T-shirt quilts and Kids sewing classes

June was great being on holiday in Holland, visiting family and seeing the sights.  But now its back in Singapore and back to work!

July was a busy month teaching kids sewing.  A lot of my regular students are still away on holidays so it was great to meet some new students that were able to take lessons during the day. Here are some of the things my students have made. (photos posted with permission)

Alexa's baby hat

 Georgia's (age 7) first Jelly Roll Quilt

Millie's (aged 8) Wrap around circle skirt

I have also been busy making more t-shirt quilts for  customers:

Not quite sewn together yet, but hopefully will be finished this week.

Welcome to the American Club Christmas Fair!

Jokamamo Textiles will be at :

American Club Xmas Fair

26 & 27 November 2013

Come along and check out all our hand crafted items made right here in Singapore  by us.

Baby Bibs, Burp Cloths, Onesies and Zipper Pouches, Hand crafted Modern Quilts, Hand Dyed Unique Quilting Fabrics, Camera Straps and Beautiful Lace Christmas Decorations.

Let the front desk know that you are there for the Christmas Fair and there will be someone there to welcome you and bring you upstairs!

See you there!

Marianne Bos and Jessie Moir

Ready for the Fair!

 will be at the Hollandse Club Fair this Friday 27th of September!!

Baby bibs, Burp Cloths, Make-up bags/pencil case, 

Designer Camera Straps,

 Onsies, Hand crafted Quilts, Hand dyed fabrics

 

Open from 10am to 5 pm at 22 Camden Park, Singapore 299814

The Fair is open to all so bring your friends and family.

See you there!!!

Marianne and Jesse

Landscapes

I have been taking a break from dyeing fabrics (ended up with dermatitis and had to explain to my bewildered doctor why my fingers were a strange shade of purple! ) and have been making some (gasp!) traditional blocks for friends that are having birthdays or leaving.  Don't get me wrong I like traditional blocks and I admire those that make them - I just don't make them well....I will post the pics tomorrow.....

Yesterday I decided to play around with landscapes and here is the picture so far....

This photo is of Island Bay in Wellington, New Zealand which I took in 2009.

I have been busy machine embroidering all the details in.  Just need to do the sea and the sky.  I think I will frame this and hang it on the wall at home.  Speaking of walls....my walls at home have been very bare over the last two months with my quilts hanging in the exhibition at Chinatown.  The quilts will be coming down shortly so if you still want to have a look they are at:

The Loft Cafe
1st Floor
cnr Smith St and South Bridge Road


Happy Quilting

And here they are....

WARNING: BRIGHT COLOURS MAY DAMAGE YOUR EYESIGHT 

 PROCEED WITH CAUTION!

These are todays hand dyes:

Dogs in sneakers!

Its been a while since I've done much sewing so it was really nice to head into the sewing room yesterday.

This is one of three postcards I made and two of them were snapped up today!

Aren't these dogs just really cute!!!

Till next time...
Happy Quilting

p.s My quilts are still hanging at "The Loft Cafe" on South Bridge Road so come and have a great coffee and/or some waffles and check out the quilts.

Autumn leaves

I have had some autumn leaf fabric for some time and thought that this would make an interesting card.  I added some skeleton leaves as well. 

Note to self:  remove the fusible web from the backing paper before ironing to leaves (between layers of baking paper) so that  the leaves dont rip when removing the backing paper!

Autumn Leaves Fabric Postcard 4 x 6 inches

I had made some christmas tree tags with little asian dolls and had handwritten "Singapore 2011" on it, but I wasn't happy with my handwriting so these one's were done by printing directly onto the fabric .  I made 3 of each colour.  Much better!

I'm hoping these will sell like hot cakes at the school fair in two weeks time!

Tonight my hubby and I are off to the Affordable Art show which is on this weekend at the F1 Pit building (next to the Singapore Flyer)

One of the ladies from the ANZA Quilt group has some of her art quilts/fiber art in there. I'm  so happy to see Quilt/ Fiber art being recognised as art at last!

The last of the postcards....(I think)

Today was ANZA Quilt Group day and I was thrilled when I arrived that one of the ladies was working on a new quilt with some of my  hand dyed fabrics that she bought from me!

