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? 

Urban Life

Bismillah,

Today I want to share images of what's been growing in my containers. This is all so exciting to me and my little crew; we're seeing life unfolding right in front of our eyes. So, even if the wildlife gets the best of the highly anticipated harvest we're okay... 

I planted white beans, oregano, parsley and cucumbers. I labeled each container with the names of the vegetable seeds sown in them but the rain erased them. Now I'm left guessing as to what's growing where. I thought that since I marked them I didn't need to make an effort to remember what seeds went where, which would have been a lot wiser considering I'm only gardening in about 5 containers. I guess it's all a learning experience, including the little nuisances.

 

I'm so thankful for the little sunny backyard this house has and for the opportunity to share this wonderful experience with my children. 

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.

My Banana Bread Recipe

Bismillah,

Today I want to share a treasure of mine: my banana bread recipe. I call it 'mine' because I got ideas from here and there and customized it to suit my family's needs and likings.

I make this banana bread with the same flour I talked about before and it's delicious! You can customize it to your liking, it's a very flexible recipe. I've made it with walnuts as well and it adds a touch of crunchiness that's irresistible. The recipe calls for 1 1/2 cup of sugar but I use between 1/2 to 3/4 cup and nobody has complained so far. The one thing that my family can't do without is chocolate chips. I use 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips. 

The best part is that making this bread is a family joint adventure.

Enlarge to read recipe:

Enjoy with your favourite beverage or alone.

Schedule it is!

Bismillah,

Formal Homeschooling is around the corner. It's been on our minds a lot the last couple of days since we started acquiring the books we'll be using. I'ts overwhelming to think about it and I hope and pray that doing it will bring joy and balance to this household.

I'm thinking right now that I need to start, seriously, working on organizing my time and daily activities so that when formal homeschooling starts I don't have to worry about how I will do everything else related to keeping a house and nurturing a family. The idea is that if I have a few years of good home-keeping habits up my sleeve then they won't get interrupted by formal homeschooling once it starts.

I want to clarify that I use the term formal homeschooling since I believe that before the age of seven children should be allowed to have plenty of unstructured play instead of actively pursuing academics. They should be read classic children's books everyday to instill in them love for literature. So aside singing ABCs songs my children won't be taught in a structured way for about two more years.

Going back to my rant about schedule and good home-keeping habits. I'm thinking about  what a household needs to run smoothly:

• Nourishing meals and snacks
• Cleanliness and organization
• Well-fed, well-rested children
• Clean clothes
• Happy mommy and daddy

And this wee list includes all the basic things that need to be prioritized before pursuing anything else.

I'm hoping to:

• Come up with new healthy recipes to add to our repertoire
• Assign specific tasks to each day of the week
• Cut down on time guzzlers, i.e. the internet
• And, make sure I leave time to do the things that keep me going

I need help from my creator to get my act together. I want to, specifically, work on a schedule. I dread the word but let's face it I can't possibly escape from it if I want to succeed on this path of mine.

So schedule it is!

Somehow I want to work this in it:

• Cooking
• Reading to kids
• Exercising
• Cleaning and laundry
• Grocery shopping
• Sewing and knitting
• Blogging and Internet (sparingly)
• Personal reading
• Gardening and outside keeping
• Playing and doing crafts with kids
• Outdoor activities

Some of these will need to happen everyday, others once or twice a week. Hopefully, I can assign them to specific days and make a chart to post on an easily accessible place (fridge door.) I also want to keep an agenda to jot down appointments and things of the sort to not lose track and avoid planning things that conflict with priorities. 

I can't wait to work on such schedule for the sake of my sanity and the happiness of this family. 

The Farmer Within- The Sequel

Bismillah (In the name of Allah)

My post "The Farmer Within" somehow got deleted.

I had shared my love of maybe one day living on a farm and my experience with gardening in a small backyard in the city. I had also said that I would give container gardening a try. Somehow 'blogger' thought inappropriate or perhaps too cool and took it away :( Not cool considering I blog at the most twice a month.

Oh well, time to re-invent my post and perhaps add a kick to it.

I planted, with the help of my little troop, basil, white beans, chamomile, cucumber and oregano.
I had a beautiful hibiscuits plant that left outside through the winter and, of course, did not make it; and a pepper plant that was my joy in the garden last summer.

 
I'm using the pots where they were and a few more for my little gardening adventure. I will share photos of them when/if they germinate. I consider this a baby step towards my dream of growing some of my own vegetables.

Have you considered growing your own vegetables or herbs? Even if you live in the city you can do it. Container gardening is for the city folk since it can be done even on balconies. Bet you heard of it already. All you need is some containers, soil, some sunshine and a bit of time to tend, water and feed your plants. I'm no expert by any means but am eager to try and learn from this experience. As a bonus, I can involve the little ones in this project and teach them that vegetables don't grow on shelves in the grocery store but on plants. It can be an mazing learning experience.

I love it!