Easy DIY Quilted CD Case

I have a gazillion CDs from tests. My doctors kept putting them in an envelope and it eventually looked unsightly. Decided to make a case for it to keep it tidy.

This project just took me a day to make. I love how you can just customize things for your own use. Here's how I made it -

Size: 6" x 2" x 6"

Materials:

white fabric with design

black fabric

backing fabric (I used red fabric with hearts)

black fabric for binding

gold embroidery thread 

quilting thread

batting

 

How to Make Bias Binding Tape

There are many different ways to bind your quilt. I started with making them manually. This process did the job, but it takes so long to make. Another way is to use a special foot for your sewing machine. This is something I want to learn eventually. Others just cut the fabric and sew directly on the quilt. 

I discovered an inexpensive bias tape maker online a few years ago. I got a set and researched how to use it. I love that I can easily make bias tapes for my projects. Buying ready made from the store can be expensive and there's not that many options. Learning how to make my own binding changed the way I do my projects. 

I made a tutorial video on how to use the bias tape maker - 

Hope this helps you make your project easier to make! 

Check out my YouTube channel for other tutorials.

Quilted Tote Bag for Sewing Enthusiasts

I have made several quilt bags, but they were always hand-sewn. I challenged myself this month to use the sewing machine to make the bag sturdier. To make the challenge interesting I combined quilting and embroidery in the project. 

I found this amazing design on Pinterest and decided to try it out. Here's the sketch:

Bag size: 12" x 10" x 3"

Materials:

8 fabric scrap (white, black and red)

fabric for bag body 

felt fabric (red and black) [or use patches]

sewing thread

embroidery thread (white, black, red and grey)

buttons 

Here's how to make it:

How to Make a Quilt Cover for Your Food Processor

Finally made a quilt cover for my Philips food processor. I wanted it in happy rainbow colors, but thought it would be interesting to use triangles. Here's how it turned out -

Here's a video on how I made the quilt cover -

Materials:

Rainbow colored fabric

Black fabric

Backing fabric 

Quilt thread

Sewing machine thread

Batting

Shopping Online for Fabric and Sewing Materials

Quilting has been my best friend in the past year. It kept me busy from thinking about what's happening to the world. Because of the situation I have discovered a great way to shop for materials - online. I miss traveling though and visiting my favorite shops in Japan, the US, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, Korea and Manila.

Here are the online shops I've shopped from in the past year:

(1) Spotlight Singapore Online

I get a lot of my supplies from Spotlight Singapore so I'm familiar with the items they're selling. They also make it easy for quilters to get the right fabric. You also get your items in just a few days. The only problem I've encountered is I never get all my items. Usually about 20-25% of my orders become unavailable. Of course, they refund the items that are unavailable. 

Tip: They update their sale items often, don't get frustrated though if it becomes unavailable while waiting for delivery.

(2) Sing Mui Heng

I just recently discovered that Sing Mui Heng, my favorite store in Chinatown now sells some of their items in Lazada! This was a joyful discovery since a lot of their items are much cheaper than Spotlight. They also have some of their fabric collection available online. I just made my first order the other day. Let's see how it goes. 

Tip: I think the shop is fairly new on the online platform. They haven't categorized their items so you may need to spend more time looking for what you're looking for. 

(3) Lazada

I've bought a lot of odd sewing accessories on Lazada. Basic items like thread, garter, buttons etc. are much cheaper. Most of the items come from China. One really good deal I got was binding tape maker (or bias tape maker) from a shop in Hong Kong. I was so happy with it I also got a set for my Mom. Another item was a set of rulers. They are usually expensive when you but them from physical shops. That was a really good deal. Buying fabric though is a hit and miss thing. I still prefer to buy fabric in person. 

Tip: If an item you're searching for doesn't show up when you use the app, search via Google. It happened to me while looking for a Brother sewing machine extender. 

(4) Shopee

If I need anything fast I try to get them from Shopee. Most of the shops are based in Singapore and deliver in just a few days. They also have hard to find items. I try to mix other materials in my quilts and got good quality iron-ons from Shopee. One thing I'm looking at now are customizable fabric stamps. 

Tip: Same as Lazada tip :)

(5) Amazon

If you prefer to buy more Western-made items, you'll find it on Amazon. I found very good priced wadding (batting) on Amazon. I've been looking at fabric and I'm still deciding whether I should try buying it online. If you're the type who likes documenting your quilts, there's a lot of cute notebooks on Amazon. Of course, there are also a lot of books available. 

