I have a dresser and metal drawer unit for storing fabrics, notions and supplies. My sewing machine is kept in a great storage unit that folds up when I’m not using it. I decorated my space with bright colors, framed fabrics, and some of my favorite sewing books and magazines. I also display some of my fabrics, threads and ribbons on a lime green shelf. I love my sewing nook and can’t wait to share with you some of the creations that come out of it.
Last week I was in Boston to see my fabulous daughter Lauren. Living in Singapore with the monochromatic weather, I just had to see some fall colors. Plus, I wanted to get a little stash shopping done at the same time. We drove up to Center Harbor, New Hampshire. We got to see snow, beautiful fall foliage, and shop at the wonderful Keepsake Quilting. We stopped and had lunch at Canoe Restaurant, located on the shore of Lake Winnipesaukee. It was wonderful. The food, the shopping and spending the day with my daughter couldn’t have been any better.
I just had to share some of the fabrics that Lauren picked up. They are so cute! Plus I love her bookshelf arrangement showcasing some of the fabrics in her studio space.
Happy Quilting . . . .
Well, I have started machine quilting my daughter Sarah’s Route 66 commemorative quilt. You may recall from a prior post – Route 66 Quilt, I made two quilts, to commemorate our journey in July of 2010. My daughter and I drove my car from San Francisco to Los Angeles where we picked up Route 66, and followed it through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma. We wanted to see all the amazing, kitschy tourist sites, such as the giant dinosaur park, the Wigwam Motel, Cadillac Ranch, and other fantastic sites. It was the trip of a lifetime.
So now, I have started machine quilting. I am very excited by the quilting pattern I chose. I have always liked doing an overall pattern, and it was my desire to do something simple, but a large pattern. I played with the pattern first on blank paper until I got something that I knew I could repeat easily. Here is a close view of some of the quilting.
Here is a different view to give more of the overall look on the quilt.
This picture shows the backing that my daughter chose. It looks perfect with the colors in the quilt!
Happy Quilting . . .
My husband and I were golfing this past weekend, at a little executive 9-hole course here in Singapore. We hit the 9th-hole, and as we were walking to the green, I noticed this big chain link fence with barbwire at the top. It was a pumping station behind the fence, and these signs were posted all around. I am guessing that you certainly won’t hunt for your ball if it goes behind the fence. I’m not going anywhere where they threaten you with guns if you enter the ‘protected place.’ The monkeys didn’t seem to be too worried. They were walking the barbwire like a tight-rope.
Happy Quilting . . .
Although my dear friend, Laura, only had a couple of days to spend with me in Singapore, we had time to go shopping! As quilters, we naturally love to see textiles and fabrics in any city that we visit. We made our way down to Arab Street. You can find a wonderful selection of fabrics, carpets, baskets, and all sorts of goods.
I ended up buying this fabulous chainstitch rug from Kashmir. These are handmade by men from the region. It is being used in “the blue room.” It is the bedroom for my oldest daughter Lauren, and guests. The walls are blue, and everything in the room is basically, black, white, and blue.
I also bought an embroidered table runner from India. I love the colors and the designs on it. It also is adorning “the blue room.”
My friend bought this wonderful tablecloth for her sun porch. I can’t wait to visit. I am imagining sitting on the sun porch, sipping lemonade, admiring this tablecloth!
Happy Quilting . .
One of my dear quilting friends from Moscow, Laura came to Singapore with her husband on business. We had such a wonderful visit! Unfortunately, our time together was short, but we were able to shop! And yes, fabric was high on that list! Laura, lucky girl, was staying at the new Marina Bay Sands hotel here in Singapore. The hotel is a fabulous structure with three towers, and a “boat like structure” on the top with a bar, swimming pool, and views. The whole structure is over 55 stories tall.
Here Laura and I are in the lobby -
Here are a couple of views from the top by the pool. It is absolutely stunning, and the infinity edge pool is amazing.
Tomorrow, I will post some pictures of our shopping adventure!
Happy Quilting . . .
