Rambling Roses Design

Look! I’m knitting a sock!!

Confession :: this post isn’t about knitting but a post without a picture is, you know, meh!

I just finished a book and the words continue to linger with me. Does this happen to you sometimes when you read something powerful, or watch a movie that’s especially moving?

The Pearl That Broke It’s Shell by Nadia Hashimi is the book that I just finished and it was such a tender story with a powerful message.

source

At first, I picked the audiobook version to listen to and I wish I had switched to the actual book with pages earlier on because the narrator, while very good, sounded more Middle Eastern than Afghani. However, this didn’t spoil the storyline and the way the characters were developed through this fascinating book. I just couldn’t put it down!

Crisscrossing in time, The Pearl That Broke Its Shell interweaves the stories of two remarkable women who are separated by a century but share the same courage and dreams…

Ultimately, I wrote this story to share the experience of Afghan women in a fictional work that is made up of a thousand truths.

– Nadia Hashimi

If you’re looking for a great read, I highly recommend this book!

I used to read voraciously until the crafting bug sort of took over. I missed reading but then, I discovered audiobooks! Craft and listen? At the same time?? The ultimate match! Some books however, are best read… crinkly pages and all!

I’ve challenged myself to read more this year (scroll down the right sidebar for my 2015 Goodreads challenge).

Are you a bookworm too? I’d love to hear your recommendations.

Posted by Preeti & filed under Books, Rambling. This post has 5 comments.

While I don’t have the luxury of time set aside to craft each day, I am grateful for the slivers of creative time I do manage to squeeze in. A few moments to work on a knitting row. Scratch that, who am I kidding! More often than not it’s just a few stitches moved from one needle to the other! Or sometimes, chain piecing a few squares together at the sewing machine.

All these moments add up and yesterday, I finally cast off on a long term project, my Stripe Study Shawl! Cue Hallelujah chorus!!

A few days before that, I finished all the “Block 1” blocks for my Shortcake Quilt 🙂

These crafty moments do make a difference!

There was some other sewing too. I attended my first ever Quilt Guild meeting last month at the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild and what a hoot that was! I had such a blast that I went again to this month’s meeting along with blocks for the evening’s block lotto :: Wonky Hashtags.

These were fun to make and to share!

Next up are the “Block 2” blocks for my quilt and my Five By Five Cowl.

Being creative everyday, even if it’s just slow and steady ♡

** Linking up :: WIP Wednesday and Let’s Bee Social **

Posted by Preeti & filed under Finished Knits, Quilting, WIP Wednesday. This post has 6 comments.

Hello, hello!

Today is the last school day before spring break begins… two weeks of fun, goofiness, day trips and snacks, always with the snacks!! I thought I had better begin something new to celebrate the early onset of spring and sunshine that has bathed our lovely neck of the woods.

Did you spot that cute little bee 🙂

Last summer during our trip to the Oregon Coast, I went to this adorable fabric store called Jane’s Fabric Patch. Actually, it’s a cute little cottage jam packed with goodies and I walked out with an arm load of happiness! Among my purchases was this jelly roll of Miss Kate by Bonnie and Camille for Moda.

Like most crafty types, I am guilty of adding to my stash at a quicker pace than actually using it. Ahem, overflowing yarn bins! Something ain’t right with that picture! No point in hanging on to stuff if I’m never going to make something with it.

If you love it, use it!

So, this is what happened today…

That neatly packaged roll of fabric is undone and now the only way forward is to cut it up so that I can sew it back together again!!

I looked for a jelly roll project that was easy but at the same time, interesting enough to make me want to keep going.

I found a great pattern called Shortcake by Allison Harris of Cluck Cluck Sew.

I’m thinking I’ll make the throw size quilt but I’ve got a bunch of Miss Kate scraps in my Moda Scrap Bag, so I might go larger. We’ll see.

I also noticed that there’s a no pressure quilt along #shortcakealong on Instagram… extra bonus!

I’m all set to begin cutting and then I’ve got to do some serious chain piecing. Serious, but oh so fun 😀

What about you, do you have plans for some of your forgotten stash? I’d love to hear!

Posted by Preeti & filed under Fabric, Quilting, Stashbusting. This post has 2 comments.

Another mini quilt is done and no wonder, these are so quick and so much fun to make… even more so if you don’t need to follow a pattern 🙂 I really wanted to use my scraps to make a ticker tape quilt.

Ticker Tape Mini 4

Saturday was a lovely day to be out and about with camera in hand. I remembered to grab my quilt and a couple of push pins as we walked out the door. If you keep driving north for about 10 minutes down our main street, you get to this place…

Towering mountains, the lake and plenty of wildlife. I discovered the perfect spot for taking pictures of my project, the viewing platform. But as I got closer, I saw the ‘orange mesh thingy’ stopping people from going up. Good thing I brought those push pins 🙂

Back to my project. I chose linen for the background because I just love the texture and it’s fairly neutral :: the perfect canvas to show off bits of brightly colored fabric.

I think ticker tape quilts are inspired by ticker tape parades. I haven’t really researched it, so I maybe totally wrong. Any of you lovely readers know more about their origin?

I added pieces of fabrics as the project moved along. To secure each piece, I used my walking foot and a 1/8″ seam allowance all around. I backstitched at the beginning and the end around each scrappy bit to prevent the stitches from unraveling. No knots or weaving in ends… win!!

In keeping with the scrappy nature of this project, I used leftover bits of binding from various projects. Scrappy binding 🙂 I love that the wind played along and you can see that I backed it with a larger cut of the floral butterfly fabric.

This was a great way to use up leftovers and make a little something without having to be too precise. I’ve begun another one for my mom and I’m sure she will love it!

