A New Beginning...

Bismillah (In the name of Allah)

Autumn's here.

I love the rain, the wind, and the coolness in the air, ahh... and the colours too. I have to admit that I love that this season is here already. I enjoyed my summer and did a lot of fun-outdoor activities with my husband and children: We visited countless parks in our city, visited the capital city (Ottawa), went camping right after Ramadhan when one could already feel the slight coolness in the air, oh we had some fun this summer.

But time has come for us to spend more time indoors, which means more cooking and baking, more sewing and reading, more family-centred time. Don't we all love that?

:: Finally, I might just have the time to bind off that quilt I started ages ago but hat to put away for sometime when I was suffering allergies.

:: Finally, I might just get on track with my home-made bread that I stopped baking during Ramadhan and took me weeks to make a new batch.

::Finally, I might just give a second glance to my abandoned sewing machine, my sweet stash of fabric and my lovely patterns that have been very neglected.

:: Finally, I am back here in this little corner of mine sharing about the things I love and wish had the time to do more often.

How is the arrival of Autumn (or the season you're in) affecting your life?

My Very First Quilt: How It All Begins

Bismillah,

I am having such a fun time trying new things, especially when it comes to sewing. How did it all start anyways? I'll spare that story for later. For now I want to share what's brewing in my sewing corner. I have, in the last week, been working on my very first quilt. How exciting is that!

It was tough to decide what would my first quilt be, especially with all the inspiration that's out there in the online community of sewists (I don't think this is a word but I like how it sounds). Anyhow, I decided for The easy lap quilt from Bend the Rules by Amy Karol. So far it's been a smooth ride but I'm a bit intimidated by the binding. She recommends to use the machine and hand-sewing technique and I'm going to be a good pupil and follow her advice. Apparently, it's time consuming but worthwhile if you don't want your binding to bunch up.

I'm using quilting cotton (two solids and two prints for the top, and an adorable print from Robert Kaufman for the back) all purchased from my local fabric store.

This is what I envisioned

But after playing with it I went for this

So far I have the top all sewn up and ready to pin it to the batting and backing, then I'll do some 'stitching in the ditch' (ha, I'm even using seamstress vocabulary already) and a few stray stitches on each row to keep the batting in place. After doing all that, I will make the binding from leftover fabric pieces and bind my very first quilt!

If you want more details on this quilt you might want to take a look at Amy's Bend the Rules. I own a copy and have quite a few projects from there that I'd like to try sometime in the future. It's a very good resource for those wanting to embark on this adventure called sewing.

InshAllah (God willing) after this quilt and when I get my hands on the Modern Log Cabin Quilting book I plan on making a quilt for my bed, and hopefully one for each of my munchkins: Cooks, Teddy and Fats.

A little step at a time...

I hope you're enjoying something special made by your hands and that it brings pleasure and joy to you and yours.

Happy weekend to all

A Tale of Sewing and Having Fun

Bismillah

In my sewing corner there has been some finished projects: A dress made from a pillowcase for Cooks:

And, a pair of shorts/underwear I made for Teddy with the fabric I won in the 'sew mama sew' giveaway that I mentioned here

Gladly, I have more projects in line to take form and shape, which, of course, I'll be sharing here along the way. But, to be honest with myself, I'm going to have to give up big chunks of sleep to accomplish them because it is plainly too nice outside to spend the days at home.

Somehow between having some good times in the backyard:

Visiting the beautiful spots this city has to offer:

And, of course, riding bikes in the neighbourhood:

I'm going to have to be very organized and creative to find time to spend here:

But, frankly, I don't mind taking a long time to complete a sewing project. After all, this is not some sort of race or competition; it is plain pleasure.

How are you incorporating your hobbies into your life? 

Sewing and Knitting for Their Delight

Bismillah,

Ah! I have made Ted Teddy - upon his request (5-year-old boy) and Cooks (3-year-old girl) each a little something. Something to make them feel special and loved by mom.

It was about time to knit Cooks something since last winter I only managed to make Teddy a hat. So I went for something small and useful, naturally. She liked it and stuffs it with toys and whatever she thinks appropriate regardless of its weight ; of course I have to just breath, relax and try hard not to think of the hours put into it.

As for Ted, I'm in love with his tote. I'm constantly reminding him of how special it is and he has to hear me more often than he would like saying "please don't leave it where everyone's going to step on it." The reason why it is so special, to me anyways, is that it's made from a pair of old jeans and an old shirt. 

I love re-purposing and reusing stuff so instead of throwing away those jeans with holes on the knees I kept them and when the perfect old shirt came along I whipped this up. Maybe some day I will write a tutorial on how I made it. 

Oh yeah, I thought I shared this with you because I'm so excited! I was a winner from the giveaway organized by sew mama sew and will get this lovely goodies in the mail anytime next week.

photo from mooncalf's blog

Thank you so much mooncalf!

And just to keep the creativity going and make another little person happy I'm thinking of making Fats (2-year-old girl) something but have not decided yet what that should be. 

Any ideas?

Children's real names are not given. A little gesture of my part to respect their private life a little.

Let the Sewing Season Begin!

Bismillah (In the name of Allah)

I've been meaning to write about a few new passions that are bringing so much joy to my life and as a bonus are making my little ones very happy: Knitting and sewing.

Of course I had not blogged about it because I have happily been busy taking sewing lessons, sewing at home, reading up on it, having sewing parties with a friend and when I take a break from sewing there's always baking and knitting to do.

I got this amazingly simple skirt pattern and have made each of my two girls a skirt so far, and am planning on making more inshAllah.

It's heart-melting to see the joy that such simple things can bring to little people. So, I'm hooked! And, to make things easier I've turned a corner in my kitchen into my private sewing studio where I can go and work on projects whenever I want without having to clear things away-as it was the case previously when I was using my dining table for sewing.

As for now, though, the drawers of my sewing table belong to my 2-year-old who uses them as her dollies' beds whenever they need to take a nap.

I'm loving this new passions of mine, alhamdulillah.