Well, I hate to call myself an ‘old dog’, but I guess a rose by any other name smells as sweet. So, even calling myself a ‘young dog’ is not going to change the facts! My husband has encouraged me over the years to learn to play golf. I have made the decision to play twice before in my life. At the time, I played a game of golf each time. The clubs were heavy, I really didn’t have lessons, and I couldn’t hit the ball half the time! I could think of a myriad of other things I would rather be doing, scrubbing the grout in the bathtub, cleaning lint out of the dryer tube, and anything else that popped into my head!
Before moving to Singapore, I decided that I was going to try one more time. After all, I am an empty nester, and I have not committed all my time to volunteer opportunities yet, so I might as well give it a try. I thought it would be nice if my husband and I could share some enjoyment in the sport.
I have taken two golf lessons now, and with no other background, we took a two day trip to Batam, Indonesia over the Chinese New Year holidays. We really had a wonderful time. I played 9 holes on Thursday, and 18 holes on Friday! I didn’t keep score, but for playing golf for the 3rd time in my life, I didn’t think that I played that badly! On one Par 3 hole, I actually hit the green in three and sunk the ball in another 3. I know that isn’t spectacular, but for a beginner, I was excited!
We had a wonderful time during the Chinese New Year holiday! It was so much fun. Here is the New Year tree in the hotel lobby -
There was a celebratory dinner, Thursday, the 3rd of February, and it started with the traditional Yusheng toss. Basically, food items that are auspicious to the new year, are placed on a platter, and everyone takes chopsticks and they give everything a toss.
The traditional lion dance. I love the movement of the lion, it is magical!
I am playing 9 holes on Thursday. Am I becoming a golf nut?
Happy Quilting . . .
No, I am not talking about the venomous, pit-viper, I am referring to the handy bobbin winder that is a happy little addition to my studio space. I have never been thrilled with the way this Pfaff machine winds bobbins (to be fair, I have two other Pfaff’s that wind bobbins superbly). I wanted something where I could just wind a bunch of bobbins at the start of a project, and just have them at the ready. I had been eyeing up the Sidewinder. I told my family that I really wanted one for Christmas. But, like my usual, impetuous self, I bought it while shopping a fabulous Christmas sale at one of my quilt shops in the Louisville area.
The sidewinder is a portable bobbin winder made by Wm. Wright Co. Because the power is 220 volt here in Singapore, I can’t use the power cord that comes with the system unless I use a transformer. But, you can use two AA batteries to power the Sidewinder instead. I used the Sidewinder for the first time last week. I wound 5 bobbins, and I must say that I was impressed with the speed and the smooth flow of the thread onto the bobbin. I found that it did a fantastic job, is easy to operate, and I am really happy that I bought it! Be sure to determine if it will work with the your machine’s bobbins. They list the few machines where the bobbins are incompatible very clearly on the box. I am glad my bobbins work just fine.
Happy Quilting . . .
I have decided that I will do something crafty each and every day. That does not mean that I will be clever, or do something sneaky, but I will sew, knit, work on a quilt design, or do something that furthers a handcraft project in my life!
Just like all quilters out there, I have so much fabric on my shelves, so many ideas in my head, and somehow that doesn’t always transform into quilts on my bed! Seriously, because I was with family over the holidays, I just didn’t work on my projects the way that I would like. I really miss my time at the sewing machine. There is something very therapeutic about the rhythmic hum of the machine, as I either sew seams, or machine quilt. I especially like machine quilting. I love the feel of ‘painting’ on the fabric, as I move the quilt around under the needle. It has to be similar to the ‘zone’ that a runner reaches after they hit their stride.
It is important to utilize your brain in a creative endeavor. I am hoping it will keep all those brain cells alive and kicking. Quilting and handcrafting is very creative. You are utilizing the creative half of your brain in order to imagine the overall look of a quilt by switching a fabric. I do utilize computer programs where I have scanned in my fabric, and can “see” the quilt in the colored version, but before I get to that point, I have to look at the fabrics and decide if they are compatible, and put them through their audition paces. Imagining a machine quilting pattern is also very creative. I love to draft the patterns on large pieces of paper. Once I determine what pattern I like, I practice it over and over to translate the pattern into my brain.
I want this next year to be my most successful in completing a lot of projects! Follow my progress here!
Happy Quilting . . .