 After quilt group was some time to finish off the (hopefully) last of the fabric postcards that will go in the school fair next week

I even made the newspaper fabric myself!

Last Friday I went and checked out the MAAD (Market of artists and designers ) which is held once a month at the Red Dot Gallery here in Singapore.This is a craft market and has a variety of craft items all made by local artists.  Check out their website! http://www.maad.sg/

Also coming up in Singapore is the Affordable Art Fair from 18-20 November at the F1 Pit Building (by the Singapore Flyer).  I even hear a rumour that they will be having art quilts/fiber art there!

From 24 November to 26 December there is also a quilt show held at the Botonical Gardens and I have entered a couple of quilts.

Happy Quilting!

Colour Study complete

Yesterday the weather was terrible in Singapore.  Lots and lots of rain and thunder and lightning.  Major flooding in several parts of Singapore...waterfalls in shopping centres etc etc.

And it was a great day to stay home and finish my quilt!

Here at last is the colour study quilt.  This quilt is based on a pattern found in Gloria Loughmans book.

I am really pleased with the quilting in this piece.  Sometimes simple is best.

This was the first time in more than I week that I had time to get behind the sewing machine and I do admit to having had withdrawl symptoms.  Hmm think I'm addicted?!

I have finally managed to set up a flickr account and have loaded all my photos.  Check them out in the side bar.

The kids are finishing the school year tomorrow, (Yeah) and so there will be little time for sewing for a while....I guess I will have to spend the time thinking about  new projects....

Happy quilting!

Seeing Blue

Yesterday morning I was all ready to sit down at my sewing machine for some serious quilting when I realised that my power box was broken.  I already wasn't able to use two of the power points and now the last two were also on their way out.  Time to buy a new one.  My old iron was also on its way out as the wires were starting to protrude from the cord.  Not good.  So off to the shops I went. 

Here is my new iron.  Yeah!  sorry didn't add a photo of the power box...I mean...it's a power box!

Anyway after that I managed to start on the blue part of my latest quilt.  Here is my progress:

Ok it doesn't look like much but it took ages cutting and fusing all those small diamonds!

Today it was ANZA quilt group and I sold some of my fabric postcards and my hand-dyed fabrics.  Yeah!

Yes, today was a great day!

Happy Quilting!

The latest batch of fabric postcards

Here are the latest batch of fabric postcards:

Golden Hues

Golden Hue 2

Golden Hue 3

Seascape

All postcards are for sale on my etsy page:
http://www.mariannebos.etsy.com/

Happy Quilting!

Nearly finished

This week I have been busy working on a "modesty cover" for the lecturn in our old church in Wellington and it is nearly finished. 

I had originally bought the larger gold trim (in top right hand corner) but this was so damaged by lying in the shop that I was not able to use it.  No amount of retwisting or ironing could fix the damage.  Why dont they just store it better!!! This new trim I was lucky enough to find a brand new roll (plastic still on it) and as soon as I had bought it I rolled it nicely onto a piece of folded up paper I had in the car.

The trim just needs to be attached and it is finished and can hopefully go back to NZ with our guests that are coming on Friday. It is made from thick velvet which was harder to sew than I thought. 

This is the last of the "must do" projects and then I want to start on a new project....problem is ....too many ideas....which one to do first?

The kids have a weeks holiday next week for spring break so it will be busy.

Today though, I am off to the ANZA quilt group and get to show off my darned quilt.  Yeah!

Happy Quilting!

It's been a while.....!

Wow has it really been more than a month since my last post!  My how time flies!  Since my last post there has been a major earthquake in New Zealand.  This has taken a lot of my time and attention and our hearts and prayers go out to all those in Christchurch.  Its things like this that make me feel very far from home!

Oma has gone back to Holland and I have also finished Luke's quilt.  He has happily been sleeping under it and Im hoping he might discard the old quilt which is falling apart.  (a sign of being well loved!)

Luke's New Quilt

Luke's Baby Quilt

This week I have been trying to finish all those things that just never seemed to  get finished.  Yesterday I finished the dress I was making....Hmm I knew there was a reason why never sewed my own clothes!  Maybe I should just stick to quilting!

Today I FINALLY finsihed the darned circles quilt.