Ticker Tape Mini
Fabric: Various bits from my scrap bin
Dimensions: 16.5 x 12.5 inches

** Linking up with Lorna for Let’s Bee Social **

Posted by Preeti & filed under Mini Quilts, Scrappy, Sewn Finishes. This post has 4 comments.

Today is Family Day in British Columbia :: a day dedicated to celebrating family.

The city has various family related activities lined up, but we decided to stay home (other than a quick milk run) and just hang out.

I think, with all the busy-ness of daily life, taking time to slow down and savor a non-agenda type day is the perfect way to recharge.

The teenager did normal teen type things, you know… Instagram, Facebook, beating me 3 times in a row at Trivia Crack!

I’ve declared war 😉

The hubster cooked lunch… he’s a keeper!!

The little miss ♡♡♡

I worked on my Stripe Study Shawl and now I’m on the home stretch.

Movies and popcorn in front of the fire are the only vague plans we have for the evening.

Yes, it’s been a good day 🙂

Posted by Preeti & filed under Family, Kids. This post has 5 comments.

Moda Fabrics makes these mini charm packs, aptly called Moda Candy. I can’t resist candy! I bought two packs of Moda Candy and went on a Half Square Triangle making spree. I didn’t really have a plan in mind for these and so once I got those HSTs made, they were forgotten.

Happy Go Lucky Mini 1

Two weeks ago, I was sorting through my WIPs. I found some projects that need the ruthless treatment i.e., rip-rip-rip. I’ve totally lost steam with these projects, better to salvage the yarn and start over with something fresh.

During my “organizing”, I found the forgotten stack of half square triangles. Half the work was already done and that’s always a good thing. I sewed them into 9 patch units and arranged them in a diamond pattern.

I love how this fabric line has a mix of geometric patterns and sweet florals.

I got sewing those patches together and just like that, I had a mini quilt top done!

I didn’t dawdle with the finishing this time (ahem, still hand binding that mega quilt!). After seeing spiral quilting everywhere lately, I’ve been meaning to try it out. This mini was the perfect trial project. Using these tutorials, I decided to go for it and it worked!

The rest was quick. Binding attached, knots buried, loose threads clipped and here it is, my new mini quilt 🙂

Pattern: Um, world-wide-web inspired
Fabric Line: Happy Go Lucky by Bonnie & Camille for Moda
Dimensions: 18.5 inches square

**Linking up to Finish It Up Friday**

Posted by Preeti & filed under Mini Quilts, Quilting, Sewn Finishes, Shawl. This post has 9 comments.

When the festive season surrounding the holidays is done and it’s not quite spring yet, there is this period of Bleh.

It doesn’t help that Vancouver has been enveloped in a dense fog for days.

The eerie scene pierced by fog horns is actually pretty cool and keeps all sorts of nautical disasters from happening. I’ve heard that it’s bright and sunny on our local mountains, thanks to temperature inversion.

Spring will be here before we know it. In the meantime, I’m going to introduce some color and cheeriness around here.

What better way to do it than cut up a whole bunch of happy fabric and sew it back together again!

Tiny half-square triangles pieced together into nine patches.

The fabric is “Happy Go Lucky“ by Bonnie & Camille for Moda. Such a perfect name for this fabric line.

It’s coming together and I’ve got just enough of the nine patches to make a mini.

Time to brighten this drab with some fab 😀

PS: On a whole other note, I think it’s totally wrong that Cadbury Creme eggs are already out on store shelves tempting us!

**Linking up: WIP Wednesday on Freshly Pieced and Let’s Bee Social on Sew Fresh Quilts**

Posted by Preeti & filed under Mini Quilts, Quilting, WIP Wednesday. This post has 8 comments.

There is something so sweet about little baby things. I’ve got a keepsake box for each of my children filled with stuff from when they were little. A lock of hair, a tiny onesie, a baby blanket, a favorite outfit, a squeaky toy… As a mother, these are treasured possessions that I will always hold close to my heart.

My friend recently became a mom for the first time. The arrival of her wee baby boy was celebrated with much anticipation and excitement. There were celebrations even before his arrival :: at the baby shower!

I sewed a set of matching bibs and burp cloths to take to the shower for the little man.

These are all backed with chenille :: super absorbent and gentle for delicate baby skin.

Isn’t that elephant print the cutest!

I forgot to make a note of the dimensions I cut the burpies to. I used a fat quarter for each set and only had a bit of fabric left over.

And the bibs… I loved making these!!

Fabrics are “Safari“ from Northcott and “Savanna Bop” from Andover Fabrics.

Some Dr. Seuss fun went into the basket too 🙂

The new parents are coping rather well (much better than I did!!) with midnight feedings and upside down schedules. Babies are so precious!

Posted by Preeti & filed under Gifts, Sewing, Sewn Finishes. This post has 4 comments.

Remember this quilt top I showed you a while ago?

The massive thing is now quilted. Actually, I finished the quilting soon after I wrote that post and then I folded it up and put it away in the linen closet.

Well, the little girl who has laid claim to this quilt said to me on New Year’s Day complete with hand on hip, “Mama, do you think you can finish my quilt in 2015?”. Miss Sass, I tell ya!!

I’ve had the binding prepped since November so I’d better get going with finishing this thing.

I pulled the quilt out, trimmed it and attached the binding. Man, I’d forgotten how huge it is!

Now, I’ll settle in for some hand stitching. A couple evenings spent sewing on the couch with Netflix should do the trick.

This quilt is going to be finished in 2015… most definitely!!

**Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday**

Posted by Preeti & filed under Quilting, WIP Wednesday. This post has 5 comments.

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