Living in Shanghai

We toured some neighborhoods.  This 2 story apartment was in process of being renovated.

Many of the apartments had laundry hanging outside.

Happy Stitching!

Brides in Shanghai

Sunday afternoon we saw 5 different bride and groom out for official photo shoots.  We were walking around the French consession area of Shanghai.

Look carefully to see the young lady in pink walking down the street.

This pair had matching Converse sneakers on.

The entrance to the place we were eating was popular.  I took this photo while sitting in the restaurant - one bride leaves and another shows up!

There was also setup going on for a wedding.

Happy Stitching!

Shanghai Museum of Arts and Crafts

This museum is owned by the government.  It was filed with all different kinds of handiwork including embroidery:

needlepoint:

even dough figures.

Many of the pieces were for sale.

On display were some opera costumes and celebration attire.

The building itself was quite beautiful.

Happy Stitching!

Grocery Shopping in Shanghai

There is an amazingly large mall around the corner from my hotel called The Brand Mall.  It looks exactly like a high end mall you would find in the US and is filled with US clothing brands and also had a foot court of sorts on the ground floor that was half US brands - things like Subway, Coldstone Cremery - and also very Chinese.   This particular restaurant should sushi.  You sat on a chair and this conveyor belt brought the food around everyone.  When you saw something you wanted, you took the dish off.

There was also a supermarket on the ground floor where I got some apples and water as well as a small box of cookies. I found many a strange looking item in the produce area. My guess is that these are fruits but I've no idea. All the labels were in Chinese.

Happy Stitching!

Fabric Shopping in Shanghai

I spent a wonderful day with a friend touring neighborhoods in Shanghai.

One of the places we visited was the fabric market.  There were at least 3 floors.  At each of the stalls, the people running the booth would make you a tailor made garment.  Usually the garment takes about a week.  In one case, there was a particular dress I was interested in and she said she would make it in 2 days!  (I liked the one that was violet and green.)

The friend I was with says she will get cotton blouses made there for about $15 US dollars.  She would pay $50 in the local mall.

This women was selling 100% silk for roughly $20/meter.  The dress in the background would cost you roughly $100 made from this silk.   

I didn't see anything I would call quilter's cotton but I did get some fabric.   The solid blue piece is 80% silk.  The blue with flowers is a heavier cotton and the brown with flowers heavier still.  I'm thinking that they would all make nice bags.

Happy Stitching!

Off to China

Traveling to China on business this week.  First time I've been there.  I have time on Sunday for some touring and shopping so I am hoping to find fabric.

Happy Stitching!

Little sewing, much dancing

This has been a very busy week for my family.  Both of my girls are appearing in dance recitals.  This meant 3 evenings of rehearsals and then five shows spread this Thursday through Sunday.   Their dance school puts on a wonderful performance each year.  This years theme was Anastasia.  Girls from the ages of 5 to 18 dance.

All this wonderful dancing has left very little time for sewing but I finally managed to turn a previously FMQ piece of fabric into a case for my iphone.  Simple envelope style with a velcro closure. (Fabric and label are from Sweetwater.)

I've order a bit of fabric as well... just because.  Discovered a new online store (1 Choice for Quilting) that had Pure in stock so I just had to order some...   Everything came packaged really well and there was also an envelope of goodies inside.

Finally, I have won a couple of giveaways recently(!!!)  The first was a copy of Scrap-Basket Sensations from Sinta - her blog PinkPincushion .   Then,  when I was busy getting caught up on my blog list and saw on Retromummy's blog that I won her giveaway!  I entered awhile ago so I know it is fun fabric but I don't recall specifically what!

And found for you quite the awesome giveaway sponsored by Shabby Fabrics  at Just One More Stitch

Happy Stitching!

Cracked the code

I cracked the code!!


I made 7 'rows' of my son's fractal quilt this weekend - about 40 more to go.

The key was templates.  I tried many different ways to make these HRT (half rectangle triangles) but then decided that a set of templates made from cardboard would work best.  More on this in a post later this week but I'm liking this so far (and so does my son!) 


Have a great week.


Happy Stitching!

Blue and Gray

My fabric for my son's new quilt arrived.  I ordered 7 yards of each 'color' to make sure I had both enough for the quilt and extra for the mistakes I am confident I will be making as I assemble this quilt.

I am still working on the most efficient way to make my HRT (half rectangle triangles.)  More on my quilt project is at this post.

Perhaps if I have any left over, I could outfit any remaining soldiers from the Civil War.

Happy Stitching!

Summer

I finished piecing together the top to my as yet unnamed quilt made from a layer cake of Summer Breeze.

It is currently 49 by 42 inches.  I need to make some decisions about borders and binding.  But for now, I'll enjoy.

Happy Stitching!

My afternoon at the NC Quilt Symposium

I enjoyed the lecture by Frieda Anderson called Friedas Fast, Fun Fusing. (Please check out her website for photos of her amazing work:   http://www.friestyle.com/)  She had beautiful samples of her work to examine along with fabric she had dyed. Her books were on display and look to be filled with clear directions and colorful photos.

I learned some great tips about fusing that I can't wait to try:

• Cut stems and thin pieces on bias to prevent fraying and allow nicer curves
• Use 18 mm rotary cutter for small shapes - works better then scissors
• Recommends Pellon Wonder Under as the fusible
• After fuse, remove paper before cutting. She had a great trick about marking this removed paper - called the 'release paper' with ones pattern.  Onto the release paper, trace the pattern with a sharpie or pencil and use your iron to transfer it back on the fuse side of the fabric. Cool idea that will try. (Edited for clarity - I'll post pictures of my attempt at this in an upcoming blog post.)
• After fusing she will stitch in the ditch first to outline her pieces and get started with any quilting
• Suggests fun cutters for linked or curve edges that you can get from the scrapbook supply section
• Also showed some tee shirt quilts she had made by quilting each 15 inch square and then serving the squares together to make the quilt

My favorite quote from the lecture "quilts have a tendency to evolve on their own.".

I enjoyed the quilt show - here were some of my favroites

Top Left: Thursday at 6:45 by Carol Robinson and Brian Fackler
Top Right:  Mon Chien et Moi by Jane Hamrock
Bottom Left: Five Thirty AM by Amy Stewart Winsor  (This quilt was one of my favorites)
Bottom Right:Wild One by Linda James

Top Left:Four Cards Around by Diana Ramsay

Top Right:  Block from quilt Fort Sumter Stars by Mary Abbott Willaims

Bottom Left: Nice touch on the border by applique of triangles (didn't capture quilt name)

Bottom Right: Block from a quilt called "From a Tiny Scrap to a Mighty Quilt" 

Top Left: Portion of a quilt called Christmas Pickle by Karel Johnson

Top Right:Fred's House by Friends of Fred

Bottom Left:  Pelican block from quilt With a Little Help from my Friends by Phyllis Tarrant and her guild

Bottom Right:  Dinosaurs on Parade by Joan bryan

This was the quilt I picked as my viewers choice quilt   It is called "It's about Time" and was made by Kim Frisk.  It won first place in the Studio Art category.

Finally, did just a little shopping while I was there.  I got some batik charms and a Dresden Plate ruler.

Happy Stitching!

NC Quilt Symposium

The NC Quilt Symposium is this Friday - Sunday at Peace College in Raleigh!

By the time I heard about the Symposium, many of the classes were full.  I did sign up for an afternoon lecture on fusing taught by Frieda Anderson.  There will be many quilts on display and fabric/supplies to purchase.

Happy Stitching!