Darned Quilt

The only thing left to finish is the repairs to our bedspread.  It had handquilting on the top but over the years the stitiching has come loose.  Oma and I already repaired most of it and I just need to finish two more rows.

Then I need to make a modesty cover (the piece of fabric that hangs from the lecturn) for the pulpit for our old church in Wellington.  I already have the fabric ready to go and it will need to be made in the next two weeks so that it can travel home with our guests that are coming soon. 

sigh!  Then and only then can I move on to new and more exciting things!!!!

Quilt completed / Australian Relief Quilts

Yesterday we finished the large quilt that we were working on.  We managed to quilt a large quilt with the three of us in less than 10 days!  It  was great all sitting around the table and quilting (and talking).  The binding was added yesterday and only the label still needs to be done.  Thanks Oma and Gina for all your hard work.

This quilt is for someone in particular but I don't want to tell you who yet as I'm planning to give it in person next time I see them.

Oma has been going "great guns" with the Quilt as you go blocks for the relief effort in Australia.  She now has 20 blocks finished and we will bring them along to Quilt group on Tuesday.

This is a great way to use up some of your stash that has been sitting there for a long time waiting for "just the right project".  The instructions for this are on an older post but here it is in a nutshell:

Cut a 11 x 11 inch backing piece and an 11 x 11 inch piece of batting.  Add strips to the front starting from the centre and going out to the sides. (ranging from 2 1/2 inch strips to 1 inch strips) This will quilt each piece as you go.

What you will end up with is this funny looking shape.  Press all the seams then trim to 10 1/2 inches.

Pretty easy eh?!

Happy quilting
Marianne

Quilts for Australia Flood Survivors

A couple of the ladies from the ANZA Singapore quilt group have started making Quilt as you go blocks to be sent to those affected by the recent floods ( and now cyclones) in Australia.  My mother in law sewed a couple today and I think they look great.

For more information on how to make these, check out Jan MacFadyens blog at http://ozcomfortquilts.blogspot.com/.  You can either send completed quilts or just the quilt blocks to her.  Her mailing address is listed on her blog.

Today I added the last of the borders onto my split rail fence quilt and Im hoping to get the binding done in the next couple of days.  The kids are home for a couple of days due to Chinese New Year so we will see how much time I have.  The weather finally cleared today after a week of rain but now the skies are starting to cloud over again.  (Sigh)

We also found somewhere for my daughter Celine to go horseriding here in Singapore.  She used to ride in New  Zealand and really missed it.  She went for her first lesson on Monday and loved it.  She is going again tonight.  Hopefully the weather will stay dry as she is riding on a outdoor arena.

Until next time

HAPPY QUILTING AND HAPPY CHINESE  NEW YEAR!

Bye Bye Holland

Today is my last day in Holland and tomorrow morning I fly back to Singapore.  It has been a busy week and my mother in law and I have been travelling all over Holland visiting friends and family.  The weather has been quite mild although there was a lot of mist yesterday.

Yesterday we had my mother in laws 70th birthday party which was nice and I managed to catch up with people that I havent seen for a while including nieces and nephews.

Here are a couple photos from the quilt show in Holland called "De Naaidoos"
This is a must see if you are visiting Holland!

On Monday I went to visit my aunt in Schiedam and met a friend of hers that is also a keen quilter.  It was great meeting her and seeing her work.  Isnt it great that no matter what country you come from, quilters are such lovely people!

Well its time to go and pack my suitcase.....see you all again in Singapore

Kapow! Wow wee that's bright!

Today I was supposed to be making myself a summer dress, however.....

I have long been a fan of Melody Johnsons quilts and regularly follow her blog fibermania.  Seeing my circles quilt is finished and my Quilt University course doesn't start until October, today seemed like a good day to pull out a lot of bright fabric and just "go for it".

There was no plan to follow and I found it quite liberating!

So liberating in fact that I forgot myself and cut into my large Teflon sheet with the rotary cutter.  GRRR!


Oops!

I really wasn't sure if I liked what I had made until I evened up the edges and took a look from a (safe?) distance.

Wow wee that's bright!

This was a lot of fun to make even though the jury is still out on whether it will make it to quilting stage or not.

Sometimes even big girls need a day to play!

Under Covers....

Thought I would let you know about their exhibition....just in case you happen to be in Wellington, New Zealand around this time!