Tip: You get free delivery if you're signed up for Amazon Prime (as long as you meet the minimum amount). They also have a lot of super cute sewing-related fashion accessories.

(6) Big Bad Wolf

Big Bad Wolf only happens once a year (I think). They had a lot of craft books available during their last event. I got a couple for inspiration and now have a full list of projects I want to do! Watch out for your local Big Bad Wolf event!

Tip: Search for the books you want early in the event!

Make a Heart Strips Quilted Mat Bag

I made a quilted bag for my cutting mat and wool ironing pad. I thought it would be cute to try out the heart strips quilt. I worked out the measurements based on the size of the cutting mat. Here's how it turned out -

For the back part I used a butterfly fabric and added a pocket. I'll use it for smaller rulers. I also added a pocket inside for the tiny cutting mat I got from Daiso. I'm still deciding whether I'll put a handle and buttons.

Here's a short video on how I made the mat -

If you're interested to try the heart strips quilt, here's the base template.

Materials:

Rainbow colored fabric

Black fabric

Fabric for other side

Fabric for pockets (optional)

Backing fabric

Thread

How to Make a KitchenAid Quilt Cover

I finally got myself a KitchenAid stand mixer on my birthday. It did not come with a cover. It was the perfect opportunity for me to create a quilt cover for it. I was in a hurry to get it covered so I made this easy rainbow KitchenAid quilt cover.

Design sketch

Size

16" x 12" x 16" 

Materials

Rainbow fabric (or use jelly rolls), quilting thread, sewing machine thread, wadding, backing fabric, binding fabric, paper to make side template

How-to Video

Ideas

Christmas cover

Add pockets

Add applique flowers/cats/sun

How to Make a Quilted Mug Rug

Every year I have a Christmas project. I create something that I give to several of my friends. Since everybody's been just home I thought it would be nice to make mug rugs for my friends. I made about 30 sets of mug rugs and made it really colorful. Here's a video on how I made it -

Materials:

7 fabric (pink, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet)

fabric for binding

embroidery thread

quilting thread

sewing machine or you can opt to do everything by hand

card board to make cupcake or butterfly template

Here's the step by step process:

(1) Cut fabric and wadding -

1.5" wide x 7 fabric colors to make a rainbow

6.5" x 6.5" square fabric 

12" x 6.5" backing fabric

12" x 6.5" wadding

(2) Combine fabric

(3) Sandwich fabric with wadding

(3) Quilt! 

(4) Create cupcake or butterfly template

(5) Embroider cupcake or butterfly. Add a cute iron on heart too if you want. 

(6) Create binding

(7) Bind your quilt!

Gigantic Wonder Woman Quilt Blanket

I finished this Wonder Woman quilt blanket project in less than three weeks. I had this crazy idea in early November to make a quilt blanket for friends who were tying the know in early December. I first worked on a very simple design since I was pressed for time to finish the project.

Theme: Wonder Woman (bride's favorite character)
Colors: selected to highlight the design and be a happy color
Design: squares
Size: king (I'll probably never do this size again)

I had to travel quite a bit also in November so I only really got to start it two weekends before the wedding. I spent one weekend just cutting fabric. The next weekend piecing it together with a sewing machine. And brought it back to Manila from Singapore. Crammed like crazy by hand four days before the wedding. I finished it in the wee hours of the morning before the wedding.

My original plan was to use my Mom's sewing machine to quilt and add the binding. Lo and behold she sent me her 25+ year old 110-volts sewing machine! I ended up finishing everything by hand and here's how my thimble looked like by the time I finished -

I burned the midnight oil to finish the project because it was important for me to give something from my heart. The blanket was so huge it didn't fit the box I bought! I enlisted the help of friends to lay out the blanket in the couple's room during the reception. We snuck in the room and successfully surprised them when they went back to their room after the wedding. Here's a video of how we successfully snuck it in -

I have a super cute photo of the bride and groom rolling around the quilt, but they're very private people, so this photo should suffice :)

It's been almost six months now since I finished that project and I'm just slowly going back to my evening quilting hobby. I'm working on another quilt blanket project for another couple who had their church wedding almost a year ago now (yup! I haven't finished the project!). I hope to finish it before their first church wedding anniversary. In the meantime I'l share first the projects I made in the last two years.

Welcome back to my blog!

Quilt Project: Cat Pillowcase

I like checking out quilt projects on Pinterest. I've been checking out animal designed quilt projects and found this easy to make cat design. I then thought I'd make it for a couple who loves cats.

For the quilt I decided to use a set of fabric my Mom got for me from the US. The rulers I bought from trips made it easy to make the template.

It took me a few nights to finish the set of cat pillowcases and managed to give it to my friends last night. Here's Shirni with the cat pillowcase -

Quilt Project: Wonder Woman Bag

I found this really nice fabric from Spotlight and thought I'd make a project for friends who love Wonder Woman.

I thought about making a bag and realized that for character fabric it's better not to cut it up into small pieces. I decided to put it as a spread so that the design can be better appreciated. I matched it with light colored jeans-like fabric since the Wonder Woman fabric had a vintage tinge to it.

I had fun piecing together this project. I was stuck in the San Francisco Airport for a couple of hours waiting for my next flight. I parked myself in the food area to kill time. I made two sets to give as gifts for my friends.

It just took me a few more nights to finish the project. The most difficult part was putting the strap on and making sure that the zipper was evenly placed.

Here are the measurements of the fabric:

Wonder Woman fabric - 2 pieces - 7" x 12"
Bottom - 2 pieces - 2" x 12"
Sides - 4 pieces - 9" x 1.5"
Base - 15" x 3"

A Second Look at Yuzawaya

Since I'm in Tokyo I thought I'd visit Yuzawaya to check out what's new. The place was buzzing with activity since it was Sunday. The last time I visited there was only a handful of people visiting since it was a weeknight.

I made sure I had eaten lunch before visiting Yuzawaya since we know what happens when you go to a store with an empty stomach! There were a couple of things I was looking for: (1) bag handle to match a project I made last Christmas, I have not been able to finish it because I couldn't find the right handle to use; (2) tiny polka dot fabric; and (3) dark colored fabric pencil, I really liked the one I got from Tokyu Hands in Nagoya.

The store had a lot of bag straps available, but they didn't have any that would match the fabric of the bag I made. I then proceeded to the fabric pencil section, but didn't find the one I was looking for. I then head to the fabric area and then found another section that held other knick-knacks. That's where I found the pencil I wanted. Looked through the fabric and just got three fat-quarters on sale. They had so many beautiful fabric it took all my will not to buy any!

I didn't hang out long in the fabric section because it proved too tempting! They didn't have the tiny polka dot fabric I wanted though. On the way to the cashier I found a bag handle that would match the bag I'm making and then I paid for the stuff I got.

One thing I learned about this trip to Yuzawaya is you need to really go around a couple of times to find the item you are trying to locate. Especially for knick knacks since they have this scattered around the store. I really like how they set-up Yuzawaya because it's so organized, clean and welcoming. Most of the other fabric/craft stores I've been to tend to just stuff in everything they are selling. High shelves, fabric all stocked up is kinda unsightly and common. Yuzawaya's set-up is what makes it distinct. I hope other fabric/craft stores can learn a thing or two about how to make their stores more inviting for crafting. 

Quilt Project: Pillowcases for Dr. Koo

My quilt projects are usually made for a purpose. Last Christmas I thought I'd quilt for my family and friends. I underestimated the time I needed to make it so I'm still working on some until now (haha). I found some fabric that I thought would be perfect for my cardiologist. I bought it at Quilting Bee in Mountain View, California.

I went for a very simple pattern so that the lines and hearts on the fabric would be better appreciated. I matched it with black fabric and red fabric with thin squiggly lines. I bought the red fabric from Fabric Outlet in San Francisco. 

Piecing together the pillowcase was quite easy and I finished two sets of three in less than two weeks. The other set is for my surgeon Dr. Shankar. Dr. Koo was really happy about my gift he immediately pulled out a pillow from his examination table and put it inside the pillowcase. He wanted me to sign the pillowcases haha. I have a photo with him looking very happy, but he asked not to post it online. I'm really happy that I made him happy with my simple gift.

Update: My cardio has just sent me an email. He really had the pillowcase framed! And it's now hanging in his office "hall of fame".

Project Name: Hand Quilted Dr. Koo's Pillowcase

Fabric Used: ECG hearts fabric, red fabric with squiggly lines, black fabric

Size: 14" x 14"